Chapter 649 Legacy Disciple 2
Seeing the sour expression on the King's face, the Chief almost felt like laughing, but he first decided to address those the pavilions.
Their objective had been fulfilled - the Church had been beaten back, and although the cost of that was that one of the newly created attacks of the Head had been exposed, the Chief truly believed that it was worth it and that it would show its benefits in the long run.
After he descended, a shiny eye-shaped trinket shape came and landed in his hand, which had been capturing the entire battle so that it could be transmitted to everyone who hadn't been lucky enough to be present here.
Putting that safely in his pocket, he eyed all those who were a part of the Fortress who had pretty troubled expressions on their faces due to the message given by the voice of the founder.
By this time, even though they were still reeling in the joy from seeing the damn Church being beaten back, this weighed down on their minds.
They were of the Fortress, and of the Big 4, and this gave them a kind of mindset that would not allow them to just obey the command.
Putting his hands behind his back, he addressed them all.
"You all heard the founder. Indeed, the legacy battle has been finally won, and because this has not happened in any of your lifetimes, you were caught off-guard by the contents of his message. The truth is that it has always been the case that those who won a Legacy Battle could directly ascend to the post of the Sect Leader. In the days after the Fortress was newly established, the Sect Founder was a huge believer in the fact that it was much better to choose the next leader according to their capability rather than by any other method.
"His instructions were that no one should be given any clue as to what they were supposed to accomplish in the Legacy Battle. They could be enticed saying that lasting till the end would give them a lot of benefits, but that was it. In fact, in that time, as it was difficult to keep such simple information that the goal was to obliterate everyone and stand alone in the end a secret, there were even mages who were specially called in so that they could temporarily wipe the memories of the participants."
This made many raise their eyebrows, and as for the Warriors who hadn't even heard that such a feat was possible by mages, they were pretty shocked. Indeed, it looked like it was pretty important that no one should know what exactly they were supposed to achieve, just like them till now.
"The whole idea behind it was that they should be placed in a similar situation as him. As you already know, the Sect Founder was someone who established the Sect after killing off the weakened post-apocalyptic creatures who had already had their fill destroying everything around them. He rose to prominence because he was one of the first to take this decision to fight, as almost all the others were too scared or too cautious to emerge from their hiding places and face those monstrosities in battle. He did so, as he was someone who was not ready to bow down and allow those things to rampage as they liked without at least trying to face them."
These words by the Chief allowed many to imagine the scene. They could put themselves in the place of the Sect Founder - he must have been hiding in some sort of cave along with all the other survivors, and while they all eyed those grotesque things with fear and caution, his eyes must have been burning with anger and the will to fight. Shocking everyone, he must have strode out and begun his battles, and by achieving victory, they could tell just how much of a beacon of hope he must have stood as for those who felt lost because of everything that they had had to go through.
In this solemn atmosphere, the Chief once again spoke, and his words made many get expressions of realization on their faces.
"The whole idea was that he wanted his successor, and the leader of the Sect to be someone who would also make this choice when placed in a similar situation. Of course, he did not wish all the promising seeds of the Sect to be killed off, so he made sure that the monstrosities would, at max, be at the level of someone who had newly broken through to the next realm, even though that was not how it was for him. Courage to stride forward where all others are bereft of it, and the might to stand alone on the battlefield, invincible. Both of these things are required - even if one is missing, the other will not be enough. And today, the King of Lanthanor, and as you should call him now, Legacy Disciple of the Fortress, has displayed just these attributes that the Sect Founder was always looking for. I'm happy to announce that my long search for a Legacy Disciple has ended, as I have found someone who can carry forward the ideals of our Sect."
As he paused after saying this, everyone braced themselves, as it almost felt like the Chief would announce next that they should honor the words of the Sect Founder and kneel to him.
However, his next statement made the sourness on Daneel's face deepen, while also making relief appear on the faces of many.
"Only… Things are now different from how they were right after the Fortress was established. At that time, it was Heroes who took part in the Legacy Battle, and the one who won was typically also the strongest in the Sect. There would not be any qualms from anyone in the Fortress to object to them becoming the Sect Leader, and a smooth ceremony would follow where that person would be given his position. However… With the steady decline in the overall Energy of the continent, the Legacy Battle had to change, as there came a time when there were too few Heroes to take part. So… All the elders of the Fortress sat down at that time and made a decision for both their present, and the future."
With bated breath, even those not of the Fortress waited for the proclamation that this guy from the Central Continent who had burst out of nowhere would not be taking control of one of the Big Four.
Right now, most from the Fortress were still remembering his curses from the day before, and even though some had begun to change their attitude after seeing his incredible performance, they were still not ready to kneel.
After all, although they did respect power, it didn't mean that they would have to bow to all those more powerful than them.
As for those from the other sects, they were simply jealous, as they did not want to even imagine a case where someone without any background or resources had accomplished things which they couldn't even dream about.
Finally, as the Chief spoke again, relief shone on the faces of quite a few people, and Daneel took a mental note of all of them so that he could sate the displeasure that he felt by later targeting them if he wished.
"The decision was that, first of all, the Legacy Battle would occur between Champions, at that time, and later on, when the Energy Level of the continent decreased even further, Warriors. And more importantly, although the title of a Legacy Disciple would be given to the one who wins, they will not be able to directly become the Sect Leader unless they grow to become Heroes, themselves. Using accurate calculations, those elders were able to understand that even if such a time came when only Warriors would be the ones who would be participating in the Legacy Battle, Heroes would still be the most powerful individuals around. Hence, they wished for the Sect Leader to both have the ideals, and the strength necessary in order to command such a large force."
"A Hero? Pfft! According to the Chief's explanation, he won't even become a Champion! It won't be happening, so there's no need to worry!"
That same person who had given the tirade and had been stopped before by the Chief spoke out again, making many nod, as it was true.
Because of the Path the King had chosen, it wasn't a fact that he would even become a Champion at this point.
So…worrying about him becoming a Hero later on and having them kneel was something that did not need to be on their minds now.
Although some reacted differently, this was what most felt
The decision made sense, but Daneel had to struggle to get back a calm expression on his face.
Oh, how good would it have been if he could directly have skipped all the parts in between and gotten the achievement from the system which would definitely have given him a ton of EXP.
After all, the upgrade was still in his sight, and he wanted to get there as soon as possible - however, it looked like he would have to find other routes.
As for achievements in this battle, it did not look like he would be getting any, as he hadn't really accomplished anything which had driven his path towards World Domination - which was apparently the metric used by the system to award him EXP. Elanev had always been in his service, and although he had not spoken it out before, it did not make a difference to the system. As for winning the battle, it didn't count as he hadn't swayed many, and because just like before, even though the announcement had taken place and he would mostly be getting the role in the future, it had to be official, and he had to take it before the system gave him the award.
This was when Daneel realized that he had gotten pretty spoiled recently.
So what if he couldn't get it now? He had only been aiming for the scroll, and this was an extra addition that he hadn't known about!
Besides, wasn't it something whose value couldn't be estimated? He was pretty much set to take it later, so he should be rejoicing!
After all, was the Hero realm truly all that difficult to reach, for him?
Nope!
And wasn't his objective to not become the target of others, anyway?
So, when he thought about it in this way, Daneel realized that things had actually turned out…perfectly.
He had initially set out to hopefully gain control of one of the Big 4, and it had seemed so far fetched.
Yet, he had now achieved it without even aiming for it directly!
As soon as this made him smile, the Chief once again spoke.
"All those from the Big Four, I thank you all for coming. All those from the Fortress-I hope you will remember today, and the various things you have learned. As you must have noticed, the path of honor, which has recently become something that I hear a lot, is bullish*it. The King managed to accomplish so much because he knew that, in the end, victory is what matters. So, I urge you all to leave that foolishness behind, and just focus on your own strength. Just remember one thing: if your heart stands resolute, then no one can stand in your way. All of you are dismissed."
This statement made thoughtful expressions appear on the faces of most from the Fortress, as they could see the truth in his words after remembering everything they had witnessed.
Even though he had been at a serious disadvantage, the King had used every method available to him to clinch a victory.
If so, why should they hide under their fake 'honor'? Wasn't it just disgraceful?
Smiling broadly on seeing these thoughts that had started to appear in the minds of those from his sect, the Chief nodded to the Head and teleported to Daneel's side.
A moment later, they vanished again, as Daneel had given the system the order not to stop the Chief.
When he looked around after they reappeared, he realized that they were back at the place where this whole thing had started.
The room filled with treasures, and the podium on which the scroll floated.
"You did it. And I'm a man of my word. Go ahead."
What? Really?
Ecstatic, Daneel stretched forward his hand and grasped the scroll, already daydreaming again about achieving the Ultimate Path that he had been seeking for so long.
Yet…when he opened the scroll, all he saw was one word, which made him drop his jaw and wonder whether this was what he had worked so, so hard for.
"Need."
Written in an elegant script, it seemed to be mocking him.
At this moment, as laughter erupted from the Chief behind him who had seen his flabbergasted face, he truly considered whether he should just leave caution to the wind and turn around to strangle this damn old man.