CHAPTER 6: HEART STOPPER

XENON WINGATE

3 YEARS AGO

Dragon knights are the most powerful beings of this world. They possess magical and combat capabilities surpassing any combat unit. They are capable of annihilating entire fleets without effort, and it is said that a single dragon knight is worth more than a thousand soldiers. The enemy right in front of us is no exception. As of this moment, we don’t have any chance in defeating the knight and its Chaos Dragon.

The raging sea of dark flames burst out. It has an intense temperature, maybe as high as the solar flares of a sun. If we got ourselves touched even by the hot air surrounding it, we’ll surely be toast. But there is a brave soldier to protect us from attack.

“Rrrah!” 

Carlo jumped in front and deployed his tower shield. The shield’s metal unfolded and expanded until it became as wide as the roof of a small house. The enhanced steel of the tower shield was able to withstand the dark flame’s extreme heat, but some parts of the shield melted like cheese.

“We have no chance of defeating a dragon knight!” Alfred shouted.

“Go! Proceed to the extraction point!” Carlo shouted back. “I’ll hold this dragon off!”

“But Carlo-”

“Just go!” Carlo shouted.

Suddenly, a brand new wave of dark flames approached. The Chaos Dragon blew smoke-like fire from its mouth with a more powerful pressure than before. Carlo went all out this time, deploying his full juggernaut armor in the hope of lasting a few more seconds in the sea of flames.

“Guh…” Carlo exhaled smoke from his mouth due to exhaustion. “Just… go…”

“We’ll come back to you! Don’t die a virgin, piece shit!” Alfred said in an imperative tone.

“Roger, captain stinky.” Carlo laughed.

Alfred tapped my shoulder, signaling that we should go and leave him. I’m quite hesitant at first, but Carlo is an impressive tank. I don’t know how much longer he could last with a Chaos Dragon’s flames, but I’m sure he’ll find a way out of this alive.

So I decided to escape without him.

As we ran away, I watched the battle between a dragon knight and a precious friend. With his full body armor, Carlo the Juggernaut charged forward with his tower shield, making a powerful blow on the dragon’s face. 

“Graaah!!!”

The dragon flinched as a result, but the knight didn’t just stand there; he leaped towards Carlo and skewered his tower shield with his cone-tipped lance, which immediately shattered the metal barrier to pieces. The lance also pierced Carlo’s stomach as a result.

I saw Carlo spitting out blood from his mouth and his holed stomach.

“N-No, Carlo is…” My mouth trembled. I halted on running and grabbed my other friend’s attention. “Alfred!”

“Focus on escaping, piece shit!” Alfred cried. “We have to run! We have to run! Or else Carlo’s sacrifice will be…”

Alfred failed to finish his sentence. He just continues to run away. I don’t have any choice but to follow him. He’s right. We have to run, or else Carlo’s sacrifice will be in vain. We never anticipated a dragon knight to ambush us, and it’s considered to be a miracle if only one of us died in encountering one. Most people who encounter a hostile dragon knight never live long enough to tell the tale.

Suddenly, several gunshot noises echoed. I felt piercing winds accompanied by bullet projectiles pass right beside our ears. I looked from behind and saw hordes of men firing their rifles at us. It’s just pure luck that the earlier bullets missed.

“Alfred is your Blink ready!?” I cried. “They’re onto us!”

“Not ready! Keep on running!”

We jumped and rolled to nearby ruined houses, ran and look for the exit. There are two groups of men who are chasing us; snipers and short-ranged militias. The snipers fire their bullets to us, while those short-ranged militias are in charge of chasing us down. We don’t have any option but to run for our lives. We can’t stay for a single position for just a second. Or else, we’ll die.

We hopped from houses to houses, rooftops to rooftops, buildings to buildings. If the next establishment is too far away, I will rely on Alfred’s Blink. He just needs to throw the short sword where he wanted us to teleport. It has a twenty-one-second cooldown at most circumstances, but considering that Alfred is almost at his limit, it could be longer than thirty seconds.

“Uraaah!” Alfred was put down on the floor. I saw his right foot had a large wound, and it’s bleeding non-stop. A sniper got him.

“Forge!” I shouted as I materialized a mechanical giant umbrella with my hand to cover us from the sniper bullets. I made a stop and checked on Alfred’s condition for about three seconds, and then I made the decision on carrying him by tying his arm around my shoulders.

“P-Piece shit… I’ll just slow you down.” Alfred made a painful smile. “You have the dossier… You should just leave me behind.”

“There’s no way I could do that!” I cried. “We’re brothers! We will get out of here alive! You! Me! Carlo! We’re going out of here alive!”

The mechanical umbrella couldn’t handle sniper bullets. It just passes through the metal plates, and getting hit with that would still be fatal. I immediately ran at full speed. With my slower velocity, it made me an easy target. I used my Forge to create a wide shield hanging on my back to protect us from the bullets behind. But even with that protection, I got grazed on the arms, legs, and cheeks by the sniper bullets. I’m not capable of Forging a sturdy shield after all.

“The wall…” Alfred said. “Reach that wall and I will Blink you out of the city… That’s where I left one of my swords.”

“Right.” I nodded.

My legs still work. My shoulders and arms hurt, but I can still run. I let my adrenaline dominate my nerves and brain as I run nonstop. My lungs and heart feel like burning due to overdrive.

Finally, I reached the wall. The moment I made a touchdown on the gigantic metal plate was the signal for Alfred to use his teleportation magic.

“Blink!”

In an instant, we were transported on the other side of the wall. We’re finally outside Vanilla City. It would take a lot of time for our pursuers to climb on the wall and shoot us. Now that we are outside the warzone, our survival is secured.

I laid down the wounded Alfred beside a giant snow rock. I gave first aid on his wounds and then contacted our ticket home.

“Delta Seven, requesting extraction on Evac Site E,” I said in my earpiece.

“Copy that, White Ghost. ETA five minutes. Delta Seven Out.” The radio said.

“Hey, what about that dragonoid chick you left in the grocery store?” Alfred said. “It would be a waste if you leave her like that.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go rescue her and Carlo.” I smiled. “I’ll request General Eldritch for a substitute Blinker so that we can rescue them. I just hope they can stay alive a little bit longer.”

“I’m sure he’ll allow you. General Eldritch is your childhood and close friend after all.” Alfred laughed.

Suddenly, a continuous gust of wind blew the snow towards us. Our chopper has arrived, and this is the Elysian Airforce. We can now secure the dossier to the empire I pledged my life for. I carried Alfred and dragged him until we’re both in front of the chopper. There, the hatch of the chopper opened, revealing a certain General Michael Eldritch that greeted us.

General Michael Eldritch is a blonde tall man with blue eyes. He’s a man of superior posture and charisma, an ideal prince charming to everyone who witnesses a sight of him. To add more of that, he has a sense of justice and honor that is same from a saint. He is the most perfect man you can ever find.

“Did you find the dossier?” The General asked.

“Yes, Mike.” I said. I couldn’t hand it out to him because I’m carrying Alfred on my shoulders. “It’s in my jacket.”

The general took the documents from me and gave it to one of the Elysian soldiers inside the chopper. After that, he tapped my shoulder. 

“Good work. I love your performance.” Mister perfect general smiled.

“Thank you----”

My lungs forgot to breathe. No, I can’t breathe. I can feel my ribcage squeeze my internal organs. My heart is no longer beating. My mind went blank.

When I looked at my chest, I saw the general’s hand. It is covered with shadows, and it seems like it has passed through my skin, bones, and flesh. He’s grabbing my heart from the inside.

I couldn’t move.

I couldn’t blink.

I couldn’t breathe.

My body has shut down completely, but I am still aware of what is happening.

“Heartstopper Curse.” The general smiled like a charismatic prince as if he is doing an innocent guilt-free justice with his own hands. 

“Piece of shit!” Alfred grabbed his short sword and swung it towards the traitorous general.

The general’s reaction time is superb. He immediately grabbed my silenced pistol from its holster, and shot Alfred clean on the forehead, making his brains and blood splatter to my face. He helplessly fell down lifeless on the chopper’s floor.

“Wha… Why…” I weakly muttered. “Why… are you… doing… this…”

“Elysia has little need for heroes. Farewell, my dear friend.” 

The general smiled. Then, he kicked me out of the helicopter, and my body landed on the soft snow. It doesn’t matter where my body landed. I’m already dead the moment General Eldritch used Heartstopper Curse on me. 

I hear the helicopter engine stirring louder. They are leaving me. They are leaving me here, in this ash-colored snowy place for my body to rot. Alone, abandoned, in this chilling hell of a place. I will die here, like a sick stray dog.

The last thing I saw before my eyes closed is the face of the man I hated the most, who is gazing on the helicopter windows as they made their grand escape. With the last ounce of life and strength of my heart, I muttered his name and cursed it for all eternity. 

“...Michael ...Eldritch…”

He will pay.

[Xenon Wingate - K.I.A]