Chapter 831 Aftermath
"I-impossible!"
"How can anyone make such creatures? Hasn't that skill been lost?!"
"Who the hell are you?!"
As emotions ranging from befuddlement to anger began to be directed to the man whose face had already gotten permanently etched into the minds of all those who were present, his figure was suddenly enclosed in a layer of bright light.
In the cavern of the Big Four, a few well-known Heroes appeared, and in the other, it was the Overseer.
"His identity is under protection, as part of the deal for him to use his skills to get out of this situation. Angaria is grateful to him, and he will be given the best of resources to groom himself and grow stronger to be able to be of service to our homeland even more in the coming years. For now, all of you can disperse."
As if scripted, this dialogue was heard in both caverns, and Arthur and Celine were both surprised when they saw it being mirrored.
In the cavern belonging to the Order, there wasn't much of a hubbub. Instead, the Heroes shot inquisitive and interested glances at both the mosquitoes who were busy doing their tasks and the man whose face they could no longer see, before teleporting away.
As for the other Cavern, a few opposing statements started to be heard, mainly from those who had done a lot of hard work trying to help do something to help in this situation.
They wanted to find out the details regarding just how anyone had been capable of such a feat, and it was clear that the arrogance that had been present before had gone. Yet…the slightest hints of greed had replaced it, and this was, in some ways, even more worrying.
As Daneel saw this, though, he could only shake his head and smile, as he had expected it.
The truth was that he wasn't in either cavern- no, it was his clones which were being powered with a little help from the Order, and his real body was in a room where large display trinkets were showing him the scene.
Behind him stood his sovereigns who had different expressions on their faces, and in his mind, the system was giving him the updates.
[Useage of conduit provided has proven effective. Combined Progress: 12%. Standing by to extract and replace mosquitoes which cannot absorb further.]
Seeing that everything was going well, Daneel turned around with a flourish.
Only those he had brought into the Order along with him were here, whereas the others were being relayed information on what was happening by those who were present.
Among those in the room, Aran and Elanev had fascinated, yet creeped out expressions on their faces as they saw the mosquitoes going about their tasks.
"Ow!"
Noticing this, Cassandra pinched Aran, making him stop his observation and blush as he realized what kind of an impression he must have given.
She, along with Eloise had been completely grossed out, and it had looked as if they were ready to begin retching like many in the caverns.
Only Faxul had been mostly unaffected, but he had shot Daneel a nod before, indicating that things had branched out in the way he had expected.
Faxul had guessed that because it was about bugs, Daneel would deploy the one he had the most knowledge in, and his suspicions had been confirmed.
Seeing him turn around, they controlled themselves and asked what was on their minds.
"Why did you act so cocky? I mean, I know it's your M.O, My King, but they all just tried their best, right? Was there a need to belittle their efforts?"
This question was put forward by Cassandra, who personally did not like it when people were not given recognition for what they had done. She was famous for always making it a point to recognize and award those under her for all of their achievements, and that was one of the reasons why she had been so loved in the army.
With a smile, Daneel gave the answer he had already prepared.
"I considered it, too, you know. I thought-why not say that they did well, and then say that I managed to find something else? However…think about this. You saw the way they reacted now. Based on that, can you estimate how they would have reacted if I had taken that path?"
Thoughtful expressions came on the sovereigns' faces, and Eloise was the one who answered.
"If I put myself in their shoes…I would tell myself that you got lucky. After all, I have a huge ego, right? Well, there might be a few who are humbled, but I think they are in a minority…look at them, they're still seething!"
Saying so, Eloise redirected the attention of those present to the caverns, and indeed, in the one where the Heroes of the Big Four were present, angry curses and challenges were still being thrown, and some were continuing to demand to know who had accomplished this feat. Through all this, though, it was obvious that the 'humbling' that Eloise had talked about was not very apparent, at all.
With a nod, Daneel said, "Exactly, Eloise. Those were my thoughts. First, though, let me admit that I made a mistake- I expected the Heroes of the Big Four and the Order to be similar, but just on different levels. I was wrong- you saw that those in the Order are not typical Heroes who think the world is in their grasp. In their case, maybe I could have held off on the arrogance, but hey- at least now, I have a thorough estimate of their attitude. Anyway, my intention is to shock them out of their arrogance. They think they're the most influential figures on the continent who should be revered! And that is also a reason behind why they might be tempted to join the Church- the Church can simply say that they owe nothing! I want to abolish this. This won't be the only time- my plan is to keep beating down their ego until they have no chance but to admit that they owe everything to Angaria, and that they have nothing to be arrogant about. Even when they were blowing up half the resources, they had the gall to feel as if the others should be lucky that they managed to save at least the other half! No, they should have been sad and disappointed in themselves, but what I saw was a bunch of fools who justified themselves."
Daneel's words filled with passion and even anger made the others raise their eyebrows and look at each other.
They had not expected that their King would have such strong feelings regarding these Heroes, so they were surprised.
Calming himself, Daneel observed them and said, "Yes, I've felt this way for a long time. These damn Heroes are all too selfish and self-centered because they managed to reach that level. Both their lifespan and their power makes them think they can do anything. There needs to be someone to put them all in line and make them ready to give up their lives, if needed, in the War that is coming. I'll do it. I'll do it because I can and I want to, and not because there is no one else who is capable of accomplishing this. Anyway, there are other reasons, too, such as that I really did want to gauge just what kind of people they were, and it is all of them combined that made me take this decision. Some are far-fetched, so if they work out, you'll find out about them later. And also…when angry, people tend to not be so perfect in their planning. As these are mosquitoes, the first target will be my identity. Although there will be a lot of attempts to make everything point to someone else, some may still want to come after the King of Lanthanor. In that case, I would rather that they make mistakes, than make perfect plans with calm dispositions. Look-the first batch is arriving."
Getting a notification from the system, Daneel stopped his monologue. There was one last reason that he hadn't mentioned…and that was that it had felt damn good.
True, there may be those who didn't deserve it, but from what Daneel had seen of them, most had aligned with his idea of Heroes being pricks who only cared about living as long as possible.
So, an opportunity to kick them down a notch and see them get into a tizzy…was basically priceless.
With that, as a large box was teleported into the room, Daneel opened it to view their final spoils.
The bodies of swollen red-gold mosquitoes could be seen, and where they might seem like just disgusting creatures to be stamped down on for most…they were actually an incredibly valuable treasure for Daneel.
He did not speak about them, though, because he suddenly felt his mind hurt due to the strain of controlling so many mosquitoes.
Even though he was using items and formations taken from the Order on loan to increase his controlling abilities temporarily, it still heavily taxed him, so he said, "Guys, depart to Lanthanor. I'll meet you there after I'm done here."
With a nod, the sovereigns left, and Daneel sat down as if to meditate while the system continued its task.
There were hundreds of thousands of Ker Gems, and the mosquitoes also had to be repeatedly bred to replace those that died from overconsumption. Still, the system handled it all, and the Heroes who hadn't left could only watch with gritted teeth.
Finally, after he was done, Daneel fainted, and slept for what felt like a long time.
He woke up refreshed and shook his head before teleporting to Lanthanor knowing that his sovereigns were waiting, and along with him, he took the many, many boxes of dead mosquitoes.
As soon as he arrived in his quarters where everyone was gathered, he safely placed the boxes to the side as if they held the most precious thing in the world and said, "Look, my dear sovereigns. Here lies a portion of all the wealth of Angaria- free to be used by us. Before any of you ask- no, I do not think that it is wrong to steal from them in this way. They abandoned the citizens of the Central Continent to die by the millions…but now, if we can't change that fate even with this much Energy, then we should truly just find a well to drown ourselves in."
Determination appeared in the eyes of all of the Sovereigns, and they nodded. In fact, Eloise even began to think of plans to use the Energy.
"All that remains is to get the ability to freely use 'em, and we should be able to achieve that, soon. Before that, though, we have one last task- to uncover just who the fake Overseer is. For this, my Sovereigns, there is only one mission remaining, and I shall go finish it now. Await my return."
With that, Daneel teleported away, eager to get back to the mission.
In the span of a few hours, he had saved Angaria from a threat that might have spelled its doom, he had obtained two 5-star rewards and he had also scammed away a portion of the Energy of the entire continent, which amounted to a staggering value that he could never even have dreamed of. And he had done all this…while staying true to his Domination Path.
With a contented smile, Daneel called over Perfect, and they all stood in front of the Obelisk once more to resume the mission.
This time…they would only appear after it was done, and Daneel couldn't wait to get to the bottom of this matter whose resolution might decide the fate of the continent, itself.