The battlefield was already breaking.
Mana storms tore through the sky, demonic auras crushed stone into powder, and the air itself burned from overlapping authorities. Demon generals clashed against rebellion summons, and at the center of it all stood Rocky—bloodied, standing by will alone—facing a Demon Lord who treated the world like a board game.
Then—
The sound came.
Low at first.
A single note carried by the wind.
A horn.
Carbrarra's fingers paused mid-motion.
Another horn answered it.
Then another.
Not chaotic.
Not desperate.
Disciplined.
Measured.
The sound rolled across the plains like thunder restrained by order, cutting cleanly through the shrieks of demons and the roar of collapsing magic.
Rocky's head snapped toward the eastern horizon.
Risha felt it immediately—her demonic senses prickling.
"…No," she whispered.
Then her lips curved upward.
"Yes."
The March of Knights
From beyond the ruined outer districts, the earth began to tremble—not from magic, but from footsteps.
Thousands of them.
The smoke parted as lines of steel advanced in perfect formation, shields locked, spears leveled, banners snapping violently in the corrupted wind. Silver armor reflected demonic fire, turning hellish light into something defiant.
At the front rode the Imperial Knight Army.
Not scattered units.
Not survivors.
The full host.
Cavalry thundered along the flanks, warhorses armored head to hoof, eyes steady even as demonic pressure bore down on them. Mages marched between shield lines, staffs glowing in controlled rhythm, casting layered counterfields to stabilize the battlefield.
And at the very front—
A lone rider dismounted.
Sylvia.
Her armor had been reforged, bearing scars from battles past. Her cloak was new—white edged with blue—but the sword at her side was the same one she had carried when she stood alone against Gara.
She drew it.
And raised it high.
A Knight's Oath Renewed
"KNIGHTS OF THE EMPIRE!"
Her voice cut through the chaos—not magically amplified, but sharpened by conviction.
"You see before you a battlefield meant to break us."
The knight lines tightened.
"You see demons who believe strength alone decides the fate of the world."
Shields locked.
"You see a summoner who stood when we could not—who bled when retreat was the only answer—and who never abandoned us."
Sylvia turned, her blade pointing straight toward Carbrarra.
"We do not arrive to save him."
Her sword dropped.
"We arrive to stand with him."
The response was deafening.
Steel struck steel.
Spears slammed against shields.
A single unified roar rose from the army.
"FOR THE EMPIRE!"
The sound rippled outward like a physical force.
Several lesser demons faltered.
Some generals narrowed their eyes.
Carbrarra laughed softly.
"…How nostalgic."
Rebellion Meets Order
The knights charged.
Not recklessly.
Precisely.
Cavalry slammed into demonic flanks at angles designed to disrupt formations rather than overwhelm them. Shield walls advanced methodically, absorbing demonic magic under layered enchantments. Archers fired not volleys—but patterns, arrows tipped with sealing sigils designed by imperial arcanists.
Happy screamed with exhilaration as she dove alongside gryphon riders, sky forces finally meeting equal discipline.
"Yes! Finally—people who don't panic!"
Morvane repositioned immediately, Iron Warden domain expanding to protect advancing infantry.
Risha felt it—felt the balance shift.
"…Rocky," she said quietly. "They didn't come to follow you."
Rocky swallowed.
"They came because they chose to."
The Summoner System pulsed.
SYNERGY EVENT DETECTED
REBELLION + IMPERIAL ARMY = UNITED FRONT
COMMAND EFFICIENCY INCREASED
Rocky raised his hand again—not as a summoner.
As a commander.
"Right flank—advance under Morvane's cover!"
"Risha—coordinate suppression with knight mages!"
"Happy—air superiority, no deep dives!"
Orders flowed.
And they were followed.
Sylvia and the Demon Lord
Sylvia walked forward alone.
Each step carried her closer to Carbrarra.
Generals moved to intercept—
Carbrarra lifted a finger.
They stopped.
"You," he said, looking at her directly. "You are the knight who refused to die."
Sylvia raised her sword.
"I'm the one who learned when to retreat," she replied. "And when to return."
Their auras met.
Steel against abyss.
For a moment, even Rocky couldn't breathe.
Carbrarra studied her.
"…Interesting," he said again, as he had with Rocky. "The Empire still produces anomalies."
Sylvia didn't answer.
She attacked.
Her strike wasn't meant to kill.
It was meant to signal.
The blow clashed against Carbrarra's raised hand, shockwaves ripping outward and knocking nearby generals back midair. The Demon Lord slid half a step backward.
Half.
Every being on the battlefield felt it.
Carbrarra's smile widened.
A Battlefield Rewritten
The fight escalated instantly.
Knights clashed with generals' forces, rebellion summons coordinated with military discipline, and for the first time since the invasion began—
The demon advance stalled.
Not stopped.
But checked.
Rocky stood between Sylvia and Risha, watching the impossible unfold.
This wasn't victory.
But it wasn't annihilation either.
It was something Carbrarra had not anticipated.
A world that refused to collapse neatly.
Carbrarra looked around, eyes gleaming.
"…Very well," he said. "This lesson grows interesting."
He raised his hand again.
Darkness coiled.
"Let us see how long unity lasts."
The sky darkened further.
The war had entered its next phase.
And for the first time—
Humanity was no longer fighting alone.
The battlefield was already drowning in mana when Rocky finally understood something simple and terrifying:
Holding back was no longer protecting anyone.
The knights were standing. The rebellion was fighting. Sylvia was still alive.
But Carbrarra was smiling.
That smile meant the Demon Lord was still measuring them.
Rocky stepped forward.
Not shouting. Not raging.
He inhaled.
Then he opened everything.
The Summoner System did not flare.
It unsealed.
The air around Rocky collapsed inward, forming a vast, layered summoning array that stretched across the battlefield, across the sky, across memory itself. Runes older than the Empire ignited—some clean, some fractured, some half-buried in forgotten wars.
Every summon Rocky had ever formed a bond with— Every being that had once answered his call—
All of them answered at once.
ABSOLUTE SUMMONING PROTOCOL — OVERRIDE
WARNING: MANA OUTPUT UNLIMITED
WARNING: REALITY STRAIN CRITICAL
STATUS: ACCEPTED
The ground cracked.
The sky tore.
And the past came roaring back.
The Guardian Wolf
The first presence was not loud.
It was heavy.
A massive shadow stepped out of the summoning light, paws sinking into stone like wet clay. Silver-white fur rippled with ancient runes, eyes glowing with calm, predatory wisdom.
The Guardian Wolf.
Rocky's first true summon.
The one that taught him what it meant to protect instead of destroy.
It lifted its head—
And howled.
The sound slammed into the battlefield like a wall, freezing lesser demons mid-charge, forcing generals to brace instinctively. A domain of protection spread outward, reinforcing every ally within range.
Sylvia felt her sword grow lighter.
The knights stood taller.
Carbrarra's eyes narrowed.
"…That beast," he murmured. "It remembers worlds."
Quadrillions of Slimes
Then the ground melted.
Blue, green, crimson, crystal, void-touched—
Slimes poured out of every crack, every shadow, every fragment of broken earth. They did not swarm chaotically.
They organized.
Quadrillions of slimes flowed like a living ocean, absorbing demonic attacks, dissolving corruption, reforming endlessly. Entire demon battalions vanished beneath the tide, screams muffled as regeneration failed against infinite consumption.
Lysreth stared, stunned.
"…That's not a summon," she whispered.
"That's an ecosystem."
The Gravitational Wrath Dragon
The sky screamed.
A singularity formed above the battlefield, clouds spiraling inward as gravity itself bent toward a descending colossus.
Scales like collapsed stars. Wings that warped space. Eyes burning with compressed mass.
The Gravitational Wrath Dragon emerged fully—
And the battlefield tilted.
Demon generals were slammed into the ground by crushing force. Flying units fell like broken meteors. Entire sections of Carbrarra's army were pinned, unable to move, bones fracturing under invisible pressure.
The dragon roared.
And gravity obeyed.
Carbrarra took one step back.
Just one.
Millions of Elementals & Goblins
Fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, ice—
Millions of elementals erupted into existence, each one stabilizing the battlefield, countering demonic mana with raw natural force. Storms formed where needed. Walls of stone rose where knights advanced.
Between them—
Millions of goblins.
Not weak. Not chaotic.
Veterans.
Engineers. Saboteurs. Shield-bearers.
They flooded supply lines, dismantled demonic formations, laughing as they fought with brutal efficiency learned through countless wars at Rocky's side.
Happy blinked.
"…Wait, when did you have this many?"
Rocky didn't answer.
He was still summoning.
Samurai Ghosts — Yūrei
The temperature dropped.
Mist rolled across the battlefield as translucent figures emerged—armored warriors with cracked masks and glowing eyes. Each carried a blade forged from regret and duty.
Yūrei.
Samurai who had died under Rocky's command—and chose to return anyway.
They moved silently, cutting through generals' guards, striking pressure points in reality itself. No roar. No battle cry.
Just inevitability.
Sylvia felt them pass her—and bowed her head instinctively.
Lucifer, Bearer of Excalibur
The light changed.
Golden.
Heavy with judgment.
A familiar presence stepped out of a radiant summoning circle, wings unfurled, expression unreadable.
Lucifer.
No longer chained. No longer broken.
In his hand—
Excalibur.
The blade hummed, resonating with Rocky's will instead of resisting it.
Lucifer looked at Carbrarra.
"…You never learned," he said calmly. "Power taken is always weaker than power chosen."
Excalibur ignited.
Several demon generals recoiled.
Goddess of Victory — Nikkei
Finally—
Silence.
Then footsteps.
Not heavy. Not crushing.
Confident.
A woman stepped forward, clad in armor that reflected every triumph ever achieved on that battlefield. Her presence did not oppress.
It uplifted.
Wounds closed. Fatigue vanished. Broken morale reignited.
The Goddess of Victory, Nikkei, smiled.
"Well," she said lightly, looking around.
"This looks winnable now."
The knights roared.
The rebellion surged.
The battlefield transformed from desperate resistance into overwhelming counterforce.
Carbrarra's Smile Fades
For the first time—
Carbrarra did not laugh.
He stood amid collapsing demonic lines, watching an army that should not exist tear through his forces with terrifying coordination.
"…So this is your answer," he said quietly.
Rocky stepped forward, surrounded by guardians, gods, ghosts, and monsters.
"This is what happens," Rocky said, voice steady, eyes burning,
"when you give a summoner time to remember who he's fought for."
The Demon Lord straightened.
Then smiled again—
Sharper now.
"Good," Carbrarra said.
"Then let us see…
which past survives the future."
The war reached a point of no return.