CHAPTER 131: CATHEDRAL EXA

XENON WINGATE

PRESENT DAY

I can’t control my tears falling down from my eyes. I can’t control the endless chill inside my spine. I can’t control the painful pulses coming from my beating heart. I can’t control the feeling of sadness going deep inside my soul.

I can’t control anything. I can’t do anything. 

I can’t save my love.

“Serena… W-Why… What did you do…?” My jaws trembled as I forced it to mutter my words. I cradled the most beautiful dragonoid on my arms as I tried to check on her condition.

Her heart is no longer beating. I am not wrong about her life force going away from her body. I can feel a dark force from the core of her heart. The symptoms of having rotten black blood running from her lips, it is only evident that she is suffering from a Heartstopper Curse. But how!?

“I… I’m sorry, Xen…” Serena raised her hand and used her remaining strength to touch my wet cheeks with her gentle fingers. “Heart Transfer Magic… I saw how Nathaniel do it to save Danielle, so I thought I would do it with you too. I swapped… our hearts… after we retrieved you… You are already… possessing my heart when we had you interrogated…”

Serena coughed a few times then spoke again.

“I’m so happy… that it worked…” Serena forged a guilt-free smile that made me dive in a sea of sorrow. “...Please take care of my heart from now on… Xen…”

This is bad. Serena’s speaking patterns are getting slow. Her heart is no longer beating, and blood has stopped circulating on her brain. If this goes on, she will…

“Serena! Why!? Why did you do this!?” I cried out loud. “Death is the only fate for me! This is to atone for what I have done, for committing the sin of taking justice from my own hands! You did not have to die in my place!”

“No… Xen…” Serena closed her weak eyes, not able to maintain the strength to make it remain open. “This is my only gift to you… You have saved me several times already… If it wasn’t for you, I would be long dead back in Vanilla…”

Serena’s hands crawled until she finally caressed my hand. She held it the tightest, forcing her strength to focus on her fingers, with the intention of never letting go.

“This time… This time… I’ll be the one to save you… from your curse… my dear Senpai…”

“No no no no! Serena!” I cried out loud as I hugged her tight. The warmth of her body started to fade completely, and she’s nothing but a cadaver at this moment. She’s already dead. Only her willpower is forcing her to speak the words from the depths of her heart.

“Xen… I know that… I’m just a part of your life… but for me… you are my whole life… Thank you for taking care of me… Thank you… for understanding me… Thank you… for loving me… as a real person… and not a slave…”

“Serena…” 

At this time, I just focused on giving warmth to my love’s body. I don’t want her to die. I don’t want her to disappear. But all I can do now is to be with her at her very last moments. All I can do now is to give her comfort and affection until the last picosecond of her life.

But her last words to me made me want to die with her. Her lips whispered a song to my ear that will be replayed for all eternity until the day of my end.

“I love you… Xen…”

After speaking those words, the flames of her life have flickered non-existent.

I did not move. I continued to hug the most precious person I had in the world. Serena Maizono. She is the only one who was there when everybody left me. When I lost my friends Alfred and Carlo, she became my friend and voluntarily surrendered herself to become my slave. When I lost my honor as an Elysian White Ghost, she unlocked our Vesryn Pulse in order for me to become a glorious Dragon Knight. When I lost my lover Marisse, she filled the gaps in my heart with overflowing gentleness, loyalty, and happiness that my past lovers couldn’t match. 

Now that she is gone, I have lost all the things I treasure once again.

I wanted to take my life. I wanted to kill myself. This is the perfect place to die, just beside the woman I love. I wanted to forge a dagger and slit my throat or even my main blood vessels on my hand while hugging the corpse of my dearest person.

But my heart won’t permit it. Serena’s heart, which is now beating on my chest, will never allow it. She swapped our hearts so that I could go on and live. It would be an insult to her if I end my life here after she sacrificed herself for me.

Even though, I don't know what to do from now on. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. My life is devoid of meaning right at this moment. The emptiness that I have once felt returned to me. But now that I have no one else to run into, the feeling of sorrow dominated my soul.

The ruined throne room started to collapse, but I do not care. I may be buried alive with the falling debris from the ceiling, I will still not move. I will protect Serena’s lifeless body with all my strength.

I don’t if it’s an instinct, but my body immediately unleashed nature energy from my heart; forcing me to activate my Elform. My hair became golden blonde, and my ears became pointy. A sturdy magical barrier spawned to protect me and Serena from the falling ceiling of the throne room. Walls fell, shattered glass showered, and there was endless darkness when all the debris came to bury me.

And then… I lost consciousness.

…

I don’t know how long it has been. I don’t know what happened. But after the collapse of the Elder Ancientech Dragon’s throne room, I found myself on an abandoned island. 

When I opened my eyes, I saw sakura leaves flying around the air. There are pink trees in the surroundings that sways, synchronizing the waves of the wind. I cannot hear anything here other than the peaceful breeze, as if this place is heaven itself. It would actually be great if I was in heaven already, but I know I’m not.

I found myself carrying Serena’s lifeless body on my arms. Her skin is snow white but pale, and she really looks like a sleeping beauty waiting for a prince charming’s kiss. She’s still the most beautiful dragonoid even if she’s dead. She looks like she’s just resting with a good night's sleep with an irrevocable smile on her lips.

When I put my gaze forward, I saw a long golden road ahead. The cherry blossom trees swayed its leafy branches as if they are telling me to take a step forward and see something at the end of the road.

“Serena… where did you take me?” I muttered to my lifeless love. Of course, she did not answer. My words will never reach out to her.

I don’t know where I am. I don’t know what to do. All my choices here are to step forward and walk this golden road. So I ventured forward, unaware of anything that I may see at the end of it.

Five minutes of silent walking, and I finally saw the end. There was this tall establishment maybe about four stories tall and as wide as a normal sports center. There is a large cross on top of the dome and there’s also a welcome gate in front of it. The name of this peaceful church that looked abandoned is the ones I once read about from my father’s research. 

The Cathedral Exa.

As I took more steps forward, I reached the gigantic wooden door. To my surprise, the doors opened as if it was controlled by electronic sensors or maybe some kind of telekinetic magic. I had a good view from the outside of the things that were inside the cathedral.

The church is certainly in ruins. There are vines crawling on the walls of this place, and the bricks looked old like about a millennia. There are pews all over the place that are aligned perfectly as if somebody is maintaining this church. At the center of this building, is a large fountain endlessly flowing with crystal-clear water. At the center of the fountain, is a gigantic tree that reaches up in the skies. Its branches already shattered the ceiling of the church, making sunlight flow at the sparkling waters of the fountain.

“The boy has finally made his appearance.” A feminine voice echoes around the cathedral.

When I turned around, I saw three people with extraordinary presence. There are three ladies, each of which has an otherworldly aura on them, just like how I felt in meeting Sakuradrop. However, these three ladies are on a whole different level.

The woman on the left is a princess who is holding a runed white sword on her right hand. She has golden brown curly hair that looks like a fashioned westerner. She has green eyes, pink lips, and aristocratic energy flowing from her. What’s peculiar with her is that her left arm is coated with green magical glowing circuits.

The woman on the right is a little bit similar to Serena’s appearance. She has this child-like face, with long black platinum hair reaching her knees. She had a part of the back of her hair braided like a queen, and there’s a white ribbon in it. She is wearing an eastern goddess’s robe with flames endlessly burning on its tips. What’s more peculiar about this woman is that her blue eyes have these golden cross sigils.

The woman at the middle is a little bit familiar, for the reason that she is wielding the Eye of Deus; crimson irises with black sclera. This white-haired girl is a little bit shorter than those two women on her side. She is wearing a shrine maiden’s dress, and she has this golden staff with rings clunking every time she moves. I think I’ve known her somewhere. I’ve never seen her, but I really think I know her.

“Welcome, child. Welcome to the Cathedral Exa. You shall rejoice, for this is a mythical moment where you can have your fates changed.” The maiden with the Eye of Deus said.

“Who are you?” I muttered softly.

When the shrine maiden answered, all doubts in my mind were extinguished. I finally realized why I know this person when she introduced herself.

“My name is Vesryn, the guardian of this planet.”