CHAPTER 118: THE EMPEROR'S VOICE
XENON WINGATE
PRESENT DAY
We're running out of time. We don't have the luxury and have an idle chit-chat with the emperor I once vowed fealty into. There's no second to waste.
"Haaaah!" Serena surged forward with her round shield in front. With her running speed, she tried to bash the emperor with the momentum she had built up.
"Slow." The emperor made a sidestep, completely evading Serena's charge. Then he made a swift slash with his mechanical sword, aiming at Serena's back.
The sound of a metallic clashing noise echoed in this corridor. Serena managed to parry the emperor's sword and they locked weapons while they talk to each other.
"Y-Your highness!" Serena cried. "You saw the feed on the Memory Flasher device! We gave you the feed on how we interrogated him! You saw all his memories! You know that Xen is innocent!"
"You may be right about that. But the fact remains that he is in cahoots with Michael Eldritch who tried to destroy the empire. Their ways may have been separated, but their end game and their goals are very much the same." The emperor said in a composed manner. "We learned in the dossier that your knight and that dead dictator is planning to dominate the world with the Psychic Amplifier. There's no way Cheng Du planted the blame on him because that dossier was made three years ago!"
"But still…!!!" Serena cried out loud. "I believe in Xen! He is not a traitor! He will not betray us all!!!"
"Or is he!?" The emperor laughed with fierceness. "You're just telling that because you're blinded by your love for him! You're in complete denial!"
"N-No!!!" Serena cried as she slowly loses her will to fight. Her feet drifted backward, indicating that Emperor Sirius Elkyria is winning this battle of courage and willpower. The emperor started to make a step, two steps, three steps forward while making their swords bite each other.
I have to help Serena somehow! I may be in my worst condition, but I will do anything just to win this fight and survive! I will beat the emperor, no matter how weak I've become!
"Forge!" I shouted. On my right hand, a dull bread knife was all I can create with the magical energy I have left. I only have one chance to create a weapon, but this will suffice. I mustered all my strength to stand up. Even if my legs are shaking, even if my hands are trembling, I will still make this attack! "Hraaaaagh!!!"
When the emperor saw me charging with a knife in my hand, he immediately made an attack to counter me. "Haaaaaaaahhh!!!"
A quick shockwave echoed, giving me chills on every inch of my nerves. The invisible force pushed me backward, making my body roll to the ground. I tried standing up, but my body won't let me. All I can do is sit on my knees.
This fear I'm feeling in the depths of my soul, this must be the spell exclusive only to the royal blood. It is the Voice of the Emperor. Once a commoner was hit with this kind of magic, he will succumb to fear and divine authority of the real king who has control over a human's kingdom.
"D-Damn…" I cried. My hands are shaking more than ever, and my legs refuse to accept my brain's commands. I could no longer move to this state.
"Xen!" Serena turned around and tried to reach for me. However, the emperor caught her long black hair and grabbed him as a hostage. "Kyuh!"
"S-Serena!" I shouted.
Hope was lost in my eyes as I saw the emperor's right hand. He's no longer holding his high-tech sword, but the weapon he's possessing is far more dangerous than any other thing in the world. His right hand is being engulfed with black flaming aura, indicating dark magic that could immediately end my lover's heart in one touch.
"Michael Eldritch is not the only one who can use the Heartstopper Curse." Emperor Sirius Elkyria threatened with his deep voice. Slowly, his hands drifted closer to Serena's heart. "Stop resisting, or else…"
"X-Xen…!!!" Serena cried, her warm tears flowing on her cheeks.
"Stop!!!" I cried out loud. "Your highness, please stop!"
The emperor listened to me, as his hands stopped moving. His merciless glare at me tells me that he will not have a second thought in killing Serena if I tried to move an inch. I can't remove the paralyzing effect of the Voice of the Emperor anyway, so I won't be able to do some unnecessary tricks to save Serena.
"Xenon Wingate. I will give you one last chance. Where… is… the Psychic Amplifier?" The emperor said as he slowly tried to reach Serena's heart.
"I don't know!" I cried out loud. "Please release Serena! You only need me, right!?"
"I don't need you!" The emperor lost his gears. "All I need is the location of the Psychic Amplifier! We don't need to have an unnecessary bloodbath at this point! Just tell me where that damn Psychic Amplifier is!?"
"I don't freaking know!" I begged as I used my remaining strength to grovel down. "I really don't know! Please believe me!"
"I will give you three seconds!" The emperor's voice made its peak of curiosity. "One!"
"X-Xen!" Serena cried out loud. He saw the dark hand of the damn emperor closing into her chest.
"Please, please, please!" I crawled towards the emperor to try and convince him. "Don't hurt Serena, please!"
"This is no time to worry about your dragonoid slave! Two!"
"Fuck! Fuuuuck!" I cried out loud. "I don't fucking know anything about that Psychic Amplifier! Release her!"
"You had your chance, Xenon Wingate." Emperor Sirius Elkyria said with his cold voice. "I made you choose between your selfish ambitions and the life of your lover. It seems that your world domination plan weighs more than Serena… Three."
"Kuh!" Serena cried. The emperor's fingers sunk on Serena's heart, making her utter a short painful moan.
Without the courage of watching my love die, I closed my eyes, bowed down, and uttered a loud cry just to avoid my own ears hear Serena's dying scream.
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!!!"
…
…
…
There was silence after I strained my vocal cords to the limit. I never heard any hint of a dying cry nor a body falling down. My snot and my tears are already dropping to the floor. It's doubtful that everything was silent, so I raised my head up to see what is happening.
The moment my body rose up, Serena jumped to me and hugged me tightly. She cried endlessly while rubbing her cheeks to mine and resting her chin on my shoulder. "Xen! Xen!" She said worryingly as she caressed me tight. With my strength regaining, I used my arms to return the hug she gave wholeheartedly to me.
When I raised my head, I saw the emperor having this merciful glare. He is clenching his fists for disappointment and frustration. In the end, he can't hurt or kill Serena. He is a merciful ruler after all. There's no longer hostility on his existence. But nobody can't paint the hopelessness on his face.
"We're doomed." The emperor muttered. "According to Cheng Du's dossier, the Global Psychic Amplifier will activate three days after Michael Eldritch's death. That devil is dead for two days, and we only have twenty-four hours to locate it. Our satellite systems were damaged during the war, and almost all countries are back to the steam age. We're all going to die at this point. Without any commander of the Psychic Amplifier, everyone on this planet will be brain-dead."
"I… I'm sorry… I don't know anything about its location." I bowed down. The moment I spoke, Serena stopped crying. I think she's now sleeping on my care, silently embracing this last hug we may have.
"You knew it, Xenon. It's in your head somewhere. Your friends have tried recovering your memories for the past hours. I have let your friends handle the interrogation, and everything was going well. The only thing we can't recover is the information about that last Psychic Amplifier." The emperor explained. "It's like everything pertaining to it has been erased."
The last word of the emperor echoed inside my head.
Erased. Erased. Erased.
It must be that. Just by thinking those words is enough to make my brain ache. The emperor noticed it, so he tried to ask me again.
"Xenon Wingate, for everyone's sake. Please remember it. Where is the Psychic Amplifier?"
I released hot air from my lungs and I gasped for oxygen. If Cheng Du's dossier is telling the truth, I might really be involved in the Psychic Amplifier project. Come to think of it, I don't remember why I accepted Eldritch's command to recover the dossier three years ago. It's like there are gaps in my memory, and those seem to be erased completely.
I closed my eyes and tried to focus.
While I'm inside this dark consciousness, my senses stopped indefinitely. Everything was silent and black. But one thing made me remember the memories I have truly lost. The warm hug, the caress of my love, and her lovely perfume was nothing in my state of mind. The heartbeats; the ones that connect us to the powers of the Vesryn Pulse made me able to see the lost memory flashes on my own.