When Daneel rose from the sea and set foot on Angaria, he took in a deep breath and enjoyed the feeling of coming home.
It felt as if all of the time spent after waking up had been a blur, albeit one with a red glow all around it. That redness was anger, of course, due to the fact that thousands of Angarians had had to die while he was on his way back from the Mother.
He knew that no one could be blamed for this loss of life, but still, he had blamed himself. While planning, he and the Emperor had both toyed with the idea of setting up more special barriers than physical barriers as there was a high possibility of attacks of that vein being able to get past their measures, but after seeing that the probability of such attacks even being used was slim based on the data that they had obtained, they had decided against it.
The decision had come back to bite them, but again, no one could have known that this elite force of the Tenebrous Knights would be sent. He hadn't spoken to the assassins yet, so he didn't know what excuses they would give, but already, he could guess that the fault would be laid on their shoulders due to their move that had exposed the outside help they had by blowing up the headquarters of the Church.
Still, in Daneel's opinion, that had been an excellent move. From the data, they knew that that ship was extremely valuable. Wiping such an important piece off the board without any casualties was an incredible thing, and even though some might say that the cost they had had to pay might be worth it… he just couldn't stop himself from thinking of all of the families of Angarians who were, even now, mourning their parents or children.
That red glow threatened to enter his vision again, but thankfully, the sight of the two beautiful women flying at him at a breakneck speed stopped it in its tracks.
Eloise and Xuan both threw themselves onto him, forgetting that doing the same to anyone normal would result in at least a few broken bones. One of Daneel's feet was still in the sea, so with a small breath, he drew in that raging Energy again and used it to offset the force that his body was subjected to.
He then bent down his head and took comfort in the feeling of being in their arms, and that was how the rest of his sovereigns found him.
He took his time with his two queens, knowing that these few moments of relaxation were extremely important due to everything that had just happened. From the time he had stopped the killing, the massacre had continued in his head. He hadn't been able to stop himself from imagining how it would be to go and continue it among the ranks of the second wave of the Church who were surely waiting, but knowing that that would be a suicide mission, he had had to suppress the temptation.
It hadn't been easy, though. At first, when he had started killing, he hadn't paused to think about it as his mind had still been fixed firmly on all those whose lives had been lost. However, with each sinew that he tore and each neck that was twisted into nothingness in his hands, he had started to enjoy the feeling more and more until he had started grinning with those monstrous teeth which had also appeared at the same time, as if to give physical form to his lust for carnage.
Even though the system had been sending notifications in his mind, he had been able to block them all while killing knight after knight. The only small source of disappointment was that many of their bodies had disappeared when he breathed the green flame he had absorbed before, and due to his crazed state, he couldn't see that he was the one who was teleporting them away. Even though it might have looked as if they had burned to a crisp, they had actually been saved, and it was only now that he realized that it was due to the system doing its job of imprisoning as many knights as possible as they were, after all, valuable resources that could be turned, or used.
This had happened once before, but then, the temptation had not been as sweet. He knew the reason behind the difference right away, and that was…the endless Energy of the Endless Sea.
At the moment he had returned to his body, he had seen the entire center of the continent in turmoil due to reasons he could not understand. He had been about to send out his mind to see what had happened, but before that, he had heard one last message from the Mother.
"Go forth, my son, and take control of both the Energy that gave birth to me and all the sons and daughters that I gave birth to. For as long as I'm with you, they are yours to command, but please… treat them as you would your brothers and sisters, if you had any. Good luck."
That was when he had sent the message to Eloise, and the moment he had appeared over the Sea and dived inside, he had felt as if he had been welcomed by open arms where before he had only been met by fury and the desire to kill.
He hadn't even needed the system to give him any hints, or do any analysis. As if it was the most instinctive thing, he had taken in one deep breath…and had experienced the most invigorating feeling in his life.
The Energy of the sea had the properties of its source, but with the upgraded system, it had been easy to curtail the desire of all that power to tear his body into innumerable pieces instead of bending to his will and decimating his enemies. After whipping up a module on the fly, all it had taken was a bit of effort to put it firmly under control, and without hesitation, he had chosen to remain in the form that he was most comfortable with instead of opting to change into that of a Godbeast that he would have to adjust to.
After all the effort he had gone to to collect the blood of so many incredible beings, he had never expected that he would reach a state where he would be able to possess enough power in his own form. The risk he had taken and the kindness of the Mother were what he had thank, so feeling happy that he had not bowed down to fear, he had gone forward and met the Knights over the Sea.
It was only after two complete minutes of the sovereigns all looking around and waiting for him to part from the two queens that he finally took a step back and smiled at them. By then, the love that he had been smothered in had been enough to turn him away from the path of rage that had almost swallowed him whole, so with a gentle smile, he met the eyes of all those who looked extremely proud.
This could be said of all the sovereigns except Faxul and Elanev, who both had tightened fists and narrowed eyes that meant that they had realized that they had a long, long way to go if they wanted to continue to compete with him. Still, it was obvious that they had made the decision to not give up, so this was a great thing to see.
The proudest eyes belonged to his father…and the Emperor. He couldn't even tell who looked happier, and as he walked forward, both of them also began to head in his direction.
He hugged them both, in turn. Robert didn't say anything, but the Emperor squeezed his shoulder and said, "Well done. Well… Done. I could only plan and hope for the best, but you took matters into your own hands. Thank you. Thank you!"
The only answer that Daneel gave was a nod and the slight blush that entered his cheeks. After greeting the rest with his eyes, he thought for a bit and declared, "We have taken our revenge… but there are two more waves go. I have returned with power beyond imagination, but it has its flaws. It is time to rethink all of our plans. Let's go."
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