Solflare: The Painter's Secret

The scent of rotten iron and old coins filled Hayes’s lungs as he looked from the bodies to Leon’s face. "Leon, Leon, Leon."

He pulled his hands from his robe pockets, brushed his palm through his hair, and smiled.

The remaining Skywarden lords moved sideways, their faces pale as Hayes stepped forward. Gravel crunched beneath their boots with every stride Hayes took.

’Jade.’ Leon’s eyes blazed. He glared past Hayes toward the gate behind him. His dual heart plummeted against his ribs as Hayes blocked his line of sight.

Cunning laughter cut through the air like a death cry. Hayes brushed his palm over his face and frowned. "I have been an audience for a long time."

A blue glow pulsed under his skin like sprawling water. "But now, you will have to go through me first."

He drove his right boot into the ground and exhaled sharply. Gravel sprayed as he launched himself forward. In a blur, he closed the distance and drove his palm into Leon’s chest.

Cobalt fingers grazed Leon’s ribs. Leon turned, watching Hayes move like a snail in his perception. Crackling energy flared as Leon grabbed Hayes’s wrist and twisted it upward.

A cold exhale hissed through Hayes’s teeth. He wrenched his arm free and drove his knee into Leon’s stomach. Air gushed from Leon’s lungs. Hayes grabbed the back of Leon’s neck and hurled him sideways. "F*CK OFF!"

Leaves drifted between them as Leon hit the ground and rolled twice. Dust spiraled from the gravel as he slammed his palm down and pushed himself up. He watched droplets of blood seep from his lips onto the dirt, and Lily’s ghostly smile rammed through his mind.

Bone cracked as Hayes twisted his own broken arm back into place and smiled. "You came here for Jade with this weak body? Seriously?"

He rolled his shoulder and yawned, watching Leon rise. "I thought you would use the same state you left Seol-Mujin in."

Leon cleared the blood from his teeth and spat a glob onto the ground. The Hi-no-Kami sang through the air as he launched forward.

The spinning war disc tore from his back, passing through two Skywarden lords. Clean-cut lines appeared on their throats as the disc sliced through them like smoke. Their bodies heaved, stayed intact for two seconds, then fell apart like meat. Bloodied intestines sprayed out and dangled in the air like shredded robes.

A wordless scream flanked Hayes’s ears as three more lords dashed forward with ice-chilled, clenched fists.

Leon closed his eyes and ducked. The first lord’s head moved cleanly from his neck as Leon straightened, holding the Hi-no-Kami in a horizontal arc. The remaining two slammed icy, compressed fists into Leon’s jaw, causing him to stagger.

They paused for a finishing blow. Too slow. The black cloth around Leon’s neck lashed forward, strangling one while Leon’s fingers drove into the eyes of the other. Stone creaked as the lord gulped his own eyes into his stomach and collapsed onto his knees with bloodied, sunken sockets. A wet spray followed as the black cloth tightened, crushing the face of the second with a blast.

"You!" The blue glow under Hayes’s skin surged as he screamed. "You will die for using your father’s cloth to kill members of the Skywarden sect."

Leon fixed his black, blazing gaze on Hayes and blinked.

A massive wave of cobalt energy blasted from Hayes’s palms, rolling forward as he sliced his arm through the air. Leon raised the Hi-no-Kami, driving it through the wave and splattering it into perfect halves.

Both halves curved past him, slamming into the estate walls and trees behind him. Roots tore upward and stone exploded inward. Dust and debris rained down as the surviving Skywardens and Gyeong scrambled into the estate.

Chilled sweat trailed from Hayes’s forehead to his chin. He blinked. ’Andrew never did that.’

His eyebrows sharpened as he dashed forward with a mountain-blasting fist. His knuckles landed on Leon’s cheek before Leon could block, snapping his neck sideways. Blood leaked from Leon’s lips and dripped onto the gravel like snowflakes. As the drops touched the stone, black smoke curled up from them like a ghost set free.

"You will die under my fist, Leon Storm!" Hayes drove a second blow into Leon’s shoulder, shattering the joint.

Hayes moved for a third strike, but Leon caught his fist with his left palm. Darkened heat plummeted from Leon’s fingers, yanking the bones from Hayes’s knuckles.

Blood-vein lines clawed up in Hayes’s eyes as he jerked his hand back, screaming in pain. He looked at his numbed, reddened fingers, then grinned at Leon. A devilish glow of cobalt energy blazed out of his eyes as he forced his bones to straighten. "So, you do have your father’s heat."

Leaves between them paused. Leon lunged. A sharp wave dashed past Hayes as he leaned back, watching the Hi-no-Kami’s blade carve a line across his front.

He glanced at the cut in his cloth and sighed at Leon. "First time anyone has touched this robe."

He grabbed the sharp blade of the Hi-no-Kami with bare hands and drove his elbow straight into Leon’s face, cracking the bones in Leon’s nose. Leon’s grip slipped as he stumbled backward, blood raining from his fractured nose.

Metal creaked as Hayes increased his grip on the Hi-no-Kami, then hurled it toward the estate wall. The sword whipped through the air and stuck blade-first into the wall.

"Let’s see if you can stand my fist." Hayes dashed forward before Leon could stabilize and drove his forehead into Leon’s nose.

Blood poured from Leon’s nose and traced hasty lines across his upper lips when he stumbled three steps back. The blood evaporated, tiny wisps rising from each drop as it hit the ground.

Heated air flew toward them as the war disc slammed itself toward Hayes’s side. But Hayes caught it with one hand, watching the spinning disc screech against his palm without cutting through. "A toy? Are you serious?"

He squeezed it and hurled it back in a collapsed state.