novelDecision
| ← Ch.0391 | Ch.0393 → |
"Sect leader, you are a liar and a crook. I must say that in the long history of the Hidden Kill Sect, there has definitely been no one as despicable as you who have sat in that seat."
When Stefan said these words while standing in front of Daneel, the new sect leader only smiled at the corner of his mouth and waited.
"Your point?" He asked in a casual tone, making Stefan and even Jaggrv who was standing beside him laugh. Of course, due to the gritty voice of the latter, it sounded like sandpaper being rubbed on wood.
"I love it! I must say, when I envisioned the prophecy and the Basilisk Rider saving our sect, it looked much more glorious in my head. Still, I have no complaints. That was masterfully done! How did you even figure out that it was possible?"
This made Daneel smile wide, as he drank the glass of wine in front of him while gesturing at the two top assassins to do the same.
"Well, I have this little habit of taking people's words, analyzing them and finding loopholes so that I can use them to create great, witty remarks. It was a hobby until I realize that it's very effective with oaths. I went through the rules with a fine tooth comb, and realized that there are actually quite a few loopholes that can be used. All of your previous sect leaders just tried to solve things in the regular manner, instead of going back and finding methods that might seem... Underhanded. Well, underhandedness is something that has allowed me to become who I am. First of all, there is no such rule that we have to accept contracts like I told you to mention. Second, it is only when we accept contracts should be stay mum about them. Third, the rules only say that we cannot give official statements. All I did was mention speculations! If they put a lot of weight on those, there is nothing I can do. Besides, exposing the information about Axelor's army was a pure mistake! They just got lucky..."
Seeing the innocent look on Daneel's face as he leaned back and looked out the window with his hands behind his head, Stefan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and shake his head.
Jaggrv, on the other hand, looked like he was trying really hard not to curse.
It was just too shameless! This man had clearly planned everything, but he was still trying to pretend as if everything had worked out so smoothly just by luck.
As a knock sounded on the door, the same messenger who had been shouted at by Daneel before entered and said, "Sect leader. It's confirmed. The movements of the troops have changed, due to the orders from the respective kingdoms that they should search for and attack an army in between them. The two armies are also coordinating and covering the ground in between them so that no one can get away. As for the movements of Axelor, they are quickly retreating, but we cannot yet tell whether they will come into contact with the two armies. What do you suggest we do, sir?"
Hearing this, both Stefan and Jaggrv looked at each other in shock.
That was it? They were all be safe?
They couldn't believe it!
This damn threat from Axelor had existed for such a long time that they had given up hope of driving them back. No matter what they did, it had seemed futile.
As for the situation of being attacked additionally by the Kingdom of the Elves and the Black Raven Kingdom, it had been treated as the heavens being angry at the Hidden Kill Sect and wishing for their destruction.
Now, they realised that it was actually a boon. Eldinor was to the west of Lanthanor, so when they send their troops forward, they had chosen the shortest route which was the one in between Lanthanor and Axelor.
As for the Black Raven Kingdom, they had also chosen the shortest route, but because they were to the north-west of Lanthanor, their route was on the land between Lanthanor and the Kingdom of Arafell.
At the moment when everything had gone down, the army of Axelor had been positioned in the land between Lanthanor and the Hidden Kill Sect.
This, of course, turned out to be right in between the forces of the Black Raven Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Elves due to the respective routes they had taken.
However, because they had slowly entrenched themselves there and moved with the utmost of secrecy, they had evaded the scouts of the two kingdoms until they were ratted out by the Hidden Kill Sect, which knew about them because it had been tracking them for a long time.
After finding out that the sect might not even be directly responsible for the deaths and the fact that both armies were right now vulnerable to a backstab, the two kingdoms had reached some kind of truce to take care of Axelor together.
In fact, to Stefan, it almost seemed... Too good to be true.
Like someone had somehow manipulated everything to make it so that this end result would occur.
Of course, this thought only lasted for an instant in Stefan's mind before disappearing, because there could definitely be no one with that kind of means in Angaria. It was impossible!
At the end of the day, the fact of the matter was that the Hidden Kill Sect was no longer under the risk of being conquered by a hostile force.
Now that he thought about it, he realised that they hadn't even needed the weapons inside the formation, but they now had them anyway.
Remembering that, he asked, "Sect leader, what's our next step? And have you listed down the items found inside the eye of the formation and decided which one you would be taking as your own?"
This made an expression of deep thought appear on Daneel's face.
After taking a few seconds, he answered, "Not yet. The thing is, I can't even identify some of them. And as for our next step, I have something planned, but I'm trying to decide whether to go through with it."
"Oh? Have you tried referring to our secret archives? It is said that they contain all information about all the treasures to have ever been in possession of the sect. I daresay that there should be some mention or clue about what you found inside."
After becoming sect leader, Daneel had hardly had the time to go through everything that was now available to him. He had been busy setting up that meeting with the two kingdoms, and also trying to decide what he would do next.
Of course, this was all while resisting the urge to test out the system's new capabilities everywhere.
As the full upgrade was done, the system could now do things that it hadn't been able to before.
For instance, the core formation of the Lanthanor Kingdom, which had stymied the system before, would definitely be able to be controlled now.
Also, the base of the Withering Leaf Sect which was still sitting there in the Valley of Mist and hiding a spell technique could now be accessed by him.
These two were the ones he could think of off the top of his head, but he definitely knew that there must also be so many new skills to explore due to the upgrade.
Time. He had no time, as there had been more pressing things to take care of, such as how to save the sect and also which treasure to take as his own.
As much as he wanted to get started on those three things, Daneel decided that he should first settle everything in the Hidden Kill Sect.
His entire motive behind carrying out assassinations and making the armies of the two kingdoms move had been to threaten Axelor and make it retreat, but now that this had already been accomplished, Daneel realized that there was no reason to go easy on the Axelorians, especially after what they had done during the fiasco with the Olympics.
No, he had to milk this chance for all it was worth, and he also had to do something that would establish his dominance over the sect and let him rule both with authority and respect.
However, there was also another thing to decide. There was no way that he could actively sit here in the sect and take care of it, because his heart lay in Lanthanor. Just like with the Kingdom of the Elves and the Black Raven Kingdom, he needed a subordinate that he could trust.
There, he had had no options. However, here, he realized that there were 2 to consider- the son of the previous sect leader whom he quite liked, and his commander, Luther.
He would have to make a decision between either one of them to take over his post and command in his stead, but Daneel realized that this could wait.
Right now, it was time to take some revenge on Axelor while also using this opportunity to make himself more likable.
Again, there would be loss of life, so Daneel hesitated for a bit.
After all, he wasn't at the stage where he could just decide coldly and not even bat an eyelid when he was going to cause the deaths of numerous people.
However, Axelor was something that he would have to handle sooner or later, and knowing what he did about their structure, he realized that this was definitely necessary.
He needed more information about their army, and he also needed to know the capabilities of the sect which he had just taken control of while earning their recognition. Two birds with one stone- just the way he liked it.
Opening his eyes, Daneel said with an expression of determination, "I've made my decision. Gather all of the top assassins. We move out. I don't know about you, but if an enemy comes so close to killing me, I don't just leave them alone. It's time to take a little bit of revenge."
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