"Everyone is here." Godfrey’s voice rang as Percival, Lucy, Neila, and Isaac walked into Victoria’s abandoned gym and saw him standing in the heart of it, both hands tucked into his pockets, with Tempest and Ballista at his sides.
It seemed as if he was having a conversation with his knights before they stepped in.
"Is this about Japan?" Percival tilted his head as he came closer.
"Not entirely. We have a meeting hall for the members of the House Of Order, but that hall is in the Pendragon Mansion. I want to introduce you to a different hall."
Isaac looked around.
"It’s clearly not this hall." Neila rolled her eyes.
"I know," he retorted.
"Then why were you looking around? Did you think that would be funny?"
"Who said I was trying to be funny?" Isaac stretched out his hand, then followed Neila’s eyes to Lucy, who had just wiped off her amused expression when she noticed the heat.
Isaac groaned.
"At least she has a good sense of humour."
Neila scoffed with a look that showed she was about to lash back, but Godfrey interrupted by summoning a huge door that touched the lofty ceiling.
Every other part of the room suddenly became dim as the mighty doors, etched with symbols of knighthood and valour, slowly opened, unleashing a wave of golden light and mist that swallowed Godfrey.
Only his silhouette and that of his tall knights were visible to his friends.
"Follow me."
Percival raised an eyebrow, then squinted while Isaac tapped his shoulder and ran past him.
"Let’s go." Lucy took his right hand while Neila elegantly followed behind, her arms crossed with a certain laid-back poise.
The last thing the hall heard was the sound of her heels striking the floor with soft, attention-grabbing steps.
***
Neila’s eyes narrowed when she found herself before a massive castle in the midst of the woods. The walls had fallen, but the place still had majesty.
Her eyes settled on the knights far away, marching in clean rows into the forest, but what caught her attention was the knight with two swords strapped at his waist, standing on the top of one of the castle’s towers, staring right at her.
She couldn’t see his eyes, but she felt unfortable just from his gaze. This was the first time she had seen Solstice, so what was going on?
Forcing herself to turn away, she followed the others, who were enthralled with the environment. The almost golden walls, the neat knight formation marching in the distance, Ballista’s falcon flying about in the sky.
They eventually got to a different place where there were two curved trees on both sides of a door. They were in a courtyard, a large one, not inside the hallways of the castle.
Right before the door stood Mountain, his gaze solemn. His entire aura felt much larger than him, and it was so stoic that Godfrey’s friends felt like they had met him for the first time.
On the other hand, Lysander sat on the branch of the tree on the right side, one hand on his folded knee as he leaned on the trunk.
"No need to open the door. I’ll be the one to do it," Godfrey said aloud before he even got close. When they were finally close, he pushed the door open, revealing a large hall with a round, well-carved wooden table in the heart of it.
There were about twelve chairs around the table, and Isolde was already sitting on one.
Godfrey spread out his hand. "There are runes on each chair. My Alchemists made them, so they chose wisely. You can be summoned back to that seat every time there’s going to be a meeting here."
He sat beside Isolde.
Everyone else looked at themselves, selected a chair, and sat down.
Godfrey exhaled as they all looked at him. "I’ve been contacted by the Minister Of Defence in Japan. Apparently, the plague is already in Japan, and they want us to kill the boss while they try to cut down the spread of the plague."
"We didn’t have Lucy and Percival. Now we have them. We can win easily this time," Isaac replied.
"That’s not how it works," Isolde responded, turning her head to face him.
"I’m going alone." Godfrey’s declaration made everyone frown.
"From all indications, I don’t think anyone can survive the infection. And even if there’s a means, we don’t know what it is. I have ten summons. That should be enough to be safe."
"You’re proposing to go to a top-class Ruination dungeon alone, knowing fully well there’s a good chance you’ll die?" Percival’s eyebrows creased.
"There’s always going to be risks, Percival. Unfortunately, the reward from this dungeon might not be enough for all of us, so we’ll spread out. After this dungeon, I’ll surely break the Ruination Stage, and our world will be Ascended. Do you know what that means? It means whoever has the highest tier in this stage has the power."
Godfrey focused on Percival. "You won’t be one with the water spirit forever. Use this chance. There are gates in North America, severe ones that you can clear with Lucy. A Monarch can’t be killed by anything less unless you have a peculiar skill, and none of us has that. A Sovereign can pel you with their voice. How do you fight that? And we don’t even know what a Godking or Queen can do. If you’re not at that same tier, there’s no hope in a fight in the realm of gods. The petition is tougher."
"More importantly, I might not be the same. So it’s best you guys are strong enough to stop the other me from doing something stupid."
When Godfrey saw there was no argument anymore, he entwined his fingers and leaned forward.
"Iso. You will focus on the Pendragon. Their relationship with you is strained. You need to get back their loyalty while they’re pained by whatever loss they’ve suffered from the Ruination. Also, search for new dragon summoners before they’re snatched."
Isolde nodded. "I’ll also meet Mr. London. There’s no way he’s giving up 700 million for that dungeon. I’ll go with your father, and we’ll be back with at least 1.8 billion."
"Wow." Isaac and Lucy gasped. Percival’s eyes widened slightly while Godfrey blinked twice.
"Am I going to join you?" Isaac asked.
"You have the four cities to watch. Especially Ania Bane and what she’s doing in these cities while you reduce the death rate."
"So you’re going to Japan alone then?" Isaac sighed in disappointment.
"But I’m not alone. I have the Golden Order." Godfrey leaned forward. "Remember, you can all return here at any time, especially when you’re in danger. Just don’t get locked in whatever cancels teleportation. I wish everyone good luck."
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