With his head pounding as if it had been bashed in by a hammer, Raul woke up to find himself tightly tied to a chair.
Wh-what the f*ck was going on?!
One moment, they had all been on the way to Kasar, and in the next, a sudden, bright light had made them all close their eyes before darkness covered their visions.
Now…he was bound and gagged, and he couldn't even move a muscle.
All around him, he could see his comrades who were still unconscious, but in the corner of his eye, he could see a Throne on which their target was sitting.
The King of Lanthanor was leisurely resting with his head propped on one hand on the arm of the Throne, while sipping a glass of chilled wine.
His pulse racing, Raul got a heavy feeling in his stomach as he started to realize what had happened.
They…had apparently underestimated this monster.
Somehow, the King of Lanthanor who was supposed to be weaker than him, a half-step Champion, had apprehended and bound them all without even giving them a chance to put up a fight.
Raul was confident that with this Champion Path which was considered to be quite powerful, he would even be able to put up a fight against an Amateur Champion for a time. Yet…here, he had been rendered completely powerless.
Was this man, somehow…an Eminent or Exalted Champion?
Impossible!
Blinking his eyes, he didn't want to believe it, but he had no choice.
Either that was the case, or the King had someone with him at that level.
Either way…they were f*cked.
Completely, utterly f*cked.
Laying his eyes again on the King, Raul stared at him disbelief, wondering how a man who had been a regular human just a couple of years ago could have grown to this stage in such a short period of time.
'Monster' couldn't even begin to describe it. Even those privileged young masters in their Sects didn't have this kind of talent and speed in training! And those arrogant guys had the resources of the entire Continent at their back and call.
But…what was going to happen now?
Why were they still alive?
As he continued to stare at the King, his target suddenly looked in his direction.
That look, in itself, carried an inherent commanding might that made Raul realize something.
His feeling before must have been right…they had been in the palm of this man from the moment they had entered his Kingdom.
The 'how' was a mystery, but Raul could tell that it was true.
This plan of his…had definitely been f*cked from the start.
His face flushing, he started to feel regret, thinking of all the things in his life that he had promised himself that he would accomplish, but wouldn't be able to do so all because of one man.
The King was still looking at him, but Raul didn't care. He defiantly looked back, but the next moment, a flick of the King's finger caused his chair to disappear from where he was and appear on the spot right beside the King.
Smiling genially, the man said, "Do you know why all of you are alive even though your plan was to torture and kill thousands of citizens just for an Inheritance?"
As Raul heard this, shock coursed through his veins while his jaw dropped.
H-he even knew their plan!
Seeing the shock, the King said, "Yes, I was within arm's reach during your little 'discussion'."
Within arm's reach.
Within arm's reach?
WITHIN ARM'S REACH?!
Repeating that phrase within his head, Raul saw that he had been right: they had been played around with by this monster of a man, just like how a panther would stalk its prey and make it bolt in different directions for its amusement before finally going in for the kill.
His eyes started to water, and he weakly started to laugh.
Seeing that confident man break down like this in front of him, Daneel was actually a bit surprised.
Like in the movies he had seen back on Earth, he had been expecting defiant spit in his face which he had been ready to evaporate using a spell.
Yet, instead of that, this man looked…defeated.
If he had known that that was because Raul could accurately guess the power level needed to accomplish something like this, and thus, also knew that someone who was capable of that could crush them all like they were nothing, it might have made more sense to Daneel.
Yet, at the moment, the King only found this man intriguing.
Someone who cares for normal people, and also someone smart who knew the gig was up.
Without doing anything else, Daneel said, "Drakos, you might want to…"
"No, I'll be fine, Young King. There's nothing nefarious here. These people deserve this kind of treatment. My father always despised this kind of scum, but he would never have done something like this. Some called him soft because of that. I'm actually happy to see that you are not the same, Young King, as he always said that a ruler had to be capable of doing things decisively. I've guessed that this is also so that you can send a statement to the other rogue Warriors. Am I right?"
This made Daneel smile wistfully and exclaim in his mind, 'Hey, hey, I'm not being that ruthless here!'
Well, regardless of that, Drakos had guessed right.
"Exactly. The best way to strike fear into the deepest recesses of someone's heart is to make them see for themselves what fate theirs will be if they dare to enter my Kingdom."
When Daneel thought this in his mind, his eyes sharpened, causing them to look like those of a wrathful God who was ready to smite the mere mortals who had dared to defy him.
Raul, who saw this, wondered whether his time had come.
Yet, when the King looked at him and spoke, he blinked, thinking that he must definitely have heard wrong.
"Don't worry, you aren't going to die. Yet, anyway. I guess you've been too shocked to look at the screens near you? You're a star in Angaria's latest hit show! Hell, you're even the main boss! Go on! Look!"
Indeed, when Raul looked around, he saw that there were three display trinkets floating in the air in front of them.
The first contained a list with their pictures that had been assigned numbers.
The second contained two columns labeled "Votes for A" and "Votes for B".
And the third, was showing himself.
Gaping at his own image, Raul tried to comprehend what was going in.
Yet, suddenly, a mage teleported to a spot near the King and said, "My Lord, we're ready to begin."
With a smile that sent a chill down his spine, the King replied, "Yes! Let's do it!"
…
Meanwhile, Ophelia was fighting with Jennifer, her friend who lived in the house beside theirs over a pillow that the former had been using to lie on the ground.
Their house was completely packed to the brim with 50 people who all had their eyes glued to the display trinket on the bare wall.
Some were sitting on the ground, some were sitting in other people's laps, and some were even looking in from the open windows.
One phrase was on all of their tongues as they excitedly discussed among themselves.
'Mercy for the Wicked'.
Ophelia's father and mother were in the seats of honor, and their faces were beaming with pride as they were now the most popular family in their entire street. Ophelia had even watched while her mother cashed in on the opportunity, taking favors such as discounts on common trinkets from their neighbors who were trinket sellers or free food for a week from the family which owned a restaurant.
Right now, everyone was waiting with bated breath for the show to begin.
After 15 seconds, the trinket which had been displaying the words 'Mercy for the Wicked' in an artful format with a sword underneath the words and a spear passed through the 'o' in 'for' changed to once again show the King.
"Everyone, welcome to the show! Time to bring in our first contenders!"
As the image switched to the stage where two chairs had been teleported into the midst of the area which looked like a large dueling ring, 'ooh's and 'aah's sounded in the room, followed by shushing sounds from those whose attention was fully on the screen.
The chairs they had been bound to disappeared, along with the bindings, and at the same moment, a transparent barrier flashed for a moment as it came into existence before disappearing, looking like it wasn't even there.
Of the two inside, one was wearing a sleeveless shirt while the muscles on his arms rippled with might.
The other looked more delicate: he had slicked back hair and a high nose, and his posture of holding his head high made him look as if he was constantly looking down on something.
The instant they found themselves free, the two rushed toward the outside, but as their heads hit the barrier and made them fall back, the watching audience chuckled.
"Contestants 5 and 15, you have been chosen for the first round! Let me tell you the rules! In a moment, your power will be restored to you! Hundreds of thousands of citizens of Angaria are currently watching you, so straighten those backs and lift up those heads! Your objective is to fight, and impress your spectators to make them vote for you!"
"WHAT BULLSH*T IS THIS?"
"Let us out, this instant!"
The first was a shout from the muscular man, while the second statement was from the other one, whose voice was also delicate.
As if he couldn't hear them, the King continued.
"The winner moves on the next round, where he will face off against another opponent! The loser goes into the loser's pool, where he will have a chance to redeem himself if he climbs up again! But the winner and loser aren't decided by whether you defeat your opponent...No, it will all depend on the number of votes each of you accrue! As for the grand prize…"
Speaking till here, the King stood up from his Throne and walked toward the stage.
Each step of his seemed to strike the hearts of the spectators with various emotions of awe, reverence, and respect.
The moment he reached the spot where the barrier began, he folded his hands behind his back and looked straight into the eyes of the two inside the ring.
"The Grand Prize will be the chance to not be slaughtered like the 'cattle' you are for planning to kill my citizens. Now, fight!"
With stupefied expressions, the two inside the ring stared at the man who was supposed to be 'just a Peak Warrior'.
A sudden burst of fear struck their minds when he looked at them with those eyes which were oh, so cold, but the moment they felt their power return to them, they automatically launched attacks in his direction after sharing a look.
The barrier was of such a high level that they couldn't even detect its existence, so it was their small hope that the King might be caught off-guard.
The bulky man shot forward a punch that caused the apparition of a blazing fist to appear, while the other conjured a tornado filled with thunderbolts.
Yet, before they could release either attack, the King flicked his fingers once.
BAM!
BAM!
While the citizens of various Kingdoms watched on with expressions as if they had seen something straight out of the stories that bards sang, two humongous, glowing hammers appeared out of thin air above each 'contestant'.
With a resounding boom, the two individuals were crushed to the ground while their attacks dissipated.
This act was so impressive that those watching wondered whether the two in the ring had been crushed into meat paste because they had defied the King.
Yet, when the glowing hammers dissipated, they saw that the two looked fine. They were collapsed on the ground, but there were no obvious injuries.
However, on closer examination, everyone noticed that their eyes had rolled into the back of their heads, and froth was coming out of their mouths.
They were also shaking minutely, and their expressions…were those of two men who were going through the most painful torture imaginable.
With another flick, the writhing stopped.
With that same, cold voice, the King said, "Disobey, and you get another taste of those 'Hammers of Agony'. I'm told that three strikes from these Hammers result in even a Peak Exalted Warrior becoming a blabbering mess who can never recover. If you don't want to take part in a test to see whether that's true, fight. Good luck. Your fate will be decided by those people whom you had been about to kill without a second thought."
Leaving these words, the King walked back to his Throne, where he sat down with a flourish.
Waving one hand in the air, he shouted, "Let the match begin!"
While the spectators all over the continent erupted into cheers of excitement, two figures teleported into the air right above where this 'show' was going on.
Daneel would have recognized one of them: it was the regal old man who had said that he would have a chat with him.
The other man was shrouded in darkness despite the bright sunlight, but when he looked down to see the barrier and the 'contestants', his eyes shone red.
"Shouldn't we interfere? Isn't that what we're here for?", he said in a raspy voice, which made a chuckle appear from the old man.
Conjuring a comfortable chair, he sat down and said, "Why in the world would we do that? I'm just here to watch the show! No one knows that they are from the Big 4, as, in the eyes of the people, the Big 4 doesn't exist. If we step in, that will change. This kid has planned it perfectly. The moment we step in, we will also be exposing our location to the Church, who are definitely watching. Both of these things, we must avoid. All we can do is watch, and regale ourselves!"
Although the man said this, the figure in darkness didn't respond.
But, when the man spoke again after a few seconds, the figure turned around and glared.
"I know about your bastard son who's down there, but I cannot let you interfere. That's why we're here, by the way. If you try to step in, I'll stop you. You're also not going anywhere, so why not sit and watch? That guy should have been killed a hundred times over because of his crime. The only reason he's alive and only exiled is you. Who knows, maybe its finally time for him to pay his dues…"