CH 116

Floating Fortress (Part 3)

It’s unavoidable.

Shiki-san ordered the girls nearby to inform the cultivation center girls to assemble in the hall as soon as possible.

After which, she turned to face us.

“The teleportation gate can be opened anywhere as long as the hawk familiar is there, right? It will take some more time till the floating island to reach above the cultivation center. We’ll have the cultivation center group escape right away with the teleportation gate. After that, you guys will fly to the high school division with the hawk.”

She said and continued,

“I’ll write a memo now. Kazu-kun, call out the raven and have it fly to the rooftop of the middle school building. The high school division relay staff are stationed there. Let’s have the high school division people gather in one place.”

Shiki-san brought out a pen and a notebook and quickly finished writing up a letter.

She promptly folded the paper and tied it to the raven which I hurriedly summoned.

And at my order, the raven took flight.

Shiki-san and the others descended down the stairs.

After sending off two familiars with deportation, I looked up at the sky one last time.

The huge island slowly kept closing in on us.

And along the way, it kept dropping large piles of something.

It’s too far for me to make something out of it but I assume it’s monsters.

Uwah, I am glad the cultivation center didn’t send out a scouting party or something now.

“Kazucchi, thank you.”

Mia said in a low voice, pulling on the hem of my shirt.

I smiled at her.

“It was Shiki-san who thought of it.”

“But Kazucchi immediately consented as well.”

“I mean, if we have a chance at winning, then.”

Mia nodded.

“Even then, I was happy.”

“If it increases your motivation, then that’s even better.”

We turned back and left the roof.

The high school division’s people were still causing an uproar at the plaza.

Mmm, it seems like the enemy’s target will immediately shift to this.

To be honest, I wanted to carry out a number of things with the teleportation gate but…

It doesn’t seem like we have that much time.

It would be better if we hurried.

After about 5 minutes.

At the first floor’s dim entrance room, a bluish-white disk shaped light with a diameter of 3 meter appeared.

It’s the teleportation gate.

It seemed the high school division’s boys were being noisy outside as usual.

Having said that, they weren’t even running or preparing to intercept the attack.

They were completely a disordered crowd.

The girls on top of the light disappeared one after the other.

They were all carrying a heavy rucksack.

“We had preparations made to abandon the cultivation center anytime if needed.” said Shiki-san.

It seems the necessary equipment for survival was properly distributed among the rucksacks.

It should be enough for at least a few days.

That is reassuring.

I used ‘Many Tongues’ on Shiki-san and the others.

I just realized now that it would be troublesome if they can’t hold a conversation on the other side.

After seeing off Shiki-san disappear on top of the light at the end, the hawk familiar closed off the teleportation gate.

The hawk jumped on top of Lucia’s head.

“Is that his home now?”

“Lucia doesn’t tease familiars, after all.”

The hawk glared at Mia.

Ah, it seems like it’s holding a grudge against her.

Mia looked the other way and whistled, pretending not to know.

The 5 of us flew out from the second floor of the cultivation center with ‘Greater Invisibility’ and ‘Fly’ on us.

Only I could see the others with ‘See Invisibility’ but they couldn’t even see their allies.

And that’s why we held hands.

Lucia carried Rin-san’s hawk familiar with one hand.

But if she did just that, the hawk would still be visible so Greater Invisibility was used on it as well.

We crossed the plaza where the boys were still in chaos.

I could hear a few of them say something.

“Shiba-san… said…….”

“Oi, then Shiba-san…….”

Hmm?

These guys… have they still not accepted the fact that Shiba-san died?

Is that why they were able to do something so stupid?

It happened right after we entered the woods.

Something flashed on top of the floating fortress.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

“Get inside the forest!”

I shouted out and plunged into the trees while descending.

And within moments after that, a beam shot from the floating fortress penetrated the cultivation center.

The sound of explosion burst my ears.

Even the shock wave of the attack blew us away.

On the spur of the moment, we tightly grasped each other’s hands.

We closed in on each other and spun through the air…

And fell into a carpet of fallen leaves inside the woods.

I crashed down on my back.

Everyone groaned in pain.

“A-are you guys alright? Kazu-san, you okay?”

“Ah…… yea, somehow.”

Just when I tried standing up, a sharp pain ran through my shoulder.

I let out a low groan.

Alice tried healing it with magic but…

“U-umm, Kazu-san, is it… around here…?”

“Hyaah, Alice-san, that’s me.”

Lucia croaked.

I could see it happen.

Alice was rubbing Lucia’s butt.

I couldn’t help but grin a little.

Mia pulled hard on my cheek.

O-oi, you–you can see?!

“I don’t know why but I just felt like I needed to punish Kazucchi a bit.”

“Don’t go doing stuff on instinct!”

“The way you’re protesting… so you really did see something, huh?”

Mia said with reproachful eyes.

Darn it.

I tried objecting again but the pain on my shoulder stopped me.

Eeii, in the first place, this is no time to be conversing carelessly.

When I looked up and turned towards the cultivation center…

That elegant building was no longer there.

Only clouds of dust rose from there.

The place we had been using as our base just a while ago had turned into ruins with just one attack.