The Empire of Aurelion had known peace for too long.
That was the conclusion General Varrick came to as he stared from the battlements, watching the sky darken—not with clouds, but with movement. Shapes. Wings. Too many to count.
"The Cabrarra…" he muttered. "Not just one general."
The alarm bells began to scream.
A Retreat Still Bleeding
Rocky leaned against a cracked stone pillar inside the eastern watchtower, his chest heaving. His armor was dented, his left arm burned raw by wind blades, and his mana reserves were dangerously low. Every breath felt like inhaling glass.
Beside him, Happy the Harpy crouched on the edge of the tower roof, wings folded tightly, golden eyes scanning the sky with sharp awareness.
She was no longer hostile.
The summoning mark—faint but unmistakable—glowed on Rocky's forearm.
Tamed Entity: Happy (Harpy General – Degraded State)
Loyalty: Unstable
Bond Type: Forced Recognition
Rocky clenched his jaw.
"So this is what it means to be a Summoner…" he murmured.
Happy clicked her tongue, feathers bristling.
"Do not misunderstand, ground-walker. I follow because the system binds me. Not because I kneel."
Rocky gave a tired smirk. "Yeah. Same here."
They had barely escaped the first invasion.
The battle against Happy—against the first Cabrarra general—had been chaos. The empire's eastern defenses had crumbled in under an hour. Rocky and Happy had fought not to win, but to buy time. Time for civilians to flee. Time for the capital to prepare.
Time that had cost them everything.
And now—
"They're coming again," Happy said quietly.
Rocky followed her gaze.
The sky裂裂裂—split open with war cries.
The Generals Descend
They came like a storm.
Wyverns with obsidian scales. Insectoid war-beasts stitched with runes. Winged humanoids clad in bone armor, each radiating pressure far greater than Happy had during her invasion.
Seven.
No—eight Cabrarra generals.
Each one a walking calamity.
The system reacted instantly.
⚠️ WARNING ⚠️
Multiple High-Rank Hostiles Detected
Empire Survival Probability: 12.7%
Rocky felt his stomach drop.
"So this is the real invasion…" he whispered.
One of the generals descended lower than the rest—a towering figure with four wings, each feather edged like a blade. His helm was shaped like a screaming face.
"I am Vaelrix, Sky-Tyrant of the Cabrarra," the general's voice thundered, magically amplified across the battlefield.
"Empire of Aurelion—kneel, or be erased."
Below, soldiers froze.
Some dropped their weapons.
Others screamed.
Vaelrix turned his gaze slightly—and locked eyes with Happy.
"…You," he said, voice sharpening. "You live?"
Happy stiffened.
"I do," she answered coldly. "And I chose my battlefield."
Vaelrix laughed. "Chosen? You were defeated. Tamed."
His gaze slid to Rocky.
"A human Summoner… how amusing."
The pressure slammed down like gravity doubling. Rocky dropped to one knee, blood leaking from his nose.
The system screamed inside his mind.
⚠️ Overwhelming Threat ⚠️
Retreat Recommended
Victory Conditions: None Available
Rocky understood immediately.
They could not win this.
Not now.
Understanding the Summoner's System
As chaos erupted below—mages firing desperate spells, ballistae snapping under wyvern fire—Rocky closed his eyes.
He stopped fighting the system.
And for the first time—
He listened.
Summoner systems weren't about brute force.
They were about connections.
Contracts. Growth. Risk.
The reason he had been able to tame Happy wasn't strength.
It was compatibility under pressure.
He remembered the moment clearly—the instant their wills clashed midair, when neither could retreat, and the system recognized something deeper than dominance.
Shared Intent: Survival.
Rocky opened his eyes.
"Happy," he said. "We're leaving."
Her wings flared. "Running?"
"Strategic retreat," he corrected. "If we die here, the empire loses its only Summoner."
She hesitated.
Then clicked her tongue again. "You speak like a general already."
The system pulsed.
Summoner Insight Unlocked
Command Efficiency Increased
Bond Stabilizing…
Rocky didn't smile.
He jumped from the tower.
Fighting to Escape
Happy caught him mid-fall, wings snapping open as they dove between collapsing buildings and streams of magical fire.
Below them, the city burned.
Above them, death followed.
One of the Cabrarra generals—a serpentine flyer wreathed in lightning—noticed.
"Target escaping," it hissed.
A bolt split the air.
Happy twisted violently, feathers tearing as the lightning grazed her wing. She screamed—but didn't drop Rocky.
Rocky raised his hand.
"System—override. Mana conversion. Everything."
⚠️ Warning: Life Force Integration ⚠️
Proceed?
"Yes."
The spell wasn't powerful.
It was precise.
A summoner's command, amplified by shared pain and intent.
"Happy—NOW."
She understood.
They folded their wings and vanished into the smoke, the bolt missing them by a breath.
When they landed miles beyond the city walls, both collapsed.
The empire burned behind them.
But it still stood.
Barely.
Aftermath and Oath
Happy lay on her side, wings trembling.
"You could have released me," she said quietly. "Saved yourself."
Rocky shook his head. "That's not how this works. I think."
The system chimed softly.
Bond Stabilized
Happy – Loyalty: Conditional → Cooperative
She laughed weakly. "You are a strange Summoner."
Rocky stared back toward the distant glow of fire.
"Those generals aren't done," he said. "And next time… I won't be running."
Happy slowly pushed herself up.
"Then I will fly beside you," she said.
"Not as a weapon."
"As a general."
The wind carried the screams of war from afar.
And somewhere above the burning empire, the Cabrarra generals smiled.
Because the real war—
Had only just begun.