Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons - Chapter 324

Chapter 324: Protector’s badge
Richards staggered backward as if struck. The badge represented authority that transcended any normal status. Power that could reshape territories with casual gestures.

“A… a Protector’s Badge.” His voice barely rose above a whisper.

“But that’s impossible. The demons—”

Arthur cut him off with a sharp gesture.

“I’m not your village’s protector. I’m from your neighboring village. I came to warn and protect your village from its upcoming calamity.”

The mayor’s eyes brightened immediately. Color returned to his pale cheeks as hope flooded through him like a drug.

Never in a million years had he expected salvation to arrive at their darkest hour.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Richards clasped his hands together.

“We thought… we were certain we’d all die. But what about your village, protector? Can you afford to leave your own people?”

“My village will naturally be protected. Don’t worry about it.” Arthur’s tone carried absolute confidence.

“But for me to protect your village, I need you to come with me. My authority as a protector will remain undisclosed—I don’t want anyone to know about it. You will address me as Fateless.”

Richards nodded. “Of course! Whatever you need!”

“We will both head to the plaza. You will be my support. Understood?”

“Absolutely. Right away”

…

The plaza filled rapidly as word spread.

Arthur stood beside the mayor, surveying faces marked by weeks of terror. These people had given up hope so completely that his mere presence sparked wild optimism.

Richards stepped forward, voice carrying across the gathered crowd. “Citizens! This is Fateless, from Village #420. He brings news of aid!”

Gasps rippled through the assembly. Village #420 had become legend—the only settlement having the chance of resisting demon incursions.

Arthur moved forward, his presence commanding their instant silence.

—–

“I come from Village #420 with a simple message.” His voice reached every corner without strain. “You are not abandoned. You are not forgotten. And you are not without hope.”

“Many of the demons that threaten your home have already fallen to our forces. Their outposts burn. Their leaders lie dead. The tide has turned.”

“LIAR!”

The shout cut through Arthur’s speech like a blade. A scarred warrior near the back of the crowd pointed an accusing finger.

“Village #420 doesn’t have the forces to travel to our village! This is simply an impossible feat of strength that no player in a village should have. You’re just another con artist!”

I expected them to interrupt, but his voice is kind of annoying.

More voices joined the dissent. Players who’d been beaten down so thoroughly that hope itself seemed like mockery.

“We’ve heard promises before!”

“The military said the same things!”

“Why should we believe you?”

Arthur stopped speaking entirely. Silence stretched across the plaza as his presence shifted from inspiring to something else.

Time to address the root problem.

Arthur’s voice dropped to a whisper that somehow travelled farther than shouting, “Who… was in charge of this village? That brought it to such a miserable state?”

The crowd exchanged glances uncomfortably. He was right.

A young player near the front found the courage to speak.

“It’s the military. They took control within the first week of entering this world.”

“We thought their experience would help us survive. But they failed miserably.”

An older player immediately turned on the youth, his face flushed with rage.

“Shut your mouth, you ungrateful brat! It’s people like you who brought this place to ruins! Always complaining, never helping!”

The least obvious plant.

The accusation sparked arguments throughout the crowd. Players divided into factions—those desperate enough to trust Arthur, who was promising salvation, and those too broken to believe in anything.

Arthur let the chaos build for exactly thirty seconds.

Then he acted.

Time to shut them all up.

“For those who doubted me earlier.” Arthur’s voice cut through the noise like a sword through silk. “Here is my proof.”

He reached into his inventory and withdrew things that made the plaza fall silent.

Demon corpses.

Not lesser demons—True Demons. Superior-rank creatures with four arms, burning eyes. The very entities from ancient scriptures and nightmare legends.

They hit the ground with wet impacts that echoed off surrounding buildings.

The mayor gasped, stumbling backward. “Those are… exactly like the ancient texts described. It’s real.”

Arthur stood over the corpses like a conquering hero. “I killed these personally. Along with hundreds of their lesser kin.”

The crowd stared in stunned silence. Some players fell to their knees. Others reached out as if to touch proof of the impossible.

“I will say this once more.” Arthur’s gaze swept across the assembly. “The military will try to sabotage our alliance. They will either make you hate me or make me hate you.”

His eyes found the older player who’d defended military leadership.

“Look at those around you, those who are complaining. Are they your fellow players? Or are they working for the military? Are they spies placed to maintain control?”

The crowd turned on itself, suspicion blooming like poison flowers. Players who’d been arguing suddenly found themselves isolated and questioned.

“Either way,” Arthur continued, “I came here to help. There is nothing anyone in this village can offer me that I can’t get with my own power.”

“As for the military?” His smile turned arctic. “If you want them to remain here as leaders, then sure, I can leave.”

Ultimate choice. Now decide. Which system do you want? The military regime? Or mine?

The response was immediate and quite overwhelming.

“NO!”

The shout came from dozens of throats simultaneously.

“We don’t want them!”

“They failed us!”

“Whoever here wants the military, speak up, just so I can beat the crap out of you!”

A woman pushed through the crowd, tears streaming down her face.

“I have a cousin in Village #420!” she called out. “The stories about Fateless… about what he’s done for his people…” Her voice broke with emotion.

“We are with you, Fateless! Whatever you need!”

The plaza erupted in agreement. Players who’d been ready to fight each other moments before now united against common enemies—military oppression and demon invasion.

Arthur watched the transformation.

Good.