The catastrophe.
Although Daneel's full attention was still focused on the two pieces of the Grand Inheritance that were just lying around in the open, this did catch his attention.
As soon as he heard it, though, an image entered his mind- that of a crazed man massacring thousands of citizens, who all couldn't believe that the one whom they had trusted for all their lives was actually the one carrying out this fiendish act.
Of course, it was the first vision he had been shown when he had broken the first seal on the Empire Spirit, right after establishing a considerable satisfaction level using the Olympics.
Ever since Daneel had uncovered the information regarding the Grand Inheritance in the Secret Archives of the Goddess's Sanctum, he had automatically assumed that it must be something physical that would impact the continent in some way because of the usage of such a power that wasn't supposed to belong to anyone.
He had been thinking of the type of catastrophe that was written about in Earth's history, because that was the idea he had grown up with in his original life.
It took this sudden incident where the catastrophe had been referred to out of the blue for him to realize that he must have been thinking about it in a completely wrong way.
What if… The catastrophe was the thing that had resulted in the Emperor going crazy in the first place?
This had been staring at him all this while, but he couldn't have made the connection as he had had no method of assessing one's power level at that time. Also, he couldn't have known that it wasn't an isolated incident: after all, he had thought that it was only the city he was watching that might have gotten massacred.
Yet, now that he thought about it, it was definitely possible.
Daneel wished that Drakos was here so that he could ask the Ancient Dragon regarding this, but because that wasn't an option, he had to keep it firmly within his mind and move on for the time being.
And that… Brought him back to the discovery that the bait that had been placed for Queen Arafell and others in the Race to come here was right in front of him, and the results that had just been shared by Arnold.
First of all - these were definitely bonafide Grand Inheritance parts - exactly the ones he needed to win the Race.
Yet, there wouldn't be something more foolish than trying to obtain them now, in the presence of the Empire Spirit and numerous formations that were currently slumbering all around him, ready to be activated at a moment's notice.
Also, even though they looked vulnerable, they were protected in a small compartment in the ground which was connected to the formation that Arnold had just used to demonstrate to him, and he could clearly detect that there were even more terrifying formations that had been implemented without caring about the cost to make sure that these two of the nine parts of the Grand Inheritance would not be in any risk, whatsoever, of being stolen away without at least giving a lot of difficulties to those who sought to obtain them.
So, Daneel had to reluctantly divert his attention away from them, and focus on what he had just learned.
That was even more shocking in itself if he thought about it, but the main reason that those two parts had captivated his attention was that they were one of the main objectives behind him risking a lot and coming to this Kingdom.
Now, he thought back to those particles that he had seen which had been born after those two people had died.
They were a completely new form of particles, and they were clearly created artificially using the formation that had been drawn by Arnold.
First of all, Daneel decided to make sure that he was recording everything.
"System, has the formation been recorded along with the process of creation of those particles? Is there any data regarding them?"
The answer to this actually surprised him.
[Formation has been recorded. After analyzing the data observed during the aftermath of the sacrifice, system established that there are similarities between what host has just seen and what has been written in one of the manuscripts collected by host.]
"What?! Which one?"
[Replying to host - the manuscript is titled "Blood Energy Absorption". It is the one that host's technique of absorbing energy from the blood of mosquitoes is based on. In that manuscript, the author also refers to something he had heard from an obscure source - that there was a specific kind of energy that could only be harnessed when a living being's resentment reaches a particular level. The theory was that, at that level, all living beings are capable of affecting the world even if they normally do not have any talent in either path to power. Resentment is one of the best driving forces for the consciousness, and this enables it to tap into that capacity of each and every living being to use energy to train at the moment of death to release a kind of particle that can theoretically be used for various purposes. From here, system has also drawn another parallel with the data found in one of the journals recorded in the Sect of Hedon - this is in reference to the Blood Sacrifice spell which is used by Warriors who are having difficulty in crossing the chasm between themselves and the Champion realm. Host is already aware of this technique, which utilizes the deaths of multiples of 10,000 individuals to both facilitate the jump in power, and also lends Champions who use this method with additional power that sets them apart in the Champion realm. Not much is known apart from this, as information about the Blood Sacrifice was forcefully scrubbed from all of the Big Four so that innocent citizens in the Central Continent would not be targeted by aspiring Champions in a bid to increase their own power. Also, there are mentions about adverse effects being present, which affect one's mind as the whole nature of these particles is one of twisted pain, which have the capability of interacting with one's consciousness. Rather than calling them particles, these objects are apparently more suitable to be called remnants of consciousnesses that are made to stay behind in order to be used using special formations.]
Daneel had to go through this information twice in order to understand it all - and when he did, he realized that his action of collecting each and every book that he came across had really helped him out.
The system would be able to draw more connections with even more information, which made the value of data shoot up exponentially.
After all, who else could boast that they would be able to make connections and figure out stuff based on a book that they had obtained months ago, and already forgotten by this point?
Indeed, the Blood Absorption manual had helped Daneel at a time when he had been strapped for resources, but he could never have imagined that it would once again help him in this way, at this juncture.
And regarding the part where these weren't elementary particles but actually remnants of consciousnesses, Daneel had to agree as he thought back to how Faxul's consciousness had looked when it had been transferred from his original body to the stone pedestal by Drakos.
Both of them had the same… aura around them, as if they were not just mere particles that existed around the world and could easily be controlled by anyone with a mageroot. Instead, they seemed to be of a different nature, even though they slightly appeared to be the same.
Yet, the mysteries about just what the consciousness was was something that even those during the Empire had been unable to figure out, so Daneel decided to set it apart from now, and focus on the more salient details.
For example, the blood sacrifice, which had been referred to, was the one that Raul had intercepted when it was being carried out by those sons and daughters of the bigwigs in the Big Four.
The adverse effects were probably most clearly seen in Ashahell, who was supposed to have also used this method to become a Champion. Daneel didn't know the exact truth behind what had happened because he only had the account of that black-robed man in the Black Raven Kingdom to go with, but one thing was for sure - that sacrifice's power had been used by Ashahell to become a champion, and that too, one who was more powerful and valued than any in the entire Big Four.
Hell, his value had been so high that he had even been allowed to continue leading the Sect of Hedon and holding his place in the High Council even though he had been suspected of having connections with the Church, and this had led to Daneel providing the proof that had resulted in his incarceration.
Coming back to the most important revelation about how it decreased the risk of the catastrophe happening, Daneel didn't even know what to think of it.
But he had to admit that it did make sense - any force would want to make it so that such a strong weapon could be wielded easily, and as many times as possible, without risking any danger.
So… It could definitely be established that one of the objectives of the Church was to kill everyone so that they could use these particles in order to make the Grand Inheritance more easier to handle, probably so that they could use it as they wished in the place where they came from.
Daneel deduced that last part from what he had heard from the Head during that incident where he had meddled with religions - then, the Head had referred to multiple organizations from wherever the Church came from, and this meant that there might definitely be some sort of competition or struggle where the Church would surely get an edge if they had this kind of all-powerful weapon.
This also shed more light on why the Church wasn't attacking directly- either they waiting for something to happen on their end, or for Angaria to get weaker. Maybe they were just too busy in that struggle to be able to spare enough forces to take over this continent by force, so although they really wanted to, they might have no option but to wait and bide their time.
After all, where could a continent go?
All in all - it all fit beautifully, and even though there might be more motives just like how Arnold had said, Daneel was inclined to believe that this entire supposition regarding the status of the church and their motive behind the attack was logical, and could most likely be the truth.
He couldn't believe that this trip to Axelor had already been so fruitful.
As the famous saying on earth went - "Know your enemy, and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster."
Finding out more about the Church was of paramount importance as it would allow him to better decide what steps to take to battle it.
Although so much had run through Daneel's mind, only a few seconds had passed in the real world, during which Faxul continued to be shocked.
That was when Arnold spoke up again. In a proud tone, he said "The Emperor, bless his name, always banned experiments of this kind during our time. But even if I had found out about this at that point, I wonder if he would have chosen this path - hell, I'm even prepared to bet that he probably knew about it, and didn't tell anyone, as was the usual case regarding most things. Either way, I'm still experimenting, as I can feel that there is a lot more to discover. Now then, come on. Let's discuss your plan, and then you can be on your way. You must surely be reaching the limit of how long you can stay away from the pedestal, right? I often forget about that these days, as I was smart enough to place it in the best position - right below the throne! Haha, even if someone like that bitch wanted to target me, they would never be able to find it."
As Arnold said this with a chuckle, Daneel realized that he had inadvertently picked up another very important piece of information - the real location of the Empire Spirit, which was a weak point for all of them until they managed to completely possess someone, like the Queen had done.
Clearly, that was not the case with Arnold, as there appeared to be a partial agreement like the one between Daneel and Drakos.
To their luck, the old Black Raven had never been a very talkative person, so it was enough to just nod along with an expression of mild shock, before following Arnold back to that room, where Faxul laid out the entire plan.
They had already decided beforehand that it would all be in a way that would make it seem as if there was no risk whatsoever for the Empire Spirit, and this made it so that the immediately got an answer - "Yes".
Controlling his joy on seeing that the whole idea of basing the plan on the arrogance of Empire Spirits that they could never be outsmarted by those of this age had worked, the two began their journey back to their respective kingdoms, and as soon as they got back to his own body, the first thing he did was speak to the ancient Dragon.
"Was the catastrophe the reason behind the Emperor going mad and killing everyone, and was he the one who made the entire Empire, and the continent collapse?" He asked, and after hearing the answer, Daneel didn't know what to feel.
"Yes, and no, Young King. I can tell you this part, as you have already figured out most of it. The Emperor was the cause of most of the destruction, as he was the strongest individual on the continent. But…apart from him, the catastrophe caused all those at and above the level of a Champion to go crazy and begin destroying everything around them, too, because of their connection with the world. Except us, who were protected from this because we were in our pedestals, Angaria lost all of its Champions and Heroes on that day. I'm only telling you this to impress on you the magnitude of the danger of the catastrophe. Imagine the power that you have always trusted recoiling on you and making you enter a state of unstoppable frenzy that made many kill their own family, who were around them, first, before moving on to others. The Grand Inheritance, if assembled, must NEVER be used lightly, Young King. I cannot stress this enough, especially as it looks like you might be gaining possession of two more parts of it soon."
Daneel was already aware of this, but he instilled it into his mind even more.
Drakos fell silent after that, and Daneel also didn't give an answer.
He began the preparations on his end, and soon, everything was ready.
…
The next day, the people of Angaria woke up to shocking news.
The Kingdom of Axelor…was marching out with its full force to attack, and take over the Black Raven Kingdom.