“So you were alive, Lulua!”
A familiar white dragon passed by me overhead, and I couldn’t help but shout.
In the next moment, the dragon’s long, lithe body twisted through the air and abruptly came to a halt.
I doubted she’d heard me in the pandemonium of hundreds of people running. It was more likely she’d spotted me in the middle of the great market, straddling a giant grasshopper as I helped guide people in east Raddermark.
“Is everyone on?! Rest assured this centipede won’t harm you! So please don’t worry!”
In front of my eyes was the giant centipede of over ten mejals that I’d summoned.
At that moment, about twenty people were on my summon’s wide back—they were the sick and elderly who couldn’t evacuate on their own, but they were staring at me as I rode on my giant grasshopper seeming anxious and like they were close to bursting into tears at any second.
Then I gave them a wide, toothy smile.
“We’re taking the shortest route to Sedra Cathedral! The cathedral is being protected by several summoners from the Academy, so it’ll definitely be safe! Have a pleasant trip!”
The giant centipede took off running like it was gliding across the ground.
I gave them a big wave as they headed off…
…then I immediately switched gears and started urging everyone in the market along.
“Ruuuun!! If you don’t wanna die, dash for the cathedraaal!!”
Not a single person had a word of complaint about my threatening shouts—and naturally so. Even now, anyone could see the giant silver slime that was trying to climb up the wall just to the north.
One of its enormous feelers glooped over the wall, and in that moment, a dragon flying by that area let out a blast of fire.
Though that wasn’t enough to burn away the feeler, the thing didn’t seem to like the more than three thousand degrees of heat and had already pulled its appendage back.
It’d been more than half an hour since that idiot Bernhart had set off the artifact.
The Angel-Eater of Silver had first started out as an ocean of silver that grabbed whatever it could, but it’d progressed, turning into a gigantic and mobile slime.
Though it was attempting to get into Raddermark using the shortest route possible by crossing over the wall that spanned the length of the city, the high-level spells and barrage of summons attacking it were keeping it at bay.
It faced dragons and air elementals clad in electricity, gigantic birds of fire, and even grand devils carrying large swords. Over a hundred airborne summons were halting the Angel-Eater’s invasion at the wall.
“Feil Fonaf! Is that really the Angel-Eater of Silver?!”
As the white dragon came down right above me, Lulua Folicker’s head peeked over from its long neck. She was also with her two teammates.
“No clue! Whether it’s the Angel-Eater or a new species of slime, that still doesn’t change what we gotta do! If you can fly, then get over to that wall and start defendin’ it!”
“That silver ocean flowed in right when we were in the middle of a match, and we almost died!”
“Well, sorry ya had to deal with that! Go tell it to that nitwit, Bernhart!”
It wasn’t just the summoners from the festival in this. Over three hundred students from the Academy and all the professors had come to the town and were working to save the three hundred thousand people.
All of Raddermark was filled with summons right now.
Gigantic beasts and frightening dragons were being used in place of wagons to get people to each of the designated evacuation centers of the districts. Apparently, the headmaster and Sasha had decided a full evacuation of all three hundred thousand citizens out of the city would be infeasible, and the head of Raddermark had agreed.
“Esteemed summoners! Please allow us to handle this area!”
As Lulua and I were shouting at each other, some town guards with swords at their sides ran over.
“Thank you!” I said. “Please run if you think it’s too risky!” Then I had my giant grasshopper hop off. I had it leap onto the rooftop of a butcher, then made it jump even higher. We were heading over to the great market by rooftop.
Lulua and the rest of her team followed me.
“We just need to protect the town until the summoner corps of Shidoh come, then we’ll win, right?!”
“They’re the strongest group around! If they can’t fight against it, then this world is done for anyway!”
“Where are Cyril and Myfila?!”
“I’m joinin’ them at the market entrance! Actually, stop worryin’ about us and hurry and get to work! If you got time to shoot the breeze, least you could do is cast a spell!”
After I yelled at them, Lulua pouted. “Well, sorry for feeling scared!
“We’ll go! We’re going to go!” she said. “We are summoners, after all!”
She stuck out her tongue and gave me the best confident face she could muster, then sent her giant dragon flying up. After her dragon let out a roar overhead, it headed off, lightning fast, toward the northern wall.
For a few seconds, I watched Lulua walk away, then I immediately used transmission magic for a Voice Link spell, which was a type of magic that allowed you to talk to someone from a long distance as long as it was set up beforehand. It was priceless during emergencies like these and such a basic spell that people basically claimed you couldn’t be a conjurer or summoner without being able to cast it.
When I invoked the spell, the small summoning circles had probably appeared on my tongue and at the back of my ears.
“Cyril, good news. Lulua was actually alive and kickin’.”
I didn’t wait for Cyril’s voice to come through as I cast my eyes down.
When I looked at the people running through the wide roads, I checked for whether there were any who needed help. Then I murmured, “I can just leave the guards to handle that.”
But right then, I met eyes with a guy who was staring straight into the sky.
—?!
That moment, my whole mind was going at full blast.