After a good night's rest, I decided to head out to Lake Loe immediately the next morning. Ever since I had come in contact with Avalon's telepaths, I couldn't stop the mental cry of help from echoing inside my head.
"Help me, please…help me. I wish to be free."
The beautiful voice haunted me even in my dreams, and I thought I saw her reaching out for me pleadingly with one hand, the other still resting on the pommel of her sword. The lake and grass around her suddenly burned, corrupted with black energies that infected them with…something otherworldly. I felt a hellish chill and woke up in cold sweat.
That repeated several times throughout the night until I gave up on sleep altogether.
"You all right?" Lin Xue asked when she saw me shuffling out of my room and toward the dining hall, looking as pale as a ghost. I nodded.
"Yeah. I've somewhere to go later, if you don't mind."
"Don't mind?" Lin Xue scoffed. "I'll follow you."
"Me too." Shang Xiao grinned, placing an arm over each of our shoulders and weighing us down under his considerable bulk. "I would love to do some sightseeing on an alien planet."
"We're not doing any sightseeing," I grumbled.
"Well, whatever it is you're doing then," the colonel said with a shrug. "I want in. Otherwise, I'll be bored out of my mind."
Lionel Johansson and Rex Luther were busily reorganizing their legion and handling the logistics of arming them with technologically better weapons such as laser carbines and plasma rifles. I didn't want to bother them when they were so busy, so I left them to their own tasks while I took on this mission myself.
However, Shang Xiao and Lin Xue opted to follow me. They weren't involved in the legion's logistics, and so they had nothing better to do. Though I suspected inwardly that they were just keeping an eye on me for Sprue or something. They wanted to ensure my loyalty remained to Earth or something. Well, I would just fake it, but my loyalty was to myself for now. And my family.
We took my little shuttle and flew from the capital city to Lake Loe, just the three of us being its passengers. It was less than an hour away by flight, and pretty soon, I could see the scenic view of Lake Loe looming in the horizon, its clear surface sparkly magnificently under the rising sun. Herds of native creatures grazed on the grass, while flocks of birds soared from treetops. This was a region unsullied by technology, a resplendent diorama of nature pristine and clean. It was completely unlike the tall, spired towers and Gothic architectural city that spanned a continent.
I landed the shuttle in a small clearing, trying my best not to torch the grass. Switching from the plasma thrusters to slight antigravity mode, I was able to set the shuttle down in a place without setting the forest on fire. The ramp then lowered, allowing the three of us to disembark without incident.
"What are we doing here?" Lin Xue asked. Then she paused and frowned, holding the side of her head. "This…this is telepathy? I can hear a girl's voice…someone asking for help."
"Oh, you can hear her too?" I was surprised. Then again, I should have anticipated that. Lin Xue was a psychic, and though her faculty was elements rather than willpower, she should still be sensitive to psychic energy.
"Me too." Shang Xiao raised a hand before cupping his chin and musing to himself. "Her voice is really soft and slight, but I think I can just make out the words. There are a few…images too, but they aren't very clear."
"She's in the lake? How can she be in the lake?" Lin Xue's eyes widened after she deciphered several of the telepathic visual messages. "Wouldn't she drown?"
"You silly lass." Shang Xiao chuckled and flicked her forehead. "Think about it. we're on an alien planet. Never mind the possibility that she might be genetically modified or possess psychic powers that allow her to breathe underwater, it's likely she's trapped inside an underwater facility underneath. Speaking of which, how are you planning to dive in the lake, Tian Xing? You have a submarine hidden in that shuttle of yours?"
"No, but I was planning on making use of Aegis's energy barriers to envelop us inside isolated pockets of air bubbles that will both contain limited supplies of air and protect us from water pressure at great depths."
"I can do that," Aegis offered.
"Before that, I wish to issue a warning," Arondight cut in. "I detect a massive energy reaction, emanating from an enormous organism that is currently approaching our position."
"The beast of the lake," I said as I turned toward the now violently churning waters. "It finally shows itself."
"Beast of the lake?!" Lin Xue repeated incredulously. "Is there something you aren't telling us?!"
"Oh? Ah, sorry. I forgot. apparently, when Governor Pennydrake informed me about this place and had his telepaths broadcast the telepathic message straight to my mind, he also mentioned that the girl is being guarded by a beast of the lake. They've tried to hunt it down, but it would stay hidden in the depths of the lake whenever they arrived with heavy armor and antitank weaponry."
An explosion of water fountained upward, temporarily creating the illusion of rain as the great beast broke the surface and emerged into the open. It flapped its enormous bat-like wings, sending shockwaves that stirred tides in the previously tranquil lake. Its tail whipped about and its reptilian jaws yawned open in a thunderous bellow.
Stretching about thirty meters from head to tail and almost half again as long in wingspan, the great beast of the lake was…
"Ah!" Lin Xue shrieked. "That's a…dragon!?"
Yeah. It was a dragon.
The dragon roared again before diving upon us, apparently identifying the tree of us as delicious morsels. If I was hoping that it would be an intelligent and proud creature, I would be sorely let down because it resembled nothing more than a mindless, ravenous beast intent on devouring us whole.
Instead of screaming like some damsel in distress from a web novel, Lin Xue pulled her lightning gun out and fired. Forks of lightning sprayed the air, causing the dragon to bank and swerve about to avoid the lethal electricity. A few jagged tongues lashed against its armored scales, causing it to shudder, but it shrugged off the immense voltage before retreating and circling us warily.
"Bring it down so that I can beat it up!" Shang Xiao ordered Lin Xue. His Strength markings had materialized as crimson tattoos across his tanned skin, and he was eagerly rubbing his palms in glee. I couldn't believe he was excited about beating up a dragon with his bare hands. Considering his psychic power, though, I supposed I shouldn't be shocked.
Instead, I wasted no time. No way was I leaving all of the fighting to Lin Xue. Calculating firing trajectories and angles with my glasses, I activated Aegis, giving her a set of attacking patterns and enthusiastic about making use of her new upgrades. My shield split apart into her eight components and soared ahead at hypersonic speeds, leaving sonic booms in the air.
The dragon didn't know what hit it.
While it was busily evading the blasts of lightning from Lin Xue, it was completely caught unawares by the eight Aegis components that spread out and formed a net around it. assaulting in a three-dimensional plane from all directions – front, back, up, down, left and right, laser beams and plasma particles slammed into it from every side. The dragon bellowed in agony as lasers cut holes through its wings and left angry welts in its massive, scaly body. superheated matter seared cauterized craters in its abdomen, causing it to dip in midair and almost crash.
Clearly, its speed and maneuverability had been impeded by the holes in its wings. It was now clearly struggling to stay aloft, descending lower and lower under the constant barrage of laser beams and plasma.
However, the dragon wasn't without teeth. Snarling, it turned to us, realizing with its cunning that we were the source of its torment. Flames erupted from its mouth and rolled toward us in a liquid stream that caused nearby water to boil and scorched any grass unfortunate enough to be in the proximity black.
"Aegis…" I began, but it was unnecessary. To my shock, it was Shang Xiao who jumped in front of us. With a yell, he raised his hands and projected an energy shield that took the shape of the symbols tattooed on his face and arms. The crest of the faculty of Strength, if I recalled what Lin Xue taught me. I didn't know it could serve as a barrier too. I watched in awe as the flames washed over the glowing crimson energy crest and flowed past us, but we were untouched by the deadly inferno.
"Heh." Shang Xiao smirked as he lowered his arms, which were glowing with potent psychic energy. "Not so tough, are you, eh?"
The dragon was about to spit another ball of flames, but Aegis bombarded it with another volley of lasers and plasma. It choked and shrieked when one of the ruby laser beams sliced through its neck, leaving a cauterized scar that probably cut through its windpipe. Gagging, it fell even as it flapped its perforated wings desperately.
"It's my turn now!" Shang Xiao hollered, sprinting forward. His muscles bulged and he leaped upward, propelling his burly body several meters into the air. He caught the dangling tail of the dragon and with a single pull, flipped it over his shoulder and sent it crashing heavily onto the ground below, caving a crater in the soil.
Holy hell…I had never seen a human wrestle a dragon almost twenty times his size and throw it to the ground like that!
However, this wasn't the time to spectate like some rabid sports fan. Not wasting any time, I sprinted forward and drew Arondight. Activating him, I vaulted over the skidding dragon and swung my sword, beheading the beast in a single stroke.
Even as I landed and deactivated Arondight, the dragon's headless corpse thumped heavily behind me, its head crashing several meters away. Lin Xue gaped at me and Shang Xiao, who was doing a victory pose.
"Nice! That was some great teamwork, yeah, Tian Xing?"
"Uh…thanks, Colonel Shang."
Shaking my head in bemusement, I turned to survey our handiwork. Then I turned toward the lake and narrowed my eyes.
"Seems like our objective is still in there."
"Yeah. So you said you're going to use your energy shield to create a bubble around us?" Shang Xiao asked, approaching me and Aegis, which had recombined into a single hovering shield.
"Hang on." Lin Xue frowned as she hurried forward, one hand pressed against her head. "I'm sensing something coming. I don't know, but I don't think it's good."
"Huh? What can it be?" I scowled and glanced at the dragon's carcass. "We just slew the beast of the lake. What other enemy can there be?"
"I don't know, but I'm having a chilling premonition. We need to get away from the lake…fast!"
"Why?"
Before Lin Xue could reply, the lake blew up once more, sending another geyser sprouting high into the heavens. As the rain splattered back down, the three of us watched in disbelief as a new figure emerged.
This time, it was no dragon. No, rather, she was a lady knight clad entirely in black armor standing on top of the lake. In her right hand, she held a tainted demonic sword the color of night that throbbed menacingly and caused my breath to suffocate in my chest. Red veins pulsed around her corrupted gear, emanating an ominous aura that reminded me of a recent enemy.
The Knights of Romulus. The unspeakable creatures they summoned in the dungeon of their castle. The Abyss.
She turned to stare at us with hollow blue eyes as deep and fathomless as the void, and then swung her sword.
Then everything vanished in a blinding flash of dreadful darkness that appeared to suck in every ounce of light from the surroundings.