Masahide enumerated his options. He could try to crack the cube open and let Whitebeard spill out of it, but with so many knights around, he’d be lucky to put a scratch on it before they subdued him. Or he could open the conduit to Mount Templar, the lone temple left hanging in the sky, and hope he had the control to bring forth a lance. Lastly, he could gather his allies and try to reason with the Duke, but his allies were in shambles, and the Duke had no reason to listen. Would that do anything but delay the inevitable?
Yasukatsu stood by Akitomo, and the Black and Marstonic members mixed about them. They had joined forces openly, which wouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. “Duke Akitomo, the time has exceeded the Trail by Water by several minutes. Whitebeard is no more.”
Akitomo seemed to consider this but shook his head and cast a disdainful glance at the box. “Let it continue. I believe the time should be doubled for a crime as heinous as this one.”
Yasukatsu nodded a fraction, and there were gasps among the knights at the break in tradition, but no one wanted to side with the murder of a prince, the former heir to the kingdom. Faces hardened as they quietly accepted the amendment and watched as a man drowned. Worse, the Duke may become King Akitomo before long, and the Knight’s Oath held everyone who still believed in the Duke’s legitimacy at bay, for an act against him could be seen as treason.
Masahide felt his temper boiling over. A man is drowning without evidence of the crime.
Kichi put her hand on his forearm. “Ease off. There’s nothing you can do but trust in Dragon Sada that he knows what he’s doing.”
He let go of his sword, and his hand ached with the force he’d squeezed it. Justice must come for the Akitomo.
After what seemed like hours, four squires clambered up the box and pried the hatch open. Masahide expected them to reach in and pull a limp body out of the water, and he’d see his friend laid down on the square, lifeless.
What emerged dazzled the eye as constellations of water droplets illuminated from within orbited around Whitebeard in helices. He stood tall and erect, far from the corpse everyone expected. The water sparkled like diamonds in untold quantity. No display of fireworks or magic could rival this beauty of control.
The knights stepped back, bewildered, and some drew weapons as if an attack were imminent. Even with strength in numbers, some paled and looked about to run.
The Duke brought down the cross-polearm like a gavel, and the ground rumbled. “Stand your ground. So he's a master of Water. And that's why we have the three trials. No one can beat the three trials with magic. Even if he’s as old as he says he is and from the Dragon Order, he would not have time to master Earth and Fire as well.”
What Akitomo said was true as far as Masahide knew. No one could use magic to defeat all three trials. Some memory from long ago, perhaps from Felix, told him even the elemental druids considered this impossible.
Kichi had a self-satisfied smile as if she had known all along what would happen. “They only know what's possible for a knight. Whitebeard has traveled the world, and who knows what secrets he’s discovered? He’s embarrassed the Duke. Maybe that's all he aimed for, but I believe more will come. But there’s one thing I fear.”
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“What’s that?” Masahide asked.
“With his level of prescience, he might sacrifice himself for the greater good even if he can pass the trials if he foresees a benefit.”
The droplets around Whitebeard coalesced like a compressed spring and settled on the ground, creating a pool that ran rivulets down from the box. He had shown that water belonged to him and was an extension of himself. The surrounding knights could only dream of such finesse.
William popped out of his chair, circled, moving through the people, and ended up by Masahide’s side. One side of his face belonged to another, and it gave heated looks like it wanted to murder. This was a man who had tried to kill them and a servant of the necromancer witch. Yet, now he was broken inside. “Your friend is something else. Unfortunately, the necromancer will drain him if he makes it through the trials. Though I hear that's what he came here for.”
Kichi folded her arms and didn’t meet the other's gaze. “It is and nothing more.”
“I see I offended you when I tried to kill you. That wasn't me, at least not entirely, but this hellspawn that resides in my body.”
Masahide refused to feel sorry for him because even if he’d been cursed, he was one of the Duke’s men. “Do you have business with us?”
“Yes, I do. This trial has put a wedge between the Duke and the necromancer, and that’s an advantage that can’t be left unexploited. From the start, she's been yearning to drain that man to the point that her effort to kill you has been inadequate.”
“You think she should kill us?”
“For her self-preservation, yes. You see, the worst thing that can happen to a ghashantan is to be exposed as a puppet master. With you two wondering about the castle investigating, she should have done more, but luckily she hasn’t. Perhaps because of her arrogance.”
Masahide didn’t trust William, but it wouldn’t hurt to find out what he knew or wanted to tell them. “What does she have over the Duke?”
“After the wars to take the Eastern ports for the King, the Duke returned with a destroyed back. He could barely get out of bed in the morning and made elaborate efforts to hide it from the court. One day, the necromancer appeared with a golden statue, a magical iron maiden that she used on healthy Dunaguardians to create an elixir to mend his back. He needs her for his health.”
“Why does she need him?”
“She is ghashantan. Nothing would unify the realm against anything like one of her kind. A creature that looks human but is something ancient, powerful, and corrupted strokes some deep fear in us. And after having seen the other side, that fear is valid.”
“I want to trust you. Tell me something to help us, and perhaps we’ll work together.”
“Sure. During my resurrection, I recall the necromancer doing something to the boy. He is in danger in some way, and perhaps all those around him.”
Gon was in danger? Masahide didn’t waste time; he shot through the throngs and knocked people over in his haste to reach the stairs. He flew down the corridors on his way to Ema and Gon.
While he sprinted, he heard the Duke ask for the strongest knights in Earth. The second trial began, but Masahide would miss it.
Masahide
Level: 35
Focus: Conjuring (conduit) +3
Secondary focus: Quake, Firequake tandem attack, spirit punch
Weapons: pure sword - 35% pure
Items: Heart of the Earth