Although the Merit Stele allowed them to summon who they could afford to, it was both a lengthy and uncertain process.

　　Lengthy because the summoning wasn't automatic, its speed depending on the number of sacrifices provided. Uncertain because the summoning was by itself the reward. Nothing guaranteed that whoever was summoned would fulfill the summoners' wishes. On the contrary, if summoned without warning, Higher Realm Devas and Demons were very likely to obliterate the summoners.

　　For that reason, using a substantial amount of merit, Anatol first spent several years to establish a dialogue with his chosen houses, and negotiate their support. Only after receiving their agreement did he start the ritual.

　　But following the first confrontation, even he was starting to doubt their ability to endure until the reinforcements' arrivals.

　　Led by Krann and the ten Quasi-Paramount Knights, as if bound by one mind, the infernal battalion battered the giant from left to right, not leaving it any room for a proper counterattack.

　　*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

　　The collision between the two forces rent the atmosphere, forming dozens of s.p.a.ce cracks all around, and threatening to rip out a s.p.a.ce vortex to swallow them all.

　　The Quasi-Paramount Knights released a succession of irresistible strikes on the Celestial Giant, sending it flying backward, and causing Anatol and his elders to spurt large mouthfuls of blood. At this rate, to say nothing of the forty-five minutes they needed, they wouldn't even be able to endure five!

　　An abysmal gap stood between the two forces, and for the first time in tens of thousands of years, Anatol didn't doubt that no road to victory lied ahead. And if even he thought this way, there was no need to mention the elders.

　　"Hateful…"

　　He cursed while struggling to maintain balance. Since an offensive stance could yield no result, Anatol led the Celestial Giant back into the barrier, using it as a nucleus to power the defensive formation and enhance the barrier's resilience.

　　Seeing this, Krann shook his head.

　　"Quasi-Paramount Knights and Knight Generals, combine your laws in one strike. Knight Commanders, support them with the full depth of your infernal energies!"

　　Krann ordered. The laws he mentioned were nothing more than seventh circle spells, or divine laws as most usually referred to them. Be it fire, water, nature, light, or any other, each attribute only had one seventh circle spell called: The Law.

　　It didn't exist on any parchment or grimoire but stemmed from the spellcaster's understanding of the attribute. By comprehending at least ten percent of the attribute's underlying principles, one could unleash its Law, and release it under any chosen form.

　　Fire Laws, Lightning Laws, Darkness and Blood Laws rose into the sky alongside dozens of magical circles. Guided by Krann's chakram and the Infernal Knight cooperation, those incompatible laws overlapped in an organic whole, becoming a transcendent force that threatened to obliterate all that stood in its way.