As Lyra stood on the bastions of Luna Fortress, surveying the enemy forces below, the sun finally rose above the horizon. Rays of golden light spread from behind the enemy lines, and Lyra felt the warmth of the sun on her face. She watched together with Prince Thomas, in total silence, as the enemy soldiers began to get into formation some 400 meters away from the Fortress, just out of effective range from most bows the defenders had. From where she stood, she could see the enemy King, Damien himself, sat atop a steed, giving him a good overview of his forces. On either side of him, two of the summoned heroes, her former classmates. But Jenna, the third, was intermixed with the soldiers, standing somewhere in the middle surrounded by a few more people in robes. Mages of some kind, Lyra mused. No real need for mechanical siege weapons in this world, when you had magic, which could fill a similar role.
"Are you certain you are ready for this, Lyra? There is no going back, once it is done..." Thomas asked, and Lyra was surprised by his concern. If she did not do this, he and everyone here would die, and yet he still worried about her well-being. His words only made her more certain, that this was the right decision. In a way, Thomas was very similar to his younger brother Henry in this sense too. So she flashed him a smile, and a nod. Then, she raised a hand and put two fingers against her throat, before she magically projected her voice, letting it carry with enough strength to reach the enemy forces:
-"I am Lyra Lunarsong, the 20th being brought into this world by your Goddess. This Fortress is under my protection. Lay down your arms now and turn back, and you shall all be spared. Refuse, and you will be destroyed. You have five minutes. Make your choice!"
She lowered her fingers from her throat, and glanced at Thomas. She had already told him of her plan, and the fact that she was also a being brought from another world, but he had not commented. Where she came from did not seem to matter. Then Lyra turned her attention back towards the enemy. Her elven eyes could see quite well, and she could definitely see that the King seemed flustered. He had left her within his own fortress just yesterday, under the care of one of the heroes.
Either Gustav had helped Lyra escape, or she had escaped on her own, and either version was a definite set-back for the King. He shouted for the other two heroes, and they too reluctantly moved to join Jenna amongst the soldiers stood in formation. Seems he was most keen to recapture Lyra, by the looks of things. Then five minutes came and passed. Not a single soldier had laid down their arms. Even if they wanted too, it was quite likely that they just couldn't, least they would be punished for treason.
Lyra took a deep breath, and steeled herself. This was it. But could she really do this? Could she really kill this many people? Then, she felt Thomas hand touching hers. A gentle squeeze, warm, supportive. She looked his way, then squeezed his hand back. "Thank you..." she said gently, before letting go of his hand.
She raised a hand skywards, and drew an unreal amount of mana to her form. This would be the strongest spell she had ever cast in her entire life. The spell itself cost 20,000 mana alone, which was nearly all she had. The pressure of the mana that swirled around her whipped up a mighty gust, and even the stonework of the bastion floor began to quiver. She held her hand up, gathering more and more mana, before speaking the incantation: "Finger of the Fire God[1]...."
And then, in one fluid swoop, she brought her hand downwards, as the spell was unleashed. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, the sky above seemed to glow brighter and brighter, as the ground beneath the enemy soldiers quaked, gently at first, but soon enough the tremors were real and violent. Then came the roar, as the white clouds themselves parted. A massive torrent of flame was falling from the sky, the roar of the flames deafening, drowning out all other noise as the firestorm spun and churned during their descent from the heavens. A pillar of flame, at least 100 meters wide, was rapidly approaching the enemy soldiers, turning the dawn as bright as day itself!
The Enemy King shouted orders, but no one could hear a thing. Jenna raised a hand, erecting a green barrier over as many people as she could muster. An Anti-Magic barrier. Jenna's skill, it seemed. But Lyra had seen it before. It would not make a difference. As the pillar of flame got closer to the ground, Lyra began to feel its heat even from this distance, 500 meters away. She felt the fine hairs on her body prickle under the heat, the air she breathed stinging in her lungs.
Then, it happened. With a blast that shook even the foundations of the Luna Fortress, enough to knock people on the walls off their feet, the massive pillar of incinerating flames touched the ground, in the middle of the enemy formations. Jenna's barrier did absolutely nothing. Anything within the initial 100-meter radius was instantly incinerated, as soldiers were turned to fine ash and dust in less than a second. However as the pillar of flame descended, the fire washed out from its initial impact-point, rolling over the battlefield like a tsunami of searing flames. Everyone and everything at least 150 meters from the impact point were quickly consumed by the roaring fire and turned into charred corpses.
The soldiers panicked. Formations were broken, and it was every man for themselves. In a stampede, they ran and crawled over one another in a hurry to escape the flames. The soldiers who had been within the radius of the churning pillar of fire were all turned to ash. Those close to the pillar had been consumed by the ensuing waves of flames. And those even further away found themselves injured by the heat, getting severe burns on their skin and any area of their body which touched metal.
But Lyra was not even done yet. She took out a handful of mana crystals from her sub-space inventory, restoring most of her mana. Then, she moved her hand. And to the horror of everyone, but especially the enemy soldiers... the flaming pillar began to move! With a roar, it lashed across the battlefield like an all-consuming beast, following the soldiers as they tried to get away. Even for Lyra up on the wall 500 meters away, the heat was intense, and the stones which made up the Luna Fortress wall were even cracking and smoking under the heat.
For 10 seconds, the pillar of flame moved across the battlefield, first left and then right, leaving behind it a black scar 300 meters tall and 900 meters long in the lands, and within its wake only blackened ash and dust swirled in the air, while all along its path, it left charred and smoldering corpses to decorate this new hellscape. As Lyra controlled the churning pillar of flames, she felt a tear roll down her cheek, but it instantly evaporated and dried up in the heat.
Then, finally, after half a minute of what can only be described as absolute carnage, did the flames thin out and eventually fade. The pillar had left a circular hole in the cloud-coverage, and now that the light from the fire vanished, so too did the morning grow darker again. The roar of the flames vanished, but what was left was much much worse. All over the field, near the edges of the blackened and burned scar, were the unfortunate souls who were still alive. Their cries of agony filled the morning air, as they clawed at their skin and rolled around in the now dry grass and earth, screaming in agony, calling out for help, crying for their mothers, praying to the Goddess to be granted the salvation of death...
On Lyra's side, up on the walls, there was only stunned silence. There was no cheering, no applause of victory from the knights and soldiers manning the walls. Faced with the sheer scale of death and destruction they had just witnessed, there could be nothing but silence, and awe. In the history of Atlas, no spell of such magnitude had ever been recorded. This was beyond what mortals could do. Even Prince Thomas, who had been briefed a few minutes in advance on what Lyra had planned to unleash, could still not believe his eyes. The entire enemy army, thousands of soldiers, decimated in but 30 seconds. The imagery of what had happened on the field below would be forever seared into the minds of the unfortunate souls who had witnessed the spell.
Lyra herself did not even want to look at all the notifications, but felt she had to. The things she saw, she had expected, but it was still unreal to consider. Currently, the number of dead was 4731, but the number was still climbing, every second. And the kill notices kept coming in, multiple new dings every second, likely from injured soldiers who passed away out in the field. Lyra believed the total enemy force had been numbering about 12,000 men. Before this day was over, the death toll would likely land at around 6000, so half the fighting force. But the remaining 6 thousand, many of those who were alive were still badly injured. When Lyra looked across the field, still charred and burning here and there, she guessed perhaps less than a thousand were fortunate enough to be uninjured.
When she looked past the battlefield, to the area just behind it, she laid eyes on the King, aghast and mouth open. No one could have imagined something like this, of course, and least of all the enemy king.
Lyra took out the last two remaining mana-gems from her inventory, restoring another 6,000 mana. She had a total of 7,000 now remaining. More than enough, to finish this. She looked at Thomas, and said:
-"I will be back soon. There is one more thing I must do."
"S-sure..." the Prince said, his voice trembling, not with fear but he also could not deny he was nervous. He had heard of how strong Lyra was. How absurd her stats were. But seeing it for yourself was something else. He could not help but wonder, if his Empire had done the right thing, bringing her into their midst. If she ever turned on them, he feared there was nothing they could do to stop her...
Then, Lyra lifted from the ground. Slowly, she hoovered over the smoke and fire, flying towards the enemy encampment, and King Damien. She came to a stop, levitating in the air some 4 meters above ground, towering above the King and the few commanders who yet remained, those who had stayed back. The king was shaking, his pants wet, and Lyra could smell the urine even from up in the air. The commanders too were afraid, their armor rattling as their bodies shook uncontrollably. King Damien threw himself on the ground, the horse he had once been seated on had since ran away and thrown him off, when the pillar of fire came down.
Lyra looked down on him, as he pressed his forehead against the dirt, as he all but screamed with fear: "M-MERCY! MERCY I BEG OF YOU!"
But Lyra did not feel merciful. Not towards him. She tilted her head, as the winds played with her skirt and hair as she looked down on him from above.
-"Mercy? Weren't we going to consummate our union in the ruins of Fort Luna, after you had made me kill everyone there? Was that not the plan?" she said coldly.
"I WAS WRONG! SO WRONG. I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING, MY WEALTH... THE KINGDOM, YES, HERE, THE CROWN, SEE IT? IT IS YOURS!" he tossed the crown on the ground, beneath Lyra. But she was not interested. She held out the flat of her hand towards the King, and his squirming got even more desperate:
"NO, YOU CAN'T! I AM THE KING! WE SURRENDER! WE SURRENDER I TELL YOU! PEACE! I'LL AGREE TO ALL THE TERMS, YOU NEED ME TO MAKE THE PEACE DEAL, PLEA-"
-"Disintegration Beam[2]" Lyra said, and the bright light consumed the king. A second later, only his legs remained, from the knees and down. Everything else had been reduced to nothing but atoms. The commanders nearby got down on their knees, also pleading for mercy. But Lyra had no intention to harm them. So she turned her gaze in their direction, as she said:
-"That is enough killing for one day, do you not agree? Gather the survivors, and be gone from the Revean Empire before nightfall. The forces of Fort Luna will assist you carrying the wounded. I suggest you cooperate."
"O-of c-course! We are g-grateful for your mercy!" one of them called out. Lyra did not bother responding, but slowly flew back towards Luna, passing over the terrible suffering once again, the air filled with a cacophony of suffering. She touched down feet first atop the wall, Thomas stood exactly where she had left him. Her back faced the battlefield. Or slaughterfield, might be a more apt description. She could not look at it anymore. She was not proud of her handiwork, but she also did not regret it. It had to be done. She looked at Thomas, her expression one of sadness, as she said:
-"It is done... can you handle the rest from here?" her voice trembling slightly.
Thomas flashed her a smile, weak but sincere, and nodded as he said: "We got this from here on out. Thank you, Lyra... for saving us... and... for taking on this burden. I know it wasn't an easy decision for you."
Lyra did not respond, but made her way along the wall, eager to get away, unable to look down at the havoc she had caused. As she walked, the occasionally ding from a notification served to remind her that yet another person had just perished by her hands. The soldiers and knights along the walls parted ways as she came walking, and many bowed their heads in respect and amazement, but also fear and raw terror. They offered their quiet thanks, thankful for her intervention, yet paradoxically also fearful in her presence. She was not a mortal, that much was clear to all who had seen what they had seen.
She had become more than just a person by this incredible show of power. She was, in their eyes, a force of nature in and of itself. She heard them whisper and talk amongst themselves as she passed them.
"Princess of Flames..."
"Angel of Destruction..."
And the one that seemed to stick:
"Lyra the Calamity..."
For once, she could not help but agree. She was a calamity... and now the world had witnessed it too, firsthand...
[1] Finger of the Fire God: Costs 20,000 mana. Summons a large pillar of incinerating fire, which deals 2,000 fire damage + spellpower every second to anything within the pillar itself. Gradual decrease in damage the further away the target is from the pillar. Mana may be spent to increase duration and move the pillar.
[2] Disintegration Beam: Costs 4000 mana, and then an additional 500 mana for every second it is channeled. The Disintegration Beam is a beam of pure magic which doesn't deal any actual damage but rather converts anything it touches into its finest elements, destroying any form of molecular bonds or magical chain and bindings.