Elanev couldn't help but smile in return when he heard his younger brother's dialogue.
Indeed, if they thought that they were done with him, then they would soon be proved very, very wrong.
All through the altercation before, he had been watching closely in an attempt to find out just when the switch would occur. He knew that it was coming, and he had been braced for it, but to his shame, he had to admit that he had still missed it.
So, after Daneel was done dusting off his clothes and checking that all of his trinkets were in place, the two of them began walking in a specific direction away from the nearest roar.
That was when Elanev spoke up.
"So how did you carry out the switch, anyway?"
Daneel chuckled in response.
"Any Warrior would flinch for at least a moment when they hear the roar of a maddened Champion level individual who will soon be out to kill them. That one moment was all I needed. The whole reason I allowed myself to fall on that pile of bodies was so that I could quickly mix myself in it using both that moment of distraction and the flash of light that I knew would appear when a teleportation trinket was used. So… By the time anyone could refocus their attention on me, I was already inside my 'throne', while some random hapless fighter who happened to come upon me on my way here got teleported out. A simple switcheroo, that's all."
Daneel told it as if it was easy, but the truth was that if it weren't for the Basilisk's Breath, it would have been impossible for him to utilize that perfect moment in order to escape. Of course, the added speed that he could muster while under the effect of the Basilisk's Breath had also come in handy, allowing him to noiselessly mingle among all the bodies that constituted the throne while the decoy got teleported out.
On Earth, magic was all about distraction and misdirection. By timing it perfectly so that his "downfall" would be at around the time that the grace period would end, he had made it so that he could use that moment to misdirect everyone and make them believe that he had escaped like a coward.
And now, because no one would be wary of him, he could go about his plan easily.
It looked like Elanev had figured that out too, as he said, "Yeah, right. A 'simple' switcheroo. You just needed to coordinate it so that the Champions would appear on the battlefield at the same time, and that you would be in a spot where it would be easy for you to escape from the eyes of everyone. And how could I forget that you would have had to plan all this beforehand to get the trinkets from Lanthanor when you came here? Oh yes, I bet even I would be able to do it if I wanted. Easily. Anyway, let's get back to it."
Daneel merely smiled slyly as he heard the sarcasm oozing in his elder brother's voice, but there was no way that he was giving up his secrets. More and more, he had begun to understand just how crucial the Basilisk's Breath was, and he was truly grateful that he had gotten it from the Hidden Kill Sect.
This did make him wonder about what other inheritances like these were present in the other forces, but he put that aside for now and focused on what was at hand.
Indeed, the true plan would begin now, so they would have to tread carefully.
"Follow me."
Saying so, Daneel took off at a run, while Elanev followed with a mixed expression in his eyes.
No matter how hard he worked, it always looked like his younger brother was out of his reach, but he decided that he would not let that bring him down. Instead, it would only motivate him more to work even harder and achieve everything he wanted.
Daneel didn't notice that, as he was too busy feeling grateful that he had the system, which hadn't been disabled by the trinket which was around his mageroot. The system was basically the dream tool that anyone could use to win this battle - it could scan an area around him, allowing him to clearly know where the threats were, so that he could avoid them or target them if need be.
Right now, he had already identified where the closest Champion level threat was, so he was taking Elanev in a direction where they would be safe.
After running for around 20 minutes, they finally came upon a cave into which Daneel entered.
After Elanev entered, too, Daneel said, "This place should be safe for a little bit. We will have enough time to decide what we are going to do, and then set off. Let's also use this as one of the places that we can meet at over these 30 days whenever we need to talk about something. It looks like they've disabled all sorts of communication and scanning, so we will have to resort to methods like these."
Elanev nodded, and then was treated to a sight that made him gape.
Taking off his shirt, Daneel shook it, causing a heap of trinkets to fall to the ground.
There were at least 30 to 40 of them, and they were all of different shapes and sizes. However, one thing was common among all of them - they were all glowing, which meant that they all had Energy stored inside them beforehand, which was crucial as no Fighter in this battlefield was allowed to bring in Energy sources of any sort with them. And of course, any spellcasting was also forbidden.
Elanev was just about to remark that he had been quite skilful in hiding all of these and still being able to fight like that before, but he paused and closed his mouth when he saw Daneel take out even more trinkets from all the pockets in his pants.
Finally, a giant pile of over 100 trinkets was in front of him, while Elanev's eyes shifted between it and Daneel.
Understanding the silent question that was being asked, the King of Lanthanor shrugged and said, "What can I say? I love backup plans, and I couldn't decide which trinkets to leave. So, I just decided to get them all. It turns out that having a Hero level formation master is really handy - almost any Warrior level and below spell can be turned into a trinket. That was how I made that transformation trinket that I used before, too. Well, there are some limitations. For example, my favorite spell is Mind Control, but even though I can make trinkets that do specific actions such as make someone forget the last minute of their life, I can't change the trinkets however I wish so that they can be used in all situations. Hence, I had to plan beforehand and only bring those that I thought would be most useful."
Gulping, Elanev simply nodded and walked back, knowing that he had to get used to these antics of his younger brother, whom no one could possibly understand.
As for his penchant for backup plans, he knew about it clearly, so he could only remark that Daneel was being very… thorough.
"The other problem with this is that because they can only utilize the small amount of Energy that is stored in them, they basically become useless after a single use. So, I had to bring so many. Anyway, I'll quickly arrange them so that we can get started. And, of course, here are the most important ones."
Saying so, Daneel took out two round, shining glass balls that look like they held a star inside them.
He was very careful with them, as this was the first time he was using such a trinket. If it weren't for the fact that he had unlocked the third seal, he could never even have dreamt of obtaining the formation plan for something like this.
Placing them on the ground, Daneel let out a breath, while Elanev said, "So you really did it. I was doubting it when I read that note. How did they look when you told them what you needed them to do?"
"Oh, they had no option to say anything, because they were dumb enough to bet on something and then lose to me. So, they had to shut up and just endure it all. It was pretty funny seeing their constricted faces, you know, and Faxul, in particular, look like he really wanted to say a lot of stuff."
On the outside, Elanev burst laughed awkwardly, but inwardly, he told himself sternly that he should never, ever bet on anything against the King.
…
Tall honestly couldn't believe what had happened just now.
That was it? The dominating King had been defeated so easily?
Although this question appeared in his head, the counter question also followed - how could anyone handle the simultaneous attacks from more than 100 Fighters?
Tall doubted whether even a Champion would be able to do that, so it only made sense that the King had no option but to succumb to the swarm.
As for the statement by Ace, he knew that it was bullish*t, but again, he was powerless to do anything about it.
Still, something kept telling him that they were all missing something. That they had all forgotten something, and that it might bite them in their arse later.
He had always had a sense of premonition that typically came true, but usually, he was able to logically infer ways in which that would happen. In this situation, though, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out how the King could have escaped. They all had seen clearly that a teleportation trinket had activated, and that someone wearing the same clothes as the King had disappeared. The afterimage had even lingered for a few moments, during which this had been confirmed.
Right as he was about to think more about it, a roar sounded nearby, which made him freeze as if he was an antler in front of headlights.
In his musing, he realized that he had randomly kept moving in a direction even though there were a few signs all around that where he was going was not safe at all.
The biggest sign, though, was a huge footprint that was right in front of him.
It looked like it belonged to a man who was at least three or four times bigger than himself, which was no mean feat as he was already called a half-giant as he stood more than six and a half feet tall.
In the previous Legacy Battles, being silent had always been something that was crucial if anyone wanted to save their lives. Then, Champions had been instructed to leave those who were astute enough to cover their tracks and erase all traces of their presence.
However, now, as Tall saw a monstrosity marching in his direction from right in front of him, he realized what Ace had meant back in that meeting when he said that the Champions would be in the same state that all powerful individuals had entered during the apocalypse.
He had read about it in books, and he had seen a few illustrations, but nothing came close to the real thing.
The body was oddly swollen to at least three times its normal size, resulting in one which would definitely be called a giant that was larger than all other giants in Angaria.
However, the word 'monstrosity' would always be the one used to describe this thing, as the head was still the original size, which resulted in a mismatch that was just terrifying to look at.
Add to that the fact that the eyes of this thing were a pure red while its face was twisted in ways that a human face would never be able to move naturally, this being would make anyone bow down and beg for mercy.
However, no mercy would be shown today.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRR!"
With another roar that shook the trees around them, the thing sprang toward Tall, who instantly began running, hoping that his swift legs that he was famed for would carry him far, far away from this place.
However, it looked like it was the end of the road for him, as the giant kept closing in.
That… Was when he saw a member of his faction a few hundred meters away, who was silently gesturing at him to come in that direction.
That same premonition that had appeared to him when he had seen the King before came again now, which told him that something was wrong with this person.
However, there was no time to think. Without further ado, Tall headed in that direction, and to his extreme surprise, there was a trap in the ground on his way which he leaped over, but which the Champion fell into.
Although it still managed to jump out, that moment of time was enough for the two Fighters to make an escape.
Panting, the two regained their breath a few hundred meters away from that spot, after making sure that they were alone.
Tall opened his mouth to thank the person who had saved him, but instead, the man spoke before that, saying, "Faction leader! There is a rival faction nearby! I've also located a few other team members of ours! Let's go, this is the perfect opportunity to end them!"