Chapter 1001 Declaration 1
[Task received. Allocating resources. Creating plan of action. Assessing number of targets. Please stand by. Estimated time of completion: five minutes.]
If Daneel hadn't already been prepared for such an outrageous time period after seeing all of the magical things that the system had done so far, he would definitely have adopted an expression of extreme surprise again after seeing that it only needed five minutes to accomplish something that should normally be impossible.
Legends has always stated that the potential that one was born with was their lot in life: they had to live with it and do their best within their bounds, as there was no way for them to increase it no matter how much they wished for it to happen, or how much money they spent on it. True, there were fringe methods to go around this limitation, but even in the Order, there was some or the other sacrifice that had to be made if one wanted to improve in this fundamental area.
The Order had perfectly preserved all of the scientific accomplishments of the age of the Empire, and of course, due to the many generations of talented Heroes that had graced its halls, there were even more advanced methods and theories stored within its vaults.
Still, there was nothing, anywhere, that could make it possible for such a large number of people with varying ages and potentials to improve instantly, with no side-effects whatsoever.
If it had to be described in one word, then it was simply… Godly.
And perhaps…that was the perfect word to describe the system, right now. This upgrade was something that he had been looking forward to for what felt like forever, and after the coronation was finally done, he was itching to throw everything aside and just sit with the system for a few hours to see everything that had been unlocked.
He was sure that there were many more surprises waiting for him, but at the moment, it was simply impossible for him to leave.
He had to be present here, with all of himself, and without any distractions, as this moment would not come again.
So, with great difficulty, Daneel placed aside this desire and looked up to see that all of his sovereigns were approaching rapidly from the far ends of the continents where they had been seated until now.
Down below, the people were still marveling at the voice that was being heard in more and more citizens' minds as they opened themselves up to the possibility that someone could actually do something like this.
The little girl was still jumping around with glee, and seeing her, Daneel couldn't help but feel happy.
However, a glance towards his sovereigns made him see that they were all quite incensed.
It would require quite a few teleportations to reach him from the farthest edges of the continent, but each time they appeared in between them, the faces of Elanev and Faxul were filled with anger.
Even Eloise, who usually had the best temper among the lot, seemed like she was quite serious, and scratching his head, Daneel wondered whether he had overdone it.
Still, before he could speak to them, there was something he needed to do, so raising a hand, he stopped them in their tracks before getting up from his throne and changing the spell that was making him look like a giant, so that he would be visible to all those below.
That moment, just now, had needed to be remembered by all those who were here, so he had opted for some theatrics, but it just felt like he would be doing too much if he continued to maintain that form which was nothing but a show.
So, changing himself into a 10-foot figure which was much more humble but still visible in the sky, he put his hands behind his back and said, "My dear people."
Millions of heads snapped up as they heard the same voice that they had just listened to in their minds, and with incredulous smiles, the people who had maintained their skepticism also started to believe that somehow… Their actions had actually made their king ascend into someone who could be called a God.
"First… Please stand."
Hearing him, some were hesitant, but when he continued to look at them with eyes filled with love and kindness, they realized that that was what he wanted, so the people began to get up on their feet and dust their knees which had been in the ground until now.
Also… This was when the started to notice that the way that he had just called them was different.
Usually, the king was known to start his speeches with the three words: "People of Angaria,", but now, he had called them his people, and with happy nods, they started to realize that by turning up to swear their allegiance to him, they had done exactly that: officially, they had become his.
As soon as most of the people were standing, Daneel smiled again, and opened his mouth to begin the speech that would mark his coronation.
However, at just that moment, the system spoke in his mind.
[Host's location is being watched by a foreign entity that has just been detected.
Location of entity: 96,340 m above host.
Identity of entity: Unknown.
Function of entity: Surveillance.
Properties of entity: Biological.]
If someone else also possessed the Basilisk's Breath, they would have seen their king's expression change for a minute moment into surprise, and then deadly seriousness.
They… were being watched?
Of course, the culprit was clear, but the fact that they were capable of doing something like this was quite startling.
However, what was he supposed to do now?
Had they watched everything so far?
Did they know everything about what had happened with the Heroes?
If so, did he really need to expose that he had detected their surveillance method, too?
Should he just ignore it and continue with the speech, as if no one was watching?
This was a solid option, but for some reason, it just didn't sit right with him.
He began to reflect within himself regarding why that was so, and after a second, he found the answer.