CHAPTER 19: ELEMENTAL CHAINS

ALPHONSE FARADEISS

2 ½ YEARS AGO

“I’m gonna teach this wanker how to respect his superior.”

I just challenged Xenon Wingate into a duel. Since I first saw him, I’ve been itching to fight a foreigner from an unfriendly Elysian Empire. I always used to discipline soldiers and dragon knights by beating them up in a duel, so this is just a regular Tuesday for me. What makes my challenge special is that this is my first time fighting a dragon knight that grew up from Elysia.

Xenon Wingate is an aloof man with great potential. He never cares about anything that happens in his surroundings, and he’s always flying with his own thoughts. His lifeless green eyes are proof that he has suffered through despair and hell. I’ve heard the rumors that he betrayed his countrymen by killing his two best friends. If he is a well-known traitor, then I shouldn’t let him just wander about freely in this country.

“Oui Senor Faradeiss! Are you doing this again?” My sparring partner and a fellow dragon knight Danielle asked. 

“Just let me put a turd where he belongs.” I smiled at Danielle. “I’ll put him in the hospital.”

“Tres bien. Fabulous, Senor Faradeiss.” Danielle had a smug of a face as she sheathed her bladed fans on her thighs. She waved her hand as she comfortably sat on the bench, carefreely crossing her legs. “Don’t be too harsh on the petit garcon.”

I looked at my trusty dragonoid who is just beside me the entire time. She is a short girl with long wavy ash-gray hair on a side fringe, crimson eyes, and snow-white complexion. She is wearing the school uniform of the dragonoids in this academy, which consists of blue blazers, white buttoned shirt, and black pleated short skirts. Aside from that, she is wearing a purple witch’s hat that makes it clear that she’s an expert in elemental thaumaturgy. She is Zheastinaleoj De Meister. Her name is a hassle to pronounce, so I just call her Z. 

“Master, are we really doing it again?” My dragonoid Z asked in a worried tone. “I feel bad for those people we sent to the hospital.”

“If you feel like you’re going overboard, hold yourself,” I said as I rubbed my adorable dragonoid’s head. 

Last time we had a punishment duel, Z delivered a critical blow to the opponent dragonoid. We’re just lucky that the dragonoid didn’t end up dead.

Looking at the opponents, I assessed and formulated battle plans inside my head. Xenon’s dragonoid Serena Maizono might be a celebrity model, and she looks so gentle and innocent. I don’t think a dragonoid that beautiful is capable of fighting. She looks like a well-sheltered girl. I’ll focus on Xenon since he’s a seasoned soldier of Elysia.

“You know the rules of our simple duel, right? Or are you stupid enough to forget the basics?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Xenon said. “One-knock-down rule.”

The one-knock-down rule is a short duel where a knight must put his enemy down once in order to be proclaimed as the victor. However, if a dragonoid was knocked-down, the dragonoid will be out of the battle, and the battle continues until one knight remains standing in the battlefield.

“Um, Sir Faradeiss?” Serena called me with a concerned face. “Can we have a duel without using Vesryn Pulse? As you see, Senpai right now is not in the condition of activating it.”

Looking at Xenon, he seems to be in a lot of mess, way worse than a hammered shit inside a diaper. He has his black hair uncombed and lots of cowlicks appear above his head. His lifeless eyes are much more dead than usual. He appears to be in a heavy state of hangover. If I’m fighting him with my dragonoid’s full strength, this will be a quick swoop of victory. I don’t want that. I want to have fun while having a duel with a fellow dragon knight while teaching them the lesson of respect towards the higher class.

“Fine.” I smiled arrogantly. “That shit of a face won’t do any good.”

“Since you gave us a handicap, let me give you a handicap as well.” Xenon said with a serious poker face. “I will not attack in the whole duel.”

“Not going to attack!? That’s absurd! Oh! Oh! Are you mocking me!?” I laughed.

“No. Consider this as a professional courtesy.” Xenon said.

I gritted inside my mind. This guy is going over his head. Too arrogant. If he’s not going to attack, then I’ll force him to attack. I’ll give him pain and treat him like a punching bag until he takes me seriously.

I drew my regular twin katanas, and Xenon deployed his high-tech shield. Xenon’s weapon is called Blaster Shield; a bluish glass-like metal plate that has glowing golden runes inscribed in it. At the center of the shield is a baseball-sized orb that is capable of unleashing beams. It is said that it is an upgraded version of the Elysian Tower Shield that is used by White Ghost Juggernauts.

Xenon’s dragonoid Serena put a set of red fingerless gloves on her delicate hands. Those gloves contain a golden magical circle sigil that must have been used to borrow Xenon’s magical capabilities.

My dragonoid Z readied her battle-mage stance, which is a merged version of taekwondo and bajiquan. Z is an expert in spell casting in long ranges, but she is also a powerful hand-to-hand fighter.

“Ready…” One of the human soldiers became our referee in this duel. “Fight!”

Both dragon knights charged forward with their respective weapons. With my velocity and momentum, I put my weight on my katanas as I coat them with magical flames. “Hraaaaagh!!!” I slammed both of them with my power as I shouted.

A loud clang echoed. Xenon blocked my flame-enhanced slash using his shield. A powerful blast of shockwave reverberates the area. Of course, that attack was just a distraction. I slide towards the left, spin swiftly like a top, and have my right sword deliver a quick slash. “Haaaaah!”

“Forge!” Using his free left hand, Xenon created a steel buckler to block the flaming blade of my sword. As expected from a fellow dragon knight, he has superb reflexes just like me. But he’s just a third-class dragon knight, and I'm a second-class! That ranks differ a lot. I have better stamina and speed than him!

I spin towards the left again, and this time, my left sword attempted to do its job. “Fuck off!”

Clang! A loud metal-clashing noise blasted again! In the nick of time, Xenon used his blaster shield to negate my follow-up attack!

I jumped back several meters away from the shielding knight. His defense is impenetrable. Even though he is leaving openings, his forging magic is capable of compensating his slugginess. I’ll run out of the air if I continue to attack in that manner. I have to get serious.

I dropped my blades. I spread out my arms, and the hidden chains entangled on my wrist wiggled as if they are my natural tendrils. There are five chains on each of my wrists, and I used my magic to control them and wrap each of my fingers. Borrowing the mystical powers of my dragonoid, I recite the elements I’m capable of controlling.

“Five Elements Restrains Unleashed. Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Lightning.” My fingers were coated with five elements, together with the chains that covered them. Slowly, the chains elongated and grew dagger-sized blades on each of its tips.

The Vesryn Pulse and my connection with my dragonoid give me the ability to access the powers of Z’s dragon form, which is an Elemental Dragon. While using these elemental chains, my destructive power can be scaled the same as a real dragon. So the handicap of not using Vesryn Pulse is not really a handicap for me.

“Hraaaaaaaaaagh!!!” I slammed the chains on my right, and the blades followed, targeting Xenon’s head. In response, the opponent dragon knight blocked it with his big blaster shield by lifting it up. 

“Guh!” Xenon cried as he endured the attack from the five elements. He may have blocked the bladed chains with his sturdy defense, he won’t be able to stay long in this fight.

“Take this shite!” This time, I controlled the chains on my left. In the nick of time, Xenon magically forged a tower shield on his opening, completely blocking my second wave of elemental chains. But the tower shield he magically forged was immediately shattered to pieces. Weapons created by forging magic is not as durable as real weapons after all.  

“Tsk!” Xenon gritted his teeth. His knees are now shaking. That’s a good sign. He may not be able to endure if I attack with my elemental chains continuously.

“Haaaaah!” I slammed my right chains. And then left. And then right. Left, right, left, right, left, right. My elemental chains whipped his shield over and over, chipping off all the defenses he got on his arsenal. With my continuous barrage of attacks, he won’t be able to last a minute. I can attack him all day, and he won’t have any opportunity to attack me.

Meanwhile…

On the battle of the dragonoids, I find my own dragonoid partner in a bit of trouble. I never thought that the opponent dragonoid is more than capable of holding out Z, who is a master of elemental spellcasting.

“Forge!” Serena shouted as she magically spawned two short swords on her hand. Then she charged towards Z with full speed and recklessness.

“Fireball! Waterball! Windball!” Z swiped her hands as she unleashed basketball-sized elemental projectiles. I’m not talking about normal projectiles, because Z’s Elemental Ball attacks are as fast as a raging bullet.

But Serena…

“Hyah! Haaah!” Serena slashed through the elemental projectiles with ease. Her reflexes are much more superior than me or her dragon knight Xenon. As every millisecond passes, her acceleration doubles as she gets close to her enemy. Her agility is beyond excellent, but that’s not the most terrifying thing about her.

Serena’s crimson red eyes are glowing bright, enough to leave a streak while she runs.

It’s as if her eyes are full of wrath.