Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Chapter 283: Three Years in a Heartbeat

Cloth rustling echoed as Lord Hei Yung swung his palms against his lap. He observed the space between the backs of the Monarchs’ floating seats and the ring where Leon stood.

Overlord Luo Fang sat there with a wide, cruel smile as he flicked his gaze from Leon to Lord Hei Yung. "Save him here also like you did in Agatha. Stupid fool."

"What will I face next?" Leon thought, darting his eyes between the Monarchs, the Overlords, and the Lords. "Whatever they want to do, I am willing to face what may come."

A rose flower outline appeared at the back of the left wrist of his blackened suit as he clenched his fist.

The floating ground Leon stood on jerked forward the moment Zarek, the Monarch of the Eclipse Sect, locked his gaze toward it.

Beneath the platform, a voting mechanism materialized before the Overlords and the Lords once the ground came to a halt.

Sola relaxed her shoulders. Her head rotated in a three-sixty angle while her body remained in the same posture. "Let the vote begin."

A glowing panel appeared before every member: the Overlords, the Lords, and even the Monarchs.

"Be strong, Leon," Hei Yung thought. He blinked twice after scanning his panel, his heart sinking at the sight of Leon’s weary face.

He quickly pressed the Free Him button. The panel dissipated into a thin blue line and streaked toward the voting machine.

Overlord Luo Fang took a deep breath and smiled, realizing he was the last to vote. He turned his gaze toward Lord Hayes in the Cobalt Sect, offered a grin, and pressed the Kill Him button.

As his choice streaked toward the machine at the center of the chamber, the blue glow transformed into green.

A faint red glow pulsed through the swirling blackness of the Faceless Monarch as he pushed himself upward. "By your own will, the boy does not die today."

Sola slammed her palms on the table and threw a sharp glance toward the Monarch of the Shards. "HOW!"

The Faceless Monarch drifted through the air and stopped behind her seat. Chills raced down Sola’s spine as she felt a warm palm touch her shoulder.

The Faceless Monarch blinked once at her, then turned his attention to Leon. "He does not walk free, also."

Lord Hei Yung’s eyelids lifted while his jaw tightened. "No, no, no."

Saliva snaked down his throat and a bone-cracking sound echoed around him. "Please do not send him to that place."

The Faceless Monarch floated toward the platform and placed a hand on the ring. "Leon Storm. You will be placed in The Null for three months."

Sola’s eyes glowed with joy. "Yes, that is how I love it. The monsters there will finish what the Monarchs did not do."

Hayes swung a victory fist in the air. "YES!"

...

The Sects began leaving the room one after another, but Hei Yung stood still and watched as the Shards materialized around Leon.

Two tears trailed down his eyes as a red vortex appeared before the Shards and Leon.

Overlord Luo Fang walked toward Lord Hei Yung and placed a hand on his shoulder. "He is strong. He can survive that."

He laughed as Hei Yung’s eyes blazed with blue lightning. Hei Yung shook him off and walked out of the tower.

Sola and Zarek gave the vortex a final glance before departing with their members.

The Faceless Monarch shook his head before vanishing into black smoke.

Wet plopping sounds echoed as Leon and the Shards reached The Null. Roaring sounds lanced through the heated ground as the Shards slammed their staffs down.

"So this is where I will spend my next three months?" Leon thought while watching countless Quro-Xyria flying in the burning skies.

The moment the Shards lifted their hands from him, they vanished.

...

For the first two weeks, Leon wandered the dead land while keeping a sharp watch.

He managed to escape the Quro-Xyria and hid inside caves whenever he could no longer fight them.

By the end of the first month, Leon sat inside a newfound cave with his eyes closed, remaining still even as he sensed the creatures nearing him.

Shattered bones littered the ground around him when he cracked his eyes open at the middle of the second month.

Hair-clicking sounds echoed as he brushed his palms over his face and chin. "I have grown a beard?"

His eyes widened as he saw a different version of himself reflected in the smooth surface of the golden drift shield.

The Quro-Xyria that once wanted to kill him now wrapped themselves around Leon as he slept, and he finally woke up on the morning of the third month.

The creatures’ bodies rose and fell in rhythm while sharp air whistled out of their noses. Their wings spread wide as Leon pushed himself off the floor and began walking through the cave.

The walls pulsed and glowed when he placed his palms against them.

During the second week of the third month, the creatures began brushing their tongues against Leon in a playful manner.

Every morning, the Quro-Xyrias would fly out of the cave, returning only when the faint light in the cloudless sky faded.

He studied the nature of the creatures, learning how to balance the two personalities he possessed with the power of the Solflare.

With every lesson he learned, the creatures would fly out of the cave and roar into the air as if congratulating their newfound friend’s growth.

Then, on the final day of the three months, all seven creatures lowered their heads and wings at the sight of the red vortex.

Leon took a deep breath and brushed his fingers over the creatures’ backs with a saddened smile.

"Where is that bastard!" two Skywardens screamed as they entered The Null through the vortex.

The moment they stepped away from the vortex, a single Quro-Xyria lunged and killed them instantly.

Leon’s eyes widened at the brutal nature of the creatures.

The creatures blinked at him as he walked toward the vortex, and he offered them a final nod. "Thank you."

...

The tower and its people looked different once the vortex vanished behind Leon. "Why are they all looking like I have been gone for three years?"

Leon scanned the room, searching for the Skywardens he had seen before being sent away. "Why is Hei Yung looking older?"

Lord Hei Yung walked toward Leon, placed a hand on his shoulder, and coughed. "I should have told you earlier."

Leon’s head snapped low. "What were you supposed to tell me that you did not?"

"A month in The Null is a year in the normal world."

"WHAT!"