His cheeks burning while he felt chagrin, Daneel waited for Drakos to reply, and when he did, he finally calmed down, convinced that the crisis had been averted.

"You're right, Young King. The Emperor was also very adamant about this. Both of you must be right. I was wrong to feel attracted to those kinds of methods. Maybe I should enter meditation to ponder on my mistakes."

"Hmm? Meditation? What's that?"

"It was a technique given to those of us who chose to become Empire Spirits in order to help us to remain sane. It cuts us off from all external inputs, but when called, we can respond. During the meditation, our consciousness slows to a crawl, and we can ponder on anything we want with leisure."

"Perfect!"

After Daneel exclaimed like so by mistake, he sheepishly added, "I mean…you do that. I'll definitely call upon you when I need you. Happy meditating, Drakos."

"Sure, Young King. Be aware that short spans of time, such as those below 10 years, will feel like nothing to us when meditating. So even if I might appear to be, well, not here, please do not hesitate to call for me when you need me. I-…Never Mind. Fare thee well for now, Young King."

Giving the same address as the Emperor before leaving, Drakos stopped speaking, and after a few moments, the system chimed in Daneel's head.

[Target Consciousness 'Drakos' has gone into a dormant state. a.n.a.lyzing technique being used. Technique's complexity exceeds system's complexity.]

So even the Meditation Technique was at Hero level? What was so special about it?

Striding off the walkway, Daneel took support on a tree as he leaned down and let out a few breaths.

That had been a close call.

Even now, he could remember that roar clearly. It had the power to rend the Heavens and the earth in two, and he had almost set it free.

No matter what, he was not going to have Drakos witness anything 'bad' from now on.

Of course, doing small bad things wouldn't count, as the main problem came when he saw the outcome.

So, like the Emperor had said, Daneel just needed to be careful.

Thankfully, his main objective in the sect for which he had needed Drakos had been completed.

Although the most ideal situation would have been for one of those two to die, Daneel wasn't too disappointed.

The vitality of a Champion was said to be terrifying: thus, it was a pipe dream to wish for one to die, especially when Ashah.e.l.l had had such a short span of time to work with.

Given more time, Daneel was sure that Ashah.e.l.l would have completed the task, but things were still great as they stood now. Ashah.e.l.l was imprisoned and could no longer freely plot the downfall of the continent, and the Mad Doctor was in a long, long coma.

Going back to his dorm, Daneel once again viewed the pile of Ker Gems and realized that he was in a dilemma.

How was he going to transport them out now?!

Thankfully, the next day, there was good news.

The super-strict lockdown on the Sect had been lifted.

The reason hadn't been released, but Daneel knew why: apparently, his action of framing Ashah.e.l.l had also resulted in this, which made him feel quite happy before he felt his face burn again on remembering what he had had to say about himself in front of Drakos yesterday.

Apparently, the truth was that there had been a lot of displeasure due to the lockdown, mainly from all the Warriors who had been a.s.signed to keep an eye on those who went out.

Now, there was no such thing bothering anyone.

Using the secret exit that he had used before, Daneel began to smuggle out the Ker Gems carefully to Lanthanor's vault.

It took many, many trips, but by the time he was done, Daneel felt greatly satisfied.

Right now, Lanthanor was the richest Kingdom of the Continent.

Gone were the days of poverty when he had had to scrounge up the money by taking loans.

Now, he had all the money he needed, and because there was nothing like the "Tax Commission" in Angaria which would have asked questions if he suddenly showed so much wealth, Daneel was going to be able to implement more and more of his plans for the welfare of the people.

Of course, if he showed too much wealth at once, it would be an obvious incongruency that would call the Big 4 down on him, so he would still have to be a bit cautious.

With his work in the Sect of Hedon done for now, Daneel headed out, looking forward to finally returning to his Kingdom.

The only thing that was left in the Sect was to re-obtain the parts of the Inheritance left behind by the Empire that had been taken away by Ashah.e.l.l when he had visited Lanthanor.

He would definitely have to come back for those.

After exiting the Sect, Daneel first headed to the Watcher's place, as the original Travis was still being held there.

However, when he reached, he saw something very…strange.

Travis was just standing there, without any bindings, and the Watcher had a sheepish expression on his face.

"Umm…I took him in as my disciple. He knows everything. Don't worry, he's sworn an oath. So, he's ready to take your place in the Sect again, and you can even switch out with him whenever you want if you need to go back inside. Win-win, right?"

Daneel had seen hints of this the last time he had met the Watcher, too, but he couldn't have expected that the bodyless man would take the plunge.

Still, he had to admit that it was convenient.

So, walking up to Travis, he patted his shoulder and said, "Have fun," before leaving.

Travis asked the Watcher what Daneel might have meant, but he wasn't aware of the answer either.

Little did he know that there was a huge roster of Warriors just waiting to kick his a.s.s to a pulp for his post as soon as he went back.

…

After getting back to the Palace without telling anyone, Daneel lied down on his bed, thoroughly exhausted.

He was just about to take a nice nap, when the system suddenly sounded in his head, making him snap his head up with shock.

[Warrior-level display of power has been detected in the Palace. Location: South-east of Host.]

When the h.e.l.l had a Warrior invaded Lanthanor?!

With alarm, Daneel teleported to that underground room, intending to find out who had the audacity to enter his Kingdom.

Without hesitation, he used his full strength to kick open the door, only to find his elder brother figure, Elanev, training in the room in front of a punching bag.

There was no one else here.

Daneel was about to ask the system whether it was Elanev who had been the one to display that power, but the man spoke out by himself with an expression of extreme frustration on his face, which made Daneel take a step back with surprise.

"I didn't want to believe it. I was so ready to gloat that I became a Warrior so fast…and you became a d.a.m.n Exalted Warrior already?! I mean, COME ON, MAN!"