Chapter 47 protocol : The Summoning

The capital of Eldoria, Solarys, trembled under the weight of ancient power.

Inside the great hall, the king’s mages formed a circle around a towering crystal, their hands raised as runes burned into the air. Each syllable they chanted rippled through the chamber like thunder.

King Arcturus sat forward on his throne, his face pale but resolute. Billy, Elira, Darius, and Selene stood near the edge of the ritual, their weapons ready in case something went wrong.

“Are you certain this will work?” Billy asked, his fiery sword resting across his shoulder.

The High Mage’s voice shook as he replied:

“Through the veil, we summon champions. If the fates allow it… they will answer.”

The crystal pulsed. Light erupted upward, carving a massive circle in the sky — not just above Solarys, but stretching across dimensions.

The veil between worlds trembled.

Back on Earth.

A deep hum rolled through the night sky of New York. Riven Kane froze mid-step, his dagger in hand, eyes narrowing as the air around him shimmered red.

Lucy looked up from where she was holding Eli’s hand. “Riven… the sky—!”

A rift. But not like the ones they had seen before. This one wasn’t tearing outward. It was pulling inward.

“Something’s wrong,” Cipher growled, flames bursting across his arms as his Code flared in instinct.

Kira glitched beside Riven, fragments of binary light flickering across her body. She clutched her head. “This… pull…”

One by one, the Executioners felt it. The light reached for them.

Eli was the first.

The little girl stumbled forward as her body glowed faintly, her eyes wide with terror.

“Lucy!” she cried, reaching out.

“I’ve got you—!” Lucy tried to pull her back, but Eli’s body dissolved into light, vanishing in her arms.

“ELI!!” Lucy’s scream echoed as sparks burned the ground where the girl had been.

Next were the siblings.

Taylor cursed as storm clouds gathered unnaturally above him. Lightning crackled down, wrapping around his body like chains.

“Isabel, grab my hand!”

His sister’s robotic beasts roared uselessly as light swallowed her too.

“No! No, not again—!” she screamed as she and Taylor were ripped from the world together in a flash.

David and Julius followed.

“What the hell is this!?” Julius shouted, trying to anchor himself with his blade stabbed into the ground.

David grabbed him. “Don’t fight it, Julius! It’s—”

They vanished mid-sentence, both consumed by the pull.

Cipher.

Blue binary fire exploded around him, scorching the pavement. His eyes blazed with defiance.

“Not like this,” he hissed, fighting to resist the gravity dragging him forward. “No one controls me!”

The fire surged, but the rift answered back stronger, wrapping around him until he too was dragged screaming into light.

Kira.

Her body spasmed, glitching violently. She fell to her knees, clutching her chest.

“Brother—”

Her voice broke as her body fractured into streams of code and was pulled upward.

“KIRA!!” Riven’s voice cracked. He lunged for her, but she was already gone.

Lucy.

Tears still streaked her face from Eli’s disappearance. She grabbed Riven’s arm with both hands.

“I’m not letting go! Not again—”

The light wrapped her body.

“Lucy!!”

Her eyes met Riven’s. “Don’t you dare leave me behind…”

And then she was gone.

Riven.

The world went quiet.

He stood alone as the pull intensified, the pavement beneath his feet cracking. His dagger hummed with Red Judgement.

His chest rose and fell once. Slowly.

“Another world, huh…” He clenched his fists. “Then I’ll walk through it myself.”

He released Flash—vanishing into the rift on his own terms, swallowed by light.

Eldoria.

One by one, nine figures fell onto the glowing summoning circle inside the great hall. Gasps erupted from soldiers and nobles as the summoned champions appeared in a cascade of light.

“They’re… human?” one knight stammered, raising his blade.

“Hold!” King Arcturus commanded, his eyes wide.

Billy stepped forward, lowering his sword. “Wait. Look at them… They’re not demons.”

The nine lay scattered across the marble, confused, their codes flickering faintly around their bodies.

The summoning was complete.

Back at the demon realm.

In a throne room of black stone, the Demon King sat tall upon his seat, horns curving upward like a crown of shadows. Silas knelt before him, his cracked body still mending.

“My lord,” Silas rasped. “They’ve done it. They’ve summoned champions from beyond the veil.”

The Demon King smiled. A low, thunderous laugh shook the chamber.

“So…” His voice rumbled like an earthquake. “They’ve finally arrived.”

The hall went silent.

“Good. Let them come.”