Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons

Beside her throne, ten hyenas stood in a circular formation, their crimson fur radiating power that exceeded the one Arthur had felt from the Golden Manes. These were clearly the queen's elite guard, creatures that had the same talent and tendencies as her. They were superior-rank predators operating at level 24, just one level below the domain manifestation.

Each guard hyena possessed the same cruel intelligence that characterised their leader. Despite their weariness, Arthur could see the sadistic anticipation they felt towards him and his summons.

The Cackle Queen herself was a magnificent specimen.

Most striking was her expression. It wasn't that of the wild hunger of a predator, but the satisfaction of someone who had just been presented with a particularly interesting puzzle to solve.

Arthur assessed the situation before him. They were a formidable opposition that required immediate decisive action rather than extended combat that might allow their psychological abilities to accumulate effectiveness.

Arthur turned to Aether by his side and spoke with calm authority. "Finish them, Aether."

Aether's eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect of demonstrating his combat capabilities. The small void dragon bounced slightly on Arthur's shoulder, his enthusiasm immediately evident as he began considering his available options.

"Should I use my Singulari—" Aether began eagerly.

"NO!" Arthur immediately interrupted, his voice carrying sharp urgency that cut through the throne room's oppressive atmosphere. In such a confined space, Singularity Collapse was simply too powerful—the mythical-rank skill would likely catch everyone in its devastating area of effect, including Arthur himself. The chamber's enclosed nature would amplify the gravitational forces beyond safe parameters.

"Use something weaker, Aether," Arthur instructed with a sigh.

Aether pouted adorably at being denied the opportunity to use his most impressive ability, but his expression quickly shifted to cheerful compliance as he accessed his alternative options.

"Yes, Master!" Aether replied with renewed enthusiasm. "I will use Dimensional Slash instead!"

<Dimensional Slash>

<Rank: Epic>

<Active>

<Description: The Void Dragon tears through space, creating an invisible rift up to 10 meters in a chosen direction. After 1 second, the rift collapses, instantly severing everything caught within. Enemies struck suffer high spatial damage, ignoring 50% of physical and magical defenses. If an enemy is killed, a spatial shockwave erupts, dealing AoE damage in a 5-meter radius.>

<Cooldown: 40 seconds.>

The skill selection was tactically sound—with so many enemies clustered together, the death of even one hyena would trigger spatial shockwaves that would damage the others, potentially creating a cascade effect that could eliminate multiple targets simultaneously.

As Aether began channelling his attack, the air around him shimmering with space energy that made reality itself seem to bend and warp, the Cackle Queen's enhanced senses immediately detected the gathering threat.

Her eyes widened, and she could feel the dangerous energy. The power building around the small dragon exceeded anything she had encountered before. It was incredibly domineering, and if the dragon was left to do his bidding, he would definitely kill a lot of her close subordinates.

"Ahwooooo!"

The queen's urgent call echoed through the throne room with harmonics that carried immediate tactical commands. Her voice held notes of alarm that her subordinates had never heard before, transforming their readiness into urgency.

Immediately, both the queen and all ten of her elite guards focused their Nightmare talents simultaneously on Aether, their combined psychological assault creating a wave of terror-inducing energy that should have been sufficient to overwhelm any opponent's mental defences.

Aether, who had been channelling his skill, suddenly found his consciousness flooded with visions of his worst possible death scenarios. The interruption was unexpected—his careful preparation was disrupted just as the dimensional energy reached critical thresholds.

His eyes blanked out for less than half a second before clarity returned, but the damage was done. The spatial manipulation he had been building collapsed harmlessly, leaving him disoriented and frustrated.

"What just happened?" Aether asked with obvious confusion, his voice carrying disappointment at his failed attack. "My skill—it was interrupted. I can't use it now. It's on cooldown, Master."

Arthur nodded with understanding; he had already seen what had transpired. The queen and all of her subordinates had used their talents in perfect coordination to interrupt Aether's casting at the critical moment. It was a sophisticated defence that demonstrated both the awareness and coordination of the pack.

"Interesting," Arthur muttered with appreciation for the enemy's capabilities. "It was a good strategy, but unfortunately, the power difference is too much."

The coordinated psychological assault had succeeded in disrupting one attack, but it had also revealed the hyenas' limitations. Their nightmare abilities required active concentration and couldn't be maintained for long against them.

Despite the whole pack using their talent on Aether, the illusion had been broken in less than a second. Clearly, the pack wasn't strong enough to capitalise on it. Had they been strong enough, they would have kept Aether in the nightmare spell and simply fought Arthur and Pride. But they didn't, which made Arthur sure about his analysis.

Arthur decided that Aether should employ a different approach—one that couldn't be interrupted through psychological manipulation.

"Aether, use Space Lock on the queen," Arthur instructed with precise timing in mind. "When I give you the signal."

Aether nodded with determination, his disappointment at the previous failure replaced by eager anticipation for another opportunity to demonstrate his worth.

<Space Lock>

<Rank: Legendary>

<Active>

<Description: The Void Dragon locks a target's position in space, preventing all forms of movement and teleportation for 6 seconds. The target is completely immobilised, unable to move or blink. If the target attempts to escape via teleportation or spatial abilities, they are forcefully pulled back, suffering high spatial rupture damage. If used on a weaker enemy, the space around them begins to contract, causing gradual crushing damage every second.>

<Cooldown: 2 minutes.>

The hyenas were no longer standing idle. The clear demonstration of Aether's power had shattered their confidence in their advantage. The energy they had sensed during his interrupted attack was too threatening.