“Flying monsters! Report again in detail!”

“Yes, sir. We estimate around a thousand flying monsters, likely mutated wyverns. The leading group has breached the second perimeter and is currently flying low directly toward the walls.”

“Wyverns…?!”

The Duke of the North grimaced as he hastily donned his helmet. Wyverns? That should be impossible.

“Weren't all the wyverns exterminated during the last Demonic Realm campaign? We searched every inch of that land, destroying every wyvern nest, burning the forests, and ensuring their extinction!”

Flying monsters were the most challenging threat for the fortress city of Esther. They rendered the towering walls useless, and if they wished, they could bypass Esther entirely and head straight south.

The Empire had always been on high alert regarding flying monsters, deploying expeditions to eliminate all flying creatures within the Demonic Realm. Though the strategy had seemed ambitious and perhaps extreme, after over a dozen expeditions, the Duke of the North had succeeded in wiping out every winged beast and monster in that region.

Or so he’d believed.

“Damn it. Were there survivors?”

“…”

Or perhaps a nest that we missed? No, that couldn’t be.

Even if a wyvern had somehow escaped, it was inconceivable that they could have multiplied to this extent, with a thousand fully grown wyverns going unnoticed. Reconnaissance parties had been regularly dispatched to the Demonic Realm, and not once had they reported sighting a wyvern.

“So, then…?”

It almost felt as if someone had released a thousand wyverns into the Demonic Realm, specifically to breed them into monsters. Fully armed, the Duke turned sharply, his fierce gaze startling the knights preparing their gear.

‘If I keep questioning everything, I’ll be paralyzed by suspicion. I need to focus on the immediate battle.’

With a sigh, the Duke closed his eyes briefly. It was possible that a traitor to the Empire was among them, but that wasn’t something he could deal with now. Rather than searching for a traitor, the priority was defending the fortress.

“Light the emergency beacon. Also, illuminate the surrounding area with torches!”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

Wyverns had a habit of being irresistibly drawn to bright lights at night. There was no way he would let them bypass Esther and head toward the capital. The monster wave had to be blocked here at Esther; that was the fortress’s role.

“Send Merilda to the shelter immediately!”

Though he’d completed his persuasion, with the monster wave beginning, it would have been best to send Merilda to the capital with her guards. But with flying monsters, things were different. Even if they lured the wyverns with light, some might still slip past. Leaving Esther in a carriage would be suicide with the wyverns present.

“Your Grace! The young lady is missing!”

“…What?”

“We’ll begin the search immediately!”

“Oh, no… no, no…!”

The Duke felt his mind go blank at the devastating news.

“Find Merilda at once! If she’s harmed in any way…”

“We’ll bring her back at all costs, even at the risk of our lives!”

Before he could finish, the knights were already rushing into action.

.

.

.

“Hurry! Flying monsters are extremely fast! If we treat this like a regular monster wave, it will end in catastrophe!”

Esther was in chaos. Soldiers appeared seemingly from nowhere, climbing up onto the walls, while the previously bustling streets were now deserted.

Thud, thud, thud—the windows of homes were rapidly being barricaded with iron plates. It had been only three minutes since the monster wave alarm had sounded, yet the city had transformed into a fortress.

“Count, please take shelter! A spot has been prepared for you in the bunker!”

“How much time remains before the monsters reach us?”

“In typical circumstances, it would take three hours, but given that these are flying monsters, we estimate about an hour.”

“That should be enough time.”

“Pardon, sir? Where are you going?!”

The current defensive force at Esther consisted of ordinary soldiers and knights, but no Sword Masters—only Sword Experts at best.

Their only means of air defense were bows and arrows, which could easily result in heavy casualties. He had to help however he could.

An hour? That should be enough.

“Uncle! Are we fighting? Should I pull out my ‘Ultimate Sword’?”

“No. Hold back. We’re not engaging directly. Flying monsters are challenging even for seasoned knights, and it’s too dangerous. I’ll help set up the defenses before the battle starts, but that’s it.”

“Aw…”

Charlotte reluctantly put away her ‘Ultimate Sword.’ Although she was eager to join the fray, this was too risky. Land-bound monsters were one thing; they could be fought safely on solid ground, but flying monsters were an entirely different story.

Nothing was more important than the children’s safety.

“By the way, Yulia, did you bring Earth-Earthy along?”

“Earth-Earthy is probably still back at the estate… sir.”

“...”

So Earth-Earthy wouldn’t be able to help this time. As Aslan grit his teeth in frustration, Yulia spoke up.

“Want me to call him over… sir?”

“What? How could you possibly summon him from the estate?”

“Hehe. I haven’t been idle, you know. After Earth-Earthy slipped out of my command range last time, I practiced using the book Aslan gave me. I’ve perfected long-distance incantation summoning!”

“Ohhhh!!!”

[The Dark God ‘Kali’ can’t help but applaud with admiration!]

Charlotte clapped her hands enthusiastically, and Aslan thought he heard Kali’s phantom applause behind them.

“Alright, here I go… sir!”

Yulia took a deep breath and began preparing her magic. Incantation was the shared language of spirits, and for necromancers or summoners of sufficient rank, spirits lacking in power were compelled to obey the commands spoken in incantation.

However, the incantation’s physical sound waves were limited by distance, and if the distance was too far, the command wouldn’t reach the spirit. Long-distance incantation magic was designed to overcome this limitation. But to use it, a magical medium would need to be installed and activated at the target location.

“Yulia, for this magic to work, you’d need to set up a receiver at the destination.”

“Yes, I know… sir.”

“What did you use as the medium?”

“Oh, you don’t need to know that… sir?”

Yulia’s breathing wavered, and she became visibly flustered. What was going on?

“Uncle, uncle! What is this medium thing?”

“It’s often a magical diagram inscribed with mana, usually on a flat surface.”

“So it’s like a drawing? I think I’ve seen something like that before!”

“C-Charlotte…!”

“Yulia drew something with crayons on the floor under her bed! That must be it!”

“Argh! I had to draw it there because I didn’t have paper big enough! Sorry, Aslan…!”

[The Dark God ‘Kali’ glares at anyone who would scold our young necromancer, daring them to try!]

So, she drew a summoning circle under her bed… With an exasperated sigh, Aslan felt the weight of the stares on his back.

Not that he’d planned to scold her, anyway. It was just a bit of flooring.

“Sorry… Sniff… I needed to draw it quickly since we were leaving soon, and I didn’t have any big paper…”

“What if the maids thought it was just a doodle and erased it? Next time, tell me. I’ll make sure no one touches it.”

“You’re… not mad, sir?”

“Not exactly, but I am a little hurt you didn’t tell me.”

“I’ll tell you next time… sir.”

Gently, Aslan reached out and ruffled the dejected Yulia’s hair. Hopefully, this would serve as her “punishment.”

Just as Yulia wiped her nose and regained her composure, Charlotte looked up at Aslan with a betrayed expression.

“Yulia gets a head pat even though she did something wrong… So if I do something wrong, will you pat my head too?”

“No…”

“If someone who did something wrong gets a pat, then someone who didn’t do anything wrong should definitely get a pat! Pat me too!”

“…”

Wearing a pout, Charlotte brought her head toward Aslan, then took his hand and pressed it to her head, rubbing against it herself. Satisfied, she finally pulled away, leaving Aslan dumbfounded as he watched her. Charlotte tilted her head at his expression.

“Do you want a head pat too, Uncle?”

“No, thank you. Yulia, is the magic ready?”

“Yes! I just sent it… But I’m not sure if Earth-Earthy will respond. He’s out of my range, so he might ignore it… sir.”

As Yulia held her fingers to her temples, concentrating, she completed her spell and took a deep breath.

We’d have to rely on Earth-Earthy’s cooperation.

Then, suddenly—

[“GRAAAAAAHHH! Curse you, meddling brat! How on earth did you…?!”]

Screeching through the air, a brownish sphere shot toward them at breakneck speed, accompanied by an all-too-familiar voice.

…This looked an awful lot like a forced summons.