Chapter 599: Confrontation
(A few hours later, Planet Juxta, Commander Charles’s Office, Leo’s POV)
Leo could feel the tension settle thickly between them as he sat across from Charles in the cramped office, the military commander looking far more severe than usual.
Charles’s gaze cut into him with sharp, unwavering intensity, stripping away every layer of pretense until Leo felt exposed to the marrow of his soul, as though the man’s very eyes were declaring, ’I know what you did, and I know what you’re trying to hide.’
"What’s wrong, Commander, why are you looking at me like that?" Leo asked at last, his tone calm but guarded.
Charles rolled his eyes with deliberate exaggeration, though his voice when he spoke was low and gravelly.
"Boy..."
He leaned forward slightly, the weight of his presence filling the room.
"Why did you kill the Twelfth Elder?"
Leo’s eyes widened, his pulse quickening as disbelief spread across his face. He had no clue how Charles had uncovered the truth, and in that moment he knew he had no cards left to lie.
*Snap*
A black intent cord flared from his body, snaking across the space to tether itself to Charles, the connection heavy and suffocating.
Charles squinted harder, the sharpness in his gaze daring him to speak anything but the truth.
"So you found out, huh," Leo muttered eventually, letting out a slow breath as though releasing a weight.
"Yes, I killed the Twelfth Elder.....
I did it because of how he treated my family.
He’s the one who put my brother in a coma and then shamelessly altered his memories to pin the blame on the Red Army.
He’s the one responsible for my father going blind in one eye, and my mother suffering from countless nightmares over the last few months.
The man brought my family nothing but pain and misery, and he felt no shame for it. He had to die, Commander... after everything he put us through, he just had to die."
Charles studied Leo’s aura carefully, eyes narrowing as he tested the truth in every flicker of color that rippled from him, then gave a small nod.
"Soron knows," Charles said finally, his tone edged with gravity. "He tracks the lives of the Elders and the Dragons. If one of them dies, he perceives it immediately. Your little adventure did not go unnoticed."
Leo merely shrugged, his eyes blazing with defiance.
"Oh, I knew he’d find out. The Twelfth Elder himself warned me before he died that if I killed him, Soron would punish me."
"But you did it anyway?" Charles asked, surprise flickering in his expression.
"Yeah, I did it anyway. I wasn’t going to let a bastard who brought so much suffering to my family keep breathing. I knew the risks, but I chose to kill him because it was the right thing to do. I’m not some unhinged lunatic... but what’s the point of training this hard, of growing this strong, if I can’t even avenge my family?" Leo said, his words sharp but steady as Charles’s lips curved upward in something between approval and warning.
"There’s a way to solve every problem, boy, and murder is not the solution to all of them. Such actions are unbecoming of a so-called hero.
You had evidence, didn’t you? Enough to bury him through the courts. The Cult of Ascension may be rotten, but not even the Elders are above the law. The High Court of Vorthas could have stripped him of his title, maybe even cast him in chains. But this... this path you’ve chosen is dangerous.
If your secret slips, and chaos spirals out of control, there may come a day when I’m forced to arrest you. And believe me, boy... even though I don’t want to, if that day comes, I will not hold back."
Leo leaned back, his expression unflinching.
"The courts wouldn’t have killed him, Commander. And I wanted him dead. That’s my justice."
Charles exhaled sharply, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose as though warding off a growing headache.
"What am I to do with you?" he muttered.
He let the silence hang for a moment, the faint crackle of the lights above echoing through the chamber, before speaking again.
"Just don’t do it again... If you want to replace the Council, then start a revolution. Expose their crimes to the public, burn their reputations to ash, and destroy them properly. Underhanded methods like murder do not suit the image of a Dragon."
Leo shook his head slowly.
"I don’t plan to kill any others yet, but I won’t promise that I never will if one of them comes for me. I’m not the Dragon, Commander. I’m the Shadow Dragon.
And before he died, the Twelfth Elder admitted something— the Council is plotting against me. They want to cull my influence. With two Monarch-tier slaves at my command, I stand equal to an army, and they hate that.
Logic tells me to strike first, but I won’t. Not yet. Because I already have a spy in their ranks. But hear me now, Commander... if I catch even a whiff of danger directed towards me or my family, I will send Viper to pay them a visit before dawn."
Charles clenched his fists under the table, fighting the storm in his chest.
On one hand, the boy’s ruthlessness mirrored his own instincts so closely it was hard to rebuke him.
But on the other hand, he knew the image of a Shadow Dragon hunting Elders in the dark could shatter the Cult’s fragile unity.
So finally, with another long exhale, he decided to give in.
"Fine. But be smart about it. Inform me before you make your move, and always prepare a public contingency.
If things spiral out of control, you’ll need the people’s opinion on your side.
In the end I only march on Soron’s orders, and as long as he doesn’t command me to arrest you, I won’t."
Leo brightened, flashing him a cheerful smile and a casual thumbs up.
"Thanks for understanding, Commander." he said, as Charles pinched his nose once more.
"Don’t.... Don’t thank me you little rascal, I was supposed to scold you today, not agree with you....." He muttered, looking more disappointed in himself than Leo.
However, he couldn’t help but agree with the boy’s logic of justice, since he himself wasn’t too different.
"We are going to pay Soron a visit later today, so dress in your formal best and inform your bodyguards that you won’t be taking them with you to Ixtal.
We leave in two hours...." He said, as he kicked Leo out of his office in dismay.
"I appreciate everything you do for me, Commander, I know I can be a handful.
But trust me when I say this... it’s only because of you, and people like you, that I have even a tether of loyalty for the Cult. Without you here, I really wouldn’t give a damn about this organisation."
Leo said, as Charles froze at the words, his expression caught between pride and dread, as though uncertain whether to take them as a compliment or a warning, before waving him out in silence.