Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Chapter 250: The Erase Order II: Ninety-Six Hours

Lord Luo Fang leaped into the air and bowed to the Monarchs when he stopped at their table.

"With respect to your absolute decisions, Monarchs and Overlords," he said while glancing at the faces of the Monarchs. "Lord Hayes has shown you the physical price of his encounter with this bloodline, but the threat goes deeper than a single wounded limb."

"Beyond Hayes’s destroyed limb?" Sola asked with an intrigued face.

"Yes, Monarch of the Lotus Maw Sect," Lord Luo Fang said and flew closer to the Monarch, something no Overlord had ever dared to do when such a meeting was taking place. "I myself was there during the Death Pit incident."

He shifted his gaze to the Cobalt Wards Sect, then nodded at Hayes. "I don’t know if I’m eligible to show you some images I personally took on that day."

"Let’s see them," The Faceless Monarch said with a nod.

"Thank you for accepting my request," Lord Luo Fang said, then bowed. "Here are the images, and a short video that didn’t end well due to how powerful the Solar energy was there."

On the display at the center of the Monarchs, a video began playing, casting red and golden light across the faces of the council.

"Pardon me for the sounds that come along as you watch it," Lord Luo Fang said as screams began echoing while dark clouds slowly formed on the screen.

"Who is that directing a mixture of lightning, water, and blue fire toward the frozen Leon?" The Faceless Monarch asked, while faint sparks slowly appeared in the void on his face.

"That is Tiger, a renowned soldier who was tasked to fight against Leon Storm to see who the stronger person was," Lord Luo Fang said, while his left arm slowly trembled whenever he saw the sparks from the Faceless Monarch’s void face.

"Okay," Sola said and cleared her throat. "So he is also that powerful?"

"He was, but not anymore," Lord Luo Fang said, then clenched his wrist.

"You mean as in he’s dead?" Sola asked while shifting glances from Lord Luo Fang to the other Monarchs, as if trying to convince them to go after Leon.

"Death would have been the best option, but it rejected him," Lord Luo Fang said, then shifted a clinical gaze to Hayes in the Cobalt Wards Sect, before changing the video to Tiger’s broken and naked self.

"This is how he is now. Burnt, broken, and stripped naked in front of every member of the Agatha Special Force," Lord Luo Fang said while brushing the back of his hand against his eyes. "It is difficult to report this also, but I heard he also lost his eyes after that."

"That solar fire is the same the Destroyer used years ago," Sola said and leaned forward on her three-fingered arms. "We cannot sit here and allow it to ground itself like it did with the Destroyer."

Sola, in connection with the Eclipse Sect Monarch, the Cobalt Wards Sect Monarch, and the Zenith Sect Monarch, all turned their sharp gazes toward the Faceless Monarch of the Shard Sect, awaiting his final say.

"If the boy truly poses a threat, then tell me," The Faceless Monarch placed his right hand on the table, then shifted his gaze to Lord Luo Fang. "When and how do you intend to erase him from existence?"

A faint smile appeared on both Lord Luo Fang’s and Hayes’s lips.

"With all due respect, we have already taken action," Lord Luo Fang said while moving back from the gap he had closed and stopping in front of the Overlords.

"Taken action?" Sola said with a frown on her face. "You shouldn’t feel any regret about that. That’s what any sensible person would do before even seeking advice from a council."

"So, what is the action you took, Lord Luo Fang?" Zarek, the Monarch of the Eclipse Sect said, then slammed his right fist on the table. In a flash, all the light in the room swelled into his palms when he turned them upward.

"Zarek, Monarch of the Eclipse Sect, I feel your rage. And I know we didn’t do the right thing by not informing the council first," Lord Luo Fang said with a saddened look on his face. "We have arranged for some of our men to be deployed to Tartarus."

"I thought you meant you had already deployed some of your men," Zarek said and leaned back in his seat. "If not, then it’s okay."

"Thank you, Monarch of the Eclipse Sect. Please excuse me for not giving the full details of it initially," Lord Luo Fang said and shifted his gaze to the Faceless Monarch. "Monarch of the Shard Sect, we humbly require three of your primary Shards."

"No need for my Shard if your men are there waiting," The Faceless Monarch said and loosened his clenched fist. "Deploy your men and let them intercept him in Tartarus like you mentioned."

"Lord Luo Fang," Sola called, then began tapping her right fingers. "How many men are there waiting?"

"Only one."

"Only one?" Sola said and shifted joyous glances to the other Monarchs. "See, just one person sent out to take him out."

"And who is that one person?" Zarek asked, rubbing his eyelid with his left black, crystal index finger.

"Riven, my own nephew," Lord Luo Fang said, then straightened himself.

At a far distance behind the lords of the Skywardens, Kessa sat with sharp air escaping from her nose and mouth while slowly folding her arms across her chest. ’So this is what he planned to do with Riven? I wouldn’t have accepted the offer if I knew this was what he wanted to use him for.’

...

Hours after every sect went back to their respective sections of Seol-Mujin, the Devil’s Craft leaped into the air.

As soon as it vanished from the skies of Seol-Mujin, it transformed into the red Triarch.

"So what I heard of Hayes and Lord Luo Fang is actually true," Feng said as he pulled the steering wheel of the Triarch. "They think they are ahead, but they don’t know they’re actually making Leon grow faster with every fight."

He slammed the throttle forward and made the Triarch streak through the sky like a bolt of red lightning, racing against the ninety-six-hour clock that had already started ticking.