Solflare: The Painter's Secret

The scent of ozone and cooling blood filled the garden. Leon moved a step forward. Black veins stretched from beneath his boots, causing trees to die instantly as his shadow fell on them.

A groan rose as he stepped on Lord Luke’s burnt body. Wet cracks fractured the man’s chest. A death sigh escaped Luke’s mouth. Blood-veins crawled up his eyes before he went still.

Strands of Jade’s hair danced in the air as his eyes slowly cracked open. He seemed oblivious to the danger drawing near.

He blinked once at the black-robed Leon standing beneath him like death in person. ’Just like his father.’

The black cloth fluttered against Leon’s chest when he shifted his blazing, darkened gaze toward the hovering Jade.

"JADE!" A concussive wave of air erupted from his mouth, blasting all the nearby trees in the inner garden.

Leaves and broken branches flew like birds, while squirrels sneaked out through the blasted garden door.

Two large, darkened rats rushed toward Leon, only to be dismantled by the spinning war disc. It tore through them from head to back and returned with blood dripping from its edges.

’Impressive tool.’ Jade relaxed his legs and lowered himself toward the ground with a wide smile.

A wave of chilled air flashed on the ground beneath him, causing leaves to push upward toward his waist.

"Look at you." He brushed his hair backward and sighed. "You are not even in the state to challenge me, Leon."

Bone-crackling erupted as he lifted his left arm toward Leon and closed his fingers. "If I were to strike now..."

He lifted his cold gaze and locked eyes with Leon’s burning, darkened stare. ’I can feel this is not the Leon I know. Well, it is better I make him fight someone special.’

His chest heaved slowly as he lowered his left arm and crossed it at his back. "...it would be a mercy, not a battle."

Just as his calm words ended, hot air flashed toward him like lightning, accompanied by the spinning war disc. He caught it between his index and middle fingers. ’Thought you could counter attack me. HMPH!’

He glanced at the war disc struggling to maintain balance and hurled it back toward Leon. "Fighting you would mean I have to extinguish you so easily that it would hardly be worth it."

A bladelike swish lanced through the air as he turned his back to Leon. "Settle your own ghost first."

He hissed when sparks ignited from a distance. "Then, perhaps, I shall grant you an end."

Just as the sparks closed in, he dissolved into shimmering particles, followed by a thunderous crash that splattered the ceiling of the garden chamber.

Debris and rubble rained down on Leon and the sparkling flames slowly closing in.

The black cloth around the black-robed Leon swayed from his neck and dashed forward like a snake.

Black flames spiraled upward as it reached the center of the sparking light.

Rays of moonlight splashed into the room and revealed the face of a person Leon had long forgotten, Lucas, the grandson of the greatest swordsman.

In Leon’s inner world, the original Leon’s eyes widened with shock when he saw the blazing, cold eyes of Lucas staring straight at him through the eyes of the Destroyer.

Lucas’s sleek, obsidian war suit, etched with faint silver runes, caught Leon’s gaze when the moonlight splashed fully on him.

The curled blades of his moon-like swords hummed with flying sparks as he lifted them and screeched them together, creating waves of sparkling embers.

"Jade does not have time for your display, Storm." His cold eyes sparkled as the embers flashed on his face. "But I am here to finish what we started."

Just as the tips of the moon-like swords lowered and clashed, Lucas grinned. He dashed forward like sound while the blades sang behind him.

Leon stood unfazed and watched Lucas get close before increasing his grip on the hilt of the Hi-no-Kami and lifting it upward.

Colorful sparks lingered between them as the swords clashed, transforming the garden into a blur of black flames and silver moonlight.

When Leon stepped aside and shouldered Lucas, Lucas used the momentum and swept his right blade straight at Leon’s throat. Leon’s black cloth waved upward and blocked the blade.

Lucas loosened his grip, pivoting upward. He slammed his boots on Leon’s shoulder and whirled his body around.

Leon stumbled a step back with his left shoulder trembling. More black flames dashed out and coiled up in his left shoulder as he lunged toward Lucas.

Lucas blocked Leon’s straight strike and tried to use his Void Step to minimize his presence, but Leon dropped and slammed a left punch into Lucas’s thighs.

Bone-crackling erupted as Lucas stumbled three steps back and stopped, breathing harshly. ’He cannot be this trained. He will die here, exactly as planned.’

He fixed his broken bone in seconds and dashed forward again. Dust and fallen leaves plummeted upward when he used the Crescent Echo strike.

He swung one blade downward, creating a loud hum as it screeched against the floor, then directed the second blade toward Leon’s waist in a dual-wielding strike.

Sharp air flew beneath Leon’s left boot as he lifted it and turned the Hi-no-Kami to block the strike aimed at his waist.

A loud crunching erupted and blasted both of them backward as Leon slammed his boots on the downward strike. He slammed the flat surface of the Hi-no-Kami on Lucas’s chest the moment he saw Lucas’s hands tremble from the block.

The impact sent Lucas hurling backward, but he caught himself and smiled through his blood-dripping face. "You have grown sloppy, Storm."

Shockwaves spread through the ground as he launched himself into an offensive sequence. He vaulted off a collapsed stone pillar and crossed his dual swords in an X-pattern in the air.

He descended like a falling star, but Leon met him halfway with the Hi-no-Kami humming with his thrust.

The walls of the chamber and the castle vibrated with the pressure as both were hurled out of the chamber into different halls.

Just as Lucas’s boots touched the ground, he gritted his teeth and transitioned into a sweeping guard-break stance.

He dashed forward with his swords acting as an extension of his own nervous system and parried Leon’s heavy swing with a slight flick of his wrist.

He redirected Leon’s momentum and shoved his elbows against the center of Leon’s chest. Thud!

"For the legacy." Lucas kicked off the ground and executed a backflip kick that left his sword free and ready for a downward strike.