CHAPTER 22: INTERROGATION - OPERATION ARCADIA ANNIHILATION

XENON WINGATE

PRESENT DAY - INTERROGATION

My sweat has dried. The increasing humidity of the interrogation room no longer gives me heat. In fact, I felt cold, as if I’ve been stuck in an airconditioned room for half an hour. I’m slowly regaining my strength, both my body and mind, but it’s not enough for me to break out of this chair. I should wait for the proper moment to break free.

[Do you remember the Operation Arcadia Annihilation now?] The cybernetic voice of the interrogator entered my brain.

“Yes,” I muttered.

[Operation Arcadia Annihilation was comprised of four dragon knights, with the guidance of Captain Kevin Valesmith. Sir Alphonse Faradeiss and Lady Danielle Keine were with you during the operation. What was your main objective?]

I exhaled my deep breath as I answered. “We are tasked to take the leader of the terrorist group Arcadia; Zac Schneider, alive.”

Suddenly, the face of a handsome man was presented on the hologram screen. He has a clean brown hair in Harajuku style, and his deep blue eyes are filled with despair and arrogance. He’s a teenage man made of pure charisma, which makes him indubitably capable of waging war against the Empire of Alterra.

[Duke Zac Schneider is the one who erected the terrorist group Arcadia, and he is guilty of the crime of rebellion, treason, illegal drug cartels, possession of heavy illegal armaments, and is also the headmaster of assassinations on some dukes and duchesses. He’s well known in the dragonoid community as their Messiah who will free them from slavery.]

“Yeah,” I muttered. “He’s powerful. Way more powerful and influential than any person in this empire, only that damn Eldritch beating him. They had the same vibe. I thought that if I can kill this man, I could easily kill Eldritch. I was wrong.”

[What happened during the operation?]

“I fought him.”

[Him? Him only?]

“I fought him, together with my squad. I fought him and his terrifyingly powerful dragon. The Crimson Dragonfly. It was one heck of a battle. We were so dumb to assume that we can defeat that gigantic monster.”

[But something happened.] The interrogator commented.

“Serena…” I muttered.

[Tell me what happened, Xenon. What happened on that day?]

Suddenly, the hologram globe in front of me spun with stardust sparkles. It went rapidly and then I find myself blinded in a flash of light.

<>

XENON WINGATE

2 ½ YEARS AGO

I opened the windows in my chilly hotel room. It’s a dark clear sky. There are only a handful of stars in the heavens, and everything else is black. The monsoon winds gave me the chills of the incoming winter. There are dried leaves all over the streets of this isolated city of Amnesia, and there’s no one else. Not even any human or dragonoid. It is certainly a peaceful night. Unfortunately, this serene place will turn to hell once the gunshots start screaming.

“Senpai… It is time.” Serena said. She is now wearing her battlesuit which comprises of white kimono with golden linings, frilly pleated red short skirt, and a long thigh-high battle boots. She didn’t forget to wear the red fingerless gloves that make her able to cast forging magic. 

She presented my combat jacket: which is a dark blue fine leather with a furry white hoodie. This resembles my White Ghost Eskimo suit a lot, but this is a lot more durable with chain mails inside. I wore it immediately and looked at my dragonoid’s eyes. Serena’s irises are still full of innocence and beauty, and her natural red eyeshadows, pinkish cheeks and snow-white skin compliment the gorgeousness of her whole face.

“Where is Alphonse?” I asked.

“Sir Faradeiss should be on the rooftop of this hotel. I think we should notify him.” Serena held her chest. 

I can see her hand shaking. The trauma of being in a warzone came back to her. I couldn’t blame her since the last time we had ourselves in the center of explosions and dead bodies are in Vanilla City, which is just six months ago. There’s no doubt that this operation will turn out the same bloodbath.

But this time, we’re not completely powerless. I have fully grasped the power of the Vesryn Pulse, and now we’re joining the war not as a disavowed soldier and an escaped slave, but as a knight and a dragon.

“I’ll go notify him.” I patted Serena’s head. “For now, you should drink tea to calm yourself.”

“R-Right.” Serena slowly pumped her fist. “I’ll be waiting for you here.”

Then I left the room and headed to the rooftops. Our hotel room was on the sixth floor and is at the top, so it didn’t take me long to reach Alphonse. There, I didn’t find an honorably strict dragon knight, but a guy who is purely pissed just because his vape won’t work. And he seems to be alone. His dragonoid whose name is hard to pronounce is nowhere to be found. Maybe she’s left in their hotel room. 

“Goddammit, fucking piece of useless dandy doodley donkey arsehat!” Alphonse slammed his vaping machine to the ground, which made it spark. Now it’s completely broken and the battery was fried. “What piece of garbage is this shit!?”

Alphonse is a person who would rant with endless cursing due to small things. I’ve gotten used to his shit so his swearing won’t do anything to me. I even think I’m adapting and evolving to his personality.

“Hey.” I coldly shouted.

“Huh!?” The moment Alphonse turned around, I threw a box of cigarettes to his hands. I thought he would ram me with his swearing rants, but he seemed to appreciate my good deed of sharing him alternative smoking stuff. “I appreciate your generosity, but I don’t smoke cigarettes… little shit.”

“You’ll get used to it.” I arrogantly said as I sat beside him. I picked a lighter to light a cigarette and put it on my mouth. The moment the menthol smoke entered the depths of my lungs, I immediately uttered a series of weak coughs.

“Fucking idiot. You really don’t smoke, are you?” Alphonse laughed. I want to reply, but I’m too busy coughing and trying not to die. After three seconds, Alphonse grabbed the lighter on my hand and lit up his own cigarette. “Fwoooooh~” He blew out the smoke from his mouth like a real dragon, and the smoke swirled in the air like a dancing creamy ice cream cloud. I think he’s qualified to enter a vaping tournament.

“Hey… cough!” I tried my best to speak after taking another sniff of my cigarette. “Please, don’t… cough!... don’t tell this...  cough!... to Serena… She’ll kill me if she found out that I’m smoking… cough!”

“I won’t.” Alphonse unleashed a cloud of smoke from his nostrils. “You’re not a smoker anyway. You’re just a fucking tryhard who wants to cope up with depression and act cool.”

“By the way, it’s nine-thirty already,” I said as soon as I spit the traitorous cigarette out of my mouth. “The operation will start soon.”

“Should we signal Captain Valesmith?” Alphonse asked.

“Your call.”

“Nah mate. Let me finish this stick first.” The moment Alphonse said that his cigarette is already halfway burnt. “By the way, I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?” 

“After this operation, why won’t we hold out a party? A beach party, to be specific? You know, relax, drink, and chill while watching bikini bitches enjoy the beach…” Alphonse has this guilt-free smile on his face. "We’ll invite the whole squad so that we can all have a happy time together.”

“I’m an introvert. I don’t do well in parties.” I could say.

“Come on, Lil shit!” Alphonse is about to spank my lungs from behind. “Just a little celebration! If you go out with us, I know Serena would love it. It would also strengthen your bond as a dragon and a knight. You might unlock powerful ancient magic if you spend quality time with her on a beach.”

Alphonse is definitely right. Vesryn Pulse draws its power from the synchronization of the hearts of a human and a dragon. And the synchronization of the heart becomes a lot easier if there are memories and bonds you have spent together. It is certainly a necessary measure to be stronger. And once I get stronger, I can challenge the Pentagram Knights, get my army, raid the Elysian Empire, and finally, I can put a blade to Eldritch’s anus and force him to choke my shield whole. If I can get my revenge that way, I would gladly drop my introvert personality.

“Fine.” I made my answer with a slight smirk on my face.

“Good.” Alphonse chuckled. Then he removed the cigarette in his mouth and flicked it away. “Break time is over. Let’s get this shit started.”

Alphonse stood up and slightly rolled his long sleeve. He revealed a smartwatch on his left wrist and switched it to the channel of Captain Valesmith’s team. Then, his loud voice did the talking, which signaled the start of this operation and the end of the Third Dragonoid War.

“Team Alpha Six, we’re on our position. We’ve confirmed the identification of Duke Zac Schneider according to our intel, and he’s inside the castle 55.43 southwest coordinates. Operation Arcadia Annihilation is a go.”

“Roger that, Alphonse.” It was the voice of Captain Valesmith on the other line. “We are oscar mike.”

“Let’s fuck em shit, shall we?” Alphonse smiled.