Chapter 1042 The Plan Unfolds 2
He said this while once again shooting an angry glance at the few that he had wanted to roast before.
The five looked impressed as they heard this. It sounded simple, but it really had taken the entirety of the power of the house to make the trinket work. Even then, they had had to take a few extra steps which had been quite dangerous, but as he did not need to give a complete answer, he left it at this.
"As for why we did this… We overheard information that was sent to the new head designated here - Vohler."
As soon as these words left his mouth, he saw all five lean forward with interest.
Knowing that they were now in his grasp, he continued.
"The Church never meant to keep their word. In the case of every continent that they conquer, there are always a very, very small number of individuals whom they value enough to be left alive. These few should be in possession of top tier talent that would be useful even on the Mainland if they are even to be considered, and in the case of Angaria, there were only two or three who made the cut. None of us did. And the same could be said for you lot - because I heard the names of those who would be kept alive. Even after the conquest, if it is successful, the memory of these individuals will be probed, and all mentions of the word "Angaria" would be wiped away. The Church attaches a lot of importance to the memory of this name, and even though I do not know the reason, what I do know is that it is a very costly process, so it does not make sense for it to be done on a lot of people. All in all, this makes it even more clear that what we overheard was right: either we die fighting for the Church, or we die to them. As one, we made the decision that we would rather not fall prey to a scheme that we, ourselves, have used multiple times. Is that enough?"
The five were clearly not expecting such a long and clear explanation, but they took it in stride, and listened ardently.
It looked like the woman was the representative, as she was the one who gave the reply, again.
"That is… Ingenious. We never thought of it. I know that that is not all you must have done…but I can see that you are willing to trust us. What we did was much more dangerous… We found a technique in the Order that allows one to reach a state close to death. We heard the order to go, but because we were in that state, even though we tried our best, our bodies would not move. It would have been impossible if it was not so severe - if it were something that could be cured in any way, the oath would have made us use that cure, and then set out to fight. Only this method was without a cure - one would have to allow it to pass, or lose the fight. There were seven of us before. Two did not make it out. And as for the reason… We simply saw that kid, and had a hunch that he would come out on top. We were not prepared to bet our lives against him. Thankfully, we were right. One last question: why did you even go over to the Church? Answer this, and we will give you what you want - you clearly value us, just as we value the united power of your family. We are prepared to swear the oath, just as soon as we hear your answer."
A triumphant grin came on the high seat's face as he saw that he was successful.
No matter what he said, it would not leave the lips of these five whom he would bind to the family as tightly as possible.
So, without hesitation, he gave the answer.
"Have you seen the Heroes in the order? Each of them is filled with so much useless pride that when the war comes, they will definitely not work together! You only need to look at the fight against the previous Overseer - there were many opportunities to work out formations that could have combined their power, but they never did so. Did anything change after that experience? No! Each of them is only focused on themselves! When the strongest power of the continent is too prideful to work together while those far more powerful than them on the Mainland are turned into squads who even, evidently, grow up together to increase the bonding between each other so that they can sync together perfectly in a fight, then what future can that continent have? Our family has always assessed the total strength of Angaria, and after knowing that the Church would be victorious, we made the gamble. We thought that they would certainly be in need of minions who would be useful even after the conquest, but we were wrong as we did not know the true motive. Even today, what we say stands, but those fools won't change. The only silver lining is the Godking, whom we will suck up to as much as needed. We will even marry a few of our daughters to him, or if he is not willing, we might send them to seduce him using the ancient erotic arts that only we still retain from the glorious age of the Empire. Either way, we will be firmly behind him, as he is our future. You are right - we need you, as your talent will greatly aid the strength of our family. So… Shall I recite the oath?"
Throughout all the time that he spoke, the five listened attentively, while his son still looked between them and him with confusion.
Yet, suddenly, as soon as he was done… The demeanor of each and every one of them changed.
The fear and indecisiveness which had been portrayed by bent over shoulders was gone, leaving behind proud individuals who all shared a look, and then nodded.
Seeing his son act like this, too, the high seat felt so much shock that he even began stammering wordlessly, but in the next second… Everything changed.
The woman who had spoken until now confidently smiled and said, "I think we got everything we need! If the Heroes of the Order still don't change after watching this, then we will have no option but to resort to Daneel beating them into submission… I hope it won't come to that, though. Well, either way, onto the next stage of the plan- Godnet, activate the Astral Curse."
Her words didn't make sense, but as each of them blinked after she spoke, the walls of their ancestral halls seemed to fall away, along with the illusion of sitting comfortably in the expensive high-back chairs of the family.
Water began to enter their nostrils, while faraway sounds of thunder entered their ears.
Their eyes were slow to catch up, but when they did, what they saw was endless blueness all around them, and among it were vague, large shapes.
As these shapes began to grow larger, it was once again the high seat who understood what was happening even though it was completely nonsensical, so when he shouted inside their minds, the top members of the Eskilon family finally understood where they were and raised their arms to fight, while still struggling to put aside the disbelief that they felt.
"Everyone! I don't know how, but we are in the middle of the Endless Sea… So the creatures of its depths are coming to eat us alive! Prepare to use the formation of the family to fight together! For Eskilon!"