Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons

Floyd's destination, his staging ground for the most important shot in human history.

One bullet to save them all.

He'd return to find them worshipping his courage. The children would call him stepfather. The women would compete for his attention.

Even that arrogant Gates character would have to acknowledge his contribution.

Finally getting the respect I deserve.

Floyd pushed through the exit door, emerging into the basement of the target building. His weapon hummed with lethal charge, ready to deliver salvation through superior firepower.

Time to be the hero this world needs.

...

Arthur watched Floyd disappear into the stairwell with cold satisfaction. The man's heroic delusions would buy them precious time, assuming the massive demon took the bait, as Arthur had planned.

Forty seconds until he arrives here, maybe less.

"Hurry up!" Arthur commanded, his photon weapon tracking the remaining defective demons.

"We need to kill all these demons before that big guy arrives!"

Every second counts now.

The security team responded instantly, their weapons painting the corridor with deadly light. Energy beams carved through corrupted flesh as they quickly eliminated the remaining threats.

ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

Dave moved with surprising fluidity, his skills evident in every calculated shot. Each energy discharge found its mark with surgical precision.

He is definitely a natural talent. He'll be a good person to have on our side if we survive this.

Gates pressed himself against the wall, his wounded shoulder forgotten as adrenaline flooded his system. Even injured, his mind calculated odds and probabilities.

His expression says we're fucked.

"Arthur," Gates called out, "what's the plan when that thing gets here?"

Good question.

Arthur's eyes tracked the approaching demon's progress through the cityscape for a few seconds before he focused back on the demons. Each leap carried it dozens of meters closer, its massive form leaving crater-like footprints in rooftops and concrete.

Approximately thirty-eight seconds.

"We hold our position and pray the merge happens quickly. I have a few plans set in motion to try and delay it, but I don't know if they will work as intended."

Not much of a plan. But it's what we have.

The countdown timer in his peripheral vision pulsed with increasing urgency. Numbers that had seemed abstract now carried the weight of survival itself.

[00:00:57]

Fifty-seven seconds until the merge.

Fifty-seven seconds until real power activates.

The remaining defective demons fell under concentrated fire, their corrupted bodies dissolving into acrid smoke. The immediate threat was being neutralised, but the real threat was still making its way.

Through the shattered window, the massive demon's form became increasingly visible. Unlike the mindless creatures they'd been fighting, this entity was something else entirely.

It's on a completely different league, we can't compete...even if we wanted to. It seems like I need to risk it.

"Sir," Dave reported, "immediate area secured. All hostiles eliminated."

For now.

Arthur nodded grimly. The defective demons had been appetisers—this was the main course.

Atmosphere of impending doom. Can't blame them.

Dave checked his weapon's energy levels with a frown. "Sir, what's our tactical assessment against that thing?"

Honest assessment? Most of you here will be dead. I can only try to save myself, Gates and perhaps you if I get the chance.

"It's too powerful for our current weapons," Arthur replied tersely.

"These weapons were designed for lesser threats."

Much fewer threats.

The massive demon's approach sent tremors through the buildings it stepped on as it made its way towards them. Each impact of its feet against concrete sent vibrations through steel and stone.

Getting closer. Maybe twenty-two seconds.

Through the window, Arthur caught glimpses of the creature's true size. Standing easily at eight feet tall, its muscular frame suggested strength that could tear through buildings like paper.

Four arms ending in claws that could shred steel. An elite-demon is putting us in such a difficult situation...haha.

Arthur couldn't help but laugh inwardly. He had slaughtered epic demons and superior demons like they were nothing in Armageddon, yet here? He was being pushed to the corner by a mere elite demon.

One that he wouldn't even bother paying attention to.

The demon's eyes held millennia of accumulated malice towards the human race.

Gates wiped sweat from his forehead despite the strong wind coming through the window. "Arthur, please tell me you have a backup plan."

The backup plan involves not dying.

"Working on it. Just don't do anything stupid, act like a vase. I will tell you what to do if I need you to do anything, other than that. Don't move, not an inch."

The demon's laughter echoed across the distance, a sound that made glass vibrate and metal groan.

Each chuckle carried harmonics that seemed designed to inspire terror in the hearts of those who heard it.

Psychological warfare. It enjoys the fear.

Arthur's photon weapon felt inadequate against something that massive. The energy beams that had devastated defective demons would probably feel like mosquito bites.

[00:00:35]

Thirty-five seconds until the merge...I need to buy around twenty seconds, when this thing could simply kill everyone in five seconds or maybe less.

The massive demon landed on a building three blocks away, its impact sending shock waves through the surrounding structures. Windows shattered for hundreds of meters in every direction.

Raw physical power. Completely beyond normal parameters.

"Everyone, stay calm," Arthur commanded, his voice carrying over to the people inside. "Hold positions and wait, stay calm."

The demon began its final approach, each leap bringing it closer to their position. Arthur's perception tracked its trajectory.

Eight blocks. Six and a half. Five blocks.

Dave raised his weapon, energy cells glowing with deadly charge. "Sir, should we engage when it's in range?"

Engage with what? Are you mad or mentally dead?

"Don't you dare do anything stupid! If you want to engage, then go ahead and leave this building before engaging. Otherwise, don't you dare do anything else, or I will kill you before it does."

The countdown timer continued its relentless march toward transformation.

[00:00:32]