SSS-Ranked Awakening: I Can Only Summon Mythical Beasts - Chapter 520: Storming The First Base II
Chapter 520: Storming The First Base II
Damien did not go far.
He had walked less than a kilometer from the abandoned stronghold when he felt it.
A pulse. Not wild or chaotic. Rather, it felt controlled and focused.
A Grade Three signature.
It didn’t take him long to figure it out. It belonged to an intelligent demon.
And it was approaching fast.
He stopped mid-step.
’So, they hadn’t abandoned it.’
They had deployed outward.
Most likely searching for the missing members of their stronghold.
And probably for him.
A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
“Good.”
He turned back.
Instead of leaving the eastern stronghold behind, he returned — silently, without haste. If a powerful demon was approaching, then others would follow.
Which meant this would become a gathering point.
And gathering points were predictable.
Predictable meant exploitable.
He re-entered the clearing and moved immediately.
“Luton.”
The slime slid from his shoulder and landed on the ground.
“Traps.”
From its Universal Space, Luton produced several compact rune-traps Damien had purchased in Galandra. Each was roughly half a foot long with a small platform at the top.
Simple design.
Deadly application.
Damien drove the first one into the ground near the main entrance of the command chamber. He placed a mid-grade essence core atop the platform.
The rune faintly activated.
He planted two more near the perimeter — concealed beneath broken bone structures and splintered bark.
Each trap carried an essence core strong enough to lure demonic attention but not powerful enough to arouse suspicion.
Bait and trigger.
He didn’t overuse them.
Four traps total.
Strategic placements.
Enough to disrupt formation without wasting resources.
When he finished, he stepped back and compressed his essence.
The approaching presence was closer now.
He climbed onto the broken frame of the main structure and waited in shadow.
Minutes passed.
The forest grew still.
Then a shape burst through the tree line.
Tall, lean, and like others bed slain, horned.
Its body plated with overlapping scales darker than the previous intelligent demons he’d faced.
Its aura was sharper.
More refined.
Grade Three.
The demon stopped at the edge of the clearing.
It surveyed the ruins.
The cracked suppression node.
The extinguished pit.
The silence.
Its eyes narrowed.
It stepped forward.
Careful.
Measured.
It sensed something wrong.
Damien did not move.
The demon advanced further into the clearing.
Its foot crossed the first trap’s proximity threshold.
The rune flared.
A binding rune shot outward like a streak of light and wrapped around the demon’s torso.
The creature roared as the binding force constricted around its essence core.
“Human filth!” it snarled.
Damien dropped.
He landed in front of it without warning and drove his fist straight into its mouth.
Teeth shattered.
The binding rune flickered under strain as the demon flexed its power violently.
Stronger than the soldiers.
Stronger than the previous intelligent ones.
But not stronger than him.
It tore one arm partially free of the rune and slashed downward.
The claw grazed Damien’s shoulder, drawing blood.
He responded instantly — gripping the demon’s wrist and twisting until the bone cracked audibly.
The rune began to fail.
He couldn’t rely on it long.
“Luton.”
The slime surged from behind and wrapped around the demon’s legs, anchoring it further.
The creature roared and released a shockwave of dark essence outward.
The nearest tree exploded into splinters.
The binding rune shattered.
Damien moved before the demon could capitalize.
He stepped inside its reach and unleashed a brutal combination — elbow to jaw, knee to ribs, palm strike to throat.
The demon staggered but retaliated with a backhand powerful enough to send Damien skidding across the clearing.
He rolled once and rose immediately.
Blood dripped from his lip.
Good.
The demon tore free from Luton’s lower hold and charged.
Damien met it head-on.
Their fists collided with a thunderclap.
The impact cratered the ground between them.
The demon grinned through broken teeth.
“You destabilize what must remain sealed!”
Damien answered with a rising uppercut that snapped the creature’s head backward.
It countered with a knee to his abdomen.
He absorbed it.
Drove forward.
Grabbed both horns.
And slammed the demon’s face into the fractured stone disk at the center of the clearing.
The ancient stone cracked further under impact.
The demon roared and unleashed another pulse.
Luton recoiled briefly — then surged forward again, wrapping around the demon’s midsection.
Damien used that moment.
He jumped.
Spun.
And brought his heel down onto the demon’s skull with crushing force.
The ground split.
The demon’s body went limp for half a second.
That was enough.
He grabbed its head and twisted violently.
The spine snapped.
He didn’t stop there.
He drove his fist into its chest cavity and crushed the core region completely before it could attempt self-destruction.
Silence returned.
Luton devoured the corpse in seconds.
Damien stood slowly, chest rising steadily.
He could feel it now. There was movement.
More signatures. Three of them.
No…
Four.
All approaching from different directions.
The Grade Three had not come alone.
It had come first.
Scout or enforcer.
And now the others were converging.
Damien wiped blood from his chin.
So they had indeed been searching.
Which meant the stronghold was still an active rally point.
Perfect.
He walked calmly toward the edge of the clearing and reset two traps that had not triggered.
He planted one more near the fractured central disk.
He did not rush.
He did not retreat.
He climbed onto the remains of the command structure once more and compressed his essence entirely.
Below, the clearing appeared empty.
Abandoned.
Broken.
Unclaimed.
The first new demon burst into view.
Then another.
Then two more.
Regular soldiers.
But more cautious now.
They spread out immediately, scanning the area.
One approached the fractured disk.
Another inspected the extinguished pit.
A third moved toward the structure Damien hid within.
The fourth lingered near the tree line.
They had not yet sensed him.
They had sensed the death.
But not the killer.
Good.
Damien remained still.
The demon nearest the fractured disk stepped onto the concealed trap.
The rune ignited.
Binding rune shot upward and Damien dropped.
The hunt had shifted.
No longer surgical elimination.
Now, he was the ambush inside their own fortress.
And this time, he would wait until they were all within reach before striking.
