Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner

//17 MINUTES LATER//

The flight to the outer settlements took seventeen minutes that felt like hours. Through the transport’s viewports, they could see the first signs of the approaching horde—smoke rising from the forest line, the occasional flash of energy weapons as advance scouts engaged the leading edge of the beast wave.

Noah’s system was already pinging with threat assessments as they approached the combat zone:

[MULTIPLE HOSTILES DETECTED]

[CATEGORY 3-4 THREAT LEVELS CONFIRMED]

[ESTIMATED COUNT: 2,847 AND RISING]

[RECOMMENDATION: EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED]

’Just like Gigarose’s trial,’ Noah thought grimly, remembering the dimensional space where he’d fought endless waves of creatures. ’At least those were all the same type. These have varying abilities and threat levels.’

Their transport touched down at a forward command post that had been hastily established on a ridge overlooking the main approach to the settlements. Below them, the battle was already in full swing.

Raiju soldiers moved like living lightning across the battlefield, their abilities turning them into forces of nature. One group coordinated their attacks to create a massive electrical storm that fried a cluster of Category 3 serpents, leaving nothing but smoking husks and scattered beast cores. Another team used their lightning to supercharge their weapons, turning standard plasma rifles into instruments of devastation.

But the beasts were fighting back with terrifying efficiency.

’Nyx would be so happy to be called upon right now. But I can’t say for sure when the other army from beta and gamma will show up and mistaken Nyx for a large scale threat. Friendly fire is the last thing I want. Besides, he’s better fit in the domain protecting Ivy since Storm is still recovering in his ice cocoons,’ Noah rationalized While looking at the chaos

A massive creature that looked like a cross between a rhinoceros and a living boulder charged through a line of soldiers, its hide crackling with some kind of energy absorption ability that turned their electrical attacks into fuel for its rampage. Two soldiers went down under its massive hooves, their armor crumpling like paper.

[THREAT DETECTED: GRANITE CHARGER]

[CATEGORY: 4]

[ABILITY: KINETIC ABSORPTION - GROWS STRONGER WITH EACH IMPACT]

Another beast, something that resembled a giant praying mantis with blades for arms, moved through the battlefield with no discrimination. Its limbs cut through armor and flesh with equal ease, leaving behind soldiers who would never fight again.

[THREAT DETECTED: RAZOR MANTID]

[CATEGORY: 4]

[ABILITY: STEEL-EDGE LIMBS - CAN CUT THROUGH MOST MATERIALS]

A soldier’s scream cut through the chaos as something that looked like a living shadow wrapped around him, and Noah watched in horror as the man aged decades in seconds before crumbling to dust.

[THREAT DETECTED: TEMPORAL WRAITH]

[CATEGORY: 4]

[ABILITY: TIME DRAIN - ACCELERATES AGING IN TARGETS]

”Let’s go,” Lucas said grimly, lightning already crackling around his hands.

They dropped into the battle like falling stars.

Noah activated Void Blink, reality folding around him as he appeared in the thick of the fighting. Excaliburn materialized in his hand, and his first strike erased a Category 3 beast from existence, leaving behind only a perfect sphere of nothingness where it had been standing.

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 180 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 280/32,000]

Lucas dive-bombed from above, channeling massive amounts of electrical energy into a concentrated blast that created a shockwave across the battlefield. Lightning arced between multiple targets, turning a cluster of smaller beasts into smoking craters.

Diana moved with fluid precision, her momentum nullification allowing her to stop charging beasts dead in their tracks. Kelvin followed up with plasma blasts from his cybernetic arms, the superheated energy boring through creatures that Diana had rendered motionless.

Sophie and Lyra worked as a coordinated team. Sophie had grabbed two twin energy blades with her along for the fight with which she carved through beast hide without remorse while Lyra transformed into a hybrid spider-monkey form, her enhanced strength and agility allowing her to grapple with creatures twice her size.

Noah void-blinked between targets, each strike of Excaliburn accompanied by system notifications:

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 220 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 500/32,000]

A massive Category 4 beast that looked like a living furnace charged toward a group of wounded soldiers. Noah activated Void Rifts, tearing open small portals that absorbed the creature’s fire breath and redirected it back at other beasts in the area.

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 340 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 840/32,000]

In seconds, it felt like the the battle had raged for what felt like hours. Noah’s Void Barrage carved through clusters of smaller beasts, each purple projectile erasing chunks of matter from whatever it struck. His experience counter climbed steadily as the team fought their way deeper into the horde.

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 280 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 1,120/32,000]

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 190 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 1,310/32,000]

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 310 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 1,620/32,000]

A Granite Charger broke through their line, its massive bulk bearing down on Sophie. Noah phase-stepped through dimensional space and appeared between them, with a clean swing through the neck, excaliburn carved through the creature’s energy-absorbing hide like it was made of paper.

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 420 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 2,040/32,000]

But for every beast they killed, more seemed to pour from the forest. The Raiju soldiers were holding their own, but Noah could see the strain on their faces, the way their movements were becoming less precise as exhaustion set in.

A Temporal Wraith materialized behind Kelvin, its shadow-form reaching for him with fingers that promised decades of stolen time. Noah’s Void Barrage punched through the creature’s ethereal form, disrupting whatever dimensional phasing allowed it to exist.

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 380 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 2,420/32,000]

Noah carved through another cluster of Category 3 beasts with Excaliburn, the void-enhanced blade leaving trails of nothingness in its wake. A Raiju soldier stumbled past him, clutching a severed arm, but still fighting with his remaining hand crackling with electrical energy.

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 240 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 2,660/32,000]

That’s when Noah noticed a soldier sprinting across the battlefield, dodging beast attacks as he made a desperate beeline for Lucas. The man’s armor was scorched, his face streaked with soot and panic.

”Prince Lucas!” the soldier shouted over the chaos of battle. ”Prince Lucas!”

Lucas turned from where he’d just finished electrocuting a massive serpentine beast, lightning still dancing around his fingertips. ”What is it?”

The soldier reached him, breathing hard. ”The palace, Your Highness! It’s under attack!”

”What?” Lucas grabbed the man’s shoulders. ”How did beasts get through our defenses?!”

The soldier shook his head frantically. ”Not beasts, sir! Men! Armed men! They came from inside somehow, and they’ve breached the main compound!”

Noah saw the color drain from Lucas’s face, saw his friend’s eyes widen with a terror that had nothing to do with the Category 4 beasts surrounding them.

”My parents,” Lucas whispered.

Without another word, Lucas launched himself into the air, lightning crackling around his entire body as he accelerated. The sonic boom of his departure blew back dust and rocks on the ground beneath them as he flew toward the palace at Mach 2, leaving a trail of electrical energy in his wake.

Noah watched him go, part of him wanting to follow. But the battle here was far from over. Hundreds of soldiers were still engaged with the horde, civilians were still at risk, and Lucas was the fastest, strongest fighter they had. Whatever was happening at the palace, Lucas could handle it.

Noah turned back to the fight, void-blinking into a cluster of smaller beasts and carving through them with renewed fury.

A massive Category 4 beast that looked like a living tree with too many mouths emerged from the forest line. Noah activated Void Rifts, creating portals that absorbed its toxic breath and redirected it at a group of Granite Chargers.

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 350 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 3,410/32,000]

The battle continued to rage around him. Sophie and Lyra had found their rhythm, working as a seamless unit to take down beasts that should have required entire squads. Diana was systematically shutting down charging attacks while Kelvin provided devastating follow-up strikes.

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 190 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 3,600/32,000]

[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 280 XP]

[CURRENT EXPERIENCE: 3,880/32,000]

Noah lost himself in the rhythm of combat, trusting that Lucas had reached the palace in time to deal with whatever threat had emerged there. His friend was a prince, trained for this his entire life. He could handle anything.

That’s when Noah’s vision went black.

For a split second, he was somewhere else entirely. He saw Lucas surrounded by figures in strange gear that looked like it had been crafted from beast materials. They wore masks that obscured their faces, and their movements spoke of military training. Lucas was bloodied, struggling against overwhelming odds, and behind him...

The palace was in ruins.

”NOAH!” Sophie’s voice cut through the vision at that very moment.

He snapped back to reality just in time to see a massive jaw filled with crystalline teeth descending toward his head. Sophie’s energy blade flew through the air, punching through the beast’s skull and dropping it inches from his face.

”I have to go back,” Noah said urgently, grabbing Sophie’s shoulder.

”What? Noah, we’re in the middle of—”

”Lucas is in trouble. The palace is under attack.”

[Domain link activated]

[Match - Lucas Grey]

Without waiting for a response, Noah activated Domain Link, reality folding around him as he teleported directly to Lucas’s position. The purple energy that surrounded him left afterimages in the air as he vanished from the battlefield.

He materialized in what had once been the palace’s main courtyard, but now looked like a war zone. The elegant fountains were shattered, the carefully tended gardens were burning, and the walls bore scorch marks from weapons he didn’t recognize.

Lucas lay on the ground nearby, his gear cracked and burnt in part and blood seeping from wounds across his arms and chest. Tears streamed down his face as he stared at the destruction around them.

”Lucas!” Noah dropped to his knees beside his friend. ”What happened? Where is everyone?”

Lucas’s voice was broken, barely above a whisper. ”He’s gone.”

”Who’s gone?” Noah grabbed Lucas’s shoulders. ”Who?”

”He’s gone,” Lucas repeated, his eyes unfocused.

”Lucas, look at me. Who’s gone?”

”My dad,” Lucas whispered.

Noah looked up at the palace, really seeing the destruction for the first time. Entire sections of the building had been reduced to rubble. The energy conduits that had made the walls pulse with life were severed and sparking. This wasn’t just an attack—it was systematic demolition.

Movement caught his eye, and he turned to see Lucy limping toward them, her armor rent in a dozen places. Her face was contorted in pain and rage, her teeth gritted against agony he could only imagine.

”Lucas, where’s mum...” she breath, still making her way towards them.

She made it halfway to them before her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the courtyard’s broken stones.

Noah stared at the devastation around them, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing. The beast horde had been a distraction, a way to pull all the defenders away from what they were really trying to protect.

And while they’d been playing hero on the battlefield, someone had torn the heart out of the Grey family’s stronghold.

King Damien Grey was gone, and Noah had a terrible feeling they were only seeing the beginning of what was coming.