Dragonblood Ascension

Betrayed to die

By midnight, things already took a bad shape. Another order was given:

“Every trainee must fight alongside other soldiers regardless of your level of mana.”

Leon fought beside other trainees and ordinary soldiers, and before he knew it, exhaustion consumed his body. Still, he knew he needed to keep going.

Everywhere he looked, people were dying. They were either getting killed or taking their own lives because of fear of the new monster that now terrorized them.

It was not just the undead now. Another new creature had already entered the capital, one that is most feared—an abyss creature.

Never in Leon’s life did he imagine that such damnation would befall him in one night. Being just a trainee, he knows that he stands no chance, yet, he couldn’t give up, seeing how the Royal Knights fought desperately just to protect them.

He hoped that the child he was trying to rescue earlier was safe. The female knight had told him she would look after him and send him and his mother to safety once they rescue them from the building, and he trusted her words for it. More than that, he hoped that his friends were safe. He hasn’t set his eyes on them after he told them to run. They are nowhere in sight, and he doubts they are among the trainees fighting off the undead.

Where were they?

A soldier beside him was dragged into a crowd of corpses and his screams woke Leon up. He gritted his teeth and drove his sword through an undead creature’s head before turning toward another one. He could feel his body declining as he was wiped out from exhaustion, but he knows that stopping meant death.

The sky suddenly shook with a monstrous roar and everyone froze in fear. Leon looked up to see a gigantic skeletal creature crashing into the city walls. Then, another one.

“Retreat!” captains shouted continuously and everyone ran in panic.

Before Leon could understand what was going on, balls of fire dropped down the creatures’ bodies and buildings exploded instantly. His eyes widen and he moved his feet at once, ready to run back to the inner district when he was suddenly shoved hard by someone. Before he could see who it was, people were already trampling on him in a bid to escape and he blocked his head as pain shot through his entire body.

From the gap between his fingers, he could see the monsters approaching where he was and fear gripped him tightly. He wished that someone would just come to his rescue.

As if his prayer was heard, a hand suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him to his feet and he saw that it was the academy’s captain.

“Come with me,” he ordered and they started to run.

Leon followed him without hesitation, believing they were heading for safety. The nearby explosions rained stones down on them but they kept running blindly. Before they knew it, another group of undead all poured out across where they were and they stopped abruptly.

Leon moved his hand to pull out his sword and soon realized that he had dropped it when he fell. An image of Cedric suddenly flashed through his mind and he couldn’t believe that he had shoved him on purpose. He cursed under his breath and then saw his captain turn to look at him.

Leon suddenly frowned. “Captain?” he called carefully.

“I’m sorry,” he suddenly apologized.

Before Leon could react, his captain slashed at his leg and he cried out in pain, attracting the undead.

“This is the only way I can survive. I saved you earlier, so you do the same for me,” his captain said and shoved him violently, making him crash to the ground.

Leon cried in pain as he held his leg that was now bleeding and anger shot through him. He must have been so stupid to trust someone like his captain who doesn’t even regard those without mana as people who have any worth.

“You are murdering me if you leave me here to die,” he said to him. “Why not just kill me yourself?”

His captain shook his head and replied him, “It’s the only way I can survive. It’s not like saving you can add anything to us. You’ll just be a burden in the end.”

“Captain!” Leon called after him as he watched him run to the opposite side and he clenched his fists. Already, the undead were closing in on him, and with his wound, he can’t make a run for it even if he wanted to.

“Aarghhh!” he cried out and stomp his fist on the ground. He was feeling different emotions at the same time. It was the first time he realized how useless he really was.

Tears burst out from his eyes when he saw the undead now closer to him and he lost any hope of surviving. In his last seconds, he thought about Commander Gareth, about his friends, and lastly, about his parent. If he dies and goes to meet them, would they even welcome him?

In that last second as the undead raised their rusted blades and were about to descend it on him, a nearby explosion swept them off and sent them crashing around. The ground beneath them trembled and cracks started spreading around where Leon fell. Before he knew it, the ground beneath him cracked open and he fell straight into a cellar.

Stones collapsed on him, crushing him under, and darkness soon swallowed his vision.

While everyone fought and ran to safety, Leon was betrayed to die beneath the ruined capital of the city.