3

The battle began with Jeanne d'Arc's exclamation. Hundreds of shadows began to approach our position, sending chills down my spine. Chiron threw me a silver dagger with golden designs.

"What do I do with this?" I asked fearfully, staring at the shadows.

"Fight," exclaimed the centaur, joining Noah and Jeanne d'Arc in the center of the arena.

Shadows began to surround them with cruel laughter.

Jeanne d'Arc took the flag and began to swing it like a spear, a style filled with the grace and elegance of a dancer. She slashed at shadows and decapitated them with graceful movements. One slash after another. The shadows vanished with a terrifying shriek.

The sound of hooves was the warning to the shadows. Chiron swung a sword that seemed all too simple. The shadows fell swiftly, unable to resist. The Hero Trainer demonstrated the strength that had trained hundreds of Greek heroes and led them to glory. His movements were precise and terrifying.

Noah swung his staff forcefully, striking the shadows, a blow capable of breaking every bone in the body. Animals like lions, foxes, and wolves attacked alongside the ark builder in a combination that destroyed enemies in their wake. Noah paused for a moment, raised his hands to the sky, murmured a few words I couldn't understand due to the distance, and then fought again, even harder.

I stopped focusing on the fight when I felt the shadows' presence around me. I narrowly avoided one, feeling like my head was almost being cut off.

"Nephilim"

I dodged the cut, rolling on the ground, not knowing what to do. Out of fear, I moved the dagger; a terrifying shriek was heard at that moment. When I opened my eyes, I could see that the dagger had stabbed where the shadow's heart should have been. It vanished like dust, having killed the first of twenty shadows.

I felt my lungs burning and my bones aching. I dodged another cut and decapitated a shadow; it was the tenth. This is terrible. The other three were too distracted to help me, so I had to fight on my own.

Nephilim, what did that word mean? I dodged another cut as that word echoed in my head over and over again. Nephilim was the son of an angel and a human, so my exhausted mind couldn't understand why the shadows were calling me that. My arms were covered in cuts.

"Blood traitor," another shadow growled before I decapitated him.

I really can't understand what they're saying. I felt a stab in my side. When I realized, a shadow had approached and plunged a dagger into my back. With a horizontal cut, I caused a wound that went from one ear to the other.

"Deyan... Resist... Don't blind... your eyes," Jeanne's voice was barely audible.

My vision turned gray and the voices grew increasingly distant.

***

I felt like I was in a comfortable bed in a room I didn't recognize. What a headache, a hotel? The place didn't feel like a hotel, but rather like a hospital room. I was trying to remember what happened.

"I'm glad you're okay. We were too careless. We thought you remembered how to fight," Jeanne apologized, her expression filled with regret. "Even though you beat up those shadows, you needed to smile more."

"Are we in the hospital?" I asked, curious, taking in the surroundings.

"We're in the summoners' offices. I'm Director Minato," a man with short brown hair and black eyes introduced himself, wearing a doctor's uniform and glasses. "You sure have some stamina. Anyone with those injuries would be dead by now."

Then I almost died. It wasn't a thought that relieved me, but rather unsettling. There were stabbing pains in my right leg, and I could barely feel my left hand, even though it was still there. From the bedroom window you could see everything moving.

"We're on an airship," Minato explained with a kind smile while eating a Japanese sweet called dango. "There are hundreds of summoners in the world fighting for the good of humanity. You'll need bigger equipment and better clothing to fight the shadows."

"Who said I wanted to help them fight shadows?" I began, expressionless. "I was almost murdered."

"If she didn't want to help us in the first place, you wouldn't have gone to the Eiffel Tower chasing that shadow." Minato laughed softly. He couldn't deny that she was right. He knew the risk and still ran after the shadow. "This is your mission, so you'll finish it, but first, I'll give you more cards to summon. Unfortunately, I can only give you three more cards since not many accept being summoned."

I nodded, not paying much attention to the conversation Noah had started with Chiron. The ark builder was complaining to the centaur about giving me the credit card that had Noah's last savings on it. I preferred to sleep a little longer before going with Minato to meet my new companions.

***

I followed Minato through the halls. This really is an airship. It looked too modern for an airship. Summoners and employees were walking through the halls, some stopping to glance at me out of the corner of their eyes.

Curiosity, superiority, and confusion, some even looked at me with disdain. "Why are you staring at me so much?" I ignored them and continued on my way.

The room was filled with strange devices and drawings on the floor, perhaps runes. Minato adjusted his glasses and stopped to begin.

"Remember the summoning phrase?" Minato asked curiously.

I nodded, knowing what to do as I approached the center of the room. I was equally nervous and terrified. It was my first official summoning, as I don't remember having made one before.

"Heed my words! My call for help! Your weapon forges my destiny!" I felt a burning pain and a sharp pain in my head as the seal began to activate, the runes glowing. "May the wind not strike you down! May the Creator allow me to call you from your slumber! Fight for justice and against evil!"

I had to squint at the glow of the runes. The light shone on the cards again and again like a light bulb. My head felt like it was about to explode.

One card went blank, but the other two began to spin in the air. Was it normal for a card to go blank? My thoughts were diverted when I saw my two new teammates.

A man appeared first, wearing a futuristic knight's suit and tattoos on his face. His name was Cruzadia Avramak, a robot human from the future. He had blue hair and very light blue eyes.

The next to answer was a woman. She had blonde hair and a blue eye color. She had arched eyebrows and a dimple in her chin, wearing a beautiful dress fit for a queen. Marie Antoinette opened a pink fan, covering her face.

A glow filled the room again. Marie Antoinette watched curiously as she moved away to a safe distance. Cruzadia Avramak began preparing his technological weapon.

...I have accepted your request for help, but now you must prove yourself worthy of asking the heavenly forces, Nephilim, for help....

...My name is Archangel Michael....

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