Draconic King of Shadows-Chapter 76: A Bouquet of Courage

Damion didn’t know how long it took, but he reached the base of the mountain eventually, panting heavily as he dodged a thick snowball hurtled through the air by a small Fox, barely moving out of the way as it whizzed past his ears.

’Permafrost,’ he thought, feeling the air freeze over as the snowball passed.

He hid behind a rock, his Tang Dao gripped tightly in his hand. Dragon’s Authority reached the Fox in the distance, giving him updates on its location in real time, and when it reached a certain spot, he disappeared and reappeared beside the beast, swinging down hard.

The small creature couldn’t react in time and got its neck severed, its icy blood spurting from its neck uncontrollably.

"Elemental beasts are physically weaker," he muttered.

Damion sighed in frustration, keeping the body of the fifth Fox he had killed. He didn’t even have the time to catch his breath before three more Foxes came running towards him, and he bolted away.

"F**k! Just leave me alone!" Damion cursed, almost stumbling over a root he passed by.

He was tired, physically and mentally. The boost from the weapon, layered with the boost from the Jaws of Ophidia, didn’t seem to be enough to keep him going for long. He was nearly running on fumes, but kept moving through the jungle.

The Foxes stayed true to their nature and used cunning acts and tactics to attack him. He had fallen for some multiple times, and if not for Nyx jumping in to save his ass, he might have had to fight a lot harder than he did.

Damion had the strength to fight the Foxes, but that’ll leave him weak and open to attacks right after, and it’ll be a pain in the ass if he encountered another beast in that weakened state, so he just ran.

An explosion rang out from behind, the sound eerily familiar. Damion didn’t stop though, but he knew what it was, or rather, who it was.

"Drax," he mumbled, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Drax had passed by him earlier, and seeing that he was in a battle with two Foxes, he laughed at Damion and left with a smug smile, thinking Damion couldn’t ascend the mountain.

Damion chortled silently when he saw Drax, hiding his eagerness behind a false expression filled with anger, pain and hatred, and making sure Drax continued up the mountain.

In his haste, Drax hadn’t asked himself how Damion had surpassed them all in the first place, Kaiden included. Plus, seeing Damion in danger made him happy, so he left unperturbed.

"He’s probably regretting it now," Damion muttered.

Nyx flew by Damion’s side, easily keeping up with his speed. He looked back at the Foxes and creased his brows, his irritation clear.

"Just kill them already," Nyx complained.

"Why don’t you do it instead," Damion retorted, still panting.

"If I run out of energy, I’ll have to tap into yours, and that wouldn’t be ideal in this situation," Nyx explained, but his words fell on deaf ears. Damion was too tired to listen.

’Why does he keep running even?’ Nyx thought, only for him to get his answer the next second.

Multiple blasts of energy, some pure white and the others, a dark green, shot out from a thicket, piercing through the three Foxes and killing them on the spot.

Damion came to a stop and dropped to a knee, Matilda and Lyra walking out immediately after, with Matilda lunging at Damion and checking him out quietly.

Lyra grinned at the interaction from behind, before her attention was drawn to the ball floating by Damion. She panicked and raised her blasters, aiming for a split second before firing out a concentrated beam of energy.

Nyx easily dodged it, raising an eyebrow at the sudden attack.

"Stop," Damion said loudly. "He’s my... my pet."

’Who are you calling your pet!!’ Nyx screamed in Damion’s head, but he was ignored.

Lyra lowered her hand, though still vigilant. She and Matilda eyed Nyx from the corners of their visions, while shifting their attention to Damion.

"Where’s Kenzo?" Damion asked with a rugged breath as Matilda gently caressed his face, wiping off some blood splatters on it.

"He’s almost at the mountain," Matilda said. "Just a little more an..."

"Call him back," Damion cut her. "He needs to come back, there’s no need going up there."

The two ladies tilted their heads in confusion. Had Damion hit his head or something? How were they going to pass if Kenzo stopped? Why had they even stopped? Hadn’t Damion told Matilda to go? Hadn’t he left Lyra behind without a second thought?

"Why?" Lyra finally asked after staring for some seconds.

Damion didn’t say a word, but just pulled out the bunch of Wild Pink Roses he had plucked and showed it to them. Their eyes went wide immediately, and they looked towards Damion with mixed expressions.

Lyra scrunched her face, thinking how Damion had managed to get the roses. She knew about the Wild Pink Roses and their habitat, or areas where they were prone to grow, so she understood that it wasn’t a simple task to get them.

Her impression of him only grew at that thought, thinking of how courageous Damion was to brave the dangers of the Wild Pink Rose to bring some for everyone, and save them the trouble.

Captain Shodan never said anything about teamwork, so they were unbothered and readily accepted a Rose each.

Matilda blushed lightly when Damion handed her a Rose, and she refused to let go of him in the next few minutes, sharing his pain and making him recuperate faster, a product of their Bond.

Lyra accepted the gift with a smile, keeping it safely in a compartment of her Exoskeleton and waiting for the next orders.

Subconsciously, the two ladies began to see Damion as the leader of the small team, and they gave him that respect.

A few minutes of waiting bore its fruit. Damion regained a bit of energy, while Kenzo appeared in a flash, literally, his body glowing like a beacon of light in the thick jungle.

"I heard you picked a few Roses for me."