Twelve hours.
That was all the blood amounted to.
Aldwin stood at the center of the summoning field, Tidecaller's Staff planted firmly into the ground as the spell circle pulsed beneath his feet. The earth was stained dark, layers of coagulated blood soaking into the soil and feeding the abyssal geometry carved into the stone. Gnoll blood. Monster blood. Invader blood. Enough to make the air thick and metallic, enough to make the world itself recoil.
Enough to open a door.
The portal roared to life.
A vertical tear split reality, stretching nearly twenty meters high, its edges writhing with crimson light and abyssal flame. Heat and pressure rolled outward in waves, forcing even hardened warriors to step back. The dark elves tightened formation instinctively. Tobias and the human defenders retreated to the barricades, weapons shaking in their hands.
Demons poured through.
Not all at once.
Not chaotically.
They came in streams, dragged through by the authority embedded in the summoning spell.
Lesser demons first.
Imps screeching as they tumbled onto the earth. Hellhounds prowling low, eyes glowing as they sniffed the air. Demonic footmen clad in crude armor, spears clattering as they fell into ranks by instinct alone.
Hatch laughed as he stepped forward, axe resting on his shoulder.
"They feel it," he said. "They know who calls."
Corvus observed silently from above, wings barely moving as shadows bent around his form. Flambe stood like a living furnace beside Aldwin, heat radiating outward as if daring any demon to challenge his place.
The captains did not need orders.
They claimed.
Hatch slammed his axe into the ground and roared. Dozens of lesser demons scrambled toward him, bowing or kneeling without hesitation. Flambe's presence drew fire aligned creatures and beasts instinctively, salamander like demons and hellhounds pressing close. Corvus did not move, yet shadows rippled as assassins, scouts, and winged demons drifted toward him, eyes lowered.
Command structures formed within minutes.
Then the ground trembled.
A massive shape emerged from the portal, bark like flesh tearing free of abyssal light. Roots dragged behind it, snapping stone as they anchored into the earth.
The Demonic Tree Damascus.
Its body resembled a towering treant, twisted and blackened, veins glowing crimson beneath hardened bark. Branches moved like grasping limbs, and faces carved into its trunk screamed silently.
Damascus planted itself and bowed.
"I answer the call," it rumbled. "I rule the treants of the abyss."
Aldwin felt the oath take shape instinctively.
"Kneel," he said.
Damascus did.
Moments later, another presence slipped through the portal without force or noise.
A marionette figure stepped onto the blood soaked ground, joints creaking softly. Strings of cursed energy trailed from its limbs, disappearing into the portal behind it. Its wooden face bore a carved smile that did not change.
Pietrov.
"I am the puppeteer," it said, voice echoing from nowhere. "Born of curse and cruelty."
Aldwin met its gaze.
"Swear," he commanded.
Pietrov knelt, strings coiling inward as the oath sealed.
Two new captain level demons.
Each arrived with squads of their own. Demonic treants clawed their way free of the portal, while twisted constructs and animated corpses assembled around Pietrov, moving with unnatural coordination.
Tobias swallowed hard.
"This is…" His voice failed him.
Aldwin did not look back.
The portal flared brighter.
Pressure intensified.
This was different.
Even the demons fell silent.
A towering figure stepped through, blue skin glistening like polished stone beneath the abyssal light. A single horn curved from his forehead, etched with battle scars. In his hands rested a massive iron mace, its surface engraved with countless names.
A middle class demon.
An Oni.
"I am Gozu," the demon rumbled. "Who dares summon me?"
Aldwin stepped forward.
"I do."
Gozu's gaze locked onto him, power rolling outward like a shockwave. Several lesser demons collapsed instantly. Even Hatch tensed, axe lowering slightly.
Then Aldwin moved.
He did not draw his staff.
He did not cast a spell.
He switched.
Verakul's physique surged.
Aldwin crossed the distance in a blur and slammed one hand into Gozu's chest. The impact shattered the ground. The Oni's eyes widened as he was driven into the earth, stone cracking outward as his massive body was forced down.
Aldwin pressed his palm against Gozu's throat.
"Kneel," he said quietly.
The Oni struggled for less than a second.
Then he stopped.
Gozu dropped his mace and bowed his head, forehead touching the blood soaked ground.
"I swear," he growled. "King."
The portal pulsed again.
Another figure emerged.
Tall. Lean. Red skinned. A massive black blade rested across his back, radiating killing intent so dense it warped the air.
The Sword Demon.
Marrang.
He took one look at Gozu pinned beneath Aldwin's hand.
Then he knelt.
"I greet my king," Marrang said calmly.
The oath formed effortlessly.
The portal began to destabilize.
Twelve hours ended.
Reality stitched itself closed with a thunderous crack, leaving silence in its wake.
Aldwin stood amid an army.
Demons knelt.
Humans trembled.
Dark elves watched with measured awe.
Those who had sworn under blood and authority now belonged to him.
Those who served.