Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Chapter 189: The Fallen Halo IV: Trapped With a God

The Castle of Souls held its warmth while the remaining land of Tartarus swam in chaos.

Black birds with six eyes, all of different shapes and colors, soared high in the sky above the hills of the eastern part of Tartarus.

Rock formations collapsed and rained on the valley like rain as two of the Serakels moved past its walls.

Clicking sounds echoed as the Serakels stopped and began communicating in their language that was only spoken in the head.

"The humans thought they’d found a good protector," the young Serakel said. She lowered its head, then began nodding it. "Vaelith can become good after all those years."

"Yeah, being blinded and following someone is what humans do." The older one, who had one of its horns broken, added. She slammed the tip of her snake tail on the walls, then screamed in joy.

The younger one joined in the laughter, slamming her tail at the mouth of the cave.

A series of vibrations traveled from the valley to the front of the Serakels’ temple hidden deep in the cave.

The temple was a place every human would dream of being in, but wouldn’t be able to stay there for a second. Walls made of Starfire Opal, ground made of pure gold, and air that smelled of diamond.

It was so vast that half of the European continent could be contained there and still have untouched lands.

Inside the temple of temples were thousands of Serakels, from newly born ones that could match a thirty-year-old human in strength to older ones that were unmatched by any human on earth.

Loud voices rose as three S-rank, god-level Serakels dashed forward, breaking space and time, and stopped at the throne made from a mixture of gold and Starfire Opal.

"My queen," Noor, the third strongest of the three god-tier Serakels, said and bowed.

When the queen, who had the looks of a woman and the muscles of a man, raised its head, a wave of air blasted through the pillars of the temple itself.

The force was so strong that it made all other Serakels standing either inside the temple or thousands of kilometers away bow.

...

"What was that?" An Lang asked, waking up abruptly after the ground bounced him. He drew out his war discs and stood on guard.

Liu Yan was already holding her black sword, staring at the entrance of the room they had been given.

An Lang lowered his guard slightly when the vibrations passing through the castle calmed.

"I’m sure that was an earthquake," Liu Yan said as she placed her sword back on her back.

"An earthquake doesn’t sound or move with that speed," An Lang rejected the claim. He turned to Leon. "Maybe you’ll at least tell me something sensible."

The moment Leon opened his mouth to speak, the door to their chamber opened. Aurelian entered, smiling.

"It was—"

"No need to tell me lies. The one who tells the truth is here," An Lang frayed Leon’s words off and moved toward Aurelian.

Leon watched An Lang and nodded while exiting the room. He kept his gaze locked on Aurelian until he finally exited the chamber.

Aurelian turned to An Lang, then smiled. "Don’t worry about the vibration you just felt."

"Don’t worry?" An Lang’s head snapped back. "That nearly killed me, and you’re saying I shouldn’t worry?"

Liu Yan stepped forward, carrying a face that looked more confused than An Lang’s.

Aurelian’s expression shifted from a smile to a grin and back to a smile within seconds. The moment he closed his eyes and laughed, An Lang and Liu Yan also joined in, forgetting about the danger that hadn’t been explained.

"Come on, there is more for you to know before it’s too late," Aurelian stated, wrapping his arms around An Lang’s neck.

That gesture alone caused An Lang’s stomach to rumble. "Is there food at where we are heading? I’m damn hungry."

"Don’t worry, there is plenty of food for you till you die."

Aurelian walked An Lang out of the room, keeping a close distance to Leon when they exited and saw him standing close to the main door of the castle.

...

"Damn!" Leon cursed after he kicked a rat that had the skin of a rhino. "What did I just hit my leg on?"

He crouched down, held his right foot, and wowed at the metal boot that had crammed inward.

A gust of wind flew in front of him the moment he stood up and turned toward the direction of the valley. "Who actually is Aurelian?"

He asked, brushing his chin and wondering. As soon as something popped up in his mind, Leon thought of seeking help from the strange panel that had only been granting him information when there seemed to be danger.

"How do I even communicate with that?" he asked, shifting his gaze to his palms. "Okay. Let me try calling it."

He inhaled deeply, closed his eyes, then cracked them open with a sigh. "Open system, open panel."

"What am I even saying?" He laughed it off, then tried again. "System."

This time, a panel appeared before his eyes with only a few lines of text.

[System online.]

[Awaiting host command...]

Leon focused on the text, nodding. ’Will it be able to give me more information about Vaelith if I ask it?’ he wondered, staring at the text.

"System, give me more information on Vaelith, the Fallen Halo."

Immediately, Leon’s words faded, and a loading symbol appeared on the panel.

He stood there, left arm folded on his chest, right thumb under his jaw, and the index finger brushing his cheeks.

[Target Identified: Vaelith]

[Former Name: Aurelian, The God Who Bore the First Halo.]

[Current Name: Vaelith, God of the Fallen Halo]

[Status: Fallen Divine Entity]

[Primary Authorities: Fallen Edict / Cathedral of the Fall.]

[Fallen Edict: A corrupted divine command that forces living beings, power, and lesser law into obedience.]

[Known Edicts include: Kneel, Witness, Fall.]

[Cathedral of the Fall: A desecrated divine domain that corrupts battlefield order, weakens grace, and erodes conviction.]

[Confirmed Manifestations: Broken Halo Skies. Grace Decay. Pillar of False Grace.]

[Warning: prolonged exposure to target may result in spiritual suppression, perceptual instability, and obedience failure.]

Leon’s body stiffened as he read the status. His breathing changed when he read all the known Fallen Edicts. And when he reached the Cathedral of the Fall, he paused, turned, and looked at the walls of the castle with wide eyes.

...

After hours of studying the data on the panel, Leon sighed heavily and went back inside.

As soon as the door closed behind him, the swarm of insects gathered at where he stood, eating the sand his foot had been printed in.

Inside, Wu Ze sat by Aurelian’s side. "Why is it that you have so many tattoos on your skin?" she asked, pointing to the ones visible to her.

Aurelian looked at the tattoos on his wrist, then gave a short, creepy smile. "They appear by themselves."

Wu Ze’s head snapped back, and for a second, she nearly hit the back of her head on a pointed stone. "What? Who are you?"

She stood up, firmed her arms on her waist, then watched Aurelian with a careful stare.

Aurelian watched Wu Ze, then slowly pushed himself up. "You wouldn’t want to know about that."

He walked from Wu Ze’s side to the window, then rested his gaze on the dead sky.

Leon entered to tell Wu Ze and the other squad members about what he had learned about Aurelian, but froze when he saw the look on Wu Ze’s face.