Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Chapter 186: The Fallen Halo I

That night, two of the shadowy beings flew over the walls of the chamber where they had sought rest.

Leon’s eyes flared open, sweat dripping from him like rain. In front of him, two of the beings stopped and grinned.

Leon’s head tilted harshly to the right, then to the left, when the beings reached out to him with long arms.

Deep inside Leon’s mind, his normal dreamland was now a chaos he needed to solve.

He stood at the front of the two sentinels. This time, instead of standing in their giant posture, they bowed.

One had its sword pointed at Leon’s direction, the other pointed toward the gigantic gate.

Droplets of black liquid fell from the first as Leon moved past it and approached the other two standing guard at the gate.

The surface of the gate glowed the moment Leon stepped before it. The gate, which wouldn’t open no matter how much pressure he had put on it back then, opened with just a single touch.

A white light exploded before his eyes. The intensity was so fiery that it would have blinded Leon’s dream-self if he hadn’t covered his eyes.

As the light finally dimmed, a new world that looked like the real world came into view.

"Wow," Leon marveled as he crossed the threshold between the dark section of the gate. When his right foot stepped onto the land, voices captured his ears.

They were loud and clear at the same time. Not just the kind of sound that vibrates through the body. This one was felt within the soul.

Birdlike creatures burst from the grassy land and hovered in the air. Their feathers were so huge that they could be used to make the clothes Leon would wear for his entire life.

Other creatures, like the six-tailed black fox, a five-headed golden serpent, and creatures Leon knew never existed in the real world or even in dreams.

As he delved more into the land, a vast storehouse of snow and frost caught his attention. Even in his dream, he remembered seeing that before.

But the moment his eyes fell on the beings with skeletal faces holding sickles in their hands and guarding the storehouse, the dreamworld collapsed.

He jerked up, gasping. The dry corner of the chamber where he had slept earlier was now filled with wetness. Not the kind of water that smelled, this had the scent of rotting blood.

He lunged up quickly and scanned himself before lifting his head to see if anyone was watching him. He froze, turning to Liu Yan first.

Liu Yan lay there, arms spread apart. Blood seeped out from her and stretched on the ground, creating a puddle.

Looming above her were two horned beings with wings similar to the ones he had seen in his dream.

Without hesitation, Leon screamed. "Hey!"

He clapped his hands and dashed forward, drawing out the black dagger from his side.

One creature turned its blood-filled face toward Leon. The smile behind the look made Leon slip and hit the ground face-first.

His vision turned blurry at once. The moment he passed out, he jerked up, standing at the center of the chamber. He threw confused glances in every direction.

Under the rays of the Tartarus morning sun, everything was normal. ’Did I have two different dreams?’ he wondered, watching Liu Yan.

Liu Yan sat in a lotus posture, peeling off the back of a red apple. She stopped mid-slice, then smiled faintly at Leon. She placed the sliced portion in her mouth and began grinding her teeth on it.

An Lang stood at the far end, warming up with press-ups.

Wu Ze wasn’t around, not even her pen weapons.

...

Ten minutes flew by before they could recall. And within those times spent, Leon leaned against the left side of the wall, trying to reason for the two dreams.

As soon as Wu Ze entered, a blast followed. Debris began dripping from the ceiling of the chamber they stood in.

Wu Ze turned and ran outside. Liu Yan followed, throwing the little piece of the fourth apple away.

As for An Lang, he vanished in an unimaginable manner.

"Do you want to die in there?" Liu Yan screamed when she saw Leon not reacting as they did.

Although Leon’s eyes were open, his mind wasn’t there at all. He came back to his senses when a diamond-shaped rock fell and slammed into the ground between his open legs.

"WHOA!" he screamed, stood up abruptly, and then dashed for the exit.

A huge wave of dust pushed him forward from the entrance, while the ceiling collapsed entirely.

The force of the push sent him flying a few meters away, passing the angle An Lang had reached.

At the other side of the chamber, where it was now clear to the horned beings’ walkway, two demonized heads popped up.

"Move!" Wu Ze screamed and turned, following Leon’s direction.

Liu Yan hesitated. Her eyes were wide, as if they wanted to pop out of their sockets when she saw the beings closing in from a distance.

When Wu Ze noticed Liu Yan had gone into a deep state of shock, she halted and turned back. "Fuck!"

She hurled Liu Yan by the hand and dragged her forward.

...

All three of them collapsed on the ground and began gasping heavily when they reached Leon’s side.

Wu Ze lifted her head to Liu Yan and chuckled. "You just got yourself killed."

An Lang threw a soft glance at Wu Ze and smiled. "It’s good you went in for her, if not—"

"Shhh!" Wu Ze placed a finger on her lip. Seeing that made An Lang remain quiet.

Right at the front of the new cave they hid in, clicking and teeth-grinding sounds echoed.

An Lang slowly tilted his head, watched the shadow figure moving on the ground, then turned a curious gaze to Wu Ze.

Wu Ze shook her head when An Lang’s mouth opened.

"What—"

She slapped her left palm on An Lang’s mouth, muffling the words before they sold the little life they had left.

For five minutes, An Lang couldn’t breathe. His face kept turning red as the figures also moved along on the ground.

For a moment, one nearly entered. Wu Ze’s eyes widened, her heart rate beating above its speed limit.

But when the figure began turning away, one after another, the hot sweat cooled.

"WTF! You nearly killed me." An Lang spoke in an angry tone and pulled himself from her loosened grip.

At that time, Leon was a few meters away, brushing the dirt from his face and chest.

His panel reeled to life when he turned toward the direction the creatures had been earlier.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Presence Detected.

Scanning...

Name: Vaelith

God Title: The Fallen Halo

Rank: A

Hostility: Critical

Domain Influence: Cathedral of the Fall

Unique Ability: Fallen Edict

Boot-clicking sounds echoed from outside the cave as the panel dimmed.

After two minutes, a tattooed young man wearing tattered trousers with a weird belt appeared.

Leon watched him crawl on the walls, pushing himself forward, toward the same direction they were in.

The young man slipped and fell on the ground, then screamed. "Help! Somebody. Help!"

The voice was so loud and carried so much pain that it touched Wu Ze’s heart.

She turned to Leon. "We have to help him."

Without waiting for an answer from Leon, she broke free from her fear and crouched beside the young man.

"Let me help you," Wu Ze requested, then slowly wrapped her fingers around the guy’s right arm without permission.

He lifted his head slowly, then smiled.