The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family-Chapter 341: Siegepaths and Killpaths (6)

The cavern had changed. When Reidar first entered, the crystal formations stood intact, reflecting mana light in a myriad of lights. The stone floor was unnaturally smooth. The mana lake had been still.

Now, the chamber was unrecognizable.

Craters pockmarked the floor where elemental attacks had detonated. Massive chunks of crystal and stone lay across the ground.

The walls were scorched black in places and melted smooth in others. Deep gouges were carved through the stone where the Avatar's fists had missed their target. The mana lake churned, and its surface got disrupted by shockwaves and falling debris.

Entire sections of the ceiling had collapsed. Dust hung thick in the air, mixing with the steam from molten rock and the mist from the various spells Reidar and his summons used.

The battle had turned the once-pristine chamber into a war zone.

Reidar didn't hold back. He couldn't afford to. The level gap between him and Silas was 18 levels—a number that, at these levels, usually meant instant death.

Reidar had opened with his strongest assets, flooding the chamber with the absolute peak of his summoning arsenal.

The Avatar of Primal Convergence, the result of the evolution and merging of Summon: Cinderheart Efreeti, Summon: Terran Bulwark, Summon: Tidal Saint, and Summon: Zephyr Muse led the charge.

The twenty-foot titan shifted its form mid-stride. Its skin turned into flowing magma, then into rushing water to bypass a jagged crystal formation that somehow Silas was controlling, then hardened into stone as it swung a massive fist at Silas.

Silas raised a hand, and a hexagonal barrier of hard light materialized in the air. The Avatar's fist connected with the force of a collapsing building, and the shockwave it produced was enough to pulverize the floor for thirty meters in every direction.

Not to injure Silas, though.

[Your Summon Avatar of Primal Convergence strikes Silas Bishop for 3,100 Physical Damage.]

[Damage Mitigated by (Light Ward). Net Damage: 0.]

"Impressive," Silas said. He flicked his wrist. A beam of concentrated light slammed into the Avatar's chest, knocking the colossal elemental backward into the mana lake.

But Reidar wasn't done.

The Twin Obsidian Siege-Breakers, the result of Summon: Twin Boulderbacks's evolution, roared and took the place of their brother.

They flanked the Archdeacon under Reidar's orders. One charged from the left, attempting a [Seismic Stomp] to create shockwaves strong enough to destabilize the air where Silas was flying, while the other lunged for a [Siege Charge].

At the same time, the Verdant Sovereign, the evolution of Summon: Bark Behemoth, slammed its hands into the ground. The crystal floor cracked, and massive, iron-hard vines erupted from the stone, lashing out to bind Silas's legs.

Reidar stood back, surrounded by his Spectral Quadraginta, which formed a phalanx around him, their spectral bows drawn. They unleashed a barrage of mana arrows, turning the air into a deadly grid.

Reidar raised his baton, weaving his own mana into the assault and using [Chaos Storm]..

The skill had evolved from Primal Maelstrom into something far more destructive. It didn't just summon wind and rain—it channeled chaotic forces that had forged worlds in the void between stars.

Fire became plasma, hot enough to strip electrons from atoms. Ice became entropy, a cold so absolute it drained kinetic energy from matter.

Earth became gravity, warping space with crushing weight. Lightning became antimatter, annihilating whatever it touched in bursts of pure destruction.

[Your [Chaos Storm] strikes Silas Bishop for 450 Fire Damage.]

[Your [Chaos Storm] strikes Silas Bishop for 420 Lightning Damage.]

[Your [Chaos Storm] strikes Silas Bishop for 0 (Resisted) Cold Damage.]

Silas floated in the center of the maelstrom. The vines snapped as they touched his aura, despite the Verdant Sovereign doing its best to bind the man.

Orbiting spheres of light, acting like automated turrets, held the Siege-Breakers at bay, blasting them every time they came within melee range.

He looked bored. Disappointed, even.

Reidar gritted his teeth. He cast an Event Horizon Javelin, hurling a spear of gravity-dense void matter at the Archdeacon. Reidar also knew that he had to set the playing field even further. Silas wasn't stupid, and for sure he wasn't weak or easily distracted, but Reidar noticed back then in Havenwood that he was prone to losing himself in monologues.

"So why Havenwood?" Reidar asked. "You terrorized that town for months by sending monsters. Why?"

Silas sidestepped the javelin. It missed him by inches, imploding a stalagmite behind him into dust.

"Influence," Silas answered. He raised a hand, catching a punch from one of the Siege-Breakers with a telekinetic grip. "We needed soldiers. We needed belief. People do not seek salvation when they are comfortable, Reidar. They seek it when they are afraid."

He clenched his fist. The Siege-Breaker groaned as its obsidian armor began to crack under the invisible pressure. At the same time, the Avatar of Primal Convergence was rejoining the fight, walking through the mana lake as if it were normal water. Silas didn't seem to have noticed.

"The monsters were a necessity," Silas said. "We needed the people of Havenwood to realize that the System could not save them. Only the Church could."

"And now?" Reidar asked. "Where are they now?"

"Freed," Silas said. He blasted the Siege-Breaker back with a pulse of light. "Most of the population has been severed. Their connection to the System is gone. They are no longer livestock for the Allied Worlds."

"Severed," Reidar said. "You mean doomed."

"Quite the opposite," Silas said dismissively.

Reidar felt a cold fury spike in his chest. He activated [Touch of the Eternal Sovereign].

The skill surged through him like molten iron in his veins. It wasn't just mana—it was authority. The cavern itself seemed to shudder as Reidar's will expanded outward, touching every summon under his command.

One of the Shadow Sovereigns, which had been staggering from a light beam, suddenly straightened.

Its form blazed darker. The Verdant Sovereign's burning branches stopped smoldering and erupted with fresh growth, thick vines lashing out with twice the force.

The Obsidian Siege-Breakers found their wounds knitting closed as they charged forward again.

Then Reidar activated [Emperor's Decree]. Every summon in the chamber felt it. Their damage output doubled. Their critical strikes became inevitable—fate itself bent to ensure their blows landed true.