"It looks like they are in the extreme North of Quebec… still, if they keep heading south in a straight line, they will reach Ottawa or Montreal… it looks like with their pace, they will reach it in three days," Ethan rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he analyzed the map on the TV.
Ethan didn't know the exact numbers, but he was pretty sure that not even in the entire world, they had one hundred thousand summoned heroes. While the soldiers were probably at the E rank if compared to them, their numbers still were more than a problem.
Ethan thought of that while he was having breakfast with his family, but soon his father had to leave for work, and his mother had her own things to do and left alongside Milo. Ethan felt pretty weird about staying at home without having anything to do.
"Are you guys there?" Emily suddenly said through the Telepathy amulet.
"Yeah, I forgot to take this out… it seems that Ian isn't around, and he is up to his slimy Business as usual," Ethan replied. "Do you have business with me?"
"I was just curious because we didn't hear anything about the dark corps and the paladins since those guys showed up," Emily replied. "Since they closed the school, maybe they are expecting them to return all of a sudden, and it would be bad if the students saw them."
"In the worst case scenario, more than ten days had passed for them once they arrived in the other world… if they didn't return until now, they probably wouldn't return anymore," Ethan replied. "In any case, people sure are taking their time to do anything since it is the first time something of this scale happened."
"Well, unlike the previous wars in this world, we would lose a lot by starting a war for real with the people of other worlds. It will be even worse if they have allies on other planets as well," Emily explained. "Making enemies left and right isn't a good policy when we don't know how advanced they are… besides, when it comes to magic, nukes are basically useless to those who have some level of endurance and resistance."
"That makes sense… we would lose more if we start to use them in our own backyard," Ethan added. "Anyway, do you know if those people are in our database? Did anyone go to their world?"
"I don't think so… if they have enough forces to pull this kind of stunt, they probably didn't have to summon heroes to solve their problems," Emily explained.
She had a point, so Ethan nodded. In any case, the situation was escalating with every passing moment, and it was hard to imagine that it would have a peaceful solution.
Around noon of that day, Ethan confirmed through the news that some Canadian heroes were sent to contact the invaders. Apparently, one of their bigshots was going to be escorted by some soldiers to stop the main army… Ethan couldn't understand the point of doing that openly. Still, then he realized that they did that to make the whole world understand if the invaders were open for negotiations or not. If they attack those five, then they won't have to show any mercy.
"No signs of the higher-ups doing anything to help now… are they seriously planning to let things play out like this without revealing that we are part of the problems?" Ethan got up from the couch and then crossed his arms.
While he was thinking along those lines, he received a message from his sister. The timing was a bit weird… and apparently, she couldn't talk with him via a call.
'We are working behind the scenes, so don't do anything stupid.'
"I guess this was also an option… maybe the governments took their time to answer, thanks to that," Ethan nodded to himself. "I am used to solving most problems with brute strength, and that is why their actions seemed weird to me."
Although Ethan got a bit more relaxed, he still frowned when the TV was broadcasting the meeting between one of the big shots of the Canadian heroes and the invaders' army a few hours later. When those blue guys noticed that the hero wasn't something to laugh at, they stopped marching.
The guy was someone in the middle of his twenties, and while Ethan couldn't feel his presence, he could tell by his demeanor alone that he was strong, even though he was unarmed. He was tall but pretty thin, and he had blonde hair and blue eyes… he seemed like a mage through and through, so he didn't look like the best option in case the enemies attacked his group.
Still, despite that, the invaders' army sent five of their generals to talk with the hero… the choppers were too far away, so no one could hear what they were talking about. Still, it only lasted five minutes… eventually, the enemies pointed their spears at the group. They fired a massive barrage of ice spears toward them.
The hero summoned several magma golems to block their attacks while he and the soldiers began to retreat, but the golems were wiped out in a matter of seconds, and while they were running away, the other soldiers in the armies pointed their spears forward, and then made the ice spears rain over those five guys… it was quite the scene, and it was intentional. With that much power, they could destroy a city in a couple hours, and that was what they wanted to show…
The Ice Spears were five meters long, and they easily pierced the ground once they fell. At the same time, two of the soldiers had their legs pierced when they were trying to escape. The summoned hero managed to cover for them by summoning some weird golems to carry them… the golems were made of earth, but they looked like high-speed tanks.
"A summoner, huh… that seems convenient," Ethan thought while he was watching the enemy's army chasing those five guys.
Eventually, the golems helped the group gain a lot of ground from the enemies, and then a chopper approached to pick them in. Negotiations failed rather easily… and now Ethan only had to wait until more information spread about the conversation. Fortunately, that happened after just ten minutes. While the choppers were moving away from the area, the summoner gave a live interview to the broadcasting channel.
"At first, they looked like they wanted to talk, but soon I noticed their tension rising up… when I asked them the reason for their invasion, they claimed that want justice because some humans attacked their world, and they said that they were summoned heroes as well," The summoner explained. "I am not sure how veridic that information is, though. The higher-ups must be investigating things as we speak."
"Those are some serious claims… what do you think that it will happen if they are the speaking the truth?" The reporter asked.
"... For a few months, it became clear that Earth is undergoing a serious transformation, and I think this is another type of transformation," The summoner replied with a serious expression on his face. "It is a pity, but now the earth is becoming part of something far bigger than anyone had expected, and because of the actions of some reckless people… we are going to experience wars on an interplanetary scale. There is no going back after this. They claimed that they shed blood on their homeland, and they want to make us do the same."
"Oh boy… it looks like this guy isn't fully aware of what happened either. Both governments must be hiding the information," Ethan scratched the back of his head. "I guess it can't be helped… with the exchange students, it would be a bad time to reveal that kind of situation."
Ten minutes later, Ethan saw the channel broadcasting a lot of summoned heroes entering some choppers in some military base… it looked like the fights were going to start for real. At the same time, Ethan received a message from Ian revealing that the American government is sending those who have powers and are working for the army to help them…
"This must be another countermeasure, something not exactly related to what Hannah said," Ethan thought. "If they are planning to only send soldiers… they are being cautious, but if their numbers decrease…"
Aside from the summoned heroes that serve the army, Ethan could imagine the government planning other countermeasures like tanks and choppers. It was unlikely that those could even take a single one of the enemy soldiers, though. Still, wasting money like that seemed a better option than sending teens to war.
"I guess we need to wait for a while longer and see if plan B will work. I am not sure if Hannah will inform me of its success, though," Ethan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
New n𝙤vel chapters are published on f(r)e𝒆webn(o)vel.com