Chapter - 1099

A Vision
Daneel's only answer was a smile on the corner of his lips.

The Mother could hear all his thoughts anyway, so why speak?

Yet, when that smile was met by tears in her eyes, Daneel couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

Of her children, only the Divine Cockroaches and Drakos were left. So, was it impossible for him to make her wish come true?

Definitely not.

He, himself, had the blood of many Godbeasts, and he knew that the Treasury must contain so many more. Using them after the war, wouldn't it be the simplest thing to utilize the Grand Inheritance to give them all bodies?

He could take every step with a lot of thought, by choosing only the Godbeasts who could be reasoned with to live in harmony with the other races of Angaria. They could even find strength in each other, and with their combined power, Angaria could grow to new heights…

Many plans began to form in his mind, and of course, the Mother saw them all.

"Thank you. There was not a single thought to betray me after taking my power, and that is something that is truly rare. It was also what I was looking for when I asked you the question. You are not the first to come to me with a quest to find power… and I doubt that you will be the last. However, I do know this… I will probably never speak to someone like you again. When you leave here, you will leave with a certain key that humans were never supposed to possess…and I think you will be quite surprised when you see what it unlocks. There is one caveat, though: my aura is necessary to use this key, and even though my power knew no bounds when I was alive, all I am right now is a droplet of blood. Still, I can make the aura linger for a few months, at most, but after that, I will have no choice but to leave you forever."

Daneel's eyes had shone with anticipation when he heard her speak, and after she was done, he nodded with thanks and bowed once again to the ancient being. He was a little disappointed that the power would have to leave him, but he was also extremely happy that he would be able to use it when they needed it the most. The war would definitely not stretch on for longer than that, so what the Mother was giving him was priceless.

After standing up, though, he suddenly remembered what she had said about her thoughts.

"You said that many minutes pass outside… So how long have I been here? I need to be back before the war begins!"

"You got what you needed, so you're in such a hurry to leave? And here I thought your heart was made of gold…"

"No, no, no, I…"

His hasty response was met by another peal of laughter, and this was a sound so sweet that Daneel inadvertently beamed and waited for her to answer.

He could never have expected that the Mother of all Godbeasts would have a sense of humor, and truly, he wished that he could stay back and find out more about her.

"Your wish is honest, but it cannot be granted. As for the heart of gold… It is what I'm putting all my trust in. You will go far, and I can promise you that despite all the magic and power that you will find, this is what will keep helping you for as long as you live. Treasure it, and never let it be corrupted. Yes, it is best for you to leave quickly, but I think there is something you need to see. I can estimate the time outside, so you will be cutting it close. If you wish, I can send you out right now, but I truly believe that this vision will help you, even though I do not yet know how. The choice is yours."

A vision?

Daneel was perplexed. What kind of vision could be so important?

The war was too important to arrive late to… but the fact that the Mother was saying that it would help him convinced him at once.

He had enough trust in his sovereigns and the Emperor to take care of things even if he was delayed, so without further ado, he said, "Who am I to doubt your wisdom and foresight? Thank you, once again, for everything. Please… do give me the gift of this vision."

This brought one last smile to the Mother's face, who stepped forward once again and suddenly grew tall enough to kiss him on his forehead.

The kiss was filled with so much love and concern that blood rushed to his cheeks and an almost childish grin filled with innocence came on his face, and just like that, everything around him disappeared, including the kind old women who he now realized had reminded him the most of the one who had cared for him back on Earth.

Even as his vision went dark, he knew that it would be the last that he would ever see of her, and this thought brought him so much sadness that tears almost came to his eyes.

He had never cried due to being separated from that kind old woman who was the reason behind him even being alive, but now, it was as if all that grief came rushing forth and threatened to burst out through his eyes.

At that moment, he reaffirmed the decision that somehow, he would go back. Even if it seemed like the most impossible thing right now even when compared to winning the battle against the Church, he would make it happen just so that he could tell her that she…had raised a son with a golden heart.

That was his last thought before the vision began.

It was the feeling of falling, falling, falling through empty, soulless, and lifeless space that made him understand that it had started.

For what felt like a long time, that was all that happened, but then, suddenly, light appeared all over which blinded him and made him blink.

It was when his eyes adjusted to the sudden illumination that he saw that he was high, high up in the sky above the largest landmass that he had never seen.

It was many times the size of Angaria, so much so that his entire continent would barely be a speck when compared to it. Yet, the most peculiar thing was that on the horizon…the land did not curve.

He had seen the images from space back on Earth where the curve of the land was visible, so the fact that it was missing was so strange and off-putting that for a few seconds, it was all he could think about.

Before he could reason out the reason behind this, though, he saw that he had stopped at just the right height to be able to see a few details of the land below.

Initially, he thought that the large groups of small shapes which he could see were simply moving around, but then, he realized that there was a war going on.

Groups and groups of people, or rather, organisms that he couldn't even describe were killing each other without abandon. Thousands, tens of thousands, millions died as he watched, and their blood that was of different colors stained the land and made it seem as if it was weeping.

A loud sound made Daneel divert his gaze in a particular direction, where the war seemed to be the fiercest. In barely a few seconds, explosions shook the ground and a large part of those that he could see turned to dust.

There was a red line around a certain part of this land, and it was on two sides of it that the battle was going on. From this, Daneel could gather that they were individuals who belonged to different regions.

The region was small and their numbers were smaller still, but they seemed brave. They kept fighting and dying to stop anyone from crossing that red line, but soon, the forces that could be seen on the other side had grown so much that Daneel was sure that this battle, at least, would end quickly.

For reasons that he could not understand, a ceasefire was called, during which the people of this region all looked up in his direction. This bewildered him, but it was also then that he noticed that most of them were humans.

Before he could do anything with this realization, though, clouds suddenly appeared out of nowhere at a certain spot above him. He knew that he faced no risk because this was just a vision, but still, these clouds had a certain power to them that made him instinctually want to cower and hide if it was possible.

The appearance of these clouds seemed to agitate all of those on the other side of the red line, but it was too late.

Before they could do anything, a bolt of golden lightning larger than any he had ever seen struck down.

Daneel was blinded again, but he recovered quickly this time. He expected the lightning to strike those on the other side, but astonishingly… It had been targeted at the ones who had implored the Heavens for it in the first place.

They lay on the ground, burned and twitching, with their blood flowing into the earth and disappearing within.

What had been the purpose of this?

He searched around for an answer, and when it came to him in the form of a loud sound, he widened his eyes and stared.

A deep crack had come in the earth near where those on the other side had been standing, and as he watched, the entire region broke away from the large landmass and began to float away in the water that surrounded it.

Only, that was not the most shocking detail of what was in front of him. No, that credit went to the fact that this small piece of land… had the exact shape as Angaria.

He…was witnessing the genesis of his home.

With his thoughts in turmoil, he watched as Angaria kept floating and floating until it finally came to rest far, far away.

Daneel could tell that time had been sped up as trees sprouted up where the dead bodies had lain before, and here and there, he could see a few small beings slowly venture out from where they had been hiding.

There were only a pitiful few of them, though, and when the vision reached its last stage, they all ran away to hide.

A large being whose shape and characteristics he could not see leaped out of the sea around Angaria and landed in the middle of it, where it lay for a few moments before suddenly transforming into the old woman to whom he had just bid farewell.

As he saw her turn and wink at him, his vision went black again and this time, Daneel lost all sense of time and space while he unknowingly began the journey back to his body.