Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Chapter 229: The Butcher

As the ceremony drew to a close, countless soldiers pointed their fingers at Leon and began whispering to themselves.

"Did he really do that?"

"I’m not sure he would do that; they were the only close people around him."

"Are you sure? I heard Bao Xiong saw his true colors; that’s why he left the group a long time ago. And when he found out about that, he made them kill Bao Xiong."

"As for Bao Xiong, we all knew he left because of Wu Ze."

"And who in the group was trying to be close to Wu Ze? Do the math."

Leon heard all their words but kept a straight face as he walked toward his new apartment. Hei Yung’s eyes kept on drifting from Leon to the soldiers who were standing at the corners of the pathway, silently watching them.

The walls, ceiling, and all burnt parts of Leon’s apartment were fixed when they entered, but none of them brought peace to Leon’s heart.

"Welcome, Leon Storm." Gia’s mechanical voice echoed from the walls but sounded like a poison drum in Leon’s ears.

He sat on the blue lace that had been placed on the bed, then cupped his face in his palms. Hei Yung walked to the glass wall and squinted at the elite soldiers who seemed to be staring at Leon’s apartment.

’Who actually is spreading the false information on Leon this time?’ he said to himself, then frowned when he saw Hayes standing in the far distance, smiling. "HAYES!"

The moment a chime echoed from the wristwatch he wore, Hei Yung turned and walked to Leon. "I think I know who is spreading that news everyone was referencing you with."

Leon lifted his saddened gaze, then blinked once. "What is the essence of knowing who started spreading it, while it has already reached the minds of countless people?"

"It doesn’t matter if the entire world knows," Hei Yung said as he placed a hand on Leon’s shoulder. "I know you don’t need to go and explain yourself to every single person."

He lifted his hand from Leon’s shoulder, then smiled at the green light which had appeared on the watch. When Hei Yung pressed the green button, a holographic feed slowly projected on the watch, then died as a loading panel appeared on the glass wall.

As soon as the blue bar stopped moving, a broadcast of the three Ghost Soldiers and the Madhouse Squad appeared. Above the images was a headline that burned like blood:

THE SOLE SURVIVOR OR THE SILENT EXECUTIONER? LEON STORM!

Leon’s eyes welled up as he looked at the faces of his teammates one after another. "They’re saying I killed them?"

Hei Yung looked at Leon, then stared straight into his eyes for a minute before shifting his gaze back to the feed. "The rumor is that you used Tartarus as a cover-up to eliminate them because you already tried at Chaos City and it didn’t work."

Leon slammed his fist against the edge of the bed and stood up. His heartbeat dropped when his gaze fell on Wu Ze’s face on the wall.

"I," he swallowed the tears, but some escaped and trailed down his cheeks. "I tried to save them!"

The tears turned into rushing water when he began pointing at the images one after another, starting from Wu Ze to Liu Yan. With every second that his finger lingered on the images, the state in which they died flashed into his mind. They came so vividly that it caused his legs to buckle.

"You can even ask the three Ghost Soldiers what they saw," Leon said as he pushed himself off the ground and wiped the tears off his face.

"I know," Hei Yung said and inhaled deeply, as if trying to hide his own tears. "They have given their report and in it, they stated: We only found him looming over Liu Yan’s body and pressing the countless Opal stones on her while screaming."

The moment Hei Yung turned his gaze from Leon to the broadcast on the wall, Samir’s face appeared with a solemn look.

"If Leon Storm is innocent, let him prove it in the pit." The voice echoed so loud that it made Leon shift his gaze to the screen instantly. "I, Samir, and Kang T. challenge him to a trial of blood. If he refuses, then he admits the guilt to the families of the dead."

Leon’s head snapped from the screen to Hei Yung’s face. "I won’t fight them; it’s a trap."

"I know," Hei Yung said while a faint smile slowly formed on his lips. He exited without saying a word or even looking back at Leon, but deep in his head, the faces of Lord Luo Fang, Hayes, Samir, and Kang T. reeled like a movie he hadn’t subscribed to.

...

When Leon stepped out of his apartment the following morning, countless soldiers lined up in the corridor rushed toward him like bees.

"There he is. The Butcher of Tartarus."

"I heard his mother was a gutter-rat who sold him to die so she could also die in peace."

The air around Leon heated when the words weighed deep in his ears and caused him to pause a step. He closed his eyes when he saw the hair on his skin stand on end, then inhaled deeply. When he cracked his eyes open, he continued walking as if he were deaf and couldn’t hear the insults.

Before him was a digital billboard which was flashing a grainy photo of Leon’s home in Dusthollow. Beneath the photo was a statement written with bold and colorful words:

LEON STORM’S FAMILY: THE GENES OF TRAITORS.

He closed his eyes shut and clenched his fist when he felt heat radiating from his eyes, while the veins on his skin slowly pulsed gold. The more he compressed the power, the more the air began to crackle like a forest fire.

At a far distance from Leon, Tiger and Samir stood at the side of a mango tree surrounded by a crowd of soldiers.

"Is the little impending Lord afraid?" Tiger asked as he looked at Samir, then smiled. "Or is he busy hiding the blood of those he called friends?"

A grim grin lanced on Samir’s face when he shifted his gaze from Tiger to Leon.