In barely a moment's time, the system had understood his wish, gone into the records, learned an advanced technique that was definitely meant for Peak Heroes, and had even deployed it as if he had studied it extensively.
A cheat. It was a damn cheat.
As soon as the thought came to his mind, Daneel laughed out loud, as he felt truly happy to get the same feeling that had struck him often before.
The assassins were too busy focusing on the attack to respond to the laughter that was out of place, and even Daneel quietened himself and focused on the last features of the creature that had become visible due to their proximity to it.
In a turn of events, he had been right in calling it an eye, as the spherical shape that took up over 70% of its body was an eye, complete with milky sclera, grey iris and pitch-black pupil.
The function of the tentacles was now also apparent: they really were meant to be used so that the creature could stay in that spot in the air, and as Daneel took in its sheer size, he felt that he was now getting a clearer idea of just how vast the difference was between Angaria and a major force on the Mainland.
This damn eye, by itself…was larger than half the entire erstwhile Kingdom of Lanthanor.
They were but a pinprick in front of it, as it was so huge that a few cities could fit on its surface.
Thankfully, a report from the system told him that most of it was just empty space that was being used so that there would be a larger surface area that would distribute the pressure being felt by the entire thing, but even then, if just this creature was this huge, then how big were the other beasts on the mainland?
He would have to find out the answer later, as he saw that the reptilian hadn't been joking - even though they were this near, the orb wasn't slowing down at all, and in fact, it had even begun to accelerate.
In just a few moments, they would be upon this enemy, so putting aside all other thoughts, Daneel checked all of the preparations he had made for this battle.
Just as he felt relieved that they were all there, they reached a point right in the center of the gigantic pupil that could fit the entire capital of Lanthanor on top of it.
BANG!
The familiar sound of multiple defensive formations being broken accompanied the impact, but the orb seemed to be capable of slicing through them barriers, with only the hardest being broken by brute force, while the rest were rendered incapable of stopping this tiny object that seemed to be foolishly invading such a large foe.
SCREEEEEEE!
With a haunting sound that made Daneel feel like closing his hands over his ears, the creature recoiled, but by the time it could move a tentacle to swat away this fly of an enemy, they were already inside.
Attacking now would mean injuring itself, so Daneel understood the strategy behind their point of entry.
Right after entering the pupil, the four of them actually traveled through space that was almost empty for a few moments.
Indeed, the pupil had simply been a layer of flesh that was now bleeding blue behind them. The inside was actually also empty, for the most part, just like a major part of it, and it was only after a few seconds that they neared another object made of flesh.
This one seemed to be much stronger than the one they had broken through, though, and this turned out to be true as the reptilian activated the swords that she had turned into and shot five dazzling rays of pure red-hot energy at a point right in front of them.
Just the image of the flesh was enough to give anyone nightmares for a lifetime. It was also large, but compared to everything else they had seen so far, it felt tiny, as its surface was only the size of a village.
It had an oblique shape, with pulsing veins all over that were connected to tendrils stretching out to the rest of the creature. The entire thing was a darker grey than the color of the tentacles outside, and as they prepared to blast through it, too, familiar beings finally appeared in front of them.
Dressed in grey vestments that matched the colors they had seen so far, the members of the Church flew out from a small opening that closed the moment 20 of them had appeared outside.
Their faces were also covered by a film of cloth of the same color, so although they were all humanoid, Daneel couldn't actually tell whether they were humans.
Without a word, they arrayed themselves in front of the ball of pulsing flesh, which seemed to be the thing they had to destroy if they wanted to kill the creature they were inside.
The moment they stopped moving, a large formation came into effect which immediately came into contact with the attacks shot out by the reptilian.
The formation was just a defensive one, but the members of the Church had added an illusion that made it look like the giant figure of a kindly old man with one hand raised, as if he was waiting to bless them when they came near.
Surprisingly, the moment the figure appeared, the orb Daneel was in began to screech to a halt.
They came to a stop in just a few seconds, and when they stopped moving, the reptilian spoke again inside.
"The Church really is treating you like an Alpha-level threat…the 20 in front of us are part of the personal guard of the Bishop, herself. Change of plans. A head-on collision will not work anymore. We will have to truly use our power, now."
Hearing this, Daneel thanked the Heavens above for making his wish come true while laughing to himself in his mind, but to the reptilian, he said, "Oh, that's bad…but they must be no match for the elite assassins of the TriCobra Sect, right? I can't wait for you to finish them without losing a breath! Please do show me how unrivaled the esteemed 'experts' like yourself are! Don't worry, I'll make sure I'll hold on! Do go on!"