SSS-Ranked Awakening: I Can Only Summon Mythical Beasts - Chapter 514: Dismantling A Structure
Chapter 514: Dismantling A Structure
The forest was quiet. Not the kind of quiet that came from peace, but the kind that followed fear.
Mist hung low between the trees, drifting through shattered trunks and claw-marked earth. The scent of blood and burned bark still lingered from the previous days of relentless hunting.
Corpses had long since been devoured or absorbed, leaving only scorched ground and gouged soil as proof that something monstrous had passed through.
At the center of a small clearing stood Damien.
Before him, Luton quivered.
The Stellar Slime’s once deep violet body now shimmered with streaks of darker indigo, faint motes of light swirling within its semi-translucent form like distant stars. Its size had increased slightly, but more than that — its presence had changed.
He could feel the dense, heavy, and contained every within the Stellar Slime.
“Grade Two,” Damien muttered quietly.
Luton rippled proudly in response, a faint pulse spreading through its gelatinous body before settling into stillness again.
The breakthrough had not been explosive. There had been no violent shockwave or thunderous roar. Just compression. Condensation. Power folding inward and stabilizing into something far more dangerous.
Damien crouched and extended a hand. The slime rose slightly to meet it, cool and smooth against his palm.
“You’ve become stronger than most things in this forest now.”
Luton responded by forming a small tendril that wrapped gently around his wrist before retracting.
Damien stood and surveyed the trees around him.
For weeks, he had hunted relentlessly — mana beasts, demons, anything with a core worth absorbing. It had been necessary. He needed growth. His summons needed growth. Strength was survival.
But now…
Now something had shifted.
He wasn’t surviving anymore.
He was dominating.
He could feel it in the forest’s behavior. The way lesser beasts avoided certain regions. The way demonic signatures no longer prowled openly near his established hunting grounds.
They had noticed him.
Good.
Damien’s eyes sharpened.
“If they’ve noticed me,” he said quietly, “then it’s time I return the favor.”
He turned his gaze toward the deeper parts of the forest — the older regions. The places where mana grew thick and heavy. Where trees were broader, shadows darker, and presence stronger.
That was where the intelligent demons operated.
Not the feral ones.
Not the mindless attackers.
The thinkers.
The organizers.
The ones who sent others to fight while they observed from the rear.
Damien had encountered two already. Both capable of speech. Both capable of strategy. Both far more dangerous than ordinary demons.
And both had hinted at something else.
A sort of structure with a purpose.
They weren’t merely invading. They seemed to be stationed.
Which meant one thing.
There was a network. And networks could be dismantled. Actually, they needed to be dismantled.
Damien raised a hand, and mana surged lightly at his fingertips.
“Aquila.”
A circle of summoning light formed in the air before him, wind spiraling upward as the great griffin emerged in a controlled burst of golden radiance.
Massive wings unfurled, feathers glinting in filtered sunlight as Aquila landed gracefully upon the earth. Its golden eyes locked onto Damien immediately.
“You’re scouting,” Damien said.
Aquila lowered its head slightly.
Damien extended his senses outward, recalling the faint demonic signatures he’d encountered during his recent hunts. He isolated three distinct directions.
Northwest.
Deep south.
And slightly east — closer, but denser.
He pointed toward the east first.
“High altitude. Wide circle. Don’t engage. Just observe.”
Aquila launched into the air without hesitation, powerful wings slicing through the mist as it ascended above the canopy.
Damien watched until the griffin disappeared beyond the treetops.
Then he sat.
Luton settled beside him, spreading slightly across the ground like a quiet guardian.
He closed his eyes.
His senses extended outward — not fully, not recklessly — but enough to feel the forest’s rhythm.
Mana beasts.
Scattered demonic traces.
Wind patterns.
For a long moment, everything felt… normal.
Then a faint flicker.
Coordinated movement.
Two demonic signatures moving in parallel formation.
They seemed to be patrolling rather than wandering.
Damien’s eyes opened slowly.
So they really were organized.
A slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
“Good,” he murmured.
He preferred intelligent prey.
Minutes passed before a sharp gust of wind announced Aquila’s return. The griffin descended in a smooth arc, landing silently before him.
Damien didn’t need words. The bond conveyed enough.
Three clusters.
The eastern one was the smallest — but active.
Five to seven demons.
Two intelligent.
The southern cluster was fortified.
The northwestern cluster… different.
Stationary.
He stood immediately.
“Eastern first.”
It was the closest.
The smallest.
The cleanest starting point.
He wasn’t going to rush blindly.
No.
He would dissect them.
One by one.
He placed a hand on Aquila’s side and vaulted onto its back in one fluid motion. Luton leapt upward, adhering to his shoulder before flattening itself comfortably.
“Low glide,” Damien instructed.
Aquila lifted off again, this time maintaining a controlled altitude just above the canopy.
The forest passed beneath them in a blur of dark green and shifting shadow. Damien kept his presence suppressed, essence tightly condensed within his core.
He didn’t want to be sensed yet.
As they approached the eastern region, the air subtly changed.
Heavier.
Darker.
Not overwhelmingly so — but enough.
Aquila banked slightly, circling.
Through gaps in the canopy, Damien saw it.
A clearing.
Charred earth.
Crude structures made from bone and bark.
And demons.
One paced slowly near the edge.
Two sat near what appeared to be a central pit.
Another stood guard near a narrow pathway leading outward.
And near the center, there were two figures.
Upright.
Still.
Speaking.
Damien narrowed his eyes. ’Intelligence confirmed.’
He watched for nearly ten minutes.
Patterns.
Patrol rotations.
Communication gestures.
It wasn’t random. It was disciplined.
Which meant someone above them existed.
Damien felt a flicker of excitement. This was no longer hunting.
This was dismantling a command structure.
He tapped Aquila lightly.
“Pull back.”
The griffin withdrew without drawing attention.
Once they were safely beyond sensory range, Damien signaled for descent.
They landed in a secluded patch of forest, well away from the clearing.
Damien dismounted.
Luton dropped to the ground beside him.
He stood silently for a moment.
No reckless charge.
No dramatic assault.
He would isolate and capture if possible. Then he would proceed to extract information.
Elimination was last resort.
He looked toward the direction of the clearing, eyes calm, focused.
“They’re organized,” he said softly.
Luton quivered in anticipation.
Damien flexed his fingers once, essence flowing through his limbs like controlled current.
“We begin tonight.”
The forest breeze shifted.
Somewhere far deeper within the woods, something stirred faintly — almost imperceptibly.
But Damien didn’t notice.
He was already planning.
The first cut.
And once he started, he would not stop.
The apex predator of Twin Disasters had made a decision.
And the purge was about to begin.
