CHAPTER 12: AWAKENING

XENON WINGATE

3 YEARS AGO

My eyes opened. I saw grayish-white skies raining ash-colored snowflakes. I feel a little bit warm even though I’m laying on thick snow. I can move my body but I feel like something has been pinning me down.

I remember everything. General Eldritch betrayed me. He used a Heartstopper Curse at me and shot Alfred in the head. There is no way I could be alive. But I don’t think I’m in heaven because I can still smell burnt rubber and blood in the air. If anything, I could very well still be near Vanilla City. But I could no longer hear any gunshots or explosions.

My heart shouldn’t be working anymore, but I can hear my own heartbeats. Did the Heartstopper Curse fail?

I looked at my chest and saw a woman with long silky black hair dipping her ears on me as if she’s checking if my heart is still beating. Noticing that I moved a little, the woman with red eyes glanced at me.

“Sen...pai…?” The adorable face of the woman blushed. Her crimson eyes unleashed sprinkles of tears as she cried out loud. “Senpai! You’re alive! Thank goodness it worked!”

“Serena…” I muttered. I just remembered the pinky promise I made to her. I told her to wait at the grocery store and I will come to save her. But I failed to keep that promise. I must have made her worried. 

“Senpai, can you stand?” Serena stood up first, and she offered her soft and warm hand. I grabbed it, and she assisted in raising my body.

My legs still work. My arms can move fine. I don’t have any fatal injuries. I only have minor bruises and cuts all over my body. My eyes are clear, my ears can still hear, and I can still feel the temperature and the pain of my wounds. I can taste the sour saliva that has been stuck on my mouth. I’m completely fine, except for my heart which is beating in overdrive for some unknown reason.

“What… happened?” I asked.

“The war is over Senpai. The giant scary dragon and the armies have vanished without a trace.” Serena answered.

Suddenly, I remembered someone. My eyes opened wide as I mutter the name of my friend that was left behind on this mess.

“Carlo!” I immediately ran towards the shattered wall, paving my way back to the ruined city.

“Senpai!” Serena followed me like a dog.

We ventured deeper towards the destroyed city, checking rubble after rubble, looking for signs of life. The landscape of the city has changed drastically that it makes it hard for me to remember the place where we left Carlo to battle the dragon knight.

Twenty minutes have passed, and still, I couldn’t find anyone. All I see are charred limbs or evaporated part of bodies. This is a scene where I’m worried about Serena since she may not be used to seeing dead people, but she appears calm and collected as if she had seen worse.

After half an hour, Serena stumbled upon an arm buried in the snowy ground. It’s not just a regular arm because it has a sleeve of a white Eskimo suit and it has a white glove similar to mine.

“Senpai…” Serena grabbed my attention.

I immediately dug the snow. The first thing I excavated is a badly-shattered tower shield that has now the size of a half of itself. I continued to dig in until I was finally able to recover Carlo, or what remains of him. I was way too late. Only his upper body and left hand remained intact. His body is wholly frostbitten, and the missing parts of his body are converted to charred flesh.

I gritted my teeth. I balled my fist. That’s the only thing I can do now to suppress my anger. I had two of my best friends die, and my other friend tried to kill me. Now I’m left alone in this deserted place to rot. This is the hell I’ve gotten myself into.

“Senpai.” Serena held my hand which gave warmth to my sense of touch and calmed my nerves. Seeing her looking concerned at me made me realize that I’m not alone in this hell after all. “He’s your friend, right?”

“Yes.” I bowed to hide my face. “He’s Carlo Tavionas a fellow White Ghost. He’s my senior, and he’s a good friend.”

I looked at Serena, who appears to be shivering. She’s only wearing a dirty rag-like slave clothing after all, and I don’t think she's even wearing underwear right now. I removed my warm Eskimo suit and wrapped it all over her body, leaving me with only my white shirt to keep me covered. I noticed that Serena sniffed the Eskimo jacket and then blushed. Ignoring that reaction, I continued to tell the story of my deceased friend. 

“Carlo was someone who you can meet once in a lifetime. He is one of those guys you can get out and have a beer with. He would often touch my butt a lot, and it would tickle, in the nicest way. And it wouldn’t be awkward the day after. Carlo treated me like a princess.”

Hearing my story, Serena had this flabbergasted reaction on her face. “S-Senpai, I think you shouldn’t tell anymore. It’s getting a lot weirder…”

“Right.” I slightly smiled. I gazed upon the dragonoid lady who is enjoying the warmth of my jacket. She keeps on exhaling white smoke from her mouth like a child. When I stood up, her crimson puppy eyes locked onto me. I approached her and offered a handshake. “Serena, you saved me, right? I know you undid the Heartstopper Curse. Thanks for saving me. Thank you for making me see one of my best friends for the last time.”

“You’re welcome, Senpai.” Serena smiled with a blush as she tilted her head. She took my hand and shook it. Then she immediately erased it with an adorable frown. “I’m sorry about what happened to your friend. My deep condolences.”

“There is nothing you could have done,” I said with a safe smile. Then, I patted her head. Much to her pleasure, she uttered silent moans like those of a dog whistle.

I have concluded everything now. I was sure that I was dead when that fucker Eldritch used a heart-stopping curse at me. Serena must have used powerful magic to make my heart beating again. But several things are bothering me about this woman. Why is she here in Alterra? I’ve heard that she went missing before her graduation, and I’ve heard rumors about her being secretly a dragonoid.

That issue can be saved later. For now, we have to get out of the city. This is not a safe place for the two of us.

But before we could make a single step, somebody from above stopped us. Gusts of wind made snow fly around the area. Serena and I covered our eyes to prevent specks of dust from entering our sights.

Suddenly, we heard a loud clear voice.

“I am a dragon knight of Arcadia, and I order you two to freeze!”

When we looked from above, we saw a horrifying creature that could mark us our end. It was a seven-meter-tall Chaos Dragon filled with dark metal scales, sword-like claws, razor-sharp teeth, and a spiky long tail. On its head is a man in iron-clad armor which is equipped with a cone-shaped lance.

The snowy breeze ended when the Chaos Dragon landed on top of a collapsed building near us. Having a better view of the adversary, I noticed the familiarity of their appearance. They are the ones who ambushed us. They may be the one who is responsible for killing Carlo.

Suddenly, twenty armed people appeared on the scene and surrounded us. These people are not humans; they are dragonoids, and the proof of it is their crimson eyes. They are all pointing their assault rifles on us. These people must have looted human armories to get their own weapons.

“A human and a slave dragonoid.” The dragon knight in full iron armor laughed. “What a comical sight. Too bad I was ordered to clean this place and kill everyone who is left alive.”

I can hear twenty assault rifles cocked, ready to fire at any moment. The Chaos Dragon also roared, destroying the quietness of this sad place.

I made the initiative of talking to the arrogant dragon knight. “Before you execute us, may I mind to ask something?”

“What is it, dead man?” The dragon knight chuckled.

I moved my arm, raised my index finger, and pointed at Carlo’s corpse. “Are you the one who is responsible for killing this man?”

“Yes, I am.” The dragon knight’s head is covered with a helmet, so I couldn’t see his expression. But I can guess that he is smiling right now as he describes how he butchered my friend. “That man was trouble, but he’s weak at the very end. He’s like a cockroach, refusing to die even though I have pummeled and stabbed him several times. So, I decided that my dragon here will do the job. I got that pest’s lower body flamed to ashes. Too bad two of his Eskimo friends escaped.”

This guy failed to recognize me since I was wearing a gas mask and Eskimo suit before. I don’t know where my gas mask is, and my Eskimo suit is on Serena. But even though he didn’t know me, our situations won’t change. He got us surrounded. There are twenty other enemies ready to fire their guns at us.

My anger reaches to the top of my head as I gaze upon the enemy who killed one of my best friends. I want to avenge Carlo, but there is no way I can fight in an extremely disadvantageous situation like this. 

Is this the end? Am I going to die again without being able to get my revenge?

“S-Senpai…” Serena worriedly looked at me. 

She is holding her chest, which is beating fast and hard like an overworking machine. For some reason, I can feel the same beating in my heart as if we’re having a connection.

“Ready!” The dragon knight raised his hand. All the armed dragonoids await for his mark.

“Serena,” I muttered. I can feel my chest overheating. This magical energy that has been linked to us synchronized our heartbeats. With this unfamiliar power, we can defeat everyone around us. It’s just a matter of how can we use it.

“Senpai.” Serena held my hand. “Please, use me.”

“FIRE!!!” The dragon knight shouted. Twenty assault rifles unleashed bullets that rained unto us from every direction. There is no escape.

At that moment, I held my chest and shouted ancient mystic arts that bind a dragon and a human’s heart together.

“Activating Vesryn Pulse!”