Tale of Discovery

Chapter 225: Preserve ; Summoning ; (Spoiler)

Pain. It's all I feel at the moment. Lying on the ground with my eyes shut, I use Clairvoyance to observe myself and the state of the city.

As expected, there is nothing more than utter destruction. The buildings and skyscrapers have all been reduced to a state of nothingness.

{WARNING: Energy has fallen below 25%}

{It would be more suitable for Father to retreat from battle.}

Huh? What do you mean by 'retreat from battle'?

The next moment, I receive my answer, however, it's not AI that answers, but a barrage of immense light spears.

Damn it! I DID ask them to kill me, so it's only natural they wouldn't stop. Perhaps, they think that in this 'world' I am absolutely immortal or something.

Hah~ I'm done for if I don't leave the Arena. Even if my regeneration is healing the damage done to my body, it will be long before I can fight properly.

So, I need to stall as much as I can.

Using Vector Manipulation, I form a reflective barrier to deal with the spears before forming a teleportation fissure under me.

Finding myself floating in the endless void once again, I picture where I last saw Gabriel and the rest, but it doesn't seem to work.

Is it because the location is now not recognizable anymore?

Resigning myself to a tough battle, I cancel the teleportation, finding myself back at where I previously was.

At this moment, I sense some danger from the sky before I spot another meteor-like attack. Fortunately, this time, its color is golden and is much smaller and slower than the one that obliterated most of the city.

Is it fine if that one reaches the ground?

{Affirmative. However, it's recommended that Father lessen the energy accumulated.}

Seriously?

Alright, I need to get the attack weakened by something, huh?

Judging from the previous attack, only something with immense power and durability will be able to achieve that.

Suddenly, realization dawns upon me - I have yet to make use of the Norse Magic's summoning.

Hopefully, I will be able to draw a gigantic monster from Norse mythology or something similar.

Taking in a deep breath, I raise my arm and begin to make use of Norse Magic's summoning, while picturing a creature of immense durability and loyalty.

The next moment, a bright light flashes above me, blinding me more than any other light up until now.

After a solid five seconds, my vision gradually clears up.

I focus my eyes on what I summoned, only to be baffled by the sight of a beautiful armored young lady firmly standing in front of me.

In her hands, she has a white banner adorned with a golden-colored flower-like symbol.

The young lady looks up at the attack that has gotten dangerously close as a solemn expression appears on her face.

Should I get out of here? Will she be able to accomplish anything against this attack?

At this moment, a strange sensation appears within my chest as the young lady closes her eyes and plunges the banner into the ground.

[God is here with me!]

"God is here with me!"

Her voice overlaps with one inside my head as a golden light shines all around us. A surge of energy escapes from the banner and covers us.

Stunned, I throw the notion of moving away to the side as the next moment, the meteor-like attack reaches us and straightaway explodes.

Against the burst of energy, the young lady tightens her grip on the banner as she begins to convey energy into it while letting out a war cry.

After what seems like an eternity, the blast finally wears off.

Observing us and our surroundings, I notice that some damage was done to the ground, while the two of us are completely unharmed.

If anything, I feel like I've healed more than what my regeneration should've healed during this short period.

Upon taking a closer look at the young lady that's standing and gazing at the sky, I notice that she has a reverent expression on her face as she pulls the now-slightly-ripped banner out of the ground.

Turning around to face me, a look of stupefaction appears on her face as she utters, "God?"

Despite having no idea who she is, I feel uncomfortable imagining her being disappointed by me.

As such, I swiftly float off the ground and say in a solemn tone, "You've served your purpose well. Wait here, for now."

"Understood," the young lady responds upon recollecting her thoughts.

Alright, now that the attack has been dealt with, I know what I should do now.

Letting out a sigh, I land on the ground before crouching. Then, I utilize Godspeed as I practically blast off the ground and soar into the sky.

Not satisfied with my speed, I perform an air-jump that further boosts my speed as, the next moment, I find myself a few meters above Aruru and Asia.

Asia seems to have noticed me as she is about to turn around, however, is unable to do so as I promptly create two swords and pierce the two angels' backs.

Seeing the two of them fall to their 'death', I nod my head once before using Clairvoyance to locate Gabriel and the rest.

After a few seconds, I finally catch sight of them while they're on their way to where the armored young lady is.

"I will make this quick," I subconsciously mutter upon lamenting about how this could've ended much earlier if I had resolved my mind earlier.

Pulling Excalibur out of my ring, I let my body fall toward the ground while speeding the process up by Vector Manipulation.

A few seconds later, I pass by Aruru and Asia as I continue to accelerate toward the ground at an extreme pace.

Soon enough, I set my sight upon Gabriel who seems to have targeted the armored lady and is about to assail her.

A grin forms on my lips as I change Excalibur's form to that of a spear before guiding my body toward Gabriel.

The next moment, I find myself right on top of her as I pierce her back with the spear and bring her down to the ground along with me.

Due to the force of the impact, the already damaged street gets utterly destroyed as Gabriel grunts in pain.

At this moment, I sense a few dozen light swords cast at me from behind.

Before I can respond to the attack, the armored young lady dashes over at an extreme speed before she firmly stands between me and the incoming light swords.

Astonishingly, she obviates every single light sword without taking any damage.

Before the assailants - Raynare and Kalawarner - can launch another attack, I use my senses to locate everyone nearby before utilizing Holy Slash to release a few dozen light slashes all around us, with none of them aimed at the angels.

"Don't get near the light!" Raynare exclaims while backing away.

A smile forms on my lips as I utilize Light Manipulation to stop the lines of light mid-air and create some distance between them.

Seeing this, Raynare, Kalawarner, and Mittelt, who are all surrounded by the lines of light get confused as they are unable to figure out my purpose for doing this.

Unexpectedly, after a few seconds of deliberation, Raynare's eyes widen as she exclaims, "Retreat!"

"Too late," I bellow before snapping my fingers.

The next moment, the light that was stopped mid-air begins to shine brighter before each one of them draw to one another, cutting everything in their path, including the trio.

Raynare loses her right wings, while Mittelt loses her legs. As for Kalawarner, well, she directly gets horizontally split in half.

At this moment, a figure dashes toward me, sword in hand, seemingly resolved to fight to the death.

Using telekinesis, I pull Excalibur toward myself before changing its form to that of a short sword.

Then, I straightaway dash toward the figure, which is none other than Xenovia.

The next thing I know, we're both clashing swords with one another as several destructive waves get released every time the blades of our swords contact one another.

Just as I'm about to increase the power and speed of my swings, something crashes beside us, causing us to step away from each other.

Looking over at the interruption, I find Irina with an agonized look on her face as one of her wings is pierced by the sharp tip of the armored young lady's banner.

Soon after, the young lady herself arrives as she pulls the banner out and raises it before plunging it into the center of Irina's chest, causing her to cough out a mouthful of blood.

What the heck have I summoned?

Setting that thought aside for the moment, I dash toward Xenovia before throwing my Excalibur at her, which she deflects by her sword.

However, that's exactly what I wanted her to do, as I arrive right in front of her and 'lightly' press my palm against her abdomen.

The next moment, the sound of a blast resounds as Xenovia's body lifts off the ground and gets thrown back a few meters.

Seeing all of my 'opponents' are down, I release a sigh of relief as all energy seems to escape within my body.

Before my body can limply fall to the ground, my vision gets blocked as I sense something soft press against my head.

Using my senses, I realize that the armored young lady has come over and caught my body.

I feel my cheeks get heated up a little as I quickly move back from the young lady and adopt a serious expression as I look around at my exhausted underlings and the demolished city.

As less than twenty minutes has passed, everyone is alive and is doing just fine.

Gabriel has already gotten back on her feet and is making her way to a large crater in which Aruru and Asia are sitting.

An odd expression forms on the armored young lady's face as she gets into a battle stance and glances over at her banner.

"Relax," I say, "They're no longer going to fight me."

Fortunately, my words cause her to immediately let go of all hostility as she watches Xenovia with intrigue who is trotting over to Irina and pulls the banner out of her.

Xenovia then looks over at the armored young lady before inspecting the banner as realization seems to dawn upon her.

Why does it seem like Xenovia recognizes this young lady?

Deciding that the best way to find out is to question her in person, I shift my focus to the young lady and ask, "Introduce yourself."

Hearing this, a look of contemplation appears on her face for two seconds before she kneels, clasps her hands, and says, "O Lord, I lastly meet your grace."

Then, she closes her eye for a moment before opening them and stating in a firm tone, "I, Jeanne d'Arc, offer my body to you."

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Complete Title: Preserve ; Summoning ; Jeanne