Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons
Chapter 440: Two sides

Chapter 440: Two sides

The guardian demon’s senses were far more acute than any human’s, constantly scanning for threats that might approach from any direction. Its supernatural awareness detected the lingering traces of demonic activity that had passed through the area, cataloguing scent trails and energy signatures that painted a three-dimensional map of recent supernatural movement.

As they drove through what had once been a thriving suburban neighbourhood, the true scope of the dimensional crisis became apparent. Houses stood empty, their windows dark and their yards overgrown with vegetation that seemed somehow wrong, too green, too vibrant, as the plants themselves had been touched by otherworldly energy.

Occasionally, they passed groups of survivors making their way toward established safe zones, their belongings packed into whatever vehicles they could find or carried in hastily assembled packs. These refugees moved with haunted expressions of people who had seen their reality fundamentally altered, their assumptions about the world’s stability shattered beyond repair.

"Contact ahead," the driver announced, his voice carrying the professional calm of someone trained for combat operations. "Looks like a small group of refugees flagging us down."

Gates immediately activated the truck’s external communication system. Gates glanced at the space inside the large truck and decided that they had some space for some more.

Besides, one of these survivors might have a powerful talent worth rescuing, and if there wasn’t, then so be it. He was saving people anyway.

"We’re en route to a priority target, but we can provide emergency assistance. What’s your status?"

A woman’s voice crackled through the speakers, fear and exhaustion evident in every word. "Please, we have wounded here. My son... something attacked our convoy an hour ago. My son managed to defeat it, but he was greatly injured in the process. We’re running out of medical supplies."

Without hesitation, Gates ordered the driver to stop. The truck pulled to the side of the damaged road, its emergency lights activating to signal their presence to both the refugees and any other teams that might be operating in the area.

As for demons that might be attracted to the signal, the guardian that Arthur had given him was enough to completely eradicate them before Gates could catch a glimpse of them.

As the team prepared to provide assistance, the guardian demon changed position, moving to establish a defensive perimeter around the stopped vehicle. Its supernatural senses detected no immediate threats, but the creature remained alert, ready to respond to any danger that might emerge from the chaos surrounding them.

This was the reality of their new world: every act of compassion carried risk, every mission to help others required constant vigilance against threats that defied conventional understanding. Yet they continued forward, driven by the knowledge that they possessed the power to make a difference in a world that desperately needed help.

...

Whilst Arthur’s teams and summons moved around the globe, saving newly awakened humans, gathering allies, training them and making them become powerhouses capable of standing against the dimensional crisis, the military hierarchy remained locked in their celebratory mindset.

In their minds, they had achieved the impossible—they had killed Arthur Fate, the one who had been a constant hidden thorn in their throats ever since his escape from the base. The man who had humiliated their forces, exposed their weaknesses, and demonstrated capabilities that competed and overwhelmed their forces.

He had finally been eliminated through overwhelming firepower and strategic planning.

Near a dimensional rift that pulsed with malevolent energy, James stood with his arms crossed, his eyes monitoring the situation like an eagle.

The captain’s imposing figure was like a powerful sentinel across the training ground that had been established in the rift’s vicinity.

He didn’t need to deal with the low-level demons coming out of that particular rift personally. His skills and experience were far beyond what was required to handle the low-level epic-rank creatures that emerged from the dimensional tear like a stream of otherworldly vermin.

Mid-range beta players with properly equipped new-awakeners could manage such threats without requiring his direct intervention.

The reason he was there was to oversee the training of the military’s best newly awakened individuals. Arthur wasn’t the only person thinking strategically about using the current crisis as an opportunity to level up newly awakened humans rapidly. The military leadership had recognised the same potential and were implementing their own accelerated development programs.

The dimensional rifts, while representing an existential threat to humanity, also provided an unprecedented opportunity for power levelling that had never existed before. Creatures from other dimensions carried experience values that far exceeded anything that new awakeners had available. For newly awakened individuals, the ability to gain multiple levels in a single day was transforming the military’s approach to supernatural warfare.

One of the high-potential new awakeners approached James after dispatching a cluster of lesser demons, his breathing slightly laboured, but his expression bright with the satisfaction of recent achievement. The notification glow that surrounded him indicated he had just earned another level-up, his fourth since the training session had begun.

As one of the new stars of the military, he was heavily focused on in regards to levelling. Naturally, that wasn’t to belittle his power; in fact, the man was very powerful with a powerful talent even among A-rank talents.

"What’s on your mind, captain?" the awakened asked, noting the distant expression that had settled across James’s features. Despite the successful elimination of multiple demonic entities and their rapid levelling, their commanding captain seemed preoccupied with thoughts that had nothing to do with the current training exercise.

James frowned, his eyes remaining fixed on the dimensional rift as purple energy crackled along its edges like supernatural lightning. He shook his head with visible effort, forcing his attention back to the present moment and his responsibilities as training supervisor.

"Don’t worry about it, just focus on levelling up. Don’t slack off when you’re making this kind of progress," he replied, his tone was clear, he didn’t want to talk about whatever was occupying his mind.