Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons
Chapter 346 - 346: The End Of Regulus

Jasmine's tears fell freely now as she watched her father's world crumble around him.

Everything he believed. Everyone he trusted. All lies.

But even in his darkest moment, Regulus hadn't given up.

Regulus's aura rose, his silver hair catching the demonic light that filtered through the barrier. His eyes had changed—no longer the bright silver of youth, but something colder.

If this is how my story ends, then I'll choose how it's written.

The demon general's massive form loomed before him, four arms spread wide in anticipation. Its burning eyes reflected cruel satisfaction.

"Ready to die properly this time, human?"

"Not yet."

Regulus closed his eyes, reaching deep into the core of his being. Past his mana reserves. Past his magical training. Into the very essence of what made him alive.

Life force conversion. The forbidden technique.

Power erupted from his body like a star being born. Silver light blazed so intensely that even the demon stepped back, shielding its eyes.

But something was wrong.

As the light faded, Arthur noticed the subtle changes beginning in Regulus's face. The sharp lines around his eyes had deepened slightly. The silver hair seemed to have lost some of its luster.

He's aging. The technique is burning through his lifespan.

"Impressive," the demon general rumbled. "But futile."

The demon charged forward, all four arms moving in perfect coordination. Claws that could rend steel slashed through the air where Regulus had stood moments before.

But Regulus was faster now. The life force conversion had enhanced every aspect of his being—speed, strength, and magical power. He flowed around the demon's attacks like silver, his own strikes finding gaps in its defences.

This could work. He might actually—

Then Arthur caught the scent.

Something subtle in the air. Sweet, almost floral, but with an underlying bitterness that made his enhanced senses recoil.

Poison.

"Do you smell that?" he whispered to Jasmine.

She nodded, her golden eyes wide with growing horror. "It's in the air itself."

This trial even replicated the smell...wow.

In the vision, Regulus stumbled mid-dodge. Just for a moment, but enough for the demon's claws to rake across his shoulder.

Black blood sprayed from the wounds—not red, as it should have been.

The poison is already in his system.

Regulus touched the wound, staring at his darkened blood with dawning understanding. His gaze snapped to where Nikolas's projection had vanished.

"The poison..." he gasped. "That's why you came. Not just to gloat."

The demon general laughed. "My ally is thorough. The toxin is already coursing through your veins, eating away at your magical core."

Damn it.

Regulus's enhanced perception analysed the situation.

The poison was designed specifically for human beings—it would slowly shut down his ability to channel power while keeping him conscious enough to suffer.

Why didn't he just give it to the demon before? Unless...

The answer struck him like lightning. The poison required precise timing. Too early, and Regulus might have detected it.

Too late, and the battle would be over.

Nikolas had needed to deliver it personally, at the exact moment when Regulus was enraged and feeling betrayed, when his emotions clouded his judgment.

Doesn't matter now.

Regulus straightened, silver eyes blazing with determination. If he was going to die anyway, he'd make it count.

The demon charged again, confidence renewed by the knowledge of the poison's effects.

This time, Regulus didn't dodge.

He met the charge head-on, his fist crackling with enough power to shatter mountains. The impact when they collided sent shockwaves through the magical arena, cracks spreading across the dome's surface.

But the effort cost him. Arthur watched in horror as more age lines appeared around Regulus's eyes.

His hair had begun to streak with true grey, not his natural silver hair.

He's burning through years with every major spell.

The demon staggered back, surprised by the human's ferocity.

"Impossible. The poison should have—"

"Made me weaker?"

Regulus spat black blood. "You're right. But I don't need to outlast it."

I just need to outlast you.

He raised both hands, space itself beginning to warp around them. The same technique Arthur had witnessed before, but amplified beyond anything previously seen.

[Gravitational Collapse]

The very fabric of reality began to fold inward, centered on the demon general's position. But this wasn't the controlled technique from earlier—this was raw, desperate, fueled by a dying man's final gambit.

The demon's eyes widened as it realized what was happening.

"You'll kill yourself!"

"I'm not that easy to kill."

Regulus poured more life force into the technique. His face aged years in seconds—the features of his twenties giving way to the look of a man in his fourties.

He's going through so many years, in seconds! How much does he have left?

The collapse intensified. The demon general fought against the spatial distortion, his four arms flailing as reality itself became a weapon against it.

But it was strong. Stronger than the demons Regulus had faced before, mostly because of the poison.

It might not be enough. The poison is slowing him down.

Jasmine's hands covered her mouth as she watched her father's youth drain away like water through broken glass. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Father..." she whispered.

Arthur felt her pain like a physical wound. To watch your parent sacrifice everything, burning their very life away in a desperate gambit—it was almost unbearable.

But Regulus wasn't finished.

With the last of his reserves, he activated another technique. Not spatial manipulation this time, but something deeper.

[Soul Burn]

Arthur had never seen anything like it. Regulus was converting his very essence—his experiences, his accumulated wisdom—into raw destructive force.

The silver light around him shifted, becoming something beyond mere magic. It was the distilled essence of a life fully lived, weaponised against his enemies.

The demon general screamed as the soul-powered energy tore through its defenses. His massive body began to dissolve, cellular structure breaking down under the assault.

But the cost...

Regulus collapsed to his knees, his appearance now that of a man in his late seventies. Grey hair hung limp around a face carved deep with lines of exhaustion and pain.

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