Amegnon was ready for the next stage of his plans. He needed access to the inner mechanisms that the dungeon spirits used to interact with the world. Such knowledge was dangerous and no doubt a closely guarded secret.

It was theoretically possible to negotiate for it, but the consessions would be unprecidented. He would likely need council approval to promise all that he would need. That was the rub.

It would be impossible if he didn't have a few more tricks. First was the annoying formality of the conclave itself. It was stuffed with thousands of years of tradition from ages past. Symbolic ceremony preceeded everything, making the pace of events a crawl. He had been through the opening remarks already. He said a short piece about continued mutual support and benifit. Steven had written the speech and it was quite good.

Demevon's had been significantly longer. He spoke of duty and safety. Of maintaining things as they were. It was entirely contrary to reality. The status quo was breaking. Amegnon's speech hadn't said as much, but it wasn't a secret. Things were getting worse and without real change things would break. This was where his plan came in. It was stability that was needed.

Before he could try to be the anchor of that stability, he had to get through the stormy seas. He needed to be the strong foundation that didn't break. Unfortunately, in his haste and impatience to act, he had set himself up for some initial difficulties.

The blue haired dungeon spirit stood on the raised platform before the gathering of Magi and Spirit and made her accusation.

"This man has motives that he has not shared with us. Based on testimony from those who were at the battle. Amegnon did something to trigger the dungeon corruption and collapse! Once he had what he wanted he killed my brother to cover his tracks."

He thought it was a little unfair that the head of the magi council represented the Magi on the panel that would decide his punishment, if applicable. He thought it was exceptionally unfair that the Hammer also got a spot on the panel, as the Queen's representative. He had a vote on the panel, but as the accused, he wouldn't have the ability to vote. There were five more on the panel, all dungeon spirits. Again, it was unfair, and things were stacked against him. That was nothing new.

He had gone through this kind of thing before. He knew how to act, how to behave. It became harder and harder as time passed without fulfilling his duty, but he could still manage it.

Demevon rose from his seat to acknowledge the accusation from the other Dungeon Spirit.

"The Dungeon Spirits hear your complaints, Celuria."

The head of the Council of Magi, Lucindre rose as well.

"The Magi hear your complaint, Spirit," Lucindre said. She turned to Amegnon. "Do you have anything to say in your defense, Arch-magus? Accusations are levied against you, but proceedings have not yet begun."

This was the way of things. For an actual judgement to be decided, there would need to be a motion. Celuria could call up this greivance, but that in and of itself was not a motion, according to the awful system that was in place. Amegnon could defend himself if he needed to, but as it stood, there was no reason to do so.

"I will say that these allegations are baseless, and I have done nothing wrong. That is all that needs to be said."

Lucindre nodded.

Demevon spoke up once more. "Does anyone wish to set this greivence into motion?"

Lucindre raised her hand. "I motion that Amegnon be punished for his actions according to conclave treaty."

There was one. There wouldn't be another. The Hammer wanted to remove him, of course, but she was the voice of the Queen, and the Queen wanted him to remain where he was. She was bound by powerful oaths. None of the other Magi had votes, and the remaining Dungeon Spirits weren't convinced by Celuria's plea.

"Very well," Demevon said. "Will anyone on the panel second the motion?"

Celuria held up a hand.

"You have brought the greivance forward, Celuria," Demevon said. "You cannot second the motion."

"I don't intend to. I simply want to remind everyone of the rules that we have long abided by. The conclave is overseen by a panel including representatives from the Astravian Monarch, the Astravian Arch-magus, and the head of the Council of Magi. On the other side of that are the five ranking dungeon spirits in attendance."

"Yes, we're all aware of that," Amegnon said. This woman tried his patience. "What's your point?"

"My point is that you are unaware of the other panel member. The simple fact is that for the last hundred years, this person has been dead or indisposed for each conclave."

Amegnon had a cold premonition a moment before a portal opened inside the conclave. Something that shouldn't be possible. Olivander stepped through.

"How's my timing?"

Celuria nodded at the infuriating man.

"I'll second the motion, acting as advisor to the Magi in my position as former Arch-magus."

Demevon was consulting a tome that had been summoned from somewhere. He looked up and nodded. "Olivander. A pleasure to see you again. I had forgotten about this rule. You are, of course, allowed a vote on the panel. We will begin a hearing at once. I will preside, unless there are any objections?"

Amegnon had several objections, but he didn't know where to start. No one else said anything, so they proceeded with an impromptu trail.

Olivander raised a hand, and Demevon guestured at him. "Olivander, you may proceed unless Lucindre would like to speak as the first to make the motion."

Lucindre waved the suggestion away.

"Wonderful," Olivander said. He conjured a series of benches and tables, setting up an entire courtroom in moments. Infuriatingly, everyone in attendance seemed to appreciate the seating changes, and the panelists that didn't originate the accusations sat in the high seats at the head of the tent.

"My dear panelists and spectators, it is a joy to see you all once more. That joy ends when I turn toward the reasons I am standing before you. Make no mistake about it. I have seen the evidence myself. I have travelled the world and spoken to witnesses. There is no doubt in my mind that Amegnon has been set on a course of destruction. Whatever he is doing. Whatever he has planned. He's not going to stop until the world is in ruin."

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Do I get a change to contest the ramblings of a madman and disgraced Arch-magus?"

"Is is no disgrace to lose, Amegnon. That it came to that, yes," Olivander said, staring at him. Amegnon ignored the stare.

Demevon nodded. "We will have opening statements. Olivander has started his, and you will have a chance to speak shortly. After that there will be a time to present and refute evidence, as well as call witnesses on your behalf. Once that has finished, we will move onto judgements."

"We have things to decide," Amegnon said. "How can we take the time for this farce? The world is falling apart."

"You will have a chance to speak soon, Amegnon. If you speak out of turn again, you will be censured. Do not doubt that our combined power can hold you."

Amegnon sat back down. That was true. He could beat Olivander in a fight. He could probably beat any one of the Spirits in a fight. He couldn't beat them all, and he certainly wasn't about to get in a fight with the Hammer present.

"May I continue?" Olivander asked. Demevon nodded and he swept back into his talk.

"I don't know where this began, but I noticed it upon Amegnon's return. It should have been a time of celebration, but instead it was one of pain. Why would a man, new to his power and completely without experience as a Magi hope to become Arch-magus? If that was his desire, why not express that to me? Why? Because he didn't want to be Arch-magus. Not truly. I think what this man truly wanted to was to get rid of an annoying rival. My knowledge of the magic of the world is unmatched by mortal standards. I am not simply boasting. Amegnon needed to remove the one who would recognize what he is doing.

"He did that, then he comes to me in Serin. He asks me for balancing rituals. I was distraught. It was our first meeting since he cast me aside. I gave them to him without much thought, and now to my great shame. There can be no doubt about what he did with those balancing rituals. He took them and he used them for his own nefarious ends. He killed thousands and created an area of immense instability. Then he used that instability to harvest some power from the ruptured dungeon. I have felt the echos of magic myself. I don't know what he did, but I know that that rupture was not natural."

Olivander abruptly returned to a seat and sat down. Amegnon didn't find any of what he said to be too problematic. That it was all true didn't bother him too much.

"Amegnon, you may speak."

"I have made poor choices. I won't lie about that. I returned from my journey as a Magus. In my time away, I learned things about the world. I learned that there are good people. People that deserve to be protected and held up for being beacons of light in this world. I returned to the capital knowing that Olivander wasn't one of those people. In my years as his apprentice, I was pushed by a man who saw people and power as tools for him to use to satisfy his goals. I saw a man with the power to end wars single handedly. Instead of doing that, he refused our monarch and let our great nation erode away. I knew it was time for change, so I challenged him.

"I didn't expect to win, but here I am. For all that, it was a poor choice. Olivander is not wrong in that I didn't know what I was getting myself into. When word of imbalance came to me, I tried to find out how to correct it. High Magus Giles informed me of Olivander's presence in Serin, so I went to him and asked for those rituals. I admit that. I used them to balance when and where I could."

Amegnon sighed and leaned against a conjured desk. "Then the battle came. We weren't prepared, but the Verenci invaders were. I saw an opportunity. I didn't understand what I was doing, not truly. I admit that I used the balance rituals to defeat our enemies and save the lives of our soldiers. I thought I was doing the right thing."

He slapped a fist into his palm. "At the end of it, I knew my actions were wrong, but what was done was done. I was planning on heading back to the capital when the dungeon burst. I was moments away, really. I did not plan on it, and I certainly didn't know it was going to happen. How could I have? The Hammer asked me to stay and fight, so I did. We were on that field together. When the last piece burst, we had no idea it was a corrupted Dungeon Spirit we were fighting. In the end, we did kill him, but it was kill or be killed. I had no malice in my heart and no intention for that to happen."

Amegnon sat, satisfied with what he had said. All of it was close enough to the truth that it was easy to believe. He couldn't see how Olivander could convince this group that he was guilty beyond any doubt.

"A compelling opening statement," Demevon said, nodding.

Good. At least the some of these spirits understood. Some of them had common sense. Maybe Amegnon could do more than just convince them of his innocence. Maybe he could get them to see a path forward...toward his next goal.

"With those, I will begin the next portion of the proceedings. Olivander, do you have evidence or witnesses to bring forth?" Demevon looked to Olivander.

"I could, of course, bring in people who have witnessed some of his crimes. I could present to you a man that Amegnon sent into my camp as a spy. I could name all the ways in which Amegnon has been corrupted."

Amegnon sat up a little straighter. Olivander was uniquely able to bring forth these people. Perhaps with enough, the man would have enough to convince those before them that he was right, that Amegnon deserves whatever punishment is coming. Olivander had never spent a lot of time pandering to others. He had power and authority, and he used them to great effect. Amegnon had forgot about how charismatic the man could be when he felt like people pleasing.

"But Amegnon is right about one thing. The world doesn't have time for this."

That was unexpected.

"There are events in motion that outweigh his crimes. There are problems that require quick solutions, not the careful deliberation of Kingdoms, as we hum and haw with how to replace Amegnon or counteract the damage he has done."

The panel of dungeon spirits looked as confused as Amegnon felt. Would Olivander just drop this? What would he get out of it? No, he was leading up to something.

"So you don't wish to proceed?" Demevon asked.

"No. I wish to invoke trial by combat."

Olivander was an idiot. There was no other explanation. Unless he intended for the Hammer to fight on his behalf, he couldn't win. Maybe the blue haired dungeon spirit would step up? Amegnon knew they coveted their power, and any expenditure in combat would be lost, but she also wanted to avenge her brother.

"This is highly unusual, Olivander," Demevon said, quieting his people. "We need the agreement of the accused, the nomination of a champion, and the affirmation of the panel to initiate the trail. What say you, Amegnon? Know that this antiquated tradition is binding, but you are free to demand the continuation of our standard trial."

It was faster, and he wasn't likely to lose. He couldn't lose to anyone except the Hammer.

"Might I know who I would be fighting, and what the result of the trial would mean?"

"Olivander? What terms would you desire?"

"I will fight. As for terms, if I win, Amegnon will be stripped of his title as Arch-magus, be unbound from his grimoire, and stand in judgement for his crimes before this panel."

Demevon nodded. "The dungeon spirits are amenable to this. Amegnon? If you win you will be cleared from wrongdoing, but to enter into this, you may demand additional concessions."

Now that is an opportunity.

The voice in his head did not trigger a reaction among the attendees. Amegnon had built shields to hide his connections. He agreed with the voice. This is exactly what he'd needed.

"If I win, I would ask the dungeon spirits for knowledge about the mechanisms used to interact with the world through dungeons and mana anomalies."

"You wish to become one of us?" Demevon asked, crystal brow raised.

"No. I have seen a path to stability, but I require the knowledge to know if my plan will work. When this is over, I will work with the Dungeon Spirits to save our world. It's what I would have presented during this conclave, but in light of events, I feel that it is fair to ask."

The spirit was silent for a moment, and Amegnon could feel the magic of his communication with many other spirits rise and fall.

"We are curious about your ideas, Amegnon. We will agree to this."

Amegnon smiled.

"Then I agree. When do we begin?"

Demevon rumbled. "This is a great disruption to the conclave, but the outcome will steer our decisions as well as a week of conversation might have. You have both expressed urgency, what time do you need to prepare?"

Amegnon was in good shape. He was fully rested and ready, but he didn't have all of his combat gear. If they were to truly fight, then Olivander would be more prepared, so he needed every advantage he could get. He didn't think he was in any danger of losing, but it never hurt to be prepared.

"Two days," Amegnon said.

"One week," Olivander said. "Time is of the essence, but we need a suitable arena, and I need to prepare."

Demevon nodded. "Very well. Lucindre, will your Magi be able to maintain our wards? I would postpone the rest of the conclave until this matter is settled."

"Sure. Not a problem. What about the arena in Mardareth? I think they still maintain it."

"I was there recently, and the arena is in reasonably good shape" Olivander said. "I have no objections."

"It does not matter," Amegnon said. "But I will need a soul oath removed."

The Hammer inclined her head, and he felt the restraint inside him bleed away. Her intent had passively held the oath in place.

"Then we will begin trial by combat in one week. May justice prevail."