Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 282: A Friend of Justice (18)

Dragon Raja 3

The chain of explosions had begun. Blinding flashes lit up the hall, and the heat waves swept through the space with the force of a hurricane, igniting the scattered C4 blocks. The old cargo elevator groaned as it struggled to close its doors. Just as the doors were nearly shut, a sliver of high-temperature air snaked inside, igniting the remaining documents in the cab. But the doors managed to close just in time, and the elevator slowly descended into the shaft. A few seconds later, an earth-shattering explosion rocked the building, sending burning Death Servitors flying out of the hall. Their shadows writhed in the fire, fat melting away to reveal bronze-colored skeletons. At last, these savage creatures were no more, their final moments spent fighting over a blood-soaked shirt.

The cargo elevator rumbled downward. Caesar stomped on the burning papers and then, exhausted, slumped onto a stack of files, casually kicking Chisei in the face as he did so.

Chu Zihang also sat down, both of them utterly spent. They had pushed themselves to the brink of collapse, almost blacking out during the last desperate sprint through the flames.

Chisei said nothing. Weakly, he wrapped a cloth around the wound on his wrist. He had cut an artery, and at least one-fifth of his blood had soaked into his shirt. That shirt had become as irresistible to the Death Servitors as drugs to an addict. Now, he could barely stand.

He struggled to stay conscious. He had to think. The Death Servitors were done for, and the people in the building were safe, but the temporary alliance between the Yamata no Orochi and Cassell College had also come to an end. Once again, he, Caesar, and Chu Zihang were back to being enemies. Caesar and Chu Zihang now knew the secret of the mural hall, and people like them could not be allowed to escape the control of the Yamata no Orochi. But right now, Chisei wasn’t in a position to persuade them, and his life was literally in their hands. Caesar and Chu Zihang would certainly want to take him away from the Genji Heavy Industries building—after all, the value of royal blood was undeniable. However, Chisei had to find a way to prevent that. If the patriarch was captured by the College, the Yamata no Orochi would inevitably lose this war.

There were more than a hundred A-level Execution Bureau officers in the building. If he could alert them, they could surround Caesar and Chu Zihang. Not only would the secret be protected, but they could also capture Caesar and Chu Zihang.

But how could he send a signal? Chisei racked his brain.

“What do we do with this guy?” Caesar pointed his Desert Eagle at Chisei.

“It would be best to take him with us, but under these circumstances, it’s hard enough for us to leave the Genji Heavy Industries building on our own. Taking him along would be even more difficult,” Chu Zihang said.

“How about using him as a hostage? The Yamata no Orochi wouldn’t abandon their precious emperor, right?”

“It would be hard to avoid being tracked. Tokyo is the Yamata no Orochi’s turf. No matter how hard we try to escape, we’re still playing on their home field.”

“It seems like the best option is to put a bullet in this guy. The College and the Yamata no Orochi are bound to go to war sooner or later. We can’t let such a valuable asset stay in enemy hands. Besides, he’s got dragon blood in him, so killing him would count as slaying a dragon!” Caesar aggressively pulled the slide back, chambering a round.

He was just trying to scare Chisei with some harsh words, and cocking the gun was a reflex. He thought he heard a fourth breath. There were only three people in the elevator, but he distinctly heard a fourth breath!

Suddenly, the side wall of the elevator cab shattered! Before Caesar could react, a deformed, bone-like claw pierced through the wall and stabbed into Chisei’s ribs! Blood gushed out like a fountain, drenching the face of the attacker, who let out an ear-piercing screech of delight!

Even Caesar was stunned at the sight of the Death Servitor, despite having just fought their way through hordes of them. This one was unlike any they had encountered. It was at least twice the size of the others! The largest of the Death Servitors were over five meters long, while the smallest were around three meters. Their upper bodies were similar in shape to humans, but below the waist, their bodies thinned out and elongated, ending in serpent-like tails. But this one was over eight meters long, its abdomen grotesquely swollen like a pregnant queen ant. It dragged its bloated lower half as it climbed, having been too slow to reach the mural hall, which is why it was the only survivor. Drawn by the scent of Chisei’s blood, it tore through the cab in desperation.

The creature had the face of a middle-aged woman, unlike the pallor of the other Death Servitors—its face was flushed, glowing with vitality, like a woman in the late stages of pregnancy. Caesar glanced at its abdomen and suddenly understood. Its white, scale-less belly bore faint marks resembling a serpent’s tail—it was indeed pregnant. And the offspring of a Death Servitor could only be more terrifying than the parent, as the dragon blood within the fetus would be purer. The fetus seemed to sense the allure of Chisei’s blood and was stirring inside its mother.

The long-suspected truth had been confirmed: Death Servitors could reproduce, and this grotesquely deformed mother was nurturing a devil inside her womb! If Chisei’s suspicions were correct, these Death Servitors were being bred deliberately, meaning that whoever was behind this was possibly cultivating an army of them!

The Death Servitor clung tightly to Chisei, ecstatically licking his blood. Chisei held onto the handrail with all his might, preventing the creature from dragging him down into the elevator shaft. The creature’s massive, hundreds-of-kilograms body hung below the elevator, supported only by its grip on Chisei.

Caesar tried several times to aim his gun as he raised it, but he couldn’t get a clear shot at the Death Servitor without hitting Chisei first. The creature was hiding behind Chisei, and if he fired, there was no guarantee the bullet would penetrate Chisei and still hit the creature. He had shot Chisei once before, but now he couldn’t bring himself to do it again. Chisei was pale from blood loss, his androgynous beauty now resembling that of a dying girl, as if his soul were slipping away from his fragile, pallid body. One more bullet, and Chisei might die at any moment.

So, in the end, a dying emperor is no different from any other dying person… Caesar thought.

Ever since learning that Chisei was an emperor, Caesar had seen him as a dangerous monster. Caesar had no qualms about shooting dangerous monsters, just as he had no hesitation about killing Death Servitors. But now, he couldn’t bring himself to shoot this frail, dying person. In his eyes, Chisei had once again become human.

The Death Servitor licked the back of Chisei’s neck with its long tongue, its sharp fangs searching for his jugular. The creature’s excitement triggered its labor, and pale blue snake-like fetuses began dropping one by one from its belly.

Just then, there was a loud clunk from above the elevator, and the descent speed suddenly increased. The elevator, already close to its weight limit due to the file boxes, was now overloaded by the weight of the enormous Death Servitor and the three of them. To make matters worse, it was running on the fragile tracks damaged by the earthquake. They were plummeting toward the bottom of the shaft, and when they hit, the Death Servitor would certainly be crushed, but so would all three of them.

“Shoot!” Chisei shouted with the last of his strength.

Caesar stared at Chisei in shock. For so long, this man had always given off an eerie, inscrutable vibe. But now, his eyes were bulging with rage, as fierce as a wrathful god.

“Shoot! Aim for my neck! Its head is right behind me!” Chisei spat out a mouthful of blood.

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