One hour ago, at the center of Angaria.

Sitting on the large throne, Daneel was trying to think of a way out of the dilemma they had found themselves in. Yet, as he tried to concentrate, his thoughts kept going to the image of the Bishop when she had arrived on an exact replica of the same seat he was resting on.

Dammit. Is that why she chose it? To hound me while I try to think? Well, if so, it was definitely an inspired idea…

Vexation twisting his mouth, he got up and walked to the edge of the center to gaze down upon the land. The sovereigns noticed his restlessness, but as they knew that nothing they said could help him, they stayed silent and continued to think.

Apart from him, the only ones standing were Husare and the Emperor. The former was pacing around, her eyes flipping repeatedly in his direction to see whether he had hit upon anything, while the latter had his arms behind his back and was looking out at the sky.

Until now, they had exhaustively vetted all of the options available to them. He still clearly remembered each and every plan of his that had been shot down.

“Can your sect attack the reinforcements?”

“No, the Saints would kill us.”

“Can you bribe these families to stay put?”

“No, they’re too scared of the Church.”

“Can we threaten them instead?”

“They don’t care about these commanders enough to rise against the Church, so the safest thing to do to protect their pride and pledge resources to the war effort.”

“Can we kill these commanders to make a statement?”

“Sure, but it would accomplish nothing…what we need to do is find a way to win.”

“What about the Bishop? The headquarters is weakened, so can we attack her before these reinforcements arrive?”

“It would be unwise to do so, as we abandon all of our advantages while still going up against a heavily protected area.”

“Can we at least torture these commanders and get information out of them?”

“No, they are bound too tightly by the vows they have sworn. Anything that goes against the Church would incapacitate them first, and if they still try to resist, they will die.”

At this point, Daneel had gotten so frustrated that he had screamed out his next question.

“Then what the f*ck can I do except twiddle my thumbs and wait to be destroyed?”

“You can try to think of a solution with everything that you already possess. You’ve saved yourself and others from trickier situations… so what’s to say that you can’t figure out something now? I’ve even been ordered by the Lord Paragon to let you use anything and everything in our minds and on our bodies… here is an exhaustive list. Either you succeed, or we’re all doomed.”

The last part had been uttered unnecessarily, as the system had already run enough simulations to let him know that things weren’t looking too good for them. A draw was still on the board, but too many Angarians would die for it to be called anything but defeat.

Since then, everyone had stayed silent while Daneel had fed the system everything that the assassins had given him. The list was so exhaustive that even a Peak Hero would be hard-pressed to go through it all in the short amount of time that they had, so Daneel had been relieved when the system had only needed a few seconds to begin new simulations. Alas, this seemed to be another case where his lateral thinking was required to make use of the system’s capabilities, but so far, he had found no way in which they could balance the scales.

Damn her. Damn her! Why can’t she just accept defeat? Plan after plan, I keep beating her down… but she keeps getting up. Maybe this isn’t even the last time it’ll happen…

He mostly felt irritation, but deep down, he also grudgingly respected the Bishop’s determination. It was the same kind that was driving him forward, and it made him sorely wish that he was up against someone else. He would even have felt happy if they were a stronger mage or fighter, as in this situation, all that mattered was the mind and the heart, and in both these aspects, the Bishop was strong.

Such thoughts would only waste time, though, so Daneel asked the system again whether anything had been found. Sadly, the assassins had already pulled out almost all stops before, so what they had given now were only things that they had not thought would be useful. They had clearly hoped that he could see something they hadn’t, and for Angaria’s sake, Daneel wanted to prove them right.

The assassins had warned him that the Bishop might not stick to the timetable, so if he was going to pull something out of his hat, it had to be now. Yet, his mind had failed him so far, so how could he expect it to magically work now?

He looked at the fertile land of Angaria for a few moments, and he was reminded of one of his earliest battles. In the Black Raven Kingdom, an old, withered man had drunk from the land to sustain himself. He had left it barren in his wake, and when Daneel had arrived to confront him, it had looked as if all hope was lost, just like now.

In the end, though, factors out of his control had acted to save him at the last moment. In the end, the best resolution possible had come to be, with the enemy dead and him unscathed.

What would be the best resolution now?

Stopping the reinforcements, definitely. But if Husare is right, she might have secured them already… If so, what’s better?

He turned to the hundred individuals floating in the sky. Without even using his elementary vision, he could see the particles of Energy that gathered around them. Only those of great power could make this phenomenon come to life, so as he watched them, Daneel caught himself wishing that they could fight on his side.

But how? They will die if they go against the Church.

He pondered on the notion for a few minutes, and then, a certain idea struck him.

What if… they think they’re fighting for me?

The thought took root, but it met a hard wall when he was reminded of how the consciousnesses of those so powerful were very hard to break into.

No, brute force would never work… They have to let me in, themselves. If so… all that is needed is a brief moment of vulnerability during which the Astral Curse takes effect. Is it possible to make that happen?

He posed the question to the system, and when he got the answer, he almost jumped into the air.

[Affirmative. The TriCobra sect is skilled in the art of persuasion. The individual known as Husare has trained to become an expert on the topic, so she carries with her an extremely precious object that can cause forgetfulness for a very short amount of time. It can also act in an area, but the strength of the Artifact is diluted. However, if permission is given by an individual for it to act, it’s effectiveness is increased. If all the targets grant permission, the Artifact can cause them to forget the events that occur in five seconds.]

Just like that, everything clicked into place. It was almost like the Heavens were helping him, but as he remembered all the excruciating hours during which nothing had come to him, he saw that that might not be the case.

Either way, turning around, he immediately addressed the commanders using speech that was sped up so much that he could sing a hundred songs in a single breath if he wished.

“You’ve been hearing everything we’ve been saying, so you perfectly know the situation you’re in. I’ve been told that people usually never come out alive after being taken as hostages, and it appears that the Bishop has every intention of making that happen. What if I told you that there was a method in which you could take your revenge, and still ensure your survival? Listen quickly, as time is limited. All it will require is you letting down the walls around your consciousnesses for the briefest of moments… If you do so, you will not remember this conversation. If you disagree, you will die. As for what I intend to do with you…it’s just a simple spell, but it will make you think you’re fighting for the Church. The Bishop has asked for resources to save you, so if she is seen using them to kill you…she will be hunted on the Mainland. There will be a live broadcast of the battle, so she will have to do everything in her power to save you. Besides…there’s that little thing about vows interfering with actions that go against those from the Church, so I expect some confusion to be present, at least. In short, you get your revenge and you get to keep your lives. What do you say?”

The window was passing quickly, and in Daneel’s hand, an object that looked like a clock on one side and the face of a screaming man on another rotated slowly. It was precious for a reason, so when the commanders laid their eyes on it, they recognized it instantly.

They nodded together at the four-second mark, and to Daneel, it had felt as if music had begun to play in the background to accompany the tables turning once again…for what he hoped was the last time.

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