"Good. Stand up. Now then-"
Daneel decided that he had been domineering enough. If he continued to gloat even now, when the man had knelt in front of him, it would just look…bad.
This did, indeed, surprise Rayen, who had been expecting some sort of uproarious laughter on seeing him, an esteemed Hero, someone who had been threatening to end the King's life just a few minutes ago, kneel in front of the man.
Still, of course, this wasn't enough to change the cocky, irritating, yet diabolical image that had formed in his head of the King of Lanthanor.
Well, the real test of this man's true character would be now.
Standing up, he interrupted the King.
"One moment. Before you proceed, you need to get some facts straight."
Raising an eyebrow, Daneel resumed the same pose as before. Putting his hands behind his back, he gazed at the Hero as if he were looking at one of his subjects while waiting for him to speak.
"I will try and do my best regarding the first three conditions, but the last is an issue."
This made Daneel frown. The last one was, actually, the most important.
He had already asked Drakos about what the problem was with Oaths in regards with people on the level of Champions and Heroes.
The answer had both been simple, and very informative.
Oaths were apparently destructive strings of magic tied around one's consciousness: that which Daneel had witnessed with his own eyes during Faxul's 'rebirth'.
From Humans to Warriors, unless there were special circumstances like in the case of the Prince or the Queen of Eldinor who had trained in those peculiar techniques, oaths could not be circumvented.
Yet, from the time that one became a Champion, one would begin to know and understand more and more about one's own consciousness.
In fact, the very act of stepping past the chasm separating a Warrior from a Champion was one that involved in connecting with one's inner consciousness through a path that resonated with oneself, and the world.
Although Drakos couldn't give a lot of details because of the seals, this apparently took place to an even further extent when one went from being a Champion to a Hero.
The gist was this: given enough time and the right tools, Champions and Heroes would definitely be able to escape from Oaths without suffering from too many adverse effects like in the cases where this might be attempted when one was much weaker.
So, Daneel's plan with the last condition had been to bound the Hero to him at least for the present time period, before he figured out a way to make a more permanent 'binding'. Also, Drakos had assured him that he would be able to detect it if an Oath was being loosened on the other end.
Hence, now, if this Hero wanted to say no to the last condition, then this whole deal would break apart.
Why had he still knelt, if that was the case?
Daneel found out the answer after the Hero funnily raised his hands to stop Daneel, as if he was some kind of crazy person who was prone to mood swings. It really did look like that was what the Hero thought of him.
"Now, hold on! Before you go springing any traps, let me explain. You must know of this guy, right?"
Saying so, the Hero made an image made of elementary particles appear which showed the bearded man who had saved Daneel before.
"I've met him, but I don't know who he is, exactly."
Making the image disappear, the Hero said, "He's the Head of the High Council of Angaria, which is typically comprised of all the Heroes of Angaria and one honorary Champion. Until recently, that role was occupied by one Ashahell, but he was recently imprisoned on suspicion of aiding and abetting the Church of Rectitude. I trust that you already know of the threat from the Church, right?'
Yeah. And I'm the one who put that bast*rd behind bars.
Daneel felt like saying this, but he just replied, "Yes."
"Good. I'll cut to the chase, then. You see, the Church represents a way to go to newer heights, and as you must already have seen, those of the Big 4 normally don't give a rat's ass about the people of the Central Continent. If so, why do you think they haven't all deserted the continent already and left?"
Hearing this, Daneel had to admit that he was…stumped.
This guy was right!
If there were detractors on all levels, why hadn't the ones who stood to gain the most from going over, done so?
They could let Angaria go to hell, and enjoy resources and higher-tier knowledge that might lead them to gain even more power and lifespan.
Seeing the King furrow his eyebrows and ponder over this, Rayen let there be a moment of pause before continuing.
"Let me answer. This is where the issue with your last condition also comes in. Also, I can only put this in the simplest of terms, and you'll understand 'why' soon.
"First of all, no one can become a Hero on Angaria without the Head's permission. He is the leader of all 4 of the Big 4, and without his approval along with a vote from the High Council, a new Hero cannot be born.
"Before a new Hero is born, he or she must agree to a Chain that is wound over their consciousness in ways that makes an Oath look like a plaything. In other words, it is unbreakable even by a Hero.
"Apparently, this is only made possible by a very rare Artifact that was left behind by the Emperor of the Empire of Angaria, himself."
As soon as the Hero said this part, Daneel heard a sigh from Drakos.
"He always called it one of his greatest creations, and although he made it because it was necessary, he lamented that what he would leave behind is an object that causes unhappiness."
Daneel couldn't respond to this, as the Hero was continuing, unaware of the comment from the Ancient Dragon.
"That Chain has two commandments: One, all information regarding the Hero realm will never be uttered to any person or being, living or dead.
"And Two, the Chained one's loyalty will forever lie with Angaria. As such, any Oaths or other forms of binding cannot be entered into voluntarily with anyone."
As Rayen said the last sentence, he let out a sigh, seeing that the King was still thinking about it and not reacting violently.
Yes, it was best to tread carefully with someone who had looked like the Devil just minutes ago.
Meanwhile, Daneel had just asked Drakos whether what the Hero was saying was true.
After taking a few moments, the Ancient Dragon finally answered, saying, "Yes, Young King. It can be true. That Artifact that he just mentioned really did have that purpose. No Hero can escape its binding, but, of course, permission must be given for the Chain to be made in the first place. The Emperor always knew that the greed of men was something that he would never be able to control through any amount of words. So, this was his answer. His intention was for it to be used in this way, so I am, at least, happy that its purpose hasn't been twisted over the millennia."
After hearing Drakos's answer, when Daneel thought about it, he saw that it did make sense.
If something like this didn't exist, then, just like the Hero had said, nothing would stop these Heroes from jumping ship and dooming Angaria to turn into a land ravaged by endless rivers of blood.
However, this did present a problem.
How was he supposed to ensure this Hero's loyalty, now?
That, too, when he had adopted such a domineering attitude with the guy?
What if, one fine day, this Hero just decided to say that 'enough was enough'?
Although he didn't really think that this was possible, he couldn't trust his gut on this one. The danger was just a bit too much.
On noticing the way the King was looking at him, Rayen understood what he was thinking.
So, he decided to speak.
"Look, King Daneel. I know that I cannot ask you to trust me. So, there is only one solution. I shall trust you. You can cast that same 'trap' that you put inside my son's head in me, too."
This made a flash of realization, and then disbelief appear on Daneel's face.
In the case of an oath, this Hero could at least hope to escape it some day.
Yet, this spell of Drakos's was a truly nefarious one that, he claimed, would never be able to be countered by any Heroes in this age.
The only limitation was this: it needed time to be cast, and if there was any resistance from the target, there was a high chance of failure.
Seeing the complexity, this should have already dawned on this Hero.
Yet, he had suggested it, himself?
Daneel had to say that he was rather impressed. There was no way that he could have expected the man to do this.
Clearly, what he felt for his son exceeded any level that Daneel had conceived in his head.
Nodding, he said, "Very well. Your trust is not misplaced. I give you my word that I will not abuse it. Now…"
"Um…there's another issue."
This time, Daneel's eyebrows moved into a V-shape as he glared at the Hero, who had a hesitant expression on his face.
A Hero was being hesitant to say something to him?
Oh, he had definitely come a long way.
Although he mused this in his head, he continued to glare at the man, who finally said, "This is a clone. And, as I speak, my original body is on lockdown by the Head, so that I won't go on a rampage and kill you. So…yeah…"
Shaking his head, Daneel said, "So, what do you wish to do?"
He was burning with anticipation to check out all the goodies behind the second seal, and this Hero was detaining him like an Earthling's mom who was making her son do laundry instead of watching his favorite TV show.
Sighing with relief, Rayen said, "In this state of mine, even information transfer would be difficult, and it's risky as someone can look here at any moment and find something amiss. The lockdown won't be forever. After taking a few weeks or so, I'll act as if I'm fine. The Head can't sit with me forever, so he'll leave. I'll come to you in my original body, then."
"Fine. Get out of here, and remember that your son is still with me. Don't play any tricks. You cannot even fathom what kind of knowledge a being from the Age of the Empire possesses. Got it?"
Seeing the Hero nod hurriedly, Daneel waved his hand as if he was dismissing some subject of his.
He wasn't too worried about the Hero not coming back because of everything he had seen so far.
As Rayen dispersed his clone, he couldn't control the shock that shone in his eyes at the last moment.
Had he just been…waved away by someone?
Slight anger threatened to invade his mind, but he controlled it, telling himself that he would deal with it.
After the Hero left, Daneel first heaved a sigh of relief, feeling glad that this was over.
Then, he frantically rushed to the library in the academy with an excitement which even startled Drakos.
In barely a few seconds, Daneel's hands were clasped around the two edges of the pedestal, while Drakos said, "You were right in your hunch, Young King! The second seal is broken! Congratulations! Would you like me to give you all the information one by one…"
"No! All at once!"
"Uh…are you sure? Such a high load of information might.."
"I'm sure! Do it!"
"All right…"
As soon as Drakos said this, Daneel felt as if his mind had just been forcibly dunked into a bucket of cold water.
[Massive influx of information detected.
Warning! Host's brain under risk of overloading.
Analyzing.
Categorizing for storage and further analysis.
Multiple categories have been found. They are:
Hero-level formations.
Hero-level spells.
Artifact Creation.
War Strategies.
Empire Development Strategies.
Fighter techniques.
Common Paragon Constructs.
Common Champion Paths
…]
With each category, Daneel's eyes burned more and more with excitement, and when he heard the last one, even though he noticed the prefix, his excitement reached new peaks.
Only, the flood of information was too much, and even as the system continued to analyze and store all of it, the King of Lanthanor's eyes rolled into the back of his head before he fainted onto the stone pedestal and started to drool.
If Rayen could see him now, he would definitely have wondered whether this was the diabolical Devil to whom he had sworn his loyalty.