CH.500 Demon Summoning
“Alright. Let’s test this out.” I said.
With the help of Rebarian Shark, I’d acquired myself my first Rank-Up-Magic, that being Rank-Up-Magic Limited Barian's Force.
It being Limited Barian’s Force, and being my first one is an interesting coincidence, but I’m honestly starting to feel like there are no coincidences when it comes to Pack Opener.
Also, the entire Rank 4 limit is kind of a pain. Because of that, I can only target D-rank monsters with it.
We found that out as I was trying to use Limited Barian’s Force on C-rank monsters, and then E-rank monsters.
We sadly didn’t have any D-rank tamed monsters on HomeBase, but luckily, getting a summoning contract with one was extremely easy.
So I made a contract with a Forest Owl, which is just a larger than average owl. They can actually be quite dangerous, to low level people, because of their ability to fly silently in the night and attack swiftly from the skies.
Then I just tested Limited Barian's Force on the Forest Owl and watched as it evolved into a C-rank Moon Owl.
So with that, I’ve confirmed it. Rank-Up-Magics work on monsters. With Unika’s help, I asked the evolved owl if she wanted to undo the summoning contract, but the owl refused, saying she would respond to my calls in the future.
I named her Luna, because boring names are effective. I then just let her fly around HomeBase for a while, until I unsummoned her.
I then got to thinking about ranks, and what monster rank equates to what monster letter the locals use. And after using the fact that D-rank is rank 4, I came up with this list. It might not be accurate, but it should be close enough.
F = rank 1
E = rank 2
D = rank 3, 4
C = rank 5, 6
B = rank 7
A = rank 8
S = rank 9, 10
SS = rank 11, 12
SSS/unranked = rank 13 or above
Now I will fully admit that this might be wrong, but it should work for now. I’ll make the list better when I get more cards that can modify the ranks of monsters.
I’ll probably have to wait for Rank-Down-Magic Numeron Fall for that.
It was a little later that an emergency System mission popped up for me to look at.
Emergency Mission: Stop the Demon |
Information: The group of book thieves and terrorists have decided to experiment with Demon Summoning. They are going to summon a demon by sacrificing a village they are passing by. |
Goal: Either stop the demon summoning, or stop the demon. Protect the villagers. |
Reward: Sets Absolute Powerforce and Hidden Arsenal 2. |
Bonus Reward: If no villager is harmed, knowledge on demon summoning will be granted. |
Failure condition: Too many villagers die or are badly injured. |
Note: The miasma spike from the demon summoning may weaken the dimensional barriers. A dimensional fissure may follow the summoning. If one does happen, please deal with that as well. If a fissure does open up and you close it, an additional reward will be given. |
I was supplied with the location, which was in the northern part of Narra Kingdom.
Time to recover that book and slap some morons along the way.
And let’s be honest here, with my luck, that fissure is guaranteed. There is no ‘may’. It will happen, I just know it.
I took a lot of my combatants with me. Naturally my OP squad, Alice, Lua, Ria and Agunan were going, but I also took the Card Beasts and Wilma.
Alice, Ria and Agunan will be with me on the frontlines, combating not only the demon, but also the adventurers/thieves, while the Card Beasts, Wilma and Lua will hopefully keep the village safe.
When we reached the target village, we first scanned the village, but we didn’t find any sort of summoning circle. So we moved to searching the forests nearby.
By the time we found the summoning circle, it was too late. Something that must be a demon was standing in the center of it.
The creature looked somewhat similar to some of my Archfiend monsters, but also not really.
It had no skin, leaving its muscle structure exposed to the air, those muscles made of dark crimson flesh.
I then saw the sky above the summoning circle crack, almost like someone was ripping apart the dimensions. Because that is exactly what was happening.
The demon summoning had opened up a dimensional fissure, and now we had to deal with not just the thieves and the demon, but also a dimensional fissure.
“Everyone! Battle positions!” I called out. “Wilma, Unika, Einar, Eline. Defend the town. Lua, head to the town and try to keep the people calm. Alice, Ria, take down the thieves. Agunan, the demon. I’ll summon Exodia and deal with whatever comes from the fissure.” I gave everyone their orders.
I then noticed the somewhat begging look on Einar and Eline, and I knew what they wanted. Both of them had reached LV.99, so they could potentially go for a Limit Break.
“If any S-ranks show up, I’ll try to leave them to you. Sadly, if an SS shows up, I’ll have to deal with it.” I promised the two.
We couldn’t exactly risk an SS-rank. The fissure is less than 500 meters from town’s edge, so any SS-rank will get to the town in a few moments.
But regular S-ranks are enough for a Limit Break, and I think we can manage them.
We all dismounted the B.E.S. we’d been riding. Agunan was going straight for the freshly summoned demon, who was still in the magic circle. Alice and Ria were just behind him, going for the people who summoned him.
I looked at the fissure with Mana Vision, but quickly turned the skill off. The amount of mana and miasma coming out of it was just … overwhelming for the skill. Thank god I don’t have epilepsy or something like that, or that could have been bad.
I activated my duel disk, got out the cards for Exodia, and summoned the golden giant.
I then began to consider the best way to protect the town, and I decided that a monster that can redirect attacks would be the best.
But I needed one that was strong enough to handle S and potentially SS-rank monsters. I also don’t know how strong a demon is.
So I went with the most powerful attack redirector I had. So I activated three continuous spells. I then tributed them.
“O lord of Thunder which strikes from above
Hear my call striking like thy Thunder
Burst the Spells that cannot bind you
And appear before us, o second Phantasm
Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!”
I made sure Hamon was keeping on the defensive, so his effect would keep everything attacking him.
But I guess I may need some firepower to go with the defense, so … maybe I should. It has been a while since I summoned all three of them.
So I activated three continuous traps, and tributed them.
“O Lord of Flames in the hell below
Hear my emotions burning like thy Flames
Destroy the Traps that cannot bind you
And appear before us, o first Phantasm
Uria, Lord of Searing Flames!”
And then, just to make sure he didn’t feel left out, I summoned out three Fiends and tributed them.
“O Lord of Fiends from the world of darkness
Hear my tributes screaming for thy mercy
Respond to their calls to give them meaning
And appear before us, o third Phantasm
Raviel, Lord of Phantasms!”
With the three Sacred Beasts by my side, and Exodia dealing with the fissure, I checked the situation around us.
Alice and Ria had already subdued most of the thieves. A few of them might be dead, but I can resurrect them later.
Agunan was fighting the demon, but he didn’t seem to have the upper hand. Probably because he is fighting in his humanoid form. It does limit his power, so he might not be strong enough. Or the demon is just too strong.
And last, a few of the forest’s monsters had evolved because of the miasma spike, but nothing major. No S or SS-ranks. They were uselessly attacking Hamon, who didn’t even care, while Raviel was summoning Phantasm Tokens to deal with them. Anything too strong for the tokens he’d crush himself.
I then quickly turned on Mana Vision again, because honestly speaking, I was expecting worse monsters from the fissure. The highest ranked anything I’ve spotted thus far has still just been B-rank. Which just shouldn’t happen with a fissure.
So I questioned where all the power from the fissure was going, and I was ready to risk the headache for it.
That is when I realized why Agunan couldn’t take down the demon. At least not in his humanoid form. The demon was sucking in a good half of the power coming from the fissure. Its dark crimson skin had turned bright red, and it was literally glowing with power.
… yeah. That can’t be good.
“Uria! Help Agunan. Attack that demon with Hyper Blaze!” I commanded the one Sacred Beast that was free.
He did as ordered, and the massive flame engulfed both Agunan and the demon. I know Agunan can take fire of that scale, so I wasn’t afraid of him getting caught in the flame.
Sadly, when the flame subsided, it didn’t seem to have had much effect on the demon. We need something way more powerful.
“... yeah.” I muttered to myself. “I have them out already. Let’s do it.” I decided, as I got what might be my most powerful monster out of the Collection.
“Raviel, Hamon. Annihilate the small fry!” I commanded.
I wanted to get the weak monsters out of the way first, because I’m about to cut down on my available firepower.
After a Cerulean Skyfire from Hamon, most of the weak monsters were down, and Raviel’s tokens would deal with the rest.
“Gather, my Sacred Beasts!” I then commanded, and the three formed a line behind me.
“The Spirit Gates have been opened and the three Phantasm have been summoned.
Now their might shall be combined into one, and the world shall crumble.
Almighty Phantasm appears.
Armityle the Chaos Phantasm!”
My three Sacred Beasts fused together, leaving behind one combined form. He was massive. His upright body exceeded Exodia in size. And if you add his stupidly long tail, Armityle is over 200 meters from head to tail.
And showing his command over everything, as soon as he appeared, everything around us stopped. The sounds of the battle ceased, and the only one still moving was Exodia, working hard to repair the fissure.
It was probably his aura. I felt it, but it really didn’t affect me. Armityle just has … an extremely commanding aura that demands that you pay attention to him.
I mean, he is the strongest God I’ve summoned. Well, maybe other than Exodia. I don’t really know which one of the two is stronger, and I really don’t want to know.
“Armityle.” I said quietly, but with a lot of assertion in my voice. And despite the quiet volume, I’m sure everyone heard it. “Annihilate that demon.”
Armityle did as ordered, creating a giant black and lavender orb. He then launched it at the demon, despite Agunan still being right next to the creature.
I was a bit worried for Agunan, but as it turns out, I didn’t have to be. Armityle’s attack just softly pushed him aside, as it engulfed the demon. And after the orb dissipated, nothing was left where the demon had been standing.
From there, the rest was easy. The thieves, the ones that hadn’t been subdued yet, simply surrendered. They had seen Armityle’s power, and Exodia didn’t frighten them much less.
The villagers were in a mix of fear and awe, so after I unsummoned my Gods, my team spent some time in the village reassuring everyone.
We then took the thieves with us, and headed for the Hero’s country. They had the stolen books with them, so we could return those while at it, but the main reason we are going is because I’ll let the Hero’s country deal with them.
I made sure each of them had Skill Drain installed into them, so they could never again use a single skill.
Oh. And one last thing. The reward for stopping the demon and the fissure. I got the two sets already promised, Absolute Powerforce and Hidden Arsenal 2. But because the fissure did end up appearing, I got the extra reward of The Shining Darkness.