Solflare: The Painter's Secret

Chapter 274: Awakening of the Universe Collapsar

Feathers fell into the river of lava when the shield transformed into a spinning, golden war disc and dashed toward Vaelith.

Vaelith’s wings snapped in a blur until he bashed the spinning disc from his face. "You’re actually proving me wrong with every passing second, Leon Storm."

Before he could relax his smoking feathers, Leon dashed at him. "I don’t care what you’ll say, VAELITH!"

A blue glow seeped onto the blade and mixed with the golden fire when Leon sliced it toward Vaelith’s neck.

Vaelith blocked the sword with his palms, then struck his hardened forehead against Leon’s. A sound blasted as the impact sent Leon crashing into the hungry lava that was vaporizing every rock that fell into it.

Leon’s vision blurred for half a second while the translucent panel reeled before him.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Host DNA regeneration complete.

Host self-growth increased.

Host body enhancement: Advanced.

Wither Edict activated.

Pain rattled in Leon’s chest when his God heart thudded heavily. Blue blood cells surged through Leon’s veins and sprawled across his entire body system.

His mouth opened wide, but no scream came out. A huge blue skull erupted from his throat while his body bounced twice as if a part of him had been reborn.

The golden armor tightened around his skin when the skull flew and tugged itself onto his right gauntlet. It transformed into the same rose shape he had had on the silver-black war suit.

The moment he shifted his gaze to the sky, An Lang’s face appeared before him.

"Good job, man."

A gleaming blade of Vaelith’s soul sword pierced through An Lang’s face and the transparent panel. Leon’s body sidestepped to the left and watched his reflection in the blue flaming sword.

"I knew you would do it," Vaelith said and winked at Leon before changing his course. Countless sharp feathers flew from his wings and directed themselves at Leon like darts.

The feathers moved like rain, but none of them were able to scratch Leon. He dodged them one after another while An Lang and Liu Yan’s voices echoed in his head.

"We are with you."

"We are a team, and we will survive this."

"We’ve got you, Leon."

"SHOW HIM WHAT YOU ARE!" An alien voice that sounded like his own but wasn’t his own echoed in his head while his pupils dilated into blackness.

In a flash, Vaelith flapped his wings and hurled countless waves of burning lava at Leon, then dashed into the air. "That’s not how they worked when they were with me?"

The moment Vaelith caught the blue glow on Leon’s sword blackening, Leon vanished.

"Where did he go?" Vaelith’s senses became heightened when he saw a fast-moving object but could not fully locate it under his gaze.

His soul sword sang in the air whenever the object reached his side. Chilled air flew on his face when a cloth-fluttering sound echoed above him. Vaelith’s golden spinning ring on his head cracked the moment he shifted his gaze upward.

Above him, a smiling, black blazing-eyed Leon’s boot moved through the halo on Vaelith’s head as if it were frail metal.

Vaelith’s neck mended inward while his eyes bulged as if about to explode.

The molten river erupted sideways when the impact sent him crashing into the depths.

Beneath the churning lava, a ten-thousand-kilometer serpent cracked its eyes open. Vaelith watched his reflection in the still eye until it blinked once.

"Oh no!" Vaelith’s face paled when the creature began snaking through the lava like a chained beast finally set free. "He just awoke the ten-thousand-year caged Ouro-Xyris. The Universe Collapsar."

When Leon dashed toward Vaelith and sliced his sword, Vaelith’s feathers blocked and folded themselves around Leon.

He flew both himself and Leon back into the air and wrapped his long, jagged fingers around Leon’s neck. "Did you see what you just awoke?"

Mucus splashed on Leon’s face when he tore parts of his wings with his teeth. But Vaelith kept on screaming at him as if he were no longer feeling pain, but fear.

Ouro-Xyris, the Universe Collapsar, sent a loud howling sound into the air when its head pierced out of the lava. When its entire body exited from the depths of Tartarus, the earth of the Hell land began collapsing inward.

A loud roaring sound echoed while countless smaller versions of the Universe Collapsar began exiting from the point the Ouro-Xyris had emerged.

Leon’s black-glowing eyes blinked twice when he saw the creature staring at him with its wide eyes.

The Ouro-Xyris held Leon’s gaze for a couple of seconds before submerging, and Vaelith unfolded his wings from Leon and set his arms free.

...

The skies of Seol-Mujin shimmered with life while four-tailed birds flew through the white clouds.

Skywardens walking on the reflective roads stopped and turned their gaze to the sky when a loud shriek tore through it and blasted the fiery birds.

"Oh no," Hayes said while his face paled. He placed a hand on Lord Luo Fang’s shoulder while bloodied veins began appearing in his eyeball.

The reflective street shook as countless Skywardens flew from their towers and appeared on the ground like rain.

"Charge before it crosses the boundary!" Lord Luo Fang screamed with his arm pointed to the darkening skies.

"But that’s just one Ouro-Xyris," Kessa said with a scoff.

"You’re just a child, Kessa." Lord Luo Fang threw a sharp stare at her, then exhaled once. "That’s the mother of all Ouro-Xyris. The one the Supreme Gods suffered before caging it thousands of years ago."

Chills ran down Kessa’s spine as she shifted her gaze upward.

Sonic waves vaporized all the white clouds. Black lightning fractured the firmament, raining down on the ground as the sky began to split apart.

The ground beneath the Shardspire burned as countless crystalline entities dashed out from it. Every flourishing tree burnt to ash when they moved past it.

All the Skywardens standing who saw the entities coming flew out of sight and watched with dread in their eyes.