Kellor had been having a nice cup of tea in his room when the 'abduction' had started.
He had just been through a very grueling session of carefully reviewing all the information that he had taken from the King so that he could extract the most useful and efficient plans that they could implement in this age, and he had actually been looking forward to this brief period of rest.
However, only he could remember how surprised he had been when a man burst through the door of his room wearing black, billowing clothes with his face completely covered by a veil.
There wasn't a smidgen of doubt that this was someone who shouldn't be here. Yet, that didn't make any sense.
After the two meetings of the Council of Nine Sovereigns, it had dawned on all of them just how powerful the King of Lanthanor was. As such, he knew that the King was actively monitoring everything in the Palace as he was in control of the Core Formation.
Yet, how could someone barge into a room that was almost right beside the King's quarters?
The only possibility was that this was someone who outclassed the King so much that he was capable of this intrusion - possibly, it might even be someone who had crossed the level of Champion.
In the face of such power, could Kellor even put up a resistance?
This thought only passed through his mind, but he didn't hesitate before he immediately stood up and launched an attack.
Teleportation didn't even need to be thought about - space was locked in the Palace anyway, so it would only waste time if he cast a teleportation spell.
In his haste, Kellor had used the attack he was most familiar with - his signature Woodcutter Chop.
An axe made from wood and metal elementary particles came into existence, before chopping down on the intruder with terrifying momentum and strength.
Yet, what happened next had caused Kellor's eyes to widen in shock.
The man simply raised his finger and placed it in the path of the oncoming axe, which made it stop and then shatter into multiple pieces that dissolved away as the elementary particles had been wrenched away from the grasp of his Mageroot.
"Puny Exalted Human. You dare to try and resist against me? Today, you and all the other Commanders of the Kingdom of Lanthanor will disappear, and will never be found. Despair, for the time has come for the great Kingdom of Lanthanor to collapse inwards and perish. Ha ha!"
This speech only made Kellor pause and look at this person weirdly.
Why did it seem as if this was some sort of second-rate actor who was putting on a show in an attempt to convince the audience that he was a master villain?
There was no genuine evilness in his laugh, or passion in his words.
Instead, they seemed to have been rehearsed many, many times. Although the general effect was still there, Kellor just felt that something was… Off.
Yet, the next second, he was rudely awakened from his thoughts because of a burning feeling from his stomach.
Looking down, Kellor had seen that a large gash had appeared on his abdomen which stretched from his waist to his chest.
Clutching it, he staggered backward and took the support of the wall, following which the man dressed in billowing clothes continued.
"Come on, aren't you supposed to be the legendary Grand Court Mage of Lanthanor? Is this all that this paltry Kingdom has?"
Anger surged through Kellor as he heard this. He could bear any type of curses, but when someone disgraced the Kingdom that he had devoted his life to, he would stand up against them even if it meant certain death.
As he willed with his Mageroot, multiple woodcutter axes appeared around the man and chopped down, but Kellor watched with disbelief as they all were also shattered in barely a moment.
He was at the edge of his room, and it was then that he realized that even a barrier had been set up without his knowledge that prevented him from flying outside.
He was well and truly trapped.
There was a space of 10 steps between them, and with each step, it felt as if Kellor's end was approaching him slowly.
Also, with each step, more and more gashes kept appearing on Kellor's body, making him growl with unwillingness as he didn't want to scream and give the satisfaction to this sick man who was obviously here to enjoy his plight.
From his power level, it was obvious that taking Kellor away would be a piece of cake, but he was deliberately playing with him like a predator that was playing with its food.
No matter what, he wouldn't give this man the satisfaction.
With each gash, the pain he was feeling increased bit by bit, until he felt as if his whole body had been flayed alive and had no skin left. There were only 3 steps of distance between them, and, after that, Kellor didn't know what would happen to his life.
"Useless Lanthanorians! All bark, no bite! I was really looking forward to some sort of struggle, but it seems that I should postpone that program to a later date. Oh well, you'll have a lot of opportunities to squeal where you're going. I may not be able to face your King, but you Commanders who are just Exalted Humans are just a piece of cake. After you, I'll be making a visit to the King's father, himself. I wonder how loud the King's cries will echo across his Kingdom when he finds out that the man who gave birth to him was tortured and killed, resenting his name to the last breath, wondering why his son hadn't been able to find him and save him. That'll break the King, right?"
This line also seemed to he rehearsed, but with time, it was as if this man was getting better.
He did sound like someone who would revel in the King's anguish, and Kellor could even picture what would happen if what the man said really did come to be.
And all that… would start with him. If he, the Grand Court Mage, himself, couldn't stop someone like this, then what match would the other Commanders be?
If he didn't count Robert, who was a special case, he was the oldest and the one who had been training for the longest.
He had reached the Exalted Human Level a long time ago, and, in fact, he had even been very close to the Peak Exalted Human Level, so much so that just an hour of training with the faucet that the King had installed had resulted in him reaching the Peak in one go.
Only, he hadn't told anyone as he didn't feel that that was something very remarkable.
The main way that he could help the King was by becoming a Warrior, so, by contacting Luther and asking him about the process of becoming a Warrior because the former Commander of Lanthanor was in constant contact with multiple Warriors throughout the day, Kellor had been training all this while in an attempt to break through.
Of course, he hadn't used the danger method, but he had been training consistently to cross limits and step past.
Only, each and every attempt had been met with failure, which resulted in increasing frustration, mainly because he felt that he was letting down everyone who had placed their trust in him.
At this moment, that frustration reached a breaking point, but it also exposed him to something else that he had been hiding away in his heart.
It had been affecting him all this while, but Kellor hadn't faced it head on as it had the capability of destroying him completely.
It was guilt.
Only two steps were left between him and the man in billowing clothes, and as the latter laughed, his laughter grated on his ears, making him curse himself more and more that he was just useless.
All those years, when he had been bound by the Oath of the previous King, he had seen so many atrocities committed in front of his eyes without the ability to do anything.
If he counted through them, he would realize that there were hundreds of people whom he had the power to save but couldn't because stepping forward would mean certain death.
Instead, he would always tell himself that a time would come when someone would be able to stand up to the King, and when it did, he would have to be there to help that man.
Of course, Kellor also always secretly did things to help the people targeted by the nobility of Lanthanor, but that wasn't much compared to everything he had to allow happen.
This guilt had been consuming him every day until Daneel came along, and the reason he had burst into tears that day when he had seen Daneel expose his talent was that he had finally seen the one who could change all this.
So, finally, when he had seen King Daneel kill that vile man and take the Throne, he had been among the happiest, and that incident had allowed him to even bury all of these memories in his heart and move on with the objective to help this Kingdom as much as he could so that he could assuage that guilt at least a little bit.
Yet, now, he was going to be taken away and killed, meaning that he would have no more opportunities to do that.
Was he always destined to being an onlooker while the most important things were done by people other than him?
No! He wouldn't stand and let that happen any longer!
He had to live. He had to live for the King. He had to live for the people whom he had let down for decades. He had to live, because if he died, he would never be able to forgive himself.
Instantly, with these thoughts, Kellor felt something crack inside his body which made his Mageroot feel as if it was on fire.
He was a pure Mage, so, the metamorphosis was in his Mageroot which responded to the dire need of his mind to grow stronger.
The moment it reached a higher level, a brilliant woodcutter's axe with a shining edge that was more powerful than any that had come into being so far flew in the direction of the neck of the man whose head was still thrown back into the air, as he was still busy laughing maniacally to show the sadistic pleasure he was taking in this activity.
Yes! He had succeeded in taking him by surprise!
Kellor was as surprised as the man in front of him that something like this has happened, but when he saw the axe get closer and closer to the neck of this man, he rejoiced inwardly.
Only, at the last moment, someone very familiar appeared in the room and caught the axe by the handle before hurling it away.
Boom!
As the axe collided with the wall and made a huge hole, Kellor stared with shock at the King of Lanthanor who had a strange expression on his face.
At the same moment, the veil on the man also dropped, revealing Faxul, who had a similar expression.
Wait - what the hell was going on here?
Without jumping to conclusions, Kellor decided to ask, following which, the King said, "It's a long story. Basically, what just happened was the goal, but we had a much larger, elaborate plan for it. Oh, and, by the way, if you don't mind me asking, what was the need you felt that allowed you to break through?"
Kellor was still in shock, but the word breakthrough finally made him understand what had happened.
He had actually become a Warrior!
With that, the Kings and Faxul's actions slowly became clear, as Luther had told him about this method of putting someone in a dangerous situation to push them forward.
He had no intention of hiding anything from the King, and at this moment, it also felt as if he had received a little bit of closure for his feelings, which let him answer without hesitation.
"Guilt, my King. Guilt because I could only stand by for decades while the nobility and the King massacred innocent citizens under my watch. My eyes had to witness my own disciple's wife being killed. I…was useless. Now…that is no longer the case."
As Daneel saw the eyes of his Grand Court Mage shine, he couldn't help but smile.
Finally, the Kingdom of Lanthanor had obtained another Warrior!