Draconic King of Shadows-Chapter 46: Saving Matilda

The student staring at Damion with his arms wide open was waiting for a reaction from ’Orion’, and when he did get the reaction, it wasn’t one he expected.

"Don’t tell me... you’re not Orion?" The student asked, seemingly realizing that Damion was actually who he was.

Damion’s head snapped in the student’s direction, and his aura shifted, turning hostile.

"Using her as bait turned out better than expected," the student said, an evil smile forming on his lips. "Orion must have successfully spread the rumor of Matilda’s kidnap, so you came, acting like a knight in shining armor to save your lover, am I right?"

The dangerous glint in Damion’s eyes intensified, and his Tang Dao appeared in his hand, together with the Jaws of Ophidia.

"I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Damion," the student began. "If you had just politely come when you were ordered to by the gang, none of this would have happened.

’Gang?’ Damion’s ears perked up at that word. ’Am I at the den of the Feral Brotherhood right now, standing before their leader?’

A thought crossed his mind, but he stopped before he could take any actions when he felt several presences surrounding the room.

’Reinforcement, he must be weak then, probably having an Ability not suited for combat.’

The subtle shift of the students feet backwards only affirmed his deduction, yet, Damion didn’t seize the opportunity to attack.

’It’s a bait,’ he claimed. ’He wants me to attack so that he will catch me off guard and deal a strong blow.’

’How do I deal with this situation?’

’I’m surrounded from all sides, and Matilda is too close to grab, so she might be used as a hostage.’ Damion scanned the vicinity, searching for something. ’How did they even find out I’m close to her? We only spoke a few times and didn’t do anything... intimate.’

His mind spun, but no ideas came to him. He was almost ready to give up and accept his fate, but his pride didn’t let him. He had been getting stronger and faced several losses, but he never gave up, so what was different about this challenge?

’Well, they’re second-years,’ Damion considered.

’Still, I can’t give up now, not ever!’ he riled himself up.

His words seemed to be heard by some divine being, or maybe it was just the Blessing of Luck taking action again, either way, Damion felt a familiar aura show up in his Dragon’s Authority’s range, and a smile formed on his lips.

"Teamwork," Damion began. "Is something that can’t be easily defeated."

__________

[New Quest Received]

[Quest Description- Your family has been touched, the ultimate form of courting death.

Save Matilda, or die trying]

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Just then, screams rang out from outside as a bright light flashed for a second. A split second after, a crescent blade of white energy tore into the room, and the building began to collapse.

"That was unexpected," Kenzo said to himself as he sheathed his sword coolly, watching as the building came crumbling down.

He couldn’t tell if the building was weak, or if his attack was too strong. He had attacked with the aim of injuring one or two students, but one of them had ended up redirecting his attack, resulting in it hitting the building instead.

Damion reacted swiftly and reached out to grab Matilda, but the skin of the student standing before her suddenly turned metallic, before bashing Damion’s hand aside and pulling Matilda away roughly.

Damion saw red as he witnessed the student use Matilda as a shield to block the falling rock and rubble, causing her to scream in agony.

Her scream seemed to resonate deeply in Kenzo and Damion’s minds, as the next second they seemed to have been invigorated by an invisible power, and their prowess skyrocketed.

Dragon’s Authority activated at full power, and the debuff crashed down on everyone like a mountain, taking away a whopping 10% away from their stats.

Damion fell through the shadows, and when he reappeared, carnage spread in every place he passed. He wasn’t that strong when compared to the second years, but with the element of surprise on his side, plus the chaos of the collapsed building, he was able to attack two or three before the rest adapted and fought back.

Before anyone could react though, Kenzo pressed a foot against the ground and inhaled deeply. He held his sheathed Nodachi with one hand, while the other held the scabbard. His Stigma erupted over his skin with a pure white light, and as he exhaled, a white fog came with his breath.

His eyes shot open, and without warning, he executed the Phantom Slash, better than he had ever done.

A pure white light left his sword in a graceful arc, cleaving through the dust and debris flying around and reaching the students quickly.

The students, who were concentrating on Damion, were faced with a sudden new problem, and they hurriedly retreated.

An unlucky second-year however, took the attack straight to his back, falling to the ground with a severe, long cut.

Kenzo clicked his tongue. "Just one?" he frowned, preparing to face the rest of the students coming his way.

However, as soon as he took a stance, ready to rumble. Damion appeared behind a student, and his sword tore his back, clothing, blood and flesh flying around before he collapsed.

He dropped through the shadows again, only to reappear and smash a fist on the head of another student, knocking him out.

Before long, he had taken out three students.

His experience as his other persona made his fighting style richer, making him almost on par with the best first-years.

"The rest are yours," Damion said before vanishing once more.

Kenzo’s frown deepened. "Don’t tell me what to do!"

***

As Damion stood to his full height in an open area of the collapsed building, he looked ahead, staring at the student who sat on a fallen pillar while holding Matilda by her neck.

"One wrong move... and SNAP! she’s dead," the student voiced out, an unnerving smile plastered on his face.

Damion chuckled. "Can you bear the consequences?" He asked, his eyes glowing brighter.

To this the student laughed. "You might not have heard of me, but... do you know how many people I’ve killed, students and teachers alike?"

Damion shuddered, his aura slowly dying down. "What do you want?" He asked, deciding to play along to avoid irreversible damage.

Jamie smiled, reducing the strength of his grip on Matilda’s neck and pointing at Damion’s face.

"That thingy on your face, hand it over."