Just a week ago, nobody could've ever dreamt of the ridiculous events happening today across the federation.
Enigma being a victim, the hidden danger of gamma potions, the participation of two prominent Xander figures in Shadow Guardians' destruction—these three news along with another minor news that showed brutality against guardians' relatives in Gamma expo became the most discussed topics.
Enigma and Shadow Guardians were the clear victims. People sympathized with them, cried for them, and protested for them.
But they too knew that the dead weren't coming back. And they also knew that they killed their own heroes.
So, dark emotions began to pile up in the hearts of every human.
Rage, frustration, grief, regret.
All of these mixed and churned in their hearts like lava that was about to erupt out of a volcano.
The lava—the negative emotions, if erupted, needed to be directed somewhere. Without venting, it was impossible to cool down the rage of an entire race.
But luckily, they didn't erupt.
Until another post appeared on the meta net and became the final nail in the coffin.
The videos were posted by Dreamer himself and showed the 'truth' of Valos' War.
Contrary to what the federation claimed, it wasn't just the army that saved humanity.
No.
Shadow Guardians also played an irreplaceable role.
And as Dreamer released evidence of every event of Valos' conspiracy one by one—the deceptive plant creatures, the black market, the planned bomb blasts on space cities, and more—the public was dumbfounded.
What they knew was merely the tip of the iceberg and now, this man just shoved down fricking proverbial iceberg down their throat.
While they had many questions, many doubts, their emotions, and curiosity were attracted by one truth.
"So, that's it. Shadow Guardians, along with the army saved the entire humanity from destruction."
"If they didn't help, the cluster cities would've blown up. Neptune would've been isolated."
"We didn't even know much they paid for this. How many lives were sacrificed for this noble mission?!"
"But what did they get in return? They were brutally murdered by the same army they helped!"
And with this, Varian finally pushed public opinion to an irreversible point.
From here on, no amount of damage control, no amount of PR, no amount of virtue signaling would be able to stop their rage.
It truly was if a volcano erupted at the heart of humanity, the Lava called rage traveled from the most passionate to even the most disinterested man.
Soon, the fifty billion human race was seething in rage.
Like Varian planned, this rage was unstoppable and had to be directed at someone.
"Yes, I personally oversaw the execution of Shadow Guardians." An old man said in a majestic voice.
"Hm, I killed the Shadow Guardians that were lurking on other planets." A young woman raised her head and chuckled in pride.
Cail Xander and Princess Iris Xander.
The two people that Varian pushed into the limelight—the two people who openly admitted their heroic deeds against guardians—became the perfect target for public anger.
"Kill these bastards!"
"Traitors!"
"That wench! She killed children and kids in hiding! Those kids don't even know their parents are the guardians!"
"That old bastard is worse! The whole army knows how much the guardians helped and literally saved the world! Yet, he still ordered their extermination!
Even if they thought Enigma was a threat, how can they justify killing our own heroes?"
"This guy isn't a human! He isn't qualified!"
"Kill him!"
"That wench too! She'll be the same as him when she grows up. Kill them together!"
"Kill them both!"
#KILL
Protests began in all parts of the solar system.
From mercury to Neptune, from the smallest space station to the largest space city—people took to the streets and asked for the kill.
By this time, their emotions were the main drivers behind their actions. Some of the public realized that the way these posts were released, the order, the content, and the timing—all seemed like a deliberate setup for this end goal.
But they were only a minority and even if their reasoning was accepted by the media, people didn't stop.
'Do you really expect us to believe someone could control Enigma, Dreamer, Uranus' head scientist, and even the army footage from Valos?'
And even if it was really true,
What if it was someone's agenda?
What if it was all controlled?
Whoever the person, whatever the reason, what they showed was the absolute truth.
The flames of anger grew rapidly and finally turned so terrible that even the Xander family had to bow its head.
"KILL!"
Under the bright sun, a man and woman knelt on the ground in a secret realm.
In front of them were freshly constructed graves—covered in flowers, letters, and many more.
These were the graves of the Shadow Guardians and this was their largest secret realm—also the place where most of them were brutally murdered.
"KILL!"
"KILL!"
The secret realm's entrance was broken during the army's attack. So, the huge crowd numbering in hundred thousand and the larger crowd viewing this virtually—in literal billions, could see everything clearly.
And when they saw these two humans, their blood boiled.
"KILL!"
"JUSTICE!"
"SINNERS!"
With a large group of Xander family members behind him, Julius bowed to the graves.
He put on a regretful expression and gritted his teeth until blood dripped down his lips.
The crowd, even with their rage, calmed down for a moment.
They 'realized' that as the recent news suggested, Sovereign Julius knew nothing of this 'tragedy'.
According to the most trusted news channels, he was mostly in seclusive training and only came out for the gamma expo.
After the truth was out, he was the first who decided to bring his own uncle and niece to justice.
"People of earth and people of the federation," Julius addressed the huge crowd, his sonorous voice reaching even the most distant member.
"We, the Xanders, have sinned." He bowed lightly and following him, the rest of the Xanders bowed.
"This!"
Everyone was shocked, but Julius didn't care.
He looked down and glared at the two people kneeling in front of the graves.
"Now, we Xanders will wash off this sin with the blood of these sinners." As he said those words, a long axe appeared in Julius' hand. "With my own hands, I'll kill them in a brutal way to set an example!"
"Whoah!"
"Go!"
"YES!"
The crowd cheered in joy and surprise.
Whoosh!
As Julius swung down the axe, people stared transfixed at the scene.
To him, however, time seemed to slow down.
Julius' extraordinary perception covered the entire secret realm and he recognized it as the one he personally visited.
And here was also the place he killed those two peak level 9s.
'Now, I'm killing the strongest Xander other than me and the best Xander genius other than Charles.'
Julius shuddered in anger and frustration. He hated all of this.
This was all clearly and cleverly orchestrated by Dreamer, no, Varian. Yet, here he was.
Despite being a Sovereign, he was forced to swing his axe at the pillars of his own family.
At the last moment, Julius saw Cail and Iris looking at him with vengeful eyes.
Cail's lips muttered something only he could hear while Princess Iris' conveyed her message through her telepathic powers.
"Father killer! You will die a dog's death."
'You'll never be the human emperor.'
Whoosh!
Thick, sticky, and hot blood spurted into the air and splashed on his face.
As the crowd cheered, Julius touched the blood on his face and had a premonition.
…It had just begun.
