"Hey Dan, how was the travel? Was it cool?" Asked Ligart with evident jealousy, after finally coming out of the pocket dimension after two and a half months. With him, were Heimart, Alesia, Alis, Roley and everybody else who was born in that planet.
This group was composed of at least a thousand cultivators whose power was of at least at the mid fourth stage of immortal cultivation. At that power, nobody in the planet would ever be able to compete with them.
The sheer mention of the adjective 'cool' when paired with the experience in which Daniel, Der, and Jerigh had just gone through, made them deeply uncomfortable. "Don't even ask.. Just.. don't ask.." Responded Daniel in a dismissive tone. He then turned towards the city, and added "Do you all remember the plan that Der and I formulated before we left Mira?"
"Spread in couples of two, take control over every kingdom and empire, build teleporting platforms in each capital or major city, infiltrate in the market, do not inject universal objects and currency in the cities yet, gather the various maps and put them together.. Abolish slavery." Responded Heimart while repeating Daniel's instructions almost word by word.
"Yes.. and one last thing.. As soon as you find a kingdom called Karalis.. Call me immediately." Said Daniel after confirming that everyone had understood what the plan was.
Just as Daniel finished speaking, the thousand members of Daniel's group allowed their immortal cultivation to seep out of their body, and slowly float above the ground. Then, with just as many explosions of power, they dashed towards different directions.. Leaving Daniel and Alesia alone.
The two of them were only about two kilometers away from the city, and Daniel hadn't seen Alesia for two and a half months now. So, instead of teleporting or following the example of the rest of the cultivators, he walked next to her, and together, they strolled for that distance arm in arm, while catching up.
Thirty minutes later.
"That sounds terrifying!!" Exclaimed Alesia with deep shock. "Why in the world do you look so carefree after something like that?"
Daniel looked at Alesia's gorgeous face contorted in deep shock, and couldn't help but smile at her reaction. "I'm home. And I am with you. I couldn't possibly feel any better."
Alesia suddenly stopped. She wasn't buying Daniel's words, so, she grabbed his face with her warm hands, and said "I am serious. How are you?"
Once again, Daniel smiled at how worried Alesia seemed to be. He grabbed her wrists, and pulled her arms around his head. He then put his hands on her waist, and while pulling her closer to him, he gave her a lingering kiss.
They two stayed with their lips interlocked for a few seconds, then, Daniel pulled himself back, and said "I'm serious too. I am happy to see you." He then took a step back, and while offering his left arm for Alesia to grab and go arm in arm with him once again, he said "Let's go now, we have a king or a queen to terrify."
—–
"Halt. State your name, kingdom of origin, and the reason why you want to enter the capital." Said a heavily armored guard with authoritative tone. He was accompanied by at least fifteen other guards, and seemed ready to start a fight at any time. Daniel could feel that his power was at the sixth rank of martial cultivation, and in terms of power, was a lot weaker than a late second stage immortal cultivator.
"Dan Hiel, from the Kingdom of Karalis. I just wish to look around." Said Daniel casually.
The captain of the guard looked at Daniel with a strange expression. He could see no power come from within him, and that was caused by two reasons. The first one, was that he would not be able to see Daniel's martial cultivation without touching him, secondly, his spirit was fully merged with his body, and therefore, it didn't look like Daniel was a spiritual cultivator. At best, he would see Daniel as an odd type of human.
Something else that had made the captain of the guard suspicious, was that he had heard the name that Daniel had given him before.. In fact, he knew it all too well.
Pretending that he hadn't heard him clearly, the captain of the guard said "Can you repeat your name?"
"Dan Hiel. Almost twenty-two years of age.. Student of the previous master-at-arms of the Karalis kingdom, and the son of the Golden Cauldron's head, the Silver alchemist. Disappeared more than five years ago." Responded Daniel in a more detailed way.
He of course knew that the guard had heard about his name. He had already imagined that the rumor about him and his discovery would have made a full circle around the planet.. And he was right.
The moment Daniel finished speaking, the people in line behind him looked over in shock, and quickly stepped away.. While the guards surrounded him.
"You will have to come with us, Mr. Hiel.." Said the captain of the guard.
In response, Daniel showed a bright smile, and said "Lead the way." He then was escorted by the entirety of the guards present through the massive gate, which after welcoming him into the city, was immediately closed.
Along with his fifteen guards, the captain lead Daniel towards the castle that could be seen in the distance. A majestic castle whose exterior had nothing to envy from Daniel's own home. The more they approached the castle, the more guards would appear from the various streets, and joined the group in escorting Daniel.
When two hours later they arrived at the entrance of the castle, Daniel and Alesia were being surrounded by at least two hundred guards. Each of them with a power just lower than the captain himself.
The captain of the guard was quite happy that Daniel hadn't put any resistance while being captured. He knew that if a ruckus was caused, the spies within the population would immediately report the sighting of Daniel to their powers, and their kingdom would soon become a battlefield. But now, the most that these spies would be able to report, was that a young man was being escorted to the castle by hundreds of guards.
In between the hundreds of guards, Daniel and Alesia were strolling peacefully.
Once they reached the castle, numerous royal guards quickly rushed out of the massive double door, and just like the rest of the guards, they surrounded the young couple. They then escorted the two into the main hall, and in the throne room.
Sitting on two thrones placed one next to the other, was a middle aged couple. The man was completely bald, and had a thick grey beard, while the woman, had a head of red hair, and appeared to be bored, as if she couldn't wait for that day to finally end.
"Who is this?" Asked the King in evident annoyance.
"My king.. This is Dan Hiel.." Said the captain of the guard with deep respect while bowing.
The bald king turned to look at him, and said "And why does he deserve to be escorted by half of my royal guards?" His behaviour showed perfectly how much of a domineering behaviour this king liked to show to his subjects.
"My king.. He is that Dan Hiel.. from Karalis.." Repeated the guard, while adding an additional telling detail.
The king looked at the captain of the guard with doubt, but before he could speak, a man dashed out from one of the rooms present to the left side of the throne room, and after approaching the king, he whispered something in his ear.
In a matter of seconds, the king's expression turned from one of confusion, into one of shock. Then, it once again changed into one of extreme excitement.
The king looked at the captain of the guard, and with the expression of a kid that had received the right gift from his parents, he said "You have made an immense contribution to our kingdom. From now on, you are a commander of my army. Escort our guests to their rooms."
He then turned towards the old man that had reminded him who Daniel was, and said "Announce a meeting, call all of the leaders, elders, and powerful individuals of each and every loyal group within our kingdom. Find the master of formations, I want this place invisible to any prying eyes."
From the way the king behaved, it appeared as if he hadn't thought for a single moment that Daniel could possibly be a dangerous individual.. But there was a reason for that. The king was a cultivator at the ninth rank of spiritual cultivation, and within this world, he could be considered an extremely powerful individual.. In his mind, even if Daniel was at the same level of cultivation, he would never be able to escape the core of his kingdom. Therefore, now that he was inside his castle, Daniel was already his prisoner.
Daniel looked at how the king made his preparations with interest. He was gathering useful information. Not to understand how powerful the king was, and find a way to defeat him better.. But to understand what level of respect this king was worthy of showing.
Daniel wasn't a tyrant, and if people behaved with respect, he would have showed the same.
Unfortunately, after minutes spent in sending orders left and right, the King had yet to say a word directly to hit, so, tired of this play, Daniel said "I think there has been a misunderstanding. I didn't come here to surrender to you.." His words were extremely loud, and showed the power of a ninth rank spiritual cultivator at the very least.
The king queen turned to look at Daniel, and with a power similar to that of her husband, she said "The misunderstanding is on your part, young man.. You may have not come here as a prisoner.. But now you are one."
"Oh, really?" Asked Daniel as a wide smile appeared on his face.
"Really." responded the King with a voice as powerful as Daniel's previous display. He couldn't allow people to obtain the edge in his own domain. As a king, he had to remind his subjects that he was the most powerful in the room, and if not, that he could take on anyone that tried to test his power. Unfortunately, this time, he had bitten more than he could ever chew..
"King of whatever-backwater-kingdom-this-is.. Listen carefully.." Said Daniel with a dead serious tone. The temperature immediately started to plummet, and the people around him started to breath clouds of warm air at every breath.
The king, being an extremely powerful spiritual cultivator, tried immediately to gain control over the essences of his surrounds.. but there was no hope. For the first time in his life, he felt like he was trying to challenge a mountain with only a rock and a stick tied together.
"ATTACK HIM!" shouted the king in hurry, causing a spark of battle spirit to lit in the minds of his loyal subjects.
The many royal guards dashed towards Daniel, but at every step they took, the more difficult it was for them to take another. The cultivators at the sixth rank were unable to approach past ten steps away from him, those at the eighth stopped at five steps.. And the only two martial cultivators that appeared to be at the ninth rank, fell on their knees the very moment they reached the third step.
What was preventing them from even getting close to Daniel, was an oppressive and destructive increase in gravity.
After the last of these cultivators fell on their knees, Daniel slowly stepped towards the area where the two thrones were. His expression became more and more serious at every step. At the same time, he said "I haven't come here to surrender.. To humor.. Or to be of benefit.. I came here to conquer."
