Desharow Mermaid - Chap 47

“Desaro, you’re not dead after all.”

Rhein took off his helmet and I noticed his eyes were bloodshot, as if he were on the verge of a mental breakdown. His hand reached directly to my cheek, as if he hadn’t been the one who pushed me off the ship with that same hand.

“Damn you, hypocrite!”

In an instant, I felt the anger burning inside me, exploding without regard for the guns behind me. I punched Rhein’s face, knocking him down to the ground. I pounced on him, throwing punches and kicks, but he didn’t try to dodge or resist. After taking a few hits, he suddenly flipped me over and pinned me down, quickly pulling me up and pointing his gun at my head.

“I’m sorry, Desaro. As long as you follow our team obediently, I won’t let anything happen to you again,” he said in a low voice, using a conciliatory tone that sounded hoarse.

I snorted and spat out the dust in my mouth. “I don’t blame you, you’re just doing your job. It’s the lying instructor I want to beat up, not you now. But we’re not on the same side, Rhein. There’s no point in kidnapping me. Look at the situation here.”

As I spoke, I glanced at the guns aimed at each other between Laval and Rhein’s armed men. I also looked towards the dark shadows of the trees, where Ageres was lurking silently, obviously waiting for a chance to act, but I didn’t know if they had noticed him.

Sakaral sneered, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think so. We didn’t kidnap you as a hostage, we just need you – because one of our efficient team members is about to go crazy for reasons. And it seems like you’re the best irreplaceable bait. Do you think I didn’t notice the male mermaid who followed us from the ship? It seems like it hasn’t had enough of your ass in the laboratory yet!”

Sakaral’s voice hit my eardrums like an electric shock, and the strong sense of humiliation made me blush: “You stinky woman, shut your mouth! Um…”

Before I finished speaking, her slender and powerful fingers grabbed my neck, and those sharp fingers almost pinched into my flesh. I saw Rhein’s face suddenly change: “Colonel Sakaral!”

“Take action quickly and dry that male mermaid! I’ll handle this side!” She said sternly in my ear.

Rhein hesitated for a second when she looked at me, then immediately pulled out two Thompson submachine guns and shot towards Acheres. The smoke filled the air with a bang, and several bullets sprayed out with an astonishing flame from the gun’s muzzle. I instinctively looked over and shouted, “Acheres!”

However, my voice was immediately drowned out by the sound of bullets around me. Yellow nitro smoke wrapped everything in my sight, and the gunshots flew wildly. I heard Raphel shouting, mixed with Eva’s screams, and realized that someone was ambushing us from a distance – Sakaral’s people!

“No! Raphel, Eva!”

I stared at the blurry figure swaying in the smoke and struggled fiercely, while Shakalaka held onto my neck and twisted her flexible body around me, pressing me down to the ground. I kicked and used my knees to strike her abdomen. At this moment, I couldn’t care less about being gentle or chivalrous. This woman was a wicked witch who wanted to kill my friend! She almost suffocated me with her grip, but it seemed to awaken my dormant potential. I did everything I could to resist her suppression. After all, I was six feet tall and had the strength of a man. A woman could not control me when I got tough.

During a moment when Shakalaka’s wrist slightly loosened, I snatched the gun from her hand, got up, and hit her with the butt of the gun before running away.

I held the gun and looked around in extreme confusion and bewilderment – darkness, smoke, gunshots, mixed together like a boiling pot, completely blinding my visual senses. I couldn’t even distinguish the direction of our people, let alone know where Agares went. I immediately crouched down to prevent myself from being shot and shouted loudly, “Raphael, Eva, where are you?”

However, the only response was the intertwined sound of gunfire and bullets, and no discernible cries were heard.

My nerves were like rubber bands pulled and twisted wildly, my breath blocked in my throat. I couldn’t believe that Raphael and Eva were dead, but this worry had completely panicked me. I looked around dizzyingly and suddenly saw a black shadow in the smoke. But before I could identify who it was, I suddenly felt a pain in my chest, as if a hot magma pierced through my sternum, and my breath suddenly froze.

At the moment when a disdainful and ethereal sneer sounded, my body fell backward uncontrollably, and my vision was thrown into the sky. The rhythm of time seemed to slow down by many beats. I saw falling leaves drifting abnormally slowly in mid-air, and smoke gradually spreading like a tangible haze. Red liquid splashed into the air – I guessed that was the form in which my life was fading away, and my blood.

However, I felt no pain, just saw the sky above my head darkening and collapsing towards me.

…

In the boundless darkness, I felt my body floating in mid-air, as if being carried by the waves. I couldn’t open my heavy eyelids, but I could still see a faint light. So I struggled towards that direction, like a moth throwing itself forward.

I was falling down, and the surroundings gradually changed from darkness to a white room. I saw some doctors in white coats surrounding me, and then I saw many young faces. I seemed to see the young D’Artagnan, Raphael, and Eva, who looked like a little princess. Their immature facial features carried the traces of time that could not be concealed, and I believed it was them.

I opened my mouth to call out, but my arm was suddenly grabbed by a pair of rubber-gloved hands. A very bright light shone on my face, making me instinctively want to close my eyes, but my eyelids were forcibly pried open. A stranger bent down, approached my face, and carefully stared at my pupils, saying word by word, “You are a beautiful little guy, and it seems that only your physique is the most suitable. It’s really… a perfect bait.”

What does that mean?

A huge panic suddenly rose in my heart. I couldn’t help but step back, and suddenly fell into a wet and sticky substance. I looked down and saw a large, shocking blood pool. I turned my head and saw several people’s flesh and blood intertwined, their familiar faces facing me, with their eyes wide open, not closing in death.

“Ah-ah!”

I hugged my head and made a non-human scream, breaking free from the nightmare all at once. The surroundings turned into darkness again, and only a faint light could be seen through my eyelids. I gasped for breath and felt a strong sense of oppression in my chest. I struggled to open my eyelids and immediately felt another not-so-soft thing covering my eyelids, which startled me.

I instinctively raised my hand and felt something on my face, it was a hand, or to be precise, a webbed claw.

It was Aegles!

　I immediately sat up, but felt a sharp pain in my chest. After my back was held steady, my hands slowly moved away from my face. I blinked my eyes, gradually adjusting to the not-so-bright light in front of me. The outline of Agares became clear in my vision, and I smelled a refreshing fragrance that eased my extreme panic from the nightmare. But I immediately remembered what had happened before I passed out. I trembled and grabbed Agares’ shoulders, hoarsely asking, “Did you see Raphael and Eva? The two people, a man and a woman, who came with me!”

Agares was silent for a few seconds and shook his head. “No…”

The pain in my chest grew stronger. I began to cough violently, and the nightmare quickly faded from my memory. I could no longer remember what I had dreamt, but the only thing I couldn’t forget was the bloody faces of Raphael and Eva. I didn’t believe it was a terrible premonition, but the scenes in the dream were so real, as if the past and the future were seamlessly stitched together. The situation of being unanswered in the smoke was still vivid in my mind, as if implying that everything was already set. The heart-wrenching pain of imagining my close friends dying was enough to torture me to death.

“They won’t die… We just made a pledge by the bonfire not long ago…”

I punched my fists against my eyes, trying to press down the wet and painful eyelids, persuading myself in a self-talk. At this time, Agares’ webbed claw pressed on the back of my head, causing my powerless body to lean against his chest. He rubbed my hair like a child and his strong and steady heartbeat struck my eardrum, as if having some kind of hypnotic effect, suddenly releasing me from the extreme state of depression.

I wrapped my arms around his broad and strong back, gritted my teeth, and desperately held back the choking voice. Tears silently flowed down my cheeks drop by drop.

Agares tightened the webbed claw supporting my back, his face still gloomy, but his eyes were very gentle. He suddenly lowered his head and licked under my eyelids with his tongue. I instinctively tried to avoid it, but his webbed claw gently held my head, and he gently licked my cheeks, wiping away every drop of tears, as if silently comforting me in this special way, like a senior family member. This made me suddenly feel ashamed of my exposed fragility in front of others, and my self-esteem…

“Stop, stay away from me!” I pushed Ageres away with an unexpected burst of strength. He looked up, a bit confused by my sudden change of mood. He furrowed his brows, his long and deep-set eyes scrutinizing me as if he were examining me. That gaze made me feel like an ungrateful child, and he was a frustrated elder who was dealing with me.

I felt unsure of myself. The truth was that Ageres had saved my life, and I was unconsciously relying on him. But it was an emotion that I didn’t want to admit, nor did I want to comply with.

I swallowed a mouthful of saliva and stared at him weakly, warning him in a rough voice, “Don’t think you can take advantage of me. Let me go, I’m going to find Raphael and the others!”

As I spoke, I tried to sit up, but as soon as I did, my chest hurt as if it had been hit by a hammer. “Damn it…”

I cried out in pain, and suddenly my hands were grabbed tightly by his webbed claws.

I raised my eyelids and saw his thin lips pursed, revealing a hint of anger. The next moment, my lips went soft and were fiercely sealed by his. This kiss couldn’t be called a kiss. He kissed me deeply and fiercely, as if he wanted to suck my lips into his mouth and swallow them whole. His fangs scraped against my teeth with a clear sense of punishment, and his tongue chased after mine and sucked it in, rolling it over heavily. I couldn’t even close my jaw, and let the saliva flow down from the corner of my mouth.
　
At this moment, the webbed claws behind me trailed down my tailbone and began to tear at my pants. The fish tail violently and barbarically twisted, trying to part my legs, pressing against my crotch.

I moaned in shame and anger, using my knees to resist Aegir’s attack. I couldn’t help but regret provoking him just now, but I didn’t have the strength to struggle. In desperation, I bit his lips hard. I bit him with unusual force, and tasted the bloody taste in my mouth, but I didn’t relax my jaws and continued to bite his tongue fiercely to express my resistance at the moment.

Aegir’s magical claws tearing at my pants suddenly stopped. I couldn’t help but freeze there, letting him linger between my lips and teeth for a while. He propped himself up halfway and looked at me with a probing gaze, as if scaring me just now was just a game for him.

I have to admit that he succeeded. I felt like a lamb being choked, curled up under him, afraid to make any moves. I was trembling a little, of course, because of the pain in my chest.

Aegir lowered his eyelids and gently pressed his webbed claws near my wound, signaling me to take a look.

I looked down at my chest, which had definitely been shot. It was probably that damn woman, Sakaral, who hit me.

Damn it, should I be grateful she didn’t hit my heart!

Thinking this way, I couldn’t help but touch my chest where the bullet hole had already scabbed over and was covered with a semi-transparent film, obviously licked by Ageres. However, unlike other wounds, this gunshot wound was not healing quickly. I guessed that my bones must have also been damaged, possibly even shattered, or else I wouldn’t feel such pain every time I moved my arm.

Damn it, I hoped it would heal quickly, or else I wouldn’t have the strength to leave Ageres’ lair. I instinctively looked around, and it seemed that this cave was hanging on a cliff wall and not very high. From the opening on the right side, I could see the sea surface, and the moonlight filtered through the trees, casting mottled shadows on the rocks.

I thought to myself that although it was not as good as a house, this place had good ventilation and lighting, so it was not a bad place to stay and recover from my injuries. I could wait until Ageres was not around before going out to find Raphael and the others.

My chest felt heavy for a moment, and I quickly forced myself not to dwell on the nightmare of their appearance. I believed they were not dead. I clenched my fists, but…

Did I have to be alone with Ageres during this time?

I looked at Ageres with mixed feelings, and he also looked at me thoughtfully, as if he had seen through my thoughts.