Just like his underlings, the pierced man also burst into a loud round of laughter, and he seemed to be the type to completely let himself go whenever he was expressing his emotions. He actually clapped his hands on Aran's shoulder repeatedly, and it was obvious that his commander was really in a mood to retort and make him visit his worst nightmare, but he controlled himself and simply moved to the side, knowing that this man's just desserts would soon arrive.
After a few seconds, though, it all started to die down, as Daneel just remained standing there with a smile, making it clear that he was not joking. As this started to become clear, more and more people stopped laughing, and their faces changed to show anger.
The last to realize it was actually the one who had spoken first, and when his transformed, it was into such a state that his face almost swelled up like a tomato, making Daneel wonder whether the piercings would fly out and impale everyone nearby if the size of his face increased any further.
He fumed for a few moments, after which he looked like he was thoroughly controlling himself and reminding himself that he was in a place where no fights were supposed to happen. This was written in the rule book, too, and it was apparently a very strict rule where detractors could be punished very harshly.
He even started to tremble, and he continued to close and open his fists continuously. After that, though, finally, he looked up at Daneel and said, "The Heavens offered you a boon, but you spit on it and asked to be destroyed. Newbie, get ready to be stomped. Follow me."
Saying so, he started to briskly walk one direction, and each of his underlings looked at Daneel as if he was a dead man and even started to make gestures such as using their finger to draw a line across their throats.
Daneel still remained graciously smiling throughout it all, and after the group of 10 people passed, he finally went up to his commanders and said, "I guess you had an eventful mission."
It was Elanev who answered.
"Yup, I guess you can say that. It was fun, though, definitely, but how could we have known that we would draw the attention of this bunch? That guy with holes all over his body was in the team who came to instruct us and ended up drawing with us in the mission, and after that, he refused to leave our side. He was tagging along throughout the introduction about this place given by someone who was assigned for that duty, and after that was done, he put forward the request, and Cassandra was of the opinion that we should just burn him to ash and get it over with. Even though he's powerful, he's no match for all four of us combined. Faxul intervened, and said that we should let you handle the matter. I guess it is pretty surprising to see that he is actually the most calm-headed among all of us."
Daneel smiled at his best friend he heard this, and he knew that this had always been an aspect of his character. Except on issues which troubled him greatly, he could keep a cool head and make the best decisions. With his power growing in leaps and bounds, and with that experience where his arrogance had all been destroyed in its entirety, it looked like Faxul had quickly grown up.
Next, though, Daneel's eyes wandered to Cassandra, but he decided to speak to her later. This was the first time he was seeing her since the entire ordeal that they had been through together, and he knew for a fact that she must have uncovered a lot of memories, and found out the reality of what had happened during her childhood. He was curious to know everything about that, but it had to wait.
"Oi! If you think that you can get away with it after acting so arrogant, you're dreaming!"
Hearing the loud shout from the pierced man who was at the head of the delegation and who had turned around to see that those whom he was supposed to be leading were actually not following, Daneel smiled and gestured forward, indicating that they should all oblige.
It was only after they reached the back of the group that they all started moving again, and Daneel remained silent, deciding to converse with his sovereigns later on.
There were two reasons he had agreed to this fight, which he would usually have tried to resolve in a different manner if he was his self from before. One was that it would begin his journey in the Order with a bang, and he wanted nothing else. The other… Was related to the first item that he had placed on the list of things he wanted to achieve here.
This item… Was the one related to him finding out about his master.
The menu given by the obelisk was customized for each and every person, and although there were a few things which were common such as those relating to power, there were others which were exclusive to those who were viewing it. For Daneel, these exclusive items had been both those relating to the things he could obtain which were useful in the Central Continent, and the one which related to his master.
Regardless of everything, the Church was the most prominent threat. His master had managed to infiltrate it, and finding out about him might give him some more information about just when the war might come, and that was invaluable for his plans. If he had a timeline, he could know deadlines he should stick to, and which things he could aim to realistically achieve. The time span given by his master before had been speculative, and he had no way to know whether anything might have changed.
To obtain this item… The menu had given information that he should be ready for a mission after accumulating at least 15 people who were ready to participate along with him, and whom he could command for the duration of the mission. Subsequent details needed this to be accomplished first.
It was tagged as a four stat mission, and it was obvious that he had been given a very difficult one for some reason. After all, for a newbie, accumulating 15 people from the highly talented individuals in the Order was no small feat.
Daneel had been meaning to go about it slowly, but with this strange group placing themselves on the platter to be sacrificed, he would be dumb to not use the opportunity and fulfill the conditions right away so that he could find out just what the mission was.
As he heard a voice float from the group in front of him, he stopped his musings and decided to listen for a bit to what those people were talking about.
"You should have listened to the boss! He was so impressed! It seems that this team is filled with all top tier talents! The only good thing is that they're still weak, so we can target them and take them under us, and when they're powerful, they can earn all sorts of things for us! The boss is a real genius, I tell you!"
"Right! Even if this guy is supposed to have taken them under his fold, how powerful can he be? He is also a newbie! Maybe he has a good Path, but with his power level, he can do nothing! The boss is a Peak Eminent Champion, after all!"
"I don't know. He looked like he was joking, but he might have something up his sleeve. Did you listen to the boss talking about those four's crazy abilities? That woman spit flames which could burn even barriers directly! And that guy's punches were apparently so powerful that they even gave trouble to the boss!"
"The other two were even more powerful! One of them made his opponent sit down and start crying, and the other used some kind of strange spell that apparently swallowed up or distorted the attacks of his opponent and made them helpless! If they weren't all really weak, there might have been a major change in the outcome, too! As it was, they still managed to perform as well as the team which was actually sent to advice them, and that happens so damn rarely! Even when it does, it is usually only when top tier seeds of the Big Four enter!"
"Well, it's obvious by now that they are hidden seeds, but I just wonder from which sects they're from…"
As Daneel heard all of this discussion, he understood that his sovereigns had obeyed his request and gone all out. He wasn't really worried about this, and even exposing Bloodlines was alright as he already knew by now that the hidden seeds of the Big Four had bloodlines within them anyway. Even if there were incongruities, the rules of secrecy would be enough, and none of his sovereigns could cross the two-realm limit, so it was fine to tell them to just have fun.
Elanev actually puffed up his chest as he heard this entire thing, and even though Cassandra and Aaron looked like they were unaffected, they still had proud smiles on their faces. As for Faxul, he did smirk for the briefest of moments, but after that, he remained stoic and focused on what they were doing next.
"We're here! I booked an auditorium for us! Say your prayers and goodbyes, and come in! All of you, go through there!"
They had arrived at another pair of large stone doors which were disjointed and just stood there in the open field, with no building around them, just like those that Daneel had entered before to get to his lodgings.
Hearing these bellowed words, the group of 10, along with the four sovereigns, entered a side door, and Daneel and the pierced man entered a larger one beside it.
Daneel just nodded at his sovereigns before they left, and as the two of them started to go through the corridor that greeted them, the pierced man spoke.
"I am called Spikeking. You'll find out why, soon. I did not wish for you to die without knowing the one that killed you."
Hearing this, Daneel only raised an eyebrow and gave no answer.
The pierced man humphed, and it looked like he had decided that he would show no mercy. He cracked his knuckles, and the sound echoed throughout the corridor.
Soon, they appeared at a door, and when they stepped through it, they reached a circular arena.
There were stands all around which could seat 200 people, so it was actually not that large, but there was ample space to fight.
Fourteen people were present in the stands, and as soon as the door closed, Daneel felt himself shoved from behind.
He gracefully flew forward, denying the shove from its intention of making him stumble, and at the same moment, he heard the words of the pierced man.
"I'm not a fan of words in the arena. Let's get this over with."
As Daneel turned around, he saw the man go through a bizarre transformation.
Holes appeared all over his body, and from each one, sharp spikes that seemed to be made of a bone-like material emerged.
As Daneel sensed them and felt their power, he smiled at the corner of his mouth, understanding right away that his opponent was a formidable foe in the Eminent Champion realm.
Well…it was too bad for him, because that was still comfortably under the 'two-realm' limit.
Seeing the Spikeking leap forward, all Daneel did…was raise his hand.
It was often said that power that was unfathomable was much scarier than that which could be explained.
Hence, Daneel had decided that until he needed to, he would make moves that were beyond anything that his foes could ever imagine.
As that was his objective, it was best if his move was quick, like a crack of thunder which would cause destruction in a heartbeat.
So, along with raising his hand, he said just a single word.
"Kneel."
BOOOOOOMMMM!!!!
For all those in the auditorium except the sovereign, it was as if the sky, itself, was falling on them.
A sound that would usually be accompanied by a world-ending explosion assaulted their ears, and at the same time, the gravity in the place where they stood grew to tenfold of what it had been before.
As if this wasn't enough, invisible hammers used the moment of surprise which was the result of that loud sound to smash into the heads of all those present, and for the Spikeking, all of these effects were doubled.
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLA-…
All over the auditorium, the sounds of knees slamming to the ground was heard.
The last one was the loudest, and it was from the Spikeking, whose face was so clouded with shock that it looked as if he was convinced that he had entered some kind of nightmare.
Triumphantly folding his hands behind him, Daneel spoke in a booming voice that would be remembered forever by all those who knelt in front of him.
"Harken, members of the Order, for I, your Overlord, am here, and my word shall be your law. Either bow low and swear fealty, or return to Angaria, our mother, in the form of blood mixed with mashed bone and mangled sinew. The choice…is yours."