Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Sleeping in the cave was like taking refuge in the devil’s basket. The cave was quiet, with no monsters. But the silence it carried was so deep that it made every pulse sound like a bomb blast.

At first, Leon’s skin was dry. Not even a trace of discomfort was there. But as soon as two lightning-speed shadow streaks passed over him, his body charged.

Sweat poured down from his face like a broken pipe. He thrust his head harshly while bone-cracking sounds echoed from his fist.

For a split second, everything stopped. But the moment a drop of his sweat slammed on the ground, he gasped heavily.

In his dream, he saw himself standing at the front of the Castle of Souls. The horned beings scattered around him like sand, holding his squad captive.

And at their front was Aurelian, smiling.

"Let them go!"

Aurelian’s smile turned into a grim grin as he shook his head. "No, no, no." He looked at Leon with a straight face. "I will let them go if you do one thing for me."

Leon was stunned, hearing the offer. He hesitated, then clenched his fist. "And what is it you want me to do?"

Two of the horned beings stepped forward. Under their grips were Liu Yan, An Lang, and Bao Xiong.

Aurelian signaled to the horned beings at Leon. "Look and decide who will die by your hands."

The offer blasted in Leon’s head as he shifted his glance from the two he knew to be alive. He didn’t hesitate when he looked and pointed at Bao Xiong.

"Good," Aurelian’s smile returned as he focused on the beings. "Kill the rest and leave that one out."

Leon’s eyes went red as he dashed forward, screaming. "That’s not what you meant."

Aurelian turned to Leon, then inhaled once. "I only choose who I want, and how I play my games."

The dream collapsed inward as Leon jerked up, gasping. He placed his arm on his chest as the bloodied result of his choice reeled behind his eyes.

Liu Yan screamed as the horned beings tore her neck apart. An Lang lay in a pool of blood after his body was crushed flat, making his body merge like a ball.

Leon shook his head. "NO! That can’t be real," he screamed, then stood up abruptly.

He grabbed the red cloth and swung it. Grey dust and the Starfire Opal dust drifted in the air as Leon wrapped the cloth around his neck.

"I need to go back," he stated, standing at the mouth of the cave. He looked at his palms, at the comfort he had found and was leaving behind, then set off back to the castle.

As soon as he left the cave, descending into the valley, footsteps echoed from inside the cave. The walls moved as two green-like objects began taking shape. In the twinkle of an eye, two of the God-tier Serakel appeared, staring at each other.

They turned to each other and began communicating in their alien language. "It’s good we showed him Vaelith’s true identity."

Yoru, the second to appear, moved toward the cave’s mouth and watched the human from above. "Trag, what if he also becomes a bandit to him like all the others were?"

"Then we have no choice but to obey the king’s command."

Trag’s statement hung in the air even as they dissipated into motes and transformed into their invisible state.

...

At 1 kilometer away from the castle, Leon paused. He looked back, and there was only a fog of dust.

"I know they will be like we knew you would come back," he stated as he tilted his gaze to his front.

He continued regardless of what their reaction would be. And deep within his head, he had only one motive, and no one was going to stop him on that.

A few minutes after he reached the castle, Aurelian was already standing there as if he knew Leon would be coming at that time.

A chill ran down Leon’s spine as he spotted the young man standing there with a joyous look on his face.

’Should I confront him before I get to them? Nah, I can’t lose control now,’ Leon steadied himself before moving another step forward.

Aurelian opened his arms as if craving a hug. "I knew you would come."

Leon pretended to be happy seeing him as well, then neared him. But the bones in his fist were hitched and ever ready to throw a punch.

Aurelian wrapped his arms around Leon’s shoulder. "They are waiting for you."

He walked Leon to a chamber he had never seen or been to when he was in the castle. There, under the glow of blue flames, were his squad.

Wu Ze stood by a shelf with a blue book in her hands. An Lang sat beside a table of fruits. Books were scattered across the table, but they looked fresh, as if he hadn’t even seen them.

Liu Yan, on the other hand, stood at the center of the chamber, where the blue flame shone brighter.

"Go on," Aurelian swung his arm like a guard giving his boss the green light to move.

Leon blinked as he looked at Aurelian. He slowly shifted his gaze from him. The moment Leon took his first step forward, his eyes landed on a scroll that was caged in black chains.

A faint smile tore across Aurelian’s face as he watched Leon near the only book he had even refused to go near.

When An Lang saw Leon, he frowned and spat on the ground. "Did his dead father advise him to return or what?"

He didn’t even acknowledge Leon’s smile. He simply swung his head so sharply that a bone-cracking sound echoed around his neck.

Wu Ze’s eyes showed sympathy, but something kept hardening her heart when she saw Leon.

Liu Yan frowned when she saw Leon at first. But the moment she realized Leon was heading to the caged book, something changed in her.

The warmth and the affection she had had for him came back.

For a second, she couldn’t even remember how she got to the chamber she stood in, but she had another change of mind when a voice echoed in her head. "Obey!"

Her legs moved without her controlling them. ’What is happening?’ she tried to speak, but the words only echoed in her head.

She forced a smile over her confused face when she bumped into Leon.

"Sorry," Leon apologized. He held her gaze for a moment, then turned back to the black cage.

From a distance, Aurelian nearly moved when he saw the cage opening by itself as Leon stretched his hands over it.

’I now understand why he’s not bonding to me like the others.’ He whispered in his head, then slowly folded his hands at his back.

As the cage finally dissolved, leaving the scroll touchable, Leon grabbed it. "What is this?"

He turned it sideways, inspecting the inscriptions that were written in an alien language.

"Let me see," Liu Yan closed the gap between her and Leon.

When Leon tried giving her the scroll, he couldn’t. It was as if the material had melted with Leon’s skin.

"Leon, let me see if I can read the words," Liu Yan asked again, but yielded the same result.

Leon tried swinging his hand just to make it fall so Liu Yan could pick it up. But that one also didn’t work. "Why is it not coming off?"

Wu Ze and An Lang saw it and neared Leon. They also tried to take the scroll from Leon’s grip but couldn’t.

"Why are you so greedy, Leon?" An Lang stated in an angry tone. "Just loosen your hand too, you don’t want to."

"Not that I don’t want to. The scroll is not coming off."

"That’s what all greedy people would say when they’ve got no excuse to make."

Aurelian watched An Lang turn away. He watched and enjoyed how the conflict was rising, then stepped forward.

He cleared his throat. In a flash, An Lang’s anger and Wu Ze’s reddened face all dulled. "That’s not his fault, like you’re saying."

"Then what is it?" An Lang asked in a more polite tone.

Aurelian hesitated, making them try to solve it in their minds. He closed in on Leon and placed a chilled hand on Leon’s shoulder. "The scroll remembers you."

Leon’s head snapped back. He looked at the scroll in his hands, Aurelian’s face, then back at the scroll. "Remembers me?"

"Yes. It was something only you could handle."

Aurelian’s words lived rent-free in Leon’s head as Leon himself struggled to keep calm.

"What is it actually?" he asked, finally shifting his gaze from the scroll and focusing on Aurelian.

Aurelian removed his arm from Leon’s shoulder, then stepped back. "Only you can find out."