“We will now conduct the final check. Regarding the course, it runs from the summit of Mount Dolca to the foot. Runners, after putting on these bracelets, you will fly while following the trail of this Light Spirit Bird, Luculia.”
Following the priest’s words, a beautiful spirit in the form of a bird soared above our heads, leaving a golden trail.
The Light Spirit Bird Luculia is a rare spirit that leaves a golden trail behind it for a while after flying. In some regions, it’s treated as a lucky spirit, and it’s the perfect guide for this course.
“The point where the Luculia lands will be the goal, and rankings will be determined by the order of arrival. Also, if you catch up to and capture the Luculia along the way, you will receive points corresponding to your current rank. Finally, please be aware that if a runner falls too far behind the Luculia or deviates significantly from the trail, they will be disqualified.”
In other words, flying too slowly or trying to take shortcuts would likely result in disqualification. Well, for a Salamander that can overwhelm with brute force, neither should be an issue.
The rest would be interference from other teams, but that depends on the opponent’s contracted spirits, so we’ll just have to adapt on the fly.
“Senpai, it looks like it’s about to start.”
“Yeah, I got it.”
I nodded to Leia, who had received the bracelet, and took my position at the start with her. Other teams also took their places, and the atmosphere grew tense.
“I will now release the Luculia. participants, please take flight in ten seconds.”
The priest murmured, and the Luculia took off vigorously from Mount Dolca, leaving a golden signpost. At the same time, I began counting down in my head. And then—
“Skyrace, START!”
“Come, Salamander!”
At the signal, Leia summoned Salamander. We hopped onto the back of that massive red body and surged forward from the summit.
Alright, the start wasn’t bad!
Rejoicing that we were in the lead, I turned my gaze behind us to check the other runners’ contracted spirits—and I froze as I saw two other dragons with massive wings spread wide closing in from behind.
“It’s started.”
“There are three Dragon-types.”
As Gareth turned his gaze toward the screen showing the Skyrace, Lily, who was beside him, muttered softly.
On the screen, behind the red dragon of Utrea Academy flying in the lead, were the white dragon of Liber Academy and the green dragon of Draconia Academy. Further back were the Pegasus of the Titania Academy runner and a giant fish from Clast Academy that moved through the air as if swimming through water.
Cheers could be heard from the prep room, perhaps from people excited to see high-ranking spirits appearing one after another to chase the Luculia.
“The green dragon is Draconia Academy, and the white one is Liber Academy,”
Misha murmured while checking their uniforms. Liber Academy was a given, but Draconia Academy was also a powerhouse that produced the runner-up in the previous festival.
“Hey, no fireworks? They’re allowed to interfere, right?”
“It’s still the very beginning. They won’t make a move yet,”
Gareth replied to Akari, who was complaining about the lack of action as the spirits simply followed the trail.
Interference was allowed, but the goal was still far off. They were likely in the stage of devising strategies while observing the basic performance of each other’s spirits.
“Even so, every team is impressive. They should be on a pretty dangerous route, but none of them are slowing down,”
Celia muttered, impressed by the flying spirits. The Luculia, spiraling down the mountain, sometimes passed through rugged routes filled with stone pillars and stalagmites, but every spirit cleared them without issue. As expected of the elites chosen for the festival.
For a while, they continued to quietly clash using their superior flight abilities, but soon, the situation began to shift significantly due to the Draconia Academy participants.
“They’re moving…”
Misha whispered quietly as she watched the green dragon spread its wings wide and drop its speed, falling from third place to last in an instant.
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“Leia.”
“……Yes.”
In response to Rourke’s call, Leia—who had noticed the anomaly while still giving instructions to Salamander—nodded with a serious expression. It happened right after.
Thunder echoed from behind, and a powerful spiritual force could be felt.
“Here it comes!”
Turning around with a bad feeling, I saw the green dragon, now in the rear, coating its body in lightning and gathering spiritual energy in its mouth. Needless to say, it intended to wipe out the competitors with a breath attack.
“Should we evade!?”
“……No.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Rourke rejected Leia’s suggestion.
Based on the amount of spiritual energy being gathered, there was a high possibility they wouldn’t be able to dodge the coming attack entirely. It was better to focus on defense than evasion.
“Leia, you focus on flying. I’ll handle this.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let a single scratch get on you. Leave it to me.”
“……P-Please do.”
At my declaration, Leia looked down slightly and spoke with a hint of bashfulness.
Seeing Leia like that, I thought maybe “not a single scratch” was an exaggeration, but I couldn’t say “Actually, you might get scratched a bit” now. Rourke steeled his resolve and threw open his medium.
“Bring it on!!”
Rourke put on a brave front, calling out minor spirits from his medium and forming a simple contract to prepare for the counterattack.
[GAAAAAAH!!]
As if responding to Rourke’s shout, the green dragon behind them unleashed the spiritual energy stored in its maw. A beam of lightning-clad spiritual energy tore through the atmosphere, aiming to retire all the participants in its line of fire at once.
[GYOAH!?]
“Guh!?”
“Kyaa!?”
The participants tried to dodge instinctively, but the giant fish, unable to evade in time due to the breath’s speed and proximity, took massive damage along with the Clast Academy student on its back.
“Tch!”
Titania Academy, using the Pegasus, had its wings grazed by the breath, but thanks to its small body and high mobility compared to the other spirits, it managed to avoid a direct hit.
The breath, having injured two teams’ spirits, continued its path toward Yuma and his contracted spirit.
“Sweep it away, Crom.”
[GUOOOOO!]
“!?”
At its master’s instruction, the white dragon, Crom, roared and spun around.
With one of its wings, which was as thick as a shield, it caught the approaching breath and then swiped, parrying the lightning beam in a completely different direction.
“What!?”
The participant who was the contractor of the green dragon widened his eyes, seemingly unable to believe what he was seeing.
“This is bad.”
As a result, the breath didn’t reach, and they remained unharmed, but the situation wasn’t one for optimism. The green dragon had moved to finish off the damaged giant fish to retire them, while the Pegasus and especially the white dragon called Crom were now rapidly closing in from behind.
“Leia, speed up! Something dangerous is coming!”
“Increasing speed more than this is—”
[GOAH!]
Salamander roared, cutting off Leia’s words. The red dragon glared at its master as if to say “Don’t underestimate me” and accelerated.
However, the opponents were also fast and couldn’t be shaken off.
“Lionel!”
As the three spirits flew neck-and-neck, they entered a route with a ceiling. This time, Titania Academy made its move.
Of the two girls sitting on the Pegasus, the one in the back shouted a name and summoned her contracted spirit. A lion covered in glowing red fur appeared, leapt nimbly to the ceiling, ran at high speed past Yuma and the others, and closed in on Rourke and Leia from above.
“Are they aiming for us!?”
[GAA!]
As Rourke shouted, Lionel kicked off the ceiling and lunged at them.
“Hurricane Sword!”
[GUO!?]
Rourke wrapped wind around the sword spirit he pulled from his medium and swung it horizontally with great force. Lionel, who was about to drop onto Salamander, was hit by the gale released from the sword, having its trajectory shifted, and fell according to gravity.
“In the way.”
[GYAUN!?]
And while Lionel was defenseless in mid-air, it was immediately swiped by Crom’s wing as the white dragon surged from behind, sending the lion crashing into a nearby stone pillar.
“I think it’s time I took my leave as well.”
Before anyone could even feel pity for Lionel, Yuma moved. He pulled a book from his breast pocket, opened it, and numerous light orbs—minor spirits of the light attribute—emerged from within.
“Leia, Salamander, sorry, but I can’t block them all. I’m leaving the evasion to you!”
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