Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons - Chapter 230

Chapter 230: Apollyon
Arthur’s eyes widened slightly as he remembered Aether’s wings.

“Aether, you can fly, right? Those wings aren’t just for show…”

He was secretly worried the young dragon couldn’t fly yet—his playful personality suggested he might still be developing.

Aether puffed out his chest indignantly. “Of course, Master! Nothing in my body is for show.”

Arthur nodded, a smile spreading across his face. “Go back to your original size.”

Aether’s body shimmered and expanded, growing until he towered over Arthur once again, wings spreading to their full magnificent span.

“Can I ride you?” Arthur asked, surprising himself with his own enthusiasm. “I want to experience flight.”

He could have simply commanded it, but that wasn’t how he wanted this relationship to begin. Power came in many forms, and respect often yielded more than dominance.

“Yes, Master!” Aether dropped low, flattening his body against the ground to make it easier for Arthur to climb aboard.

Arthur settled himself between two of the ridge spines on Aether’s back. The scales were surprisingly warm to the touch, almost vibrating with energy.

“Hold tight!” Aether warned, barely containing his excitement.

Arthur gripped the forward spine. “I’m rea—”

The world dropped away.

One powerful thrust of Aether’s wings and they shot skyward, the mountain falling away beneath them. Wind whipped Arthur’s face as they climbed higher and higher.

“WHOOOOOOO!” Aether roared with joy, spiraling upward in a corkscrew pattern.

Arthur’s stomach lurched, but he found himself laughing—a genuine laugh of pure exhilaration he hadn’t experienced in… had he ever?

“Is this good, Master?” Aether called back.

“It’s amazing!” Arthur shouted over the rushing wind.

They broke through the cloud layer, and the world transformed. Endless white fluff spread below them while the twin moons of Armageddon shone brightly above, closer than Arthur had ever seen them.

Aether banked gently, levelling out to glide on thermal currents.

For a moment, Arthur simply breathed. Up here, there was no military facility. No Four Families. No schemes or plans or vengeance.

Just flight. Just freedom.

‘I will make Charlotte experience this with me soon…’ He thought, his hands clenching softly.

Even Neko poked her head from his pocket, whiskers twitching with reluctant fascination.

“Where to, Master?” Aether asked.

Arthur pointed toward the distance. “Eventually there. But first…”

He patted the dragon’s neck. “Show me what you can really do.”

Aether’s entire body vibrated with excitement. “Really? You mean it?”

“Really.”

“Yes.”

What followed was a roller coaster of aerial acrobatics. Aether looped and rolled, dived and swooped. He skimmed lake surfaces with his claws, creating rooster tails of spray. He shot through narrow canyons at impossible speeds.

And Arthur held on, laughing like a child for the first time in…a long time.

At one point, Aether corkscrewed straight up before folding his wings and dropping into free fall.

Arthur’s stomach seemed to float inside him as they plummeted.

Just when it seemed they’d crash into the forest below, Aether snapped his wings open, transforming the fall into a smooth glide.

“Was that too much?” the dragon asked anxiously.

“It was perfect,” Arthur assured him, patting his neck.

As they soared over the mountains, Arthur felt something unfamiliar, a lightness in his chest.

“Master?” Aether asked, his voice softer now. “Are you happy with me?”

Arthur was surprised by the question, and by the genuine concern in the dragon’s voice.

“Yes, Aether. Very happy.”

“Good!” Aether did a little spiral of joy.

Arthur patted the warm scales beneath him.

…

As Arthur soared through the skies on Aether’s back, enjoying the freedom of flight, something ancient stirred far below.

Deep within the heart of the Mountain of Village #420, a pair of dark eyes snapped open.

Crimson irises blazed in the darkness, illuminating a face not meant for mortal sight. Horns jutted from its head, curving backward like scythes ready to harvest souls.

Its body, massive and terrible, remained shrouded in a red mist that writhed and curled like living shadows.

Apollyon tilted his head, nostrils flaring.

The air around him crackled with power that had been contained for centuries.

Twenty-five chains of pure light bound his limbs, his wings, his essence, though those twenty-five now showed hairline fractures, weakening by the day.

‘Did I sense that correctly,’ He thought, his expression that of shock.

Apollyon strained against his bindings.

‘My senses are dulled by these accursed shackles,’ he growled internally. ‘I must have been mistaken.’

He breathed deeply again, searching for that scent, that power signature.

‘There is no way such an entity would be here. Not in this realm.’

The demon’s face contorted with rage as memory flooded back, the knight, the sacrifice, the imprisonment.

But the only thing that surrounded him was darkness and silence.

‘That cursed knight,’ he snarled, claws gouging stone. ‘Sacrificed his very soul just to seal me away.’

The chains flared brighter as his anger peaked, responding to his emotions. Twenty-five broken, twenty-five to go.

‘Soon,’ he promised himself. ‘Soon I will be free.’

His lips curled back, revealing teeth sharp enough to rend steel.

‘And when I emerge from this wretched prison, I shall bathe these lands in fire and blood. Every human, every town, every pitiful creature that walks beneath the sun—all will perish.’

His eyes gleamed with malicious promise.

‘Then I shall claim what was always meant to be mine.’

The chains clinked loudly.

Soon, Appolyon’s eyes closed once again, like the calm before the storm.

…

Arthur landed a safe distance from the village, sliding off Aether’s massive back

“I need to handle some business,” he told the dragon, his mask that of his Swordmaster identity. “You can explore the forest area.”

Aether bounced excitedly, wings flapping. “Really? Can I hunt? Can I play?”

“Yes, but with conditions.” Arthur’s tone turned serious. “Do not kill any humans. Not one. You can hunt other creatures if you’re hungry. And try to avoid being seen by humans entirely.”

“I won’t disappoint you, Master!” Aether promised, already eyeing the forest with childlike curiosity.

“I know you won’t.” Arthur patted the dragon’s snout. “Go. Have fun.”