Rise Of The Godking 48 Ultimatum

As the punch caught him square in the gut, Daneel hunched over but was quickly made to stand upright again by the two men behind him.

He had been forcefully escorted to a house near the one he had visited just before with Mr. Merry. It was obvious for anyone who saw the Courtyard that the power, or at least, wealth of those who lived nearest the fountain was the greatest, and even though the one they were in wasn't right at the front, it was only a few spots behind the prime location in this layer.

After arriving, his 'friend' had commandeered the place by saying his father's name, which had sent the owner scurrying away, mumbling about a sudden vacation that he needed to take.

They were in the large hall, now, which was almost just as richly furnished as the one he had just been in. Only the color of the walls was different; in the home of that man who had been so proud of his ability to work with the crystals, they had been painted yellow, but here, they were a glistening white.

In an ideal world, this would have distracted the cronies from punching him hard enough to draw blood…but with no hesitation, whatsoever, they went at him until he was a groaning mess.

The only good thing was that he had already gotten used to taking a beating in his daily morning training sessions. He had also learned the knack of acting as if it hurt much more than it really did, and this came in handy when the pimpled teen raised his hand to stop his underlings.

Seeing this, a slight hope was born in Daneel that he might leave him alone after giving him a few more beatings… but then, when he spoke, it was instantly quashed.

"I wish I could end you right here and now, but how can I have all the fun myself? All your other friends will be here, soon! It's going to be a party! Oh, I can't wait!"

The teen had bent and reached within a spot just a few inches away from Daneel's face to deliver the bad news. His objective became clear when he remained there even after he was done; although he was a bit late, Daneel gave the reaction he was expecting; his eyes widened and his jaw dropped, making him look like the very image of someone who was horrified.

Standing up and grinning, the boy clapped once and walked to the side, where there was a bar. Taking a bottle from under the counter, he poured a gla.s.s for himself and took a small sip before turning to Daneel again.

His hands were still held by two of the boy's followers, but Daneel had already adjusted to the situation and calmed down. It wasn't at all like this was the first scuffle he was in, so right away, he began to look for an avenue of escape.

It was very good news that he was, for some reason, far more mature than this guy, or in fact, any of his friends. This had been evident in the way he had been able to fool the teen into believing that he was truly hopeless, and so, he began to think for a way in which he could use this to get away with his life.

Even though he wasn't proud of them, he went through his memories to find all the individuals he had wronged on the surface. If there was no other criteria, the list would be quite long, but because he only needed to focus on those with impressive backgrounds, he was able to shorten it down to just five names.

Painstakingly, he went over each and every memory that he shared with them. Almost all of them began with him uncovering some secret or the other through disingenuous means, and then using them to demean and belittle those folk who had no option but to take it silently, then, because of the one behind him.

The tables had turned, now, completely, and the only thing he had that he could rely on was his wit. The system wasn't of much use, here; he had pondered on the idea of using it to escape, but if he did that, where would he run? And what would he answer when asked how he was capable of power far beyond the realm he was in?

No, once again, it was on his shoulders to get out of this predicament.

Yet, even when the minutes ticked by, one by one, nothing came to him.

The door opened five minutes later, letting in a lanky n.o.ble dressed fas.h.i.+onably in a long, sable coat. He got straight down to business; even though he had come with two cronies, he walked right up to Daneel and kicked him in the stomach, eliciting a pained gasp that looked like it sounded like music to the man's ears.

With a happy grin, he joined the teen at the bar and began drinking, too. The two people who came next thankfully didn't choose to do the same, but when the door opened for the last time to let in a stocky youth with a balding head, Daneel tensed, as it could be said that he was an even bigger victim than the one who had accosted him first.

At first, he made his way to the bar after looking at Daneel with a cruel smirk… but then, when he was halfway there, he seemed to remember something that made him pull out a knife from somewhere in his coat and lunge in his former friend's direction.

"Stop him!"

Daneel tensed, ready to jump out of the way if needed, but thankfully, the followers of the pimpled teen got in the way and easily disarmed the youth. Fuming, he looked at them both as if he wanted to make them move with the will of his mind, but after taking a second, he grunted and resumed his journey to the bar.

All five of them walked to him, together, with gla.s.ses in their hands and the antic.i.p.atory joy of taking revenge in their eyes. All of the followers formed a big group behind them, and right away, Daneel knew that if he wanted to use force, he had already missed the chance.

The pimpled teen, Levi, spoke first.

"What do you say, boys? How do we deal with him?"

The stocky youth snorted. "Kill him, of course. What are we even waiting for?"

The lanky man folded his hands. "We can't do that. I talked to my father about it; by ending his life, we would be going against the Master. And you know what happens to those that even think of anything that dumb…"

The three who had just spoken shuddered, and the two had been silent so far twitched with what could only be fear as they heard this.

Daneel was about to rejoice, but that notion disappeared immediately when one of the two, who had long hair that fell to the middle of his back said, "True, but why not cut off a hand or a leg? He'll still be alive, right?"

There were nods from the three who had spoken first, and then, the last one who had yet to speak said, "Sounds good! I even brought along a butcher. Shall we begin?"

Daneel saw that if he was going to do anything, the time was now. He had yet to get an idea… but just like what had happened on the gibbet, his mind sped up as the danger engulfed him from all sides, threatening to move forward and swallow him whole.

The butcher had been referred to by the one who had just spoken walked forward, each step p.r.o.nouncing the fate that soon awaited him. He took out a sharp cleaver that still glistened with the blood of the poor being it had been used on, it's edge so s.h.i.+ny that Daneel believed it would have no trouble in hacking clean through one of his limbs.

"Stop! Or…"

Out of desperation, he shouted, but surprisingly, the pimpled teen raised a hand and sneered.

"Or what? Out with it!"

It was obvious that they wanted him to beg, but strangely, from the position he was in…a flash of inspiration struck him, and he knew immediately what to do.

"John, stop, or I'll let everyone know about what you were doing exactly four months ago."

The stocky youth gasped and took a step back, and Daneel knew that he was on the right track.

"Oscar, stop, or I'll scream out loud what you were found doing a year ago, in the sheep shed."

"Logan, stop, or your deepest fear will be laid bare."

"Gabe, stop, or everyone will know what we did together two years ago."

"Levi, you should stop first, before anyone else…or they'll all find out that thing your father had to beg my father to hide."

It felt great to see the blood drain out of all of their faces. But just as he was about to suggest that they let him go, he found a problem with his perfect plan.

'What if they decide to kill me before I'm able to say anything? f.u.c.k!'

He was just about to threaten that he wouldn't give them a chance to do this…but suddenly, a loud 'thud' made them all turn to the door.

A man he had seen only once before stood there. His clothes were as rich as the rest, and in his hand was a letter that he dumped into Levi's hands after striding forward at a fast pace.

Squinting, Levi opened the parchment. He frowned due to what he read, and then, he kept glancing between it and Daneel as if struggling to make a decision.

Finally, he seemed to have reached one he didn't like. Tearing the parchment into tiny pieces, he growled, "Let's go. It's not worth it."

The other four were taken aback, but when he glared at them and left, they followed suit after shooting threatening glances in his direction.

Finally, only the newcomer and Daneel was left. When he walked forward, Daneel tensed, but after coming close, he just whispered something and left.

What he said was so shocking, though, that Daneel could only stand there like a statue, while they echoed over and over again in his head.

"The Dwarf King sends his regards to his brother. You only have two days to finish your task here, and one day after that to finish your mission. Good luck."