All My Summons Become Divine Girls

Chapter 257: The Corrupted Apex

Loccy crossed the ravine before the portal finished swelling, carrying Hajin’s warning toward Juna without wasting time on another question.

Hans struck two shields near the bridge, sending his barrier team toward the field road while he pointed the clinic drivers away from town.

"Take the irrigation cut," he shouted, limping after them with his spear raised, "leave the main road empty before that Gate opens."

The opaque surface stretched across the ravine, then split around a plated head wider than Ferra’s furnace mouth.

Four hooked legs found the bank beneath it, dragging a body covered in purple root armor through the opening.

The apex stood taller than the registry roof once its spine unfolded, though half its corruption remained connected to the Gate behind it.

Three hounds spilled around its legs while winged bodies forced their way through above them.

Divine Eye followed the shared circulation back into the mountain, finding the fixed route still tightened around the buried mother.

[ Mobile Apex Node: Exterior ]

[ Gate-Core Mother: Interior — Stationary ]

[ Shared Circuit: Maintained ]

"It brought the network with it," Aria said, marking six purple tethers running through the portal, "the mother is still feeding every branch."

Hajin opened Aegis across the road before the apex finished turning toward Vella’s final cart.

Its first charge struck the barrier above the drainage cut, driving both of his Rings backward around his right wrist.

The road remained covered, but the bank beneath Aegis split until one hooked leg reached through.

Hajin tightened his right hand around the Chain, casting its length around the exposed joint before the creature found traction.

He pulled toward the empty ravine, forcing its chest away from the clinic lane while Aegis held its head. One purple tether tightened through the portal, pouring another surge into the armor along its spine.

The apex tore its leg free without losing the limb, sending Hajin across the bank as the Chain ripped through three layers of roots.

He landed near the road, keeping Aegis between the creature and the cart before his feet stopped sliding.

"The route changed," Aria warned, moving a red line beneath him, "it can use the buried branch outside the portal."

Ground lifted beneath the western marker as a burrower crossed below Hajin’s barrier, breaking the road behind the final clinic wagon.

The driver pulled left at Hans’s order, but one rear wheel dropped into the opening before reaching the irrigation cut.

Elise raised a light wall across the trapped wagon while six militia shields formed beside Sable behind it.

They had guarded the rear since the first evacuation bell, keeping every wounded frame between themselves and town.

"Leave the wheel," Sable said, pushing the nearest recruit toward the patients, "carry them across the ditch before it comes again."

Vella held golden mana through the wagon while its patients climbed onto two frames, leaving her unable to abandon either one.

The apex twisted around Aegis, following the blood inside those healing lines instead of the road beneath them.

Hajin saw the turn early, but a full Eclipse Lash from his position would cross the wagon before reaching its neck.

He drove the Chain into the ground beside Sable, raising Aegis from that anchor as the creature crossed the broken marker.

Elise added her light wall to the same angle, covering the six shields while Sable braced beneath its lower edge.

The apex struck both barriers with its head down, breaking Elise’s spell before Aegis could carry the full charge aside.

Three militia flew into the irrigation ditch, while the others fell beneath shields that folded around their arms.

Sable stayed beside the wagon, shoving one carrying frame beyond its front wheel before the apex crossed.

A hooked foreleg entered beneath Aegis during her turn, passing through her chest before lifting her from the road.

Hajin tightened the Chain around that leg, tearing it sideways until Sable dropped near the ditch without moving.

Elise looked at her once, then opened every light channel around her core directly against the apex’s eyes.

White mana burned through the purple growth covering one socket, forcing its head away from the second frame.

"Move them, Vella," Elise said, drawing her sword after the light failed, "I can give you another step."

The apex found her through the shared circuit before its damaged eye finished closing.

Its jaw caught Elise across the waist, carrying her through the remaining barrier before throwing her beside Sable.

Hajin reached its head on the next Chain pull, driving both feet into the root armor above its neck.

His fist broke through the first plate plus the bone beneath it, turning the creature away from the ditch.

Purple mana arrived from the Gate before he could strike again, filling the broken socket as new roots closed beneath his hand.

The apex threw its neck upward, sending him over the wagon while the airborne brood descended behind it. Aegis widened from the Chain anchor, catching the first winged bodies before they reached Vella’s patients.

Hajin landed beside both fallen women, feeding golden healing through his left hand before Vella could reach them.

The mana entered Sable’s wound without finding circulation, then crossed Elise’s chest after her core had stopped.

Vella touched both of them after the frames cleared, withdrawing her gold when neither body accepted it.

"The six behind them are alive," she said, turning toward the ditch with blood across both hands, "I need the apex away from here."

Two recruits had broken legs, another could not move one arm, while three carried open wounds from the shattered shields.

Hajin rose without releasing the healing he had already placed through them, forcing Vella’s gold along six separate paths.

"Keep the serious bleeding tied to me," he said, facing the Gate again, "take the frames through Hans’s new route."

Juna reached the irrigation cut from above as Loccy came through the abandoned main road with her hammer summoned.

Neither looked toward Hajin for an order after seeing Sable and Elise beside the ditch.

The apex backed toward the portal while its hounds spread across the road, using the mother’s mana to rebuild its damaged neck.

Hans’s barrier team closed around the wounded behind Vella, leaving the two summons room between both escape routes.

"The carts keep moving," Hans said, striking his spear against a shield, "you three hold the Gate mouth until the road is empty."

Hajin returned to the Chain anchor as the winged brood gathered above the ravine.

The apex lowered its repaired head toward Juna, while Loccy planted her hammer inside the cracked road.

Three pale-gold points began forming behind Juna before the next charge reached them.