A Blazing Phoenix.
As Daneel heard this dominating name, he quickly asked the system what bloodline Drakos was referring to.
Soon, he got the answer.
[The Bloodline of the Blazing Phoenix: A Bloodline passed down by a creature that was elusive enough that there was even an expression during the Empire where people would associate the extreme rarity of something with the term 'Phoenix'. The Emperor had to go to great lengths in order to make contact with and convince just one of that species, which resulted in an individual under him obtaining the bloodline, but records state that this was one bloodline that was simply not compatible with the human body. The individual was known to have gone insane in the matter of a few months, and each usage of the bloodline powers was found to be what drove her nearer and nearer to that state of madness. Subsequent attempts were also made, but the Emperor finally gave up when the death count started rising sharply. The bloodline was still passed down, but all attempts at awakening it were halted. This Bloodline is supposed to give one the power to be reborn, and also grants them extreme skill in handling flames. It is also said to give one added advantages when a battle is occurring in the air.]
Daneel had already guessed the 'reborn' part from the word 'Phoenix'. The scene from that iconic movie appeared in his mind of a bird climbing out of its ashes, but when he remembered the typical size of the Godbeasts that he had seen so far, he could guess that if such a thing was similar between that Phoenix and this one, it would be a pretty terrifying sight.
But what was the situation that was going on below him? Why were Faxul and Kellor so frantically waving their hands, as if they really wanted to stop Cassandra from moving forward?
It wasn't fear, as Faxul's bloodline practically made him invincible in the Central Continent if one didn't count those with undue advantages.
Even though the image of Cassandra was awe-inspiring and majestic, she did not look like she offered that much of a threat.
However, when Daneel looked behind her and saw all the formations that had been melted in her wake, he realized that she had probably displayed much more power in the time before he had arrived. After all, he had needed some time after receiving the message from Faxul regarding what was happening.
If he was capable of using his elementary vision, he could have directly found out just what was going on. However, as this was just a powerless clone that was only capable of standing around or at most running away in the face of a threat, Daneel had to guess, and when he went through the plan of the Road Through Hell that he had constructed personally, he realized what the problem was.
The place where Faxul and Kellor were standing was the central hub of the entire formation, and breaking that apart would make the rest fall apart, too.
That meant that if anyone was going through the Road in the other sections, they would find all the traps around them deactivating.
Typically, this would be a good thing, but if one considered the final room, they would understand what the problem was.
In that room, it was a formation which created the wondrous illusions that allowed one to face their fears.
However, if this was interrupted… No one knew what would happen, but at the least, it was possible that such a sudden break of immersion might make the person think that they had failed, which would lead to permanent loss of sanity.
After all, if everything suddenly disappeared, what other assumption would anyone who was already thoroughly emotional make?
So, Daneel concluded that this was mostly the case, and that Aran must be in the other final room where he was undergoing an illusion test.
Cassandra was either not understanding what the two of them were saying, or she was as puzzled as them regarding what was going on and simply wanted to get to Kellor, whom she trusted to help her no matter what the situation was.
Daneel had no powers at all, and he almost began to hope that the two below him would find some way in order to stop her.
However… That was when he realized that his power didn't come solely from whether his body or Mageroot.
No… his power came from the him that had grown from a simple Earthling to a King, and no matter what, no one could take it away from him.
Striding forward as if this was his original body that was capable of doing all those awe-inspiring feats, Daneel descended into the now open-ceilinged room and said, "Cassandra. Stop right there. A single step forward, and you will kill your closest friend."
Kellor turned around with an expression of relief on his face when he heard the familiar voice of the King, but when he noticed something weird, he used his elementary vision to see that the King was just using a clone. This was an almost hollow projection of sorts, which was definitely not capable of putting forward any power at all.
With no time to ask why the King had come in this manner, Kellor immediately said, "She's not hearing us. We don't know why."
He thought that the King might begin to ponder fiercely regarding what else they could do in order to stop Cassandra, but instead, when he saw Daneel smile broadly, he turned around to see why that was the case.
To his shock, Cassandra had stopped right where she was, and she was currently hovering in place with her eyes fixed on Daneel.
How had the king been able to do what they had been trying to accomplish for so long with just a simple sentence?
"It's not always about words, Kellor. Sometimes, one's presence can also get across a message, and that's what happened here. Now, stop panicking and use your Mageroot to affect the spots there, there and there. And then, change this and this…"
Daneel had made the central formation, so he knew exactly how to manipulate it to make it do what he wanted. Right now, he wanted to deactivate everything around them except the room in which Aaron was present, so he directed Kellor to do just that while Cassandra kept bobbing up and down with that blazing aura that splendidly lit the surroundings around them.
The tight-fitting leather clothes seemed to be a perfect companion to this secondary skin that she had obtained, giving her the look of an immortal goddess who had descended to grace their mortal lives. Her glowing, floating hair accentuated this image, and her eyes sealed the matter. In fact, Daneel was pretty sure that any normal person who saw her would definitely get the urge to bow down and pray.
Soon, the formations had all been changed so that even if Cassandra came forward and destroyed the one in the hub, Aran would not be affected.
Finally, Daneel walked forward while Cassandra continued to look at him with a neutral expression on her face.
Before, the two of them hadn't walked out of the hub as doing that would leave it completely vulnerable in case they failed in stopping Cassandra from moving forward. In fact, Faxul had even been prepared to use lethal force to stop her, as it looked like she could endure it while Aran would definitely go insane if his attempt at breaking through was interrupted.
The King first kept walking in order to get as close as possible to her, but he could feel the temperature around him rising with each step he took.
In fact, when he looked closer, he realised that the spot right below Cassandra was actually liquidy, as the stone had been completely melted due to the heat that was emanating off of her.
Understanding that this clone of his would be no match, Daneel was about to stop, but surprise flashed across his face as the temperature began to decrease.
Her aura drew closer to her body and congregated into a much more brighter and concentrated version as compared to before, and as Daneel saw this, he felt hope.
After a few moments during which they exchanged gazes, Cassandra opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Her mouth kept moving as if she was trying to say something, but it looked like she had lost the ability to speak, and as her eyes were only filled with flames, he couldn't decipher anything from them either.
Puzzled, Daneel asked Drakos what the matter was, to which the Dragon answered in a doubtful voice.
"I'm not sure myself, Young king. The reality is that none of us have any clues regarding this bloodline, except knowing how to recognize it as that incident when the original possessor went insane is something that is branded into the minds of all of us. In a fit of fury, she went on a rampage that leveled an enormous forest, and although we all set out on the orders of the Emperor in order to stall her, we were unable to do so. She could beat any one of us in direct combat, and when we ganged up on her, she was so fast that she would simply leave us in the dust if she chose to flee. Even the other bloodlines which were supposed to be famed for their aerial maneuvering skills were almost no match. That was the first time that we all faced such a huge defeat, and we could never forget it. In fact, it was the personal corps of the Emperor who were affected the most- till then, they had been pretty complacent due to their power, but they completely changed their attitudes after that. Then, too, that individual could not speak and she looked exactly like this - but I ask you not to panic, as she also had a very furious expression on her face, and it was pretty clear that she had lost all semblance of sanity already. Your commander looks more or less normal, as she was even able to draw in her domain so that she wouldn't hurt you."
Daneel began to think deeply as he heard this. At first, he had indeed been ready to panic, but he knew that he needed to be calm in order to help this loyal commander of his.
What he really needed was some way to switch off whatever was happening to her, and as he thought along this line, he finally hit upon an idea that he felt might work.
"System, can you create a spell with the same effects as the thing that is around my Mageroot? I want to seal all the Energy flowing in her body, though.."
[Negative. No such spells found.
However, a different method has been found from a journal from the time of the Empire
The target is already in a state of high Energy. An overload will result in an immediate internal shut down which apparently does not have lasting effects except for disabling one's ability to control the Energy inside their body for a limited period of time. Essentially, they lose both their Mage and Fighter powers for a time.]
That was exactly what he needed!
But… An overload? How were they supposed to make that happen?
Instantly, Daneel remembered an image- a small room where if one looked up, they would see interweaving roots that glowed a faint red.
Not hesitating at all, Daneel turned to Kellor and said, "Follow my instructions carefully."
A few minutes later, Daneel and Cassandra were the only two people inside the training chamber that he had obtained during the tryst with the Empire Spirit of Eldinor.
This was his most precious belonging, and it would be indispensable after he actually broke through. However, he couldn't use it now as he was at a saturation point, and even his commanders couldn't make use of it as this was too high a level of Energy that would bring more harm to them than good.
Placing Cassandra here was the best option. Not even a few seconds after she had entered the chamber and inadvertently absorbed the Energy that was present in the form of a thick gas all around them, she shook as if something was attacking her from inside her own body.
Bringing her here had been easy, as she had willingly followed all commands as if the Cassandra they knew was still inside this woman even though she couldn't communicate anything with them. They had tried having her write along the way, too, but she had only been able to write down gibberish.
After shuddering for a few more seconds, with a loud scream, Cassandra crumpled to the floor while the aura around her finally disappeared, allowing her to get back to normal.
Watching her, Daneel heaved a huge sigh of relief before he furrowed his eyebrows while thinking about something that had just occurred to him.
"Drakos, how the hell is it that all of those around me are so abnormal? I thought it might be a coincidence at first, but now, even Cassandra turn out to be someone possessing such an incredible bloodline, it no longer seems to be so. I even know everything that happened during the Empire, so I know that this was not some sort of plan and I don't think this can be explained by that thing Hungary a once to defend itself, so it's doing stuff to that end. If so, is the consciousness of Hungary something and think so accurately and place all such people around me? I don't think so. How the hell is this possible, tray course?"
Then he had no option but to grant, as he knew that the answer to this was not even available in the memories of the Emperor.
However, to his surprise, the ancient Dragon really did have an answer.
"It has puzzled me, too, Young King, but I have a theory. Imagine if this really was enabled somehow once more by the Will of the World simply because it wants to protect itself from the fate that it can sense is approaching it at a breakneck speed. It made it so that there are more ways for people to empower themselves, and also higher chances for forces that will defend her to be as strong as they could be. For this, it is possible that the sentience made a lot of talents congregate in one place. However, I'm sure that it is not able to distinguish between forces that mean well for her, and which do not. And going forward and blindly empowering everyone would also be bad, but with no other option… I think the Will is doing just that. That brings me the conclusion that the reason behind so many coincidences, at least when compared to all other forces…is you, who is making it possible for all of these things to happen. Think about it, Young King. If you hadn't orchestrated it, would Luther have gone back to his sect? If you didn't establish this Road, would Cassandra have entered the state of awakening? If you hadn't helped out your friend, would he even have lived to become what he is today? You say that all these things cannot be explained, Young King, but I want to tell you that you are the one who cannot be explained. You are the anomaly who is influencing everything, and you're the one that would stand out to anyone if they are observing Angaria and wondering how so many coincidences are taking place. You…"
"Get the f*ck out of there, or we'll burn you alive!"
Hearing Drakos's deep philosophy interrupted in this rude way by a voice that sounded like it was coming from far away, Daneel felt dazed for a moment and then understood its source.
"Disperse the clone and let me awaken in my body."
A moment later, Daneel blinked as he found himself in his original body.
However, all around him, he could hear many people cursing at him in loud voices.
They kept clamoring for him to come out, and that they would end him as soon as he did so.
Daneel had already expected this, so he chuckled and opened the door of the pod to see over a hundred fists pointing right at his face, ready to launch forward and pummel him into a paste.
Seeing his smile made all of these people pause, and when the King of Lanthanor spoke, an uproar unlike any that had occurred before this point rocked the room, shocking even those who were deep inside the simulations.
"Look what we have here. In the Central Continent, there's a saying that when you kick a dog, you should be wary of the runts who act all macho even though they're nothing but weak sh*ts with big mouths. I didn't know that a single dog could have so many runts! Guess I'll add this to the tales I'll tell when I go back to my Kingdom…"