Chapter 513 The Queen Speaks
For a few seconds, Daneel just stood there, unable to believe what he had just heard.
First of all, he had gotten this slight suspicion after reflecting on the fact that the name of the Queen didn't change no matter how many times the actual Queen changed.
From this, one could understand that it meant that although the body might change, the Queen remained the same.
Yet, from everything he knew about Empire Spirits so far, Daneel had concluded that this must be impossible, as it wouldn't make sense for a spirit which was capable of this to just sit quietly in its Kingdom and not try to rule the continent.
After all, it was an established fact that each Empire Spirit had enough ability to stomp over the Big 4 and become the Supreme Ruler. The Black Raven Empire Spirit and Dinora would both have accomplished this easily if they had been given a chance to fully possess someone.
Yet, he was supposed to believe that this spirit only had good intentions?
Fat chance.
There was no way in hell that Daneel would trust any Empire Spirit other than Drakos.
On seeing the expression on Daneel's face, Queen Arafell sighed.
"You aren't as shocked as I imagined you might be. This means that through some means or the other, you are already aware of Empire Spirits. Maybe you found out after your foray in Eldinor. Or maybe that cute Dragon has already formed a bond with you. I don't know, and I won't ask. You must be wondering how it's possible for me to be sane when so many Spirits have gone insane, right? Let me explain."
Saying so, the Queen first stepped down from the raised platform on which she had been standing on that contained the Throne.
Daneel looked at her with caution, but she only smiled slightly at him and conjured two chairs before sitting in one.
"Sit. Although I ask you to bend the knee, I have no intention of demeaning you in any way. Even though I am a few millennia older than you, I consider you my equal because I am truly impressed by all of your feats. Sit."
Not bothering to hide the hesitation on his face, Daneel took a seat and waited for her to talk.
He would wait and listen to everything she had to say before forming any conclusion.
"Good. First of all, yes, it is true that Empire Spirits which have gone insane seek to fully possess bodies so that they can rule over the continent. However, in their insanity, they forget something. Would you fancy some wine?"
As Daneel watched, the Queen made a bottle of wine that was placed in a cupboard in the corner of the room float to her along with two crystal glasses.
Holding it in her hand, she opened it and started to pour it into the glass in front of Daneel.
Yet, even when it became full, she continued pouring, causing the wine to overflow and fall on the table that she had conjured.
"When something which is larger than a vessel seeks to enter that vessel, things might look fine in the beginning, but the truth is that eventually, the vessel will burst as it cannot hold on any longer. That bursting won't be as peaceful as this wine overflowing. After all, it is a Hero level consciousness which is trying to enter the weak mind of a Warrior, at most. After the vessel bursts, the consciousness will have no choice but to return to the corporeal body, or find a new vessel. You already know that finding another vessel is no piece of cake. You might wonder why I'm telling you this. It is to first let you know that I am not fully possessing this body. No, it is a voluntary partial possession. Priscilla is the name of the woman whom this body belongs to. Here, she wants to say hi. Oh, and, by the way, she thought you were quite handsome the first time she saw you during those games of yours."
Daneel gulped with surprise when he heard the last part.
Yet, what happened next made him cough and look to the side.
Right after the last word exited the Queen's mouth, her posture changed again.
She had been sitting straight up with the confidence of someone who had the world in their hands, but now, her shoulders slumped forward and a beautiful, breathtaking blush appeared on her face.
Demurely shooting a glance at Daneel, the Queen, or, Priscilla, said, "Th-The Queen has a sense of humor. Hello, K-King Daneel. Nice to meet you."
She looked so pretty when she blushed that Daneel was sure that if anyone from Earth who didn't have the mental fortitude he had obtained from training to his present level was here, they would definitely be falling head over heels in love with her.
Yes, this was clearly a voluntary possession, just like the way Drakos had entered his mind.
This made the suspicion he had of this Empire Spirit decrease slightly, as it at least meant that she wasn't some vile being who was forcefully controlling woman after woman to do her bidding over the years.
As the posture switched back and the Queen returned, a tinkling, mature laugh sounded in the room, which was definitely something that would never have come out of the mouth of the woman who had just blushed on seeing him.
To get rid of the slight blush on his own face, Daneel reached for the glass of wine and took a sip.
Mimicking him, the Queen said, "Now that that's established, let me come to the main point. The kneeling part. Look, King Daneel. I'll be frank with you."
The amusement left her face, and was replaced by that same deadly seriousness as before when she had implored him from atop that platform.
Sharpening his eyes, Daneel leaned forward, too.
"The Emperor used a very unique method to make sure that whoever obtained the Grand Inheritance that he left behind, they would be someone worthy who truly cared about the people, instead of someone who might want to use it for their own gains. You are already familiar with it. Satisfaction level. Although there are some exceptions, for the most part, we Empire Spirits are bound in the matter of how much information and knowledge we can reveal by this satisfaction level."
Daneel didn't show any signs outside, but he nodded inwardly. Indeed, this satisfaction level played a major role.
"My goal is simple, King Daneel. I wish to assemble all the parts of the Grand Inheritance and lead the charge against the Church. I believe that there is no one more qualified than me for this purpose. I was the one who fought war after war under the Emperor's orders. There is no one more knowledgeable than me about the various ways in which Fighters and Mages can be deployed to maximum effect. If the Grand Inheritance is also in my hands, I can guarantee that I will be able to beat back the Church to whatever hole they crawled out from with minimal casualties in even the Central Continent."
This sounded like another pitch, but it was a bold one, for sure.
Basically, the Queen was claiming that she could help Angaria win the war single-handedly.
Daneel just waited for the catch. In matters like these, there was always a catch.
He was right.
"But there is a problem. The Grand Inheritance needs to be assembled first. The parts of the Grand Inheritance were made in such a way that if more than one pair is together, they will give off a detectable signature. This can be hidden if there are only two pairs, but the more pairs there are, the more it gets difficult to hide them. Also, the one who manages to obtain more than 7 pairs will be able to detect the rest, no matter how deeply they are hidden. This was a mechanism put in place to make sure that someone wouldn't try to hide away one pair just because they do not want the Grand Inheritance to be completed. Assuming you have broken the first seal, you would have learned of this if you broke the second one."
Speaking until here, the Queen placed her hand near her waist, where a hidden pocket came into being.
From it, she took out 4 pieces.
Seeing them, Daneel fought hard to stay calm, but the shock was already pervading his mind.
These were…two pairs of the Grand Inheritance!
Placing them casually on the table as if they were nothing, the Queen said, "I have two parts, and I need to assemble the rest. I only found these two parts after searching discreetly for centuries. However, the time of the invasion approaches, so I no longer have the luxury of dallying in this duty of mine. The bad news is that all of the parts are scattered. The King of Axelor has two parts, and I suspect that he is letting them be detected because he laid a trap for whoever goes to retrieve them. As for the rest, I have no idea about their location."
Hearing this, Daneel heaved a sigh of relief.
He had left behind the part of the Grand Inheritance he found in the Energy Generator with Dinora in Eldinor itself in a very safe place, which meant that the part that was there in Lanthanor also stayed secret. If he had hoarded them both without having the concealment spell, which was also apparently locked behind the second seal, he might have faced invasion from this Warrior lady by now.
Sighing, she continued.
"There is good news, though. There is a spell which is locked behind the last seal that would allow me to detect the rest of the parts even if I only have 4 of them. Also, I know the Empire Spirit who is in Axelor. He was my Vice Commander, and no one understands him better than me. I know the trap he must have laid, so I am confident that I can evade it and snatch those two parts using another spell locked behind the last seal. Alas, the satisfaction level required for this seal is just too high. The Giants in this Kingdom follow me wholeheartedly, but although it looks that way on the surface, the same cannot be said about the humans. This…brings me to the kneeling part."
Putting down the glass of wine, the Queen looked straight into Daneel's eyes as she uttered the last part of her speech.
"There is a loophole in the bindings placed by the Emperor. When measuring satisfaction level, the level needed goes down the more people there are. If you have broken the first seal, then I bet that you are very close to breaking the second because you allied with Eldinor. Yes, alliances are the method to make the number of people increase! But, the alliance needs to be headed by one person. You command Lanthanor and Eldinor. If you bend your knee to me, I will be in command of three Kingdoms, which should be enough for me to break the last seal. When I do, I will use the spells that lie there to assemble the parts of the Grand Inheritance and beat back the Church. King Daneel, this is a sure fire way of saving the continent. In case you are in the Race and are someone who also aspires to save the continent like me, then I urge you to choose this option. Whatever other methods you try will never have as much guarantee of success as this one. It is your choice. You can either choose a method where you have to kneel but by doing so, you will be ensuring the continued lives of millions of Angarians. Or, you could try to continue on whatever path you are following, thereby placing all those lives at risk. Please consider this carefully."
Hearing her phrase it in that way, a tiny seedling of doubt took root in Daneel's solid intention to not trust the Queen.
What if…she was right?
Would he be willing to bend the knee if it meant that he would definitely be accomplishing what he had set out to do in the first place?
Before Daneel even began thinking about everything she had just said, a question appeared to him.
Without hesitating, he asked.
"Why do you consider it your duty? Why do you want to save the continent so much? Why do you want to save what the Emperor 'loved so much' with so much passion?"
The question seemed to throw off the Queen, but she answered after taking a moment.
"Because…I loved him. He never loved me back, but I loved him with all my heart. Now, even though he is gone, I wish for his wishes to be fulfilled. I wish for Angaria…to be saved."
....
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