In a room with four walls, four windows and no doors, Cassandra was pacing around with a vexed expression on her face.
She had already gotten sick of the sceneries that were being shown in each window, and even though there were some changes in them which were promising, she had already gotten tired of trying to interpret them when all of her cries were going unanswered.
Indeed, even though she knew that the windows were just high-tech display trinkets which were capable of showing three-dimensional images instead of two-dimensional ones, she had still tried screaming in the hope that those outside would hear her.
She had never been one to take up foolish pursuits, but she was just that desperate.
Her anger kept boiling over, making her upend the same table that was present in the room multiple times, even though it had ceased to give her any satisfaction after she had done it for 10 times.
At the moment, she really, really missed Aran.
Throughout her journey in the army, and even after she had become a Commander, he had always been with her, teasing and joking around without a care in the world. He brought her anger, laughter, embarrassment and even confusion, some times, when she had seen the way he always liked to defuse conflicts, instead of inciting them, as she was wont to do.
In this way, they had always been a perfect team. With her temper, Cassandra would often get into fights, and with his glib tongue, Aran would intervene and save her from having to use her official post to get out of situations.
She loved gambling, but she had awful luck, and Aran so loved to tease her about it. Once, to prove his point, he had even bet against her even though it had been on such an obvious thing that she had been sure that there was no way she could lose.
It was in the matter of a fight which they had just been watching, and right after her bet, the winner who was supposed to be an entire level above his opponent actually tripped on an unassuming stone and gave away the victory, following which everyone who had been hoping to make a small amount by making the small bet stared at Jessica until she had had to leave with blushing cheeks.
He had never let her hear the end of it, but with the money he won, he did let her drink herself silly.
Humph. Why am I even thinking about him so much?
With this thought, Cassandra suppressed the pang of longing that she almost felt for her friend who she knew, in the back of her mind, was so much more, and refocused on the group of people whom she had screamed at.
They were camping quite far away, at the base of the mountain, and it looked as if they were having the time of their lives as this place truly was blessed with uncommon beauty.
She remembered thinking the same after her abstruse feeling that she was getting closer to where she had really been born led her to the top of this mountain.
Suddenly, that feeling, which was almost like the one that one would feel when they had forgotten something, but were so close to remembering it that it felt as if it were on the tip of their tongue had grown to the next level.
She had always known that when she succeeded, it would be sudden, and hence, she had already decided to just press a button on a simple trinket she had created that would send the King the message that she had found it, along with her location.
Alas, eight cloaked men had appeared around her in the blink of an eye before she could do anything, and their auras had been so strong that she knew that she might be done for.
With the intention of helping out the King who would definitely come looking for her, she had decided to send the first message which came to her mind: she wanted to use the word 'help' to indicate that the force she had found looking like they were hostile, and after that, she had been about to say that they were all Champions, as she had been able to detect it.
Before the message went through, though, she found herself in an arena where a man had nonchalantly explained some rules and said that she would have to fight if she wanted to leave.
His statement that no one could look at their match had allowed her to throw all caution to the wind, and she had always been impulsive to begin with. In the case of an abduction, like she had said when she had awakened after she had thought that she was kidnapped by someone while it was the King who had done so to help her break through, her policy was to always aim for the royal jewels.
Staying true to this age-old adage(that she had made famous in the army), she had deployed her Phoenix Flames which had made quite a lot of surprise appear on her opponent's face.
The flames were shot towards the area her opponent would scramble to protect, and seeing how the strength of her flames had made her opponent flinch, she had understood that he might be cautious of them.
So, after distracting him, all she had to do was follow up with a devastating attack.
The plan seemed simple but perfect for the situation. Yet, before she could do anything, she saw one of the strangest feats of magic in her life.
A gigantic boulder appeared out of thin air, almost as if it had been teleported here, and her flames could actually do nothing against it. It seemed to have a lot of special properties as she could feel a faint sense of danger from it, but before she could even think of making another attack, a similar boulder appeared above her and began dropping onto her head.
She tried to move, but the gravity in the place she stood had suddenly increased by such a large factor that it was all she could do to even stand on her feet. She tried to teleport, but the space had also gotten locked.
So, helpless, she could only watch as the boulder inexorably reached the top of her body, following which it would definitely crush her into a thick, red paste.
At that moment, the only regret she felt was that she was dying without finding out the answers she had been seeking, but right as she felt a heavy feeling on her head…a voice resounded in her ears.
"You have lost. You will be released after a time."
After that, she had found herself here, and since then, all she had been able to do was stare at the four windows which she already wished she could break apart and crush under her feet.
It was in this manner that Daneel found her.
Right after his opponent's admission, all he had wanted was to verify his statement. So, he had said, "I need proof, otherwise…"
Another faint tug on that body part made the man scream again, following which he said, "You can leave me bound and go in that direction! Enter the corridor, and open the second door on the right!"
After shooting a suspicious glance in his direction, Daneel proceeded to do so after ensuring that he was still in complete control.
Right after the man had shouted those words, some kind of formation seemed to have lifted. Doors came into view all around him, but in the direction the man had indicated using a jerk of his head, there was only one.
It was made of wrought-iron, and it was knurled all over, giving it an ancient look. It made no sound as Daneel swung it open, and after glancing back one last time, he entered the depths of the corridor presented to him.
On opening the second door, he found a small room, of sorts, in the back of which was a transparent barrier. Behind that barrier stood a woman wearing leather clothes while glaring fiercely, and her vivid red hair almost looked as if it was on fire.
On his right was a button, and knowing what it was for, Daneel pressed it and was amused as he saw the absolute shock on Cassandra's face when she saw the wall she had been glaring at dissolve to reveal the King.
Seeing his expression, though…her mind worked in ways he couldn't have imagined.
At first, she did feel happy that the King was standing in front of her without coming to harm, but after that, a sudden suspicion caused her to tighten her lips and say, "My King, was this another one of your fake abductions to…"
Knowing where she was going with her dialogue, Daneel couldn't help but burst out laughing.
His laughter which was filled with so much relief and joy startled Cassandra, and as a smile inadvertently came on her lips, she saw the King run forward and hug her tight.
This was…definitely out of the norm.
"Err, My King, Eloise might not be as powerful as me, but she can be quite creative if she is displeased…"
Daneel only laughed again as he understood what she implied, but he didn't answer, as the happiness of finding someone whom he had thought he had lost forever was really something else.
He felt giddy with relief, and as he finally let her go, he looked into her red eyes and said, "I thought you were dead, and I was ready to burn heaven and hell to avenge you. Now…all is well."
No sooner had he said this, he felt another teleportation attempt on both of them.
Daneel was almost tempted to stop it, as he had had quite enough of things happening without him controlling them.
However, he only let go of the constraints on his opponent as his time limit was already fast approaching, but after that, a strange message appeared in his mind, and he also started to feel suddenly dizzy.
[Host's consciousness is being tampered with. Analyzing attack. Attack is targeting host's recent memories. How would host like to proceed?]
Huh? Someone wanted to erase his memories?
After thinking for a bit, Daneel suddenly understood something.
The man had said that no one would ever find out about the fight he had been through. Was this…how that was supposed to be accomplished?
Without further ado, Daneel gave an answer.
"Allow it to do as it wishes, but stop it if there is an attempt to harm me. Store the memories being erased, and restore them after one minute."
[Affirmative. Letting down defenses. Tracking attack. All memories relating to the fight have been erased without being scanned. Attack has dissipated. Standing by to restore memories.]
Right after Daneel heard this, he went through a very strange experience.
He appeared in a peculiar hall which had no ceiling: there was the sky above it, but the weird thing was…that it was the night sky, while it had been day when Daneel had arrived at the mountain top.
At the same moment, a strong headache assaulted him, following which he could recall nothing except landing on the mountaintop, and then coming here.
Cassandra also had the same confused expression on her face, and both of them reacted at the same time.
"My King! You're here! I thought my message wouldn't go through! There were these men-…"
"Cassandra! You're alive!"
As both of them looked at each other with bewildered expressions on their faces after they comprehended what they had just heard, a deep voice interrupted them, making them turn to a man with a scarred face who had appeared in front of them.
"Welcome to the Hall of Beginning. I am Cain, and in the circle of Heroes, I go by my moniker: 'The Reaper'. I have been chosen to introduce you to this organization that has existed since the beginning of the continent. Many distinguished personalities have graced us with their support, including the Emperor whom you seem to hold in high esteem. We had high hopes for him, but alas…he went where he should not have. Anyway, let me give you a short explanation. The Order simply exists to protect Angaria, and in it, if one proves their worth, they can obtain rewards unimaginable to even the Big Four. Breaking through to the Peak of the Champion level in one day? Definitely possible. Obtaining all of the Godbeast weapons you can dream of? If you are worthy, we will even raid the treasuries of the Big Four for you. And getting information on your Master who has promised to contact you, but has not done so yet? Yes, this can be done, too. Ah, as I expected, I see that this piques your interest. Well, in the Order, caterpillars have evolved into Dragons, and the meekest Warriors have broken through their molds to become Heroes to reckon with. We empowered the past, we guide the present, and we shall foster the future. Come, King, and show us whether you are the second coming of Fenoras, the luckless, or Fenoras, the Monarch."