The sounds of feeding ended abruptly when the little girl gave a squeaky-sounding cry. She was being brave for the situation she had found herself in, but I couldn’t expect what looked like an eight-year-old girl to remain completely quiet when faced with whatever was lurking around at the other side of the door.

The thing outside let out a loud moan. It was a horrifying sound that was repeated by several other creatures both inside the building and outside. How many of these things were there, and more important, what were they?

We must have been on the second story of the building as I could hear heavy footsteps slowly climbing toward the floor we were on. I was focused on the door, but out of the corner of my vision, I could see a window. The flickering light of a nearby building on fire lit up the scene. Several figures moved about outside, all of them heading toward the building we were in, as whatever had let out the moan rang the dinner bell.

Something thudded against the door. The blow soon followed by others as the creatures outside the door redoubled their efforts to get inside. I found myself wondering how thick that wooden door was, and whether it, or the small, sliding metal latch that held it closed would go first.

Normally, I’d be counting down the time until my summoning was complete, but this time it was different. I didn’t know what horrors I was about to face, but whatever it was, I would do everything in my power to protect that little girl. There was a similar look of determination in the eyes of the old man, who was dressed in a ragged canvas shirt and pants.

The bolts holding the latch started to loosen, and after a few more blows, the door banged open. Monsters from a Hollywood movie started to shamble inside the room. Being the closest, the Rottweiler was the first to react, jumping up and latching onto the throat of the first creature that shambled inside. It was a zombie, and I knew how to deal with those.

Drawing my knife, I held it in the hammer grip that Sifu Dan had taught me. It felt steady and secure, ready to stab and slash some zombies. The first monster was forced to the ground under the dog’s attack, but another followed it inside. I moved forward, ready to stab it in the head, but the old man beat me to it.

He moved with a fluid grace despite his obvious old age. Punches flashed out, the glowing hands collapsing the skull of the second zombie to enter the room. More creatures tried to force their way inside, causing the door to completely collapse, falling atop the old man. I stepped forward, trying to avoid stepping on the door and crushing my elderly companion, but the zombies felt no such sympathy. More flooded into the large bedroom, each trampling and stumbling over the door, ignoring the struggles of the man beneath it.

The dog let out a yelp, another zombie flopped on top of it and bit into the dog’s shoulder. At least the zombie that the dog had first attacked was out of the fight. It looked like whatever created these zombies didn’t require a head shot, just enough regular damage to the zombie’s body was enough to destroy it.

I saw an opening and jumped forward driving my dagger into the temple of the zombie that was attacking the dog. Nobody attacks dogs if I can help it. As more zombies piled in, the other summoned creatures got into the fight. The odd teddy bear was almost as terrifying as the zombies. Long steel claws extended from its furry paws and a set of formidable looking teeth added to its offensive power.

It was shredding the zombies but taking them down with sheer damage was a slower process. A bright light flashed outside the window, causing me to lose my vision for a moment. I kept my blade pointed toward the doorway just in case. These zombies might not even be using vision and might be tracking us by scent or some other means.

As my vision slowly cleared, I could see the flash of light had been even more devastating to the zombies than it had been to me. All the creatures that had been caught in the flash had burns on any of their exposed flesh. They had also recoiled from the light, seeking shelter in the darker hallway.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Seeing my opening, I ran to the fallen door and shoved it off the old man. He was banged up badly, but still in the fight. As long as a summoned being didn’t disappear in a puff of mana vapor, we were still functional to some extent. He wasted no time staggering to his feet and facing the zombie horde that was pushing its way inside once more.

With their brief retreat, the defenders were able to form a curved line in front of the doorway. As the zombies pushed into the room, they were met by fist, dagger, tooth, and claw. One by one we destroyed the monsters, and the muscles in my arm were burning from the constant attacks I was making.

We lost the goblin early on; a zombie reached into the doorway and pulled him out of our line. The rest of us were too busy fighting to deal with the hapless fellow, and he was quickly torn apart by the flesh eaters. When the goblin disappeared into vapor instead of providing a meal or another recruit, the zombies became enraged and redoubled their efforts to get us.

Several times during the battle, the flash of light erupted again, blinding all of us except for the teddy bear briefly. The light also forced the zombie horde back, getting us a few seconds breather each time. My Rottweiler buddy was the next to fall, he had never quite recovered from the first bite he had taken and finally slowed down enough that the zombies pulled him away like they had done with the goblin.

With only three of us remaining, things were getting difficult, and the number of zombies didn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. The more tired I got, the slower my responses became, and it was only a short time later that a zombie finally got a grip on my arm. Before I could pull away, it bit down. The pain was horrible, but I kept the presence of mind to drive my dagger into the zombie’s eye. When it fell, its mouth ripped a hunk of flesh out of my arm, and now I had a bleeding wound to deal with.

I couldn’t stop attacking to deal with my injury. If I didn’t keep stabbing, those things would push their way past me and attack the girl. This whole summoning thing might seem strange to me, but I knew that this world I was in was real, as was the little girl we were defending.

Another flash of light granted us a small break in the action. Sadly, there wasn’t much I could do for my arm. Maybe, before I was summoned from home next time, I could try to tie a few bandages around me like they were part of my clothing. It was gaming the system a bit, but every little bit helped. A system prompt appeared just as my vision was returning from the latest flash.

You have been infected with the curse of undeath. Left untreated, the wound you received will spread its infection throughout your body, killing you in just under two minutes.

I had two minutes, and in those two minutes, I was going to take down as many zombies as I could. My dagger darted forward with renewed energy, stabbing the horde that was just now resuming its assault. It was hard, and as the infection spread, my movements became sluggish, and I began to burn with fever.

The older man next to me looked to be in the same situation. He had small bites over his arms and hands, and his advanced age was making it even harder for him to resist. The glow on his hands flickered and faded, but he continued to punch, the unenhanced blows doing little against the undead.

He finally stumbled and was dragged away by the ravenous horde. With only me and the bear left, the zombies pushed us back. Another blast of light, this time coming from the hallway, blinded me. My body was finally giving out, but I kept stabbing toward the zombies I knew were likely closing in on me. One more thrust hit nothing but air, and my dagger slipped through my numb fingers.

My body started to shut down, and seeing a rotting limb step next to me, I grabbed on, determined to give that little girl a few more moments of life. An even brighter flash erupted in the room, and I could feel the zombie leg I was grabbing turn to dust. Finally running out of energy, my arms dropped to the floor.

“By the gods, how did this girl stay alive?” A voice called out from the doorway.

“Grandpa gave me the figures to play with and told me how to get them to protect me when I needed it,” the girl said. Tears were running down her cheeks, but a man dressed in plate armor walked in and snatched her up, promising her that things would be okay now.

You have expired from necrosis caused by a zombie bite. This summoning is now considered complete.

Your performance rating is calculated as Excellent.

Your rewards will reflect the summoning tier of 0, rank 1, and your performance rating of Excellent.

You have earned 10 experience points.

You have earned 4 summoning points.

Congratulations, you have reached Tier 0, Rank 2.

Prepare to return to your Personal Space.