All he needed to do was take control of another force, and the Hidden Kill Sect was right here, waiting to be reaped.

The EXP was always awarded when it became clear that he, or someone under his control would definitely be taking over the leaders.h.i.+p of a place. In the Kingdom of the Elves, it had been when the result of the voting had been announced. In the Black Raven Kingdom, it had been when Faxul was acknowledged by everyone on the throne.

Here, all he needed was three votes, and by their strict rules, he was the new sect leader.

If this worked out, and he got the EXP, it would be enough for him to upgrade the system so that it could take control of the formation and let him obtain the treasured weapons of the sect to turn its tide.

Thankfully, it had worked out beautifully.

Also, Daneel now realized that he had missed out on something important.

If he hadn't used this moment when their hopes had been lowest due to him failing to take control of the formation, he and the other three might have faced an uphill battle in the future when the time for the vote came.

After all, there was nothing like offering a gla.s.s of water to a parched man who had given up all hope. No matter how bad the water tasted, he would take it.

This was exactly what was happening right now.

According to the bylaw, Daneel had officially won the vote, but the two remaining top a.s.sa.s.sins and the sect leader could still make trouble.

However, they chose to believe in the prophecy which they had forsaken long back.

After all, what did they have to lose?

The only one who was still staring shocked at Daneel was Skrrag, who couldn't understand how the man he admired had suddenly taken over his father's position.

The sect leader, on the other hand, had just managed to control his emotions of guilt and anger at letting down his sect.

Since the moment that Daneel had spoken and the three votes had been cast, there had been silence in the room.

It was finally broken by the sect leader, who stood up and walked to Daneel with a defeated expression on his face.

No matter how much he did not want to do it, he knew that it was his duty and that there was no way that he could s.h.i.+rk from it.

As for refuting this and using the backup options that were sitting in his pocket, he didn't even consider it, as there was no scenario where they would make a difference except maybe killing this Master and letting him keep his position.

However, what would happen after that? The sect would still be conquered.

If so, why not just trust the d.a.m.n prophecy?

He didn't even want to know if Daneel was manipulating everything to take his position right now. All he knew was that he had tried his best and failed, so he would just trust in their ancestor and hope that this Master wasn't a scheming and crafty b.a.s.t.a.r.d who would intentionally drive the sect to destruction.

"First, you need to be indicted as a member of the sect."

After reaching Daneel and saying these words, he raised his palm, making a s.h.i.+ny, round black rock appear on top of it.

The sect leader wasn't even looking at Daneel. Instead, he was just looking down, as if he just wanted to get this thing done as soon as possible.

With a solemn nod, Daneel laid his hand on the oath stone and repeated after the sect leader.

"I shall abide by the sacred rules laid down by the ancestor of the Hidden Kill Sect, and I shall always act while keeping the sect's best interests at heart. I shall stand with the sect, and die with the sect. Glory be to the Hidden Kill Basilisk."

It was a simple oath, but it encompa.s.sed all that was needed.

Daneel had actually hesitated before speaking it, but he swore it anyway as he knew that there was no way to get out of it right now. As for potential clas.h.i.+ng of interests in the future that might come due to the oath he had sworn to Lanthanor, he decided that he would cross that bridge when it came.

After Daneel gave the oath, the sect leader lowered his palm but the oath stone stayed there, stuck to Daneel's hand because he had just caught it in a hurry.

"Good luck, Basilisk Rider and Sect Leader. I really hope you save my sect."

As if saying this had completely taken away everything he had in him, the ex-sect leader collapsed there and fainted, making Skrrag run towards him after shouting "Father!".

Daneel, who had seen the sleep deprivation in the eyes of the previous sect leader while looking at him up close, said "He's fine. He's just really tired from having no sleep. Some rest should get him back to normal."

"Thank you, Mast – sect leader. Thank you, sect leader," Skrrag said, unable to meet his eyes.

Daneel could guess his feelings. He had just taken his father's role, that two after what looked like a backstab by convincing three important officials to be on his side.

Alas, this was not the time to care about his feelings.

No. It was time to bluff.

"All right. Now that that's out of the way, let me begin. Please do not disturb me no matter what you see."

Saying so, Daneel first took control of the oath stone by cutting his finger and letting it absorb a drop of blood.

As it dissolved into his hand, he once again experienced the feeling of having knowledge added to his mind.

The names of numerous a.s.sa.s.sins and officials appeared in his head, but he just placed them to the side and ignored them all for now.

Walking towards the giant ball, Daneel raised both of his hands.

After getting to within a few inches of it, he stopped and closed his eyes, keeping his hands pointed at the glowing snake.

Minute after minute pa.s.sed, during which the others started to wonder what the heck their new sect leader was doing.

There was no magic, as none of them could sense any elementary particles being manipulated. There was also no change in the ball, which meant that there was no progress in taking control of the formation.

All they saw was Daneel constantly grunting and frowning, as if he was doing something very difficult.

If he wasn't in front of the formation, they might even have a.s.sumed that he was constipated.

Of course, if they knew that he was just acting while waiting for the system to come back online, they would have rammed their heads on the walls beside them to kill themselves in vexation.

This went on for 20 minutes, and just as they were about to panic that the hour was going to be up, something incredulous happened.

The entire ball deflated like a balloon and disappeared in an instant, leaving behind a few items in a pile.

Wait…that was it?!