51: Belated Judgment (20, 8K)

Chapter 669: 51. Belated Judgment (20, 8K)

Lion El'Jonson asked himself—had I ever considered such a thing?

Such a thing? What thing? Oh, forgive me, great master of the First Legion, did you mean your gift? The gift you believed was unique, the only one of its kind in the galaxy?

Over the past ten thousand years, you had made countless variations of it. You had led innumerable armies and countless people into that seemingly silent forest, then departed from the other side.

The other side—where there was no dampness, no chill, no mist hanging over the crowns of every giant tree like a starving beast. A safe place, a tranquil place. Behind secure fortifications, perhaps, or upon some deck of a warship.

But you were wrong. It did not belong to you alone.

I was wrong?

For some reason, Lion El'Jonson was not surprised. As pain surged into his nerves after the blade withdrew, only one thought surfaced in the old lion's mind.

What had he paid for it?

The Lion took a step back and steadied himself, standing calmly where he was as he looked into the young man's eyes.

They had already gleamed brightly, but now their radiance had become indescribable. The Lion studied them. Though he was bleeding, the hostility in his eyes temporarily faded.

And the young man did not press his advantage. He remained where he was, his face still twisted, still furious.

The Lion could see that the fuel feeding those flames was not merely the insult he had personally dealt before. There was also another kind of anger directed at himself—he seemed to be asking himself: Had I broken fairness?

A faint smile appeared on the Lion's face. Then, without any attempt at concealment, he walked aside and bent down to pick