MTLNOVEL Chapter 27: Parting_2
"Stop immediately!" Abraham roared.
Glancing back at the relentless Abraham, Christina let out an anguished dragon roar. She then unleashed her Dragon Breath at the fortress in front of the startled gaze of the soldiers. The flames only burned the banner of the Lunbak Royal Family dangling high above, yet such a provocative act was enough to incite an attack.
Soldiers swiftly loaded the massive crossbow arrows onto the artillery platforms.
Before they could finish, Christina had already crashed into one of the towers, collapsing it entirely.
Rubble and dust quietly dispersed.
The move was so swift that Abraham had no time to stop her; he couldn't even utter a word, only staring dazedly from the skies above.
Climbing out from the debris pile, Christina quietly tucked Andrew into a crack in the rocks and lowered her head to say to him, "I must leave now… Remember me. Thank you. Memories are fleeting, but they are beautiful."
The enraged soldiers, brimming across the entire Udoven, began to surround her. Countless crossbows were now aimed at her.
"Quick, quick, quick, quick!"
"Load them! Prepare to fire—!"
A haze of dust enveloped the scene.
Amidst the cacophony, Christina and Andrew quietly exchanged glances.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't the partner you deserved—I couldn't protect you."
"No. You've been the kindest, most caring person to me since the day I was born… Thank you."
Christina gently touched Andrew with her enormous dragon snout.
Andrew reached out and embraced her lightly.
"Fire!" A piercing shout echoed.
Christina's body trembled violently.
Andrew's eyes widened slightly.
In the swirling dust, he couldn't make out exactly what had happened, but his instincts told him Christina had been hit—by one of those giant crossbow arrows.
"Run… Don't let him find you."
Turning away, Christina flapped her wings powerfully, soaring back into the sky.
The billowing dust forced Andrew to shut his eyes tightly.
"That dragon thinks she can escape?"
"Aim! All arrows trained on her!"
When Andrew managed to open his eyes again, Christina had already ascended into the heavens above. She confronted Abraham, their gazes locked. A deep wound extended across her back, where multiple scales had been ripped away.
On the ground, the human army was now fully activated. An uncountable arsenal of crossbows was pointed at the two dragons in the sky.
"I'll return with you."
Abraham glanced at the defiant Christina, then at the countless crossbows below, as well as Andrew among the soldiers—overlooked and discounted.
"Agreed. However, you will face punishment for your actions."
Christina didn't respond, only gazing silently at Abraham.
Turning away, Abraham flew toward the horizon. Christina looked back at Andrew one final time before following him.
Eventually, the two dragons disappeared into the distant horizon together...
Inside the fortress, the soldiers erupted into cheers.
Who would have thought, mere moments before, they had been celebrating their survival. Now, only Andrew was left—utterly alone.
Around him, soldiers cheered and celebrated their "victory" over the two dragons. Andrew stood alone, expressionless.
Bending down, he picked up a few green dragon scales that had fallen amid the rubble and carefully pocketed them.
A gentle breeze swept across his cheek, lifting his black hair.
He stood silently until a group of soldiers surrounded him—a foreigner in their midst. Several fully-armed soldiers grabbed his arms and dragged him away.
Gazing at the now-empty sky, Andrew, expressionless, was locked away in a pitch-dark prison.
...
"Who are you? Why are you here in Udoven?"
...
"What's your connection to those Beastmen?"
...
"Answer our questions thoroughly! Don't you dare lie! Every word you say will be verified through various means. If we discover you've lied, we'll execute you immediately!"
...
Could Udoven's human army entirely overlook Andrew?
Of course not. A town under high alert could never let any stranger slip by.
Soon, Andrew found himself imprisoned and subjected to harsh interrogations.
In the dark, sunless cell, he spent over a month locked away.
This might have been the most idle period of his life. Each day, he sat quietly in the gloomy corner of the cell, gazing at the crooked stone window and the blue sky beyond.
Aside from his interrogators, only an elderly fellow inmate would occasionally talk to him.
"Do you have family?"
"No."
"Friends?"
"None."
"Someone you… deeply miss?"
"... No."
"No family, no friends, no one to miss. Sounds like you're a man without a past. No wonder you're here—people without a past are the most suspicious! Hahaha."
Andrew didn't reply.
As for the interrogations, Andrew was indifferent. For anything he couldn't disclose, he didn't even bother lying—he simply responded with silence, infuriating the chief interrogator to the point of a reddened face.
"If I were to die here… would anyone remember me? Christina?" Gazing quietly out the window into the sky, Andrew muttered to himself, "The old man was right—I'm a man without a past, as though I never existed."
No family, no friends, no connections...
After enduring long years of selfishness and isolation, this Blood Elf found himself thinking about the concept of "existence."
Once, he had at least looked forward to the future. But now, he suddenly felt no desire for it at all.
Even if he walked out of here, he wouldn't know where to go, nor what to do.
Rescuing Christina? That task would be insurmountable—enough to crush the entire Elf Clan, let alone a single Blood Elf.
As for his previous dream of a carefree life somewhere... it abruptly lost its allure for him.
Facing such a despondent prisoner, the Udoven Army's interrogations grew increasingly severe. More than once, Andrew felt he might be executed.
If he were to be executed here, Andrew's absurd life would vanish as though it had never existed. Especially given his use of several aliases, even occasional records wouldn't connect them together.
But then, perhaps by fate, a letter from Linlopes arrived a month later, saving him.
Bi'an the Sixth vouched for him with his very life; Linlopes indeed had a renowned Mercenary Group called Blood Elves and Dragons, and an outstanding Blood Elf member named Duru. The emblem sent by Udoven wasn't mistaken—it did belong to Duru.
This gave Andrew a small traceable past. Although Udoven's army remained puzzled about him, they ultimately decided to release him.
Before leaving, the Prison Director solemnly told Andrew, "We apologize for what transpired over the last month. However, I don't think the blame entirely lies with us. After all, you arrived during these exceptional times, and you were unable to fully prove your identity—no one in the city knew who you were. Now, can we do anything for you? I mean, could we offer a small compensation?"
Turning around, Andrew noticed a young Beastman still imprisoned in another cell. "I want him."
"That's a Beastman," the director replied.
"Yes. But he's my companion—not a suspicious Beastman."
Slightly hesitating, the Prison Director nodded, "Alright."
He turned to the nearest prison guard and instructed, "Release that Beastman."
"Mage! Mage! Mage!" The cell door swung open, and Turuk dashed out, overflowing with joy.
In contrast, Andrew remained eerily calm.
The sunlight finally illuminated his face once more, evoking a feeling as though he'd been reborn.
Lost and uncertain—his once-deceptive eyes now void of brilliance. He had no sense of purpose, nor any destination in mind.