Why Did You Summon Me?

The Voidwalkers now believed that they had overestimated the integrity of angels. These beings of the Void never expected angels to go so low as to ambush them, putting the Voidwalkers in a troublesome situation.

So far, the angels had played much dirtier than expected. First, they had set up an anti-magic territory that encompassed all of Isythre. across entire Isythre, then they dispatched two of their kinds to test the waters. When the angels discovered that the Voidwalkers possessed abilities that could harm them, they switched to a defensive tactic, ordering thousands of believers to siege the city.

It was certain that the angels had more tricks up their sleeves than they led the Voidwalkers to believe.

“And, who is the arse that told us angels had no experience in battle?” The Archmage frowned and lobbed a massive spell at the crowd of believers climbing the city wall.

‘That would be your dear student, my respected sir,’ the Soul Armature Practitioner sneered inwardly, after which he calmly replied, “Well, it has been six thousand years since Sir Hope crossed blades with Noirciel. I would imagine the angels have had enough time to understand the devious nature of humans.”

After speaking, the Soul Armature Practitioner pulled a small red ball out of his waist pocket, and then, he tossed it into the crowd of believers. “Agumon[1], I choose you!”

A bright light encased the area, temporarily blinding everyone close by. The red ball disappeared and in its place was a huge lindworm. Without taking in its surroundings, the Lindworm charged into the crowd of believers, sending many bodies flying in the process. The Lindworm was just as strong as the Engineer Walker’s marionette. The holy blessings, golden armors, and other enhancements that were granted to in the believers did not make them invincible; the Lindworm used his immense strength to create a mound of corpses outside the city wall in very little time.

The Soul Armature Practitioner was remembered as the founder of Soul Armature arts. However, many had forgotten that he was, first and forecast, an accomplished summoner. His unrivaled talent and skill at summoning had allowed him to invent the Soul Armature arts.

“Look! Once they venture out of the golden light, their defense and self-healing capabilities wane,” said the Soul Armature Practitioner, as he and the Archmage watched the Lindworm flay the enemies. “You should only attack them when they’re closer to you!”

After the three stars were heroically shattered by the Huffing Piggies — the Warrior Walker, the Assassin Walker, and the Fairy Walker — the protection provided by the light ended the instant the believers entered the city. The Archmage did as the Soul Armature Practitioner suggested, and he realized with glee that his magic was now doing its normal damage. Delighted at this discovery, the Archmage began to bombard the intruders with a seemingly endless barrage of powerful spells, and soon, the city was free from its would-be intruders.

“Agumon, use tail slap!” The Soul Armature Practitioner commanded.

The Lindworm’s enormous tail swept the immediate surrounding, sending the believers that had attempted to climb it flying.

The Archmage seemed dissatisfied, though. “Things are picking up, but I have the nagging feeling that you got something wrong.”

“Oh, is that what bothers you? This is something I invented a while ago; a unique summoning technique!” The Soul Armature Practitioner said and pointed at the lindworm, which had begun to emit orange light. “My boy here isn’t an average lindworm. Soon, it will evolve into a Charizard, and then a Mega Charizard —”

“I thought it is an Agumon!” The Archmage raised a brow.

“Well, I just happened to name it ‘Agumon’, but let us not obsess over these trivial details,” the Soul Armature said, after which he issued new commands to his Lindworm.

The southern gate was slowly being cleared of enemies, and the western entrance was fairing just as well; this was not surprising because the Blacksmith Walker, Engineer Walker, and a group of marionettes were guarding that area. As marionettes did not feel fear or lower their guard, unlike humans, they showed no hesitation when walking into battle.

The marionettes that resembled cyclops watched the city wall carefully. Believers that were able to make it to the top of the city wall were knocked back down hard. Those able to evade the cyclops marionettes were swiftly captured by the enormous spider marionette, who used its Void Energy to crush the divine protection covering the sieging believers. Black flames burst out from the spider marionette, and anyone unlucky enough to be caught by it was charred to a crisp.

When the believers atop the city wall had been dealt with, the spider marionette transformed back to its original form. It then used its heat beams to clear the wall of the believers climbing them. Another mountain of corpses was formed; this was much bigger than the mountain of corpses formed at the western gate, which was caused by the Archmage.

The Engineer Walker’s only regret was the malfunction of the spider marionette’s speech function. It had not said a word for a long time; the silence was unsettling.

The northern gate — which was protected by the Warrior Walker, the barbarians, and the Gale Snipers, who were led by Nydore — was cleared of enemies right after the southern gate. Some soldiers that had been dispatched by the nobles supporting the Voidwalkers were also at the northern gate, helping the others. Only a few casualties were suffered at this gate.

To the Voidwalkers’ surprise, the guards at the eastern gate were the last to clear off their attackers. This gate could certainly be called Arfin City’s wildest gate, guarded by a lot of soldiers led by the legendary Second Walker, the Caveman Walker, the Cleric Walker, and the Paladin Walker. This gate had a lot of powerful guards behind, even more than other gates, yet when the other gates were free of intruders, the guards at this gate were still engaged in battle.

“What is taking you so long?” The Archmage growled the instant he got through to them via communication magic.

“Our foes are many,” someone replied. The Archmage almost could not hear the Cleric Walker over the Caveman Walker’s loud warcry. They were still fighting hard.

“But, you have the largest number of guards!”

“We also have the most extensive area to defend, and having the shortest wall of the four gates certainly does not help us,” the Cleric Walker replied loudly, hoping to be heard over the incredibly loud background noise. Dong! Dong! Dong!! The Archmage could hear loud thumps from there, as the Paladin Walker knocked his enemies around with a hammer.

“Well, your crew has the most experts!”

“The Second Walker has refused to help us, okay? He’s just sitting there, watching the three of us fend them off. My techniques are working at full capacity right now…” replied the Cleric Walker.

The Archmage shook his head and sighed, and then he cast a surveillance spell, which he used to check on the eastern gate.

The angels’ holy light made the believer emanate a golden glow, while the Cleric Walker’s divine blessings made the gate’s guards emit the same golden light, putting both sides at equal strength. Neither side had an edge over the other.

The eastern gate was smaller than the other gates, so more enemies made it a target. The enemies that had failed their assault on the other gates quickly rushed over to the eastern gate. Although the Caveman Walker and the Paladin Walker were fighting hard, the number of enemies at that gate was too much to get rid of quickly.

The Blacksmith Walker had good news, though: “My Artillery of Italy is on its way to rescue you!”

After some minutes passed, the enemies at the eastern gate were finally defeated. The holy light could not save the enemies from that many attacks.

By five in the evening, the siege was almost at an end. As the sun slowly set, the holy light gradually retreated from Arfin City’s walls. The holy light receded to Shamshire, and the believers were weakened; the farther they were from the light, the weaker they were.

No one knew if the angels chose to retract the holy light at sunset because they were reluctant to go against the Laws of Nature.

The Archmage had other plans, though. The man decided to enact revenge on the intruders, who were now without the protection of the holy light. He quickly began to chant the incantation of a powerful spell, and space around the city began to distort. Before the Archmage could finish, the intruding believers vanished.

“What. The. Actual f**k?!” The Archmage growled. “Coming and going whenever they please! What do they think this is? A tinder date?”

He was not the only person in a bad mood. The angels were frustrated by the failed attempt to siege the city, despite the believers’ successful escape. Paimon stared at the kneeling believers coldly. “Humans… really are weak creatures.”

Ten million believers boosted with holy light went to siege the city, but only eight million returned. It took only half a day for the angels to lose two million minions, who were enhanced by holy blessings, despite attacking first. The Voidwalkers, on the other hand, lost only five hundred soldiers. The seriously injured were quickly treated, and in almost no time, they were fit for battle.

“It is because they lack both adequate equipment and a capable strategist,’ Baal explained, offering up an excuse for the humans. “Their performance made me realize that they are like a crowd without a goal, only acting on basic instincts. This is what they are without a commander.

“Furthermore, the enemies were somehow able to limit the holy light’s reach. Right now, that city really is a land of darkness.”

The Archangel was right. Although the believers were many, most of them had not held swords before. The only reason this inexperienced lot had survived that long was because of the holy light. However, their lack of battle experience showed; without skills in their arsenal, all they did was charge forward brutishly, hoping to hit their enemies. Unfortunately, the most inexperienced of the lot had strayed outside the area protected by the holy light, and they were mercilessly slaughtered.

Some crusaders and paladins were dispatched with the believers, and they fared much better than their counterparts. If the angels had not placated the believers with soothing thoughts, they would have given in to fright, causing the death toll to spike tremendously.

An army of inexperienced fighters could scare amateurs, but the Voidwalkers, who were as battle-hardened as one could get, were not amateurs. If the believers had not been protected by holy light, not even one of them would have made it back alive.

“I see your point. We shall dispatch two of our brothers to guide them,” Paimon said, sighing.

“I guess Lady Bella’s Arbiter’s Right still has its uses,” Baal said. “But for that, we will have to wait until tomorrow morning.”