Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume12 Chapter9 (section)

===Part 1===

Dressed in ritual attire, the twelve princess maidens had lost consciousness and collapsed by the side of the stone circle.

Just when the ritual was under way, a sudden flash of light erupted, blowing everything away in the surroundings.

Intense sparks flew out from the magic circle used for summoning spirits. The audience speechlessly watched the latest developments.

"...Could it be... the Gate opening failed?"

Collapsed on the ground, Fianna opened her eyes wide, exclaiming in shock.

(...No, that's not right. The ritual did not have any problems.)

Using the Gate for summoning was not very difficult magic in itself. Even if a summoned spirit went berserk, it seldom caused the summoning to fail.

Then did the Gate at the historical site show abnormalities?

(...That's not very possible either.)

Before constructing the magic circle, experts in historic sites should have conducted a thorough examination already.

In that case, the only remaining possibility was&mdash;

(...The ''magic circle'' itself was rewritten?)

"Calm down! Please calm down and evacuate."

"Rakka, go help the collapsed princess maidens!"

"...Right away!"

Despite the utmost efforts of the Sylphid Knights to respond, the audience were still on the verge of panic. If the commotion spread beyond the Academy, it could end up causing a tragedy of the worst kind.

(...I must find a solution.)

The reason had to be found, so that the Gate could be closed as quickly as possible. Otherwise, evil spirits from Astral Zero might use it to enter the human realm.

"Repair the magic circle! Everyone come and help!"

Fianna tried her best to stand up and rally the princess maidens. However&mdash;

Her body was violently stunned.

Seeing ''that'' appear before her eyes, she began to rue her naive thinking.

From the magic circle where sparks were scattering out, ''something'' was about to crawl out.

Covered by darkness resembling mist, there were pitch-black claws.

&mdash;A spirit.

A spirit giving off astounding miasma was currently being summoned here.

Furthermore, this was not the type of spirit residing in Astral Zero.

This was&mdash;

(Tuned specially for use in war, a militarized spirit&mdash;)

In the next instant, a howl tore through the atmosphere.