The spring of silvery water hadn’t stopped and was spreading across the ground. Instead of being absorbed into the earth, it seemed to stretch endlessly, engulfing most of the field that we could see before we knew it.
It looked almost like a sea of silver rising as though it was a tide.
“What do we do…?”
“How far is it going to spread…?”
Even as the bell for the end of the match rang out wildly, the silver water showed no signs of stopping. It was already attempting to creep up to the base of the Academy buildings below.
It seemed like fear had finally trumped intellectual curiosity for the brilliant summoners. At some point, they’d stopped talking, and the waiting room fell into a deathly silence even quieter than when it was used as a library. The end-of-match bell that continued to clamor was ear-piercing.
“Feil Fonaf,” someone said abruptly, bringing me to turn around.
I found Princess Sasha and her two teammates there. Even though they were first-years, they were the strongest team around, and all the other school years had opened up a path for them.
“How do you know that’s the Angel-Eater of Silver from the Six Executioners of Metal?”
“Just a gut feelin’. Haven’t got any solid evidence for it.”
Then only Sasha approached my side. Myfila, Cyril, me, and Sasha in that order from right to left were all taking up one of the windows.
“My head hurts,” she said. “I’ve seen legends two days in a row.”
“How’s this happenin’? A drunk’s nonsense ’bout doom and destruction comin’ to life…”
“Do you think Bernhart is able to control it?”
“Pretty sure he can’t.”
“Did you see him get absorbed?”
“Yeah, right before the feed cut off. Looked pretty frightful as he got swallowed up. His teammates, too. I reckon they wouldn’t run from the silver water if they coulda controlled it.”
“…The feeds for Lulua and the other matches also just cut off a moment ago. From what I saw, it seems the silver substance attempts to assimilate anything that moves.”
“Why’s a myth actin’ same as a slime…?”
“This is no longer a matter of the summons festival. The Academy must devote all its resources toward stopping it.”
“Just don’t summon your archangel no matter what. Even if we only know about it from its name, it’s still called an Angel-Eater. An’ the thing ended up like this after it ate an angel.”
“I know.”
“You’re goin’ to the professors now, right?”
“Yes… Though, I’m not sure any of them would know of a way to stop it.”
“So it’s a matter of whether the summoner corps under the royalty’s direct command make it in time.”
“I’ll use my royal rights or even insist as the king’s daughter to have them dispatched as soon as possible. So, Feil Fonaf, will you please help me as well?”
When Sasha asked me that, I just managed a sound from my throat. “Huh?”
I reflexively turned to look at her and found her amethyst eyes staring back at me. Those royal eyes were filled with a noble sense of responsibility and heartfelt kindness.
I almost started to joke, “You want me to have Pandora splash around in a puddle for ya?” but considering the dire situation didn’t call for it, I stopped myself. Instead, I just gave her a plain and direct assent.
“All right. I’ll do whatever I can.”
I couldn’t let the world go ending just because of Bernhart.
Also, losing the actual Academy would’ve killed me, and I wanted to also protect my boss and my coworker Ilecia after all they’d done for me.
Sasha smiled faintly at my response.
Then Cyril and Myfila were right there beside me.
“If Feil says so, then I won’t object, either. I swear upon the name of the Ojlocks that I’ll do all in my power to help.”
“We practiced getting him to move lots and needed a way to debut him.”
I couldn’t actually mobilize Pandora on my own. I needed help from Cyril—who acted as Pandora’s eyes—and Myfila, too.
Whether Sasha realized that or not, the princess looked at us and smiled again. This time, it was a full smile. One that was filled with trust in all three of us.
“Good. You make an excellent team.”
It was a tad embarrassing, but I was also kinda proud in a way. The edge of my mouth naturally twitched up.
Then…
So now what? What should we do? I’m willing to buy time or act as a decoy.
…the moment I tried to tell Sasha that…
“Get away from the window!!” someone yelled as a new development had broken out.
The sea of silver, which had only continued to grow, sweeping along the ground without showing any other movement, now had clearly displayed a sign of sentience as it attacked the Academy building.
And since the third-floor library was facing the field, we were directly affected.
The silver ocean rose like a giant tidal wave and smashed into the building again and again. The glass of the window next to us cracked, and I heard a giant crash like brick had started crumbling.
The sound of a girl’s scream intermingled with the sound.
“Sashaaa!!”
I immediately stretched a hand out to Sasha in front of me. Myfila was safe. I saw Cyril immediately pull her into his arms.
At the same time, as I held Sasha tight in my arms, I used an extempore. A swarm of tens of thousands of insects instantly appeared and shielded us against the silver wave. The swarm reached Cyril as well.
It was like a punch from a giant.
“Gah!”
As the wave pushed in from the open window, Sasha and I were both blown away, tumbling along the floor like dead leaves in a strong gust of wind.
If I hadn’t summoned the swarm, we likely would have been swallowed by the silver ocean, too. Even Cyril and Myfila. After taking most of the insects I’d summoned, the silver wave retreated.
“Dammit. That had some force to it.”
As I cursed and got up, I saw just how bad the situation was on the northern side of the library where the tidal wave had hit. Parts of the wall had crumbled away, and none of the windows had retained their original shape.
“Everyone okay? You’re all alive?” someone called.
“I’m fine.” “Okay here, too.” Seemed like no one had been swept off.
As I grabbed Sasha’s hand and stood her up, I murmured, “Blasted Angel-Eater…tryin’ to swallow up the Academy and get over the town wall…”
She was looking at me with worry.
“Are you all right? You didn’t get hurt?”
“I’m fine, just sore all over. More importantly, we’ve done what we could just then.”
Then once Sasha stood up, she looked around.
………
All nine teams and twenty-six people—the best of the summoners who’d been waiting for their own matches save for Sasha herself—were staring right at her.
“Whew…”
We had no time to hesitate. She only took two seconds to suck in a breath.
The next moment, she began a dignified speech as the strongest summoner in the Academy—the one fated to become a hero—and as the third princess of the land of Shidoh, whose duty was to love her people.
“A danger the likes of which Raddermark has never seen is now imminent. Though we have yet to identify what it is, the enemy we are facing is likely one of the Six Executioners of Metal—the Angel-Eater of Silver.”
The moment the sea of silver—or rather the Angel-Eater—had actually started to mobilize, we’d lost all ability to postpone action.
Beyond the wall that separated the summons festival battlegrounds and the town were three hundred thousand spectators likely waiting even now for the resumption of the festival. If the Angel-Eater surged into the crowd, it would be a disaster for the history books.
We had to evacuate everyone without a minute—or a moment—to lose.
“No matter what fear we may feel, we are summoners. We are the ones who have protected humanity since the gods all left the world. We who are present now are the successors of knowledge and crafts passed down from summoners who faced great dangers since ancient times.”
The third princess Sasha Shidoh Zultania’s resolute voice bolstered the courage of those of us who had recoiled at the appearance of the legendary Angel-Eater—and she had also shared with us the responsibility of protecting the people.
“A line of heroes cannot tuck tail and run now simply because of one measly Executioner. We must protect the meek this day once more. Those of you able to take to the skies must halt the progress of the Executioner. Those on the ground should take the people to safety—we are all equipped with the power to do that.”
Once Sasha finished, all the summoners present looked firm about what their roles were. They would dash out of this room as quickly as they could with their proud summons and head to Raddermark.
Cyril, Myfila, and I would be doing the same.
If the Angel-Eater of Silver had its targets set on Raddermark, then we needed to prioritize evacuating the citizens.
It wasn’t time for Pandora to mobilize yet.
Since all Pandora could do was brawl, he wouldn’t be any use against the slime Angel-Eater. And even if we did fight with him, the battle would likely immediately get pushed into Raddermark. Before deploying a beast over three-hundred-fifty mejals tall, it would make more sense to first create a field where no one would die.
“Now!” Sasha stretched her right hand in front of her, giving the signal, and several had already started their summoning verses. “Let’s go, summoners!”