Three.
Thousand.
Peak Heroes.
Daneel and the Head could only turn and look at each other with horror as they heard this news from their man in the Church.
Receiving no answer and knowing that they must be in shock, his master said, "I need to go now, but I'll contact you again if I have more news. Meanwhile…try not to panic- oh, who am I kidding, even I panicked a lot when I heard this. I double- and triple-checked it, and its true- I even talked to a few Heroes from the squadrons. Apparently, they will even be going through training based on information gathered on this mission so that the same things don't repeat! Hell, the mission is even being called a success by many- both because you were exposed, and because there were apparently many important information gathering devices in the Cathedral which did their job, and due to which the Church now has a much clearer idea about Angaria. Ok, I'll stop increasing your panic…farewell, for now."
Daneel's Master had apparently originally always been a carefree playboy before settling down. After that, of course, the events of his family's death had turned him into a hard man, but occasionally, the veneer would peel back, and the one who was known for being the most jovial student in the Academy would be exposed.
It seemed that this happened in situations filled with high tension, too, seeing how the man had spoken in this way about something so important.
In fact, the second piece of news he had delivered was even worse than the first- if the Church had collected enough information to be able to counteract the opposition from the Will of the World, then they would not face the same weakness that they had had to overcome this time.
That meant…that they could directly arrive and attack, giving Angaria no chance, like it had just had, to mount a defense.
The display became blank, and Daneel and the Head could only stand there, in silence, their faces filled with various emotions that they couldn't even put into words.
The Head recovered first, as this wasn't the first time he had had his entire world upended- taking a glance at the Hall, he said, "King, we can have a discussion about this later. First, finish addressing the Hero Congress- they're waiting for you. You can disperse them quickly, if you wish, and we can organize another gathering after figuring out what should be done."
The Head's calmly spoken words allowed Daneel to snap out of his shock.
True, he had gained the ability to take anything in stride(which he had displayed during the 'Axelorian Event'), but that was only in a state of high adrenaline. Here, this news had come out of nowhere, so he had been quite flabbergasted.
Frowning, he thought for a bit and responded, saying, "Yes, that would be for the best. Let's go."
A moment later, Daneel's consciousness was back in the apparition that had stayed still until now.
The Heroes had mostly been engaged in the task that he had given them, like school children given an assignment by their teacher, but of course, there were a few unruly ones who clearly had their minds on something else.
Chief among these were actually those that Daneel had been keeping an eye ever since he had awoken- they were Perfect's family, who had sworn themselves over to the Church, and they were partly the reason why Daneel had had that meeting with his master in private.
Even now, every word he said would be sent to the Church, so he had to be careful.
If Daneel wanted, he could simply have ordered the Head and the rest of the Heroes to apprehend these individuals, but he had a different plan for them- true, it might be an overused one, but it had worked since antiquity, so his hope was that it would be effective here, too.
Putting that aside for now, though, he spoke again.
"I see that you have been hard at work…I appreciate that. Please send all of your thoughts to the Head- he will store them, and we can pick out the best ones at a later date. Alas, my state does not allow me to engage in activities like these for an extended time. For now, I want to leave you with a few words. I know the doubts that many of you must have- you must be thinking: 'Why should we follow the words of someone like this, even if he saved the continent? True, he stepped up to the occasion, but what makes him the best option for a leader? Should we just follow him out of gratitude?'"
Hearing the questions that had come to them being spelled out so accurately, many in the Hall looked up with panic, wondering whether they had fallen prey to some other ploy, through which their minds could be read.
Seeing this, Daneel said, "Don't worry, I can't read your minds. But I can understand your thoughts. Well, my answer is this- I have been working to save Angaria long before any of you knew that I existed. I am the one most capable of leading us forward to victory. I know that all of you are paranoid, right now- you saw your trust being used in that manner, leading you all to become so vulnerable, and you must have already vowed to yourself that you will never let anything similar happen, ever again. I understand that. Trust is at an all-time low. But the silver lining in this cloud…is that you have been shown the future that awaits you if you choose anything other than your home. Think about this. Even if the Church promises to heap rewards on you, they cannot be trusted, because their goal was always to eradicate all Angarians, and destroy what Angaria is- Angaria is us. All of us, together, make this continent what it is, and it is only by annihilating each and every individual who knows that name and can say proudly that that is their home can they even hope to achieve their goal- of using the Will of this World to empower themselves. This is the simple truth that many seem to forget, and I wanted to make it clear- they will not stop until we are all dead. So we shall not stop until so many of them are dead, that they run back screeching, just like they were made to do, now. Hero Congress, disperse. The next time we meet, it will be with a clear plan of action. Until then…think about what I said."
With a nod, Daneel and all of his sovereigns disappeared, along with the hundred monstrosities whose pressure had actually been present this whole time.
Unlike the 500 Heroes with sane minds who could control it, these 100 couldn't, so it would always be present, no matter where they went.
A few seconds later, Daneel was sitting on a throne, again, but this time, there were only clouds all around him.
And of course…around him were his sovereigns, who were all smiling happily because they were back at this familiar spot.
Elanev was the one with the goofiest smile, and he was followed by Aran, who even looked like he would break out singing at any moment.
"Oh…it feels good to be back. But my dear friends…I have no option but to give you news that will definitely wipe away those smiles."
Daneel was smiling, too, but he couldn't help but say this.
However, after hearing him, Eloise looked at him and spoke, and instantly, she put his heart at ease.
"Daneel…if there's one thing that this entire ordeal has taught me, then it is that when we are together, we can handle anything. Whether it be the Church or even the entire Mainland, they are no match for the Sovereigns of Angaria. Even when separated until now, we did so much- so just imagining what we are capable of now, with all of Angaria at our command, gives me goosebumps. Tell us. Whatever it is…I have no doubt that it won't be a problem."
Her words made the others straighten their backs and look at Daneel confidently, too, and he couldn't help but broaden his smile and nod.
Oh…he had missed this.
He took it all in, and after a long time, it felt as if the world was once again…right.
Letting out his breath, though, he began.
Just like he had expected, the news of the Church's force made serious expressions come on the faces of all those present- Elanev even looked like he wanted to start cursing, but was controlling himself as well as he could.
In the silence that followed, Daneel spoke again, but this time, it was to put forward the thoughts he had already gotten.
"Let's get all the bad stuff out of the air, first. Eloise, sadly, it isn't as perfect as you said- do you really think that those Heroes will really follow me, after what they went through? True, they sat there now, humbly, but when the time comes, I reckon that more than half will hesitate. And like I said, the problem…is trust. They were all betrayed, and even though I spoke in that manner, I know that this is a traumatic experience that will have a lot of effects in the future. That is our core problem- we need to make sure that all the Heroes, even the cocky ones, trust us enough to follow us willingly. Right now, they are only acting as if they do because of the Heroes with values who really do feel that they are indebted to us- the problem is that they aren't many, so before this 'grace period' ends, we need to be able to make them kneel with our power. This will be hard enough without more problems popping up, so I will accept nothing else except full, unwavering loyalty. Now, let us get to the second item..."
Saying so, Daneel raised his hands, and a map of Angaria appeared in the air between them.
It showed the continent in its mangled form, looking like something had taken a large bite out of it, and the sovereigns could not stop themselves from letting out their breaths with slight anger as they saw this.
In the first battle, itself, they had had to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of Angarians. What would they have to do during the rest?
"We failed Axelor. It's the truth- we failed all those citizens. I don't know how that bastard Arnold pulled it off...but I will find out, and I will avenge them all by killing him. But first, we need to make sure that their sacrifice isn't in vain. To the west, south, and north, all of the forces are ours. With our 100 Heroes, we do not need to fear the Big Four, either. Only Arafell stands in our way...but I will speak to the Queen soon. And after that...it will finally be time to set up the second Empire of Angaria. I did not think that I would get an opportunity to do this so soon, but I won't waste it- we will face problems, but we will tackle them all. Those three thousand Heroes are our enemies- to defeat them, we must put forth our everything. And the first step, of course...is uniting the continent. Let us begin right away."
With that, the discussion began in earnest, and Daneel had to admit that even though there was an executioner's axe hanging over all of their necks...he was excited.
This had been his dream since so long- to dominate the entire continent, and now that he had a chance to do so, there was no way that he would let it go.
And by doing this, of course...his ultimate goal was the system.
If he could finally upgrade the system...then he had an inkling that even those three squadrons would be no match.
Even as the discussions continued, Daneel remembered something he had neglected, so he spoke in his mind.
"System, replay all the notifications I've missed."
The response came right away, and it made him widen his eyes and smile, as the system...had quite a few pleasant surprises waiting for him