As the meteor rain wreaked havoc on the field, turning kilometres of grasslands into a hell on earth, two men stood inside a golden dome.

Godfrey stood in his crimson Immortal Armour, staring at Dax, who was on one knee. They could feel the earth trembling. The carnage of the meteor rain reflected in Dax’s eyes as he watched in stupor a spell that was supposed to kill both of them rain havoc while he was protected within this dome.

Several meteors struck the dome and shattered. Godfrey stood there, seemingly unwavered, but he knew this dome would have shattered several times had it not been for the amount of mana he was pumping into it to keep it up.

Without this dome, the Immortal Armour would probably remain intact, but he who was inside might be scorched beyond belief by the heat.

From how the air twisted, its heat alone was beyond what some demigods could endure.

This was total annihilation. Dax was a walking vessel of mass destruction with the mind to end it all... including himself.

Dax smiled, and the tome slowly flipped to the third page. Once he activated the Demolition spell, this entire place would be gone, there would be nowhere for him to teleport to, and Demolition’s spatial lock would trap Godfrey, exposing him to the meteor rain.

Activating that skill would mean death, unavoidable death for both of them.

Godfrey knew it. Unless he was willing to use Grief Transfer and send the damage to his knights so he could escape, he wouldn’t survive. Even if he didn’t, the damage would be severe.

Yet... he had never been this calm.

"Dax... stop." Godfrey tossed his longsword aside. "It’s enough."

Dax looked at him. "You can stab your sword through my chest before I activate this spell," he said.

"From what I’ve seen, your death won’t really affect the spell. It will still work and I might die," Godfrey replied.

’I can kill him,’ the Immortal Armour spoke up, but Godfrey ignored it. An unexpected attack might work but that’s not what he wanted right now. He was King, he should be able to recognise a talent, a worthy addition to his nation.

He had a castle, and whatever he chose to become part of the castle could become one. Weren’t things kept in castles? Didn’t people live in castles? 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

For a long time, Godfrey did not understand how well to use his summon because he was in a world with beast, plant, and humanoid summoners, all fighting. He didn’t even know where he belonged or how to efficiently use his summon.

But when he spoke to Percival, Oliver, Arden, and Lucy about his summon, it suddenly clicked. His summon was a structure that had a collection of entities.

A structure.

Dax was a summon, he was customized to become one with the tome, so there was no need for a beast infusion. The only thing he hated was his world’s mana system, and he could override it by giving him a False Heart.

That would bring him under Pathan’s mana system, ridding him of the plague completely.

This was an opportunity to get a true mage knight.

It all depended on Dax’s compliance. If it didn’t work, they might both die here.

"So you’re afraid of dying then?" Dax’s voice rang.

"I don’t want you to die, Dax. Trying to kill yourself has a chance of hurting your summoner and since you want to die anyway, you clearly have no affection for your summoner," Godfrey responded.

Dax was silent for a moment, then chuckled. "Is it that obvious?"

"We summoners can be like that. Especially humanoid summoners. We don’t recognise that what we have aren’t just fighters but people who once had a life, who once had freedom." Godfrey stretched out his hand.

"Even though I’m also not justified, killing yourself isn’t worth it."

Dax exhaled and sat down. "I was twelve when mana came to our world and I think I died at thirteen. I saw Saul as a father. You know it’s those you love the most you can hate the most."

"I was always struggling to meet expectations with no congratulations, not even once. But I guess I owed him my second chance at life." His eyes flickered. He lifted up his hand and touched the cracks on his face.

"I can get rid of the plague... permanently." Godfrey’s statement made Dax turn toward him.

"What?"

Godfrey took bold steps, closing the gap between them with each step until he was right before Dax.

He squatted. "I can rid every trace of the Ignikai mana system from you, but it comes with a cost."

"What is the cost?"

"You’ll have to reject Saul as your summoner."

"I’ll die."

"You want to die."

Both of them stared into each other’s eyes. Godfrey finally broke the silence between them. "I can make you a knight. You won’t be in a dark soul space but a castle, you’ll have your own personal tower. All traces of the Ignikai mana system will be gone as you’ll transfer to the Pathan mana system."

Dax lifted an eyebrow.

"This sounds like some kind of Eden on another side of an ocean filled with deadly demigod monsters. Once I leave Saul’s soul space, I die."

"You wanted to die, so there’s no harm in taking a leap of faith," Godfrey replied, then lowered his head.

He deactivated the Immortal Armour and sat beside Dax. "Did you know I was made king? King of an entire race. They see me as their saviour, but I’m a nineteen-year-old dealing with centuries-old people. I’m supposed to restore the order, but to be honest, I have little clue as to what I’m doing."

"I need help."

"Sounds like a tough burden. At least it made you ridiculously strong. I needed a powerful relic to match you," Dax replied.

"I’ve always wanted this plague off me. Since you’re certain, I accept." Embers began to billow out of his body after he said that.

He was already being erased from Saul’s soul space.

At that moment, Godfrey sensed a rumbling. He wasn’t in his soul space, but he could feel the castle was building another chamber!

It worked!

I... it actually worked!