The crowd's calm faces caused Leon's razor-sharp feeling to dwindle a little as he climbed onto the arena.
As soon as Leon moved to the part of the arena where more attention was, the crowd hurled mocking laughter and a wall of jeers at him.
Every bone in Leon's body vibrated when he whirled around, looking at the laughing faces.
Two of the young men with brown hair sitting in the front row stood on their feet, grinning. "This is what we've been waiting for. The very fight everyone here wishes to see."
Another guy rose from the back and pointed at his colleague who had lowered his head. "I told you not to bet on Tiger's opponent's side, but you didn't listen. Now see that you've made yourself the broke person in all of Alchemania. Hahaha."
More voices rose, all of them saying things that would irritate or ignite fear in Leon, but he stood there memorizing each one.
"The Dusthollow rat versus the undefeatable maniac Kang T. I bet the rat can't stand even for a second."
When Leon turned and focused on the seats at the right which were always empty, his eyes widened but he laughed it off.
"So, everyone here wants me dead." Leon said mid-laughter, then continued looking. Immediately he saw Zoe sitting at the back of that group, his smile faded.
Zoe carried the gaze of someone not ready to see someone die but shifted it when she blinked and looked away.
Leon took in a deep breath, lowered his head, then began cracking his knuckles. "Want me slaughtered instead of fighting, I will give them the opposite."
He lowered his gaze, looked at the dull light slowly rising from the ground and picking up with his movement while his own words looped in his head.
The light's intensity increased when Leon kept moving forward, as if capturing his DNA before it faded from existence.
---
When Tiger walked onto the platform and began swaggering like a predator standing atop its prey, the barrier shimmered and slowly sealed them in.
The crowd jumped off their seats with saliva flying in the air as they sent praises on Tiger's arrival. Some slammed their hands on each other, others throwing punches in the air, while Zoe and the very few others remained seated, looking at Leon.
When Leon moved a step forward, the crowd hurled insults instead of praise and began throwing empty bottles which hit the arena's barrier and bounced on the ground.
Leon paused and threw a sharp stare at the audience when he heard them mention his mother and sister's names.
Tiger's face glittered when he noticed Leon's reaction.
He cleared his throat, then tapped his fingers twice.
"I heard your little sister has her mother's blind eyes," he said in a vicious tone, then squinted. "Isn't that concerning? I wonder if she'll scream when I pluck them out."
He gestured two fingers at Leon, then spread them apart.
"Will she even see it coming?" The intensity of Tiger's voice rose as he wrapped his right arm around his stomach and laughed.
Leon's skin dried up instantly as his heart skipped a beat while the words sank deep in his ribs.
Behind his eyelids, an image of helpless and terrified Lily appeared, followed by a blazing heat that flashed through his chest and slammed hard against it.
Leon's brown eyes changed to gold whenever he focused on Tiger, as if the energy within him was begging to be released. The heat ignited faint flames along his arms as he tightened his fist.
He used force to calm it, but the power was too strong until Mr. Lee's words cut through. 'He will speak of them to irritate you. Your anger and pain are his fuel. Don't allow him to use them against you.'
"What are you doing?" Tiger roared, closing in. "Are you calling on your father's dried bones to come to your rescue?"
Immediately Leon heard the words, he closed his eyes and crouched down on his knees, arms folded at his side, pulling all the unchained energy inward, just like he had learned under Mr. Lee's guidance.
"How I wish you were there to see your father's face as the plane hit the Granum tower," Tiger said, stopping to clutch his face with his palm.
He kept moving sideways when he saw how fast Leon's shoulders rose and fell.
"I can just picture how much he thanked the gods for taking his life that day." Tiger growled and stretched his shoulders. "That's what anyone would wish for after fathering a rat and marrying a snake. Snakes are even much more useful."
When Leon slowly raised his blazing eyes and focused on Tiger's face, he exhaled once. That only made Tiger happier.
As soon as Leon stood, blood seeped out of his clenched fingers and dropped onto the paved ground.
Two thirds of the crowd pointed and laughed.
"How can he fool himself? Those who used power weren't even close to defeating our incredible Kang T."
"I'm sure he's destined to die early."
"Isn't he the one who struggled while fighting the boy Kang T just killed easily?"
"Malphas? That guy was a really good fighter. But when you're destined to die in Kang T's hands, even the gods can't stand on your behalf."
"Yeah. Even if you were once a god."
Leon caught the smirk on Tiger's face falter the moment their eyes locked, and in that crack, he saw exactly what he had been waiting for. That foolish courage, crumbling at the edges.
Tiger moved first. One second he was ten feet away, the next, a fist tore through the air and slammed into Leon's face.
The force sent Leon skidding across the rune-etched stone, dust rising around his feet as he barely held his stance.
Bloodied air leapt from his nose and mouth the moment he stopped. Before he could force a step forward, another punch caught him on the left cheek and turned his vision into a wash of white and yellow.
Shadowy figures replaced the crowd. He pushed himself off the floor and tried to find Tiger's position.
The crowd roared.
Loud, rushing footsteps.
Tiger drove his leg into the back of Leon's knee. A sharp crack shot through his body as he hit the ground.
When Tiger moved in for another kick, Leon slammed his elbow into Tiger's throat. Tiger stumbled back, gagging, swallowing the pain before he dashed forward again, a kick that got blocked but immediately numbed Leon's left arm.
From that point, Leon knew what he was. Defensive. Absorbing. A man using everything he had just to stay upright while the storm kept coming.
The kicks arrived in waves, but he anchored himself in Mr. Lee's lessons, parrying, slipping, using Tiger's own momentum to keep the worst of it from landing clean. Each glancing hit still sent shockwaves through his body.
He was being worn down, and they both knew it.