Others Summon Dragons, I Summon Legendary Knights

Chapter 521: Torment Is Upon Paradise

Men, women, and Humanoid Summoners of different sizes and skin colours bowed as Cain walked towards the balcony.

An open black robe draped over his magnificent body, his long black hair cascading down his back. The robe left his prominent chest and rows of abs exposed, while loose black pants caressed his legs as he walked.

Barefooted, Cain passed through the wide doors of the enormous worship hall and stepped into the bright sunlight.

It shone upon his face as though welcoming his presence.

Cain stopped at the balcony, one hand resting on the stone railing. Beneath his lofty position knelt thousands of worshippers wrapped in black garments.

Fanatics, the ignorant called them.

These were people whose eyes had been opened, whose ears could hear, whose hearts had transformed into what this new age required.

Their voices rose in worship. They trembled at his presence.

"In the past, Earth had a hierarchy, and one race sat proudly at the top." Cain’s eyes swept across the crowd.

"Humanity. Our race stood above the beasts of the land and sea. They feared us. They fled from us as we spread across the world. But this is a new age, and that hierarchy no longer applies.

"Humanity has been divided. One part bears within them the same beasts we once conquered, while we carry higher existences within our souls. They have become animals. Evolution has never been fair. Now they swarm us as beasts once did in the first days of the past age."

Cain’s voice remained calm, yet amplified by mana, it carried with the force of ten speakers.

"I am Cain. There is no other like me." A slow smile spread across his face. "There is a place called Paradise, full of heretics. Men who would rather live among animals. Send them a message, my devoted servants."

"In the name of the Father of Mankind!"

"In his name!"

The crowd erupted as thousands rose to their feet.

Jon stood in the front row. The noise around him seemed to dampen as he caught sight of his younger self leaning against a nearby wall, arms crossed.

He ground his teeth.

Portals flared open throughout the crowd as the Devotees unleashed their summons and began fusing with them. These summons belonged to a new breed the Father of Mankind had spent months creating: tall, lean elves with dark skin, a sign of their taint by the Obsidians.

Everyone gathered here was a Devotee, specifically of the Crusader branch.

"You’re doing well, Jon," Del said.

Jon glanced at the twelve-foot Obsidian beside him. A thick black cloak covered its enormous frame, brown fur draped across its wide, bow-shaped shoulders. A deep hood concealed its head entirely. Within that darkness floated only two glowing orbs, staring back at him.

"Surprisingly well. The Lord of Earth has blessed you. Use that wisely," Man said.

Jon heard the taunt beneath the words as the Obsidian’s gauntleted hand came down and caressed his head.

He grunted.

These two were old disciples. Both could speak through their summons—the twelve-foot Obsidian knights towering on either side of Jon like pillars. The top of his head barely reached the midsection of their abdomens.

Delusion and Manipulation.

Horrid men who had so completely surrendered their identities that they had taken the first three letters of their natures as their names.

Would he become like them?

The Obsidian of Torment was already ripping through his mind, making the apparition of his foolish younger self appear more frequently. Yet the more Jon suffered, the stronger Torment became. It fed upon his decaying sanity.

And Jon was afraid of fusing with it.

Afraid that one day he would lose himself completely, just like the two older disciples standing beside him.

Jon turned to his left.

Several tears had opened in space, revealing the streets of a beautiful city on the other side.

A peaceful city. People wandered the streets alongside their summons, many of which were dressed in ordinary clothes. Everything looked as though it belonged in some ridiculous fairy tale. Some of the Humanoid summons even wore clothes over their armour.

Jon’s eyes widened, fury pulsing through him.

What right did these people have to live such beautiful lives while he suffered? While he had to prove himself, to claw his way up to where he now stood?

Life had given him no field of flowers. It had stripped away every source of joy he ever had.

"That look in your eyes..." Del chuckled. "You’re insane, Torment. It makes me shiver... in a good way."

’Torment. That’s not my nam—’

’No. I’m, I’m Torment...’ Jon laughed.

All around him, the tall elven Crusaders, fused with their summoners, leapt through the portals and poured into Paradise, chasing and slaughtering the heretics.

They ran like the weaklings they were. Few tried fighting back. It ended swiftly.

"Join us, brother," Manipulation said as he and his twin brother, Del, moved towards the spatial tears.

Jon remained where he was.

His younger self was approaching him now, trembling in fear. Jon smiled at the sight, exposing clenched teeth. Then he raised his head.

Cain was staring directly at him. Like a father would.

A black portal opened behind Jon.

Clawed gray fingers thrust through and curled around its glowing edge. The portal crackled violently as something began pulling itself through.

The Obsidian of Torment emerged.

Jon was minuscule before it. Even standing upright, his head barely reached the creature’s waist.

He turned and tilted his head skyward to meet the Obsidian’s eyes.

Like the others, Torment was wrapped in white bandages. Five swords protruded from its back, their blades and hilts partially swallowed beneath layers of the same wrappings. Though the creature stood hunched, its frame remained enormous and imposing, clad in gray, bone-like armour. In one hand it carried a battered sword that looked as though it had endured hundreds of battles.

Two sharp lengths of bone jutted from either side of its hood, forming a cross through its head. At first glance, they looked like weapons that had been driven straight through its skull.

They weren’t. The bones grew from within it.

’For so long, I’ve wanted power. And when it was finally given to me, I became afraid of it. I’ve wallowed in self-pity, in fear and in shame. Enough.’

"You’re making a mistake," his younger self muttered.

Jon looked at him and smirked.

"You can’t torment me any longer."

"You’re running. When you’re done, I’ll be here. Waiting."

"You’re a fool, then." Jon vanished into Torment’s body. Rage and Obsession erupted alongside him.

Then, with his men, Torment marched upon Paradise.