All My Summons Become Divine Girls

Gazel didn’t give the monster a second to breathe. He launched himself forward, the gold light of the Sovereign’s Brand trailing behind his blade like a searing comet that tore through the light of the clearing.

The sword collided with the monster’s arm in a spray of blinding sparks, the sound ringing out like a massive hammer striking a cathedral bell.

He didn’t let the impact stop him, instead twisting his body in mid-air to deliver a flurry of strikes that forced the monster to retreat, its arms moving in a desperate blur to keep up with the golden assault.

’He’s actually pushing it back,’ Didi thought, her eyes wide as she watched the golden flashes carve through the air. ’I’ve never seen him fight like this. Not once in all the years he’s guarded me.’

The monster laughed, the sound a low, guttural rumble that shook the very dirt beneath their boots. It swung a massive claw in a wide, sweeping arc, but Gazel slid under the attack with a precision that seemed almost supernatural, driving his blade upward and leaving a glowing, golden gash across the creature’s ribs.

The monster hissed, stepping back and staring at the wound. The gold light of the Brand continued to sizzle against its skin, eating away at the dark matter.

"Interesting," the monster murmured, its voice dripping with a new kind of curiosity. "You’re not just a vessel for the Brand, you’ve actually refined the frequency. You’re trying to synchronize your soul with the royal resonance."

He didn’t respond, instead pivoting on his heel and launching another strike that slammed into the monster’s shoulder.

The force of the blow created a visible shockwave, sending a wall of dust and shattered stone rippling outward, nearly knocking Didi off her feet.

’Is he going to win?’ She wondered, her breath hitching as she watched the golden light flare. ’Could he actually kill this thing?’

The fight became a blur of gold and obsidian. Gazel was a whirlwind of motion, his sword singing as it carved arcs of light into the monster’s hide. He used the environment to his advantage, leaping off a fallen trunk and bringing his blade down in a crushing overhead strike that cracked the ground upon impact.

The monster began to enjoy it, blocking strikes with a smug expression, its claws clashing against the gold steel in a rhythmic, metallic thunder.

It was playing with him, testing the limits of the Sovereign’s Brand, fascinated by the way the human’s power spiked and dipped.

But Gazel was pushing himself further than he ever had. His breathing was ragged, and the gold lines on his face were glowing so brightly they almost looked like they were burning into his skin.

He channeled everything into one final, desperate sequence, his sword becoming a streak of pure light as he delivered a series of rapid-fire thrusts that forced the monster back toward the edge of the clearing.

For a moment, it looked like the tide had turned. The monster was on the defensive, its skin covered in glowing gold scratches.

Then, the monster’s expression shifted. The amusement vanished, replaced by a cold, flat void that made the air in the clearing feel like it had frozen solid.

"Enough," it said.

The monster blurred the moment it finished speaking. Gazel barely caught the movement, turning his shoulder while a claw missed his throat and scraped across the Brand instead.

He answered at once, driving his sword into the same wound on its ribs before it could pull away. Purple blood ran down the blade while the monster’s eyes narrowed for the first time since the fight began.

’He got it again,’ Didi thought, fingers tightening around her sword. ’Then keep doing that, please.’

Gazel ripped the blade free and kept pressing, chopping low at its knee before turning the same motion into a slash across its chest. Gold light ate through more obsidian and the monster gave ground again, one step this time.

The clearing kept ringing with steel and claws. Didi could barely follow him now, only the gold arcs of his blade and the dull thuds each time the monster got pushed back.

’Since when did he fight like this?’ she thought, staring at his back. ’Just how much was he hiding?’

It swung at his head and he ducked under it, cut its wrist, then planted a foot on its thigh and kicked himself up over its shoulder. He landed behind it and buried the sword at the base of its neck before sliding away from the elbow that came back at him.

More blood spilled. The monster touched the side of its neck, looked at the purple on its claws, then smiled a little.

"Good," it said, voice lower now. "This is finally worth my time."

Gazel said nothing as blood ran from the corner of his mouth, but he still stepped in again before it could finish straightening.

’He’s pushing too hard,’ Didi thought, taking one step forward before fear locked her legs. ’No, if he stops then we’re dead.’

The fourth Shard flared brighter around his wrist. He raised the sword with both hands and brought it down, splitting the ground under the monster’s feet, forcing it to catch the blade with both arms.

For the first time, its knees bent.

Didi sucked in a breath. ’He pushed it down,’ she thought, almost not believing it. ’He actually did it.’

Gazel tried to end it right there. He dragged the blade free, stepped inside its guard and drove three fast thrusts toward the chest, the throat, then the eye.

It turned from the first, the second cut the shoulder, and the third stopped between two black fingers.

Didi went cold at that, and Gazel’s eyes widened a little when the monster looked at him with no smile left on its face.

"That’s enough," it said again, quieter this time.

Its other hand moved before Gazel could pull back.

The claws drove into the center of his chest and his armor burst apart on the spot. Didi heard the wet crack from where she stood, then Gazel’s whole body jerked once around the arm lodged through him.

"Gazel!"

The monster lifted him off the ground with one hand, staring up at him while blood ran over its wrist. Gazel’s sword slipped from his fingers and hit the ground, the gold light around it breaking apart a second later.

It yanked its hand out and let him drop, hitting the ground on his back, not able to get up.

The monster looked at the blood on its claws, then licked one knuckle without taking its eyes off Didi.

She screamed again and stumbled forward, then stopped after two steps as her legs suddenly felt too weak to hold her.

Memories of the past came crashing through her, remembering Gazel kneeling to tie the straps on her practice sword when she was too small to do it right, or when he carried her back to her room after she fell asleep in the library.

Him standing outside her door all night after the first time she had a nightmare about monsters.

’No,’ she thought, staring at the blood spreading under him. ’No, get up... please get up.’

Her sword slipped from her fingers and hit the ground while the tears finally filled her eyes, making her barely see him anymore.

"Gazel," she said, then louder, her voice breaking on his name, "Gazel!"

The monster watched her for a second, then gave a low laugh that made her whole body go cold.

"So this is what breaks you?" it asked, looking from her tears to the man on the ground. "I kill one guard, and the little princess falls apart."

She clenched her hands, her nails drawing blood, as she stared at the monster in absolute despair.

"He was just a servant swinging a sword for you," the monster said, taking one slow step closer. "Why are you crying like you lost something important?"

Gazel heard that through the ringing in his head.

Everything looked wrong from down there, blurry and dark around the edges. Every breath felt like he was suffocating, while a deep cold spread throughout his body.

’The princess,’ he thought, forcing one eye open a little wider. ’Is she...’

His vision found her after a second, shaking and crying a few steps away while that thing stood over her.

’No,’ he thought, trying to move his arm and getting almost nothing. ’Not yet.’

The oath felt far away now, buried under pain and blood loss, but he reached deep for it as right now, to him, there was nothing else he could think about. The golden light enveloped his body, brighter than before, scorching the very ground beneath him.

’My duty is not done,’ he thought. ’The princess is not safe yet. Rise Gazel, you shall not leave this world until she is safe!!!’