Chapter 59

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Solomon immediately stopped on his tracks after seeing them, "bandits." He cursed under his mouth with anger and disbelief at the sight of them. Usually, he would slay them on the spot, but he is currently too busy completing an important objective.

Mere distractions have no room in his revenge unless they pose problems. That's why Solomon kept walking, ignoring them despite their loud complaints, "Hey! Stop!" The man in the red cloak yelled as the fearful boy continued to move.

The wind carried his white hair, blowing it to the side. He looked down at them with disdain, utterly annoyed the more they kept calling him. How many times did he have to tell them to piss off until they finally got it through their thick skulls?

But they persisted nonstop to the point that their leader approached him before blocking his path with a cold sneer on his face. "I asked you a question, boy; what are you doing out here in a place like this?!" He barked at the child furiously, "Say something, will you?" The bearded bandit grinned in an intimidating manner while getting closer to Solomon's personal space.

However, the latter merely rolled his eyes and proceeded to go around them, only for him to be shoved harshly by their leader again: "Don't ignore me when I'm asking a question, you little bastard!" Unfortunately, Solomon's patience is running thin, and he will not hesitate to kill them if they continue on this.

"I'm busy," was the only response he gave to their leader. "You guys should leave me alone. I have no business with you," the child replied with an indifferent voice as he tried to avoid unnecessary confrontation, much to the man's great disappointment.

Just before the said man could say another word, one of his men began to mockingly laugh. "Boss, look at the kid," he gestured at the boy, "he's acting all high and mighty but can't do a simple task as telling us why the hell he's wandering in this kind of place alone." The other bandits began to laugh along with him.

Annoyed, Solomon decided to wait and stay so these fools could get over their fits of laughter before continuing onward as he rolled his eyes, unbothered by the pointless taunting coming from these pathetic excuses of human beings, "Where are your parents?" The leader leaned down to the boy's height, patting the latter's head.

"Don't fucking touch me," slapping the offending hand away from his person, "don't touch me, and if you continue to not leave me alone, I will not hesitate to gut you alive like a pig," warned in a flat tone with no emotion whatsoever shown on his facial features as he crossed his arms in obvious agitation.

The leader was clearly surprised by that reaction; he never would have guessed that a child of all places would act in such a way. The boy sounded older than he looked, despite being clearly a child. His tone was so cold and harsh that it reminded him of how they were before they became bandits.

However, his ego has already taken damage after being humiliated in front of everyone, so he couldn't allow this boy to insult him again in public without retaliating, "You disrespectful brat! Do you know who you are messing with?!" He grabbed the collar of the boy's shirt and pulled him upward to eye level while gritting his teeth as a show of intimidation.

Unfortunately, Solomon wasn't fazed by the act itself, and it only pissed the bearded man off more than before. "Your breath stinks like alcohol mixed with rotten meat," he spat out, unfazed as ever. "I would appreciate it if you removed your hand from me," he told the irritated man in a steady tone of voice.

"Why you—"

Raising his fist, he was about to throw a punch before one of his friends suddenly interrupted by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Wait, I think this boy is kind of familiar," the other bandit squinted his eyes at Solomon's face closely. "Isn't that the brat who is the sole survivor of Lighthaven?" The fellow man questioned in astonishment.

Upon hearing those words being uttered, the other bandits began to whisper one another. The leader stared at the boy in shock, and then snickering gleefully with a twisted smirk appeared across his lips as he let the child go, "Well, well, well! I thought it would be difficult to find a trace of that town's sole survivor," he snorted derisively. "Yet, it looks like fate is finally smiling upon us," he remarked to his gang while nudging toward their potential prisoner.

Almost everyone in the Empire was aware of the other communities that had been destroyed around the region, but Lighthaven had been the first village to be pillaged by Cinder's warriors a month prior, and many lives had been sacrificed in that massacre in the name of vengeance. Although the specific reason behind her actions is unknown, rumors suggest that it was due to a single individual.

Regardless, the leader realizes they have a nice treat for today before they continue onto their next destination to find more people to recruit or sell into slavery. "Come with us, boy. We'll be giving you a ride somewhere nice if you join our group," the bearded man proposed in a mocking tone, as though he just offered a drink for refreshment to the child.

Yet Solomon simply shook his head in refusal before turning away from them. "There is no way in hell that I will follow you," the boy refused to cooperate. "Now move aside before I change my mind and cut off all of your heads," he threatened coldly. He isn't here to join forces with these low lives.

His revenge is the main priority right now. Nothing matters anymore than killing every politician and knight working for the Empire. He was not interested in joining some group of bandits. They are insignificant beings and have no place in his heart.

"Oh? And how do you intend on doing that? Cry for mommy?"

In that last sentence, Solomon went into a blink of rage after having heard how this filthy-mouthed bandit leader ridiculed her death like a joke, causing him to swiftly pull the sword from his own back before slicing their throats cleave off, bathing in crimson liquid spilling onto the ground in puddles.

The two corpses fell backward while gurgling their own fluids flowing out of opened holes as the remaining three bandits in the background watched in horror at what just happened. "KILL THAT FUCKING SHIT!" A blue-cloaked man said, raising his bow while the other two armored men pulled their swords.

They charged towards Solomon, who dodged arrows effortlessly with his excellent agility, rolling across the grassy ground before drawing the blade backwards and flinging it forward like a whip, cutting down the third bandit clean through the torso without resistance.

As the fourth one lifted his sword to finish him off from behind, the boy dove and then performed a swift kick against the back of his legs, sending his opponent crashing face first on the ground as he finished by stabbing through the enemy's head from above.

In the midst of this chaos, the final archer panicked after realizing he was the only one left from the entire group of his friends who lay dead on dirt, while their murderer stood there, silently glaring at him after losing them. While they are scum of the earth.

He nonetheless considered them his friends who he traveled with through thick and thin, but it's too late to grieve for them now that their murderer was preparing to slaughter him like the pig he is. Maybe it was karma that led them to this situation, or maybe it was just bad luck.

Who knows? Perhaps it was both or neither, but that didn't matter anymore. All the archer wants now is to fucking choke this stupid shit into oblivion because of what he did. The way his fellow brothers died had brought immense rage to his chest, and so he lunged forward, dropping his bow and drawing a sword tattered with rust and scratches alongside numerous cracks across the blade, swinging it upwards.

"BY RIELLA'S TITS, DIE YOU LITTLE PIECE OF WORM!"

However, what greeted his eyes was something else. He saw himself spinning around, confused by the action, but then it clicked him when he noticed his own body, suspended in the land, frozen solid in place with its movements halted entirely, unable to move.

The archer was beheaded without ever knowing how it happened in the first place, and he didn't realize it until his head hit the grass, sliding farther away from the rest of him and looking blankly into space.

Solomon sighed annoyingly at the sight of dead bodies around him, sheathing the weapon on his back before stepping away from the recently decapitated man. "I could've just left me alone, you assholes," he says, spitting on the corpse's head.

At least he can fucking continue on his journey. These people are worthless and pathetic as he expected, but now that's over, it's time for him to resume his quest for vengeance. "Hmph," huffing from his nostrils, Solomon turned his whole body once again while proceeding onwards alone without any hindrances whatsoever.

His eyes then widen at seeing three shocked men staring straight at him and asking, "What?" He questioned them while frowning at them, wondering why they were here. Didn't he tell them earlier to piss off or else? The child didn't need this right now, especially with

Seth was here, mouth opened with hand covering it; Solomon couldn't believe in encountering him again after a month. "You?" He can't believe it; this guy is real?! No, no, it can't be true. "How the fuck are you here?!" Shouting loudly in surprise and shock.

Slowly, the holy man regained his posture and took a couple of steps forward. "Solomon..." Tears streamed down his cheeks at seeing the boy again. "What had happened to you?" Dropping his knees onto the ground with his head lowered down in front of him, he held his own hands tightly.

While he was glad to see the man he looked up to having survived the massacre, Solomon felt it was not necessary to reunite with him. "Get the fuck away from me," he coldly remarked, despite how painful it is to say this. "I'm on my quest to kill the ones responsible for what happened to my mother," the boy claimed.

Wiping tears from Seth's face, he looked up to face Solomon. He didn't care about that now; this boy he used to know appeared different, taller, and more threatening. It is irrelevant in light of the recent discovery regarding Cinder and her actions: "What happened to you? And where is Judith?" Mentioning his mother had almost caused Solomon to lash out.

How dare he even talk about her?! After everything he had been through?! The fact that the holy man has the guts to even say her name enraged the boy as he took a deep breath before responding calmly, "She's dead," speaking bitterly while clenching fists tightly and glancing sideways to avoid further eye contact.

Hearing that sentence out of the child's mouth brought sorrow to Seth's heart. "What? No, that can't be true." What had happened after he was gone? Did something happen to their village after his departure? Surely he remembered that the general had honored her deal by leaving them alone.

It doesn't make sense; why is Judith dead? How is he able to meet her son alone without her by his side? Something is terribly wrong with this picture he was being shown. "Why are you here? Why aren't you with her right now? Did something happen when I was gone?" So many questions were whirling inside his head, but only silence met him.

"Solomon?"

There was a moment of pause between them as Seth waited patiently for any type of response, yet nothing came out of his mouth. Eventually, the other two came to their aid as the wise monk spoke on behalf of the young man.

"We should talk about this later," Genno suggested, gesturing at the dead bodies lying lifelessly around them, blood pooling on their wounds in pools of red liquid. "For now, we should continue our journey to the capital." Solomon's ears picked up from that sentence.

"You three are going to the city?" The white-haired boy's question caught their attention: "May I come with you?" He inquired curiously while staring at each of their conflicted faces until Bruno replied hesitantly.

"Yeah, sure, but will you agree to explain to us what has transpired during our absence?"

Frowning on this, Solomon pondered about it; he can tell them everything that happened from start to finish, but the boy can only think of cons instead of pros. With a sigh escaping from his mouth, "next time, perhaps. Just not now." He ultimately decides.

"So its settled," Genno smiled proudly, pleased that they can finally get along peacefully as Bruno chuckled nervously, still feeling uncertain about accepting the child's company. "We should set course forth to the Empire's capital at once," the monk stated with determination flashing across his pupils.

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