"In possession of an Empire Spirit"?
After a moment of stillness, Daneel's heart started to beat rapidly in his chest while he frantically turned around, trying to identify the source of the voice.
How the heck had they managed to find out that he was from Lanthanor, and that he had Drakos with him?
This was one of the Big Four! The main card that was hidden up his sleeve was that the Big Four did not know about the link that could be formed between Empire Spirits and regular people, which was why they were ignoring the possibility that those who were capable of casting Hero level spells like Daneel were roaming around under their noses.
True, there were only been two individuals like that, such as him and the King of Axelor, and even in the latter case, it had been that the Empire Spirit had mostly been dominating the man.
And, of course, Arafell couldn't be counted.
Still, the status quo was clear - the Big Four wouldn't crack down on Kings and Queens of the Central Continent because they didn't know that this was even possible, and if they did, it would be a clear threat to their power that they would never be able to leave alone knowingly.
Yet… Someone of the Big Four had found out the truth?
No! It couldn't happen!
For the first time in a long time, Daneel felt intense panic covering his mind, and the only conclusion he could reach was that whoever this was, had to be killed, as this information could not leave this room.
Right away, he asked the system whether it could identify just who was speaking, but when it said that it couldn't, he didn't lose hope.
Whoever this was would appear in front of him sooner or later, and if they tried to leave, he could find out, as he detected that anti-teleportation formations and physical barriers had been erected to seal everything inside this cave such that no one could go in or come out.
With a more serious expression on his face than any that he had used to deal with almost everything that had popped up till now, Daneel prepared to go all out. His main secret had been exposed anyway, so he didn't really care if more was found out, as if this got out, he was pretty sure that everything that he had been taking for granted would be gone.
No more trust from the Head. No more freedom to do as he wished with his Hero level spells as Heroes of Angaria didn't know that there were others with the same abilities on the continent. No more non-interference by the Big Four in the Central Continent.
He could almost imagine it. They would definitely begin checking each and every King and Queen thoroughly, and even Arafell would be pulled into this.
Although they had been foes till now, Daneel knew about her value, and because she had lost, she would definitely be vulnerable right now as she wouldn't have broken the third seal. He didn't know what measures she had and how she had infiltrated the Big Four, but he didn't trust that she would be able to defend herself against them all.
Everything that he had worked for till now would be gone. And as for himself, he would mostly be imprisoned and then experimented on to find out how the link could be made, so that the Heroes of Lanthanor could extract as much information from the time of the Empire as possible.
When he thought about it, Daneel realized that they couldn't even be blamed. If he was in their position, and found out that these Empire Spirits who were formerly thought to be just crazy things that could not be reconciled with could form a bond and even share valuable information, then he might also do everything he could to use this to get more power that could be used against the Church, when it invaded.
"Oh, don't be so serious. I can tell that you've decided to kill me, but that is the most foolish thing you can try, right now. Tell me. What is it you wish to achieve? Like I said before, you have an Empire Spirit, and everything you've done till now was to increase the Satisfaction level and break all three seals. You've even succeeded in that, so I guess that you are now eyeing the Race. Assume that you get the Grand Inheritance, and assume that you even fulfill the conditions placed by the Emperor which might be enough to ensure that you don't cause another apocalypse like him. Then what? What do you want to do? Do you want to take control of the entire continent and hand it over to the Church, as even the Grand Inheritance would not help you with the realms above that of the Hero level, or do you want to just stroke your ego that is definitely fulfilled each time you see someone bowing to you?"
As Daneel heard all this, he couldn't help but stagger back a few steps.
They knew everything!
Daneel felt naked, and he didn't like it one bit. All this time, he had hidden all these secrets close to his heart, which had taken a toll on him. True, that had been abated with the setting up of the Nine Sovereigns and with him sharing everything, but that was different. Having it all discovered by someone from the Big Four felt so…wrong, and his heart just refused to calm down.
"Oh, and by the way, before you ask, I didn't use any complicated methods to find out your identity. You made a mistake. A silly one. You were in Lanthanor right before you arrived here, right? We are a sect who loves this continent which has given his life. We know exactly how the soil and the surroundings smell in each and every Kingdom and area, and you smelled strongly of that area where the gathering was taking place. From this conclusion, it was easy for me to deduce everything else knowing what you've done so far. So if you want to blame someone, then you can only blame yourself."
What - what?
Smell?
Daneel felt like laughing hysterically as he heard this.
Indeed, he had been thinking that whoever this was had means that were far beyond what he could imagine, and had used those to pierce the Hero level camouflage spell that he was currently using which had been cast by Drakos.
Yet… He had been given away by something as simple as this.
If they knew so much, then at this moment, Daneel really did feel that all hope is lost, but he was now not the same person as when he had first transmigrated here, with a weak will which might definitely have crumbled right now and waited for death.
No, he was the King of Lanthanor and the leader of the Alliance, and millions of people trusted in him and were waiting for him to lead them into a new dawn.
No matter what happened, he had to get through this.
Even if he had to break his honor, his pride, and even his power, he had the confidence to get back them all due to the one thing that he had that he was sure no one else could ever find out about. In fact, it was the last thing that was of that sort, now.
The system.
So, with this thought, Daneel finally began to calm down. This change was clearly visible on his face, where his eyes had been darting around with extreme panic until now.
As he calmed down, so did they, and he started to look squarely forward as his heartbeat also returned to normal.
Yes. No matter what would come, he would deal with it with this calm demeanor, and he would definitely walk away alive.
However, it looked like he was destined to not remain in that state.
"Enough, Erin. He is not someone who breaks easily, and as you must already have understood, you won't be successful today. Just show yourself."
The one who said these words… Was none other than the Ancient Dragon in his head, who had been silent until now.
His eyes widening, Daneel wondered what the f*ck was going on, which was when a woman appeared in front of him.
She was wearing that same mysterious cloak as that other woman who had guided them, with the face completely hidden. The only reason the Daneel was able to tell that both of these were woman was a small bulge in the chest region, and as the cloak was pulled back to reveal a face, Daneel's gaze fell upon someone with such striking features that he could tell that no one would be able to forget even if they saw her just once.
Unlike the transcending beauty of the Queen, this woman felt… down-to-earth, but she was anything but normal. She had a high nose and thick lips that glittered in the light that was coming out of nowhere in the cave, and there were smile lines around her mouth which indicated that she was someone who laughed a lot. This was most apparent from her eyes, which were a vivid green and which seemed to be laughing even as they moved. She also had a half-smile on her face, and it felt as if this was something that always graced her lips no matter what she was doing.
"System, can you detect who this is?", Daneel asked, as, for some reason, he hesitated before asking Drakos, who had not said anything till now but had startled him with those words.
As the Dragon hadn't offered an explanation yet, Daneel decided to patiently wait for it, but if this was someone that he knew, it was possible that Daneel had information on the person, too.
Unsurprisingly, it turned out that he was right.
[Scanning. One entry found. Empire Spirit - Erin. Formerly the Master of Torture, Spies, Infiltration and the Kingdom-toppling Division in the Empire of Angaria. Excels in breaking the minds of those whom she needs to pull information from, or those who need to be turned into an ally. Also excels in planning the downfall of enemy forces. Was placed in an area that was supposed to have been overrun by time and later discovered by the Big Four. Thought to be in captivity by the Big Four. She was one of the most vehement supporters for the usage of the Grand Inheritance to save Angaria.]
An Empire Spirit?!
In the big four!
As everything the Daneel knew so far was turned on its head, Drakos spoke.
"Young King, this… Is an old friend."
How? And why did the words 'old friend' sound weird when they came from Drakos? Did they have some sort of history?
Because Daneel's mind was distressed, such random thoughts appeared, but he snuffed them out and asked, "But… How?"
"I do not know. Let us find out."
Saying so, Drakos cast a spell to make an individual appear in front of Daneel.
At first, it was the head of a Dragon that came into being, but after looking for a bit, Daneel realized that it was just the breastplate of a magnificent set of armor that was red in color, and was in the style of a Dragon. There were scales glittering everywhere, and it looked so heavy that normal people would definitely not be able to wear it and still be agile.
This was also the most magnificent armor that Daneel had ever seen, but he waited for the face of the man to form, as he had already guessed who this was.
Auburn hair that glowed like fire. High cheekbones and a sharp jaw that when set with determination, could burn through everything in its way.
And finally, striking red eyes like molten lava that were so pure that they shone like red diamonds.
This…was Drakos, the dragon, turned into a man.
And the moment he came into being, Erin ran toward him and hugged him tightly, while Daneel could only watch on dumbly, as his mind had already gone numb due to everything he had seen and found out so far.
In front of those, the shock that this Empire Spirit happened to know Drakos, quite well, seemed like a small one that he could take.
Drakos, though, pushed her away and held her by her shoulders before saying, "Erin, how are you…"
As if she had understood what he was going to ask, she casually lay a finger on his lips to interrupt him, before saying something that came as one more shock to Daneel, which made him remark that if anyone with a weaker heart was present in his place, they would definitely have fainted by now.
"Don't you remember that I used to say that the greed of others is my strongest weapon? This sect found me, and instead of locking me away like the others, they wanted to investigate and see if they could find something useful. You know me. A single chance is enough for me to worm myself into the highest of positions no matter what organization it is. These fools were foolish enough to bare their hearts, so I…well, it's a long story, but the gist is that I'm now their leader. They don't know it, of course, because I take forceful possession of each and every leader of theirs…its really funny, I tell you, when each sect member works hard to reach the top for their entire life to take the place of the sect leader, and then realizes that it basically means being forcefully enslaved by me for the rest of it..."
As the woman started to laugh loudly, a chill unlike any he had felt in his life so far crept up Daneel's spine.