CHAPTER 134: EPILOGUE
ZHEASTINALEOJ "Z" DE MEISTER
2 MONTHS LATER
The cold air swiftly invaded my cheeks as soon as I opened the door to a room. It was dark, and there's only a minimal source of light. It's kind of the same room we once had when we're interrogating Sir Xenon Wingate to learn about the whereabouts of the Psychic Amplifier, but the only difference is that I'm not entering the interrogation room, but some kind of experimentation room.
The machinery continues to produce a soft beeping noise with an interval of five seconds. There are various apparatuses in this place that makes it look like a gloomy place to start a zombie apocalypse. It's one of Cheng Du's labs so it is doomed to be fashioned in that way.
As I continue to venture deeper, I have finally reached the finish line. There is some kind of hospital bed and there is someone resting on it. This man's head is covered, as there is some kind of virtual-reality-looking device that checks his eye and brain activity.
When I looked at the side of the room, I was not surprised to see a dragon knight… no, a newly-promoted Pentagram Knight; Sir Estoff Wraith. Beside him is a petite and adorable scarlet-haired dragonoid that used to be an enemy, but now she's managing the bar that Serena has given to her. I believe that the girl is named Airelina Frembell.
Sir Estoff Wraith wordlessly nodded, and then he gave a dossier to me. I scanned the pages of the medical report on the man who's lying in the bed and immediately made a conclusion.
"Are you sure this is okay with Lady Danielle?" I asked. "It's his cousin we're having experiments with."
"It's okay," Estoff said. "That man is certainly the one. He has displayed such power and even defeated a general with a mere activation of a Vesryn Pulse, and that's a month ago. He's the last Eye of Deus user as of this moment, and I believe he is the key to everything."
I looked back at the dossier and read out loud the man's profile. "Amphere Harrison, Fourth Class Dragon Knight. Enrolled in the Dragon Knight Academy six months ago, and he's about to be promoted into Third Class. Dragonoid partner is Airelina Frembell."
I looked at the scarlet-haired dragonoid who seems to be worried about his knight's wellbeing. I find it odd because we're not really having any dangerous operation with her knight as of this moment, but she seemed to be muttering his nickname.
"Amphy… Please don't hate me totally for this…" The worried dragonoid said.
Suddenly, a mechanical door opened, revealing a fat man in a lab gown. This man has a square face and there are hints of severe injury on his body. His left arm had melted, and his left face looked like burnt pizza. This man is all familiar in any way concerned, and this man should've been long dead.
"Doctor Cheng Du, how is the patient?" Estoff asked.
The injured doctor is definitely the treasonous duke, Doctor Cheng Du. Back during the operation to hunt him down, Estoff Wraith sneaked and secretly saved the fat man's life in the crash site. Everybody was told that he was destroyed by the nuclear explosion that Xenon has made, but the truth is, he's being kept here alive by the remnants of Arcadia.
Doctor Cheng Du adjusted his eyeglasses because his left eye can no longer see. "The subject has been diagnosed with the properties of Eye of Deus. He will be able to control the hearts of the dragonoids with ease, but I'm afraid he won't be able to use its psychic powers at full potential."
"How about the DNA sample that I sent you?" I asked the melted doctor. "What's his connection with Ampherius Deo?"
During the final battle of Xenon and Serena against the knight that has been controlling the Elder Ancientech Dragon, I was there to witness all of it. I saw how my friends fought valiantly and I witnessed their triumph. When the Elder Ancientech Dragon was about to fade, I took some dust samples in the air that contained his DNA for Cheng Du to experiment.
"It's rather… peculiar." Cheng Du said. "Amphere Harrison's DNA and Ampherius Deo's DNA is a complete match. The traces of Eye of Deus' psychic magic is also identical. It's as if they are one and the same person… but it's like this Ampherius Deo is somewhat an older version of him."
I smirked. Ampherius Deo and Amphere Harrison had the very same characteristics, except that the decaying god looked more like a dead version of this young knight. They even have almost similar names. Taking Cheng Du's analysis on account, it might be possible that Amphere Harrison might turn into Ampherius Deo at some point in the future.
"If you let me run some experiments on him, I'll make him way stronger than Eldritch!" Cheng Du said.
"That's enough," I said as I slowly went forward, getting closer to the fat doctor. "You have served your purpose."
"W-Wait, does that mean you will dispatch me?" Cheng Du cried. Without any strength on his legs, he fell down on his butt. "D-Don't kill me, please! I still have dreams to fulfill! Hades will torment me in the afterlife!"
"Your evil has claimed the lives of many men. You are no longer needed in this world. " I said as I pressed my face forward to the snotty doctor and patted his head. While he's busy mumbling his prayers, I gave a cold glare with a matching wide smile to terrify him more. "It would give me a lot of trouble if the emperor or even Xenon knows that you are still alive. So I need to clean the house."
"W-Wait! D-Don't! Noooooooo!!!!"
Cheng Du cried as he witnessed his own true end. With my various elemental magic particles focused on my hand, I sped up the decay of Cheng Du's body by applying corrosive magic that repeatedly burns, freezes, and cuts his cells in the brain. In just a matter of two seconds, Cheng Du has completely died for real.
Airelina and Estoff did not react. They do not care about Cheng Du at all since he's just a pawn in all of this. The real war is about to start, and we don't have time to set aside some dirt in our place.
"So, what's the news, Z?" Estof crossed his arms. "You said that there is grim news that we need to take action for."
"Yes, there is grim news." I focused my crimson eyes at the Pentagram Knight as I frowned. "Duke Corasell; the one who is the author of the Dragonoid Rights Bill is dead."
I saw Estoff clench his fists, but his facial expression and reply are calm as ever. "A true tragedy."
"Of course. Without the duke that promotes the freedom of us dragonoids, we may stay in hundred-year-long slavery once again. It's a mistake on Serena's part. She should have guarded the duke until the bill was passed. Now, we're all back to square one."
"Who killed him?" Estoff asked.
"I have no idea. The initial reports say that it was a car accident, but I know there is some foul play involved. It's way too convenient. Maybe it's the emperor, or a general, or a dragon knight who made this setup. We don't know who's the enemy yet, but I know... We will have to overthrow this empire sooner or later."
"That is right," Estoff said. "Alterra is rotting every second. If only the Dragon Queen knew about Emperor Elkyria's bad deeds, dragonoids should be free by now. If only I had a chance to talk to Xenon, everything would have turned out differently."
"It can't be helped," I said with a smile. "They didn't know how the Alterran government treated dragonoids. They've never seen how the advanced power plants operate. They've never seen Alterra's main power source. They never knew how humans treat dragonoids as livestock here in Alterra. But I know you Arcadians can do something about it."
"So you're suggesting that we wage war against Alterra now that all the nations are still in their weak state?" Estoff asked.
"No." I said, "I know there are sleeper cells around the world and you have supporters in every part of the land. I also know that you have connections in Dragon Knight Academies even in Elysia. But there is still one way to achieve freedom by peaceful means."
I took out a picture stuck on my witch's hat and showed it to the new leader of Arcadia. The picture is a young girl, about twelve years old, with golden-brown hair and elegant posture.
"Duchess Marieflorine Corasell," Estoff muttered. He immediately hid the picture on his dragon knight uniform. "She might be able to continue the legacy of his father and have the bill passed."
"Now you have the eye of gods and the duchess of peace at your disposal. It's all up to you how to use those assets and attain freedom. Will your tactics involve propagandas? Or brute force?" I tipped my hat and started to walk away. "Good luck, Sir Estoff."
"How about you, Z?" Estoff asked, making me halt from further taking a step. "Aren't you going to fight with us? What will you do from now on?"
I did not answer.
I just left, with nowhere to go.
When I finally left the dark room and made it out of the bar in the slums, I gently touched my chest. My fingers crawled until I grabbed the thing I treasure the most and withdrew it. The thing in my hand is a pinkish chunk of muscle that has severed arteries. It's my most precious thing in the world.
Looking at it gave a smile on my face. All those memories that I had with my special person came back to me, and it made me chuckle a little.
"Master, what would you like me to do from now on?" I talked to the beating heart.
Somehow, I understood what the heart said. I don't know if I'm crazy or I'm just imagining things, but I know what the heart is saying. Maybe it's just the connection of the Vesryn Pulse we have that makes us communicate with one another. Maybe I'm just as traumatized as Lothar Pendragon was when he had his wife die.
That doesn't matter.
Shush. The heart is saying something that only I can hear.
"I see." I nodded as I giggled menacingly. "It doesn't matter what road I take on, right? As long as I have you… We'll be together forever, Master~"
[VESRYN PULSE: WRATH OF XENON END]