216-226

Chapter 216 Aftermath

On seeing the King retire to his chambers after beheading the Vice Sect Master, it had become clear to Luther and Kellor who had been following behind him that he was in no state to handle anything right now.

Thus, along with the help of Faxul, the three set out to address the most pressing issues at the moment.

First of all, the job to tally all those who had passed away in the assault on the Palace had to be taken care of.

Faxul volunteered for this. Under his supervision, soldiers with trinkets which held the information about all the servants and soldiers in the Palace of Lanthanor were dispatched in order to collect all the bodies.

As the final count came in, Faxul sighed as he too felt that this disaster could have been avoided if the King had directed the situation in a different way.

Still, the trust he had in Daneel was unshakeable. Knowing that his friend would definitely rebound from this as a much more mature and competent King, he resolved to work harder to reach his goals.

The final count came out to be 189 total lives lost in this attack on the Palace, of which 50 were the soldiers who had been pinned on the walls.

While the ministers began the process of handling the remuneration and pension for all the families of those who had passed away, Kellor and Luther handled the disposal of the bodies of the Sect Members.

Their objective was to find any clues regarding the location of the remainder of the Withering Leaf Sect. After all, the Sect Master hadn't participated in this fight, along with all the weaker members of the Sect who had been seen fleeing the Valley of Mist.

As the majority of the strength of the Sect had already been decimated in this event, there was no doubt that the members remaining were just a husk of the force which had once stood on par with the Kingdoms in Central Angaria.

Thus, on this day, the Kingdom of Lanthanor had done something which hadn't been accomplished by any other force in Central Angaria in the past few centuries: they had managed to effectively destroy a force of equal power as them without taking many casualties.

This was what was observed by all those keeping a close watch on everything that was happening.

They had seen the forces of the Sect massacre their way into the Palace, but not a single soul had exited for many hours.

After almost an entire day, bloody sacks that looked like they contained butchered meat were burned in a clearing outside the Palace.

This was enough to let the others know about the shocking truth that Lanthanor had killed hundreds of Human Mages and even a Warrior Mage by sustaining the losses of just some common folk.

Indeed, when seen through their eyes, this was such a good bargain that they wished they had the ability to strike one like it.

Alas, such was the cruelty of the continent which emphasized power over everything else. The value of common people was nothing compared to Mages and Fighters.

Of course, although there were a few who did not think the same, the majority of those on the peak lived with this attitude.

This entire chain of events served to bring about a reestimation in terms of the power and risk the Kingdom of Lanthanor represented in the dossiers of all the forces around it.

Each and every force was shaken into action, sending more spies and also assigning more strategists to consider every possibility in case they did have to fight against Lanthanor.

Thus, it seemed as if a storm was forming all over Central Angaria with Lanthanor at the center of it.

Yet, the man who had caused all this had just gotten up from the chair in which he had gotten drunk and fallen asleep last night after his father had magically pulled out 4 wine bottles which the both of them had downed without pause.

Seeing his father still snoring on the chair in front of him, Daneel first stretched his body to allow the blood to flow back to all the parts which had gone numb.

After a few moments of painful relaxation, he walked to the full-length mirror in his bedroom before pausing and looking at himself while ignoring the pain in his head from the hangover.

His hair was a mess, while his shoes and robes were caked with dried blood.

"Dumb, dumb, dumb.", he muttered, still amazed and disgusted at his own folly of making grand plans for the entire continent when he was still an ant who could mostly be crushed by any random member of the Big 4.

Shaking his head, he did what his father had advised him to do: although the pain from the cost of his mistake still mauled his heart with each second that passed, he began the process of moving on while branding the lessons learned onto his mind.

Although his goal was still to unite Central Angaria, he would no longer shirk away from being ruthless when needed.

And if even the thought to focus on the bigger picture while ignoring the one in front of him came to his mind, he would squash it with everything he had.

Thus, after freshening up, the King of Lanthanor walked out of the bathroom as a new man.

Calling for a meeting through the oathstone with all his advisors, Daneel walked back to the same chair and sat down, startling his father awake who first clutched his head feeling the strong hangover that resulted from drinking without abandon.

After a few moments, he looked up to gaze into a set of clear eyes.

The indecisiveness and turmoil he had seen yesterday was gone, replaced by a clarity which meant that his son had managed to escape from the well of pain which had almost sucked him into its endless depths.

Smiling wide, he tried to get up but gave up knowing that they would have a meeting here anyway.

A few moments later, Luther, Faxul, and Kellor arrived and shot glances at Robert who had unkempt hair and a haggard face.

As Robert shrugged in response, Daneel began the meeting.

"I know what you all must be thinking. Believe me, I think the same. I made a mistake, and all I can say is that it will never repeat for as long as there is life in me. Now, is there anything that should immediately be brought to my attention?"

The gravity with which Daneel said these words reflected just how much he meant them.

For these three who had gone through life and death with him, it was enough to set their minds at ease.

After all, the King had already shown multiple times that he was a very, very fast learner.

"My King, there is something… wrong with the bodies of the Vice Sect Master and the Eldest Prince. I think the best way to explain is for you to see it yourself."

It was Kellor who spoke out, making Daneel's eyebrow rise as he wondered whether it was tied to the sudden boost in power of the two who were definitely much weaker the last time he had met them.

"All right. Let's go right now."

Proceeding to walk towards the door, Daneel startled the others who had been thinking that the King would take it slow as he had just recovered from what looked like a very deep internal conflict.

After all, in his eyes, action was the best thing to distract him from his own mind which was still dwelling on the contorted expressions of all the servants and soldiers who wouldn't be going back to their families anymore from this day.

...

In an underground room with tables on which lay numerous items which had been extracted from the bodies of the Withering Leaf Sect Members.

One table in the center held a headless body which looked like it had been chewed on and thrown away by a beast which didn't like the taste.

On approaching the body, Daneel's face took on a shocked expression due to the sight of the left chest of the Withering Leaf Vice Sect Master.

It was as if a head had been grafted onto the skin of the man, with half of it under the skin while the other half looked like it was trying to get out of whatever shackles it was bound by.

This could be discerned only due to the fact that unlike the rest of the body of the Vice Sect Master which was riddled with holes and injuries, this face was spotless.

It was bald, with its features resembling that of a middle-aged man completely with wrinkles and laugh lines along his mouth.

Unable to make any sense of the situation, Daneel laid his hand on the body and ordered the system to analyze this strange appendage.

[Analysis begun. Estimated time till completion: 1 hour. Please maintain contact.]

Hearing the notification, Daneel turned to Kellor beside him and said, "Announce that the biggest culprit who caused thousands of deaths in the Kingdom, the Eldest Prince, will be brought to justice by public execution at the same spot. This time, there will be no mishaps."

Chapter 217 Dalia

In all 10 years of Dalia's life, coming to the capital was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Gone were the days when she had to spend the whole day alone if the other kids her age were occupied by helping their parents in tending to the fields.

Gone were the days when her mother had had to go to bed without eating, just so that she wouldn't have to starve. Although her mother used to insist that she had already eaten somewhere else, Dalia knew that she had only had water to fill her stomach.

Coming to the capital had changed everything. First, there had been the candy which she had always had to look at from a distance. Since she had never had the experience of having anything in abundance since being born, she had treasured everything that she had gotten, thinking that it might last only a little while.

Thus, she had become all the happier when her mother told her with tears of joy in her eyes that she could have candy every day if she wanted, as they would be settling down in the capital due to the kindness of the King who had sanctioned something called a pension for them.

Although she didn't understand everything her mother had said, she had had a feeling that their lives were about to change for the better.

Her mother had always had a penchant for embroidery in the village, with all their neighbors praising her for her handiwork and using it to decorate their living rooms or dining tables.

After saving up the pension for a month, her mother had bought a strange box that she was told to stay away from because it was very delicate.

Apparently, this was one of those trinkets that she had only heard of but never seen except for the few times that she had gone to the mayor's house in the village.

What was incredible was that every time her mother sat down with a ball of yarn in front of this box, a few hours later, a beautiful patch of embroidery would be in her mother's hands as if it had magically been made by that box.

Everything seemed to be going well, but after a month, the box broke down and black smoke came from it as if something inside it had exploded.

Her mother rarely cursed, but this incident had made her grumble that the salesman who had said this was a thirdhand trinket and would definitely work for six months was a cheat and a liar who had to be brought to justice.

Without any other choice, another 2 months of saving had had to go into buying another box which seemed to be in a better condition than the other one which had multiple dents around it.

On some days, Dalia accompanied her mother to the market where they set up a stall to sell the embroidery work. Although the first few days had seen them getting very few customers, with time, those who realized that the embroidery on these patch works was much more detailed than that sold in many clothing shops around Lanthanor hurried to the stall to buy as many as possible.

This had delighted the duo, letting them believe that this business was actually viable for them to earn enough to survive and even save for a rainy day.

Her favorite part about the capital came soon after.

It was in the form of the largest building that Dalia had ever seen in her life. Labeled as the School of Lanthanor, she had been puzzled about what it was when her mother had brought her here the first day after giving her a stack of parchments and a quill.

Only saying that she wished that she had such an opportunity when she was her age, her mother had sent her inside along with the many children who were also bemusedly trying to figure out just where they were supposed ago.

After being led into a large room by a kind lady who had asked if she had been lost, Dalia had listened for the first time about the Continent of Angaria which made a thirst for knowledge be born inside her.

Each and every occupation on the continent had been laid out clearly, with the one catching Dalia's attention the most being that of an enchanter.

She knew very well that although they had land in the village where she had been born, they had had to toil day and night because they couldn't afford the magical devices which maintained the other's farms.

Although they had come to the Capital where their lives were a lot better and she also had many more friends to play with, she couldn't help but feel that this wasn't her true home.

Hence, all she wanted was to be able to become someone who could make those magical devices so that she could take care of the farm by herself while her mother rested. After all, Dalia guessed that even her mother felt the same way because of all the time she had sat on the porch of their small one-bedroom house and gazed out at all the buildings surrounding her as if longing for the open fields of the village.

Since that day, she had willingly cut down on her playing time to learn as much as she could. Whenever they had enough money, her mother would also take her to the town library where there were so many books that her jaw had dropped when she first looked at them.

Knowledge matured her, and in just a few months she had started to act like somebody who was well beyond her age.

As her worldview grew, the adoration she had for the King who had made everything possible grew day by day until the point where the King and the Kingdom had the highest importance in her heart right after her mother. This was also attributed to the books about the King's rise to the throne, which were available for free even in the school.

Today, the entire city had gone into a festive mode because of an announcement made by the government.

The eldest prince who had committed the most grievous acts in the known history of the Kingdom was finally going to be brought to justice by the King who had promised that it would be so.

The last time when she and her mother had viewed the execution, she had had no idea about what was going on. Thus, this time, she resolved to see everything and hopefully catch another glimpse of the man who was responsible for changing her life.

In the school, the only complaints that the teachers had had on her was that she often got into arguments and even fights with those who expressed opinions which were negative towards the King.

Looking forward to seeing their expressions when they realized that the King was really someone who kept his word, Dalia excitedly ran back home with the intention of celebrating with her mother.

Yet, the moment she approached the building in which the apartment they had rented was located, she realized that something was wrong due to the black smoke that was coming out of the window.

Worrying for her mother, she immediately ran inside and felt glad when she saw that her she was fine. Only, she was collapsed on the ground, sobbing.

Seeing Dalia enter, Helena got up and hugged her tight. In the past few months, she had seen her daughter mature with a speed that astonished her. Knowing that this was mostly because of the school which allowed her daughter to think for herself without being constricted by limited knowledge, Helena was also all the more grateful to the King.

Thus, recently, she had stopped treating her daughter as a little child and had started to confide in her and even depend on her to maintain their family. After all, with maturity came responsibility, and she knew that she would only be burned out if she tried to take care of everything by herself.

With stuttering words, she said, "It-it broke again, and I used the last of our money to buy supplies for the huge order that we received the other day. What do we do now?"

Dalia was lost for words. When they had taken the order, they had received strict instructions that it had to be delivered by the specified time or there would be dire consequences. So far, Helena had never delayed any of her orders, which had actually lead to them getting this order in the first place.

Now, this disaster had occurred which might cause them to shut down their whole business because of losing credibility and gathering the ire of the powerful people whom they would offend by not being able to deliver.

In this time of distress, the only person she remembered was the tall and dashing man with a dragon on his shoulders who she believed to be the kindest person in the entire world.

"Mother, after the execution tomorrow, we will go to the palace. Even this trinket was supposed to last one more year, and the police refuse to take the case. I believe we will find justice there.", she said, with shining eyes.

Chapter 218 To the Valley

On the night before the execution, a man could be seen covertly making his way into the Valley of Mist which had been the site of much attention in the past few days.

Although the location was still surrounded by multiple spies from different forces, it seemed as if this man had eyes all around the Valley, which enabled him to find a spot which no other party was watching at the moment.

After entering the Valley successfully, the man pulled back his hood to reveal an aged face with a scraggly beard and a long nose.

This was Daneel, and if he had been told a few hours ago that he would be making his way into the most booby-trapped location in the entirety of the continent, he would have scoffed at the notion.

Yet, right now he found himself asking the system to keep a close eye on his surroundings in order to warn him in case he was going to step into any trap.

His reason behind coming here went back to the meeting he had had with the Eldest Prince a few hours ago.

After entering the room in which the Prince had been being held, Daneel had said something which made Kellor who stood beside him gasp with surprise.

"Stop breathing".

Yet, the thing that happened next shocked Kellor even more.

The Eldest Prince, who had sworn an oath to follow every order of Daneel's is no matter what it was, managed to ignore this statement after an expression of struggle came on his face.

Unlike Daneel who had already seen his master circumvent his oath with the Church to give him information, Kellor had never even had the thought that an oath-taker could defy orders in this way.

In fact, even Daneel had been unaware about this before the notification about the strange condition of the Vice Sect Master's body has sounded in his head.

[Technique: "Two minds, one body" analyzed. Using a combination of elementary particles, a recently deceased person's head is grafted onto the chest of an individual. This head's link with the body allows it to share consciousness with the host. As an oath binds consciousness, orders given through the oath can be ignored to a certain degree especially when they threaten the life of the body which both consciousnesses inhabit. Along with this, heightened danger awareness, battle effectiveness and temporarily increased training speed are the advantages if the second consciousness can be effectively controlled by the host. Further analysis needed for development of technique.]

After listening to the notification, Daneel had gone blank for a few seconds. This was definitely the most unique technique that he had ever seen since coming to this continent.

In fact, it definitely belonged to a branch of magic which he had never even heard about even though he had absorbed so much knowledge from all the books in Lanthanor.

Deciding to put it aside for now to handle the other pressing matters, he had asked if the Eldest Prince also had a similar condition as the Vice Sect Master's.

After all, it was quite obvious that because he was bound so tightly by the oath he had given to Daneel, the Eldest Prince would choose to cultivate this technique if he got the chance.

After finding out that it was true, Daneel had come to the room and given this order to test out the effectiveness of this technique.

Unlike the face on the Vice Sect Master's chest which had been trying to get out, the one on the eldest prince was more subdued as if it was in the last stages of completely assimilating into its host.

As the system had said, the circumvention was only most effective when orders which threaten the life of the host were given. Yet, when questions about the secrets of the Sect he had spent so much time in were asked, he had no choice but to give the answers.

As a force which had existed since many centuries, the Withering Leaf Sect had tremendous reserves of techniques whose physical copies were apparently still inside the headquarters.

In their hurry, only the backups made in parchments had been extracted, as it would be too tedious of a job to try and take away all the originals which occupied rows and rows of bookshelves.

Apparently, even the legendary spell technique of the Withering Leaf Sect was still in the headquarters, because it was rumored that it was something that was stored along with the heart of the formation which defended the sect headquarters.

Just like in the case when the Ex-King's father had passed away leaving the formation of the Palace of Lanthanor ownerless, the Sect Formation was apparently also vulnerable right now.

Of course, many countermeasures had been put in place so that no enemy would even get the notion of trying to invade when there was temporarily no one inside.

After all, the sect did intend to go back as soon as they found a way to resolve the situation with the mosquitoes.

Daneel's eyes had widened when he realized that this was the perfect time to try and infiltrate the sect.

But what about the formations and the traps?

The answer for this came in part due to the notification which had sounded in his mind when he had been drinking with his father the night before.

[Achievement Unlocked: Psyche of a World Dominator-1

Psyche of a World Dominator-1 : Through your experiences, you have managed to shed your naivety to understand that mercy to one's enemies means cruelty towards one's own people. By realizing this, you have matured and now have a mindset more befitting that of a future World Dominator. Congratulations!

5000 EXP awarded.]

Thinking that EXP was really like sand which kept slipping through his fingers every time he managed to grasp some, Daneel had grudgingly bought the tool which was needed if he even wanted to consider the plan of infiltrating the Withering Leaf Sect's headquarters.

[Hidden Object Detection-1: Allows the host to detect formations and trinkets which are hidden. Detection is required for Phenomena Analysis Module to analyze any hidden objects.]

Indeed, so far, the Phenomena Analysis Module had only been able to analyze whatever was in his vicinity in the cases when it wasn't purposefully hidden from him.

Yet, in the Valley of Mist, all the traps would definitely be so covert that he wouldn't even be able to complain before dying from any one of them.

After all, the Sect had depended on these traps to defend itself from even personages who were at the Warrior level, which was evidenced by the fact that many Warriors had also gone missing inside the Valley in the past few decades.

After entering the Valley, Daneel finally understood why they were so confident that they would never lose a fight inside.

Almost each and every step that he took had a risk associated with it that would have led to his demise if it hadn't been for the system letting him know exactly how to circumvent and traverse the Valley Floor in order to be safe.

According to the system, this unique path which allowed one to safely pass through shifted every hour.

Thus, feeling thankful that he hadn't taken chances, Daneel smoothly reached the Headquarters of the Sect before being awed by its natural majesty.

It was as if the entire structure which composed of courtyards and lavish buildings had grown along with the forest which it was located in.

In fact, if it weren't for the system disabling the formation around it which made it appear as a set of dilapidated buildings, Daneel would never have been able to see this grandeur which was hidden to all except the Sect Members.

Entering the Sect, he made his way according to the Eldest Prince's grudging instructions to the reach the room which held the techniques of the Sect.

His eyes gleaming due to the many leather-bound books neatly arranged in rows of bookshelves in front of him which each represented a chance to grow in power, Daneel completely became absorbed in the task of devouring them all.

While he was taking each book out mechanically to let the system analyze them, he thought back to the problem that had been raised by Kellor a few hours before.

With all the recent spending, the government was apparently already in a deficit of 5 Million Gold Lans.

Besides, because of having to use all the remaining Ker Gems to kill the members of the Sect by driving the mosquitoes into a frenzy, Daneel had no more resources to speed up his training.

Right now, money was a necessity for Lanthanor without which it might come to a disastrous halt.

As he was thinking along these lines, a specific technique which he was currently absorbing into the system caught his eye, making him drop the tome and take a step back in disbelief.

Chapter 219 Blood Energy Extraction

"Blood Energy Extraction"

This was the title which made Daneel step back with astonishment.

The very basis for the method of growing in power in the continent of Angaria was that one had to obtain Energy from Energy materials.

One of the earliest things that any fighter or mage learnt was that Energy was a magical thing which was modified in some way when any living being absorbed it. This was why resources were always more effective on those who had higher potential, because they would be able to advance more with the same amount of Energy because they could make use of more of it before it was modified in a way which made it unusable by any other being.

The very idea that Energy already absorbed could be extracted from blood was shocking.

Scrambling forward, he asked the system to analyse the book before impatiently waiting for the result.

[Technique 'Blood Energy Extraction' analysed. This is a hypothetical technique put forward by the 14th Sect Master of the Withering Leaf Sect. Although the premise of extracting Energy from blood was accomplished, there were certain side effects which rendered this technique unusable. First, while the level needed for a person to cast the spell to extract the Energy is that of an Exalted Warrior Mage, the amount of Energy extracted is so minuscule that all of the blood present in the human body of a typical exalted human mage would only result in the extraction of Energy equivalent to a single Ker Gem. Multiple attempts were made to increase the efficiency, but none succeeded. Second, the absorption of Energy extracted in this way results of the corrosion of the absorber's mind. Eventually, the absorber enters a state of bloodthirstiness from which there is no return. The book ends with the author promising that they will continue the experiments whenever a supply of fresh bodies resumes.]

Hearing this explanation from the system, Daneel did not know whether he was supposed to be excited or disgusted.

Finding himself feeling both equally, he put back the book and paused for a moment to assemble his thoughts.

His disgust came from the fact that such an experiment would definitely have needed an unimaginable amount of blood. Besides, the mention of a supply of fresh human bodies at the end was so chilling the Daneel couldn't help but wonder about just what activities the Sect was undertaking in this hidden location.

The only consolation was that this was a technique from centuries ago, which could mean that the Sect might have changed its ways since then either by necessity or force.

At least, if such a horror was going on in the continent today, there was no way that nobody would at least try and put a stop to it.

Yet, remembering the technique where two heads had been grafted onto the two individuals from the Sect, he decided to check for any clues regarding the matter.

His excitement, on the other hand, stemmed from the possibility that this technique could be modified by the system to apply to the blood of a different species, of which he had an abundance of.

On asking the system, a smile came on his face despite the gruesome origin of this technique due to the fact that it would be solving a very worrying problem that he had just been fretting about.

Asking the system to modify it in the way he wanted, Daneel continued to record each and every book in the room before proceeding towards the heart of the formation which was apparently located in the Sect Master's room.

Yet, when he tried to surpass the final barrier which led to the room on the tallest location in the entire sect, he found himself being blocked by a transparent barrier which seemed impassable.

[Core formation still in possession of a master. Please upgrade the system if host wants to break through and control it by brute force.]

This statement from the system mildly surprised Daneel.

The important location where all the core techniques of the Sect were stored was protected by a formation which was only at the peak of the Warrior Level. Then why was this formation a different one?

When he had entered the sect, Daneel had felt excited on seeing that he could access the library, making him think that the entire Sect was protected by formations of similar power.

Now, he found himself breaking out of the misunderstanding due to the answer from the system when he posed a question regarding this.

[Unlike the Dragon Heart formation, the formation covering the Withering Leaf Sect can only protect a single area, which is the Sect Master's Quarters that contains the heart of the formation.]

Shaking his head, Daneel realised that he had been too optimistic. After all, all the forces which could stand side-by-side in the Central Continent were all in possession of formations which needed Champion level attacks to break through. In fact, without such a formation, no force would be considered to be on the same level.

Hence, although Daneel was a bit disappointed that he couldn't get the spell technique that he had been hoping and yearning for since so long, he decided to take some steps because of the present situation where there was no one in the Sect.

After all, the remainder of the Sect would definitely come back one day, and when they did, they would find a nice surprise waiting for them.

The treasury was his next stop.

On arriving, he saw that it was exactly as he had imagined. There were no Energy Materials at all, with most of the room empty except for a few piles of Gold Coins from different forces.

The point was that the Sect Headquarters was supposed to look like it hadn't been touched since the advent of the mosquitoes, which was the reason why Daneel had been taking so much care not to trip any formations.

Thus, after a thorough search to ensure that there were no techniques or areas he missed, Daneel left the headquarters in the exact way that he had found it.

.....

Meanwhile, in an unmarked room in which a man was chained to a bed.

His body was covered with bandages, as if he had been torn apart in a thousand places from which his blood was still trying to leave his body.

This was the Eldest Prince: the man who had once been touted as the one who would inherit the throne to rule over millions of people as the rightful King of the Kingdom of Lanthanor.

Yet, right now, his future only held a public execution which he knew he wouldn't be able to escape from again.

Hate. Wrath. Rage.

These emotions racked him repeatedly, making him shake as he tried to control himself lest he angered himself to death without fulfilling one last goal he had set for himself.

Collecting all that anger and rage into a ball in his head, he tried to visualize himself pushing it towards the entity that was present on his chest.

He had been absorbed in this process whenever he had gotten the time since being captured by the Wretched King who was the target of all of his emotions.

The first few balls had had no effect, with the entity simply ignoring them or not being affected by them enough to elicit any reaction.

This was how it usually was; it had periods of high activity and hibernation. The former were when the Eldest Prince thought he was losing his mind as he felt as if someone was trying to take over.

Yet, during the latter, he would always find that he was much more aware of his surroundings while also being able to absorb Energy much faster than usual.

Of course, he had only been able to train a month after initiating this technique, as the first few weeks had only been spent lying on the ground writhing while hoping to keep control of himself without giving in to the pain that came from the attacks from the entity.

This made it all the more shocking, as it meant that he had managed to reach the Exalted Human level in a time that was two times shorter than what it would have been if he had followed the conventional method of training.

After sending as many balls as he could while knowing that time was running short, he felt a small amount of delight when he saw a similar rage emanating from the entity which was usually neutral when it was hibernating.

He knew that there was no way for him to escape death, so the only thing he hoped for was that his hatred would live on.

As a smile came on his face, he heard the door opening, signaling that the interrogation that had been going on for a few hours was going to continue. The first step of his plan was complete, and it was now time to embark on the second.

Chapter 220 Execution

The execution of the eldest prince was set at the same place as before: a podium erected in front of the Palace Gates which was visible to all those who assembled in the Central Passageway that led from the Inner city to the Outer.

On the fateful day when the citizens of Lanthanor had witnessed their king make the promise that those who escaped would be brought to justice, some had scoffed thinking that they were just empty words to hide the incompetence of the bratty, inexperienced kid, while others had kept these words in their minds and vowed to return, hoping to see their King prove himself to be one that did what he said.

Knowing that both would receive their answer today, Daneel ascended into the sky exactly like before to witness the entire passageway filled to the brim with people looking at the podium with waiting eyes.

Although more than half of them had already seen those who had destroyed their lives be brought to justice in the previous execution, they still turned up today knowing that the man on the podium was at least partly responsible for the younger nobility to turn out in that way.

Indeed, the Eldest Prince was already on the podium even before the crowds started to converge.

Beside him stood the previous Grand Court Mage, who had apparently been in closed door cultivation for the past few months both due to the injuries he sustained during the last execution, and the fact that he had told Kellor that he was close to a breakthrough.

Daneel had totally forgotten about this man who had served under the previous King. The last thing he remembered was sanctioning the resources that the man had asked for to facilitate his breakthrough to the eighth level as an Exalted Human Mage.

Realising that he had ignored an important resource who had at least put in the effort to show his loyalty, Daneel resolved to take the time to talk to this man and try to figure out if he was worth trusting.

As everyone waited for the appointed time to arrive, Daneel found his thoughts drifting to all the people who had accompanied him on his journey so far.

The first one who came to mind was Elanev, whom he had always treated as his own elder brother. The last he had heard of him was when the Righteous Hawk had mentioned that Elanev had set out on a journey to grow in power and be of use to his younger brother instead of just being someone to be left behind as an afterthought.

Daneel had found nothing wrong with this decision, as he knew that Elanev was a very competitive person who prided himself on his strength. Besides, he was also not someone foolish who would go seeking his own death to grow in power.

Still, although he admired the goal of this elder brother-like figure to grow stronger by facing adversity, he still wished that he could be by his side.

When he had made the decision to give the lesser development techniques to his confidants, Daneel had also told the Righteous Hawk to send a message to Elanev that he should come back at least once immediately before continuing on his journey.

Indeed, there had been no goodbyes between the two, making it so that Daneel had no way to contact him directly. The last time he had seen him was during the Royal Court when Eldara had been chased away by Daneel.

Apparently, at that time, the thing which had led Elanev to taking the decision was the sight of him being one of the most powerless persons who had stood in front of the King during such a momentous occasion.

Deciding to ask the Righteous Hawk later if there were any updates, Daneel's thoughts turned towards the Fists of Justice Training Hall and the Domination Corp who had been training steadily all this while to become his secret weapons which would aid him in uniting Central Angaria.

All this while, he had decided not to deploy them as the most important thing was that they improve their potential and strength in order to become the true hidden force of the Kingdom of Lanthanor.

Finally, he found himself thinking of Eloise who was apparently burning the candle at both ends to ensure the smooth running of the Network of Angaria.

The Network was indeed one of the most powerful tools with which he still had a lot of plans, and he felt glad that he had chosen the right person to lead it. Still, he decided to go meet her once to tell her not to burn herself out in the process of making his dreams come true.

DONG

With the sound of the chiming of an enormous bell, the execution began.

The whole point of recreating the same atmosphere was that he could incite the same emotions which had been there before during the initial execution.

Thus, it had been decided that suffocation would still be the way in which the event would be carried out.

As Daneel gazed at the man whose death had been postponed for so long, he felt a very slight chill in his back when he noticed that the Eldest Prince was looking right back at him with eyes that almost looked as if they had achieved something.

Yet, this lasted only for a moment, leading Daneel to wonder whether he had imagined it all.

This was because when the Eldest Prince was led to the center of the podium by the previous Grand Court Mage, all Daneel saw was a defeated man whose every attempt had been futile and who was now going to finally face justice for all of his horrendous actions.

His face which was now in front of the crowd caused roars and shouts to emanate from the people who had stayed more or less silent till now.

Initially, it was just those whose lives he had affected, but the frenzy soon spread to the others who had also lost loved ones at the hands of the nobility of the Kingdom of Lanthanor.

Although most of their hate had been wrung away during the previous execution, the sense of loss was still something that could not be filled no matter how much time passed.

Thus, they found themselves empathizing and resonating with the others whose hearts were still filled with a desire for retribution.

Hearing the roaring, all the Eldest Prince did was smile slightly, as if he had no regrets.

This smile only made the uproar even louder, leading Daneel to order the previous Grand Court Mage to begin the execution without further ado.

The smile on the Eldest Prince's face was wiped away when he finally felt himself being lifted into the air while his throat was constricted, cutting off the airflow.

Just like all those who had died on the same spot before him, his entire life flashed in front of his eyes- from the times of grandeur to the months spent in extreme pain all to take revenge on the person who had destroyed his life.

Even though he struggled in the air and even started screaming with pain due to all of his wounds opening and dripping blood onto the podium below him, the Eldest Prince still somehow found the energy to look up at the King for one last time.

Gathering all the remaining energy he could, he spit at Daneel as if to show that his defiance would not end no matter what situation he was in.

Seeing this, the King of Lanthanor only flicked his fingers, making another wind blade just like the one which had taken the Vice Sect Master's life appear on the podium.

SHHIKKKK

The head of the Eldest Prince detached from his body, rolling on the ground before coming to a stop upright and staring at the people whom he had treated as ants his entire life.

Yet, it was those ants that had partly been the reason for him dying in this way.

As the roaring from the crowd reached a crescendo, Daneel cast a spell to amplify his voice and said, "Here lies the criminal who killed thousands of Lanthanorians while even having the gall to lead enemy forces back into the Palace to kill innocent maids and soldiers who were only doing their duty. Let this be a warning to all those who even think of harming any Lanthanorian under my rule. Justice can be delayed, but it will never be denied."

Saying these words with a cold tone, Daneel turned around and flew back to the palace without even glancing back at least once.

"King Daneel! King Daneel! King Daneel! King Daneel!"

The passion of the chanting was enough to let him know just how much effect his actions and his words had had on the people who had trusted and supported him to ascend the throne.

Back in his chambers, Daneel quickly went to the hidden Energized Training Chamber to come upon a large bowl which had a red fluid inside it.

Sitting down in front of it, he placed his palms above the bowl after taking out and flicking away one last mosquito corpse which had still been left in the solution.

Chapter 221 Realization

[Energy Extraction Completed.]

An hour later, the pool of blood in front of the King of Lanthanor had changed into red substance that seemed semi-solid.

After studying this solution for a while, Daneel hesitantly put both of his palms inside the bowl.

It felt wet and gooey, reminding him of the jelly relished by kids back on Earth.

Yet, when he ordered the system to deploy the Development Technique, he felt a familiar feeling run through his body that made him smile wide.

Indeed, it was Energy.

In fact, this Energy seemed very similar both in effect and feel to that which he absorbed from Ker Gems, making him wonder about the origins of the red gems which were found so rarely in the Continent of Angaria.

Shaking his head to get rid of stray thoughts, Daneel summoned his clone and ordered it to absorb the Energy alongside him while remembering the moment when he had gotten the brainwave which had resulted in this wondrous situation.

The moment Daneel had heard the summary of the "Blood Energy Extraction" technique in the headquarters of the Withering Leaf Sect, he had been reminded of the time which he had spent to modify the mosquitoes to give birth to the species which had caused the Sect to flee from their home.

To use the Biological Modification Tool, Daneel had had to collect multiple specimens of the species to modify them repeatedly until the spell succeeded.

According to the system, all the Tool did was to use elementary particles to influence and change the biological makeup of a species to result in a specific mutation.

In fact, mutations were quite common in all species, with most of them being quite minor such as cases where a particular group of mosquitoes might develop sharper mandibles to be able to pierce the skin of animals more easily in the case where they lived in an area which did not have an abundant Energy material supply.

Here, the trick had been to induce the correct mutation, which was apparently only a matter of chance.

When the system had begun to expound on formulae regarding the same, he had stopped it as his head had already been reeling by that point.

The gist of the matter was that the system needed him to conduct around 1000 trials of which one would result in the successful modification of the species he wanted.

Thus, Daneel had had to burn himself out by skimping on sleep and sometimes even food to repeatedly run the trials and recharge his mageroot using Ether Blocks again and again in order to finish the task as soon as possible.

Thankfully, both the modifications he had wanted had succeeded before 500 trials.

Daneel could make two modifications. Thus, the two strains he had made were:

1. First Modification: Mosquitoes which had a higher capability of breaking through barriers by giving them a frenziness, bloodthirst, and strength which wasn't present in normal ones. The trick here had been to increase the yearning inside them for Energy, which resulted in them even congregating into clouds to carry out joint attacks while also putting in more energy in each attack. This simple logic had been thought of by Daneel, who had recalled the famous statement on Earth: "Life always finds a way". Thus, by modifying just one factor, he had managed to get the results he needed.

Second Modification: A "Kill Switch" which enabled him to end the lives of any and all mosquitoes in the area which the system could detect using the Anti-Surveillance Tool-2(an area of 200 feet in any direction around him)

2. First Modification: Increased size(with other traits remaining the same).

Second Modification: Kill Switch

Of course, nature always had a balance which had to be adhered to no matter what modifications were made. In the first strain, the system had warned him that the mosquitoes would keep breeding without end until all other species in an area might be wiped out, mainly because the increased yearning would result in an overabundance of Energy, which would result in them instinctually laying eggs to give birth to more of their kind.

The side-effect with the second was that the mosquitoes would be short-lived due to burning their life force much faster because of their increased size. After all, although the system allowed him to increase the size, there was no change in the overall makeup of the body of the mosquito which would allow it to maintain that size to lead a normal existence.

For example, if an ant from Earth were enlarged into the size of an Elephant, it would simply die due to multiple reasons, with the main one being that its physical makeup wouldn't be able to handle its bigger size. In fact, Daneel remembered that much research and speculation had been carried out on this topic, which he had studied in his free time back on Earth because it had seemed very interesting.

Yet, although this side-effect existed, Daneel had been happy with the result as he had only made the second strain for a devastating attack like in the case where he had massacred the members of the Sect.

Coming back to the Blood Energy Extraction, the reason he had remembered this entire episode had been because of the statement from the system which said that mosquitoes had an overabundance of Energy in their bodies before they laid eggs.

If this was the case, then the reason in the tome which spoke about the nature of Energy in human bodies to be spread out resulting in a low efficiency of the technique was rendered moot.

Hence, the blood of the first strain of mosquitoes was perfect to apply this technique on. After realizing this, Daneel had immediately ordered the system to develop a modified "Blood Energy Extraction" technique with the modifications being that it could be applied on mosquitoes while also being safe to be absorbed by him.

The result was in front of him.

From around 5000 mosquitoes, he had been able to extract enough Energy to last him a week.

In other words, his pressing need of desperately looking for Ker Gems to continue his training was now solved.

If it weren't for the only drawback which was that the system was needed to safely absorb this Energy without going mad, Daneel wouldn't have hesitated to go and gather as many mosquito corpses as he could in the Valley while still ensuring that it would remain inhabitable to the Sect.

Regardless, rejoicing due to the fact that his problem had been solved, Daneel continued training while letting his mind drift.

After an hour or so, he went into a semi-meditative state which he often entered while undergoing long sessions of Energy absorption.

Usually, his mind was mostly tranquil during in this state.

Yet, now, he found himself recalling a certain moment of the day again and again, as if his inner self was trying to warn him about to something.

With a start, Daneel woke up while a sense of urgency appeared on his face.

The thing which had enabled him to recall this crucial moment was definitely his instinct, which hadn't failed him yet due to being honed for years through his hard work and experiences.

Without a doubt, that expression of triumph in the Eldest Prince's eyes had definitely not been his imagination.

"System, were any anomalies detected since the time I returned to the Palace?"

[Negative]

Hearing the response from the system, Daneel was just about to calm down when the memory of a kid struggling through each day only be relying on himself and his instincts passed through his mind.

That kid was him, who had had no system to help him during the grueling 3 months he had spent in the Fists of Justice Training Hall along with Faxul when he had first transmigrated into this world.

At this moment, he realized that he had been relying on the system too much recently, despite telling himself before not to do so.

After all, the system was so adept that he hadn't been able to help but fall into the well of dependence without even realizing it.

Along with this realization, came the memory of the multiple moments in the battle against Axelorian Commander where he had had to have a delay in his actions due to ordering the system to deploy spells every time.

True, the system would be able to do it faster, but what would he do if he was in a situation where he didn't have the time to give an order?

Death would be the only result.

Getting up immediately and hitting himself on his head hard, Daneel cursed at himself again for not thinking in this way sooner.

The system was, after all, just a tool to help him on his journey.

Just because it said that there was no problem, there was no reason for Daneel to ignore his instincts.

Engraving this fact firmly into his very being, Daneel decided to renew his efforts to decrease his dependence before sending a message to Kellor through the oathstone.

"Bring the Eldest Prince's body to my chamber. Also, assemble all those who were in contact with him in the time he was imprisoned, including even the maids and the soldiers. They must not know why they are being called."

Chapter 222 Detection

Although Kellor was a little bit puzzled hearing the King's message, he headed to a specific room in the Palace where all the dead bodies of the nobility were stored.

This was actually due to a command from Daneel who had decided to construct something like a graveyard in the future where all of these bodies could be buried with the sins listed as a memento to warn people from committing grave acts.

As this plan was still in its infancy, the bodies were safely stashed in a room where the temperature had been brought down by a barrier to stop the decomposition.

According to the message that he got from the government officials who had managed the execution, the Eldest Prince's body had also been transported here a few hours ago.

Reaching the location and finding nothing wrong, Kellor scratched his head but made the Eldest Prince's body levitate along with the detached head before giving the order to assemble everyone as the King had requested.

On reaching the King's Chambers, he saw that all the chairs had been moved away to make an open clearing in the middle where a table had been put.

Placing the Eldest Prince's body on the table as per the King's instructions, Kellor stood to the side to find out just what Daneel was up to.

After waiting for everyone to assemble, Daneel closed the door before activating all the formations including the backup ones to make sure that no one could leave without his express permission.

On doing so, he walked forward to the table which held the body before looking around to see everyone who was here.

There were 10 soldiers in the room, who were all just Amateur Human Fighters. Because of the fact that it had been quite clear that the Eldest Prince had lost both his power as a fighter and a mage, the main thing used to guard him was the shackles which were enough along with Daneel's order through the oath to not attempt another escape.

Six maids and three healers were also in the room, who had taken care of the Eldest Prince while he was injured.

Along with them, there were also two of his advisors, Faxul and Luther who had interrogated the Eldest Prince in his stead.

Indeed, Daneel had left as soon as he had obtained all the information he needed about the Sect Headquarters, leaving the two of them in charge of wringing any information left from this man.

His reason for giving Faxul the job was that he had noticed a zeal in his friend's eyes whenever he was given a duty to take care of.

Daneel had actually noticed this when he had given him the job to find out the people's difficulties. Happy that the usually emotionless eyes of his friend now seemed like they had a purpose, Daneel had been giving more and more responsibilities which Faxul always carried out unerringly, such as the task to identify someone to advertise using the Network of Angaria.

Reaching the body, Daneel first touched the hand of the Eldest Prince which was a pale white with ice formed on top due to the location it been stored in.

After asking the system to analyze the body, Daneel waited for a moment while still closely observing each and every person in the room.

Since the moment he had closed the door, he had been feeling a slight danger which was so minute that he could have missed it if he weren't already in a heightened state of awareness due to the warning from his instinct before.

Yet, the source of this feeling had carefully hidden their intentions so well that he couldn't detect exactly where it was coming from even if he was definitely in close proximity to them.

After a few seconds, Daneel smiled slightly seeing that his instincts had been correct.

[Anomaly detected. Level of degradation of grafted head exceeds that of the host. More data about the technique is needed to obtain information about the possibilities inherent with this anomaly.]

His smile only grew wider as he heard the last part.

This was because he could suspect just what had happened without needing the system to analyze it for him.

From the actions of the Eldest Prince before he had died, Daneel knew that the only emotion which engulfed the man was hate for the person who was responsible for his fate.

Such a man would only feel a sense of achievement about one thing moments before his death - a way to ensure that his revenge would be fulfilled even if he didn't exist in the world to see it.

Although Daneel had still had only a vague idea from the warning from his instincts, the notification from the system had now enabled him to discard other possibilities and fixate on the one which was most apparent: transferral of the grafted entity.

Although Daneel still did not have a clear idea about the strange technique, one thing about it had struck him even before: if consciousness could move without needing a body, then why did a head need to be grafted onto a person physically to make this happen?

This had arisen from the fact that when he summoned a clone, he was capable of shifting consciousness between his main body and the clone as he wished.

From everything he knew about the system, Daneel was aware of the fact that the system was only capable of performing tasks which were bounded by the rules of this world.

This meant that there was definitely a way in which the same could be emulated if the correct technique was present.

Now with all these facts, his deduction was simple: the Eldest Prince had managed to somehow transfer that entity to someone else to carry on his revenge after his death.

The only thing that remained was to find out just who this person was.

For this, it was time to use his all-powerful tool.

"Can you detect if the entity is present in someone's body if I come into physical contact with them? And if that entity attacks me, is there a way to trigger and kill that person even if my consciousness is unable to give a command?"

[Affirmative. A technique for the same can be developed and deployed with the specific feature of an automatic counter-attack being triggered when host's consciousness comes under attack]

Hearing this, Daneel raised his eyebrows seeing that the technique development tool could be used in this way too.

Keeping this in mind, he proceeded to develop and deploy the technique before walking up to the closest person near him who was one of the soldiers who had kept watch on the Eldest Prince.

"Everyone stay still. The Eldest Prince was carrying some sort of affliction which he may have passed on to you without you knowing about it. I have only just gotten information about it, and I will be checking each of you to ensure that you haven't been infected."

Saying so to the room at large and hearing the gasps of fear from some of the maids, Daneel took the hand of the soldier into his as if to check his pulse.

On receiving the okay signal from the system that the entity wasn't present in this person, he moved on to the next while still making sure to notice if anyone acted abnormally.

The entity was definitely sentient enough to understand that he would detect it soon enough.

If he was in its shoes, what would he do?

A desperate surprise attack was the only answer.

As each person in the room was declared to be safe, Daneel felt himself tense up more and more knowing that the attack would come soon.

Apart from his advisors, there were only the healers left.

Moving onto the next person, Daneel froze the moment he touched his arm.

It was as if a mountain was suddenly crushing down on him from above, making him believe that he was just a tiny ant who could not even hope to retain its life in the face of such mighty power.

Before he could even make sense of what was happening, a notification sounded near him which made him scream in response in panic.

[Host is under consciousness attack. Commencing counter-attack.]

"NO! Stop! Disable the technique!"

This panic stemmed from the fact that the person who was in front of him right now with a set of eyes that were filled with hatred was his oldest and closest friend, Faxul.

Chapter 223 Struggle

With the pressure from the mountain above him increasing with each second, Daneel could only scream this command at the system before collapsing on the ground.

As he did so, Faxul who had just been staring at him with an expression of rage and fury also fell down after his face became listless.

It had all happened so fast that even Luther who had been standing right beside had had no time to react. One second, the King had raised his hand to take Faxul's in his like he had with all the others before.

The next, he had fallen to the floor, as if he had been struck by some sort of attack.

As for Faxul, that moment of rage had been so sudden and momentary that no one else in the room had even noticed it.

Pain wracked Daneel, making him feel as if that mountain was actually some sort of substance which was trying to absorb him into it by applying pressure from all directions.

The system which had gone silent on hearing Daneel's command spoke again at this moment.

[Host consciousness under attack. Attack level exceeds parameters of what host can handle. It is recommended to proceed with counter-attack.]

Gathering all the energy he could while resisting the excruciating pain, Daneel squeezed out a question.

"Can a counter-attack be made without killing Faxul?"

As the one who had stuck with him the longest apart from his parents, Faxul held a special place in Daneel's heart which made him want to ensure that this wasn't the case no matter what situation he was in.

[Negative. Entity's host must be killed for the attack to stop.]

Indeed, it turned out that it was actually the worst case which Daneel had envisioned.

The "Two Minds, One Body" technique manual hadn't been present in the library that he had gone through in the headquarters of the Withering Leaf Sect, making him believe that certain core techniques might have been stored along with the Spell Technique inside the unbreachable Core Formation.

Hence, he had had very little information going into this engagement. Still, he had envisioned certain scenarios, of which he could find the correct one only when he got attacked by the entity, which would allow the system to analyze it.

Daneel had been hoping that it wouldn't be so malignant as to needing its host to be killed in order for its attacks to stop, but alas, this was the case.

Regardless, this was his closest friend whom he couldn't kill with his own hands.

"What other way do I have to stop the attack?", he asked, as he felt blood seep from the corner of his mouth due to biting down too hard because of the pain that came from his head.

[Analyzing. Single alternative found: Entity can be confined to its host's body if host can come into physical contact with its host. Host is suggested to initiate counter-attack, as probability of losing control before host regains control of host's body is over 80%].

Indeed, Daneel knew very well that he was very close to succumbing and giving up in the face of such power which seemed like it could not even be resisted against.

Right now, it was as if he was laid out spread-eagled on the ground with the mountain putting so much weight all over his body that even opening his eyes was such a chore that he couldn't even imagine himself doing it.

Thus, even the notion of moving his entire body to get to Faxul's could only be scoffed at.

"Can you signal using a spell to move my body to Faxul's?", he asked, thinking quickly and racking his brain for solutions while trying to partition the agony.

[Negative. System cannot deploy any new spells or techniques in host's current state. Only the previously conjured "Fire Bullet" spell can be used to initiate a counter-attack on the entity's host.]

Hearing this, Daneel realized that he was truly out of options.

It made sense as to why the system couldn't deploy any new spells, as the pain seemed to be majorly coming from his mageroot. As for the "Fire Bullet", it had been previously conjured by the system and hidden as a part of the automatic technique he had developed to launch a counter-attack in case he came under assault.

It seemed that this was his last option, yet Daneel did not even consider once whether he would take it.

This was mainly because no matter how desperate things seemed, he realized that there was still a chance.

Comparing the pressure he felt when the assault began to what he felt now, it was obvious that the amount had decreased.

This meant that the entity was mostly slowly burning whatever energy it had, meaning that he only had to hold on for a bit before hopefully being able to move his body again.

At this moment, he found himself searching for anything and everything around him that would help him to hang on.

This was his mind, with blankness around him except for the one thing which seem to be shining in the corner: his memory.

Grasping at this last straw, Daneel tried to remember his earliest memory of that of waking up in the orphanage back on Earth in hopes of distracting himself from the pain.

The first face he could remember was that of the kind old woman who was in charge of the orphanage.

She was the one who had invited women from the neighborhood promising them tea and biscuits before requesting them to feed him as he had still been too young to ingest any solid food.

In this moment of crisis, Daneel found that he could even remember stuff which he thought he had forgotten due to growing up.

Nights of being held on the porch of the orphanage in the old woman's hands because all the beds were too hard for him to sleep on, causing him to cry endlessly. Days when he had gone hungry because the old woman hadn't found any woman to invite over, making her sob as she wished that she had enough extra money to buy some milk for him.

Tears came into his eyes remembering both the sadness and happiness in the woman's face when she had taken care of him.

The memories then switched to him growing up and working as hard as he could so that he could give back to the orphanage which had taken care of him as well as it could when he had no one else to depend on.

After the satisfaction and happiness that came from obtaining scholarships and working side jobs to send money back, Daneel felt wrath and fury at the spoiled kid who had ruined his entire life.

What followed were memories of starving on the streets due to not wanting to sadden the old woman by going back with empty hands and a failed life.

Next came the transmigration, and everything he had done in this continent which was all the more vivid than his memories from back on Earth.

Living with his parents, training as hard as he could, planning with everything on the line, gaining and losing comrades, ascending to the throne and learning by making mistakes, seeing the vision and skewing his priorities and finally realizing that ruthlessness, proper focus and self-dependence was needed on his path if he wished to keep more of his own people safe.

Each and every moment flashed past his eyes, making him wish that he could cling on to them due to the fact that he felt as if the pressure around him didn't hurt as much when he was absorbed in those memories.

It was as if the recollection was like a rope which he caught to keep himself from falling off the ledge which he knew meant losing himself to the attack from the entity.

After the recollections ended, Daneel felt that the pressure had lessened enough, allowing him to finally move his hand by a centimeter.

The pressure was still there, but he now had enough leeway in order to crawl his way to his destination.

The others who had been watching on with panic finally relaxed a bit seeing that the King had actually moved, which meant that he was at least still alive.

Yet, seeing him doggedly crawl forward as if some sort of giant was crushing him under its foot, the maids and soldiers couldn't help but get puzzled expressions on their faces.

Kellor and Luther, who had actually been the ones who had been most worried, ran forward again but stopped while trying to figure out the King's intentions.

His crawling seemed to have a focus, because each movement seemed to have the purpose of turning his body to point his head in a specific direction: that in which Faxul was lying on the ground.

It was Luther who first caught the clue, putting two and two together from the fact that the King had been touching the hands of the people in the room before.

Hurrying forward, he quickly raised the King and carried him to Faxul before putting their hands together.

Blessing his intelligent commander with all of his being, Daneel finally felt the pain leaving his body as he felt the system going to work.

[Confinement completed. System congratulates host on breaking through his limit. Mageroot has broken through to the next level. Data insufficient, system is unable to assess and classify the level of host's Mageroot.]

Chapter 224 Faxul's Decision

Although this notification had sounded in Daneel's mind, he had no way of being aware of it due to the fact that he had fainted the moment his hand had touched Faxul's, allowing the system to confine the entity to his friend's body.

Although the entire experience had only taken place in the span of a few seconds in the real world, it felt as if Daneel had been tortured for a few years inside his mind due to the unendurable pain that had almost driven him crazy.

Due to the overload of having to manage it while also doing everything he could to find a solution, he had had no choice but to give up and lose consciousness as soon as it faded.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Daneel found himself getting up with an ache in his head.

Finding himself parched, he tried to conjure a globe of water to swallow seeing that there was no cup on the bedside.

Yet, to his horror, it felt as if he had no Mageroot to control the elemental particles in order to cast the spell.

"System, why can't I feel my Mageroot?!"

The answer made him calm down and crash back onto the bed, feeling relieved that nothing dire had happened as he had feared.

[Mageroot temporarily disabled due to overload. Time to reactivation: three hours].

This was something which had never happened before, making him understand just how perilous of a situation he had been in which had led to the Mageroot actually being disabled and closing down in order to heal due to everything it had been through.

Sending a message to Kellor through the Oathstone, Daneel got up and went to the bathroom before realizing that it was actually the next day.

He had actually been unconscious for an entire day!

Freshening himself up, Daneel changed the rumpled clothes which he had been wearing during the meeting before and wore a different green robe that also had a dragon on its shoulders which had become his unofficial crest.

As Kellor knocked and entered the door on Daneel's order, the King finally asked the question he had been slightly dreading to ask since waking from his slumber.

"How's Faxul?"

"His breathing is steady, but he has yet to regain consciousness."

With an expression of relief, Daneel said, "All right. Let's go to him."

On reaching a room near the King's Chambers, Daneel was surprised to see that Faxul was actually chained to a bed while being overseen by Robert and Luther.

Seeing him enter the door, Robert only smiled once feeling glad that his son was safe.

Being the King was indeed a perilous job, he mused, before nodding at Daneel and walking out the door to reassure his wife.

Seeing his father leave, Daneel raised an eyebrow at the shackles before ordering both Luther and Kellor to leave the room.

Sensing their hesitation as they tried to say something, he said, "Don't worry. The threat has been mitigated. It was because of a technique that the Eldest Prince practiced, but I have managed to subdue it for now."

Hearing the King's reassurance, the two also nodded before leaving the room and closing the door behind them.

Having the room to himself, Daneel first ripped open the shirt of his friend before sighing on seeing the grotesque sight in front of him.

On Faxul's chest, a patch of differently colored skin could be seen with veins throbbing all around it as if it were being pushed out by his friend's body.

Different from Faxul's ivory colored skin, this patch was darker, reminding him of the exact shade of the face which had been on the Eldest Prince's chest.

Indeed, this was the physical link which tied the entity to Faxul.

On the way over, Daneel had already asked the system about what could be done in this situation because it had already gotten the chance to analyse the entity again.

Thankfully, the option was present to directly remove it from his friend's body to allow him to get back to normal.

Without any hesitation, Daneel ordered the system to carry out this process.

A transparent blade of wind appeared at the edge where the inch wide patch of skin seemed to be grafted onto Faxul's chest.

Yet, the moment the blade came into contact with him, Faxul's eyes flew open as he immediately tried to get up and found himself shackled to the bed.

"Stop.", he said, making Daneel tell the system to stop what it was doing wondering just what the reason was behind his friend asking him to do so.

The entity was after all like a malignant tumour whose only purpose was definitely to take revenge on Daneel.

This was the reason that he hadn't hesitated to check everyone for its presence despite knowing that it was a danger to himself, because of the fact that it would definitely mean harm to its host due to all the hate present in it.

"Do you know what it is? I will only simply remove it and you can get back to normal.", he said, looking into Faxul's eyes.

What he saw next amazed him. An expression of slight panic emerged in Faxul's face, as he clutched at the patch of skin on his chest before moving back on the bed as much as he could while trying to put some distance between him and Daneel.

Daneel could not make heads or tails out of the situation.

"System, is it possible for the entity to infect its host and changes personality in such a short amount of time?"

[Negative. Only a complete switching of personalities is possible.]

This puzzled him even more. He could tell that the person in front of him was still his friend, but the panic didn't make sense.

Thinking back to its description, he finally got an idea about what could have happened.

Had it enticed him in some way, making him to want to keep it?

As Faxul opened his mouth to speak, Daneel sighed as he realised that this was true.

"This… thing says that it can increase my training speed and battle effectiveness. Is it true?"

Hearing the question, Daneel was tempted to lie as he simply did not want this last-ditch attack of the Eldest Prince's to effect his friend.

Yet, he knew that Faxul wasn't someone who was dumb. It was quite clear that both the Eldest Prince and the Vice Sect Master who had used this technique had skyrocketed in power since the last time that they had been seen in the Kingdom.

"Yes. But there is always a risk that you will be consumed by it. It is not worth it, Faxul. You have the lesser development technique which will increase your potential anyway. You do not need this thing which can possibly take over your body even if it means that you can double your training speed. It would just mean an eternal life of pain. Let me remove it."

The mention of doubling training speed made Faxul's eyes open wide, causing him to lose the focus in his gaze as if he was thinking about something.

After a few moments in which Daneel patiently waited for an answer, Faxul blinked tightly and looked into Daneel's eyes as if he had made a decision.

Daneel had seen this expression of his friend's many times. It meant that the decision was taken with the single-minded determination and focus using which Faxul had defied all expectations in the Academy to put in more hard work than anyone else in order to train as fast as possible.

"The lesser development technique is slow comparatively. I want to keep it. I can handle anything it throws at me."

Daneel was simply shocked at this proclamation. He knew that power was important, but was it worth risking one's own life each and every day and being in so much pain?

As he asked himself this question, Daneel remembered a boy who had gritted his teeth in frustration when he saw his mother going around the neighborhood doing odd jobs and coming back home with wrinkled and callused hands, while his father tried each day to ease their family's situation in any way he could even if it meant beatings and humiliation.

If he had been posed with the same question at that moment with no system in his mind and the worst potential possible, Daneel knew that he would have accepted without any hesitation.

"Why?"

Although he realized this, he still asked the question because he wanted to find out just what motivation his friend had which had led him to take this decision.

The question made Faxul frown for a bit, as if he were assembling his own thoughts.

After a few seconds, he answered, "I want to… become powerful enough to be someone who can be compared to my father. By carrying out the tasks you gave me, some… yearning has been born inside me. I cannot explain exactly what it is, but I know that I need power if I want to satisfy it."

Although Faxul's answer was short, Daneel understood what he meant.

What his friend had felt was definitely something similar to what he himself had experienced when he had first been cheered outside the town library when he had brought the guards to justice: a yearning to save.

Sighing, Daneel conversed with the system a bit before saying, "In that case, I also have a gift for you."

Chapter 225 The Black Raven Kingdom 1

In an Energised Training Chamber in the same passageway which held the King's Chambers.

Faxul sat on the ground while absorbing the white mist around him while the King of Lanthanor stood to the side observing everything with a keen eye.

Although expressions of pain frequently came on Faxul's face, he managed to bring his expression under control each time before continuing to absorb the Energy in the room.

After an hour, Faxul stood up with a rare smile on his face.

"It is as if my Mageroot is… Larger."

Hearing his friend's words, Daneel smiled in return before striding forward and saying, "That is to be expected, as your Mageroot was forcefully decal… nevermind. What I mean is, almost no one can bear this much pain everyday without going mad. Every time you feel that you're on the brink, do not hesitate from using the technique I gave you which will confine that entity for a time. But remember, the more you use it, the less effective it will become. I will keep trying to come up with better techniques to help you. Till then, this is all I can do."

Hearing the tone of slight regret in Daneel's voice, Faxul turned around and simply hugged his friend who was feeling concerned for him over this decision.

Although his nature was such that he could not put his emotions into words, this gesture was enough to show the solidarity and trust he had in Daneel.

Hugging back, Daneel only smiled before clapping Faxul on his shoulders and saying, "So what is the deal with the Black Raven Kingdom? What do you want to do about your ancestry?"

Stepping back, Faxul frowned as he tried to find an answer for the question.

Yet, after a few seconds, he only shook his head and said, "I don't know."

The tone of indecisiveness in his friend's voice made Daneel understand that Faxul still needed time to figure out just what his goal was. After all, he was the kind of man who might take time to analyze and ponder to make a decision, but would stand on it with a single-minded determination and focus after it was made.

As he saw the contemplative look on Faxul's face, Daneel also couldn't help but think about the Kingdom which had willingly thrown Lanthanor to the dogs by proposing the deal with the Echer Seeds.

Still, because of everything he had gone through recently, he did not feel any hesitation at all at the plan he had hatched long ago when he had accepted the deal which would definitely make the arrogant usurper gawk with surprise as he realized that the King of Lanthanor was not someone to be trifled with after all.

…

Meanwhile, in the very Kingdom that Daneel and Faxul were thinking about.

In an open structure which would definitely make Daneel surprised when he saw that it was very similar to the gladiator rings back on Earth, two figures were currently facing off against each other in the center while the crowds in the stands surrounding the open field cheered without abandon.

"Bets on the Fighter, 5 to 1! 5 to 1! 5 to 1! Just put a small amount, and you might win a fortune!"

The shouts from the men who were making their rounds on the stands while holding slips of parchment on which names and amounts were to be written to record bets were met with derision from most of the people who were waiting for the fight to begin.

"You just want us to lose money! There's no way a Black Raven Fighter can be defeated by someone on the same level!"

As one of the men on the stands said these words, the bookkeeper who was near him only smiled with a glint in his eyes before continuing to make the rounds. Although many bets on the competitor were recorded, very few decided to take the risk on the one who was actually being advertised by the bookkeepers.

In fact, many even increased their bets on the competitor as if in defiance to the statement by the bookkeepers who made sure to cover each and every part of the stands before making their way back to a certain part of the stadium in which a man wearing a black robe could be seen.

Seeing that his reverse psychology trick had worked, the lead bookkeeper signaled for the match to start before making his way to a private booth which was cordoned off from the rest of the public.

With a loud sound akin to that of drums being beaten, the match finally started between the two individuals standing in the clearing.

One had a piece of cloth which covered most of his face except for his eyes, while the other had a Black Raven double the size of a man's head on his shoulders.

Both men wore standard leather armor which did not seem like it was enchanted with any special defense mechanisms.

As the drumbeat resounded in the stadium, the Raven immediately flew into the air while keeping an eye on the person in front of it.

The man on whose shoulders the Raven had been perched on till now ran back, as if he did not want to get into a close quarters fight with his opponent.

As he did so, he was shocked to see that his opponent did not move or even attempt to follow him.

As a Black Raven Fighter, he was used to people trying to close the gap and defeat him before the Raven could get into a good position to begin his trump card attack.

Thinking that the opponent was just some dumb guy who did not even know this famous tactic, the Black Raven Fighter wondered why he had even been chosen by the Battle Royale's manager to take part in this fight.

Still putting all thoughts aside, he communicated with the Raven which had reached an altitude of 500 m in the air to begin its attack.

Getting its order, the Black Raven dived down and started picking up speed with its beak pointed at the opponent whom it wanted to impale in just its first attack.

Meanwhile, the Black Raven Fighter had enlarged the trinket in his hand into a short bow to which he nocked three arrows.

His opponent was still standing nonchalantly with his arms folded, making him think that he had gone senile due to the pressure of being watched by thousands of people.

Shrugging and thinking that it was easy money, the Black Raven Fighter let loose the three arrows which were calculated to cover all three spots which the man would try to escape to in order to dodge the Raven's attack.

SSHHWIISHHHH

With the sound of something being cut, the Black Raven shot through the air at a dizzying speed at the man who hadn't moved an inch since the beginning of the fight.

It had even taken care to make sure that its angle of approach was the one in which the sun was located in.

Even if the man looked up now to try and catch a glimpse of it, he would be blinded by the glare and be helpless.

Thinking that victory was in their grasp, both the Raven and the Black Raven Fighter rejoiced internally.

Yet, the next moment, the crowd that been cheering uproariously till now immediately fell silent.

SSSHHWWAAPPPP

Without even looking up, the man had simply punched in the air with such a speed that his fists had left after images in the eyes of those watching.

As if being swatting like a fly, the enormous Black Raven had no choice but to be knocked away in a different direction.

THUMP

Although the ground was covered with loose sand and earth, the Black Raven made an audible sound which rang across the stadium when its beak became half buried due to the momentum with which it had been flying.

As if the fight was over, the man just turned around and walked towards the exit with the audience and the Black Raven Fighter looking on, perplexed.

"My Kairox and I have been through a lot more without even flinching! What makes you think you can leave like that with just a single attack?!"

Although the Black Raven Fighter posed this question, his opponent did not even turn around. Instead, he just kept walking forward for three more steps before a scream and a screech startled the audience who had been trying to figure out just what was going on.

The screech was from the Black Raven which had determinedly picked itself up from the ground, only to fall back down after a PUCHI sound had made blood flow from all over its body, as if some sort of explosion had taken place under its skin.

The scream was from the Black Raven Fighter who couldn't handle the sudden pain that was transmitted through the link he had with the Raven.

As both collapsed to the ground twitching, the man whose confident back would be remembered by the entire audience reached the exit before pulling down his hood and asking, "Where's my money?"

Chapter 226 Black Raven Kingdom 2

The head bookkeeper who was in front of him only smiled cryptically before handing over a large bag filled with Gold Coins.

Although these were similar in size to the ones used in the Lanthanor Kingdom, they were stamped with a Raven instead of the usual Lanthanorian Crest.

Hefting it in his hands, the man only shrugged as if it were all in a day's work before walking towards the exit of the stadium.

Indeed, this was Elanev, who had left the Lanthanor Kingdom in pursuit of power.

After traveling all over the Kingdom for months while seeking out fights which usually saw him battered and bloody, he had made his way over to the Black Raven Kingdom due to a rumor he had heard in one of the villages he had visited.

"The Black Raven Kingdom will soon enter a period of turmoil"

Although he had had no reason to believe this rumor, he had decided to travel here anyway due to the fact that he had always been fascinated by the renowned Black Raven Soldiers.

On arriving, he had coincidentally displayed his power that was well beyond his level at a mercenary station where someone had tried to rob him of his belongings.

The astute Head Bookkeeper had grasped that opportunity to approach him with this deal.

Of course, although the consequences of potentially losing the chance to participate in any other Battle Royale existed, he hadn't cared as his plan was to return to Lanthanor soon.

Just as he was about to exit the door which led outside, Elanev punched to the side to make the wall beside him cave in.

Seeing this, the men who had been making rounds in the crowd to take bets gasped.

As this was an area that occasionally held beasts against which Fighters and Mages fought, the walls had been coated by a material that required at least a peak Exalted Human Fighter's strength to break.

"Don't even think about following me. I've already lost count of the number of bodies buried in the earth because they decided to cross a certain mercenary who looked like he had too much wealth. Don't say later that I didn't warn you."

After leaving these domineering words, Elanev left the stadium, causing a silence to fall on those who were in the hallway.

"Boss, di-did he conceal his strength?"

Without giving an answer, the Head Bookkeeper walked to the spot where a crater had formed due to Elanev's punch.

As someone who was the owner of such a large establishment, his strength of being an Exalted Human Fighter was barely enough to protect himself from the threats that arose from running such a risky business and even pulling tricks like these occasionally.

With his heightened senses, he reached a hand forward to touch the center of the crater, detecting the faintest hint of blood.

"No. He really is a peak Eminent Human Fighter. But one which can punch with a strength three levels above his. Stay away from him. Such a man can only mean trouble, and we have enough of that as it is."

Meanwhile, the man who was being thought about with awe by the bookkeepers had currently stopped at an inn nearby.

With an expression which looked like he was bottling up some emotion, Elanev ordered a cold glass of wine before giving strange instructions to send ice and a bowl.

Taking a private booth, he waited for a while before closing the door on receiving the order.

On checking the booth thrice and making sure that there were no trinkets of any sort watching or hearing him, he immediately dumped the ice in the bowl before plunging his hand inside and yelping loudly.

Indeed, it was the one with which he had punched the wall. At the moment, the knuckles and fingers were so bruised and swollen that no one would have been able to believe that this was the same man who had made such a cool exit just a few moments before.

If Daneel could witness this scene, he would definitely have been reminded of the moment when Elanev had done the same after the fight with the constable all those years ago in front of the Town Library.

Grumbling to himself that it was getting harder and harder to earn enough money to maintain his journey, Elanev slumped on the sofa and took a huge gulp of wine before recalling everything he had found about this Kingdom since coming here.

One of the unique points of the Black Raven Kingdom was that its people were some of the most devout in the entire Continent.

Of course, the deity whom they worshipped was the Legendary Black Raven which had apparently been the one which was responsible for establishing this safe haven in the first place.

The society here was completely based on the factor of a certain type of strength.

Only those who could seamlessly connect with their Black Raven companions to display a strength that far exceeded their level were revered and allowed to hold wealth or command people.

Apparently, this showed that the blood of the deity they worshipped flowed strong in these individuals' blood, meaning that they had been blessed with a life of fortune.

As for the Battle Royale's which were quite popular in the Kingdom, it was due to the fact that the people loved seeing others defeated by their brethren who were helped by the offspring of their ancestor.

Although Elanev had already heard that all Black Ravens were strictly regulated and could not be bought, he had been hoping to find some way to circumvent this law.

Yet, it was only on arriving here had he learned that this was one of the most rigidly enforced rule in the Kingdom.

Feeling the pain in his arm subsiding, Elanev gulped down the last of his wine before walking out the inn.

He was currently in a village that had sprung up around the stadium which was 10 km from the capital.

The general topography of the Kingdom was arid land with only the occasional bushes and ferns.

As for the capital, it was a sprawling rectangular city bounded by 10 m high walls that seemed like they had been made out of some sort of yellow rock.

Taking off at a run to reach it before the gates closed for the day, Elanev looked forward to finding out just what turmoil the Kingdom would fall into, and whether it would allow him the chance to obtain a companion that he would be able to call his own.

.....

Back in the Palace of Lanthanor, Daneel had just exited the Energized Training Chamber in which Faxul was continuing his training.

"System, is the countermeasure in place?", he asked again while walking through the hallway to his Chamber, unable to forget the expression of hatred that had passed through his friend's face when he had attacked him before.

[Affirmative. The technique that host has passed on will result in an immediate purging of the physical link of the entity in the event of a takeover.]

Sighing with relief, Daneel entered his own Training Chamber before conjuring his clone and sticking his hands in the red goo to continue his own training.

He had personally witnessed how the entity had been able to somehow inhabit his friend without his knowledge, and even manage to take over temporarily in order to carry out the attack.

Thus, when Faxul had stated his decision, he had almost decided to go ahead anyway to purge the entity.

Apart from his own memory of feeling frustration and anger at his parent's condition, Daneel had remembered his friend's expression when he had seen the last recording of Faxul's father.

Along with the yearning to save, the yearning for retribution which his friend always carried was also definitely a factor which had led him to make that decision.

Hence, only after ensuring with the system that such a countermeasure could be put in place, he had allowed his friend to fulfill the desire to speed up his training speed exponentially in order to get revenge for his parents who had been killed.

After all, Daneel wasn't dumb enough to keep a ticking time bomb in his friend's body especially after personally experiencing how strong it was.

If Faxul could endure the pain to become a strong ally who he was very much in need of, it was all well and good.

Otherwise, his friend would simply have to go back to training 'normally'.

For the good of Lanthanor and Angaria, Daneel hoped for the former to happen while losing himself in the pleasure of growing in power.

.....

The next day, a girl and a woman appeared at the gates of the Palace holding a black box.