Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Chapter 241: The Fallen Kang

Night birds flew happily across the skies of Agatha as the country lost the warmth of the sun and welcomed its peace with the moon.

As the moon shone its light on the transparent walls of the Special Forces memorial, tiny particles danced in the torchlike rays on the ground inside room 404.

Countless clicking sounds echoed from the machines tugged at the sides of the bed. Its guest snarled in response to the sounds, as if he had his will forced to select what he wanted but couldn’t utilize it anymore.

Tiger’s mind searched for the purple neon of the hospital ceiling when he tried opening his eyes. But for a full thirty seconds, all he saw was complete darkness.

"Wake up," he said in a voice that scraped against his teeth like gravel. "Open them, Tiger. Open your eyes."

The sound of strain echoed in the room when he tried brushing his right palm across his face, but he ended up with a burning sensation that brought his mind straight back to his current state. "FUCK!"

He slammed his tightly brown-bandaged arm against the bed’s side poles until a portion of the bandage tore free, followed by a metal-breaking groan from the frame.

"I am Kang T., son of the Blue-Flamed Dragon," he screamed in a voice that drove away all the night birds standing on the window stool of room 404. "I can’t be down yet."

All the countless bubbles around his mouth burst when his own voice came back to him like a mockery to his own self.

In his head, all the taunts he had said to Leon about his mother became a reality he couldn’t escape.

Hey Leon, does your mother see shapes or just see her own self staring back at her?

A sharp gust of air rushed out of his empty socket when he remembered the day he presented empty palms to Leon as a gift for his mother, the second day after he got to know Leon’s mother was blind.

Hey Leon, go and give this to your mother. Would she like it?

"You’re holding nothing," Leon said with a frown.

Oops, your mother would see it. Trust me. Hehe.

When the room’s door swung open, a loud metal-screeching sound echoed and forced a wordless scream from Tiger. He pressed his head hard against the pillow, covering his left ear.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Rushing boots moved along the concrete floor as a group of newly recruited soldiers walked in the hallway behind Room 404’s door.

"Did you see the broadcast? I swear that Leon Storm is not human."

"Didn’t you see how the famous Kang T. was like a kitten before him in the Death Pit?"

"God, I wish none of my children would ever have a face like Kang T.’s."

A loud blasting sound echoed as Tiger slammed his right fist against the bent pole on the right side of his bed. "I will kill all of you when I get better!"

He slammed his palms on his chest, slowly jolting his upper body upward. "I am the strongest heir of the Kang family. I will make you all pay."

In a flash, every fight he had ever fought against Leon began reeling in his head until it stopped, leaving him with a splitting headache.

You’re not worth the ash.

"No," Tiger said, dust slowly peeling from the bandage as his body began heating up and vibrating at the same time. "You were supposed to burn, Leon. You were supposed to burn!"

A sobbing sound echoed from him as his chest began to heave slowly, but no tears exited from the hollow socket. "Why me, Leon? Why do this to me?"

"I had the lightning, I had the water, I had all the powers I had stolen. How were you able to still defeat me like this even when I stole yours too? How?"

As the door-screeching sound echoed again, followed by the sharp scent of vinegar, Tiger began whirling his gaze around the dark.

"Samir!" he called out in a dry voice. "Samir, are you there? Tell me you have defeated him alone. Tell me how it went!"

After a full minute of no response, the bandage wrapped around Tiger’s face strained as he frowned, trying to catch any faint breathing pops. "Answer me, you useless being!"

Tiger’s voice died when the clicking sound of boots began leaving his side. "Don’t leave me like this, Samir. It’s dark in here. Please!"

Samir looked back at Tiger with his left eye, while his right had been patched over with a sailor’s badge. ’You’re calling me a useless being. Okay.’

He walked out of the room, while the memory of his own loss against Leon slowly ridiculed him in his head.

"SAMIR, answer me else I will kill you too when I get out of here!" Tiger barked the moment the door slammed shut. "Hey! Where are you? SAMIR!!!"

From the ground floor, a nurse with purple irises dashed forward when she heard Tiger’s scream.

’Is he having another encounter with those stupid crows or what?’ she thought to herself, slowly climbing the second floor’s staircase.

As soon as the door-screeching sound echoed for the second time with soft paces following, Tiger’s upper body rose again. "Who is that? Samir? Is that you? I knew you would come back."

"It’s Clara," a soft voice answered, while the clicking sound drew closer to the bed. "I’m here to check on you and adjust your IV."

Tiger gritted his teeth while his fingers tightened around the bedsheet. "Where is Samir? The soldier who just came here. Tell him to come back!"

"Sir," Clara said with a surprised smile on her face. "Maybe you’re having another hallucination. No one was here when I arrived. Just be patient and let me do my work."

She laughed, then walked to the monitor at the right side of Tiger’s bed.

"Don’t tell me to be patient!" Tiger hissed, the blood in him burning through his veins. "Tell me where Hayes is! What are they doing about me losing my sight? Tell me!"

"Hey! Behave, else I’m leaving you just like every other nurse in this hospital has," Clara barked back, her palms planted firmly at her waist. "If you say another word, you will lay here and rot. And nobody would even care."

For two minutes straight, all of Tiger’s vigor died. The nurse happily whistled while adjusting the IV.

"Is there something you want to say to me or anyone?" she asked with her arms folded across her chest, staring down at Kang T., who was now completely frozen and defeated.

"Please help me kill Leon Storm," Tiger said with a twisted grin on his face.

"You’re mad," Clara said, and she walked out of the room with a deep frown.

"Come back!" Tiger screamed, trying to stretch his right arm into the empty air. "Don’t leave me like this! DAD!!!"