It was already very late at night...
Yet in Academy City, a closed-off circular metropolis centered around schools and research institutions, where more than eighty percent of the "citizens" were students, the lights in the rooms of researchers and students from every grade and school—people who almost never worked or attended classes at night—rarely all came on at once this late. Some even gathered in the open corridors of their dormitories or on rooftops, where they could see farther and more clearly, and gazed into the distance together.
Because,
right now, high in the night sky above Academy City, a knight was riding on the back of a huge "firebird," carrying a shining shield and an extra-long flaming spear, while leading a vast flock of "firebirds" soaring through the dark sky over the city...
Just moments ago, people had seen those "firebirds" shoot up from the ground. Like streaks of red blades, they formed a streamlined, arrowhead-shaped formation in the air, then—led by the first "firebird," with its dazzling rider at the very front—charged fearlessly toward the enormous, sinister, terrifying shadow of a dragon in the sky!
From far away, the tiny "firebird" rider, who seemed to be wearing a school uniform, looked just like a divine female warrior descended from the heavens, or a peerless champion about to rise up and slay a dragon. She radiated dazzling light, nearly illuminating all of Academy City. And the way she dared to charge the gigantic shadow in the sky was especially enough to leave people dizzy and spellbound.
It was obvious that the "firebird" rider was none other than the first-year transfer student at Tokiwadai Middle School, the eight-year-old girl Annie Hastur, the newly revealed eighth Level 5 and a fire-manipulation esper...
However, in the darkness, even with long-range viewing equipment,