To the north of Angaria, at a spot above the area that was between the Kingdom of Arafell and the Black Raven Kingdom, was another famous no-trespassing zone that was known among all those nearby as the one that was definitely the most inexplicable and mysterious in the entire continent.
Perhaps, the reason behind this was that this was one which boasted a zero death rate, which was pretty unique, as all the other zones either killed people or put them at quite a great risk of dying.
But if so, then why was it even labeled as one?
The answer was that whoever was foolish enough to cross the clear border that was drawn in the ground would disappear, and then reappear at the same spot exactly six months later.
No matter what that person was asked, they would not be able to answer just what they had been doing for all those months, and to them, it would even feel as if only a moment had passed.
Yet, there would always be some or the other minor change in them.
For example, there was a tale that was recited in all the nearby settlements that a village chief who was said to be the most upright man in his village had mistakenly stepped inside the border because he had seen a precious plant just a few steps away from where he stood.
Forgetting about this ultimate taboo, the story went that he had disappeared and reappeared exactly 6 months later, to find someone from his village waiting for him as they had known what had happened after seeing his herb gathering bag lying on the ground inside the no-trespassing zone.
Initially, it had all looked fine - it just seemed that he had missed a few months of his life, and he got back to his regular duties as the Chief.
Yet, soon, a few changes began to be seen, and these started at his home.
He had been married for 20 years, and their marriage was supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the entire village. They were treated as role models, and they were often even talked about as being blessed by the heavens.
However, the chief suddenly began to be irritated by almost everything his wife said, and it got so bad that one day, he finally exclaimed that he had been unhappy all these years and that he had kept up appearances so that he could hold his post.
This caused shock to radiate throughout the village, as no one could believe the truth that had been exposed.
The wife and husband parted, and although the elders of the village sensed that something was wrong, they just let it be by telling themselves that this was probably just a typical, temporary fight between two lovers that would be resolved later on, when tempers calmed down.
Only, things started to get worse. The chief started to show a hitherto-unseen lewd side of his, openly flirting with the young woman of the village who could only helplessly oblige as they didn't want to offend the one with the most power in their settlement, and even began to make passes on married women.
The elders continued to watch with growing discontent, but everything reached a head when the chief was caught trying to sneak into the bed of his neighbor's wife.
That was when the man was finally stripped of his role, but even when he saw all the honor and prestige that he had earned throughout his entire life being burnt to nothingness, he only smiled madly.
Initially, after this, the elders had considered that they would just banish him. Some who had been close friends of the chief also started to say that this might be some sort of effect because of him disappearing for all those months, and that he probably should not be blamed for something that was not in his control. No one really knew what happened in those months, so this actually seemed like a plausible explanation, as such an unbelievable change in someone that they had known throughout their life was something that they could not come to terms with, at all.
But as soon as the stripping of his role was completed, multiple woman came forward saying that he had taken advantage of them all multiple times and threatened them with the power he held to stay silent.
Hence… This made them understand that the scoundrel was the real face of the now former chief, and that everything they had been seeing so far was a façade.
This tale was exaggerated and told in all the surrounding settlements, and it even started to become an urban legend that all those who entered that line would have their true natures emerge.
However, another strange thing was that this didn't even seem to be uniform, as there were some people who disappeared and reappeared with no changes whatsoever.
So, although there was no consensus regarding exactly what the effect of stepping across the line was, it was still widely accepted that no one should be foolish enough to go and check this out for themselves.
After finding out all these things, Daneel had a pondering expression on his face while he sat on a tree and waited for the party of the Sect of Hedon to pass.
He was currently in the forest area and the spot where he was sitting was a few tens of kilometers away from that line of demarcation that marked the no trespassing zone.
The first thing he had done after coming here after following the tracking spell that he had left in Percy had been to open the map and mark down the locations of the Big Four he knew of.
This had led him to understand that a large unmarked area in the map was definitely where the last of the Big Four was, which was also the general spot where he was currently standing.
Daneel had already found out the name of this last sect of the Big Four long ago, when those Warriors had invaded Lanthanor.
It was called the Eternal Blossom, but except for that, he didn't know anything about it.
Even in all the records he had gathered from the other sects of the Big Four, there was very little mention of this one, and it looked like it kept to itself for most of the time.
After that, he had gone around to the small settlements that existed around this place to find out these tales that were all very odd.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't really connect this with anything else that would allow him to glean insights regarding the sect.
So, shrugging, he gave up for the moment and used a zoom spell on his eyes to look in a certain direction, where the trees were parting because a large group was passing through.
This group from the Sect of Hedon wasn't trying to be discreet, at all, and they didn't have any reason to be, as they were accompanied by the Head of the High Council, himself.
It seemed that with his recent display of power, he was confident enough that no one would be so foolish as to attack and find out just how strong the most powerful man in Angaria was.
This presented a huge problem, though.
After carefully analyzing all the messages he had received, Daneel had reached the only conclusion possible.
Whoever was responsible for placing that restriction in Percy, must not have wanted him to leave the sect, as he would need to be within a small area of Percy if he wanted to activate it.
Percy, on the other hand, wanted to notify Daneel that something was up, and for this, he must have realized that this was the only option where he could leave the sect without dying.
There were other possibilities that were also present, but this one seemed like it had the most probability of being true, mainly because of the fact that he knew that the wound was self-inflicted.
This, along with the order in which things had happened, strongly indicated that this was Percy's wish, which had been fulfilled now.
His master was here.
Yet, with the Head present, Daniel felt helpless.
Although Daneel had analyzed this much, he was clueless regarding the rest.
There were two possibilities - either some Hero from Angaria was responsible, or it was the Church which had somehow managed to infiltrate the Sect of Hedon.
Either way, they were targeting Percy, and for this, Daneel could find no reason.
Instead of focusing too much on this and wasting his time, Daneel had decided that the best thing to do was to reach Percy and somehow talk to him.
True, he was in a suspended state, but Daneel had already figured out how he could go around this using the system.
After simply asking it whether one who was in that state could be communicated with, he had got the answer he needed.
[Hero-level Spell 'Consciousness Link' can be cast as both individuals are at the same level. For a limited period of time, host can communicate with the consciousness of the target, but there is a risk as during this, host's consciousness will be at the mercy of the target. Host will essentially be entering the target's dream, and in a dream, complete control is always present with the dreamer. Because of this limitation, this technique was never used during the Empire for interrogation.]
This was Percy, so Daneel didn't think too much of the risk.
However, the problem was that to cast it, he needed to be touching Percy, which meant that he needed to somehow infiltrate the group.
First of all, he thanked his lucky stars that the group hadn't directly teleported inside the sect that they were going to for some reason. They had teleported to quite some distance away, where the forested area began, and they had begun walking from there. Daneel had received the messages from the system the moment Percy had set off from the sect, and he had right away adjourned the gathering and arrived above the area. Seeing their own actions, he had also decided not to do any kind of teleportation, as there might be Hero-level formations that he couldn't detect present. Finding the tales had only taken a few seconds, and now, the main thing he needed to figure out was how he should go about entering the group by disguising himself as one of those inside it.
There were many targets, but the main problem was that if the Head was present, then he could do nothing.
He had already thought on this topic for the last minute, and as an idea finally occurred to him, a small smile appeared on the corner of his lips, which was the same one that he always got whenever his ideas were the mischievous kind.
…
In the group, the Head was calmly walking forward. Even with his status, the prestige of the one inside the sect they were going to was something that just could not be challenged. Anyone who wished to enter had to walk, and that was exactly what they were doing.
Yet, suddenly, out of the blue, he received a message that made him stop, and in turn, the entire group stopped behind him.
"Head! I'm suddenly missing my son a lot, and I want to drink! I've already finished my reserves, so I'm treating myself to yours! If you want to stop me, come join me!"
His wine reserves!
As a connoisseur of wine, the Head had collected many precious bottles and crates that he treasured, and now, he cursed his folly which had made him give access to Rayen because he had pitied the man before, when he had lost his son.
He had given the offer that he could come and drink along with him whenever he wished, but this wasn't a very good time.
"Rayen, I'm in the middle of something! Leave, for now! We can drink later!"
…
Seeing the Head halt, and then walk forward again after sending a message, Daneel touched the communication trinket that connected him with the Hero under him and said, "Not enough. Wilder."
After contacting Rayen, Daneel's request had been simple: do something 'wild' that will pull the head away without causing suspicion.
He didn't understand why the head was even in this group, and this was the way he had decided on to try and make the man leave at least temporarily so that he could go about what he wished to do.
…
The head had given this order and continued his solemn walk, but he had no option but to halt once again as he received another message. This one caused him distress, which was evident from the slightly angry expression on his face.
"Hic! Head! I ain't accepting any of that! I'm going to dig into your most precious bottles if you don't get here right now! And no clones either! If you don't want to see them disappear…"
"NO! Rayen, if you do that, I swear you won't be walking straight for months! Just control yourself! I'll come as soon as I can!"
…
Once more, the group continued, and seeing that the Head was still there, Daneel frowned and sent, "Wilder! Go all out, dammit! I don't know what you do, but he has to come to you, at least for a minute!"
On the other end, Daneel heard a sigh and a grumble, but he didn't care.
…
"HEAD! IMMA BURN THIS WHOLE PLACE DOWN! IF YOU WON'T DRINK WITH ME, YOU SHOULDN'T DRINK WITH ANYONE! LET IT BE A TRIBUTE TO MY SON! PRECIOUS OR NOT, EVERYTHING'S GONNA GO UP IN FLAMES! AHAHAHA!"
As the group stopped for a third time, the others could tell that something was wrong.
The Head now had outright panic on his face, and some even began to wonder whether there was another attack.
"STOP RIGHT THERE! I'M COMING!"
Screaming this into the communication trinket that connected him with the Hero, the Head turned around and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes, you guys carry on. If anything out of the norm happens, contact me right away."
With this, the Head finally teleported away, which made Daneel heave a sigh of relief.
"You've done well.", he sent, but from the other end, he could swear that he heard a grunt, as if someone had just been punched squarely in the stomach.
Thinking that this was odd, he got off the tree and slinked toward the group.