Chapter 10: The Silver Woman
Amphere Harrison
Adrenaline gushed to my veins, which made everything in my surroundings two times slower. But it was not enough. I'm only able to turn around, watching the bullet jet through thin air as it went to the duchess' direction.
There was a quick swipe in the air. It was a broadsword which immediately blocked the bullet from reaching its target. The bullet chimed in the ground before I was able to recognize the wielder of the sword. It was Estoff.
"You okay?" Estoff asked the duchess, who's eyes are currently widened in shock. In response, the duchess nodded silently.
As I thought, Estoff's reflexes are far more superior than mine, or with anyone else. That bullet is just nothing. He can sense the incoming impact of any projectiles in a kilometer radius. He's not a Pentagram Knight for nothing! And he's also the leader of Arcadia!
The people here in the hall became astounded. All of the eyes gazed at the duchess and Estoff. Some knights withdrew their blades from their sheaths and scanned the surroundings. But there's no way they can distinguish the culprit in this crowded place. They didn't have any clue who fired the gun.
What's worse is that the masked man is no longer where I last saw him.
"Amphy, second floor aisle to the left!" Airi shouted. "He's getting away!"
I immediately dashed forward, gaining a momentum for me to kick the wall in order to jump to the second floor instantly. I never spotted him, but there was a broken window that could have been destroyed for his escape.
I gazed on the window. A silver-haired woman was running on top of the castle walls fleeing away from here. It's not the masked man, but that girl might be an accomplice. There's no time to waste. I jumped out of the windows and rolled on the castle wall, then hastened forward.
The silver woman glared at me with her red but cold eyes. She turned to me and then launched three icicle shards that have a shape of kunai. I withdrew my photon saber on my back and parried the incoming projectiles. The lady then hurled more and more of these ice shards to me which halted me to chase her. I have to block or evade her attacks first to be safe!
I failed to avoid two of those shards. It pierced my left shoulder and right leg. Blood began oozing that stained my white uniform. But the wounds are not that deep. I can still fight that woman though my moves should be slower than normal because of my injuries.
The silver woman jumped down as soon as she reached the edge of the wall. Below the castle is a ghost town filled with old ruined buildings. She could be hiding in one of it and it will be very hard to tract her.
"Amphy!" Airi approached me after running so hard. This idiot, she didn't use her wings to chase the culprit! "You okay? Totally?"
"…Yes." I said. I grabbed the ice shards that has been stuck in my body parts and threw it away. "I need your dragon form."
"Totally!" she said jollily while raising her two fists.
We turned to each other and closed our eyes. Our hearts projected a bursting golden light as we manage to synchronize our heartbeats together. My chest began pounding with quadrupled speed. As I opened my eyes, Airi's body has been coated by golden white light. She opened her eyes with a smile. I held her soft hand as we jump away from the colossal castle wall.
"Activating Vesryn Pulse!"
I was surrounded by a veil of light and then before I know it, I was already riding a platinum mechanical dragon's head. Airi glided through the skies and she slowly gained an altitude. We circled the area trying to search the ghost town in bird's eye's view.
"Airi, search for heat signatures." I whispered to her.
Being a Futuretech Dragon has a lot of perks. Because she possesses futuristic technological powers, she is able to do almost anything in her dragon form as long as I'm the one instructing her. For example is this hologram screen that just popped in front of my face. This screen shows what Airi can see with her heat signature vision.
There were two heat signatures in a shape of a human, and they are hiding in that small house. Before we could take any action, there was a blinding light that disrupted Airi's heat detection. The heat signatures disappeared.
"…What?" I asked to myself.
And then a huge chunk of ice launched upwards, towards our direction. It has a speed of a bullet, and there is almost no way for us to evade it!
"Hang on!" Airi shouted telepathically as she made a sudden maneuver that involves spinning in midair. Her action made her evade the giant ball of ice properly, but it resulted in me not able to hang on tight. I was so stunned in that attack that made my mind blank.
And then I found myself falling to the ground! Throat became dry, and I failed muttering any sound on my mouth.
"Amphy!" Airi dived midair with a sound barrier breaking speed. Her giant mechanical arms managed to get me on her grasps. She pressed me on her metallic abdomen and covered herself with her steel wings.
We crashed on an antique house. Dust flew everywhere, as a result of my dragon creating a small crater because of the impact. Airi laid me to the ground where I can stand freely. I was concerned at her so I stroke her giant head.
"You okay?"
"I'm okay, totally! Though I wanted you to pet me more, we're completely in a dire situation right now."
Airi is right. About a hundred meters above us is a giant flying lizard with an armor of icicle scales. It was the ice dragon. And above its head is the masked dragon knight; The Black Phantom. So that giant ice ball was that dragon's doing. It's what I thought.
"I told you we'll meet again sooner, mister dragon knight. Or should I call, Sir Amphere Harrison." The masquerade tapped the tip of his magician's hat. "I came here with two purpose. One is to kill Duchess Corasell and the other…is to talk to you."
Screw talking! I ride above Airi's head as she prepared a launching position. As soon as Airi kicked the ground, we elevated ourselves in the same height as the masked dragon knight. I withdrew both of my photon sabers from my back and posed a parry stance.
"So a dragon knight's talk is done with the way of the sword. I see that you're a person full of honor. Well then…" He raised his hand in a glamorous manner, making his black cloak flutter. Then he pulled his golden rapier from his waist.
The two dragons roared as they charge on the way to each other with a mighty haste.