The deafening sound of silence greeted the Throne Room of the Black Raven Kingdom, where before it had been filled by whispers of plots and plans to make the King of Lanthanor go back to where he came from without giving him anything in return.
The Council was mainly made up of retired commanders who had lived to be over 70 years old. Hence, most of their mind was still filled with the old idea that Lanthanor was their enemy, and that the Black Raven should always soar free.
Yet, now…when they saw the Protector Raven eyeing them as if they really were its next meal, they could only gulp, and struggle to rearrange their thoughts.
All of their schemes left their heads, replaced by the singular question asked by the King which reverberated in their mind over and over again.
"Any takers?"
While Daneel waited for his classic 'shock and awe' tactic to work with a smile on his face, he received a message from Faxul.
"Is that really…the Protector Raven who went into a coma after our fight with the Black Raven Empire Spirit?!"
Faxul had always shared a special bond with this Raven. When he had been small, it had carried him around on its head, amusing him to no end, so much so that he loved to roam the corridors of the Palace in this fashion all day, while his father and grandfather watched on with happy expressions on their faces.
After finding out that it had become the innocent casualty of that fight because of Daneel and the Empire Spirit fighting for control of its mind, he had been heartbroken, but he had consoled himself by thinking that this was only a coma, from which it would surely recover.
Now, seeing that happen all of a sudden…was pretty overwhelming.
Daneel didn't show any outward reaction while sitting on the Throne, but he did reply.
"Of course. It says 'hi', and that it senses something new from you. Something…that makes it want to bow. Hehe, it's really puzzled. I guess you have some explaining to do, or it might get jealous thinking that you got a stronger Protector Raven."
As soon as Daneel said this, the gigantic Raven in the room turned around and glared at him for a moment, before winking familiarly and turning back around to continue doing its job.
Faxul saw this gesture and became dumbstruck.
It had been so quick that none of the others had noticed it, but he could never mistake it for anything else.
Yes! This was that same Protector Raven! It wasn't some kind of construct!
"H-how?!"
Sending this message was all he could do, while he continued staring at this majestic being which was the last family in the Black Raven Kingdom that he had left.
"Oh, this? Well, I broke the last seal and obtained all kinds of spells. Using one of them was enough. Now, let's bully these guys into agreeing, and you can have your reunion."
Feeling Faxul smile with joy in front of him even though he was facing forward, Daneel felt happy, too, as he knew just how much this Raven meant to Faxul.
He had seen how hurt his friend had been before, when it had gone into a coma, although he had tried to hide it deep inside.
Daneel had simply paused the analysis of the memories of the Emperor to have the system extract just this one spell so that he could make this kind of a smashing entrance. After extracting and using it, the system had gone right on back to the all-important analysis.
Daneel let the atmosphere grow even heavier for a few more seconds, before finally starting to speak again.
"Good, I see that most of you retain your senses. Now then, onto the official stuff. The Black Raven Kingdom will officially join the First Alliance that currently comprises of the Kingdoms of Lanthanor and Eldinor. King Faxul Coronis shall obtain a seat on the council, while I hold the commanding rights. Any problems?"
"Ki-"
"Raven."
One of the men in the room- a bald man, with a bulging stomach and quite a tall stature, had stood up to answer Daneel as he had been holding in his anger all this while.
He was the main leader of the faction which did not want an outsider to rule their Kingdom. Instead, they were happy with Faxul, who had recently just been mooning around while letting them do what they wished.
They didn't know that this would change now, as Faxul was a changed man who was no longer inhabiting a different body, but they still wished for that situation to remain.
Daneel had been really hoping that there would be a 'taker'. After all, the best kind of demonstration was a live one.
The moment he called out to the Raven, it teleported forward, which was something that only it was capable of.
The man had no chance to say anything more. He had gotten livid on being interrupted by the King, but that expression barely had the time to turn into one of shock when he felt himself being raised by the sharp beak and then teleported to the large balcony from where the Raven and Daneel had appeared from.
Before anyone could say anything about the matter, the Holy Protector Raven promptly…dropped the man.
They were at least 6 floors up, so everyone had ample time to hear his scream while he plummeted to his death.
It was an old lady who got up and shouted, "My King, he is a Fighter! He will die!"
She addressed Faxul, but Faxul merely shrugged and jabbed a finger in Daneel's direction, who was looking out the window as if admiring the non-existent scenery.
Sometimes, Daneel had to admit that he overdid it.
Right now, the objective was for them to call him what he wished to be called, and for that…he was ready for some theatrics.
The old lady hesitated as she saw this, but she tensed, waiting for the sickening crunch that would indicate that a member of the Council had fallen to his death.
As a former commander, herself, she could estimate the height of the Palace, so she knew that by this time, that man was mostly a mass of splattered blood and guts.
Only…instead of the scream being cut off, it grew louder, making her look out the window to see the man appear from a space door in the sky before beginning to fall to the ground again.
What the…f*ck?!
Everyone was similarly dumbstruck. They could only watch as their fellow member of the Council repeatedly fell, again and again, until he got so disoriented that he let out one bodily fluid after another, until he finally even barfed up his stomach, which resulted in the disgusting sight of even all those things accompanying him in this nightmarish horror.
The sound of the King of Lanthanor flicking his fingers brought them all back to reality.
The member of the Council did not return to the Throne Room. Instead, it looked like he had been set down on the ground, where he could be heard retching from the open balcony.
Although many were still focused on what they had just seen, the words of the King made them shake their head and put their full concentration on him.
"I never make empty threats. All of you are revered commanders who served this Kingdom and helped it become what it was. Don't you feel ashamed by looking at its state now? Don't you want it to reach its former glory? If you agree to my proposition willfully, and swear to do all of your duties as instructed, I can guarantee that I will put all of my efforts into rebuilding the Black Raven Kingdom. Your armies will be back to full strength. Your people will be able to keep their heads raised in the presence of outsiders. And the bunch of you no longer need to give excuses to all those who ask what the f*ck it is you are doing in rectifying this whole situation."
Many times, trust was the most bitter pill to swallow.
All those present knew exactly what the King was referring to. Almost every day, they were asked by the citizens regarding what they or the King were doing to bring the Black Raven Kingdom back to its glory.
Once, even though they had been ruled by that tyrant who raised taxes and worked people to death, they had at least been a force to reckon with.
Now, they were the weakest force in Angaria, only present to be the laughing stock of the others.
They simply couldn't take that anymore!
Most of them already knew what the King was capable of. They had seen and studied all the steps he had taken in developing Eldinor after taking it under his wing.
So…they knew that he wasn't one to exaggerate.
It started slowly, but when it did, it became an avalanche that toppled the entire Council.
One by one, member after member bent, even if they were unhappy and disappointed.
They both knew what hideous fate awaited them if they didn't support this, and they also knew that supporting it was probably for the best.
It was basically the age-old battle between logic and ego, and because the punishment for the latter winning was something that couldn't even be imagined without getting the urge to puke, the former won out.
The moment the last knee hit the floor, the system sounded in Daneel's mind.
[Achievement Unlocked: Out of the shadows, into the light (2)
Out of the shadows, into the light(2): Fortune favors the brave. After stepping onto the path of the true World Dominator, you have forged ahead to take control of another force out in the open. Congratulations!
100,000 EXP received.]
As Daneel heard this, he almost started to hum a tune, but he stopped himself at the last moment as it would have ruined the somber atmosphere in the room.
'It's raining EXP, oh, hallelujah…'
It didn't really rhyme, but Daneel sang it in his mind anyway before standing up and saying, "Thank you. From this day forth, the First Alliance comprises of three Kingdoms which will all be feared as the Mighty Trinity for their strength and valor. Rise, brave commanders of the Black Raven Kingdom. I commend you on making the right choice by yourselves. As we agreed, if you do what is asked of you, this will be a golden age. Faxul, here."
Fashioning that same document that they had signed in the Kingdom of Eldinor, Daneel added Faxul's name at the bottom, right below that of Katerina.
Faxul signed it after levitating over a bottle of ink lying in the corner, and the council was dismissed.
Daneel asked Faxul to keep a close eye on them, as they still couldn't be trusted fully, before leaving his friend to happily rejoin the Protector Raven, which nuzzled its beak against his head the moment Daneel teleported away.
With most of his matters settled, all that remained was for the system to be done in all of its analysis.
As soon as it was, he had three burning questions to ask:
What is the Hero level, and how does one get to it?
What should I do to get a bloodline for myself?(the strongest one, of course)
Is there a way to fix the 'Hopeless' Champion Path using all the data accumulated so far?
He wanted these to be answered by the system, and as for the rest, Daneel could get to them at his leisure.
He knew that it would take a few hours, but Daneel was too skittish to sleep.
So, he did another round of inspection on all the schemes, before checking on Eloise and worrying a bit that she was still not back.
Yet, everything else left his mind when he finally got the notification he had been waiting for 15 hours later.
[Analysis complete. Memories have been compiled into a module ready for viewing which has been named after a famous autobiography of the Emperor:
"The Legend of Emperor Fenoras-Slave, Warrior, Monarch, but above all, a simple man."]