HBWnovel Chapter 57: The Demonic Beast Purge (8)
Chapter 57: The Demonic Beast Purge (8)
Chapter 57: The Demonic Beast Purge (8)
Elder Horas's involvement in and conspiracy to eliminate Leon sent shockwaves throughout the Solaris House. A member of the Elder Council dared touch a junior, not to mention the grandson of the current Lord. It was a scandal that could shake the foundations of the ancient great House, and there was no shortage of mayhem in the following hours.
The Elder Council attempted to cover up the situation and silence the scandal before it got out of hand. Unfortunately, Amon had recorded and captured the perpetrators in the act. Video proof of the perpetrators soliciting Leon's help and luring him into the Troll cave was damning evidence, to say the least.
Not only that, but the culprits admitted in the recording that Elder Horas had solicited their help and paid them handsomely for their service. It only took one look into their bank accounts to verify that a transaction had been deposited into them from Elder Horas' estate.
Needless to say, the Solaris Lord was incensed by the revelation.
Alrock ordered a hearing the same day and summoned Elder Horas and the dishonoured Knights into the Judiciary Chambers to persecute their crimes.
Orga and her goons were trembling at the possibility that their lives would be forfeited and immediately admitted to everything. They cried and pleaded with Alrock, but it was met with empty ears. They had not only targeted Leon but also placed Lydia in harm's way.
Two of Alrock's grandchildren could have lost their lives today, and the fact that it was due to an internal political play for power made his blood boil. If he could have it his way, Alrock would have executed the culprits without remorse. Unfortunately, before he was a grandfather, Alrock was the Lord of the Solaris House. He was in a particularly delicate position and could not execute people as he pleased.
Clenching his teeth, the Solaris Lord deferred the issue to a neutral Supreme Justice of the Judiciary branch.
Firstly, the judge found Orga and her partners guilty of conspiracy to harm another Knight. Punishment was added as Leon and Lydia were both minors, making their crime doubly evil. They were stripped of their Knight status, all of their assets would be seized and confiscated, and finally, they were to be crippled and exiled.
While Alrock urged for the death penalty, on second thought, crippling their cores and exiling them far away from Solfea was indeed a fair punishment.
A dishonoured Knight was in many ways worse than a slave. People would look down on them wherever they went, and no one would hire them, knowing they were dishonoured. Without any assets, they weren't able to escape poverty, and their lives would be better off dead than alive.
In many ways, it was more cruel than executing them with the sword.
As for Elder Horas... His case was slightly more complicated.
Naturally, as the mastermind of this sinister plot, he was meant to receive the harshest punishment. However, Elder Horas was a Sun Knight with seven Suns condensed, of which less than ten existed in the Solaris House. In terms of combat ability, he was one of the Solaris House's greatest assets and losing such a figure could weaken them significantly.
Yet, just because he was a valuable asset, it didn't make him immune to crimes. The Elder Council also fought against harsher punishments, fearing it would set a precedent for Elders to face the sword.
Ultimately, the Supreme Justice hammered his gavel and made the final decision.
Elder Horas would be stripped of his title, effective immediately. Any assets he had were to be confiscated by the Solaris House, and his titles and accomplishments would be voided. However, unlike Orga and her scoundrels, Elder Horas would remain in Solfea.
Though, he won't be free from punishment either.
A killing curse would be placed onto his heart and could be activated at any moment by a consensus from the Judiciary, Legislative, and Executive branches. He would be forced to serve the Solaris House as a guard for the rest of his life, eternally damned to live as a slave.
It was the harshest punishment the Supreme Justice could devise, fair but firm. Likewise, Alrock agreed that living as a slave to the Solaris House would be better than killing Elder Horas.
But the most important benefit that Alrock had received... was silencing the Elder Council.
Over the past few years, there was a power struggle between the Executive branch that the Solaris Lord held and the Legislative of the Elders. It had festered after Alrock's prized son, Lucas, mysteriously disappeared. With the suspicion that Lucas was a traitor, Alrock's position as the Solaris Lord was increasingly getting questioned.
The tension had been bubbling up for years, and when Leon returned unannounced, it had reached a boiling point.
Fortunately, Elder Horas messed up and diminished the Elders' pressure on Alrock. In the future, the Elder Council would have a much harder time meddling with the Solaris Lord, and his life would return to being peaceful.
In the end, the entire proceedings concluded in less than three days.
During that time, Amon had ample time to rest. After providing testimony and evidence, his role in the hearings was done. He didn't bother participating in the remaining proceedings, as they hardly interested him.
On a side note, the Demonic Beast Purge ended on a damper mode. The open hostilities that Elder Horas displayed had placed a black asterisk on the event, but the award ceremony still proceeded. Surprisingly, due to the two Trolls Amon killed, he had earned over two thousand points, making him one of the top hunters of the event.
As a reward, the committee decided to bestow a new quality sword to help Amon replace the one he'd lost when fighting the Trolls. While grateful, he knew the sword they'd given him wasn't anything special. Amon was about to undergo the Sword Bestowment Ceremony, so a reward like this was unnecessary.
Leon and Lydia did decently well too, and their points placed them in the top hundred hunters. For newbies and cadets from the Academy, it was a fantastic result. Also, in lieu of their suffering, the committee rewarded them with items just as good as Amon's.
But of course, neither of them was healthy enough to collect their rewards.
Immediately after Amon saved them, the pair were rushed to the hospital, where their wounds were treated. Fortunately, neither of them sustained a life-threatening injury, and their recovery process was pretty straightforward. In just two days, all of their surface-level injuries had healed. As for their internal injuries, it would take a little longer, but they were expected to make a full recovery in less than two weeks.
Plenty of time for them to prepare for the Sword Bestowment Ceremony.
Speaking of which, with Elder Horas gone, Leon was given the green light to participate in the prestigious event, and the original story of [Bright] would proceed as per normal.
And after plucking up his courage, he stared into the young man's blue eyes and spoke with all seriousness.
"Why did you do that?"
"Huh? Do what?"
"Why did you follow that woman into the cave?"
Amon was confused by Leon's actions that day. Following Orga into the cave was a stupid decision, no matter how much he thought about it. Perhaps he was ignorant of the potential trap? Or was he keen on earning points that his greed clouded his judgement?
Amon wanted to know.
However, Leon's answer was unexpected.
"Well, she said that her sister was trapped inside... Thinking back, I was a fool to believe her words."
The young teen blushed and scratched his cheek, not knowing what to say. Although he knew it could have been a trap, Leon still foolishly charged in, and the result was nearly catastrophic. If Amon hadn't been there to save him, he would have died that day and possibly dragged Lydia with him.
Alas, Amon wasn't interested in that. He had heard Leon's testimony and knew the story from beginning to end. Amon didn't care about Leon being fooled or almost dying.
What Amon was truly curious of was...
"... even if her sister really was trapped inside, was there a need to risk your life?"
Amon didn't understand why Leon would willingly jump into the belly of the beast just to save someone he'd never met. It went against everything the former Transcendent learnt and knew. If it were a mission, Amon would have graded Leon with the worst grade and heavily chastised the boy for taking an unnecessary risk.
The right way was to request backup, investigate the crime scene, and come up with an action plan, especially since Leon was far weaker than the Trolls in the cave.
And yet... for some odd reason, Amon was drawn to Leon's behaviour.
What could have possibly caused this desire to risk his own life for someone that he didn't even know existed?
Leon looked perplexed at Amon's question. He folded his arms together and dropped his chin down. Scratching the bottom of his chin, he took a split second to contemplate Amon's words and then replied:
"Yes, I would."
"You would risk your life for someone you never met? Why?"
"Hmmm... Do I need a reason for that?"
It was truly a scene where two worlds collided. Amon and Leon were both unable to understand each other. For Amon, risking one's life for another's sake was incomprehensible. For Leon, it was just second nature.
"To save someone... Do you need a reason? They need help, so I'll help them!"
"..."
"If I were put in that position again, I think I would have made the same choice. This time, I would be more alert to the clues if it was a trap, haha."
Leon's innocence... His purity... was something that could have killed the young hero before he grew into the great person he was destined to become.
It was plain stupidity... and yet...
Amon found it dazzling.
"I see..."
Amon couldn't help but smile. He'd always thought there was a formula to becoming a hero—a set of tricks and rules he had to abide by. However, as he sat before the greatest hero in all of [Bright], Amon came to a funny conclusion.
'So there's no metric at all... I've been looking at this all wrong.'
Tapping on Leon's shoulder, Amon got up from his seat and headed out to the exit. Glancing back at the injured youth, he said: "Rest well."
"O-Okay!"
And just like that, Amon left the ward with a satisfied smile. On his way back, only one thing was in Amon's mind.
'There's still so much I have to learn...'