[Achievement: Against All Odds Unlocked
Against All Odds: By going up against an ancient enemy, you called upon yourself the wrath of the entire continent. Everything was stacked up against you, but with the true grit that only a World Dominator can have, you rose to the occasion and saved the day. Because of this, even the most powerful individuals on this continent have begun to respect you, and thus, you have taken a stride farther than any, yet, on the path to World Domination. The destination is not far away. A large proportion of the world already stands with you- you must just beat down the rest. Congratulations!
80,000 EXP Awarded.
Total EXP: 767,000
Due to the unprecedented amount of support that host now possesses from various strata of the world, Kingdom Management Module has been upgraded to World Management Module. Kingdom Management Points have also been changed to World Management Points, to spend on functions than can be unlocked within the module. Currently, a significant number of modules are locked, but they will be unlocked with the upgrade.
Achievement: Even Death Shall Not Stand In My Way
Even Death Shall Not Stand In My Way: By choosing to take the chance where you could have died 4 times out of 10 without even thinking about it, you have proven your unmatched dedication to the World. With this kind of fortitude, all any World can do is pray to be dominated by you. Congratulations!
10,000 EXP Awarded
Total EXP: 777,000]
As Daneel heard these three notifications, he couldn't help but pay less and less attention to the discussion, where currently, the sovereigns were arguing about what they should do in case Arafell turned out to be a tough customer.
The upgrade!
For the longest time, Daneel had been saving each and every point of EXP that he could so that he could upgrade the system to give it Hero level capabilities as quickly as possible.
If that happened…he was confident that he could be unrivaled even if he was still in the Champion realm.
It wasn't just that- there were many, many useful modules in the system which he had only glanced at and dreamed of as he had decided that the best thing to do was take the upgrades as far as possible before spending on these things.
It was almost like he was a middle-class individual who had given up on all of life's luxuries in order to build a house and get some steady income from it, and thinking of this comparison, Daneel almost chuckled.
Still, he had bought modules which he thought would lead him to gain more EXP, like the one where he had achieved milestones to be awarded by the system.
The others, though, might have made his life easier, but he had decided to do things the hard way and instead invest in the ultimate capabilities of the system. He knew that if someone else had been given the system, they might have chosen to act differently, but this was him: he always kept the long-term in mind, and when compared to what the system would be able to do if it upgraded directly to have the capabilities of the Peak of the next realm(which was how it had always happened), he had felt as if all those modules weren't that important.
Now, he was finally so close, but still, it felt so far away.
He had even been afraid that his recent actions might not garner any achievements, but thankfully, he had been proven wrong.
223,000 EXP. Just 223,000 EXP…
Why not take a loan and finish the upgrade?
Captivated by the idea, Daneel gave the order to the system right away.
True, the interest rates were atrocious, and he would have to pay back double the amount, but with the Hero-level system, he was pretty sure that he would be able to clear his debt relatively quickly.
Alas…it looked like things wouldn't be that easy.
[Negative. Loan module is offline. System informs host that 'EXP Loan' module was only present to help host when he was in a weak state, when EXP might have been required urgently. After the second upgrade, the module was disabled permanently.]
Dammit!
Ever since his horrid experience of taking the loan from way back when he had transmigrated here, Daneel had completely ignored this module. He had always managed to get by, but he had decided to use it now, at this crucial juncture, as it would definitely make a large difference in their defense against the Church.
Only…just like a few other modules which seemed to have been present as 'training wheels', this one was also not available to him, now, so Daneel could only sigh and look to the future to gain EXP.
Thankfully, there was one thing that he was sure would give him enough: Unifying the continent.
Yes! When that happened…it was pretty probable that he might directly gain enough.
This thought made a smile come on his face, but it was replaced by a slight grimace when he went over the notification once more without the excitement that had filled him before.
Just 10,000 EXP for almost dying? Aw, come on…
Just like before, when the system had awarded only 5000 EXP for splitting his consciousness during the test in the Chamber of Golden Lightning, it had cheaped out again.
True, the basis using which EXP was awarded had always been a mystery, but Daneel would be lying if he said he hadn't been hoping for more.
'Well, no matter how stingy you are, I'm gonna get that update soon…'
Making this silent challenge to the system, Daneel shifted his focus to the non-achievement related notification.
World Management System.
Damn…that definitely sounded great.
Curious, Daneel went into it…but to his chagrin, all he found was blacked out modules.
Only the one from the Kingdom Management Module was present, which allowed him to check the loyalty within a range around him, and the others were all cloistered beneath the darkness which meant that he had to unlock them if he wanted to access them.
And of course, here, they needed both EXP and Kingdom Management Points, or, as they were now called World Management Points.
Looking at the rates and acting like a dejected toddler who couldn't buy the toy he had just seen in a store window, Daneel sighed and left, and when he came back to the discussion, he saw that it had shifted to another topic, and that the sovereigns were waiting for him to answer something.
Of course, the system came to his rescue and repeated the question, and a moment later, he said, "Sorry about that, I was thinking about something else, but I did follow the discussion- yes, if Arafell turns out to be difficult, we can just deploy the 100 Heroes. But…I think I know a way to get her on our side. Anyway, coming to your question, Kellor- where are all the people present, now?"
The question had been in regards to the Axelorians whom Daneel had been able to save. Although he had failed to save them all, he had managed to teleport out a significant portion of the population, and apparently, the total count was 783, 456 people.
The number might ordinarily have made someone feel proud, but when one remembered the actual population of Axelor before all this had happened…they would definitely stop themselves from enjoying that emotion.
The original population was around 1.3 million, with a majority in the capital, which had been wiped out first.
According to estimates, at least 200,000 people had been taken away by the Church, and their fates would definitely not be pleasant.
Shaking his head as he remembered all of these things that he had already thought about a lot, Daneel said, "I feel that right now…it may be best to help them forget what happened to their Kingdom by making them assimilate into the Alliance. Well, at least, it's the easy thing to do. With time, they may forget the pain from losing their loved ones. If we make a new Axelor, it would just be us disrespecting the original one. I am honestly unsure regarding this…what are your thoughts?"
The sovereigns all began to think as he said this.
They had gotten the same thoughts, too, but as they honestly couldn't understand what all those people might be feeling right now, they didn't know how to proceed.
In the silence…Daneel finally decided to face the demons in his mind.
He had been postponing this, again and again. He knew that he had always had the quality, or flaw, where he would blame himself a lot for things that were not in his control.
He was liable to treat it as his failure when there was possibly nothing he could have done to stop it, but because he was the one who had shouldered the responsibility of the continent ever since he had become the King, he felt that he had always been responsible for them, too.
If seen in this way, then it had actually been a crushing defeat. As if a weight had settled onto his shoulders, they bowed, and his back slouched.
Gone was the confidence with which he had done so much, and even the sovereigns noticed this.
They knew him well, so Kellor was able to speak up right away.
"My King, there was nothing you could have done. Even all the people who are alive, now, should thank you wholeheartedly, as they are alive. We know that they were going to be Blood Sacrifices, too, if you hadn't exposed your trump card to save them. I-"
Interrupting him, Daneel stood up.
He had just gotten a thought through all of the dejected emotions he was feeling, and like a drowning man clutching at the weeds on the shore, he had caught it firmly in his hands.
"That's not for you to say, Kellor. And the decision regarding the Axelorians…is also something that we should not take. You are dispersed. We shall meet again soon."
Before they could say anything, he disappeared, and for a moment, Daneel felt bad.
But this…was definitely something he had to do alone.
As his body was still recovering, he needed someone to take him where he wanted to go.
He enlisted the Head, and soon, he was at a certain spot near the place where the 'Axelorian Event' had taken place.
At first, he had asked that they be invisible.
Thousands of temporary houses had been set up with the Mages of the Alliance, and hundreds of thousands of people were present.
However, most…were gazing in one particular direction.
And of course…it was the one where their Kingdom had once been.
Taking a deep breath, Daneel decided to plunge right into the topic.
He made himself appear in the air above them, and declared, "Axelorians! I managed to save you all, but I failed to save the rest, and your Kingdom. I could blame the Church and say that you should be lucky to be alive, but that is false- I have always treated every Angarian as my family. Of course, the Church is still to be blamed, but so am I. For this reason, I am prepared to give you anything you wish. So, tell me…what do you want, Axelorians?"
His words echoed over the large ground, and in a daze, all of the citizens looked up.
Daneel didn't know what to expect. He knew that it might even be a bit silly, but he had found that this might be the only way to absolve the guilt in his heart. He wanted to see what they would say, and their answer…made his heart pound.
It started slowly, on the lips of a child, but soon, it was taken up by a hundred, then a thousand, and then a hundred thousand.
Soon…the entire plain was resounding with one word.
"Revenge…revenge…revenge…REVENGE…REVENGE!"
So, with a grin, Daneel responded, saying:
"Well…then that's what you shall get."