As soon as Daneel's consciousness returned to his body, the first thing he heard was Arnold's shocked statement, which felt so, so satisfying that the smile on his face stretched as far as it could go.
Until now, the system had been the one controlling his body, and it could only make him put on the most rudimentary of expressions.
Thankfully, neither Drakos nor Arnold noticed anything, as it just looked like he was the one doing everything.
With him returned to his main body, Daneel didn't change that much: he just focused on the block of earth with the pieces of the Grand Inheritance inside, as the priority was to get rid of these barriers.
The objective of the whole plan with that town had been to make this possible…along with a certain side-objective that Faxul would soon put into effect.
As soon as he thought of this, Faxul's opportunity came, as Arnold, of course, opted for the thing that anyone would do when they were desperate.
"We cannot let him get those parts! Prepare to hit him with everything!"
So far, Arnold had had them conserve their energy and play out a war of attrition as he had been confident that everything was under his control, even though he had been surprised once by the actions of the King.
Yet…this was the second time that that was happening. His gut told him that it wasn't safe to do that anymore, and that this brat might have even more up his sleeve, which was a risk he was no longer willing to take.
But, when he said this, his old friend spoke up.
"Why? I admit that this is impressive, but even if he gets those parts, how will he leave the Kingdom? The formations at the border are still standing strong, right?"
Hearing this, Arnold nodded while calming himself down.
Indeed, that was the case.
Activating the Ruler's Inheritance had just been pretty damn impressive.
Also…he had been panicking about those two parts being unprotected, but wouldn't that be Ok if their target couldn't leave the Kingdom, anyway?
Even while they talked among themselves, the barriers around the pieces of the Grand Inheritance had started to break, one by one.
Still, Arnold prepared to let it happen…but that was when a realization hit him like a thunderbolt.
He had always had a habit of making lists of possible things that could happen, no matter how farfetched they were, so that he would never be caught too off guard to even respond in an appropriate manner.
This had already helped him before, where the scenario of the pieces of the Grand Inheritance being attacked had made him increase the defenses around them, which had come in handy when Drakos and the bratty King had tried to break through.
In this list…was also the possibility that although it looked like there was no way in which it could be possible, his 'friend' wasn't who he said he was.
True, he seemed to know all the things that were privy only to the Black Raven, and he couldn't think of a way in which the old Black Raven would ever come under the control of someone from this age. Knowing his ego, he knew that he would rather die.
Still…he hadn't been ready to discard it, as life had taught him that it was often the unexpected things which caused the direst of effects.
Now that he thought about it, everything that his 'friend' had been doing so far had somehow helped in him landing in this situation.
He would never have taken control of the Black Raven Kingdom if it weren't for his friend's plan.
He wouldn't have begun that purge if it weren't for the Black Raven suggesting it.
And he wouldn't have allowed in the King without resistance if the above two didn't happen.
Although all of these could have said to have happened outside of the expectations of his friend, and that it might just be his paranoia that had allowed him to survive multiple desperate situations acting up, Arnold's gut told him strongly that it wouldn't be wise to listen to his 'friend' at all right now.
He decided to follow it.
"No, let's not take any chances. Hit him with everything. No reason to take any more risks."
Keeping a close eye on the man beside him, Arnold began casting an elaborate spell of 4 types of elementary particles which would definitely tax his opponent much more than any attack they had used before.
As he watched, his 'friend' began casting a complex spell, too, and everything looked normal.
Yet…in the last moment, when he fired his attack, the 'Black Raven' disappeared from his side and appeared in front of the King of Lanthanor, before dispelling his own spell and conjuring two small black holes and a barrier which took on his attack. As Arnold watched, his attack, which was in the form of a thin ray meant to penetrate anything in its path resulted in his 'friend' being pushed back toward the King, until he entered the layers of barriers already in effect and allowed them to dissipate the rest of his attack.
Instead of being shocked, Arnold burst out into mad laughter.
He was…disappointed in himself, more than anything. It looked like the years of being trapped in that damn pedestal had made him soft.
As the barriers continued to break, his laughter cut off abruptly, and the Empire Spirit glared at the King of Lanthanor with an expression so fierce that it looked as if all he wanted was to tear the man in front of his eyes into pieces.
"Good show. Really, good show. You actually managed to manipulate me. Me! I should thank you, I guess, for this wake-up call that I need to bring my A-game in this age, too. Anyway, it's time for it to end. Even you two, combined together, won't be enough to leave the Kingdom alive. You might be able to defend yourselves, but I really don't see how…"
"Don't you learn?"
After a long time, the King of Lanthanor spoke, interrupting Arnold's serious speech.
Arnold's glare intensified as he saw this happen, but he just curled his lip, knowing that the King would continue.
Sure enough, after a few more seconds, all the barriers were broken, and with a loud sound, clumps of earth fell to the ground, leaving behind two things.
One was a small globe of transparent light in which the two pieces of the Grand Inheritance were floating.
The other…was a person, who looked like he had been tortured to no end.
Again, this didn't surprise Arnold. Just this morning, his 'friend' had asked his permission to use the torture chamber in his lab where he had previously demonstrated his experiment. Without thinking much about it, Arnold had agreed, which now meant that even the Black Raven King was in the King of Lanthanor's hands.
Well, it would just be one more person to crush after they failed in their escape.
With an expression of extreme joy, the King pocketed the two pieces, which made Arnold grimace, but he just told himself that he would be getting them back soon.
Then, the King pointed at his friend to make healing spells appear, before he was positioned on one side behind him.
As for the one who had masqueraded as the Black Raven all this while, he was standing on the other side.
Of course, there was no way for Arnold to know that the real Faxul was the Black Raven, and that the one who looked like Faxul was actually a different person.
And Daneel had no plan to let him find that out, either.
The more unexplainable a plan seemed, the more the caliber one would attack to the planner.
With everything done, it was time to end the part of the third phase in Axelor, and get out.
Getting annoyed on seeing the King just gloat without continuing, Arnold humphed and said, "The things I've learned would make your head explode. Go on. I want to see what futile attempts you make to leave. You are in an inescapable fortress."
He was constantly looking around and thinking, trying to see if there was anything he could have missed.
He was sure that there was nothing more that could surprise him.
Yet…the King's next action made him drop his jaw for the first time in eons.
"Oh, I thought you might have learned that no matter who you were in your own age, this one…is mine, and mine alone. Let me demonstrate that one more time."
Saying so in a confident voice, the King raised his hand and targeted a formation that Arnold had almost forgotten about.
It was…the one which hid everything happening here from the Big 4.
"N-!"
Crack!
Before he could even say a word, the anti-eavesdropping formation was forcibly broken, allowing this entire scene to viewed by everyone outside.
And the next moment…an expression of panic appeared on the King's face, while he downgraded all the spells he was using to ones of Champion level.
"Head! You said I could call for you if I needed you! I need your help now!"
Whoosh!
A man wearing regal robes appeared between the two parties, before setting eyes on the expressions of the two Kings who were apparently having a confrontation.
He had been watching the continent idly all this time, so he had been pretty surprised to receive a message through the communication trinket he had given to the King of Lanthanor, while a scene revealed itself to him in the Kingdom of Axelor.
He had always been ready to help out, as it would mean that he would be giving out a favour that a man like the King of Lanthanor would definitely return.
But he had never imagined that he would get the opportunity for this, as men like these seldom had to depend on others.
Only, this situation seemed unique.
On one side, King Safiros looked like he was ready to attack and kill those in front of him.
On the other, the King of Lanthanor was extremely tired, and his friend, King Faxul looked like he had been tortured extensively.
He didn't know the other man, but there were no indications of power from him, so he didn't care who he was.
Before he could make a judgment, the King of Lanthanor spoke up again.
"Head, I know that the Big 4 want to make sure that there isn't too much loss of life in the Central Continent. I marched into this Kingdom as I was sure that my friend had been controlled in some manner. That turned out to be the truth. I managed to find him, but it seems I cannot escape. I ask you for this favor, which I will certainly repay. If I die, Lanthanor will go to war, and I guess you don't want that to happen?"
"What the f*ck are you doing?"
After Daneel said all this and made the Head put on a pondering expression on his face, Arnold secretly sent him this message.
And the response…made it clear that the statement from the King before, was definitely one made from confidence, and not overconfidence.
"Oh, it's simple. Both of us know what will happen if the Big 4 get to know that Empire Spirits are roaming freely in the continent. They will crack down on them, hard, with their full force, and there's no way that you're powerful enough, yet, to handle that. You will be sealed away, and you'll have lost everything you worked for so far. So…the choice is yours. Either expose your power and attack to bring the full brunt of the Big 4 down on yourself, or let us go. What do you choose, oh master manipulator of the Empire of Angaria?"
Hoodwinked. Outwitted. Manipulated.
Not once, not twice, but three. damn. times.
"Pfuagh!"
Interrupted as he was mulling over what he should do, the Head wondered why King Safiros had just spit out blood, and looked so livid that it seemed like it was a real possibility that he might die of sheer frustration.