CHAPTER 58: ONE JUMP

DANIELLE KEINE

1 ½ YEARS AGO

“Nath, can you hear me?”

I reached out my hand towards the snout of my Muscleflex Dragon. Surprisingly, my dragon is calm and collected, and I can see on his crimson eyes that he has no clue on what is happening in this world.

“Master Nielle… what happened?” My Muscleflex Dragon telepathically talked to me with a soft yet deep voice. He turned his head left and right, completely confused why the party in this hall has turned into a chaotic mess.

“So you’re back to yourself. Good.” I patted on my dragon’s head. And then, I jumped and made a roundhouse kick straight to his right dragon chin.

“Groh!” My dragon uttered a short cry. “What was that for!?”

“That’s for giving me a lot of trouble, dumbass.” I held my hips as I pouted. Then, I changed my mood to a smile, as I am very glad that I finally have my dragon back. “Let’s get back to the mission, shall we?”

I knew it. My gamble was a success, and I win. The Psychic Amplifier emits a pulse similar to the Vesryn Pulse, so the only way to counter it is by using the same magic. 

Seeing that the Vesryn Pulse worked, Alphonse held his chest and muttered: “Activating Vesryn Pulse.” At that moment, the rabid Z immediately transformed into a calm yet confused Elemental Dragon. Now that there are two dragons inside this wide hall, it is starting to get cramped.

“Hot damn!” Alphonse cried. “Now we’re back in the game, Z!”

“Graaaaaaah!!!” The Elemental Dragon roared.

My Muscleflex Dragon and Alphonse’s Elemental Dragon looked at the stage where the only remaining enemies left are situated: Doctor Cheng Du and the mind-controlled Serena Maizono. I doubt Cheng Du is still hiding some tricks on his sleeve because he’s having this irritating grit on his face.

“I knew it. Vesryn Pulse can counter the Psychic Amplifier. I will have to do some adjustments next time so that it will never be countered.”

“There is no next time, you fat doodley fuck!” Alphonse said. “Cheng Du, you are under arrest! Surrender peacefully or you’re going to face the fucking consequences!”

“Shit!” Cheng Du cried. Then, he looked at the mind-controlled Serena who is just standing stiff beside him. “Oh Dragon Queen, I beg for your protection. Please destroy my enemies as I make a great escape!”

“Your wish is my command, master,” Serena said in a monotone. Then, Serena forged daggers on each of the gaps of her fingers, ready to launch towards us. Cheng Du took this opportunity to run to the stairs.

“Senor Alphonse, follow Cheng! I’ll deal with Serena!” I commanded.

“That fat bastard will never go away!” Alphonse said as he held his chest and disabled the Vesryn Pulse, transforming back his Elemental Dragon to a petite adorable witch named Z. They rushed towards the stairs, but then-

“You shall not pass!” Serena shouted as she sprinkled the daggers around, and some of them almost hit Alphonse’s feet. Serena muttered “Blink!” and teleported towards the dagger nearest to the potty-mouthed dragon knight and made a swift slash with a newly-forged short blade. 

In the nick of time, Alphonse was able to bend his backbone to evade his throat from being cut. Alphonse and Z jumped back, temporarily giving up on hitting the stairs.

“Shit!” Alphonse cried. “Does this mean we have to fight Serena before we can chase Cheng!?”

“Looks like it, senor,” I said.

Serena’s crimson eyes glowed, and her ears started to get pointy. I can sense that she’s absorbing nature’s magical energy in the air and all the atoms around us. I’ve seen her do this before. She’s going to activate Elform!

“Omnislash!” Serena kicked forward, and she disappeared. She was next seen behind Z and made a swift slash. Z managed to evade it on time, but when she was about to counterattack, Serena disappeared.

Serena appeared next beside me and made a quick strike to my chest. I was able to evade it by pure luck, but the gown I’m wearing was ripped, revealing my purple bra. I wanted to take revenge, but Serena teleported again.

Serena made a series of teleportation strikes that makes it almost impossible for her to defeat. Little by little, Serena managed to graze and slice through our clothes and skin.

“Get under Nath!” I ordered. Alphonse and Z immediately sheltered themselves under my Muscleflex Dragon, and my Muscleflex Dragon curled up like an armadillo to fully protect them from Serena’s slashing barrages. My Muscleflex Dragon’s skin is as elastic as rubber but as tough as steel, so there is no way Serena could break through our ultimate defense.

As seconds go by, Serena’s hair slowly turns to gold. If she completes her Elform transformation, nobody knows how it would turn out.

“Damn, where the fuck is Xenon! We need him to activate Serena’s Vesryn Pulse!” Alphonse said.

“His communication is off!” I said out loud.

“Fuck! If only we can stop Serena from attacking for even one second, we can pacify her!” Alphonse cried.

There were silent three seconds. We started to brainstorm inside our minds on how to stop Serena from teleporting again and again. I didn’t think of an answer, neither my dragon Nath nor Alphonse. Only Z had a plan on her genius mind.

“I’m going to talk Serena out,” Z said.

“Are you fucking nuts!?” Alphonse exclaimed.

“No.” Z said with a smile as she went outside the protection of my muscular dragon. “But Serena is.

Now that Z is out in the open and defenseless, she spread out her arms and shouted out loud.

“Serena! I have to tell you a secret!” Z shouted.

Suddenly, Serena teleported, just one meter away from Z. The genocidal popstar swung her short blade, aiming at Z’s throat, but some words made her stop.

“Xenon loves you!”

“Eh!?” Serena uttered a cute clueless shriek. Her face went red and her body went to a complete halt. Her blade is just two inches away from beheading Z. And now, the teleporting popstar is stunned for two seconds.

“It worked! Hahaha!” Z jumped with joy. “Do it, now!”

“Grroooooh!” 

The Muscleflex Dragon immediately made a gentle palm attack towards the stunned Serena. Serena crashed on a wall, and then Alphonse took the opportunity to control his chains and wrap Serena’s body up like a half-cocoon. 

“Good work, Z!” Alphonse cheered. “That sounds stupid and ridiculous, but your plan worked!”

“Right! Right!” Z proudly nodded. “Praise me more, master! If you may, please pay me your whole family mansion as a symbol of my brightness.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, idiot!” Alphonse drilled Z’s head with a fist. “Our work is not over! We still have to capture Cheng Du!”

“Ouch! Ouch! Stop it, master!” Z cried.

I looked at the adorable relationship between the potty-mouthed knight and his witch dragonoid. It never fails to entertain me whenever these couples have an argument like children.

While I chuckle silently, my Mucleflex Dragon telepathically talked to me. “Nielle, what should we do now?”

“Oh, I’m sorry for being lost for a moment, Nath,” I said in a caring tone. I looked up in the ceiling at the center of this hall and realized a stupid plan, almost as stupid as Z’s. “Chasing Cheng using the stairs will take a lot of time. Besides, we still have a beacon to destroy above us.”

“So?”

“We go to the top floor and destroy the Psychic Amplifier with one jump,” I said with a smile. Then, I touched my dragon’s head and poured my magical energy on him. “Stockpile Buff: 200%”

My Muscleflex Dragon bulked up three times his size. His hind legs are now full of muscles, and his arms are capable of leveling the whole building in one punch. Red aura started to envelop my terrifying dragon as it bends its knees, ready for launch.

“Go!”

At my signal, My dragon rocketed upwards, destroying the ceiling of the hall, and also shattering the subsequent ceilings thereafter. The hotel consists of multiple floors, and I even lost count on the ceilings we destroyed. After eight seconds, we finally shattered the final ceiling. We broke the rooftop and the rotating beacon planted on it.

“No! My Psychic Amplifier!” Cheng cried as he saw the machine, which is the fruit of his labors and hard work for two decades, turn into nothing but scraps of metal.

He seemed to reach the rooftops in just a short amount of time, making me wonder if he really did use the stairs. We almost lost him. But now that the fat doctor has no allies nor machinery to help him, he's definitely fucked.