Others Summon Dragons, I Summon Legendary Knights novel Chapter 511

Chapter 511: Ripple Effect

"You know about the Rune of Light," Zaun said. He stood on a high tower, gazing at the capital sprawling toward the horizon. The Unknown King stood beside him, hands clasped at his back.

"I know everything," said the Unknown King. "The Blesser isn’t a hybrid like the others. He has a unique link to the Rune of Light, and you used that to your advantage. It was incredible... what you and the others did."

Zaun almost smiled. "We were risking failure. We were trying to create a weapon that used a natural rune and could bring life to the figures carved into it."

The Unknown King nodded, a low hum escaping him. "It worked. You created a weapon close to the rank of a relic. I await the moment his strength is restored."

His golden eyes watched the two armoured figures in an arena, a place once designated for knights to spar while their comrades cheered from the stands.

It was desolate now, save for two duelists. Apollyon, with a tall and agile build, drew her sword and held the broad, round shield with the other hand, circling another.

The other combatant held a tome. His armour was light, and a metal facemask shrouded the lower part of his face.

Apollyon’s steps were born from years of dueling, her posture low. She prowled like a tiger sizing up its prey.

Her cape rippled behind her. She deftly twisted her wrist, spinning the sword as she closed on Dax.

Shield forward, expecting a blow from the mage, she charged. Then—

"Your Majesty. You can’t leave the Rune of Light with him if he refuses to stay." Zaun’s voice brought his attention back.

The Unknown King sighed. "I can’t." He shook his head ruefully. "Hopefully, he might stay."

His attention went back to the sprawling city. It looked desolate. Far from its glory days. Pathan was shattered. He could restore the structure, but the people couldn’t be brought back.

"I came too late," he said. "There is little, so little to salvage."

"Our civilization may be gone, but Earth exists. I’ve seen what you’ve done. How you’ve helped people despite the hatred. The people there need help now. Two of your generals are there, souls bound to men that have become their masters. One tortures your servant; the other suffers for befriending her. Your actions for justice have thrown that world down a path that I do not condone, and you would not as well."

The Unknown King studied Zaun. "You’ve forgotten our people? You speak of another world, a place where men have beasts inside of them."

"I and the others built this order—"

"On my name." The Unknown King chipped in, reminding the Alchemist.

"My King, we can’t bring back billions, and even if we could, we can’t settle the grievous strife between us all. The Order was for our world; it is sadly broken. I do not ask for us to leave. I ask for us to function. To bring aid to others as we did to our own." Zaun stared at the Unknown King. The king paid attention to his capital.

Silence stood like a dividing wall between them.

"I will bring back my generals," said the king.

"Then what? What shall we do after we’re all gathered? There is nothing other than fifty thousand knights. Time will get to us all, and we shall die. We can’t reproduce. We’ll be lost to time. Gone," Zaun responded softly, yet pushed his point with care.

The Unknown King glanced at him. "This... this man you speak of. That helped despite hate. Was that who I was before I became this?"

Zaun chose his next words carefully. It would seem the king was sensitive to this topic.

"It was."

"He must have been a fool."

"Then why have you sent one of your most powerful generals into the Afterlife to save another who might not serve? To rescue a knight who, in his darkest times, still didn’t remember your name."

"You call me a fool," the Unknown King said.

"It wasn’t my intention." Zaun apologized.

"Zaun. People will die. He has tried in the past. People died. I feel it. If I interfere, people will die."

"Will you leave them to such oppression, then?" Zaun asked.

"What kind of king would I be if I sat here on a lofty throne while people suffered... While people born the same are stomped on for traits they cannot change?" The Unknown King sounded slightly surprised as he spoke. He touched his chest.

"Those people will need freedom on their own accord. Not me."

"Pathan never knew they needed the Order. A man knew, and he has been sitting in a prison for his decision. My King, you may be made of darkness, but you can usher the light. You never had to exist to give Pathan light. Now you do. So bring your light to another world. You might have forgotten what they did to you, but go there. See what men do to men. See how vile control can get. Not even the Congregation of GodKings and Queens will save them; they either don’t care or have been bought."

Hearing all Zaun had to say, the Unknown King looked away. "Whatever I was. I must have been glorious in order to change your mind to what it is now."

Glorious? That wasn’t the word.

’You were good. A kind soul that would have thrived in peace. Unfortunately, you were also good at killing because deep within, you’ve always been made to do that. You...’

Zaun struggled even within himself. ’...I saw you as my boy. A young man burdened by the weight of his heart, of his world. I saw a young man who refused to be drowned, and I was moved to stretch out a hand. I do not say this, but what you did made me care like I once did centuries ago.’

The Unknown King stared at Zaun. For a moment, his eyes looked lost. He wanted to reach out, to know who this other part of him was.

He withdrew at the final moment.

"The heart is the Order. It’s what makes us. Show the world your might. The Congregation of Gods will summon you. They will stand against you, but you are king even amongst kings," Zaun said and left.

"This... isn’t what I came for." He heard the Unknown King’s last words. His final sigh drifted. A farewell to their conversation.

Maybe the Unknown King and Godfrey weren’t as connected as he thought. Or perhaps, Godfrey had drowned at the last moment, and this was what remained.

The Unknown King placed his hand on the stone railing. He felt a hand above his own. It felt like a soft hand went through his armour and touched his skin.

A flash of red hair went through his eyes for a moment, and he opened his mouth to utter a name, but nothing came out.

He sighed.

***

Isolde stood on a cliff, staring at the beautiful domain she’d built for her dragons. Their joyful roars had once filled her heart as they danced through the skies. But now...

Fire consumed the many regions below, while immense columns of smoke climbed toward the clouds.

She could feel her strength rising rapidly. It gave her hope that Godfrey was still alive, somehow. Rising through battle had its downside: no one had infinite stamina, especially not her.

Fighting wyverns that were hundreds of feet long wasn’t just physically exhausting. It was mentally taxing. Wyverns in their hundreds lay dead, their enormous skeletons scattered across the ground below.

The cost had been a dozen of her grown children and several dozen little ones.

Isolde bit her lips, forcing back tears from her puffy eyes. She couldn’t give birth. She made peace with that, but somehow, as if mercy had shown on her, she gained a strong maternal bond to these incredible creatures.

She gave them a home, but some madman out there was killing them, and it was because of her.

Isolde’s hand pressed hard into the spear under her arm.

Perched on the mountain range were several dragons. Grace was right above her, claws sinking into stone.

Isolde leaped back to the other side of the mountain and made her way to a red dragon lying on the grass. His wings had a painful number of holes.

The wounds on his neck and chest still oozed smoke and blood. Aion growled softly when he saw her.

Isolde dropped her spear. Her fingers moved carefully over the dragon’s thick, rough scales, every stroke carrying the tenderness of a mother tending to an injured child.

Aion closed his eyes, relaxing beneath her touch.

She could feel what he felt. That alone brought a smile to her face.

’I can’t lose my husband and my children at the same time. You’re all I have.’ Her eyes went to the others. Some collapsed due to exhaustion, others roamed.

She couldn’t trust them. They were her children, but they would still devour her. Aion wasn’t like that. Not once had he bared his fangs toward her.

’He’ll survive.’ Grace approached.

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