SSS-Ranked Summoner: Only I Summon All Heroes And Heroines Of Legend-Chapter 40: Devil’s Phantasm
They all blinked and their world had changed.
One moment, they’d been standing together in Master Oz’s pocket domain, the storm clouds gathering overhead. The next, they was somewhere else entirely.
Separated from each other.
Ryka stood in a vast open field beneath a blood-red sky.
The ground was scorched earth, cracked and dry. The air shimmered with heat, and in the distance, she could see mountains wreathed in flame.
Rhegalyion materialized beside her without her calling, the wyvern’s presence instinctive.
But something was wrong.
The bond felt... strained. Like a rope pulled too tight.
And then she saw it.
Standing across the field, maybe a hundred meters away, was another figure.
A girl with long auburn hair tied in a braid. Wearing practical training clothes. Her eyes were sharp and focused, but there was something strange about them. The white of those sharp eyes were lost. Replaced by blackened ink.
The view drew close. And it was clear, Ryka stared at herself.
The other Ryka raised one hand, and another wyvern materialized beside her.
Identical to Rhegalyion in every way.
Without hesitation, the two wyverns locked eyes, and both snarled,.
---
Svenja stood in an empty white void.
It was skyless, and yet groundless. Just infinite whiteness stretching in every direction.
Her orbs appeared automatically, one black, one white, orbiting her in their usual pattern.
She waited.
And then, ten meters ahead, the whitness parted.
Ushering a figure, completely out of nothing.
She had pale skin, silver hair. And the same cold, expressionless eyes that sat in Svenja’s eye sockets.
Svenja stared at her mirror image.
The other Svenja didn’t as much flinch, and two orbs materialized around her.
Same exact copy, black and white.
The clone released her mana, and the orbs began to spin violently.
---
Finn found himself standing in a dense forest.
Trees towered overhead, their branches blocking out most of the light. The air was thick with moisture, and he could hear water running somewhere nearby.
His summoning seal glowed at his wrist, as if begging to be used.
"Okay," he muttered to himself. "What now?"
A twig snapped behind him.
Finn spun around.
A young man stood there. Having blonde hair and lean build. A nervous energy sipped from him, barely containeable.
Finn turned fully, staring at himself.
The other Finn smiled—an expression that looked totally wrong on his own face.
It was an expression Finn himself wasn’t fundamentally capable of using. And it made it all clear, this clone, was nothing like him.
"Hey, Me," the mirror said.
And his summoning seal flared to life.
---
Altair’s illusion
He stood in a circular arena carved from black stone. The ground beneath his feet was smooth, polished to a mirror finish. The walls rose high on all sides, seamless and unbroken. Above him, the sky was a void and dark, But he had no problem seeing, this stirred a doubt about the reality he found himself.
"What the hell?" Altair muttered, spinning in a slow circle.
There was no response, nothing but absolute silence. His friends had vanished too, leaving him alone in this strange world.
He reached for his bond with his heroes, trying to sense their presence.
It was hazy, their scent almost totally lost.
But the connection still lingered, keeping a faint pulse that anchored their existence. It was distant, muffled. Like they all stood on the other side of a thick wall.
"Master Oz!" he called out.
His voice echoed back at him, in a distorted and hollow form.
Then, across the arena, something materialized.
A figure.
Standing perfectly still in the center of the black stone floor.
Altair’s breath caught.
It was him.
---
Altair stared at his doppelgänger.
The copy looked exactly like him. Same height. Same build. Same dark hair with a few white strands at the temples. He wore Altair’s training clothes. Detailed, even unto the same ring on his right index finger.
Like the rest, it’s eyes were different.
A black sclera, looking cold and empty. Like looking into a mirror that reflected everything except the soul.
"What is this?" Altair said aloud.
The copy didn’t respond.
It simply clenched the ring, and golden light erupted around it.
A summoning circle carved itself into the black stone floor.
Altair’s eyes widened.
"No way.."
DUNNNNNN
THUMP!.
With lesser theatrics, Heracles materialized.
Eight feet of divine muscle and barely restrained violence. The demigod landed with a sound like a dropped anvil, and the black stone cracked slightly under the weight of his presence.
But this wasn’t his Heracles.
This was the copy’s.
The mirror-Heracles turned his gaze on Altair, and there was no recognition there. No camaraderie. Just cold, calculated assessment.
"Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me," Altair muttered.
The copy clenched the ring again.
Another summoning circle appeared.
SHING.
King Arthur materialized, he appeared with Excalibur already drawn. Rooting the blade’s tip onto the stone flow, as its edges glowed with intense light.
Altair’s stomach dropped.
"Two at once? That’s not—"
A third circle began to form. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
"Tch!, what a bastard"
Violet light erupted, and Delilah appeared, her expression cold and predatory in a way that was deeply unsettling to see on her usually playful face.
Three summons.
All at once.
Standing in perfect formation around the mirror-Altair.
Altair took an involuntary step back.
"This is insane," he said. "I can’t even maintain three summons simultaneously for more than—"
The copy snapped its fingers.
All three summons moved.
Heracles charged first, closing the distance in two massive strides. His fist came up, already glowing with divine power.
Altair didn’t think.
He moved.
His hand shot to his summoning seal. "Hear me, King Arthur!"
Golden light exploded around him, and his own Arthur materialized, with Excalibur already rising to block Heracles’ strike.
Tu-TANG!
The impact sent a shockwave through the area, and Altair was thrown backward by the sheer force of it.
He hit the ground hard, rolling to absorb the impact, and came up on one knee.
The evil Delilah was already moving, flanking him from the left, [Silent Razor] A special blade manifested in her hand—one that could cut through magical defenses.
Altair raised his right hand. The ring glowed, and he activated a barrier spell.
A translucent wall of energy materialized between them.
Delilah’s blade struck it anyway.
CRACK.
The barrier held for exactly two seconds before shattering.
But that slight window was enough.
Altair rolled right, putting fresh distance between himself and the copy’s assassin.
His mind raced.
Three summons at once. I think Master Oz is trying to maximize my summon so that I fight alone at all costs
His Arthur was locked in combat with mirror-Heracles, Excalibur clashing against fists that could shatter mountains. The two titans moved like forces of nature, each strike creating shockwaves that cracked the black stone floor. With each strike, Heracles had become the better, his overwhelming strength pushing Arthur to the defensive. Still, the Pendragon held his own against the GoD of Strength.
The Evil Arthur had still not moved. He just stood still, resting both arms over his steel blade that dug shallow into the ground.
Delilah however, kept moving. Her nimble body carried across the battlefield effortlessly as she kept searching for an opening.
Think. Think! Altair pushed himself
Master Oz’s words echoed in his mind.
"The better you become as a mage, the more control you’ll have over the Codex."
"You will study them. You will master them. You will apply them."
Altair’s hand went to the ring on his finger.
He’d spent three months learning magic. Building his versatility in diverse magic forms, not just summoning.
Pyromancy. Hydromancy. Barrier construction.
His own power.
The Evil Delilah lunged, trying to catch Altair off guard.
But his mind, ever sharp, now had a body to match his reflexes.
He reverse counterred, rather than just evade. He tilted to the left, allowing the blade pass through while grabbing her arm. And in one fluid move, he knocked her meters backwards.
All the evil clones reacted as if they’d taken the hit directly. And in that moment of distraction, Altair moved.
He sprinted toward the center of the arena, his mind already working through the problem, he’d noticed that the mechanics between the summons was more shared directly, like they all spawned from the same source, so if he hurt one.
He’d hurt ALL.
I can’t fight three summons with one. But If hurting one hurts all, then..."
"SANDS OF TIME"
Altair’s thoughts ended with him testing his theory, if they shared physical damage taken, maybe they also shared status effects, and there was no better spell to use than this.
His contact with Delilah had already established the prerequisite for the spell, and it’s casting was flawless. Heracles, Delilah, King Arthur Pendragon, and his Evil twin all stood transfixed.
"NOW!!!"
He ordered to Arthur, his mental link carrying his intent through Arthur’s being.
The Hero channeled everything he had into his blade, as his stance changed.
The edges, wreathed in glowing mana, This was his Ultimate Armament.
EXCALIBUR!
He swung the blade in an Arc that seemed to cover everything except Altair who stood directly behind him.
And the world exploded with light.
---
Altair gasped, and stumbling backward.
And just while he was struggling to catch his breah, the arena had began to fade away.
In a moment,
He was back in Master Oz’s pocket domain, standing on solid stone ground. The storm clouds still swirled overhead, but the oppressive weight of the illusion had lifted.
Ryka, Svenja, and Finn were there too, all breathing hard, and looking shaken.
Master Oz stood before them, hands clasped behind his back.
"Interesting," he said quietly.
Altair immediately shook himself, regaining his composure. As team leader, he couldn’t have himself look overwhelmed like the rest of them. And in reality, he really wasn’t.
"What... what was that?" Ryka asked, in a strained voice like she had taken a whole sermon in Ancient Draconic tongue.
Oz clapped his hand once, before replying.
"Your final test," He said simply. Then, he looked at each of them in turn.
"You have all done well"
---
