Chapter 96: Kragsnok

Back in Sun City, the evacuation continued, though it wasn’t as serious over there.

People were being moved out of exposed buildings while local summoners kept the routes towards the shelters and transport points open.

Alice had joined the responders evacuating a residential block near one of those routes. Alyssa had been there, but left after taking care of most of the intruding monsters.

Some residents left as soon as the warnings began. Others only tried leaving after they heard the fighting, and several couldn’t manage the stairs without assistance.

Alice remained near the entrance, keeping the path clear and helping whenever someone needed another pair of hands. She hadn’t summoned Kragsnok, her summon. With frightened civilians filling the pavement and transport vehicles trying to turn in the narrow street, there was nowhere suitable for a dragon of his size. Then again, there was nothing requesting her to summon him.

A worker called from the stairs.

"The last family is coming down."

Alice looked up and saw a woman helping her elderly father, stopping whenever his feet caught against the edge of a step.

She went to meet them.

"There’s no need to hurry on the steps. Hold the rail," Alice said as she remained beside the stairwell.

The woman helped her father down the final few steps, where a responder waited outside with a wheelchair. The old man kept looking past him towards the smoke rising over Sun City.

"My wife—"

"She’s inside the blue vehicle. We’ll take you straight to her."

He looked towards the vehicle, then back at Alice.

She smiled and stepped aside so they could bring the wheelchair closer.

The apartment building was almost empty now. Its front windows had shattered when something struck the building across the road, and nobody wanted to remain there long enough for another impact.

"Third floor clear," a worker called from the stairs.

"What about the second?"

"Clear."

Alice looked towards the woman waiting beside the entrance.

"That’s everyone you told us about?"

The woman nodded.

"Then go with your father. They’ll need the space here."

Two summoners guarded the junction across the road while civilians moved towards the transport vehicles. Alice went to the edge of the pavement and checked the construction yard farther down the street.

The vehicles had been moved out of it, just as she requested.

’Good.’

After Alyssa left, Alice had asked them to clear the area when the first reports of larger monsters came through. The yard was wide enough for Kragsnok to manifest without crushing several cars or blocking the same civilians she was trying to protect.

That didn’t mean she wanted to bring him out immediately, if even at all.

Even with all her Spirit Energy, she could only maintain his full manifestation for around two minutes. She couldn’t summon him early and expect him to stand around waiting for something worth killing.

There was also the small problem of Kragsnok having a will of his own.

Calling him wasn’t like summoning a beast that would obey every instruction without question.

At that time, a responder hurried across the junction.

"Anyone left inside that building?"

"No. Keep everyone away from the construction yard."

He nodded, but stopped when his radio started sounding, a loud and frantic voice coming through.

"Gate boss! Boss! Main approach. Estimated Peak Grade Five—"

A minute later, something rose behind the buildings at the end of the road.

The creature forced its way through the side of an already damaged commercial building, bringing part of the wall down across its back. It shook off the debris and turned towards the junction.

One of the summoners guarding the crossing took a step back.

"W-we—we can’t hold that..." he spoke, his voice shaking.

Alice’s eyes widened as she looked at it. She looked towards the transport vehicles.

The last one hadn’t left yet. A responder was still helping the old man inside.

"Get them around the turn. Now!" When they hesitated, she sounded the order again.

She headed towards the construction yard and stopped near its entrance, keeping the open space in front of herself while the evacuation route remained behind the buildings.

Alice directed her awareness into her summoner’s space.

Inside there, Kragsnok lay leisurely, barely contained from his demeanor, his enormous black body completely still. Rough scales covered him like slabs of rough dark volcanic rock laid over something ancient. There was nothing smooth or beautiful about the dragon, not in the usual sense anyway.

One of his eyes opened when Alice approached, his pupils alone bigger than her entire body.

"Kragsnok, I need you."

His eye settled on her.

"There’s something coming down the road. It’ll reach me before those people can leave," Alice explained while making sure she held his attention. "Please kill it. I’ll summon you facing it, and the people are behind us."

Kragsnok didn’t rise or give her any sort of reassurance, but at least he was listening, which was enough.

Alice returned her attention to the yard and summoned him.

In an instant, the open space disappeared beneath a giant black dragon that materialized into it.

His feet settled into the broken ground, completely dwarfing everything around, even the space Alice prepared wasn’t enough, his head several stories high even though he wasn’t standing tall. He didn’t try to open his wings yet, that were longer than whole football stadia.

Immediately, the approaching monster stopped, gazing lostly at him.

Kragsnok looked at it, quite unimpressed as though looking at an insect.

He glanced at Alice who was standing some distance back, then back at the monster.

’Pathetic.’ He said.

He couldn’t believe his existence was tied to such a weak creature. If she was killed, he would also disappear. He couldn’t believe this was what had become of him.

Lazily, Kragsnok opened his jaws, and just as lazily, a bowl of flames fell from it and unto the monster.

In almost an instant, the monster’s armour didn’t offer any visible resistance. There was no struggle or slow increase in heat while it tried moving through the flames. The monster simply disappeared inside, along with the road beneath it.

It almost looked like a bowl of magma and acid had been dropped, but it really wasn’t. Even concrete broke apart and began melting nearby. The remains of the collapsed wall sank into a widening pool of glowing stone, and by the time the fire stopped, all that remained where the Grade Five had stood was a red-hot hollow.

Not even five seconds had passed.

Alice stared at the destruction before quickly looking towards the turn.

The transport was gone, though some of the responders were still withdrawing.

"Good. Thank you." She said.

Kragsnok’s eye shifted towards her.

"There’s another one behind that building," Alice said while pointing towards the evacuated side of the district.

Another monster had entered the service road, probably drawn there by the noise or the heat. Kragsnok reached beyond the yard with one claw and struck it.

The monster hit the ground and didn’t move again.

Alice could already feel how quickly her reserves were falling.

A third creature climbed onto the roof of an evacuated building beside the service road, and yet again, the same thing. The monster disappeared, and most of the roof went with it as the upper wall collapsed.

Kragsnok was already looking beyond the ruined building.

Another monster tried escaping along the road behind it. He picked up a car, gave it a squeeze, and casually struck the monster from that distance, crushing the monster.

Alice looked from the collapsed building to the glowing break across the road.

Nobody had been inside either place. She had made sure of that before summoning him.

Unfortunately, they would still need to use those roads once the attack was over.

"Please leave the other roads alone."

Kragsnok glanced down at her before spreading his wings, bringing destruction on an entire city block, on each side. Thankfully, there were no residents in those buildings.

"Kragsnok?"

Without responding to her, the dragon rose into the air with one leap.

Dust rolled across the ground, forcing Alice to catch the fence post as his huge body lifted over the surrounding rooftops. He didn’t particularly rely only on his biological make up to fly, but even then.

She checked the time.

Only around twenty seconds had passed.

He had killed four monsters and apparently decided that his job was finished.

"Stay away from the shelters!" Alice shouted after him.

He didn’t bother listening and talking to her.

From above, Kragsnok looked down over the city.

Tall buildings crowded the ground beneath him, their glass sides reflecting the fires and scattered lights below. Roads ran between them in long lines, filled with small metal objects that had stopped moving.

Much had changed... at least those were his thoughts.

He turned above a row of towers and looked farther across the city. Smoke rose from several areas, while lesser creatures fought between the buildings and others fled through the streets.

So much noise for so little.

Kragsnok could have killed more of the invading monsters... He simply had no interest in doing so.

As he passed over another wide road, people below stopped and pointed towards him. Others ran beneath whatever cover they could find. He saw monsters in different places, all ants beneath him, and more than ants, a sorry disgrace for life.

Kragsnok watched them briefly.

Perhaps he should let the ants understand this?

His ability, ’Dragon’s Might’ would accomplish that...

All he needed to do was release it, and every lesser being within range would feel the fear of facing something they couldn’t fight or escape from.

’HaHaHa...’