SSS-Ranked Summoner: Only I Summon All Heroes And Heroines Of Legend-Chapter 45: Phase 2: Entry Into Area 99

Memories of the Hall of Reverse Summoning caused it to be the kind of place that made Altair want to turn around and leave.

Finn stood next to him, arms crossed.

And a few feet away, Ryka and Svenja had positioned themselves close.

"You ready?" Ryka asked.

Altair shrugged. "As ready as I’ll ever be."

The noise in the hall lowered as Instructor Scathach walked in.

"Good morning," she said, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife. "Welcome to Phase Two of your final examination."

She gestured broadly at the reversed seals covering the walls.

"In a moment, all of you will be reverse summoned to a secure location known as Area 99."

A few students shifted uncomfortably.

"Area 99 is one of the Academy’s most heavily guarded zones," Scathach continued. "The base topography can be reconfigured as needed. For this examination, it has been set as a dense forest environment."

She paused, letting that sink in.

"You will remain in that forest for three days—seventy-two hours. And your objective is straightforward: survive, and reach the Red Tower located at the forest’s center."

Scathach raised one hand, and a glowing tag materialized above her palm. Small, metallic, and engraved with intricate runes that pulsed with faint light.

"Each team will receive one tag," she said. "This tag is worth forty points total—twenty points per student."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"Your final grade will be calculated as follows: your Phase One theory score out of forty points, plus your Phase Two tag points, for a maximum total of one hundred points. To pass this examination, you must achieve a minimum score of fifty."

Altair did the math instantly.

He’d scored twenty-five in Phase One.

That meant he needed twenty-five more points to pass.

The tag would give him twenty.

He was five points short.

Shit.

Finn glanced at him. "You good?"

"I need to steal a tag," Altair said quietly. "Or I fail."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah."

Beside them, Ryka’s expression tightened at the realization that she also needed to get an extra tag.

Svenja said nothing, but Altair was pretty sure she’d already done the math and realized she was completely safe with her perfect forty.

"However," Scathach continued, drawing everyone’s attention back, "there is more to this examination than simple survival."

She gestured again, and the glowing tag above her hand split into two identical copies.

"You are permitted—encouraged, even—to steal tags from other teams. Each stolen tag is worth forty points, which will be split evenly between you and your partner. This means that successfully stealing even one tag will significantly boost your final score."

Her gaze swept across the room.

"But be warned. If you lose your own tag, you will have zero base points for Phase Two. You can still pass the exam by stealing tags from others, but you will be starting from nothing."

The tension in the hall thickened considerably.

"Your phones will remain functional inside Area 99," Scathach said. "They will display a map showing your current location and a countdown timer. Nothing else. You will have no external communication, and you will be unable to track other teams. Once you’re inside, you’re on your own."

She lowered her hand, and the glowing tags vanished.

"You may form temporary alliances if you wish. You may fight freely. There is only one hard rule: reach the Red Tower within seventy-two hours, or you will fail automatically."

The silence was absolute.

"Any questions?"

No one spoke.

"Good." Scathach raised both hands, and the entire hall began to glow. The reverse summoning seals on the walls flared to life, their light intensifying until it was almost blinding. "Then let the examination begin."

---

The world inverted.

Altair felt the familiar sensation— that brief moment of weightlessness where up and down stopped meaning anything.

Then everything snapped back into place.

His boots hit solid ground, and he stumbled slightly before catching his balance.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in the middle of a forest.

The trees were massive—thick trunks covered in moss, branches stretching upward to form a canopy so dense that only scattered beams of sunlight managed to break through. The air was cool and damp, carrying the earthy smell of wet leaves and decay.

Finn materialized beside him a second later, looking disoriented and slightly nauseous. "I’m never getting used to that."

"Yeah, me too." Altair straightened, scanning their surroundings carefully.

They were alone.

No sign of other teams. No sounds except the faint rustling of leaves in the breeze.

He pulled out his phone. The screen lit up immediately, displaying a simple map. A blue dot marked their current position near the edge of the forest. In the center, a red icon indicated the tower’s location.

At the top of the screen, a countdown timer read:

71:59:47

"Three days," Finn muttered, looking at the map. "That’s not a lot of time if things go south."

"It’s enough." Altair pocketed his phone and turned to Finn. "Take the tag."

Finn blinked. "What?"

"Yeah, I’ll be at the forefront since I need the extra points" Altair said flatly. "I wouldn’t want to lose it while trying to get an extra"

Finn hesitated for only a moment before accepting the tag. It was small—roughly the size of a coin.

Then they turned to study their environment.

The forest was unnervingly quiet.

No birds singing or buzzing insects.Just the soft crunch of their footsteps on the leaf-covered ground and the occasional rustle of wind through the branches overhead.

As they walked, Altair turned his focus inward, reaching for the familiar mental thread that connected him to his contracts.

Arthur, he thought.

For a moment, there was nothing.

Then, clear as day, a voice responded in his mind.

I am here, young lord.

Relief washed over him. The connection was stable. That was good—it meant he could summon if he needed to.

"Just checking in", Altair thought back. "Stay ready.’

"Always."

They continued deeper into the forest, the trees growing thicker and the undergrowth denser with every step. The sunlight that had been filtering through the canopy earlier dimmed further, casting everything in shades of deep green and shadow.

Then they heard it.

A low, rumbling thump.

Altair stopped immediately, raising one hand in a silent signal. Finn froze beside him.

The sound came again. Closer this time.

Thump.

Thump.

The ground trembled slightly with each impact, and Altair’s pulse quickened. He scanned the trees ahead, his hand instinctively moving toward his summoning seal.

Then the forest exploded.

A massive shape burst through the trees with a deafening crash, splintering trunks and scattering leaves in every direction. Branches snapped like twigs. Dirt sprayed into the air.

It was a boar.

But calling it a "boar" felt like an understatement.

The thing was the size of a bus, its body covered in thick, overlapping plates of metallic armor that gleamed dully in the filtered light. Its tusks were easily as long as Altair’s arm, curved and wickedly sharp. Steam billowed from its nostrils, and its eyes glowed faintly red.

The boar planted its hooves, lowered its massive head, and snorted—sounding like a small explosion.

Then it charged.

"MOVE!" Altair shouted, diving to the right.

Finn scrambled left, barely avoiding the boar’s path as it thundered past them, its hooves tearing deep gouges into the earth.

Altair rolled to his feet, his summoning seal already flaring to life on his wrist. But as he was about to summon.

FFFFFFFFFFFFF

Something whistled through the air.

A glowing arrow.

It struck the boar square in the side of its skull with a sickening crack, punching through bone and armor like they were paper. The arrow’s tip glowed faintly blue as it embedded itself deep into the creature’s brain.

The boar let out a strangled, gurgling squeal and collapsed mid-charge, its momentum carrying it forward in a sliding, skidding heap of dirt and leaves before it finally came to a stop.

Dead.

Altair froze.

Finn stared as well, wide-eyed.

Then a voice rang out from somewhere above them—cocky, and dripping with arrogance.

"Yo, who the hell said that boar could steal my kill?"

Altair’s eyes snapped upward.

A figure stood on a thick branch about twenty feet up, silhouetted against the broken shafts of light filtering through the canopy. He took a step forward, and the light caught his face.

Omar Hassan.

He looked exactly as insufferable as Altair remembered.

Omar dropped from the branch, landing smoothly in a crouch before straightening up and brushing dirt off his pants like he’d just stepped off a stage.

"Altair Elfender," Omar said, his grin widening as he locked eyes with Altair. "Man, this is perfect. I’ve been hoping I’d run into you."

Altair said nothing, his hand still hovering near his summoning seal.

Omar gestured lazily at the dead boar behind him. "I’ve been tracking you for a minute. Figured I’d wait for the right moment to make my move. Then this dumbass boar almost ruins everything." He shook his head in mock disappointment. "Can’t have that."

He tilted his head slightly, his grin sharpening into something even more annoying.

"You know what, Elfender?..."

"What do you want, Omar?" Altair interrupted.

"Tch" a vein popped on Omar’s temples.

"What do I want?" Omar soon cackled. "I told you there was gonna be a next time, and you wouldn’t be saved by the bell".

Movement behind him caught Altair’s attention.

Three more figures emerged from the trees—stepping out of the shadows like they’d been waiting for a cue. One was Omar’s partner, a wiry guy with a smug expression that matched Omar’s energy perfectly. The other two were unfamiliar, but they all wore House Slykhar colors, one of them wielded the bow Altair guessed was used to shoot down the boar.

Four against two.

"Here’s the thing," Omar said, his tone shifting—still cocky, but now laced with something darker. "Killing you? That’s worth way more than just stealing your tag. I get points, and I get to prove once and for all that you’re nothing."

"So here’s how this is gonna go, Elfender." Omar’s grin turned vicious. "You stand there and make this quick, or you fight back and I kill you, and your little gay friend over there."

His eyes locked onto Altair’s, gleaming with anticipation.

"Your call."

N/B

MASS RELEASE INCOMING