Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 147: Retreat... For Now

The lightning around Hei Yung changed direction as he raised his left hand slowly. In a flash, the striking bolts that had been blasting into the maw of the Abyssal Maw Lord drew back toward Hei Yung in thick streams.

The air hitched as the blazing ring at his back began to spin faster. The blue-white light compressed around his arm, then around his chest, then gathered before him into a shrieking, clustered sword.

"Fall back!" an Agathan soldier roared after noticing the change in Hei Yung's appearance. "MOVE!"

The soldiers obeyed and dragged themselves away, the strong ones hauling the wounded.

The blazing gold light that melted the ground began to fade as suddenly as it had appeared. Inside it, Leon straightened himself, keeping a distance between Zoe and himself.

When the dome vanished fully, Zoe pushed herself from the untouched ground, then glanced at the drifting motes and the bubbling earth around them.

As soon as she tilted her head toward Leon and focused on the golden lightning in the boy's eyes, Leon moved like a flash beside her.

Without any sword or dagger, Leon chopped down through the Oculus Devourer, striking his fingers through its skull.

Another leapt from a broken ridge and directed itself toward Zoe. A ragged smile tore across Leon's face as he whirled around Zoe, held her arm, and drove the black sword in Zoe's hand twice into the creature.

Zoe stood there like a puppet as Leon controlled her arm.

When the creature convulsed and fell silent, Zoe blinked as Leon slowly loosened his grip on her hand.

Despite the chaos around them, Zoe's face glistened with love. One she had continuously felt every day and every time Leon's face came to her mind.

Leon's eyes widened, yet he wasn't shocked when he saw the blinding silver cloth wrapping Hei Yung.

A shriek tore from the Abyssal Maw Lord so violently that it rang like a nuclear blast in Leon's ears.

The mountain behind it split wider with a booming crack, black stone bursting apart like blown darts. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Hei Yung's brow hardened, his eyes locking onto the creature's movement. Blue light exploded through the creature's flesh in jagged lines and climbed from its chest to its skull, then down onto its body.

Zoe broke free from her delight, then screamed. "Down!"

Leon dragged her with him as chunks of basalt stones rained over the field.

Forcing his head up, he saw the creature convulsing, Hei Yung's lightning also dashing forward like shooting stars.

Hei Yung pushed forward through the airborne dust, holding onto a silver sword that kept blazing and spitting lightning.

A wet cry shot out of the Abyssal Maw Lord as it violently hurled itself backward, part of its skin peeling off like melted ice.

It smashed into the ruptured mountain and vanished into the darkness. Stones fell and closed the gap in a flash, stopping Hei Yung from entering.

A sharp gasp escaped Hei Yung as he swung the lightning sword for the fourth time, hoping to vaporize the stones, but failed.

Leon stayed frozen for a second, the feeling of Longwei's sacrifice now taking form in his gut.

Across the ruined field, the smaller creatures began to move sideways, fleeing from the soldiers, even the wounded soldiers who were not able to even swing an arm.

When one of the fleeing creatures moved past Leon, he grabbed it and split it in half, his fingers piercing through the skin at the separate maw.

At a far distance from Leon, the ruined convoy shook as two of the fleeing creatures slammed themselves onto it.

The vapor emitting from the ground dulled as the smoke began to settle.

Zoe lowered her sword, her chest rising and falling like a fish in the sea. She looked toward the closed mountain, then tilted her gaze toward the soldiers walking slowly, spitting blood.

At the front of the mountain, Hei Yung's appearance began to change as he descended softly onto the ground.

The silver clothing vanished the moment the tips of his boots touched the ground. The lightning sword also dissipated and trailed into Hei Yung's veins as he breathed heavily.

He lowered his head as his mind began to replay Longwei's last smile and the moment he blasted himself apart.

Soft thuds echoed from behind Hei Yung as Leon moved from Zoe's side and closed in with the saddened man.

"It retreated," Leon said, his gaze locked on the stones.

Hei Yung inhaled deeply, channeling the emotion deep into his gut, then tilted his head. "For now."

Behind them, the Agathan soldiers began counting themselves, gathering the dog tags of those who had fallen.

A few meters away from the convoy, Darian stood there, Kira by his side. His face was drained of all emotion, even fear or hope.

Kira's fingers trembled at her side as if she had just been retrieved from the depths of an icy place.

At Leon's side, Hei Yung placed a heavy hand on Leon's shoulder, then sighed.

The two stood there like brothers, their eyes locked on the stone and inhaling and exhaling in the same sequence.

After five minutes, Leon lowered his head. "I should have engaged it earlier."

Hei Yung turned a confused gaze, then smiled faintly. "You did more than you could imagine."

From a far distance, another set of convoys halted beside the destroyed one.

Hei Luo exited from the leading vehicle, then curled his mouth inward the moment he saw only Hei Yung and Leon at the front of the mountain.

Hei Luo glanced at the blood pooled on the ground, the melted stones, and the pieces of skin scattered across the ground like leaves.

Heavy silence smashed onto Hei Yung and Leon's backs when he stopped a few meters behind them.

"The operation at Basalt Mountain is suspended until further assessment."

Leon turned abruptly, glanced at Hei Luo's face, then back at the mountain. His lips parted, ready to speak, but stopped when he saw Hei Yung turn.

Hei Yung looked at Hei Luo, then turned to Leon. "You are being granted a two-month break."

'Two months break?' Leon screamed in his head, his face turning pale.

Hei Luo closed the gap between them. "Visit your family. When the two months are over, then you return."

Leon's fingers tightened unconsciously. For a moment, the ruined ground vanished from his mind and was replaced by Li Mei by a window, and Lily's surprised face.

Zoe walked slowly, stood by Leon's side, then grabbed Leon's left arm, staring at the face of the Lightning God.

Behind them, the smoke drifted over the closed mountain and into the dark crack that remained.