Part Five
Bewildered and curious, Daunte followed Caesar upstairs. It was the middle of the night so most people were getting ready for bed, though on the fifth floor Daunte could see that there were still soldiers and civilians walking around outside.
"Right this way, my Lord," Caesar said, opening the doors to the war room. Daunte followed him inside, though he paused on the threshold. The room had been cleared of all furniture. There was nothing in the room except for a giant circle that looked like it'd been drawn with charcoal, and the circumference took up almost the entire room. Within the circle there was an 'X'.
"Caesar, what is this?" Daunte asked, pointing to the circle.
"Like I told you, Lord Daunte, we're going to summon help to our side," Caesar responded. He hurried over to a corner and picked up a very thick, aging book. It had at least a dozen bookmarks in it. "This has been in my family for—um, almost thirty years."
Daunte arched an eyebrow. Considering how old the book was, he'd half-expected Caesar to say it'd been in his family for centuries.
"There's a summoning spell in here," Caesar said, flipping open to a specific page. "That my grandfather translated. You want to end this war swiftly, correct?"
Daunte nodded. "Well, we can summon a...individual who would greatly assist us in victory. Unless this person has already been summoned for other purposes, then we'd be out of luck. But it doesn't hurt to try, does it?"
Daunte felt a squirm of discomfort in the pit of his stomach. He felt like this was dabbling in power that he was completely unfamiliar with or comfortable with. What if something went wrong?
"What if something goes wrong?" he asked aloud.
Caesar winced. "That's a possibility. You see, the person we're going to be summoning is a...bit of a monster in man's flesh. He's cruel and fond of killing. Very fond of killing."
"Then why are we summoning him?"
"Because if you summon him, he will be subjected to your will and will have to obey your orders," Caesar said. "You will have a powerful monster whose very efficient at killing at your disposal. He's capable of taking on armies single-handedly. Hell—we might not even need to assemble our soldiers for some battles! We could just send him in solo!" he laughed a little.
"So if I summon him, then I'll have a complete and total psychopath in my headquarters," Daunte said. "I don't think that's a good idea, Caesar. What if he starts killing our own allies?"
"It's like I said, Daunte—once you summon him, he has to obey your orders. He won't be allowed to kill anyone you don't want him to kill. The only things he expects from you is victory and people to kill. If you're successful, then he's at your beck and call for however long you need him."
"...And if I'm not successful?" Daunte dared to ask.
Caesar shrugged. "If you're not successful then your contract is null and void and he will leave you. But like I said, if you want to be victorious I think you should utilize him. Better you than someone else, right?"
Daunte was unsure. Should he take this risk? What were the odds of success? Could one person really do that much damage? He knew if he refused Caesar now that Caesar would respect his wishes and not pursue this further.
But...But Daunte wanted to succeed. And he wanted this war to end quickly. So he finally nodded. "All right."
"Before we continue, I'll summon our allies and inform them of what we're doing," Caesar said. "That way they don't feel left out."
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Suikoden VI
Fanfic**New cover image** IS 478. On the Southern Continent in the country of Nagarea, the isolated civilization has begun a steady downward spiral of corruption and darkness. For Daunte, his main concerns are survival and the wellbeing of his little brot...