Chapter 453: The Sixth Summon

The ground trembled beneath Damien’s boots as the air rippled with mana pressure. The entire area was chaos — the shattered remains of trees and carcasses of beasts glowing faintly where their essence had been drained.

Above it all, the Gate still loomed like a living wound in the air, its surface now covered in web-like cracks of dull crimson light that pulsed in rhythm with General Ivaan’s heartbeat.

Damien’s lungs burned. His coat was torn, his knuckles bleeding, but he refused to step back. His every sense screamed that if Ivaan wasn’t stopped now, the entire continent would pay for it.

“Ivaan!” Damien’s voice cut through the storm of mana. “Stop this! You’ll tear everything apart!”

But the general didn’t even flinch. His eyes were voids of black light now, veins throbbing at his temples as blood continued to stream down from his nostrils.

He was still chanting—his voice guttural, like the language of something that wasn’t meant for human tongues. The air thickened with every word, essence vibrating violently in response.

When the last syllable left his lips, a column of black-and-crimson energy erupted skyward, shredding clouds in its ascent. The trees bent outward from the pressure, animals miles away scattering in terror.

And then… silence.

Ivaan staggered forward, panting heavily. His armor hung in tatters, but his eyes gleamed with manic triumph. “It’s cracking,” he hissed. “After all this while… after everything—I can finally fix it.”

Damien’s gaze hardened. “Fix it? You call unleashing something sealed behind that fixing anything?”

The general turned slowly, eyes bloodshot but sharp with purpose. “You wouldn’t understand. You were never there.”

“Then make me,” Damien snapped. “Tell me why you’re doing this!”

For a heartbeat, Ivaan almost looked human again. The fury dimmed, replaced by exhaustion — and something like sorrow. He looked up at the Gate, voice low.

“I came from the Eastern Shirefort Continent. Over a year ago, I led a garrison against a certain rift. The Rift of Rulva.”

” It was an anomaly not unlike this Gate. I thought we could contain it.” He clenched his fists. “But we failed. My men were consumed, my city erased. And some time later, I realized something—the same energy existed here, in Delwig’s forests. A stronger but similar seal pattern.”

He turned toward Damien, lips curling into a grim smile. “Do you know what it means to lose all you love and care about, boy? To watch the world unravel because you didn’t act fast enough?”

Damien didn’t answer.

Ivaan knew his answer. After all, he knew about Damien’s background as the exiled son of the Terrace family.

The fallen heir of the family thought to have died some time back with some even speculating that his talent had been gifted to his twin brother.

Almost all of Shirefort knew about this and Ivaan coming from Shirefort just made Damien understand how he’d come to know of his background.

It still didn’t explain how Ivaan knew he was the one but it at least explained how he knew about the story.

Ivaan went on, his voice trembling but resolute.

“By breaking the seal?!” Damien barked. “You’ll kill everyone in Delwig! You’ll wipe the city off the face of the earth.”

Ivaan’s reply came in a cold whisper. “If I can break this seal and control the entity within, I’ll be able to exert revenge on those who caused destruction upon me and my city. Those who opened the rift. I’ll start here, using this city to announce my return.”

That was the moment Damien knew there was no reaching him.

He stepped back weakly, exhaling through his teeth. He couldn’t barely walk as it was but he forced himself.

His core flared instinctively, magic essence burning hot and blue. “You’ve lost it,” he muttered. “So that’s how far you’ll go to feel like a savior.”

Ivaan laughed hoarsely. “You talk like you’re any different. You’re just afraid to admit what you are—another weapon built to destroy.”

Damien didn’t reply. The truth hit deeper than he wanted to admit.

The ground cracked beneath them as the last of Ivaan’s energy gathered into a condensed sphere above his palm. “I’ll end this, Damien,” the general said, voice breaking. “And if I must cut through you to do it—so be it!”

The explosion of power that followed sent a shockwave ripping through the clearing. Damien barely managed to shield himself with shadow essence, his boots skidding through the soil.

He could feel it—his body was on its last reserves. The fight, the chase, the interrogation, and now this—it had eaten into his stamina more than he realized. But worse was the gnawing truth in his chest: He couldn’t kill Ivaan. Not without losing himself entirely.

Still, he had no choice left.

He whispered to his system, “Convert three-quarters of my remaining Life Force to Magic Essence.”

The all too familiar panel appeared in his line of sight.

«Converting 33,450 units of Life Force to Magic Essence!»

«+334,500 Units of Magic Essence!»

The surge hit him like lightning. His veins burned, his heart staggered, and for a fleeting second, his vision blurred white. But then—power. Raw, unfiltered, suffocating power. His aura expanded until even the air seemed to buckle.

Ivaan froze mid-step, disbelief flickering across his face. “That… that amount—” He blinked, eyes wide. “You’re not human.”

Damien’s expression didn’t change. “Maybe not anymore.”

He raised a hand, the energy around him swirling into a corona of deep blue light that crackled and screamed like living flame.

For the first time, Ivaan hesitated. But his hesitation quickly turned to greed. His expression twisted into something feral. “So that’s how you’ve been doing it… your core can hold that much power.”

He dismissed his own spell, launching himself toward Damien like a predator. “Then I’ll take it for myself!”

He moved faster than most eyes could follow. But Damien had already seen through the motion. He pivoted slightly, sidestepped, and brought his palm forward.

For a heartbeat, their energies clashed—two storms colliding. The resulting blast tore up the ground and cracked the trees, throwing both men backward. Damien’s coat was shredded by the force; Ivaan’s arm hung limp and bleeding, yet the man kept laughing.

“You can’t stop it now,” Ivaan spat, glancing at the Gate. “The seals are breaking! Even if I die here, it’s too late!”

Damien’s gaze darted toward the Gate—and sure enough, the crimson cracks had grown, faint light seeping through as if something inside was breathing.

His teeth clenched. He couldn’t hold back anymore.

“System,” he rasped, “summon the sixth mythical beast.”

«Summoning a Random Mythical Beast…»

«-258,000 units of Magic Essence!»

The words echoed in his mind, and immediately, the world seemed to still. A heavy silence replaced the chaos, as if the forest itself were holding its breath. Then, with a deafening crack, a blue portal split open before him.

Wind tore through the clearing. The scent of ozone filled the air. Aquila, Fenrir, Luton—all of them had been titans in their own right, but this portal felt different. The essence leaking from it wasn’t just power—it was purpose. Something ancient. Something that chose its wielder.

Ivaan stopped his approach, shielding his eyes from the radiance. “What are you—what are you bringing forth, Damien?!”

Damien didn’t answer. His knees almost gave out as the summoning drained what little energy he had left, his lifeforce flickering like a candle in wind.

He stared into the glowing circle that hovered midair, expecting another colossus—a towering hound, a dragon, perhaps even a phoenix. Something to match the level of essence he’d just spent.

But the portal didn’t widen. It remained small—barely a meter across. The light dimmed to a steady pulse, and from within, something moved.

A faint silhouette. Small. Slender. Almost humanoid.

The air grew still. Even the Gate’s rumbling seemed to hesitate.

Damien’s hand tightened instinctively around his weapon. Sweat trickled down his temple. Whatever was coming out wasn’t massive—but the pressure emanating from it was suffocating.

Ivaan took a cautious step back, his instincts screaming at him despite his arrogance. “What… what is that?”

The answer came in silence. The blue portal rippled once, the faint sound of a heartbeat echoing across the clearing—one so heavy that the ground cracked beneath their feet.

Damien’s lips parted in disbelief as he felt it—a resonance. The same type of energy that the Gate itself was exuding, yet not malevolent. Balanced. Controlled.

Blue lightning crackled across the circle, illuminating the small form within.

He couldn’t tell if he’d made a miracle or a mistake.

“Come on,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “Please be worth it.”

The portal pulsed once more, brighter than ever, until the entire clearing was swallowed in its light.

And then…

A single step echoed as the being inside finally crossed through.

Damien barely managed to raise his head. Ivaan’s expression was frozen between awe and terror.

Whatever emerged was small—childlike in stature—but the shadow it cast stretched across the entire clearing, vast and infinite. Its eyes opened, glowing an endless, calm red and black.

Damien exhaled shakily, every nerve screaming from the strain.

He whispered the only words his mind could muster.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

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