Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons-Chapter 407: Closed.

After a minute of waiting for any talent prompts from the system or any side effects on his body or mind, Arthur detected no negative side effects.

There was no overwhelming mana drain, no physical weakness, no spiritual backlash. The discard function operated as efficiently as the summoning itself.

Perfect, with that done, I can be sure that there are no hidden costs tied to discarding summons.

Understanding flooded through him with crystal clarity.

His talent didn’t just allow for his accumulation of power, but it also allowed for optimal force deployment.

He could summon exactly what each situation required and discard the ones he didn’t need, just like he was planning to do.

His consciousness dove back into the summoning space with newfound confidence. The void welcomed him with infinite potential.

Time for the real expansion. He thought, a smile forming on his face.

Five superior-rank True Demons waited in the darkness—creatures he’d slain personally during his journey through the demon territories that were outside village #420. Each one possessed power equivalent to Aamon’s devastating capabilities.

Superior-rank multiplication.

"Awaken."

The first portal tore reality like black silk. A demon with four arms and a powerful body emerged, its presence immediately dropping the ambient temperature.

Portal after portal opened as Arthur’s will imposed itself on dimensional barriers. Five superior-rank demons manifested simultaneously, their combined auras creating pressure waves that cracked concrete.

[Summons: 26/42]

Phase one is complete.

The demons knelt in perfect formation, their ancient pride subjugated to Arthur’s absolute authority. Each creature could level cities, yet they waited for commands like obedient hounds.

True demons serving human will...how ironic.

Arthur’s consciousness reached deeper into the void, selecting sixteen epic-rank lesser demons from his vast collection. Creatures of significant power but ultimately expendable nature.

Cannon fodder. They will be decent tanks for now, but once the true battle begins, they will be nothing but cannon fodder.

"Awaken. Awaken. Awaken."

His voice carried across dimensional space as eleven more portals split reality. Epic-rank entities poured through the dimensional tears—a flood of supernatural might that transformed the rooftop into a staging ground for apocalypse.

[Summons: 42/42]

Deployment complete.

Sixteen demons knelt before Arthur in perfect ranks. Five superior-rank True Demons backed by sixteen epic-rank entities.

The demons were like a small army ready to be deployed.

The wind carried distant sounds of combat as his existing forces continued demon harvesting operations. But now Arthur possessed reserves that could escalate any conflict to decisive levels.

Arthur’s smile was predatory as he surveyed his expanded forces. The game board had just gained twenty-one new pieces, each one capable of reshaping tactical situations.

Let anyone try to threaten what’s mine.

Suddenly, Arthur felt intense fluctuations emanating from the portal.

Energy started crackling around the portal in strong waves. The energy patterns that made his senses recoil.

Arthur’s eyes immediately darted towards it. He could feel the change from high in the sky.

Something’s changing. Something big.

"Wait here," Arthur commanded his demon legion before teleporting back down near the dimensional tear.

Gates immediately approached after spotting him, concern evident in his posture.

"What’s going on?"

"Not sure," Arthur replied, his spatial awareness detecting escalating distortions from the portal.

"Everyone, move away from the portal. Now!"

His voice carried absolute authority that brooked no argument.

The assembled forces, which were continuously slaughtering the demons—Gates’s subordinates, Jax’s military team, Maria, and recent recruits—responded instantly.

’Hiding next to this man is safer than any bunker.’ They all thought unanimously.

They clustered around his position like iron filings drawn to a magnet. His presence represented the only certainty in an increasingly uncertain situation.

Arthur watched the portal pulse with irregular rhythms. The steady stream of lesser demons had ceased completely. Demons were no longer trying to enter through the gate.

The scene made everyone around the portal feel like it was the calm before the storm.

The dimensional tear began expanding, its edges crackling with energies that spoke of something powerful approaching. Everyone held their breath as they watched the scene with a growing feeling of anxiety and worry.

Here it comes.

Arthur’s mana surged outward, crystallising into a massive barrier that blocked the portal from his entire force. The transparent shield hummed with protective energy capable of withstanding incredible attacks.

"Sir, what should we expect?" one of Jax’s soldiers whispered urgently, glancing at the growing portal with a worried expression.

The levelling had been nice whilst it lasted, and the growing portal presented danger.

Jax’s reborn consciousness processed the question for a few seconds.

"I don’t know. Stay alert and follow orders." Jax responded, his eyes still on the portal.

Maria’s lightning crackled nervously around her body.

"This feels different from the portal before. This is really worrying, perhaps stronger, more powerful demons are approaching," She muttered, a frown plastered on her face.

Dave’s shapeshifter abilities were still activated, his form assuming wolf-like characteristics.

The portal’s pulsing reached crescendo intensity. Energy waves rolled outward like invisible tsunamis, making nearby windows vibrate with harmonic resonance.

Maximum expansion. Whatever’s coming is—

Then, nothing.

The portal collapsed.

It was not a gradual shutdown, but an instant disappearance. The dimensional tear folded in on itself like reality reclaiming the stolen space.

The rift that pumped out demons constantly was now gone, completely gone without a trace, except for the dead bodies of the demons that littered the floor.

Silence crashed over the assembled forces like physical weight. The portal that had dominated Detroit for hours simply... ceased to exist.

Gates stared at empty air where the rift had threatened moments before. "It just... closed?"

The scene was very anticlimactic. Suspiciously anticlimactic in fact.

Arthur’s enhanced perception swept the area, detecting residual dimensional echoes but no active threats. Whatever had caused the fluctuations had either retreated or been recalled.

Was that a strategic withdrawal, or something else? If it was the former, then by whom?

Maria’s nervous energy slowly dissipated. "Is it over? Did we win?"

Dave’s wolf features gradually returned to human. "Feels... empty. Like something was pulled back."

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