Others Summon Dragons, I Summon Legendary Knights

Chapter 506: The Trial

Gabriel stood at the ground floor, surrounded by thousands upon thousands of books in their respective shelves. He slowly slid one back into its space.

’What have you done?’ said a voice, filled with rage.

”What I needed to do,” Gabriel replied. He tore open space, walked into it, and stepped out on the highest floor.

’Gabriel. Your knowledge might have crossed the threshold and has become stupidity. We need him to be alive, to gather all the generals of the Golden Order, all of them!’ said the voice, barely holding itself together.

Gabriel shrugged. ”What is done is done. You wouldn’t have given her the dagger. I did.”

White mist in the shape of a man burst to life right before Gabriel. ”Do not push me! Do not!” Cain bellowed. His voice made thousands of books rattle.

Gabriel calmly looked into Cain’s eyes, then sat. ”He has enough generals. We can’t risk the plan for more. Godfrey was slowly getting out of hand, and you know it.”

He slipped his hand through a space tear, took a cup of coffee from a coffee shop in Paradise. From the place where he ordered.

Cain materialized in the flesh. He slammed his heel into Gabriel. The force threw Gabriel back as his chair broke, chunks of splintered wood littering the floor.

Gabriel rose to one knee, glaring at Cain, then looked at his white top.

”There are more! More we could have had. He does not die until we can have all of them. With what you’ve done, we’ve lost. We’ve lost the one with the mace, the one knight that gives the council an edge over us.”

Cain towered over him. ”I have bowed my head to kings of the ascended worlds. I have made pledges and lowered myself before the congregation of Godkings and Godqueens. I did all that, knowing the time of my reckoning was near.”

He looked around. ”You’ve lost yourself with books. Knowledge has made you fearful. I will rip you out like I did the fourth.”

Gabriel laughed softly. ”Do it, and you will not be able to attend your meetings in those ascended worlds. You are exhibiting the anger of Sebastian. His brooding has rubbed off horribly on you.”

”And knowledge has made you afraid,” Cain said.

Gabriel rose to his feet, his face solemn. His smile was gone. ”We have enough. That madman Adam is slowly becoming wiser and tired. What happens if he returns to Earth and we do not have an army like the Golden Order? Or if a Primordial decides to wreck our world? Let’s face it, the ascended worlds are too big and our control too small.”

Gabriel looked away. ”What we’ve created is exceptional, but the Pathani are the key. Now we have them.”

”We don’t!” Cain retorted.

”We have something, at least. Coupled with what your ability allows you to create, Earth will be completely ours in days.”

”You’ll have me use the generals to kill the others?”

”There is no other way,” Gabriel said. ”And Cain. It is we. Not you.”

”We might have once been one. I don’t feel like that anymore,” Cain replied. His words were dangerous.

”You’re stuck in the past. Ideals change. Sebastian and I ran it all while you slept. You’ve always been filled with greed. Your greed blinds you to reality. I have restraint, knowledge—”

Cain dispersed while Gabriel spoke. He held his tongue. ”At least Godfrey is dead. I was no longer comfortable with him. He was growing too deep, keeping too many secrets. The mana tree could have also betrayed us.”

Space twisted, and Gabriel found himself before the massive tree whose roots rose to the clouds. He could only see a little of its trunk beyond the clouds.

The true form of the mana tree.

”He survived.”

”He what?” Gabriel froze.

***

Quite a number of people filled the city square. Some sat on wooden benches, deep in conversation, while others strolled through the open plaza with their pets.

Uniformed policemen patrolled the perimeter, their figures drifting along the edge of the square.

At its heart stood a towering monument in honor of the Pagoda Guild, erected where Ronald Daniels’ statue had once stood in quiet pride.

A brilliant flash of violet light split the air.

Godfrey crashed onto the stone pavement, blood pouring from the dagger embedded in his chest. For a heartbeat, the square fell silent. Then panic erupted. Gasps turned into screams as fear spread through the crowd as wildfire did trees.

They first assumed this was an attack from a dungeon monster. It was so rampant these days that everyone acted on instinct. Run to safety, questions later.

None discovered it was the supposedly infamous summoner, the Golden Devil himself, lying on the pavement in his dying breath.

’You can make it. Survive, Godfrey, survive!’ The voice was his own, soft yet unwavering.

The body of a powerful summoner kept him alive. A mortal wound had become a few stolen minutes.

Godfrey was also wary of the dagger. Pulling it out might kill him on the spot. He wanted to survive. Why?

That reason was muddled by a natural instinct to live. There was no time to ponder why he wanted to live in such a world or why he would want to return to his fate.

While the policemen drew close, he dragged himself to the monument’s base. His trial was here. So why wasn’t he in it already?

Time wasn’t on his side. Every move drew him closer to darkness. His legs threatened to give out. The policemen broke into a run, finally convinced no monster lurked nearby.

Light flashed. He landed on the monument’s base, grunting in pain. His eyes were shut.

His breath wasn’t just ragged, it hurt. Every inhale burned. And exhaling hurt even more.

So much pain.

The smell of wet fur filled his nose. Beneath him, fresh snow crunched against his body. Godfrey opened his eyes. Countless snowflakes drifted from the dim sky. He was in a valley swallowed by winter, its towering cliffs curving inward like the fangs of some colossal beast waiting to bite shut.

Howls and growls drew his attention to the wolves all around him. A pack. Hundreds of wolves. Their claws dug into the snow, saliva dripping from their fangs as they padded closer from every direction.

His mana wasn’t much, but he could summon Dax. His mage would lay waste to these beasts.

But that could make things spiral out of control. How could he let the dungeon boss kill him without jeopardizing the Unknown King’s birth?

He was taking a gamble. The Unknown King may not survive the dagger either, or everything might even fail. Knowing this, Godfrey still held onto this final lifeline.

The mana tree would get what it wanted to prevent. He would have loved to see her face.

”I’ve longed to meet you.” A voice drew Godfrey’s eyes to a protruding stone, a few dozen feet above the ground. Lying there was a massive wolf, clad in silver armour. A massive greatsword stood planted at the platform’s edge.

The wolf shook his thick mane. ”You killed my general and my envoy. I definitely did not expect to meet you on your deathbed, but I salute your courage.” The noble wolf rose up. First on its fours, but then it straightened, standing on two feet.

Its forepaw lengthened into a hand, clawed fingers curling around the sword’s long haft.

Godfrey saw it. One of the wolf’s eyes was closed.