Chapter 338: A sealed past [3]

Empty, yet heavy.

A hollow ache followed after.

It pressed down on his chest, and the world around him turned gray.

Leon felt everything slow down at that moment.

Overhearing Amell’s words, he lifted his head to meet his gaze. It was then that Leon finally saw a change in his appearance. He looked so… Bitter.

Why…?

Wh—

Leon stumbled forward, barely managing to keep his grip on the sword.

The sword in his hand appeared to grow heavier by the second.

Images flashed in his mind.

Sweat dripped down from his body as he stood in the training chamber, practicing by himself. He swung the sword for how many times he could remember.

Swoosh! Swoosh—

He could distinctively remember the ache in his arms and body as he persistently swung his sword. Even as his hands were riddled with blisters, he didn’t once stop swinging.

He just swung over and over and over again.

…It was all for the young master.

For the young master who was in need of a bodyguard.

But…

Slap!

“What the fuck are you doing?”

The slap sent him tumbling back. Looking up at the young master he knew, staring at him with disgust, Leon felt the grip of his sword weakens further.

….This was especially true after he realized that the one he was working hard for didn’t appreciate his effort.

“Trash.”

The words rang loudly in Leon’s mind.

Clank!

Even as Julien left the room, Leon remained standing in the room, his sweat dripping down his body as his sword lowered further.

His emotions swirled as he suddenly felt insignificant.

The silence felt deafening.

Beside the young master, he had no one else to turn to.

He had no family or friends.

He had been young when he had been adopted by the Evenus Household.

But even that was just so that he could be someone who supported the young master. Such was his goal, but…

Drip!

He was worthless.

And it made him realize.

In this world, he was alone.

Swooosh!

Leon felt something tickle the side of his face. Lifting his head slightly, he blinked a couple of times, observing what was before him.

He felt something sharp head for the side of his face while in the distance he could see thousands of eyes staring in his direction.

‘Where is this…?’

Leon blinked his eyes in confusion, his mind churning as it tried to recall everything.

A face soon appeared before him.

With gray eyes that seemed to vaguely resemble his own, Leon blinked his eyes again.

‘Ah.’

He finally started to recall.

That’s when his body twitched and color started to return to his mind.

Feeling his breath again, Leon finally came to his senses, and his chest felt incredibly heavy. He didn’t know what was going on, but purely trusting the feeling that was weighing down on his chest, he ducked down.

Swoosh!

The cold gleam of a sword cut through the air, slicing the area where his head once used to be.

“….!”

Kicking the ground, Leon distanced himself from Amell who stopped moving.

“Haaa… Haa…”

Leon’s breath felt extremely heavy.

Cold sweat poured down from the side of his face as he recalled what had happened a few moments prior.

‘….A mind domain.’

Leon shuddered upon thinking about what had happened.

A domain could consist of anything. It was created through the ‘experiences’ of one throughout their life, and it could range from [Mind] [Body] and [Elemental]. There was no real restriction as within one’s domain, one was the ruler.

Amell’s domain was terrifying in the sense that it was a [Mind] domain, focused entirely on disrupting one’s mind and bringing forth deeply hidden emotions and memories.

“…..”

Leon clenched his heart, staring at Amell warily.

He had come dangerously close to losing and if not for his ‘intuition’ he would’ve most likely lost the match.

‘I can’t rely on intuition.’

‘Intuition’ didn’t work all the time. There were times when it didn’t work. He had only managed to get it to the point where it was now after a lot of practice.

However, it was still far from reliable.

He needed to think of a different way to handle Amell’s ‘Concept’.

Leon’s mind raced.

Blinking his eyes, one of the stars disappeared. His power didn’t surge like before, but rather calmed and cooled his mind.

The lingering effects from Amell’s domain started to wane.

Holding onto his sword, he twisted his body to face the right side where he slashed down.

Clank!

Sparks flew in the air as Amell appeared from out of nowhere.

A wave of pressurized wind burst forth from the point of contact between the two swords before the two distanced themselves and attacked each other once more.

Clank, clank!

Sparks continued to fly in the air as the two exchanged attacks. Neither relented, forcing themselves forward. Their figures blurred, and the audience watching sat at the edge of their sets, their body propped up forward and their eyes unblinking.

They didn’t want to miss a single thing.

Clank—

A powerful spark scattered in the air as Leon slashed with everything that he had.

Amell matched his intensity, bringing his blade down with all his strength. The clash was fierce, their powers colliding in a perfect balance. The result was an equal exchange, neither gaining an inch over the other.

Clank! Clank!

The fight continued like this, Leon and Amell perfectly matching each other’s movements.

Their figures blurred with each step they took, materializing right as the two exchanged blows.

It was a fierce exchange that shook the entire platform.

The dots within Leon’s eyes started to accumulate as the fight progressed while Amell’s eyes turned a deeper shade of gray.

Clank!

Exchanging one more blow, Leon tensed his torso and prepared to follow up with another one of his attacks when all of a sudden, his heart grew empty.

“….Uh?”

Not just his heart, but his mind and body.

His eyes grew sluggish and the world around him blurred, everything appearing in doubles.

‘W-what’s going on?’

A little flustered, Leon tried his best to clear his mind.

However, the more he tried to do so, the more he realized that the effects were growing worse.

Just what…

“….?”

His nose twitched.

Sensing something in the air, Leon raised his head. He focused on his surroundings, and it didn’t take long for him to spot it.

…The sweet and acidic scent lingered in the air, mingling with the acrid odor of burning and the charred remnants left as a result of their fight.

That’s when it dawned on Leon.

‘Crap…!’

He had fallen for Amell’s carefully laid out trap.

***

I subconsciously found myself following the girl’s bodyguard from behind. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the symbol etched on the back of her shining silver armor.

‘A coincidence…?’

The four-leaf clover was a symbol that signified ‘luck’.

It didn’t necessarily mean that it had to be associated with the Inverted Sky.

Right…?

I held my breath and continued to follow the two.

As I observed, a surprising realization dawned on me. Despite walking through the crowded streets, the two of them moved unnoticed, blending seamlessly into the bustle without drawing a single glance.

This was especially weird considering the clothes that the bodyguard was wearing.

They were rather eye-catching.

‘….Ah.’

It didn’t take long for me to figure out what was going on.

As the two turned around to enter a certain valley, figures gradually emerged from the shadows, surrounding the two of them.

The little girl seemed oblivious to what was going on as she ate the snack in her hand.

On the other hand, her bodyguard stared at the figures for a brief moment before nodding her head slightly.

Coming out of the alleyway, the two were escorted toward a massive palace.

The palace stood imposingly, towering over everything in its vicinity. A massive dome crowned the structure, gleaming in the light, while tall, imposing pillars supported the outer walls, adding to its appearance.

At the gates of the Palace, a four-leaved clover appeared.

Beneath it, two words appeared.

‘Rilgona Monarchy.’

I read the words in silence, imprinting them deeply into my mind before following the two people into the structure.

For such a large structure, the insides were rather quiet.

No one came to greet the little girl as she entered, the sound of her bodyguard’s footsteps clicked against the marble floor as they climbed a long flight of stairs. The two continued in silence until they finally reached a large wooden door.

The bodyguard stopped, pressing her hand against the little girl’s shoulder.

“Theresa, you go in. I’ll come pick you up later.”

“….”

The girl didn’t reply, merely blinking before her bodyguard opened the door and brought her into the room.

Clank!

A strange silence plunged over the room the moment the bodyguard left.

I stood in silence, watching the little girl as she brought her hands forward and walked around with caution before finally reaching the bed.

‘As expected, she’s blind.’

This much was obvious to me.

What didn’t make sense was her treatment.

Her status appeared to be quite high considering the fact that she lived in such a grand palace. But for someone of such status… why was she treated as though she didn’t exist?

Besides the bodyguard, nobody seemed to acknowledge her existence.

It made me curious.

Scribble~ Sribble~

My curiosity reached its peak when I heard a scribbling sound. Turning my head, the girl came into view again.

Her eyes were unfocused and her hand clenched the pen in a fist.

In her lap was a small piece of paper she used to draw.

‘She drawing…?’

I half expected her to be doodling, but the moment I leaned forward to get a better look at what she was drawing, my entire body froze.

‘Ah, this…’

It felt as though two hands had suddenly clamped around my throat, and I found myself struggling to breathe.

I stared at the drawing, its meticulous detail so precise that it seemed the work of a professional. My gaze fixed on the profile sketched on the paper, unable to tear my eyes away from the drawing.

With cascading brown hair and green eyes, he looked exactly as I last remembered. No, there was a hint of maturity in his features, but without a doubt, it was him.

There was no doubt about that.

How could I forget my own…

Brother?