CHAPTER 25: AMBUSH

As the sun began to set and most students were already in their dorms, Cecil, dressed in casual clothing, walked into the boys’ dormitory.

The lobby was L-shaped, with three doors: two for the students’ rooms and one, closer to the exit, for the bathroom and toilet.

Her eyes narrowed the moment she entered. Standing before her, fresh from the bathroom, was a tall, handsome boy who froze mid-step. He wore only a tank top and boxers, his frame lean but well-built.

His calm brown eyes locked onto her, holding her in place with a gaze that felt unshakably steady.

"You are?" he asked, one brow raised in mild curiosity.

"Cecil. Sophomore year. I’m here to see Snow." She answered with her usual calculative glint still flickering in her eyes. Yet beyond it lay something rare for her, humility. After all, she was standing before Percival, known as Number Three.

Below the fourth-year seniors, only two students in the third year and a handful more in the fourth were stronger than him. Not more than ten in the entire school could boast to be stronger than him.

"Oh?"

The click of a door turned both their heads. Snow, the white-haired sophomore with the looks of a celebrity, emerged. His sharp features twisted into a frown the moment he saw Cecil.

"What are you doing here? Girls aren’t permitted in the boys’ dormitories," he lashed out, his voice quick and sharp, cutting through the air like a blade.

Percival’s lips curled faintly as he shrugged. Sliding his hand into his pocket, he moved toward his room, uninterested, until Cecil’s next words froze him in his tracks.

"I have information about Godfrey."

’The humanoid summoner?!’ Percival’s thoughts darkened, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Snow’s frown deepened. "You came here to talk to me about that fool? I don’t care what he does or what secrets he’s hiding. Leave."

"I overheard Miss Evangeline speaking with a staff member," Cecil said firmly. "They mentioned that Godfrey is actually a King-tier summoner... though she didn’t sound entirely sure. I think the school and Godfrey himself are hiding it."

A heavy silence fell across the lobby. Snow’s eyes widened in shock, while disbelief washed over Percival’s face. Both of them, two of Manhattan High’s top boys, found themselves unable to immediately think, let alone speak.

If Miss Evangeline, the headmaster’s own secretary, was involved, then there had to be some credibility. And since when has anyone been uncertain about a summoner’s tier? That had never happened in recorded history.

Cecil clenched her fist, a dangerous gleam flashing through her eyes. "And I intend to expose it. No one will believe me at first, many will want confirmation, since they’ll find it absurd that a humanoid summoner could be King-tier. But if he isn’t, his life will turn miserable. And if he truly is King-tier, the authorities will come for him."

Percival’s eyes narrowed further at that thought. Cain and his fanatics had already proven how dangerous humanoid summons could be. A King-tier humanoid summoner meant a summon with intelligence, history, and its own civilization, an equal to its master.

Cain’s infamous Blood March had shown the world the risk of such bonds, where the summoner often developed a god complex from being worshipped by their own summon.

That complex alone made them a threat to modern civilization.

Adam, the first summoner, had refused to fall under the control of the authorities, and his summon had been part human based on its intelligence level. If there was one thing Percival knew, it was that the authorities craved absolute control. A powerful summoner outside their grip could mean chaos.

’You just want to put him in a tough spot, Percival thought grimly. No matter what happens, once this news is revealed, it’s over for Godfrey.’

He sighed. She was setting Godfrey up against people no student could hope to resist.

"Why tell me this? Why not Dale?" Snow asked, his voice low.

Cecil scoffed. "I’ve had enough of that dull-headed brute. Besides, I need stronger allies in case Godfrey truly is King-tier. You’re one..." She turned her eyes to Percival. "And you’re another. Not even a King-tier can withstand the upper echelon of Manhattan."

"And what’s your reason for doing this?" Percival pressed.

Cecil raised an eyebrow, but before she could answer, Snow chuckled coldly.

"Isn’t it obvious?"

"I don’t like him," both of them said in unison.

***

At another dormitory building, Godfrey sat at his desk, facing his laptop. The screen glowed softly, illuminating his calm face as he held a video call with Isolde.

"I thought you wouldn’t answer my call," she teased, her tone light, golden-orange eyes gleaming with mischief. "I guessed you’d be trembling after my display of might. But you’re braver than I thought."

Godfrey chuckled. "I still plan on beating you and taking the spot for Valedictorian."

"Aww, what a courageous, pretty face," she cooed, flashing a sweet smile that caught Godfrey off guard.

But before he could reply, a knock at his door shattered the moment.

"I’ll be back," Godfrey said quickly, leaving his chair. Speaking with Isolde was something he disliked being interrupted in, but the knock had to be one of the cleaners asking if he was ready for his room to be tidied.

The moment he opened the door, his words died in his throat.

A massive Diamond Scorpion loomed in the lobby, its glittering exoskeleton barely fitting in the narrow space. The lights from the ceiling danced along its crystalline body, a sight as mesmerizing as it was deadly. Faster than thought, its venomous stinger lunged forward, piercing Godfrey’s chest.

His breath caught. Pain flared, then quickly dulled. His body staggered backward, the world blurring, his knees buckling as he slammed onto the hard floor. His eyes remained wide open, but he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t even think. His effort to unleash his summon died midway.

The searing agony of the stinger’s wound dimmed unnaturally fast, as though his senses themselves were being stripped away one by one.

Siegfried, Maldred, and Orwen stepped inside, the latter retrieving his summon. A trembling freshman, Godfrey’s dorm mate, dangled helplessly in Siegfried’s grasp.

"I can’t believe this trash got lucky enough to have two summons and now dares to threaten Dale and Snow," Siegfried sneered. He squatted, grabbed a fistful of Godfrey’s hair, and yanked his head up to stare into his vacant eyes.

He slapped his face once, then twice, but Godfrey didn’t react. His gaze was glassy, fixed on the ceiling above.

"He’s lost all his senses," Maldred muttered, one hand sliding into his pocket. "He can’t see, feel, hear, smell, taste, or even perceive anything. Your venom really is a knocker, Orwen."

Before Orwen could reply, a sound came from the laptop.

"Godfrey? Godfrey, are you alright? What was that sound? Who are you talking to?"

Orwen’s eyes widened. "Is that... Isolde?" He whispered.

"I can’t believe this twerp even gets to make calls with her. What a lucky bastard," Siegfried chuckled maliciously. "Don’t worry, we’ll put him somewhere safe."

Orwen jabbed the freshman, forcing him to produce sticky webs that quickly sealed Godfrey in a cocoon-like binding. They tossed the terrified boy aside and dragged Godfrey’s bound body out of the room.

"Godfrey!" Isolde’s yell came from the laptop, her voice sharp with alarm since the silence began to make her feel uncomfortable. But no answer came.