Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Chapter 190: The Fallen Halo V: Breaking Point

A loud, ear-bursting sound tore through the air as countless black birds circled the roofs of the castle.

Feathers rained, slipping on the walls and slowly floating before they finally landed.

Boots slammed on the ground as An Lang followed Leon.

"Where are you going, Leon?" he asked, trying to grab Leon by the shoulder.

"There is no need to stay here," Leon said, turning. Behind An Lang, he saw Liu Yan standing at the front of the castle, staring back at him.

Wu Ze stood by Aurelian’s side, lost in thought.

"Let him go, he won’t go that far," Aurelian stated, placing a hand on Wu Ze’s shoulder.

She shifted her gaze from Aurelian, looked at Liu Yan, then repeated the same statement as if she were under hypnosis.

"Fine," An Lang sighed in a discomforted breath. "If you want to die like the others who couldn’t make it here alive, keep going."

He turned as if heading back, then looked at Leon again. "We’ll be waiting for you. Remember to come if you get a change of mind."

An Lang walked back into the castle, swinging his arms to release the rising tension that had formed in his chest.

Leon’s chest remained heavy with the guilt of leaving his squad under a Fallen God’s care. Yet he didn’t turn back.

...

After a two-kilometer walk, Leon paused at the front of the valley they had used earlier. He lifted his head, looked at the caves that sprawled across the walls of both hills, then breathed heavily. "I’m ready for whatever will come."

He clenched his fist, then walked through the thick cloud of dust ahead.

Metal grinding sounds echoed from every direction Leon took, yet there was no sign of fear in his eyes.

He stopped at a cave that looked too clean to exist in such a place. "This place will be good for the night."

He first scanned the room, checking the pulse that rose and fell, the ceiling rocks, and the paths that led deep into the cave.

After he was done and made sure everything was secure and harmless, he unwrapped the red cloth from his neck, laid it on the floor, and slept on it.

Beside him were tiny pieces of the Starfire Opal he found during his search.

A soft wind brushed his face, seeped through his hair, and slowly forced his eyes to close.

Under the protection of the cave and the traps he had put in place, Leon remained there, calm, unbothered. But his mind kept on repeating the same question: "Are they safe?"

...

Inside the Castle of Souls, the three Madhouse squad members gathered in the chamber they had been given by Aurelian.

An Lang’s jaw was locked, his heart beating faster, and his eyes sharp like a razor blade.

"FUCK!" he cursed, slamming his clenched left fist on the wall. "Who did he think he was? He even came to meet us, and he wants to control us."

"An Lang," Liu Yan whispered quickly and shifted her gaze forward. "Still, he is part of us. We have to be one. Just as they told us."

"Be one?" An Lang’s head snapped back as he focused on Liu Yan. "Then tell your secret lover to join us in decision-making."

Liu Yan’s face went pale for a second, then she shook her head.

"Oh, did you think I haven’t been watching how you move around him?" An Lang added, then laughed in an eerie tone.

Before he could add another word, Wu Ze stood up. "Enough!"

Sharp air flew out from An Lang’s nose, mouth, and ears as he shifted his anger to Wu Ze.

"Don’t you dare try—"

"Are you raising your voice at me? You, who are just an E-rank, uncivilized, useless being," Wu Ze countered back with fire.

Liu Yan tried to calm the rising tension but got pushed to the side.

"Fuck off!" An Lang and Wu Ze screamed and pushed her to the side as if she wasn’t even part of them anymore.

"Guys!" Liu Yan tried again, but this time received a slap from Wu Ze.

"Sit down and be quiet!"

Without any hope of easing the rising tension, Liu Yan slowly exited, her palm resting on her reddened cheek.

A long shadow stretched at the front of the door when Liu Yan reached the hallway.

There, dwelling in the darkness, was Aurelian.

"Oh," he exclaimed and rushed toward Liu Yan. "What happened?"

He placed a hand on Liu Yan’s left arm, then slowly made her show him her reddened cheek. When Liu Yan tried to speak, Aurelian concluded as if he knew what she was about to say.

"Don’t worry, everything will be fine when I go in there."

As he walked Liu Yan to the other chamber, a flower-shaped tattoo began appearing on his upper right chest.

...

The morning air in Agatha was chilled, flowing through the burning MRAPs that were stuck in Chaos City.

A metal clicking sound echoed as Tiger slammed his blue-flamed sword on a rock, splitting it apart in an instant. "Fuck!"

Samir swiftly shifted his head toward him. "Are you still thinking about the Madhouse Squad?"

Tiger’s eyes blazed as Leon’s face flashed in his mind the moment the words faded. He threw a sharp glance at Samir, then increased his grip on the sword.

"I wanted to crush his head with my palms. But I can’t. FUCK!" he screamed, cursed, and stamped his boots on the corpse of the Devilish Goat.

Samir’s face shifted into eerie laughter when he saw the blood of the corpse stretching on the ground.

He stood up from the rock he was sitting on, lifted his head to the blood-scented sky, then inhaled once.

"It’s not yet too late."

With those single words, a smile tore across Tiger’s face. The two stood there, smiling at each other as plans of getting to Tartarus slowly formed in their heads.

Meanwhile, at the Eastgate of Agathan Land, birds burst from their nests into the sky. The ground shook heavily as soldiers marched toward MRAPs that had their engines running.

Inside Blackscale Cathedral, shadows streaked across the walls. They stretched until the inner room’s door closed.

Hei Yung stood behind the metal chairs that were occupied by three higher-ranking members of the Agathan Special Forces.

"Is the connection back?" Hei Yung asked, folding his arms across his chest.

The only young tech specialist turned his head and looked at Lieutenant Yung’s face. "We are still getting unusual feeds from their body cams, sir."

"Unusual feeds?"

"Yes, sir. The feeds are not broken, but they seem to be overiting them selve."

The senior tech analyst’s brow furrowed as he turned to the young specialist. "You mean overwritten? By what? The same thing that swallowed the last unit?"

"No, sir."

Lu Wang placed a heavy palm on the tech specialist’s shoulder. "I don’t care what name you give it. Restore the line."

His breath hitched as he watched the glitching screen. "We have to reach them by any means necessary and see what’s happening there. We can’t just let them loose as we did twelve years ago."

Hei Yung shifted his gaze toward Lu Wang and closed his eyes when the words ignited a memory in his head.

When he cracked his eyes open, he fixed his eyes on the warped screen, on the frame where the corridor bent at an angle no man-made structure should hold.

His breathing stopped as he saw himself standing in the sealed room twelve years back with another broken feed.