Dragonblood Ascension

Undead creatures

The capital walls had protected Athens for centuries, reinforced with magic powerful enough to stop monsters and enemies. It was performed by the mages themselves. But, if the walls had fallen, then it means something catastrophic was happening.

Fear gripped everyone instantly and just then, another explosion shook the academy walls hard enough to rattle the windows.

“Every trainee capable of combat will assist with evacuation immediately! Put on your gears and grab your weapons,” the female knight shouted. “Move now!”

Within seconds, instructors were already guiding students to the storage room, but they are only trainees whose evaluation had impressed them, and that includes Cedric and Tristan.

Leon didn’t hesitate. He didn’t need an evaluation or a gear. All he needed was a real sword to protect his friends and make sure they all get to safety.

“What do you think you are doing?!” an instructor barked angrily at him when he walked into the storage room and grabbed a sword. “Do you want to die?”

Even Cedric looked tensed.

Leon gave the instructor a frown and said, “I will rather die protecting the people that mean the world to me than be under the protection of those who don’t even see my worth.”

He didn’t waste any more time and left the place immediately. He soon met up with his friends and on seeing the sword in his hand, Heidi asked him;

“Are you sure about this?”

“Leon, this is not a duel. We’re at war,” Roan pointed out.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to us. I’ll make sure we get to safety. I need this just in case,” he assured them and together, they followed the crowd of trainees as the Royal Knights prepared to evacuate them.

Within minutes, they are already sprinting through the burning streets. The knights kept barking orders and Leon couldn’t help but be distracted by the chaos that surrounded them. He looked back at the academy, at the place that became his home after his first one was taken from him. It was soon to be in ruins and just like back then again, there is nothing he can do to save it.

A nearby explosion sent panic through him, forcing him to focus on the events that were now happening. He saw buildings burning and people running in panic. The Royal Knights were fighting desperately against some creatures he couldn’t quite identify.

“What is that?” Taylor asked in panic.

Leon gave it a more closer look and his eyes widen immediately.

“T-Those are the U-Un…dead,” Heidi stammered, fear gripping her tightly.

“They are back,” Roan said, not believing his eyes.

Dozens of rotten corpses dragged rusted blades and they killed anything in their way. Poor civilians who were trying to run to safety got caught and no amount of pleading or tears could save them.

Leon watched in horror as people got trapped inside burning buildings while some escaped, only to be slain by the undead creatures.

“That’s impossible,” he thought. “The undead were exterminated a long time ago. How then are they back?”

He watched as ordinary soldiers stood trembling at the front instead of fighting back. The story about the undead must be true, he thought. It is said that they often take the appearance of a lost one or the dead soldiers lost in battle. It was a form of distraction, and he wished the soldiers would snap out of it.

“We need to get out of here,” Taylor said in panic, drawing their attention.

But Leon couldn’t take his eyes off the innocent civilians all lying helpless, begging to be saved. And just then, he saw it.

A child stood outside a burning house and was wailing. Despite the chaos around him and people running away from danger, he stood there with his eyes fixed on the burning house.

“There is a child,” he told them. “We need to save him.”

“Just leave that to the royal knights and soldiers. That’s their business,” Roan said and took his hand for them to start leaving.

Leon yanked his hand off and raised his voice at him, “Can’t you see that the soldiers don’t stand a chance here? That child can’t wait for them to get back to their senses before he can be saved, and the undead are not stopping either. There’s too much enemy for the mages to fight all at once. We should help too.”

“But what can we possibly do? We are only trainees and it’s not like we have any mana to fight them. We’ll probably just end up dead too,” Taylor pointed out the obvious.

“Then are you saying we should leave a child to die?” Leon asked him with a deep frown. He pulled his sword out and said to them, “I know we are not the most capable, but with my skills, I can still save some people. And I promised to protect you guys too. Just go ahead. I’ll catch with you in no time after I lead the child to safety.”

“But Leon…” Heidi had worry written all over her face.

“Go now! There’s not much time left,” he raised his voice again and then shouted, “Run!”

Leon turned around and made a sprint for it. He ran forward, determined to save the child and he couldn’t care about the undead closing in.

When he got to the child, he told him, “Kid, you shouldn’t be here. Let’s go.”

But the child wailed even louder and pointed at the burning building. “My mom is still inside. I can’t leave her all alone.”

“Damn it,” Leon muttered and looked around immediately. Civilians were trapped in the buildings and some in the ruins, and the undead would get to them within seconds now.

He held the child’s shoulders and told him again, “Kid, you really can’t be here. Why don’t you go that way first and ask for help while I try saving your mother?”

The child turned his head to the direction where the others were running to safety and he returned his eyes to Leon. Shaking his head, he said, “I’m scared.”

Leon couldn’t believe the child. He needed to buy time to at least save the civilians in the building, but time is something that can’t be bought.

The trainees were all outside now and as Tristan and the others helped with getting them to safety, the Royal Knights fought hard on the other side, using their mana.

“Run!” Someone screamed at the front, startling them.

Tristan recognized the voice instantly and he turned his head to the direction. He pulled his brows when he saw Leon trying to fight off the undead as the soldiers stood there doing nothing.

“Hey, hey,” he called Cedric immediately and asked, “What is that idiot doing there all by himself? Is he trying to get himself killed?”

Cedric burned inside on seeing Leon fighting hard out there. He knows that it should have been him, but ever since he saw those creatures, he became scared and he wants nothing more than to leave the place. There are several ways he can become a commander and one of them doesn’t involve him risking his life to protect lowly civilians. But seeing Leon fighting so hard despite having no mana made him want to also prove something.

A group of undead charged directly towards a group of trapped civilians and Leon moved from where he was. He held the sword firmly and slashed at the leg of one. The blade barely cut anything and the creature didn’t slow down either. Without mana, his attacks lacked any destructive power against them. Ordinary weapons and skills weren’t enough to take them down.

The creature swung its blade and Leon narrowly dodged before his eyes moved to the child. Already, the undead were nearing where he stood and obviously, there is nothing he can do to save them both. Still, he couldn’t leave him to die. It was in that moment that he remembered Commander Gareth’s words. Every word of his seems to be becoming his reality now.

The undead creature lunged again and Leon had to decide between him and the child. Without hesitation, he turned swiftly and made a run towards the child, but just as soon as he turned, he knew he had made a bad call.

Another undead stood in front of him with its blade already raised and Leon moved his eyes to see that he was already surrounded. He panicked and the sword he held suddenly felt heavy in his hand. He dodged immediately when the sword came down on him and just at that moment, an arrow of fire shot through the creature’s skull and it exploded in flames.

“What the—”

Leon looked up sharply and saw another arrow of fire whoosh past him, only to hit the undead behind him. He saw many soldiers in black uniforms atop the nearby rooftops, and at their center stood Commander Gareth.

“The Vanguards’ are here too,” Leon muttered and he dared to release a sigh of relief. But fear was soon to crawl back to him when he remembered the child.

He snapped his head to the side and sprang to his feet, running towards the child who was about to get murdered by one of the undead. Panic rose in his chest at the thought of not getting there in time, but just then, someone fired their mana towards the creature and it froze instantly, turning into hard ice. He looked at whoever it was and saw the female knight who had addressed them earlier, running toward his direction and throwing her sword at the creature. It blasted off upon impact and Leon was left speechless on seeing the creature crumble to pieces.

“You either pierce through their head or wreck their whole body,” she said to him as she fought off the others, and when he didn’t make any move, she raised her voice at him, “What do you think you are doing? Are you trying to save your mana or what?”

Leon blinked and said, “Oh, I don’t have any mana.”

The Royal Knight pulled her brows and pushed him aside immediately as she pushed her sword into the head of another undead creature.

“Take the child and leave now,” she shouted at him as she continued to fight, but she was soon to become infuriated when he didn’t move.

“Are you trying to die or what?” she asked with a deep frown. “Get the kid and yourself to safety now!”

Leon licked his dry lips and told her, “But the kid doesn’t want to leave. His mother is still trapped in the burning building with the others.”

The knight gave him a strange look and then moved her eyes to the child.

Above them, Commander Gareth shouted, “Fall back to the inner district! This area has been compromised!”