The others followed the crown prince’s example and summoned their Monsters. They weren’t as strong as Percy’s Gnoll Warrior and the Blueflame Hawk – nobody had a Monster Card with four Augmentation –, but their Monster Cards were still several times better than the nom.

Only Fiona and Melissa had Monster Cards at the Evolved Potential. Fiona summoned a creature that looked like a lizard with elongated legs. It was almost three meters tall at shoulder length and covered in thick but small scales.

The creature had three horns: one long, pointy horn above its parrot-like beak and two slightly shorter horns growing from the large bone frill that extended up to one meter. These horns protected the creature’s head and the rest of its body like a massive shield.

Is that a Triceratops? The Beastarium said they’re on the verge of going extinct. Either Fiona’s family is the reason they’re going extinct, or there are more of them left, as noted in the Beastariums.

Percy perceived two powers oozing from the Triceratops. Both were Augmentations which were activated instantly, creating circles of power. Percy was in the range of the circles and noticed quick changes to his body and mind. First, one of the circles of power calmed his mind and mended his wounds – or it would have if there had been physical wounds – whereas the other circle put a protection layer all over his body and armaments, enhancing Percy, the Gnoll Warrior, and the other allies.

Is that the Aura of Healing and the Circle of Protection? Those are rare Augmentations… Fiona’s family has the means to concoct Elixirs, or they killed over a thousand Holy Triceratops to find a suitable Evolved Monster Card with these two particular Augmentations.

Elixirs were hard to come by. After all, it was incredibly difficult to come up with a concoction that allowed you to increase your Monster Card’s potential, let alone find something suitable to unlock your Monster Card’s Augmentation. Monster Cards didn’t have to be fed, and nobody would dare to feed them something randomly since summoned Monsters couldn’t digest a lot. To create a working Elixir, one would have to sacrifice countless Monster Cards in experiments.

That was why some Elixirs for Common Monster Cards were sold by esteemed merchants, but it was incredibly difficult to purchase Elite Elixirs. After all, every Monster Card required different resources to increase their potential and unlock specific Augmentations.

“I told you to stop staring at Fiona!” Melissa growled, which earned her a glare from Percy.

“What is it to you, in the first place? Stop bothering me and focus on the fight ahead,” He retorted, which was unexpected because Melissa looked at him in surprise. Fiona must have misunderstood the situation because she blushed while summoning her other Monster. It was a massive semi-translucent armor. A Guardian Spirit of the Knight-type.

She has some impressive Monster Cards. This one should have been challenging to come by as well. If it has two rare Augmentations like the Holy Triceratops then her family holds her in high regard. Her Ego is either stronger than I thought or her parents are overprotective. Maybe both.

Melissa sneered as she turned to the black and purple dots emerging far away. She summoned both her Monsters, one of them being the Glacier Lizard which Percy had faced head-on a while ago, and another lizard twice the size of the Glacier Lizard. It had long legs and an elongated neck which was shrouded in freezing mist. Pearls of frozen ice trickled to the ground every other second.

“What is tha–...”

Melissa asked his question and jumped on the large lizard’s back. She pressed her hands against the jutted scales and grew ice blocks on its back. Melissa formed the blocks of ice growing on the lizard’s back and transformed them into a saddle for her to sit down.

“Not bad,” Percy murmured while turning his majestic mount, which was now scared to death at the sudden emergence of deadly monsters, and studied the others. The Imperials summoned pairs of Elite Monsters, which the nobles also did. Some of them, at least. Other nobles summoned only one or no monster at all.

I understand where you guys are coming from. Fearing the death of your Monsters and the loss of Augmentations is bad, but it is not like we can afford to hold back.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

He said in his mind while Melissa bellowed, “Summon your Monsters as long as they’re useful for combat! In the Seven Hells, tell me if you’re tired of living. I can end you one at a time before the Demon horde arrives!”

The nobles were still hesitant, but Melissa’s ice-cold expression and the seriousness in her eyes were enough to force them to comply.

“I will face the Greater Demons head-on. You guys…take care of the remaining Demons first. We cannot afford to allow a single Lesser Demon to pass by our defenses!” Percy declared.

He was, in no way, confident in killing three Greater Demons. In fact, Percy was certain they would beat the shit out of him the instance he made a mistake, but that was fine. Melissa, the Imperials, and the heirs could thrash the Elite Demons while some of the weaker summoned Monsters would deal with the horde of Lesser Demons while he stalled the three Greater Demons. At least, that what Percy’s hope.

“That’s suicidal–...” Melissa stopped mid-sentence when Percy turned around.

“That wasn’t a request, Lady Reeze,” He reminded Melissa curtly.

She cursed him silently, her cheeks flushed red in anger, but nodded at the end. Even if Melissa hated his order, it was still the order from a member of the crown.

Melissa glared at him, but retrieved a familiar black wand from her spatial ring simultaneously. She threw it at him, and Percy caught it with a smile. It was the Staff of Leech, a familiar object of destruction.

“I don’t think you can kill the Greater Demons with the Staff of Leech, but its power output should be high enough to damage them. It’s better than nothing,” Melissa murmured before adding in a whisper, “Don’t get killed…”

Percy smiled at Melissa, while Fiona added, “I can focus Healing Star on you while mending the others at the same time. As long as everyone is within Healing Star’s range, I can tend to their wounds mid-battle. But…I think you need the most focus. Healing Star is weaker the further the target. Melissa and the rest will be fine dealing with the Elite Demons and Lesser Demons, but the Greater Demons…”

Fiona didn’t want to go against his order and found a loophole to exploit.

Sneaky little girl. I like that!

He smiled at Fiona and nodded.

“I appreciate your help. Please make sure everyone survives.”

Once that was said, it was time to come up with a proper tactic to deal with their enemies. They came up with a strategy, which some nobles rejected initially, only to be forced to accept that there was no better option. They accepted their fate and prepared for the inevitable encounter with the Demon horde.

The Demons didn’t waste any time. They’d been traveling slowly across the lands but switched into full-blown charged once they found suitable prey. As their eyes fell upon the nobles, the Greater Demons roared and shot forward.

“There isn’t a single Archyeas or winged Demon. However, there are Minos, Gnylds, and many Pleacis. Oh, there are also Lifefeeders and Cursias,” Percy notified everyone once the Blueflame Hawk was done analyzing, “The three Greater Demons are all Thousand-eyed Hellhounds…”

Thousand-eyed Hellhounds were rarely seen in the mortal realm. In fact, they were barely mentioned in the old scripts of the demon wars. Percy didn’t know much about them, but that didn’t mean he was helpless.

They can spit hellfire, are clearly smaller than the average Demon, are very agile, and have no dead angle. Hellhounds are also more intelligent than the average Elite Demon, so the thousand-eyed version has to be even more intelligent.

Percy couldn’t be certain the Thousand-eyed Hellhounds would focus on him, but that could be found out in no time.

He jumped from his majestic steed, knowing it would die if he were to charge with it into battle, and stepped forward. Percy’s steps were slow at first. He grasped Dragon Fang tightly and felt his connection to the full potential of [Dragonblood] blossom. His blood was boiling, and his mana was running wild. As he kicked the ground, a rumbling swept through his being from the deepest parts of his existence.

Percy propelled forward and transformed into a flash. He triggered [Berserk] and summoned his hatred for Demons, the Devils, and his heinous acts against him, and every single fragment of the memories he’d retrained from the nightmares that had plagued him for weeks. Percy recalled everything and summoned the memories and emotions he’d felt at those times to use them as a catalyst to trigger [Berserk]’s true potential.

Everything surfaced simultaneously as his power skyrocketed, and a dragon’s roar escaped his lips.

He transformed into a flash of raging fury and appeared before the closest Greater Demon in no time.

Dragon Fang whizzed through the air, and the battle against the first of many Demon hordes began.