Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons

Despite his worry, retreat wasn't an option. He had never backed down from a challenge, and his pack's respect depended on decisive action against anyone who dared violate their territory.

The king's gaze shifted toward Aether, who remained perched calmly on Arthur's shoulder, then moved to assess the Golden Beetle's positioning and apparent loyalty to the intruder.

Arthur noticed the assessment immediately. "You're worried about them?" he asked with obvious amusement.

Without turning around, Arthur addressed his companions casually. "Aether, beetle—move away from here. This won't take long."

He cracked his knuckles and neck softly. The sounds that somehow carried more menace than the Mane King's earth-shaking roar.

"Why are your feline species always so arrogant?" Arthur muttered, with a soft sigh. "You remind me of a certain white cat, albeit you're not worthy of even staring at it from afar."

...

"So... are you going to make your move, or... should I start first?" Arthur spat, a smirk forming across his face as he studied the pack with obvious disdain.

Before the Mane King could formulate a response or issue tactical commands to his subordinates, Arthur disappeared from his seated position atop the corpse.

One moment, he was there, relaxed. The next moment, reality itself seemed to have betrayed the Golden Manes' enhanced senses as Arthur appeared at the back of their formation with his spatial talent that broke the rules of reality.

The Golden Mane positioned at the rear perimeter didn't even have the chance to realise that Arthur was missing from his original spot before a devastating kick connected with his flank.

CRACK!

The sound of breaking bones echoed through the forest as the superior-rank predator's four-hundred-pound frame was launched horizontally through the air like a golden ray. His trajectory carried him directly into a massive oak tree with bone-crushing force.

CRASH!

Bark exploded outward as the Golden Mane's body created a creature-shaped crater in the ancient trunk, his impact so severe that acorns rained down from branches thirty feet above the collision point.

By now, the other lions had already turned toward Arthur's new position, their amber eyes blazing with anger and, more tellingly, growing wariness. The ease with which Arthur had eliminated their perimeter guard suggested capabilities that exceeded their previous threat assessments by considerable margins.

The Golden Mane King himself had been unable to track Arthur's movement until one of his kin was already airborne and crashing into the forest. The spatial teleportation had operated faster than even his reflexes could follow.

Recognising the immediate danger, the pack leader's instincts kicked into overdrive. His roar carried specific tonal commands that his subordinates had been trained to recognise and execute without hesitation.

"ROAAAAR!"

The remaining twenty-four superior-rank Golden Manes immediately formed a coordinated circle around Arthur, their movements flowing with the predator instincts of those who had perfected pack hunting through generations of successful endeavours. Each creature positioned itself at optimal striking distance while maintaining visual contact with its neighbours, creating an overlapping field of death that should have trapped any intruder. The Golden Manes' positioning was indeed impressive.

Arthur stood calmly in the centre of their formation, his expression merely amused.

It was as if he were watching a particularly entertaining performance.

Unfortunately for them, Arthur operated on an entirely different level of power that they didn't dare to think of.

"How amusing, you made me feel like I'm watching a circus," Arthur said, the words coming out of his mouth truthful. He truly felt that way; this time, there was no disdain in his voice.

His gaze moved toward the Mane King, who maintained his position just outside the combat circle. Arthur's expression made it clear that he was choosing to ignore the pack leader's presence entirely, not from fear or necessity, but from simple disinterest.

"Watch carefully, 'Your Majesty,'" Arthur continued with mocking emphasis on the title. "I'm going to demonstrate exactly how powerless you really are."

Without any apparent preparation or warning from his body language, Arthur moved.

His first target was a Golden Mane positioned directly to his left. Arthur's fist connected with the beast's jaw before the predator's reflexes could even register the beginning of an attack.

THUD!

The impact lifted the four-hundred-pound creature completely off the ground, his trajectory carrying him over his pack-mates' heads and into the forest beyond with devastating force.

CRASH! CRACK!

Trees splintered and snapped as the Golden Mane's body carved a destructive path through the woodland, his landing creating a furrow in the earth that extended for dozens of meters.

Arthur had already moved to his next target before the first victim had even completed his flight. A Golden Mane attempting to flank from the right found himself on the receiving end of a casual backhand that sent him spinning through the air like a golden top.

WHOMP!

The creature's rotation was almost hypnotic, his mane creating spiral patterns that caught and reflected sunlight in brilliant displays. It was as if the golden mane was a moving ray of rainbows, illuminating the otherwise dull forest.

His eventual landing was significantly less graceful, a tumbling impact that left him disoriented and struggling to distinguish up from down.

"Two down," Arthur announced casually, his tone suggesting he was keeping score in a casual game rather than engaging in life-or-death combat. "Twenty-three to go."

The remaining Golden Manes attempted to coordinate their assault, multiple creatures lunging simultaneously from different angles in an effort to overwhelm their opponent through sheer numbers and timing.

Arthur's response was to simply disappear again.

WHOOSH!

The attacking predators collided with each other in the space where Arthur had been standing moments before, their careful assault becoming a tangle of golden limbs and confused roars.

ROAR!

SNARL!

GROWL!

Arthur reappeared behind the cluster of entangled creatures, his expression carrying the amusement of someone watching amateur entertainment.

"Is this the feared coordination of the golden mane pack, the one that sends shivers down the spines of those who hear it?" he observed with mock sympathy.

His next series of strikes came in rapid succession, precise, economical movements that sent Golden Manes flying in multiple directions like oversized golden billiard balls.

CRACK! THUD! WHOMP!