Draconic King of Shadows-Chapter 84: The Third Mission

Damion was surprised when he found everyone else coming out of their rooms too. Wasn’t Captain Shodan meant to ring the bell if he was summoning them?

One look in the bell’s direction cleared Damion’s confusion. The bell was no longer there.

Damion’s eyes darted around as they gathered. Melruen and Emily stuck together as they moved. There was this thick air around them that made approaching them hard, but who would approach them anyway?

They seemed to have been affected negatively by their encounter with the Eldritch Wyvern, but judging by their demeanor, they didn’t seem intent on showing weakness.

Matilda found her way over to Damion’s side and gave him a long stare. She blinked her green eyes curiously and asked, ’Where have you been?’ she said telepathically.

’In the jungle, fighting for my life,’

’Huh, that’s the same thing Kenzo said,’ Matilda replied with knitted brows.

’Well he isn’t lying.’

"Listen up!" Captain Shodan began in a loud voice. "The progress in your strength is alarming... Alarming in a negative sense,"

"I haven’t seen a group of students more pathetic than you fools. How hard can it be to just pluck a flower and return to the base?"

"Some of you even got seriously wounded and ended up not returning with the flower, automatically failing the mission... To say this is disappointing is an understatement, I’m very surprised by your incompetence,"

There was a long pause, before Captain Shodan spoke again, his voice carrying an emotion that couldn’t be comprehended.

"Starting from today, there would be constant battles between everyone present, and only those who I think are worthy would be allowed food and shelter,"

"Rake up three losses in a row, and you’re leaving."

Captain Shodan’s words struck like a sledgehammer, but no one retorted.

Damion glanced around again, and it was only now that he caught sight of Drax and Kaiden. They both looked like they had bathed in fire, with their bodies having patches of burnt flesh.

At a glance, this wouldn’t be easily noticeable, but if one stared hard enough, they would see the grimace on their faces as they moved.

Their hairs were intact, somehow surviving the explosion, or whatever had put them in that state, but the same couldn’t be said for their bodies.

There wasn’t a healer in the base, or maybe there was and weren’t available at the moment; so the duo were forced to suffer in silence.

Aspasia looked unharmed, but the tightening of her fists after Captain Shodan’s words made it clear that she, also, hadn’t gotten the Wild Pink Rose.

Damion smirked. Lyra and the Draeke twins were truly lucky to have him.

Lyra being the weakest of the team wasn’t strong enough, and she always fought from behind with her Exoskeleton. This led to her not being fast enough to get to the mountain in time, and even had to receive help from Matilda.

Though this was a terrible disadvantage, it worked in her favor this time, preventing her and Matilda from facing the threats of the mountain.

Captain Shodan signaled for the other students standing to come forward.

They were ten in total, and after randomly picking and pairing them all, there were ten teams consisting of two individuals each.

No one said a word during the pairing, but when it was done, the uncomfortable looks on everyone’s faces shined through.

Captain Shodan raised his hand, and Damion sighed.

’Where is he sending us to now?’ He thought with a tired look.

Captain Shodan raised his gauntleted palm and faced it towards them, saying:

"There have been recent attacks by the Extraterrestrials in the Human Race region, and they believe we are weak by not retaliating accordingly,"

He put a finger down.

"The enemy is the Extraterrestrials. Deal with any that comes your way regardless of what you feel or think of the situation,"

Another finger.

"Failure to do so will result in immediate expulsion from the Training Program,"

Another finger.

"If you encounter an enemy too strong for you... just die, don’t come running back or you’ll be expelled and Court Martialed,"

Another finger.

"For no reason must anyone betray the Human Race and join our enemies. Doing that equals kill-on-sight of that individual, regardless of the reasons they joined,"

"Even if they were mind controlled?" Melruen interjected.

Captain Shodan spared him a short glance before replying coldly:

"Regardless of the reason," he iterated.

Melruen’s eyes narrowed slightly at Captain Shodan’s response, but he didn’t press the issue further. The tension in the air was palpable as the students exchanged uneasy glances.

Captain Shodan’s gaze swept across the group, his expression hidden behind his helmet. "You will be deployed to the affected areas immediately, so prepare yourselves."

As he finished speaking, a holographic display flickered to life before him, projecting a large part of the jungle.

On the map were red dots, each signifying the affected areas of the Extraterrestrial attacks.

"Each team would be assigned to a marked location. Deal with the threats and return quickly."

Damion’s eyes scanned the map, his mind racing with strategies and ways to deal with the current threat, Aspasia.

He was paired with Aspasia, Kenzo was paired with Emily, Matilda was paired with Kaiden, and the rest were paired with random students in the other group.

Aspasia was the Heir of Ophidia, and he was the Heir of Vorgath, therefore, she was his archenemy. He needed to neutralize her threat first of all before thinking of the Extraterrestrials; because there was no way he was going to fight with his back wide open to an enemy.

Damion’s gaze landed on Noriko as he looked around, and he frowned.

Noriko had been laying low for a long time and hadn’t done anything worth noticing. This was suspicious to Damion, and he made a mental note to watch out for him.

’Be careful,’ Matilda’s voice resounded in his head.

’You should be more worried about yourself,’ Damion replied, smiling at her briefly.

There was a ping from the chests of everyone there, and a holographic screen showed up in their view.

"Your badges have received your assigned locations," Captain Shodan said, his words having mockery laced with it. "Good luck."