In the air above the Kingdom of Lanthanor, Daneel was pacing around on a platform that he had created while he waited for the return of the Head.
The man had laughed after his request before, but after that, in seriousness, he had said that he really would try to obtain more benefits for him from the High Council.
The relationship between the High Council and the Head had always been something that Daneel had thought he knew clearly, but recently, he had started to get doubts regarding that.
He had always thought that the Head had even gotten his moniker because he was, well, the Head of the High Council, but on asking, he had found out that that was not the case.
That was strange, because even in the records that he had gone through in the Goddess's Sanctum, it had been stated that even though there might be multiple personages who might have the same overall power level in the continent, the Head was the one who was declared to be the strongest in a contest that was held every time the present Head stepped down.
It was a position of privilege, and it allowed one to have near limitless resources. Of course, there were a lot of duties, too, which would occupy most of their day, but many treated this as something to be treasured, and not complained about.
In those writings, Daneel had gotten the feeling that patriotism had still been on the rise at that time, unlike now, where the situation was almost completely different.
Although Daneel had no idea how it had changed in a mere thousand years, he did not venture any guesses, but what he had found out from the Head was that unlike what many people thought, he wasn't actually the strongest person in the continent.
There were apparently others who could rival him in power, and when they stood together in the High Council, even he would have to only meekly ask and argue a bit for things instead of using his position to bully them into getting what he wanted.
The good thing was that these personages were usually not involved in petty conflicts such as that where a few Heroes had been calling for action on Daneel before. Still, their opinion was very much valued, and during that incident, apparently, they had been split, which had allowed the Head to use his display of power to cow the rest and make the entire thing preferable for them.
The very fact that there were people more powerful than the Head, itself, had shocked Daneel quite a bit, because after seeing the display of power before when the man had fought against the one from the Church, Daneel had been pretty convinced that that might be the ceiling of power of the Heroes ofAngaria.
However, after thinking about the fact that the one from the Church was simply another emissary who had been sent to stay here probably because he wasn't even very important, Daneel realized that maybe, this should have been obvious all along. At least, even if he couldn't have imagined that there were those more powerful, he should've guessed that there were people as strong as the Head who must have helped him when they had beaten back those from the Church before. For a time, he considered whether he should ask Rayen about this, but then realizing that there was probably nothing he could do even if he did find out about them, he abandoned the idea and decided to focus more on what was in front of him, which was the weapon, or weapons that he was going to obtain.
His dream was to obtain those with multiple consciousnesses of Godbeasts of possible because right now, he only had two, but just these two might be enough for him to unrivaled in the Champion realm. What he was looking for was more abilities which he could use to his advantage in multiple situations, unlike those of the Dragon and the Cockroach which showed their might in mostly battle, and not in daily life.
The battle was just one part of the struggle against the Church. Before that battle, a lot of preparations still had to be done, and for those, he hoped to find a few consciousnesses that would grant him some abilities that might just tip the scale even further in the favor of the Central Continent.
He had already had a few ideas regarding what he would ideally want, but he had hidden them deep in his heart, because he did not want to go to the treasuries and then see that there was no chance of obtaining those.
As he finally saw the Head reappear, he looked up with an expression of expectation on his face and even felt a smile creeping onto his lips when he saw that the man had a satisfied expression.
"By repeating again and again that if you hadn't been involved, Jessica would have killed all five seeds and then gone on to probably kill more, I was able to secure quite a bit for you. It is to be expected, though, because the services you have rendered really do deserve the best that we can give. Here is an official order from the High Council which grants you access to all four Treasuries in the Big Four, and even a fifth one which is hidden in a very secure location. That is the one which contains the best of our weapons, and in fact, only one person has access to it. You will have to follow the rules of that place, and I must say that I envy you, because even I have only visited that place once."
Daneel continued to look at the Head with that same expression of expectation even though the man stopped speaking at this point, which made him chuckle and then continue.
"Two weapons. Oh, don't look so glum, hear the rest first. Two weapons of any tier can be selected by you, but if they are of a tier higher than your power level, then you would be lent them. If the High Council asks, you will have to return them, but until then, they will be in your position to study and even use, if you can, at your own risk. The objective behind this is that even though you do have the Divine Cockroach bloodline, you still have the potential to become one of the strongest on the continent. Hence, the High Council wishes to help you by giving you these weapons which you can study to gain hints into possible Paths that you can obtain, or possible insights that might help you in your journey. A Bloodline which has the potential to be awakened is precious, and the Divine Cockroach, unlike general perception, is one whose possessors were dreaded if they chose the correct path and trained in the correct way. Along with these, I was also asked to give you a few specific tomes which were left behind from the age of the Empire by those who had this Bloodline, who became the leaders of the generation and then even went on to become Heroes who led long and prestigious lives. I speak of the time before the apocalypse, of course. Anyway, if you're ready, then we can set off right away to the Treasuries. I assume that you will be selecting for your commander, too?"
As Daneel nodded, the Head smiled.
Indeed, he had gotten an expression just like a child who had been promised a massive set of toys, but had only been given a small car to play around with when he had heard the words 'two weapons'.
However, that expression had faded away when he heard the subsequent words: 'weapons of any tier'.
Since the beginning, he had been worried about the fact that the weapons with consciousnesses which he wished to obtain might be of tiers which he couldn't' access..
After all, from the description that he had heard in the Treasury of the Gods, they seemed like fantastic weapons which would definitely not be given away casually to someone who had just broken through as a Champion like him.
Hence, this was probably the perfect outcome that he could have hoped for. He didn't really care if he would just be lent the weapons, because all he needed was a tiny bit of the consciousness that lingered around all parts of Godbeasts.
A moment after his reply. the Head teleported them to a familiar place.
Indeed, coincidently, the location they arrived at was the Fortress of Unyielding Might, where Daneel had been baited before by the scroll which contained the methodology behind obtaining an Ultimate technique which had been dangled in front of him by the Chief before the Legacy Battle.
This methodology, itself, had been something that he had been thinking about, as he wanted to find a way to implement it for his own path. However, so far, he hadn't gotten any headway into it, and he had decided to take it slow as it would be another trump card that might just save his life in the future.
As the Head directly opened the same thick metal door which Daneel had passed through before, he saw that this time, all of the podiums around him which had been covered with various barriers and formations were now visible, and he could see the objects placed on each of them.
In fact, this arrangement seemed to be common among all the Treasuries of the Big Four, as he had also seen it in the one that he had been to inside the Sect of Hedon, which felt like so long ago.
Whatever the case, the podiums being visible to him was so fascinating that he had already asked the system to perfectly record everything that he was seeing, and right away, he was drawn to a certain one just a few feet away from him.
On it was was an object affixed with four large tasks of an unknown beast. They were affixed on to a metal glove, of sorts, which looked like a weapon that was used by Fighters who loved punching things. These four tusks were each 2 feet long, making it so that if one wore the gloves, they would be quite difficult to carry around.
However, just seeing the tip of each tusk made Daneel feel a slight chill in his back, and as he took a step back because of that, the Head walked forward and said, "It seems that you have an eye for weapons, because you directly went to one of the most precious that is present in this sect. It was made from the tusks of a Godbeast which was known for its piercing power, but it is not a perfect weapon because it makes almost all wielders go slightly mad. In fact, if it is used for a long time, there was even a case where the one who used it permanently lost his sanity. Hence, it is saved for extreme situations, and I would advise you not to choose it."
Daneel raised an eyebrow as he heard this, before instantly going to a different podium.
He had already made an internal list regarding the Godbeasts whose consciousnesses he wanted, and as he went from podium to podium, he kept looking for weapons which fit that list while cataloging everything that was present.
He had to say that he was quite impressed with the collection of the Big Four, and even though they did not contain the top weapons from the age of the Empire which were surely stored in the Treasury of the Gods, the ones that they did have were all powerful objects that could raise the power level of wielders by at least one or two levels. Of course, there was also a problem with most of them, and these problems were actually caused by the consciousnesses that were left behind.
Even with 'Rampage', the weapon he had seen, Daneel had found out that those used it were prone to having their consciousness altered to become people with short tempers, and even the Emperor had lamented that things like these could not be avoided when one messed with the remains of Godbeasts.
After being done with all four Treasuries, Daneel waited to go to the fifth one, but to his surprise, the Head actually just stayed at the Eternal Blossoms sect, whose treasury they had just examined.
This had been one of the barest of all four Treasuries, and the Head had even mentioned that this was actually only one that had been set up by the High Council. Apparently, there was a separate, secret Treasury for this sect which housed the weapons that were related to their techniques, and no one had access to it except for the sect master.
The Head closed his eyes as if speaking to someone while Daneel waited for a few moments, and after that, he finally opened his mouth and said, "Alright, let's go. I had to ask permission, first. The Protector awaits."
That word was spoken with the utmost respect, and even as Daneel wondered just who this individual might be, he found himself teleported to a place underground where there was only a large metal door that could fit a giant in front of him. The door was unmarked, but strangely, there were a lot of dents on it, as if someone had unsuccessfully tried to break it into pieces.
The system immediately notified him that he was in a place where nothing could be scanned outside, and in the next moment, a man wearing grey armour appeared in front of him.
It was a full suit of armour which covered even his face, and on top of it, he was wearing a grey cloak that was tattered, as if it had been used in the roughest of conditions for a long, long time.
In his hands was a sword, and surprisingly, as he rested its tip on the ground so that he could take support on it, it caused a loud sound to reverberate around the area, almost as if it weighed much more than it looked.
The sword also looked ancient - it had a serrated blade which ran straight, and it seemed to be made like a traditional long sword. Just the blade was at least 4 feet tall, and the crossguard, which was much longer than usual, had a strange figure engraved on it. The hilt was wrapped in leather, and even though the man in the armour began to speak, Daneel's eyes didn't waver from this weapon in his hands.
"Welcome to the secret Treasury of Angaria. Unlike the other Treasuries where you would be allowed to see what you wished, here, you must give a few specifications, and I can only show you three weapons in total."
"I want that weapon in your hands!"
As the King unhesitatingly spoke these words, the two men in the room could only stare at him, who almost looked like a kid who was pointing at something in a display and was throwing a tantrum that he wanted it no matter what.
What they didn't know… Was that this was the weapon on top of the list that Daneel had made for himself, and if he could obtain it, he was prepared to bet that he might just become the most powerful Champion level Fighter in the entire continent of Angaria.