"Are you ready, Master?" Ruu asked, as Rikuo sat in his clothes made from a Divine Shard. He was wearing just those clothes and his glasses, his boots had been long abandoned anyways so he was barefoot, and underwear was not something easily acquired anyways.

In truth, if it wasn't for the fact his clothes were made from a Divine Shard that was now bound to his soul, using Storm Aspect would render him completely naked every time he used it. That said, they were still physical objects, so it seemed some spells and things even they would not last through or remain with him during.

Thankfully, the summoning ritual he was doing now was not one of those things, so he could stay dressed, although it seemed there were a number of ritual based magic spells that would involve such a thing, this was not one of them.

That said, he did feel bad about the fact that everyone he would summon would be completely naked. Apparently, only souls could travel between worlds, or rather dimensions.

True...although people consider isekai stuff as being transported to another world, more accurately, its being transported to another dimension. No, in this world, it seems like multiple planes of existence and dimensions could be closer, so perhaps its even broader...a set of dimensions? Well, either way. Since they are not physically connected, physical objects cannot pass. This spell will contact their souls, and peacefully dematerialize their flesh and blood body on the other side. The soul, now free, will get transported to this side, and in the process, some of the latent power stored within will be transcribed with abilities and skills, including Unique Skills. Then their new bodies, which on the surface will appear identical to the old ones, will arrive here. Supposedly, any powers or skills they already had will remain though...but, do people exist like that from my world?

"Yeah...lets do this".

Rikuo thought of such things, but only with one thought process. He answered Ruuruu easily as magical energy swirled around him, glistening the air as the summoning circle appeared. At the moment, all of the others were focusing, as the Summoning spell activated. Rikuo himself had already dropped his to knees, as the magical concentration in the room was so dense and high that it made it hard to stand. He collapsed to his hands next, as his body prioritized the spell, his body began to feel a bit hot and bothered.

"Master?!"

"Its fine...I just have to focus...this is going to be a lot of work, so just stay focused on the spell, and if anyone barges in, keep them busy".

Ruuruu's goal here was to both act as a second focus, and a second brain to help construct the summoning, and to protect Rikuo should anyone bypass the others. As he was Soul Linked to Rikuo, it was possible to syncronize their thoughts and made it easier for him to help Rikuo cast the spell.

That said, Rikuo was going through extra strain because of the extra conditions he was putting into the summoning. It was already hard to focus, as they heard fighting outside. Raevin marshalling their forces and commanding them, he seemed like quite the leader.

This world, this summoning, is going to be tough on them. I am essentially kidnapping them from their previous world, and dragging them into this one. No matter how I try to pretty it up, I am dragging them here to be weapons against insanely strong enemies. Because of that, I cant just choose any children...I cant let this circle just take anyone. I am not a hero like Rayheart, nor am I a leader or genius like Raevin. Hell, even our teacher was better at doing what she needed to do.

The circle began to glow brighter and brighter, as an overwhelming power was born from it.

But, if there is any compliment I can give myself...

Rikuo remembered the beautiful scenes he had seen. In nature, seeing the beauty of the Imperial Capital, and in his previous life, lying in the sun, listening to the birds and trees in the day, and admiring the wonderful and exciting games that were created at night with his friends...especially with his two best friends.

He remembered the pain and suffering he faced in his first life, being bullied about his height, his appearance being so youthful, and other things. But he remembered the good too.

I understand the need for strength, the need to get away from those who harm you, but most importantly of all, I understand the beauty. The beauty of both worlds.

As if resonating with his emotions, the magic circle glowed even brighter.

I will select those children whose lives are in mortal danger. Those who faced so much abuse, those neglected or forgotten about by the adults of our world, or betrayed by them. Those with strong hearts, those who need to be rescued, especially by those who should protect them.

Although he could not visualize it, he could feel the magic starting to connect with the souls of those from another world.

The heroes I summon will be the children who need to leave that world the most, and would benefit from being in a new world the most. My actions cannot be considered good, but at the very least, I wont make them evil. They may be the weapons of this world, but they will be cherished!

And so, Rikuo began the chant to summon the heroes.

----------------------------------------

"Hmm? Already? To think they already had assembled what they needed to do the summoning".

Urtan said that, as he looked at the three he was fighting. Their clothes were getting slashed and torn, as they were covered in injuries. Although they believed they could defeat him, none of them had yet to reach the level of ability needed.

The prince is the strongest though. The other two noticed that, and played defensive and supporting roles. Its the only reason they are still standing right now...as expected of a male of the Royal Bloodline though, his magic is strong. His sword is good, but...he has several magical attacks ready the moment I drop my guard or go in for a finishing blow.

Urtan was not threatened by them, but he was not a fool either. He was careful about the trap cards they had. He was also aware about Yulari's Divine Shard Box.

He was experienced, but not a fool. Certainly, his bloodlust towards them was great, he clearly wanted to cut through them all, but so far they remained just skilled enough that he had yet to defeat them.

That is, without him getting serious.

"I suppose its time I actually used my full ability now".

"So you were just toying with us?!"

"I see no reason to use my full strength on whelps like you, but I am on a time table".

Although he rebuked the prince's line, the prince had another idea.

If he didn't use his full strength...Demon Lords are known for being whimful, sure, but this old guy...perhaps he was saving his power for something else? No matter...if we can just keep holding on, the summoning will succeed, and maybe allies will get here in time!

While thinking that, Urtan suddenly disappeared from their sights. Even the second prince, Jaylem, was unable to keep up this time. That was the true terror of a Demon Lord, beings so strong and powerful they were superior highly evolved organisms that could not be fathomed. At least, that was how they seemed to others.

But, Urtan never re-appeared. And their heads were not cut off.

The trio looked around, and saw that he had impacted a wall behind them, leaving a crater in it as he jumped out.

"What the hell was that?"

He suddenly lunged at them again, moving at speeds that seemed to be faster then they could see. But this time, they saw it clearly. Right as he came at them, this weird bubble appeared around them, and it seemed bouncy. Using the force that Urtan had hit the barrier with, it bounced it right back and sent him flying. The barrier then faded away again, as if it did not exist.

"This is...could it be his magic?"

"What do you mean? Whose magic?"

"A servant, he was only a commoner but my little sister is fond of him. Honestly, he is really bad at combat, nothing like the rest of you...but he is a sweet boy, who is incredibly good at creating barriers. I am not sure how, but he somehow applied a barrier around us at the last minute..."

"This is like no barrier I have ever seen. It can deflect a Demon Lord's attacks, just how good is he?"

"No, he isn't that good at all" Urtan said, as cut cut through the barrier with a single slash. "What a petty trick, and the one in question isn't even here. I am not sure how he cast it at such a long range, but I will clearly need to cut his head off next".

With the barrier down, they were wide open again, but now Urtan finally had some damage on him. For the first time, they saw him injured, and thought it might be a chance to defeat him.

But then he moved faster then their eyes could see, and it all seemed to be over.

They felt the feeling of death come over them.

Then it disappeared, as he stumbled back with a few arrows in his body.

"Sorry we took so long getting here" a boy said, as he appeared next to Urtan as his shoes fell to the side. His legs appeared to transform to a degree into something wolf like, and he kicked Urtan right in the face before he got his footing, smashing him right into a wall.

However, they were more occupied by the pangs of familiarity they felt, especially when they turned around and saw the elf women and the twins there as well.

"Sorry it took us so long to join the fight..."

"...but we have come here to save the day!"

"I suppose its time to teach this old man some manners" the elf woman said, emphasizing teach for some reason. Rayheart and Yulari looked puzzled for a moment, but then they figured it out. Who that woman was.

Lutessa and Rayheart's groups had met up.

"You think simply adding more numbers would be enough?" Urtan asked when a crystal thrown at his feet shattered. Almost immediately, a portal opened up and he fell right in.

"...what did you just use?"

Rayheart was very puzzled.

"Short range teleportation stone, it wasa bit costly, but I dont think we could have defeated him in our current group".

Ardet explained, and then Arlit continued.

"We should regroup with the guys at the throne room, then we can use this bag of magic stones to re-activate the magical defenses of the castle. It wont make them all disappear, but it will improve our odds, right?"

The second prince nodded.

"Yeah, honestly that is a big help. Rather, I can do it myself, if you all head to the throne room and keep it safe until I finish".

"We can do as best we can, but please hurry" Lutessa mentioned.

"Of course. This is my home, and my city. I wont allow demons to harm anyone in it" Jaylem declared, taking the stones and then running off.

"How long until he gets back here?"

Fang asked the most important question of all.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"A few minutes at most, so lets get moving".

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"Incindio Tornado!"

The duel between the Dragon Knights continued, with Aer's powerful flame magic. It was perhaps the one thing right now he was superior in to Heywood, aside from control and the bond between them and their Dragon.

If his bond was worth anything, he would not have Demonized his Dragon after all. To give such a dangerous and horrible thing to him...what a despicable man!

Still, that Heywood managed to fly around him, avoiding his flame magic and came at him from behind. Heywood unleashed a ranged flame slash from his sword, but Aer defly blocked it with his own as it turned back into a sword from a bow.

He managed to catch Heywood off guard the first time, but now none of his arrows were hitting, so he returned to his strong point. Still, unless they passed each other they would never physically clash swords, and it wouldn't work well for Aer either.

But, there is one thing that a Dragon Knight could always do..

Quickly attaching a small link of metal to his pants, he stood up on Saphri, and began to wield his flame magic.

"Flames, surround my weapon and understand the passion that I hold".

As the flames swirled around his sword, Saphri understood what he planned to do, and altered her flight path.

"Let my enemies know the scorn that comes with my passion, and let my allies see this as a beacon of light".

As the flames surrounded him, Heywood could sense that something was wrong, and went to attack. After all, it was hard to defend oneself while casting a chant spell. It was like a major opening that one could easily take advantage of.

"For these flames shall cause..."

Heywood came at him, slashing at him right there while he was open chanting. But then Saphri suddenly shot high up into the sky, letting them dodge Heywood and avoid being cut down.

"...the cataclysm that which does not originate from our world".

And Aer kept chanting, as he turned around and saw Heywood catching up to them. He went into full speed now, accelerating greatly in a single direction.

Just like I wanted him to...

And then, Aer fell off of Saphri.

"And bring down the flames of the sky upon my enemy! Meteor Strike!"

And by the time Heywood realized it, he was going too fast to have his dragon turn or dodge in time, and Aer had used gravity to accelerate himself. Even if Heywood normally could have withstood that by usin a magic barrier, his own toughness, and the enhanced vitality from being Demonized, between his own acceleration and Aer's, the slash came down as something far stronger then it would normally ever be.

Both him, and the head of his dragon, were cut, as flames surrounded their bodies.

And Aer had already finished chanting another spell as he fell further.

"Funeral Pyre!"

Incinerating their bodies in mid air, Aer intended to limit damage to the city by turning them to ash. As he felt though, he activated the magic link on his pants, and suddenly he stopped, as if suspended in mid air by a cable, while also being cushioned by wind magic to slow the decent and prevent backlash. Spacial magic was also used for gravity manipulation purposes.

But in the end, its main feature was that it was a connected line between him and Saphri's saddle, which meant he was not going to fall to his death. He then activated the retract feature, and he found himself pulled back up to Saphri, who had been flying above him. Once he reached her, he climbed back onto her, and pet her on the head.

"Thanks for that, partner. Now Saphri, it seems like the castle needs our help. That portal is gone, but the Demons are still causing trouble, so lets mop up the ones outside the castle and then head in to help".

With the traitor gone, it was time to get back to the job at hand.

----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Rikuo's summoning was starting to take form and take shape. The spell was finding several people that met his criteria, although it could not save everyone.

Four people...that is all I can summon with all this, all I can save. Well, normally its only one or two heroes at most. They need the extra protection, but...I just hope my decisions were all correct. Please, please be correct...

As his hopes came into his magic, meanwhile the other side was quite the dark and disasterous situation.

"No no no, please no!"

A blonde haired boy said that, as his eyes pleaded for help. His left eye was a beautiful purple, and his right eye was a lovely shade of vibrant green. As for his current situation, it was certainly a perilous one.

At the moment, he was tied up, his wrists bound behind his back, and his ankles also bound. He was wearing just a T shirt and shorts, but he appeared to have been injured a bit. It was a desperate situation to be sure. Furthermore, a collar had been placed around his neck, a high tech one. But this was not in Shara, bur rather, on Earth.

He was one of the souls Rikuo's selection process had selected, someone who needed saving and would fit well in the world. His name was Bell Wesley, and he was probably going to die to a psychopathic serial killer after having lost everything.

"Finally, I finally own you. And to think, all I had to do was kill my bitch of a sister and her husband, my sweet little nephew".

And at the moment, he was sort of an orphan. In truth, he was tied up and at the mercy of his psychotic aunt, who seemed to enjoy both making him suffer, and was genuinely arroused by him. So, in his mind, she was already not family.

Not only that, but he had been the one to find his parents. They were so brutally murdered, and this person, the one who was now holding him hostage, was the one who did it. Child services somehow didn't notice anything, and the police just gave up on the case it seemed. So now, there was nothing stopping her from doing whatever she wanted with him.

He had no one. Although tough, this definently was terrible. She had already destroyed most of his possessions as some weird "prologue" torment game, while he was tied up. And if he didn't react the way she wanted him to, she would electrocute him.

Everything about her was twisted and wrong, is was sickening.

It seemed like everything was all over for him.

But she just had to torment him a bit more.

"By the way, after you die, like your parents, ill have your internal organs properly sold on the black market. Gotta be efficient, after all!"

No matter how hard he struggled, he could not escape. Even the windows were blacked out, so no one could see inside.

Or outside either.

Crash!

Suddenly, the windows that had been covered with blinders shattered, and those blinders in question were also destroyed. It was surreal, as if someone had wrecked it with a wrecking ball. But no, that was not the case. Rather then a wrecking ball, there was a boy and girl pair there.

"Who the..." was all the woman had to say before the boy's hand turned to slime and grew and extended, pinning her against the wall.

"Did you get all that in a recording, Cecilia?" the boy asked.

"I did, several different recording methods were used. Furthermore, I will have a forensics team go over this place for the murder weapons and other evidence. I will have magic investigation teams also find other traces of evidence. Even if I have to bribe and enchant people and fabricate evidence to appease the normal courts, this woman will never leave prison. Although I personally hope the jury gives her the death sentence".

Such an absurd thing just happened in front of Bell, he was not sure how to react. The eleven year old boy was honestly stunned and in a state of unending shock.

"Just....who are you?"

As he asked that though, a large scale magic circle appeared under him, glowing with holy light.

"Tsk, no time! Cecilia, I leave this to you!"

"Got it Aruu!" she said, magically restraining the psychopath as Aruu went to Bell.

"Who are you people? What is going on, what is this light? Are you saving me or what?!"

"No time, yes I am saving you, but we cant stay here. I will just tell it to you straight, someone is summoning you to another world as a hero, will give you tons of power and such but you will be asked to serve as a weapon basically to help save their world from evil, like the Demon King".

Such a thing was suddenly sprung on him, when he noticed Aruu seemed to touch his stomach and bring out a small bit of light.

"What is that?!"

"A part of your soul. Don't worry, its not detached or anything, but you dont want me removing the whole thing. Just making some quick modifications. So that you dont get brainwashed by a psychopath or such...and a fun little punch in the face for a certain someone. I will explain on the other side".

That was when parts of their bodies started to fade away.

"Cecilia, can you put our clothes in some storage place in case we ever come back?"

"No way! I am happy to go anywhere that is not here! Everyone...her friends are still out there, they will come for me as well, so take me away from here!"

Hearing such a thing, Aruu was a bit shocked, but also a bit happy.

"I see...so they are actually summoning someone who wants to go. Whoever this summoner is, seems to be a decent person".

And then suddenly, both their bodies disappeared, as their clothes fell to the ground empty.

Taktos felt as the summonings he had planned for and waited for came into affect. There was one summoning that was weirdly specific, and for some reason affecting other summonings to an extent, but that was fine.

After all, as they pass through the barrier, I have prepared the necessary things. I will implant a brainwashing effect and make them more adherant and following of my will, even if its not full control they will essentially become my pieces to use. And then, I shall win this...

However, Taktos was suddenly cut off when a backlash of dark magic hit him, attacking and agonizing him as his brainwashing power was not only rejected on all the summons, but somehow that power was corrupted and turned against him, attacking him and rendering him confused, pained, and his senses dulled for a time. He also was temporarily unable to monitor the world through the disciples of his Church.

Even though only one soul was modified, it was a system that used it all at once. If one failed, they all did, but normally this could never happen.

But then again, no one expected a Demon Lord to become aware of a summoning while already on the other side, and affect the soul from that side. After all, they were not even aware there was a Demon Lord who could travel between worlds.

But it wouldn't take them long to figure out who it was.

----------------------------------------

As the light shined brightly, various figures of children appeared before Rikuo and Ruu. In total, there was a blonde haired boy of around eleven years old, a black haired girl of about thirteen years old, a brown haired boy who appeared around fourteen, if just barely, and a red haired boy who was about ten years old. And there was one boy, who appeared around ten years old, that had silver-steel hair, and silver-steel eyes.

Of course, they were all naked, which was about the first thing they all reacted too as they got embarassed, except the boy with the steel colored hair, who stood up with his hands on his hips, before he started stretching.

"Erm...welcome! You have all been summoned as heroes in this world of Shara!" Rikuo said, clearly bad at it since he never practiced. "Also...its only possible to bring souls through to this world, not objects, hence why you are all naked right now".

"Wait...so we are in another world?" the girl asked, a bit shocked.

"Yeah. Sorry, we dont have any clothes for you right now since we didn't have time to prepare any...that said, one of you seems to be fine...wait hold on, I thought I was only able to summon four heroes with this setup!"

As everyone finally properly looked at Rikuo, they immediately noticed something.

"A child?"

"A rather young child".

"Erm...I suppose its great this place is not filled with adults right now, but...can you do nothing?"

"Sorry, I am an adventurer. The only clothes I have right now are the ones I am wearing, and I dont think it will fit any of you".

Certianly, Rikuo was smaller then them.

Rikuo then looked at the silver haired boy.

"Erm, what are you doing? You are not embarassed at all?"

That was when Bell remembered something.

"Wait yeah, that boy suddenly jumped into my summoning circle, said he was doing some sort of protection measure on my soul for everyone, then hitched a ride!"

Wait, he knew...can he travel between worlds on his own?!

"Ah, sorry. Yeah, you can say I am your senior when it comes to moving between worlds and adapting to them. Also, I might look like this, but I am actually over a thousand years old. My name is Aruu, nice to meet you all. By the way, you are all going to be spending every waking moment together, you four, so you should get over your feelings of modesty pretty quickly. This world has a different common sense from us, so the longer you try to hold onto it, the more embarassing it will be for you".

As Aruu said that, he continued doing some stretches.

"By the way, you all got granted some crazy power and strength, so you should get up and do some stretches properly".

Hearing that, Bell stood up, still embarassed but active, and confronted Aruu.

"Hold on! Are you serious?!"

"Yeah...for the record, this world generally speaking, with some areas having cultures that make a few exceptions, all races and genders are equal. In fact, there are no gender segregated bathrooms, baths, sleeping quarters, changing quarters, or the like. But seriously, you should do some stretches".

"...why?"

Aruu sighed, and then stopped for a moment.

"Here, lets do some...I think they were basically just called back stretches or arm stretches or such. We just need to interlock our arms and have our backs touch".

"While naked?!"

"You cant put on clothes anyways, especially not in your condition...besides, it seems you four went through some tough spots, since the summoner seemed to focus on people who would accept or be okay with switching worlds".

Hearing that, no one seemed to argue, but they did look at each other a bit more closely. Their reactions and mannerisms, and they noticed it.

They all seemed relieved to be in another world.

"Alright, fine" he decided, as Rikuo and Ruu were just watching, having taken a back seat to the more epxerienced person explaining things.

Once they interlocked their arms, Aruu pulled Bell of his feet first, and then put him back down. Bell, not getting anything, did the same...and then suddenly, Aruu's arms were ripped off and off balance, Aruu fell onto Bell as they fell to the ground. Shortly after that happened, Aruu grew brand new arms, and his old ones turned to slime, but still...

"Wh...what was that?! Did you weaken your arms?!"

"No, you should have felt it stay consistant the whole time. What that was, it was your own strength. By the way, if you tried to put on clothes right now, you would probably just tear them to pieces in the process. That is because, you are used to the physical abilities of a normal human. But none of you are normal humans anymore, you are all gifted with incredible strength, speed, magical abilities, power, the like".

"Oh my...you regenerated, but still...I am so sorry, I am sorry, I didn't want to..."

"Its fine, I only did that because I knew they would, but it was still painful. Now you all understand right. Now, we could cast various arrays of magics that could help you instantly sync with your bodies...however, after seeing this so many times, stretches. Just, stretch and keep stretching for like twenty minutes, and subconsciously your mind will sync with your body's physical abilities, so you wont accidentally hurt yourselves, or others".

Hearing that, the group of them finally decided to suck it up, and started to take the time stretching.

"Wow, you are really experienced. I guess that thousand years old comment was not a joke".

As Rikuo said that, Ruuruu walked by.

"...I get the feeling he might be older then that though".

Suddenly, for a moment, Ruuruu felt a shiver go down his spine as if death itself had targeted him for a moment.

"You shouldn't say such rude things" Aruu said, suddenly standing behind them.

"Ah...well then, as the more experienced party, do you have any advice for us Aruu?"

Aruu thought for a moment, and then thought of something interesting.

"Well, you know about Status right? Then perhaps, since you seem to be Otherworlders yourselves, I will teach you. About the reasons why this world has a Game Like System, about the motives and reasons behind it all, and how it was not just done as a natural part of this world?"

Aruu said such a thing, thtat immediately got the attention of every single person there. Rikuo could not help but ask, stunned by the implications he felt come from this.

"...the origin...of the Game Like System? Alright...tell us".

And so, Aruu smiled as he heard the answer.

"Then listen carefully, because this will affect your goals of this world...and the goals of the Supreme God, Tektos. I will now explain everything about System".