Others Summon Dragons, I Summon Legendary Knights

Chapter 367: An Absolute

’An Absolute?’ Godfrey squinted. He knew of Monarchs, which had effects over their ecosystem and were treated like royalty by other creatures, but Absolutes was a new term, and they sounded primordial.

Beings that existed at the dawn of life? Didn’t that mean when life began, these beings were already there?

”The emergence of mana sped up its growth, and it left the Origin Sun. It might have existed for eons as an embryo, but it was only a few years old, both in body and consciousness, when it descended,” Solstice continued. He lifted his head, staring at the great beast at the top of this massive image fit for giants.

Even for his current size, he was still little compared to the image etched into the wall.

”When mana first appeared, there were lots of changes. First, our beasts gained strange runes that gave them different abilities, but the day a beam of fire descended from the sun, I was nearly blinded. It was the Origin Sun reacting to mana, and it turned a great portion of our continent into what we called the Scorched Lands.”

Solstice folded his arms.

”It descended a few years later, weakened without the embrace of the sun but arrogant enough to think it could dominate. We, on the other hand, were waiting, sharpening our swords and skills with other dungeon monsters.” He grunted softly.

”Eventually, we killed it. The beast that had caused the death of hundreds of millions even before it stepped foot on our world. A great number of my brothers fell, but our blades cut deep until it collapsed.”

While listening to Solstice, Godfrey went through the text, which told the same story, though not as clearly.

”I’ve always been confident. I’ve dominated several beasts in their terrain before mana, and we have powerful beasts, but when I saw my comrades burnt to nothing, my eyes blurred. Pain was foreign to me; I was never close to other noble knights. I didn’t want a personal troop because I was all for myself. I had the basic troops given to me to clear dungeons but didn’t manage them as much, but every time I close my eyes, I recall how one of them pushed me off and was burnt in my stead.”

Solstice was quiet for a moment.

”And for the first time in my life, my eyes blurred not for myself but for another. A genuine hate and anger because of another.”

Solstice pointed at one of the smaller images where one knight stood in a field of corpses; some places were just burnt land. The knights there were burnt to ash.

”My troops, they were gone for a general that never once cared,” Solstice spoke, his voice low. He stood there, looking majestic and imposing, but spoke words that could make one see there was more to the one behind that armour.

”What is honour? You’re not selfish; you just haven’t found someone to break your walls. Truly, I wonder what a soul like you could become once he has found honour in being a knight and not just seeking its glory,” Solstice recited.

”He told me that.”

”Who?” Godfrey asked.

”He who can’t be named. Even before we had the false hearts, he was called the perfect knight. He was quite mysterious but was the best of us, yet I hated him for being better than me,” Solstice responded calmly.

”Then why is he always called a Taboo by the alchemists?”

Solstice looked at his king, pondered for a while, then decided to speak. ”Because the mana tree decided one day that Pathan needed another Chosen. It wanted a knight and an alchemist in one being. That decision made the perfect knight the mad one.”

Solstice turned back to the image. ”He became worse than a monster from a dungeon. The Apostles are the buffer; they protect the Alchemists, whose abilities allow them to tap into information across several worlds and perceive secrets of fate, life, death, mana, and concepts we can’t even fathom. They’re always a step away from madness.”

’I see.’ Godfrey nodded slowly in realization. ”Why is he a Taboo then?”

”Because once his name is mentioned, his seal grows weaker,” Solstice replied.

’The mana tree did not allow something like that to die in peace but decided to put it in my castle. It does feel like a powerful knight, but even the alchemists keep their distance. They’re as mysterious as it gets; who knows what this knight is capable of?’

Godfrey went to another wall. His knights had gotten better, but there were still Paragon cores and two Progenitor cores available.

He returned to his throne room, summoned Dirge and Lysander. Dirge used a Progenitor core and rose to 28.9, while Lysander absorbed the Paragon cores and the Progenitor core before he was able to rise to 29.2.

Both became Progenitors!

Now his third knight, fifth knight, sixth knight, seventh knight, and ninth knight were all at least Progenitor Tier summons.

If he included Isolde, who would have risen in tier as her dragons would have begun to emerge from their eggs, his manpower was formidable.

That aside, his troops were around a hundred thousand, excluding the units under his summons.

While sitting silently on the throne, Godfrey suddenly thought of something.

’It just occurred to me. The Alchemists said they counted me and Isolde as Earth’s Chosen Ones. Are we the only two? What about Percival? Is he a Chosen, a Favoured, or a Fortunate One? It’s strange; I can’t even be sure which one he is.’

Godfrey propped his chin with one hand. ’I’m sure he’s not ordinary. Come to think of it, it’s as if the mana tree selected all my friends or... our status was what brought all of us to the same place in the first place?’

Godfrey thought of the Alchemists, the noble knights, the average Golden Order knights, the group of dragons they fought against. In one way or another, their selection had a way of drawing them to meet, either as allies or enemies.

’Percival might be a Favoured One. Or does he have a mission like me and Isolde? I can’t really tell. It will be a little better if he will be in Paradise when I get there.’