Chapter 765 The Pious Son
Elsewhere, in the Sect of Hedon, Percy was idly munching on a few curried pieces of chicken while he replayed a certain scene in his mind.
In the past few weeks, he had totally been taking it easy. He wasn't even bothered much by anyone, as they all expected him to be grieving because of the death of his father.
After all, that had been the impression that he had given to everyone when the Mad Doctor had been in the coma, and it stuck now. He was supposed to be an extremely pious son who was so busy grieving that he hadn't even exited his room after finding out that his father had died at the hands of the treacherous Ashahell, and by the copious amounts of food that he kept ordering for from the kitchens, everyone expected him to be stress eating in order to overcome the sadness.
As for the strange thing that had happened when he had poked out his own eyes, even that had been attributed to him not being able to deal with the fact that he hadn't been powerful enough to protect his father when he had been attacked.
Such perfect, steaming piles of bullsh*t were things that had to be admired, and Percy did admire them occasionally, when he was not doing the exact opposite to what everyone thought he was doing- feeling insanely happy that the man whom he had sworn to kill had been destroyed until there was absolutely nothing left of him.
He still remembered that day vividly. At that point, the news hadn't even been confirmed that his father had been killed, and all he knew was that the man had escaped and had almost beaten the King of Lanthanor to a pulp. That had really tugged at the strings of his heart, because he felt that it was his duty to try and help his senior disciple brother if he could. Yet, he could tell that his master must have some other plan in place, because he had already done everything in his own power to notify them about what was going to happen.
He could still clearly recall just how happy he had felt when he saw the breakthrough of his senior disciple brother, and had even admired the way the sun had shined on the scales of the cockroach shell that had appeared to protect him.
Still, things hadn't looked very good, and he had only managed to heave a sigh of relief when he saw the Mad Doctor go away to some other place.
He had no idea regarding what was going on behind the scenes, but he still decided that he needed a drink. To get one for himself, he had just made a trip to the kitchens, and by the time he came back, there was something waiting for him on the bed.
Little had he known that it would be the object which would give him more happiness than anything else in the entire world.
There was a letter on top of it which was from his master, and as he read what was written on it, his hands began trembling, because he couldn't believe what he was holding.
He had a slight hint as to what it was, but he didn't want to believe it.
Yet… When he finally did activate the display trinket and saw the scene where his father had a scared expression on his face while trapped in front of a wall made of earth with nowhere else to go, he had almost dropped the trinket while moving back and collapsing onto the bed with shock.
Somehow, he held onto it, and with his eyes wider than they had ever been, he had watched as the emotions that he had always wished to see on his father's face appeared one by one, in succession.
Hopelessness, desperation, panic, and finally… The fear that he had always loved to see in others.
The video was taken from an angle where he could see his father but not the man who was floating in front of him, and at that moment, Percy didn't really care who he was. It was most probably his master, because that was who had given him this gift whose value couldn't be put into words, but his eyes remained transfixed on the eyes of the man he hated more than anyone else in the world.
The crowning moment was when he saw the look which meant that his father understood that his time on this continent was over.
At that moment, he saw exactly what he had always expected to see when such a time came.
There was no regret, because the man had never actually done anything that he might feel this emotion for. At least, this was the case in regards to the instances where he had killed countless people just for the joy that it gave him, and although some of it was present as he would have no chance to reach the Hero realm which he had always hoped for, it was nothing in front of the overriding emotion of disbelief that was apparent on his features.
That disbelief appeared in Percy, too, as he saw his father being torn apart into the tiniest of particles, and for a few seconds after that, even though the display trinket closed on its own and destroyed itself, he could only stand there as if he had been paralyzed by some attack.
He was even holding his breath, and if anyone saw him at the moment, they would have thought that he had died where he stood.
Yet… Right after that, if they saw the way he jumped up into the air and almost crashed through the ceiling to enter into someone else's room, they would understand that his reaction was one of extreme happiness.
Indeed, after landing on the ground, a luster was added to Percy's eyes which shone with ecstasy, and he started to look for the trinket which he didn't even remember had disintegrated right in front of him. After he recalled that fact, he reproached himself that he hadn't made a copy, but he understood that there was probably a reason behind it happening. Most probably, his master must want to conceal his power, and that made perfect sense, because this kind of a power was definitely unprecedented in Angaria.
Putting those things aside, though, Percy had gone on to do the one thing that he had longed to do when he achieved his ultimate goal of killing his father.
It is at this moment that he realized that his goal had just been to see his father die, and that it didn't really matter whether he did it by his own hands or not. True, it might have been slightly better, but in all possibility, his father might just have broken through to become a Hero as the man had a certain knack for doing things which he wasn't expected to. If that happened, it was difficult to say whether Percy would have succeeded in his lifetime.
He calmed the surging emotions in his mind which were mostly those of relief and joy, and he sat back down on his bed before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
With that breath, he started to once again repeat the list of names that he always carried with him, in the forefront of his mind.
They each belonged to those that had been killed by the Mad Doctor because they had associated themselves with him, and after he read each one out loud, he added something beside them.
"My Mother, Kelsey. Your death has been avenged. My best friend, Bonnie. Your death has been avenged.M y half-brother, Bruce. Your death has been avenged. My half-sister, Overa. Your death has been avenged. My…"
The list went on and on, and when he reached the end of it, Percy opened his eyes which shone with a certain brilliance and clarity that hadn't been present in them before.
It was as if a cloud that had hung over his head for so long had somehow cleared, and he found himself eyeing the world itself any new light.
He felt liberated, as if he had been shackled all this while, and every breath felt wonderful.
He even started humming a tune to himself, and began to plan a trip to the village to celebrate.
Yet… He had to put that plan aside for the moment, because it would really be uncharacteristic for a pious son to grieve in the village behind the sect where people usually went to for completely different reasons.
With nothing else to do, he had really wished that he had the Network trinket which was so popular that fakes had even begun to be proliferated in the sects of the Big Four, and he had obtained one from someone in the kitchens after putting on a grieving face which brought forth pity.
So, all he had been doing was binge shows while watching the drama of the coins which he didn't really care too much for, except to see how his senior disciple brother would handle it.
When the final plan was revealed, Percy had clapped as if it was a TV show which had reached its ending, and after that, he was right where he was now: craving for some dessert, and wondering which of the twenty types of pity-inducing expressions he should use to get more free food.
Only, suddenly, he saw someone appear in the room before he was instantly teleported away.
What the…f*ck?!
Extremely alarmed by what had suddenly happened, Percy prepared to fight, but he realized that whoever had managed to teleport him so easily without giving him even a chance to put up any resistance would definitely not flinch much at his Peak Warrior level strength.
When his eyes finally adjusted, though, he saw that it was actually the Head, and standing beside him was the man whom he had just seen give a very heart-wrenching speech a few minutes ago.
He almost said the words 'senior disciple brother', but thankfully, he gulped them down at the last moment after remembering that their master's existence was supposed to be a secret.
Before he could ask just why he had been brought here, the Head spoke up.
"I hear that you two have met before in rivalry. You should put all that aside, because right now, the two of you will be working together for something. Its something that will actually benefit you a lot, by the way, as because of it, you will be getting access to a technique you might not have seen in your lifetime unless you displayed exceptional talent. You should commend the King of Lanthanor and his knowledge of techniques for identifying that this one will be very suitable for you. In return for this, you need to carry out a task, but don't worry, you won't have to experience any discomfort."
Percy's expression cleared as he heard this, and the Head thought that it was because of what he had said.
What he didn't know was that the real reason was that he had just gotten a message from his master.
"I hope you liked your gift, kiddo. Now then, do this favor for your senior disciple brother, and he might just have even more gifts for you. Don't make it easy, though. Act like you normally would, and if you manage to get a weapon from your treasury...I might be tempted to throw in something, too, in exchange."
That last sentence riled up Percy, and putting on a disinterested face after putting beside the overwhelming urge to thank his master for the incredible favor that had been done to him, he looked at his nails and said, "Not enough. Throw something else in. Look, it's clear that you need me to do this, and I never leave a bargain after I see it. How about...a weapon from the treasury of the Sect of Hedon?"
The Head almost sputtered with anger as he heard this, but he controlled himself when he saw the King, who had turned to look at him with a neutral expression on his face.
Yet, that expresssion, for some reason, made him remember what the King had had to go through because of him.
Oh, yes, I have a debt to repay. Even though I gave that offer, he almost died! Oh, well, it's not like I'm giving away a weapon to someone outside the sect...
With this thought, the Head gulped down his retort and nodded, and Percy was actually surprised that it had been that easy.
If he had known that Daneel had already banked on the emotions of the Head to make this happen, he would have understood why that was the case.
Not knowing that he had been thoroughly manipulated, the Head spoke up again to continue the plan he had been given by the King.
"Percy, this is the technique that you need to learn. And after that, all you have to do is...go to prison. Simple, right? Don't look at me, blame him..."