Chapter 866 D 7
"And that is the report. I take full responsibility for everything that has happened. Even though we made multiple subsequent attempts, there was simply no chance of bypassing the creatures which were in a frenzy. Attempts to get rid of the odor that was attracting them also failed. It only ceased to be effective after 10 minutes, at which point there was no clue to be found. Even after searching extensively in the area that we had gone to, there was nothing out of the ordinary. The target has escaped, and I am willing to take any punishment that you feel is necessary."
Hearing the words of the leader of the contingent that had set out with so much confidence before, Nosra was quite startled.
This was the first time that she was seeing a Hero be so humble, and she had never expected that someone with so much arrogance would bow down and be willing to accept punishment for something that he wasn't even directly responsible for.
They had simply been too unprepared - if they had known that their opponent could get up to such tricks, then they might have taken along experts who would combat these methods. Instead of that, all they had was her, who, although had some expertise in analyzing obscure spells like what had been used upon them, was nowhere near experienced enough to counter their opponent's move and pursue him.
She had been witness to the frustration of their leader when they had realized that the one they were chasing had escaped without a trace. That had been followed by a very extensive search of the entire area, but they had found nothing whatsoever.
This looked like it had angered him even more, but the man hadn't shown anything, except for in brief moments which Nosra caught as she had her eyes trained on him. Now, it was obvious that it had all converted into a feeling of failure, which he seemed to be trying to overcome by submitting himself to the judgment of the Overseer.
The rest of the people in the contingent did not speak - in fact, the Heroes who had looked at him and his small group with reproach before now looked almost happy, as if they were glad that the record of this illustrious man would at least have this one failure upon it.
They were in the chamber where the body of the Overseer was the only thing giving off light, and as they waited, it did not look like they would be graced with an answer.
Yet, after a few seconds, the voice of the Overseer seemed to come from all over the place, and as always, it did not contain any emotion.
"After reviewing the actions undertaken by the leader and members of the contingent, it has been decided that there was nothing else that could be done. Hence, no punishment is necessary, and the reward that was promised for this mission will also be given out, because the protocol was followed perfectly. All the trinkets used must be returned, and all the members of the contingent must also be available for questioning where an attempt will be made to extract information that might not have been noticed by you. You can disperse."
Hearing this, most let out sighs of relief, but Nosra, who still had her eyes on the leader saw something else.
He… Looked angry.
Could someone really be this devoted to the Overseer, that he was disappointed that he was not being punished for a failure?
She was frankly shocked by this, but she had no intention whatsoever of asking more questions and landing herself in more trouble than she already was in.
As for all the relief, it was because the group had started to think that they might not be given the rewards that were promised because they had failed.
Even after getting back to her room, Nosra was still continuously thinking of the expression of the leader.
She didn't really like him that much - he had screamed at her incessantly for failing to negate the effects of the odor, and she had almost been close to tears. At that moment, no one would have believed that she was also a Hero who could dictate almost anything on the continent, and it was the first time that she had felt helpless after breaking through.
Yet… She had never really been someone to have an ego and hold a grudge. Hence, she could put it all aside and try to see whether there was anything else to be gleaned.
After a few moments, she found himself going back again and again to the words of the king that felt as if they were still echoing in her ears.
"All is not what it seems."
For some reason, that statement was stuck with her, but she couldn't really explain why.
Was it because that was what she had been feeling during the beginning of the mission?
Or was it that there had been a certain emotion behind those words?
Either way, information was what she needed. She wanted to unveil what was hidden, and she needed to find more information about the Overseer, because he was the one who was the reason behind everything happening.
It wasn't that she was a part of the group who were against him. No, that was too radical - she was just curious, and one of her biggest failings had also been that she could never control her curiosity.
Hence, she decided that she would carefully find out everything she could before leaving her room with a determined expression on her face.
…
In the large chamber that had been silent for many, many eons, the sound of footsteps could be continuously heard as two people walked all around and constantly made trips from all corners of the room to the one where they had found the man who was protecting the door behind him even though he was dead.
After a few minutes, they were finally done.
Putting his hands on his waist, Daneel checked one last time and then focused his gaze, once again, on the large door that was supposed to lead to the vault that he had come here to access.
Where before there had been one large skeleton, there were now many - in total, they had found 63 decomposed bodies, and all of them were giant-sized.
They wore different clothes, with the level of extravagance varying widely. The most extravagant ones were definitely on the one that they had found first, while the others looked like they were more normal individuals who were of the same size, but did not contain either the same power or authority as the man whose diary they had found.
After reading that statement, Daneel had understood that there was a story here that he needed to find out.
Information was always paramount. All he knew about Elysium was what he had found in the memories of the Emperor, which wasn't too much as the man had only given the resources and then occupied himself with other things, such as throwing back the enemy that he had attracted to Angaria.
The rest he knew was from a few mentions in the Library of Origin in the Order, which said that after the Apocalypse, this place had turned into a deathtrap which had a lot of resources, but was suicidal to enter.
After going through all of the mentions in the library, Daneel had seen that multiple powerful people who had not been satisfied with the resources that they were given and who needed power in order to live or accomplish something that they really wanted would travel to this place after being enticed by the records of all the objects that were supposed to be inside.
After all, the whole point of a last bastion was that there would be enough inside to rebuild, or hide in case Angaria was run over, or destroyed.
Yet… There were no records, at all, of any of them returning, and it wasn't even sure whether they had succeeded in finding the place, or had simply perished to all the sea creatures while frantically searching randomly for the entrance.
Daneel would find the answer to this soon, but before that, he focused on those in front of him.
All of these bodies had been present in various corners, almost as if they had crawled there in order to have a last moment of silence to themselves while they passed away. They had been found in various positions - kneeling, sitting, sleeping, and in one case, praying.
He had carried them all using his hands, and he had commanded Faxul to do the same, as it just did not feel right to handle the remains of these individuals using spells. It almost felt like it would… disrespect the sacrifice that they had clearly made in order to keep Angaria safe.
Now, with all of them gathered, he touched all of their diaries that he had collected one by one.
Faxul was already deeply engrossed in the first diary, and Daneel didn't blame him. Even he had begun to become completely absorbed in the tale of the man that they had found, but he had resisted the urge to sit and read everything and had decided that he wanted to find all of the information first before delving into it.
Now, it was finally time to see what exactly had happened.
As the system began to narrate the entire tale, all of the details began to fall into place.
What before had only been vague speculation and random facts now turned into a tale for the Legends, and Daneel's emotions surged like the rising sun outside as he heard it.
Glancing at Faxul and knowing that he should probably tell the entire thing instead of having the man go through all of the books one by one and waste time, he began to speak.
"Listen, Faxul. That diary only contains part of the story. I've gone through all the information from all of the bodies, so I know exactly what happened."
Seeing him snap his head up, Daneel continued.
Gesturing at all of the skeletons in front of him, he said, "These are all the brave souls who voluntarily chose to stay inside and do their duty while many fled for their lives and abandoned the posts that they had taken after promising that they would never give in to fear. I must say that I am thoroughly impressed by them, and if I could give them back the life that they threw away by choosing to stay here, I would. Alas…That is not possible, so all I can do is narrate their tale."
Sensing the sadness in Daneel's tone, Faxul nodded. Reading the diary, he had gotten the same feeling, but he looked forward to hearing about the rest.
"We both know that during the war, the outcome was not at all definite. If the war could be won without using the Grand Inheritance, the Emperor would have done so. Before marching out, there was no way to ascertain in which direction it would go, so different plants regarding each and every aspect of the continent could not be made. Although the Emperor had made many plans to counter the possibility that the Apocalypse would ensue, in the matter of Elysium, he could not be perfect. This was because if he emptied the place of Champions and Heroes, then it would become vulnerable to attack by the enemy, which would end up with them empowering their foes. Hence, a portion of the Champions and Heroes still had to be kept here, but the countermeasure set in place was that in case the Apocalypse came to be, then they would be locked inside. If it could be done remotely, it would have been great, but this place was built to be self-sufficient, and not controlled from anywhere outside. Hence, people needed to stay to maintain the formations and make sure that all of the monstrosities inside Elysium would also not be unleashed upon Angaria, which might have ended any prospects of a future age, and these are the ones who volunteered. They did their job. They sealed the place. But after that… There was nothing else to do. For over three centuries, they stayed alone, with all communication cut off. Some went crazy. Some lost all hopes. Some took their own lives. And some even let themselves be torn to pieces by the monstrosities which were trapped inside, howling incessantly for blood and flesh. To ensure the possibility of a new age coming into existence, these people paid the price. They… Are warriors, factual. True warriors. But look how they have languished all these years. I believe… That they should be buried with full respect. What do you feel?"
Faxul didn't even need a second to answer.
"Yes, a burial fit for a King would also not be too much. It's the least we can do."
Just as Daneel was about to smile and tell his plan for the same, he stopped, as a sound suddenly echoed in the room where there was no one else but them.
It…was the sound of clapping, and as Daneel realized with horror that it was coming from in front of him, he took a step back.
After a moment, a deep, rasping voice also appeared from the same place, and hearing it, the two Kings of Angaria could not help but look at each other with absolute shock.
"Incredible. So it was all worth it, I see, as there are those like you who have been born on the continent that I died to save. Oh…you don't know how good it feels to find this out. But it's all for naught, isn't it? Because it's all happening again, and this time, there is no Fenoras to save our asses!"