Chapter 97: Honor of a Dragon Knight
Amphere Harrison
I just closed my eyelids, trying to prevent tears from coming out of my eyes. I ignored the intensive temperature as the friction of the wind gives sufficient heat that could give my skin a first degree burn. I'm completely tolerant to the outside now.
All I cared is the love of my life. And now that she's gone…Now that she sacrificed herself again to keep me safe for the last time…I don't know what happens next. Fuck the Necross Ascension or the Dragonoid Rights Law. I would trade all of my achievements just to see her again for just a split second.
For some reason, I crashed back on the planet with no broken bones or whatsoever. That shield plate Airi gave me must've been heavily reinforced to withstand the air friction and the crash. I found myself on the center of a crater, lying on my back. Even though I'm completely fine, I stayed there, not moving a finger.
The sun peeked on the horizon, signaling the dawn of the new day. I can't even see the colossal demonic cathedral, or what's left of it. But I'm pretty sure that this place is near the southern Arcadian camp, which we breached through last night.
I closed my eyes and tried to reimagine Airi's face once again. Her voice echoed through my head, visions and flashbacks of her intercepted my mind. And then I looked at my clenching fist, which contained the handkerchief that she used every single day to impress and appear cute to me. I missed her sentences, even though she always hangs the unnecessary word "totally" to each and every one of it. I will never find it annoying anymore…just let me hear your voice again.
"Are you totally okay?"
I slowly opened my eyes. The image was blurred but slowly, I got the whole image. It was a childlike face of a girl. She was adorable as Airi…But she is not Airi. It was Duchess Corasell, who immediately rushed to my side and got my arm.
"W-Where is Airelina?" the Duchess asked.
Hearing her name again makes me want to cry like a newborn baby. I tried my best not to scream, but my eyes gushed more tears than before. I covered my face with my arm, but it's not enough to make the duchess unaffected. She cried silently too, and dropped her forehead to my chest.
We had this little moment to mourn for Airi. I don't know how much time has passed. When I'm all out of tears, the duchess convinced me to get up. I did took her hand to help me stand again, but honestly, I'm about to throw up. I don't understand my body either. I can barely utter any word with my mouth. My eyes are a lot blurry whenever I moved. I can no longer smell or feel. And my shoulders are so heavy.
"I saw you crashing into this place after fighting against the planetary demonic dragon earlier." Duchess Corasell said. "I'm so sorry that I came in late."
"…It's not your fault…" I replied sadly. "It's no one's."
When we finally climbed up the crater, I saw Estoff, Elumina, and Rudolf lying on a withered tree, each of them. Estoff and Elumina are holding hands, while Rudolf is being hugged by Kyrie. The three zombies are fully awake, but they appear to be see-through. There are light particles surrounding them that tell one thing; their time in this world is up.
"…I'm sorry... I don't have enough tears to mourn for you three again…" I said and projected a fake smile.
"You don't have to appear happy in front of us." Elumina weakly said. "We returned to the world of the living just to help you prevent Necross Ascension. That is our only purpose."
"I finally understand what you felt that day, Estoff." I bowed while clenching my hand. "I…I honestly wanted to kill myself, just to meet her again."
"Don't." Rudolf intercepted. "The reason why Airi sacrificed herself is for you to keep on living, and to have a good and peaceful life! She wouldn't want you to see suffering like this! If you kill yourself, that means Airi's sacrifice was useless."
"She saved you, and don't you dare wasting your life for foolish matters." Estoff said. "Live your life to the fullest, Hero of Alterra."
Suddenly, their bodies glowed with golden light. They slowly dissolved into golden dust particles that mixed with the gust of wind. There, Kyrie was left by her husband for the second time, but she's having this genuine smile. She slowly approached me and said. "We will keep on living. That's our duty as the one who were left behind."
Kyrie immediately lost the strength on her legs and fell to me. She completely lost her consciousness. I finally discovered that she has this eyebags and white face, signaling that she is very pale and weak. I can sense faint mana on her body. Was this the side effect of overloading the Vesryn Pulse!?
There was a firefly that came out from the duchess's pocket, and it enlarged itself into a humanoid fairy-cosplaying child. It was Eva. She tried to explain the situation to me.
"All the dragonoids in the Task Force suffered the same thing. It seems that they had their strength fully drained. We shall now go back to the S.S. Libera to treat your wounds."
Just before the duchess was able to touch her chest to activate Vesryn Pulse, there was a single loud echoing gunshot. When we looked around, we finally realized that we are totally surrounded. Surrounded…by thousands of Arcadians. They all have their rifles pointed at us. Most of them withdrew their swords from their sheath, ready to charge at us.
"I thought the war was already over." I muttered.
"Our war ends with you." One of the Arcadians said. "You are the most filthy traitorous snake that should've never existed in the first place!" The other Arcadian followed. "You killed Estoff Wraith! You ordered Brow Gattling to massacre dragonoids! You murdered Duke Yuri Dragunov! And finally…You used Airelina Frembell, your dragonoid, as your pawn and a convenient sacrifice! The Underworld will not even open its gates for you because of the filthy things you have done!"
"You're wrong!" Duchess Corasell shouted with a hint of tears. "Amphere is a good person! He…He will never do any of those!"
It's no use. The Arcadians won't believe her. Dragunov has successfully poisoned their minds. Because all you need to make someone hated is a river of lies and an ocean of blood. People just hear what they wanted to hear; believe what they wanted to believe. As long as rage and hatred reside on their hearts, they would readily blame anyone just to satisfy their sense of justice.
"They just want me, Marie." I whispered to the duchess. "Even with Eva's help, you'll just end up being killed."
"B-But-"
I reached my pocket and revealed a small hexagonal box and gently put it in her hands. Puzzled, the duchess posed another question. "I-Is this the ring that was supposed to be given to Airelina?"
"Yes." I nodded with a smile. "I want you to keep it, for Airi and my sake."
"J-Just…" Marieflorine Corasell suddenly had her cheeks wet with her own tears. "W-What are you planning to do?"
"I'll stall them. Meet with General Holster and Cleru and escape this place. The Arcadians only wanted me."
"I-I won't-"
"GO!!!" I shouted. Duchess Corasell closed her eyes on shock, and after that, she continued to gaze on my eyes. "Keep hold of that ring. I promise you. I'll come back to fetch that."
"Just promise me one thing…" the duchess's voice is now shaky than ever, as if she was just enduring not to cry our loud. "Promise me that you'll come back alive."
"I promise." I patted her head.
As soon as I removed my hand on her, she slowly stepped back, and activated Vesryn Pulse on Eva. She rode on her Fairy Dragon which was holding the unconscious Kyrie and gained altitude as she dashed away until not even the dragon's silhouette cannot be seen.
As I thought, Arcadian's won't even point their guns on her. They let her escape. She is their symbol of freedom, and she has done nothing wrong to the dragonoids and the Arcadia. All they want is my head in the first place.
All their attention went to me, and they readied their selves to fight their final battle. I can feel their rage behind those crimson eyes of theirs. Being slightly intimidated, I drew my remaining blue photon sword on my back and kissed the flat blade. I closed my eyes and embraced the peacefulness of the wind.
This might be my real final battle. No Vesryn Pulse, no Eye of Deus, no clearance systems, no magical powers…No Airelina Frembell. I'm just a normal human; a knight with a dishonored name and legacy. I'm no hero to the crimson eyes of the dragonoids that I fought for. I'm completely alone, facing thousands of enemies.
"Airi…please let me feel your heart one last time. Please protect me once more. Protect my honor…As a Dragon Knight!"
As soon as I opened my eyes, I readied my sword as I charged against the enemies.