Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons

The magical weapons tore through the air, their blades leaving trails of silver light as they converged on their target. The demon moved with surprising speed for its bulk, its hands batting away most of the projectiles.

But not all.

Three swords found their mark, embedding deeply into the creature's shoulder, thigh, and abdomen.

Black ichor sprayed from the wounds, sizzling where it touched the ground. The demon staggered but didn't fall. Instead, it fixed its eyes on Regulus, hatred burning in their crimson depths.

"Ptui!" The creature spat a mouthful of black blood to the side, its voice a guttural rumble that seemed to vibrate the very air. "You are quite strong for a human. I commend you." Its mouth split in a grotesque approximation of a smile, revealing rows of serrated teeth. "But you won't live long."

Regulus's response was cold, empty of boasting or fear. "Neither will you."

He raised both hands now, the air around him distorting with magical energy. The ground beneath the demon began to glow with intricate runic patterns that hadn't been there seconds before.

The demon's eyes widened in realization—too late.

"[Black Hole]," Regulus intoned.

The space occupied by the demon seemed to fold in on itself, reality warping as if viewed through fractured glass. The beast's roar of pain cut off abruptly as its body was sliced by invisible forces, the very fabric of space becoming a weapon at Regulus's command.

When the distortion cleared, the demon lay in pieces, its dismembered form already dissolving into shadow and ash.

Arthur watched in stunned silence. The skill Regulus had just used—it was similar to his own spatial manipulation abilities. Not identical, but sharing the same fundamental principles.

Before he could process this revelation, the battlefield shifted around him, focusing on a new confrontation. A more powerful demon had broken through the defensive line, its massive form dwarfing the human soldiers who scattered before it.

"SILVERWIND!" it bellowed, voice like grinding stone. "FACE ME!"

Regulus turned, and for an instant, a flash of recognition crossed his features. Not just the recognition of an enemy, but of a specific foe.

"General," Regulus acknowledged, his voice carrying across the battlefield. "I was wondering when you'd show yourself."

The demon general laughed, the sound like breaking bones. "Did you think I would miss our reunion? After what you did to my brother?"

Regulus's expression didn't change, but his stance shifted subtly into a more defensive posture. "Your brother chose his fate when he attacked the Academy."

"And you will choose yours when you face me alone," the general replied. With a gesture, a dome of dark energy erupted around them, cutting off any potential reinforcements. "No interference this time, human."

As the two squared off within their magical arena, Arthur noticed something else—the golden-haired girl from earlier, now a woman, fighting desperately to break through the dark barrier. Beside her stood the dark-eyed young man, now grown as well, his hands weaving complex spells that shattered against the dome without effect.

"REGULUS!" the woman screamed, her voice barely audible through the magical barrier. "DON'T DO THIS ALONE!"

But Regulus didn't look back. His focus was entirely on the demon before him, his body beginning to glow with power as he prepared for what might be his final battle.

The scene froze there—Regulus and the demon general poised at the moment before their clash, the desperate woman beating against the barrier, the battlefield suspended in chaotic stillness.

As the scene began to shimmer, Arthur narrowed his eyes, focusing on a distortion forming behind the demon general. The air rippled and tore like fabric being ripped apart.

"That's a portal being opened," he muttered, leaning forward as if that might help him see more clearly.

The shimmering intensified, reality fracturing as something—someone—forced their way through dimensions. A figure slowly emerged from the tear, their form blurred and indistinct, like a mirage in desert heat.

The newcomer's mere presence seemed to distort the fabric of the vision itself, making it impossible for Arthur to discern details.

But whoever it was, their appearance changed everything.

The frozen tableau suddenly animated, but only partially—like a painting where just one subject could move. Regulus's head turned, his eyes widening as he registered the newcomer. The battle preparation, the demon general, the desperate woman at the barrier—all were momentarily forgotten as Regulus stared at the blurred figure.

His lips moved, and though the vision was crumbling around them, Arthur caught the whispered words that carried more weight than a shout.

"It's... you..."

Recognition. Shock. And something else—a complex emotion Arthur couldn't quite interpret.

The scene disintegrated before he could be certain, reality collapsing in on itself like a house of cards in a windstorm. Colors swirled, images fragmented, and then...

Nothingness.

Arthur staggered as control of his body suddenly returned. He stood once more in the courtyard with the obsidian pillar, the peaceful garden mockingly serene after the battlefield he'd just witnessed.

"THAT'S IT?!" he shouted, frustration echoing across the empty space.

The cliffhanger was painful to bear, like a story abandoned at its most crucial moment.

Who was the figure?

What happened in that battle?

Did Regulus survive?

The questions burned in Arthur's mind with no answers forthcoming.

"Show me the rest!" he demanded of the empty garden. "What happened next?"

Only silence answered him.

Arthur paced around the pillar, searching for any mechanism, any way to trigger another vision. The obsidian surface remained dark and inert, the runes no longer glowing. Whatever power had granted him these glimpses into Regulus's past had either been depleted or deliberately withdrawn.

He ran his hand through his hair, mind racing with implications. Regulus had mastered Gravity manipulation similar to Arthur's own space abilities. He'd been connected somehow to the current king and the Four Families in their youth. His mother had died, leading him down a path of vengeance against... whom? The demons? Or someone else who had sent them?

And that mysterious figure emerging from the portal at the most critical moment—their identity seemed to be the key to understanding everything.