Others Summon Dragons, I Summon Legendary Knights

Chapter 200: Vagabond Rising

A month after the world was shocked by the death of Mr. Manhattan’s son, the bounty on Godfrey skyrocketed to five hundred million, while his mother’s rose to 1.5 billion, rocking the world greatly.

However, despite the fervent search, Godfrey and his friends were nowhere to be found.

While all this went on, in the Vagabond camp, Isaac and Lucy moved through the narrow corridor and pushed open the door to Godfrey’s room.

They saw Godfrey doing handstand push-ups with just two fingers and suppressor bracelets, so he was technically doing this with his normal human strength. A sign that even as a normal human, he was equally a menace.

”Wow...” Lucy gasped at the sight of Godfrey. Sweat ran down his muscular arms and chest. The exercise had pushed him to the limit, forcing his arm to tremble as his biceps, triceps, and abs tightened.

Isaac scowled inwardly when he heard Lucy. ”The captain has called for a general meeting. You’re already late.”

With his focus broken, Godfrey brought his feet down, and as he removed the bracelet, a cold sensation went through his body. It was mana, and it elevated his exhaustion to a great extent.

It even made his body a bit stronger. This was the reason Isolde trained; there was an opportunity to get stronger beyond what was received from a summon.

That tiny gap in strength could decide a battle, and in a world like this, losing a battle most of the time meant death or, for him, being imprisoned, brainwashed, and used.

”Did you even hear me?!” Isaac asked loudly, as Godfrey didn’t even respond.

Godfrey turned to him. ”You’re speaking to your mentor. Watch your tone.” He said with a strong tone. He and Isaac stared at each other for some seconds before breaking into laughter.

Meanwhile, Lucy’s eyes were wide as Isaac had the audacity to stand in front of her, blocking her from seeing Godfrey. From this spot, she could barely see his head.

”I didn’t hear about any meeting?” Godfrey asked as he wore a top. That was when Isaac gave way to Lucy and sat on Godfrey’s iron-framed bed.

”It’s an emergency meeting. I hear Gabriel the Watchman is the reason.” Isaac replied.

”Hm...”

***

A few minutes later, Godfrey walked into a large underground hall where they had their general meetings. The walls were cemented but not painted, with square pillars holding up the ceiling, and lots of chairs with long dark green metal tables and gray legs.

Most Regulars sat around the same table with their Elite Class leaders.

The moment Godfrey showed up with Isaac and Lucy, several eyes were on him. The new Elite Class who was rescued, a woman with long brown hair and a pretty face, looked at him.

She had just returned a week ago, as she and her party were trapped by an entity that wasn’t originally from that dungeon. It was above the Origin Tier, probably a paragon, as that was what it called itself.

It was only after she came back did she realize that the strange plant boy hanging upside down on a massive tree might be related to the ents the previous youngest Elite Class killed.

Kira squinted as Godfrey went to one of the tables. Only Percival sat there. She had been with her fiancé since she returned; this was the first time she was seeing this remarkable young man said to be more talented than her fiancé.

”A Summoner with five summons. He’s as rare as a pirate’s lost chest box.” One of Kira’s Regulars stated as she stared at Godfrey.

Meanwhile, the moment Godfrey sat down, he noticed a problem. Was it him, or was there tension between Percival and Isaac over where Lucy would sit?

The poor girl had not even sat down yet. Percival, calm as always, simply gestured for her to sit on his left, but Isaac held her wrist and wanted her to sit at his right.

All three of them were Elite Class; only Lucy was a Regular.

Godfrey exhaled. He rose to his feet, told Isaac to sit on it, making him sit right next to Percival, then took Isaac’s seat and ordered Lucy to sit beside him.

Seeing how she excitedly sat beside him, Godfrey chuckled within him. He had saved her two times; her reaction was... well, natural.

Arian stood on the podium with his hands folded. ”Gabriel.” He said, looking to the empty space by his side as if someone was there. Right then, space tore open and Gabriel stepped out with a soft smile.

There were gasps and whispers in the room, as this was the first for most of them. Gabriel was an enigmatic figure who was said to have been alive since the foundations of paradise until now, and yet he looked this young.

Wasn’t it until recently those who grew to higher ranks were able to preserve their looks and age at a slower pace?

Despite the questions in their minds, everyone was quiet the moment Gabriel raised his hand for peace and silence.

”As most of you might know, I am Gabriel the Watchman. A humanoid summoner like some of you, and yes, as most of you are guessing, my summon is an angel. Of the same race as Cain’s summon.”

Gabriel stated and continued. ”But that is not the reason for this meeting. Today, I’m here to say the Vagabond Cohort will cease to go on hidden raids but will instead raid dungeons before the public.”

”What?!” Thalia exclaimed.

”That’s unreasonable.” Oliver muttered softly, while the Regulars spoke up. ”You’re asking us to get arrested?!”

”No.” The man who yelled felt a palm on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Gabriel staring at him with calm, otherworldly eyes.

”You’re impatient.” This Gabriel said, and the man hastily sat down. He looked forward and saw Gabriel was still standing on the platform.

Then this being in the likeness of Gabriel beside him... Was it Gabriel’s summon? The angel?!

He heard angels could take the forms of different beings in order to appear less intimidating to people. He always disregarded that until this very moment.

For some reason, his body trembled with fear. The angel didn’t even do anything or release any aura, but it just felt different. Its presence naturally made his legs tremble.

”Do not fear.” Gabriel said and his summon became invisible.

”Could you ascertain its tier?” Percival whispered to Godfrey, who shook his head in response.

”It felt like it...”

”...Was above Origin Tier.” Both of them said at the same time and looked at each other.

”Now I know all of us have a bad history with the authorities, with a bounty of five hundred million on Godfrey’s head. But the reason we have chosen this is because there aren’t enough secret missions we can go to that will prepare us for stronger foes like what Miss Kira and her team faced.”

”There are beings stronger than Origin Tier. They are few but strong enough to wipe us out with little effort. Most of you here know what I speak of. You only managed to survive because I intervened, but to make sure that doesn’t happen, the Vagabond Cohort is to handle critical matters in the outside world, turning the authorities’ propaganda against them and also strengthening ourselves against future foes.” Gabriel declared.

”Trust me, I was also against this, but the Watchman has decided to retrieve us after every mission. He will be able to bring us back home once we get to the rendezvous area.” Arian clarified.

”It looks like there’s still some risk.” Dax said, his voice slightly muffled because of his face mask.

”There’ll always be risk. We face the risk of death on every mission. With this new plan, the Vagabond will surely clash with guilds and the authorities. There are dangers, but we will also put ourselves out there and show the world that some people can’t just paint us whatever colour they see fit while we hide and let that become the truth.” Arian replied.

”Why should we do that?” Godfrey asked coldly.

Arian frowned.

”I’ve tried saving them once, and how did that turn out? My bounty increased. What’s the use of being a hero?” Godfrey tilted his head.

”So... every single person you’ve helped turned their backs against you. Do you know there are people who have protested in the past month for you but have been shut down, or that all that you’ve done have at least changed one or two individuals?” Gabriel asked.

”With everything I do, they see me as worse. Soon... they might erect a statue titled the Golden Knighted Demon.” Godfrey scowled.

”Knowing that, I still urged you to help Brooklyn. This is a battle. Everything you’re doing has been turned against you by the authorities, and the end result is you living forever in hiding, and one day, they’ll find this place. This fight is annoying because people just love to pay more attention to the bad side, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t changed people. Or do you only see the bad too?”

Godfrey’s eyes widened slowly. He turned to Lucy. She changed. Snow too, in a way.

Including those few who formed a group to talk about his father. He didn’t even know people protested for him; people defended him but were put down.

It pained him. It hurt so much he wanted to crush every single one with the heart to hurt those around him. He wanted to explode in rage and let them fear.

”And if you can’t bring yourself to, think this way. You’re fighting for the freedom of paradise, to free thousands who have accepted you from the lies of the Authority. Since they won’t stop coming after you, go after them. Take what they have, and that’s control over the people. If you can’t be a hero because you don’t have empathy for the people, then do so because they’re your cards to victory.”

Gabriel’s words were a twisted form of the ideal hero.

’You’ll do well. Your father is on his way.’ Gabriel said inwardly.

...

A/N: We’re back with a New Volume. The Hunt Begins! Who knows what will happen, how huge the stakes are.

Also... Valentina might just join the cohort.