CHAPTER 4: PROMISE TO SAVE

XENON WINGATE

3 YEARS AGO

This girl… she is Serena Maizono.

I’ve known her a lot since she’s quite famous on our high school back then, but something is off. The Serena I know is a human and not a dragonoid. She used to have golden sparkling eyes that are always filled with joy and hope, but now her eyes are crimson red, filled with sorrow and despair.

It’s no use thinking about it right now. I have to save her. There are four armed soldiers with standard armor and they have rifles pointing at the poor girl. I have to take them all out at once.

“Hey, boss! What if we play with this girl a little? She looks cute!” One of the soldiers said.

“That’s a good idea! We’ll take turns with her-aaaack!!!!” The other soldier talked, but he never finished his sentence for the reason that I have shot his neck with a silenced pistol. That should be enough to destroy his windpipes and break the bone on his neck.

“What the-!!!” The three soldiers were surprised when they saw their leader drop dead on the floor.

The moment the three other soldiers looked from their behind, it’s already too late. I have fired my pistol to the three of them. The first soldier was hit on the left knee, the second on the right elbow, and the third to the stomach. My silenced pistol did the job quietly, and all of them dropped on the floor.

One of the soldiers managed to spray bullets on me with his rifle, so I made a quick reaction to unleash my magic.

“Forge!” A wooden buckler materialized on my left, and I let it catch all the bullets that are ought to hit me. 

Alas, I can only create a weak shield in such a short amount of time. The bullets went through my shield and it hit my body, but the force of the projectiles has been so weakened that all it did was to scratch my Eskimo suit. The bullets my body took felt like airsoft, and I’ll be sure to have small bruises after this fight.

“Haaaa!” I spun around and threw my wooden buckler to the soldier who fired his gun at me. I hit his neck which immediately snapped it, leading him to his immediate death.

Now there are only two soldiers left. They won’t put up a fight since I already shot them both. If only my aim is a little better, I should have shot all their heads the first time I assaulted them.

“Damn you!” One of the soldiers shouted. He can’t use his rifle since I shot his right elbow, so he used his left hand to draw a pistol from his waist.

But before he was able to point his gun, I already had my silenced pistol do the job. I shot him clean in the forehead, and bits of his brain and blood blasted at the back of his head.

Now there’s only one left. 

“What the… what the heck are you!?” The last soldier who got shot in the stomach tried to crawl on his back. He knew that I have my full attention on him, so the moment he put his hands on his weapons, I will burst his brains out. So, he made the wise choice to talk himself out of this predicament. “You’re not a dragonoid! You’re a human! Why are you helping her!?”

I removed my gas mask and I let my cold green eyes answer the dying soldier, which struck fear to his nerves.

“You… Your suit… You’re from the Elysian White Ghost, aren’t you!?” The soldier pointed at me, terrified. “Are you taking advantage of the Dragonoid War so that you can defeat the Empire of Alterra!?”

I ignored him. I put my pistol back to my holster and approached the teenage girl I just saved. 

I offered my hand to the slave girl. The dragonoid seemed hesitant on taking my hand, unsure who I may be. She’s shaking non-stop because of the fear of the horrific sight she just witnessed. She almost got herself sexually assaulted and saw three humans die right in front of her eyes. There’s no way she could feel at ease in front of a murderer like me.

“Ummm… You’re Xenon senpai, right?” Her pitiful puppy eyes melted my heart. 

As I thought, I know her. If she knew me, then it means that she’s the real one!

“Serena?”

“You’re Xenon senpai! I knew it!” Finally, the damsel that once in distress smiled. She took my hand, and I helped her stand. Then she shyly blushed and covered her mouth with her hands. “...Thank you for saving me…”

Thinking that I am distracted, the last soldier finally made a stupid mistake. He pulled a pistol from its holster and pointed at my head. There is no way I can pull my own gun fast enough and fire at him. 

But I already saw it coming.

I have a magic that is faster than a firing bullet.

“Forge,” I whispered.

And then, the wounded soldier was filled with hopelessness. The gunshot on his stomach started to burst out. Swords spawned on the bullet inside his body that penetrated his intestines. As every second goes on, more spikes and blades grew like sea urchin on his stomach, spraying his blood all over the place.

“Gah! Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!” Those were the dying screams of the soldier as his guts flew out.

“E-Eh?” Serena was terrified of the sight of a sword piercing him from the inside.

“Don’t look.” I patted her head and pulled her face to look at my eyes.

This may be the first time Serena saw me kill people, and it is actually a brutal method. I know she will be scared of me, but I don’t have any regrets. At least I saved her.

“A-Are you really Xenon senpai…?” Serena’s voice is trembling. Her puppy eyes are begging for mercy, silently asking to spare her.

“Yes.” I made a serious face. “I understand if you’re scared of me.”

“N-No.” Serena vigorously shook her head. “I’m not scared of you. You saved me, Senpai.”

That made me feel relieved a little.

I stared at her crimson eyes. There is no doubt that she’s a dragonoid, but it makes me anxious. Serena used to be human the last time I saw her, which was two years ago.

“Serena, your eyes…” I held her shoulders. “W-Why? What happened?”

“I-It’s because-”

Just before she could answer, somebody interrupted us. It was my friends and coworkers, Alfred and Carlo.

“Xenon, you piece shit! Why did you take a detour-” Alfred completely stopped nagging when he saw the beautiful dragonoid in front of me. 

“Oh, look who got a cute dragonoid slave on his hands.” Carlo teased with a smug on his face.

“Damn you, Xenon! You already had a beautiful girlfriend back in Elysia, and now that you’re away, you’re buying a cute dragonoid slave to unleash your sexual fantasies!” Alfred clenched his shaking hand, full of jealousy.

“She’s not my slave!” I cried out loud, trying to reason with them. I released the dragonoid from my grasps and scratched my head as I try to formulate words that is my way out of this misunderstanding. “Serena is just… uh… my acquaintance back in high school. I just happened to see her in this alley, cornered by him, him, him, and him.” I pointed out the dead bodies of the soldiers lying around one by one. “So I saved her.”

“Hey, our mission comes first! Focus!” Alfred yelled. I think he’s not angry because I made a detour. He’s angry because he’s jealous. “You can buy a dragonoid slave once we get out of here!” 

“Right, right.” Carlo nodded with a smile on his face. “As a wise man once said, dossier first, cuddle later.”

“As I said, she’s not my slave!” I cried. 

I noticed that Serena is shyly chuckling like a princess in the background. She changed a lot. She became a lot more adorable and sexy for the past two years we’ve never seen each other. But some never changed, like her shy and maidenlike personality. She still has her joyful vibe in her.

I have to protect that smile. Now that she’s a dragonoid, I can’t have her running about, especially that Vanilla City is under a state of war. Seeing her dirty long ragged shirt and broken handcuffs on her wrists, she looks like an escaped dragonoid slave. It would be bad if other humans saw her in this condition. I’d rather not think about what will happen if she gets captured again.

“Serena, go hide in that building.” I pointed out an abandoned grocery store nearby. “I’ll be coming to fetch you tonight.”

“S-Senpai?” Serena’s puppy eyes are about to unleash tears. “Are you really going to… save me?”

“Yes.” I smiled. “So wait for me there. Take all the food and supplies, find a room and lock yourself in.”

“R-Right!” Serena pumped her fists. “That’s a promise!”

“Yeah, that’s a promise,” I said as I let out my pinky.

Serena happily blushed as she locked pinkies with me. Then she proceeded to run towards the abandoned grocery store.

However...

That is a promise I will not be able to keep.