The color drained from Cain's face as well. "Kid, are you scared and starting to talk nonsense? Just surrender now, and for old times' sake, I might let you off easy!"
"No!" Leif raised his head high. "You must be Brother Jakarta! No one else could break my 'Dragon Soars in the Sky' like that!"
"I already told you, I'm not! Who the hell is this Jakarta anyway?" Cain picked up the spear and tossed it back to Leif. "Are we still fighting or not? This is getting boring!"
"Brother Jakarta, do you really not remember me? I'm Jacob! Brother Jakarta!"
Leif couldn't hold back and rushed forward.
Cain struck him with a heavy palm, sending him flying across the arena.
"Kid, I'm warning you—stop calling me your brother. I don't know anyone named Jakarta!"
Leif's face, pale before, now started turning slightly blue.
With great effort, he propped his small body up with one hand. "No matter what's happened, you're my brother. I've been waiting for you to come back all this time!"
"You're so annoying, kid!" Cain's fist landed solidly on Leif's face, leaving a bruise.
Leif staggered back again, nearly falling out of the ring.
"This is really getting tiresome. I might as well finish you off quickly!" A faint white glow started to spread around Cain's fist.
Leif trembled but managed to stand again, walking back toward Cain.
"Why? Why did you leave? Why won't you come back? Brother Jakarta?"
"Hey, kid, are you out of your mind? Grabbing any random guy and calling him your brother? I don't have time to play house with you!"
Ignoring Cain's harsh words, Leif kept pressing, "Where did you go? I ran away from home just to find you. Let's go back together, okay?"
"You're really getting on my nerves! I told you already, I have nothing to do with this Jakarta guy!"
Cain punched Leif in the stomach, sending the small body flying into the air and crashing heavily onto the ground.
Blood began to seep into Leif's clothes.
"Brother, do you really not love Ab? Do you not care about Ab anymore?"
"How many times do I have to say it? I'm not your brother!" Cain clenched his fists so tightly that blood began to seep from his own hands.
"No, you can't not be!"
"I'm not!"
"You can't be!"
"I'm not!"
"You can't!"
…
The two stood on the stage in a strange standoff while the crowd below erupted in murmurs.
"Jakarta? Could it be that Jakarta?"
"If the kid really is Jacob, then that man must be Jakarta!"
"So he's not dead after all?"
"Who knows?"
"This is going to be interesting!"
"That Jakarta…"
In Mecca, there was once a crown prince named Jakarta.
He was wise and courageous;
He was bold and strong.
He had eyes sharper than a hawk's;
His strength could make lions submit;
He was faster than a cheetah;
And his intellect surpassed that of Mecca's greatest sages.
All the women of Mecca adored him, and all the men revered him.
Mecca's friends loved him, for he was their protector;
Mecca's enemies feared him, for he was their nightmare.
He was Jakarta.
About ten years ago, all the bards would start their tales like this.
But one day, the hero of the story vanished without a trace.
No one knew where he went, and as time passed, more and more people believed he had gone to meet death, lamenting the fall of a genius.
No one expected that this legendary figure would reappear, looking as handsome and radiant as ever, unchanged from the day he disappeared.
This knight's festival didn't just have legendary techniques; it had a legendary man. It was worth every penny.
However, if that child really was Jacob, then the man on stage couldn't be Jakarta.
Jakarta was best known for his absolute cruelty to his enemies and his unwavering protection of his own.
Given the current situation, no one would believe they were brothers.
"Brother Jakarta, you can't not be Brother Jakarta. Whatever I did wrong, I'm sorry. Ab misses you so much, really!"
Leif timidly reached out, trying to grab Cain's hand.
Cain closed his eyes and delivered a brutal kick to Leif's chest, knocking him to the ground, blood spilling from his mouth.
"Don't touch me, kid!"
In the audience, Lancaster couldn't stay seated any longer.
He stood up. "Cain has gone too far!"
He was about to rush onto the stage but was stopped by Manning.
Manning gave him a cold look. "What do you know? Do you know what happened between them? What right do you have to get in the middle?"
Lancaster hesitated. "Whatever happened, they're still brothers!"
"How do you know they're brothers?" Manning sneered mockingly.
He walked to the railing, leaning forward. "Leif, he's not your brother. He's Thousand Faces!"
"Thousand Faces? He's Thousand Faces?"
"No wonder the kid made a mistake. After all, it's Thousand Faces!"
"We're really getting a show today!"
"Yeah, definitely!"
Thousand Faces was another legend on the continent, the greatest and most expensive bounty hunter in the Free City Federation.
There were no jobs he couldn't complete, only ones he chose not to take.
He earned his name because it was said he had a thousand faces, maybe more.
Every time he completed a mission, he would change his appearance.
So, no one could ever claim to have seen the true face of Thousand Faces.
His true face, along with Bucillis, was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Stan Continent.
The murmurs from the crowd had no effect on the eerie silence of the stage.
Leif raised his head, lips pressed tightly together, staring at Cain.
His eyes were sorrowful but not broken—just empty.
Fragments of memories flashed through his mind.
A boy tenderly caring for a baby in a crib.
A boy carrying a child on his back, running and laughing through the garden.
A boy teaching a child how to use a spear, hand in hand.
A boy...
"Brother, look at my spear technique! Haven't I improved?"
"Yes, Ab is so clever. Ab is the smartest. How about I take you out of the palace for some fun?"
"Okay! I love Brother Jakarta the most!"
"Kiss, kiss. Brother loves Ab the most, too!"
Looking at the cold, indifferent eyes of the man before him, Leif felt his entire body begin to freeze.
Perhaps he had been wrong all along?
This man was nothing more than a stranger.
He wasn't his brother—the brother who cherished him, treasured him above all else.
"You really aren't my brother?"
Cain shook his head.
"Then you must know him! No one else could use that 'Cloud and Rain Reversal' technique!" Leif's voice wavered with a faint hope.
Once more, he struggled to his feet.
"Your brother?"
"Yes, have you seen him? Where is he now?" Leif asked, eyes burning with anticipation.
"He's dead. You don't need to look for him anymore."
Leif collapsed again, all strength and will to rise draining from him.
"When?"
"Eight years ago."
"Where?"
"How would I know? Maybe in the street, maybe in a haystack. Heck, even a ditch wouldn't be out of the question!" Cain shrugged nonchalantly.
"That's impossible. You're lying to me."
"Believe what you want!"
"You're lying, you're lying, you're lying..."
Only now did Cain notice something was off about Leif. The boy was muttering to himself, tears silently rolling down his cheeks.
He cried quietly, without sound.
Through all the taunts and all the pain, Leif hadn't shed a single tear.
But now, he cried.
And his tears spoke of a heart utterly broken.
Cain said nothing. He just watched as Leif wept until his eyes were swollen.
Perhaps it was because Cain had already cried all his tears long ago, in some distant past, that he felt nothing now.
After a long while, Cain bent down and extended a hand. "Stop crying. I'll take you home. Your parents are waiting for you."
Leif, through his tear-blurred eyes, thought he saw the same brother who once cherished him more than anything.
Back then, when Leif burned himself on a lantern, Jakarta had looked at him with the same concern.
Unbeknownst to Leif, Jakarta had taken the brunt of the scorching oil with his own hands, and Leif's tears had been shed for his brother.
"Don't cry, Ab. Brother will blow on it, and the pain will go away. I'll buy you some candied fruit, okay?"
He could almost see that toothless grin.
Dazed, Leif murmured, "Brother Jakarta, I finally found you! A bad man told me you were dead, but I didn't believe him. You'd never leave Ab, would you?"
A fiery slap cracked across his face. "Still dreaming? Jakarta is dead. He died eight years ago, completely and utterly dead. There is no Jakarta left in this world!"
Five red marks appeared on Leif's face as he silently stood up, picked up his spear, and faced Cain.
"Cain, let's continue the match!"
"Do we really need to keep going?"
"Yes, and if I win, you must answer one question for me. And you have to tell the truth!"
"Alright, if you win, I'll answer a hundred questions if you want!" Cain sneered.
"No," Leif shook his head. "Just one, only one is enough."