I Only Summon Villainesses

Chapter 454: The White Phoenix

I saw that and immediately thought.

‘What?’

That’s…

‘Pretty boy?’

Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, my nemesis happened to find me, and that too amidst all of this.

For the moment, though, the entire snowscape was rended apart. Particles of snow flew through the air as a tremendous blast of wind and force crashed into the ground.

Kai had recoiled, covering his face to shield himself. At the same time, his summon had retreated in order to protect him from the blast of snow that rolled forth with immense power.

That thing looked like it was enough to dismantle anything, even the human body. It crashed against the summon’s body and ripped the golden armor apart in several places. But of course, the Sun King did not go down from the attack. He seemed to have sustained damage that couldn’t be ignored, though.

As for me, because the Sun King shielded Kai from the impact and took it with his rear, that also meant he shielded me, because I was in front of Kai and the summon.

So the moment that happened, I backstepped, twirled, and bolted away, leaving a trail of flames behind me.

I raced across the snow with all of my might, using Emperor’s Presence to make everything that was not me weaker. Across the snow, I sighted Wren. The sword was buried where I had plunged it earlier.

Immediately, I took a detour. I was not going to abandon White Feather’s daughter, of course. The very reason why we had made this journey anyway.

I yanked her off the snow and shot forward even faster. The sword struggled against my grip, trying to fly out, but I held tightly and kept it.

I ran forward, my legs skittering across the snow with urgency, but Wren kept trying to slip out of my hand. So I summoned Frostbite’s sheath and plunged her into it.

It was an idea at first. I simply wondered if I could dismiss the sword now that it was in Frostbite’s Sheath, and if I could somehow dismiss the sheath. Would the sheath leave with the sword, or would it just disappear and leave the sword behind?

I paused for a moment and dismissed it.

To my surprise, both were gone from my hand. Immediately, an immense relief flowed through my chest.

‘Now, let’s focus on getting out of this.’

I tried to search for Kassie among all that was going on. I could feel her presence, but there was a storm where she was, and that was bringing its own kind of violence and turbulence to the field.

Everywhere was scattered, with violent winds tearing across the battlefield. Everyone was engaged in one battle or another, and the entire pass was shuddering because of it.

Lady Ilse and her summon seemed to be fighting Altharion and some other blonde-haired girl.

I recognized her on a second look.

‘Isn’t that Charlotte? Ah, so Elena is here too.’

I glanced at the storm. Now, I understood what it was.

‘Did she cut Kassie out of the battlefield?’

It sounded like something Elena would do. Of all our classmates, I could say she was the only one who knew what Kassie was capable of doing.

If she went as far as to plan something like that, which most likely meant that she did it to achieve something—

‘She wants me to withdraw Kassie.’

It was what any summoner would do. Elena was nowhere to be found across the battlefield. Pretty boy had entered amidst all this, but judging from the scale of the devastation, he didn’t seem to be after me.

He seemed to be destroying everything.

His wyvern flew around and kept tearing the snow apart with its vicious wind claps.

‘What the fuck is going on right now?’

I had never witnessed a battlefield so scattered and orderly. It felt like this wasn’t simply a battle between two sides. It was as though multiple sides existed, and I happened to not know which side was which.

[Your Gear – Bloodthorn Twin Daggers has been consumed]

‘Huh?’

[Your High-grade item – Blizzard Mauler Pelt has been consumed]

‘Wait, what?’

[Your High-grade item – Patriarch’s Ice Crown has been consumed]

[Your High-grade item – Patriarch’s Ice Crown has been consumed]

[Your High-grade item – Patriarch’s Ice Crown has been consumed]

[Your Low-grade item – Gorewraith Bone Plate has been consumed]

[Your Low-grade item – Gorewraith Bone Plate has been consumed]

[Your Low-grade item – Gorewraith Bone Plate has been consumed]

[Your Low-grade item – Gorewraith Bone Plate has been consumed]

[Your Rare-grade item – Spatial Membrane has been consumed]

‘Oii, oii, wait…’

[Your Mid-grade item – Shadow Wolf Fang has been consumed]

[More items are being consumed…]

“You bastard! How dare you run?!”

I glanced back. Through the bombardment of the wind, Kai shouted at me. All of the Sun King’s attempts to pursue me were being interrupted by the falling detonations of wind.

‘What the fuck does he mean, how dare I run? Of course I’ll run.’

I instantly withdrew Kassie, but as I did, I summoned White Feather.

So before Kassie vanished, White Feather was already next to me.

“Listen, I know you’re—”

She gave me a resolute look.

“I know, Lord Cade. Get ready to get on.”

For a moment, I was confused.

However, the next moment, White Feather’s form unraveled.

She stretched into a humongous bird. Pale white feathers poured out of her endlessly, and she continued to expand in a flood of them.

A majestic white bird rose into the dark clouds. Her immaculate feathers were like moonlit snow against the darkness of the heavens. She had vast wings that stretched wide with divine grace, while antler-like plumes crowned her head, lending her celestial nobility.

Trailing behind flowed a cascade of silken tail feathers, drifting through the mist like streams of living starlight.

‘A Phoenix…’

White Feather had transformed into a white phoenix overflowing with feathers.

And all around us, time seemed to slow.

She stared down at me with her crimson gaze.

“Lord Cade, get on.”

One of her wings landed down, with a tremendous hurricane following it.

I glanced around.

Everyone reacted to what was happening. Kai had an insanely furious look on his face that was quite comical to behold. The wyvern above us was descending, but it was very slow.

Kai’s summon was about to clash with a force of wind that looked like massive butterfly wings now that it wasn’t moving so fast.

I climbed the wing and sat at the edge of her neck. Then I quickly said to her,

“Lady Ilse and Brunhilde.”

She nodded and immediately lunged forward.

I think she vanished.

Or her speed was simply too fast for reality to register it. It looked like she merely jumped through distance. She grabbed Ilse and Brunhilde with her talons and completely vanished from the scenery.

All around us was a blurring landscape, as if everything was racing backward against time.

“Lord Cade, your essence is running low… I cannot hold this for long.”

It had barely been thirty seconds, I was sure. And just like White Feather said, I was already feeling my essence hitting the bottom of my reserves.

“My lord, I sense your subordinates.”

The moment she said this, a dark frown settled on my face.

They were another reason I came to the North, after all.

“Land us right in front of them.”

“Noted, my Lord.”