Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 75: You want him? You go through Me!

The red-haired C-rank didn’t hesitate when he saw an opening at the side of the broad-shouldered boy.

He whipped his sword around him in a vicious arc, its flat side slamming into the boy’s temple with a hollow crack.

The broad-shouldered boy dropped like a wet sack of stones.

The two C-ranks moved as one, the red-haired yelling a wordless roar. Their silver swords carved glinting arcs in the sunlight as they converged on Leon at both sides, aiming to scissor his head from his shoulders.

Leon didn’t flinch; he stood there, his eyes flicking from one blade to the other.

The broad-shouldered boy, who seemed to be semi-conscious on the ground, slapped a bloody palm over his face.

The audience in the distant stands leaned forward as one, their breaths held in their lungs.

At the last microsecond, when everyone watching closed their eyes, Leon dropped into a crouch. The blade from his left sliced through the air where his neck had been.

It severed a few strands of his messy jet-black hair that floated freely.

WHIP.

Simultaneously, he sidestepped to the right, letting the other blade from the white-haired C-rank slam into the earth where he’d stood, digging a furrow in the dirt.

Leon rolled across the ground and stood up in a slow stance five feet away.

"You... you had this?" the broad-shouldered boy slurred from the ground and pushed himself up on an elbow. "And you were just standing there?!"

A slow, deliberate smile spread across the lips of the white-haired C-rank, which showed in his blue eyes.

"Well, well," the boy said. "You’ve really proven your worth, Dusthollow Rat."

Leon’s blood ran cold, his eyes widening as his mind tried to pull out why the voice seemed familiar.

The white-haired C-rank moved his left free hand and pulled the mask down, revealing the rest of his face.

"You healed me," a faint smile touched his lip. "I felt that... light. It itched. But it worked." He tilted his head and shook it slowly. "I suppose I should thank you. So I’ll give you an honorable death."

A grim grin replaced the smile as he straightened his head. With a sudden, swift movement, he swung the sword, letting it cut through the air.

Dust jumped up when the tip of the silver sword pushed air onto the ground. He moved the sword horizontally in front and swiped his palm at the sharp edge of the sword.

Leon flinched, seeing the dark blood well and drip onto the flat surface of the blade. As the drops touched the metal, they got absorbed into the steel.

After a few seconds, the sword shimmered and glowed with a malevolent blue light. Star-like flames danced along it, emitting a wave of spiritual wrongness that made the air taste of burnt metal.

"Whoa! LEON, WATCH OUT!" the broad-shouldered boy screamed, breaking off his clumsy attack with the red-haired opponent.

"C-ranks can’t do that! That’s... that’s a blood-art!" He abandoned his own fight and placed his battered body squarely between Leon and the white-haired C-rank.

"Save your energy!" he yelled back at Leon, even as his legs shook heavily. "I’ll hold him!"

"No," Leon said and tried to step around to push the boy aside.

"Stay back!" the broad-shouldered boy roared and shoved Leon away with a surprising burst of strength.

He turned, smiled, then raised his scavenged sword in a two-handed guard and advanced against the white-haired C-rank. "You want him? You go through me!"

As the broad-shouldered boy lunged forward with a desperate, screaming thrust, the white-haired boy didn’t break his stride.

The blue-flamed sword moved swiftly and passed through the boy’s sword as if the steel was just smoke.

No sound echoed, no spark glittered; only the clattering sound echoed when the scavenged blade clattered to the ground.

Leon tried moving forward but paused and stood there, shocked, when he saw the tip of the glowing sword smoothly moving through the broad-shouldered boy’s chest.

His world narrowed to the blue line of light that moved horizontally in the boy’s body.

It sliced through the broad-shouldered boy’s uniform, through muscle and bone, with a wet sound.

When the glowing sword pulled out from the boy’s body, he turned, thud, thud, and stared at Leon. He stood for a heartbeat, a puzzled look on his face.

Then his upper body slid sideways and collapsed into the dirt. His legs buckled and fell the other way.

Blood flooded the ground, soaking into the earth toward Leon’s boots.

The white-haired C-rank flicked his wrist, shaking the glowing sword and letting the blood drip from it.

"Now," he said softly, "it’s just us."

Behind him, the red-haired C-rank grinned.

The proctors in the distance became silent, their hands placed in their pockets. At the back of the three proctors wearing white robes, Lieutenant Hayes turned slightly and smiled at Mr. Lee.

"He’s locked." He closed his eyes and exhaled.

"Let’s see how he acts," Mr. Lee said, folded his arms at his chest, and smiled. He tilted his gaze from Lieutenant Hayes and blinked twice when he saw the two boys nearing Leon.

Leon looked down at the butchered remains of the broad-shouldered boy who had, in the end, tried to shield him.

He looked at the blood seeping toward his toes. His heart began its frantic beat as he turned and saw the other lanky and sharp-faced boys also lying there still.

The command from the elevator once again echoed loudly in his head, almost cracking his skull.

FIGHT THEM ALL.

Leon lowered his head, closed his eyes, and sighed. When he cracked his eyes open, he raised his head and looked at the blue sky, then smiled.

"Yes," he tilted his gaze to the white-haired boy. "It is." The smile on his face vanished when he tilted his gaze slightly and saw the red-haired boy’s grip tightening.

Leon moved his right leg back but paused and crouched down for the broad-shouldered boy’s half sword.

He wrapped his fingers around the brown handle of the now fifteen-inch sword and dashed forward.