"King of Lanthanor sacrifices himself to save his subordinates!"
"A once in a generation talent! King of Lanthanor, a 17-year-old Exalted Human Mage!"
"A king who bled for this people!"
The events surrounding the attack on Daneel had taken place on the morning after the day on which the Withering Leaf Sect had been chased from their home, and by the evening these quotes were on the lips of the people of the Kingdom.
Following Daneel's orders, the first thing that Kellor had done was to go to Eloise to explain the situation to her so that she could effectively broadcast it through the Network of Angaria(NOA).
This was when a remarkable incident had taken place. As soon as Kellor had told Eloise about everything that had happened except for the fact that Daneel was actually alright, Eloise had collapsed on the ground and had not even been able to speak for a few seconds. After Kellor assured her that Daneel was still undergoing treatment and was definitely not dead, she nodded and got up from the floor before wiping away the tears in her eyes and getting to work instantly.
She went at this task with a single-minded focus which resulted in such hard-hitting quotes that the entirety of the Kingdom and even, to some extent, Angaria started to speak about the noble heart of the King of Lanthanor. After all, all the major forces in Angaria had gotten ahold of the NOA in order to know just what was being broadcasted by this one-of-a-kind network on this continent.
On the next day, display trinkets went up at all the major locations of congregation in the Kingdom, letting the general population see for themselves how their King had stepped out bravely in order to defend the Grand Court Mage.
In any matter, seeing was believing. These images which showcased such inspiring gallantry even made those who were derisive of the young king pause, as they started to consider whether they were wrong to not support such a great man who had laid his life on the line just so that he couldn't be called a coward by the people he loved so much.
So far, although support for Daneel had been quite all-encompassing, there had been certain pockets of resistance who still secretly disliked the King for various reasons. These were usually old-timers who had gotten used to being commanded by those with much more mettle and grit, at least according to them. Yet, what showcased more 'mettle and grit' than one who was willing to sacrifice himself so readily?
Of course, some detractors still remained who just thought that it was a stupid decision, but they were quite few in number.
All in all, adoration for the king grew to new levels, with many even praying repeatedly to all the gods they could that the King had to survive, no matter what.
Of course, seeing the situation of the Kingdom, there were some who tried to take advantage. Yet, the police of the kingdom worked overtime in order to capture all such antisocial elements as quickly as possible before they could have any noticeable effect on the overall atmosphere of Lanthanor.
Meanwhile, the man who was being thought of so ardently by millions of people was currently relaxing in his room while keeping an eye on all the news circulating throughout the continent.
He had been spending time with his parents, letting his mother take care of him by personally cooking his meals and insisting that he rest because he had, after all, been impaled in the chest by what looked like a very dangerous attack.
Not finding it in his heart to deny his mother this opportunity, Daneel let her have her way while training with his clone.
Yet, even though he looked completely relaxed on the outside, he was actually very tense knowing that an attack could come at any moment. The commanders were still posted full time on the borders, making it so that they could respond quickly to preserve life before elite forces reached wherever the Withering Leaf Sect chose to begin their attempt at striking back.
In this way, an entire day passed with Daneel becoming more and more worried that there were no new developments on all fronts.
….
Unbeknownst to him, two people standing on the tallest structure to have ever been built on Angaria were currently thinking about this young King who was currently making waves throughout the continent, while looking in different directions for the moment.
Like a spear that had thundered down from the heavens to impale the earth, this structure rose in a straight line from the ground into the sky with its top unable to be seen by anyone who was walking at ground level.
Exactly 10 km in the air when measured from the ground, the structure which looked to be made out of silvery metal ended with a flat top that had no railing around it.
This was higher than the tallest mountain on earth-Mount Everest, making it so that all around, there were only clouds with the occasional clear spot through which an endless ocean could be seen.
The two people who were currently standing on this flat top were very different in appearance.
One was an enchanting woman with long hair wearing a gown on which flowers seemed to be repeatedly blooming and wilting in a matter of seconds. Each and every flower seemed to be from a different species, making one wonder whether there were this many types of flowers in the entire continent.
The other was topless, exposing bulging muscles that look like indestructible boulders. His face seemed to be chiseled from a rock, with rough features and a scraggly beard that gave him the appearance of one who hadn't shaven in weeks.
A single wide scar ran from below one eye to the other, which moved animatedly when the man spoke out.
"Looks like no one else is coming. So what do you think about him? Is there anything suspicious?"
As he asked this question, the woman who seemed to have been admiring the view from her location crinkled her nose bit before turning around and answering, "In my opinion, it isn't needed. The mosquitoes have countermeasures and are a bit interesting, but the creator doesn't deserve our attention in the present situation. Still, someone has already been sent. That's also why the other two leaders didn't even bother to come."
Chuckling at her words, the man rubbed his nose before saying, "You know that we only concern ourselves with training. I only heard of this from a visiting friend who couldn't keep his mouth shut about the matter. I knew that you guys must've collected information about him, so I just wanted to find out."
Frowning even further at this answer, the woman said in an irritated tone, "Why not just use a damn communication trinket?"
At this, the man laughed out loud. "Because you ignored me the last time I did! Anyway, any news on that bastard Church?"
Hearing mention of the enemy whom she had been dreading since decades, an expression of utter seriousness replaced the displeasure on the woman's face. Shaking her head, she said, "Nothing new. We've gotten nowhere closer to circumventing the oath sworn by the Knights and the priests recaptured, and there is no new news from the ones we sent to the mainland. All I can say is the timeline is still the same, but we need to be prepared in case it changes."
Sighing, the man replied, "Alright. It's a pity. If this kid had been born in any other time, he would have been able to train with the best of resources to reach the champion level as soon as possible. Too bad there's no chance for that now. If Angaria still stands after the War, maybe there will still be a chance then."
With a sad smile, the woman nodded before directly disappearing from the top of this tower.
Watching this, the man grumbled a bit, saying, "You know I can't teleport but you don't even offer a hand. Typical mages."
After saying these words, he walked to the end of the tower before taking a deep breath and directly jumping off.
"WOOOOOHOOOOO!"
With a scream of exhilaration, the man soared through the air with increasing speed, as if he wasn't worried about splattering onto the ground due to his extreme momentum.
When he was just 100 m above the ground, an expression of slight seriousness finally appeared on his face before he carefully punched forward with his right fist.
BOOM
It was as if a giant had punched out, as a massive fist emerged in the air before pummelling the ground and making a spire of rock rise up on which the man landed with a loud THUD.
Jumping off again, he turned around and casually punched again to cause the spire to break into fist-sized pieces before falling back into the hole that had been caused due to it rising into the air.
Taking another deep breath, he stomped on the ground before rising 300 m into the air and heading in the direction of his sect where his brothers and sisters were waiting to continue training with him.