Cel's breath caught.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVNGqphv1Q
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYXZwbedWi
The rift pulsed perhaps a hundred steps from the base of the city wall - a vertical slash in reality that bled violet light. And through it, they came.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozIhTpzJh3
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaIrUNBgDU
Creatures poured out in a tide of teeth and too many limbs. Hound-like things with spines instead of fur. Insects the size of horses with mandibles that clicked like shears. Something massive and slug-shaped that left a trail of smoking earth. The horde charged the walls without hesitation - pure hunger given form. 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EKOeK8DFm
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Above, chaos erupted.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38lZY4vlRj
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"RIFT! A RIFT AT THE EASTERN WALL!"81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCarzQjijcs
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrpH7q0TSj
The bell tower rang in frantic peals. Soldiers scrambled across the ramparts - some rushing to the edge, others sprinting for arrow crates. An officer was screaming orders that no one seemed to hear over their own panic.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPt2gZXJTD0
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXXclbHRWP
"Get the fucking archers in position!"81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTyMYF1Iwa
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8bESziXQO
"Where are the Chosen?"81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ug56CBpCS
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46iXT6eFSH
"Someone get word to—"81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLES07vAHUr
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Arrows began to fall. A scattered volley at first, then more organized as the archers found their rhythm. Most bounced off thick hides or buried themselves in flesh that didn't seem to notice. A few creatures went down. Not enough. Not enough by far.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsEhNraMtg
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The horde didn't slow.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZyH19FNUz
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhA2hNyrRHo
Cel was on his feet before he realized he'd moved. Cinderward wrapped around him - gray fabric and leather settling like a second skin. Silent Moon formed in his hand, the straight blade catching moonlight along its violet-dark steel. 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKL5lLA4Yo9
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ64pxoXXaV
His heart hammered against his ribs. The rift. The creatures. The wall. He was calculating distances, estimating numbers, trying to remember every combat drill—81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZV0gJmlZt3
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2r1dwD7lY
"Relax."81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyS3mpwEHC
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUSe51rt5A
Esrin's voice cut through the rising panic.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZ6gLOmEYC
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLf3BQeBGZ
She hadn't moved from where she stood. Hadn't even summoned her weapon. She looked at him with those ruby-red eyes, and something in her expression made his artifacts feel suddenly ridiculous. 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKk5UxSzQrn
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv47YO9Gse9
"I didn't bring you here to feed you to them," she said simply. "Pay attention and watch."81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAD9xfnrB8
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImnynaWYcy
"Watch?" Cel's voice cracked.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsp7OkbVcHR
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"I'm going to show you my world." 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwRsI9h5P8
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPiPq6hDUy
His stomach dropped. He remembered her warning from class - that most students would be torn apart by the sheer pressure of her world before she even finished manifesting it. 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjt1tvqi65
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiXyr30ryX
"Wait—" He took a step back. "Wait, I can't—"81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ztcezXiOM
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She wasn't listening.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkqedrEuTw
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucwMd9K9FB
Esrin's wings - those perfect, impossible manifestations of white feathers and light - spread wide. They stretched to their full span, each feather blazing with brilliance that made Cel's eyes water. Her hands came together before her chest, fingers interlacing, head bowing as if she were kneeling before some unseen altar. 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGo2dRoCsp1
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The air changed.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1Z132QsRD
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbsAZcdD6j
"By the Storm Goddess’s drepedation, take what I have left—81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOqRc99P8T
The grief that burns, the rage bereft,81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YDYBFfkJX
The hollow heart that will not know."81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4PrEhdrB7
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKck5qQ9dnQ
Space around her began to open. Not breaking - expanding. Like reality was inhaling, drawing breath for the first time. Hairline threads of light and shadow spiraled outward from her position, weaving, building, creating.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynEXzx2IUA
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfSSnDrs4I
"I am the storm that will not cease, 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHr9NwkwvKK
I am the sky beyond all saving, 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAzaTswjD9
I am the lightning's final cry— 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxuYnGNlap7
Now, let this world know ruin." 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UOs7ATVGu
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwanyDSxdK
Black-white lightning erupted.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5WlRb130F
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9YLktREvQ
Not from the sky. From her. It spiraled outward in violent helixes, and where it touched, the world changed. Space folded. Dimensions shifted. The lightning wasn't destroying - it was writing, inscribing her will into existence itself.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxmVwAFZn4
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstjQo3jMmr
The pressure became crushing.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fgJ3aCYxE
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YNMmiDH3z
He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. His vision blurred at the edges. Something hot filled his mouth—81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOenjPH9Fl
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUoWiifTUK
"World Creation."81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYz6JXnA8S
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXgmtT6HJS
Reality bloomed.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrRBUJ3DGf
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8P4kjQqVkG
It burst outward from Esrin like a shockwave of existence - not destroying what was there but overlaying it, calling forth a new space that swallowed everything in its radius. The ground beneath Celvian's feet transformed, black and white marble flowing into being like liquid solidifying.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxitRNaO7n
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYT9DHiyiJ
Cel staggered, falling to one knee. The marble was solid beneath him but he didn't trust it, couldn't trust it.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwqCU0XUUl
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ269Ei5mNBx
The platform materialized around them - black marble bleeding into white, white shattering into black, the pattern chaotic and violent. Deep fissures carved themselves between segments, and within those cracks, lightning pulsed to life.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡph2ADMnUwm
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwRU1ahjwa
Ten massive columns erupted from the platform's edges with a sound like reality being torn in half. And then they exploded. Each one shattered at different heights, their fragments hanging in the air - suspended, rotating, drifting in defiance of every law Cel had ever learned. Some pieces spun lazily. Others hung perfectly still. An orbital field of destruction, frozen mid-blast.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWvwc2U9uJ
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2GWnXR2ef
Storm clouds exploded outward and upward, forming a perfect cylinder around them. Black-white lightning arced through the churning darkness in constant, violent arcs, illuminating shapes that emerged from nothing - ruined buildings, collapsed towers, broken temples. A city being born and destroyed in the same instant.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHeF71wU2r
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQ86dt807T
Above, the sky cracked into existence - a dome of fractured space, each break blazing with electricity.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEzUIWsmOv
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoQ1I5qBBG
"Throne of the Shattered Sky."81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV69SM5lVtr
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TK5937tCa
At the platform's exact center, Esrin stood with wings spread wide, hands still clasped, head bowed. Black-white lightning crowned her like broken divinity.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5b65lKylAR
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65KtEGksBP
Thunder rolled through Celvian's bones. His chest heaved, trying to pull in air that felt too thick, too heavy, too real.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rk9103MFf
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Around them, the creatures of the horde stumbled. Several simply... weren't anymore. The weaker ones had ceased existing, unable to withstand the pressure. Those that remained shrieked - pain, confusion or rage, it didn't matter.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9oMh6uFEO
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrcvltLBTS
Celvian forced his head up, taking in the impossible space. The floating ruins. The storm-entombed ruins. The fractured sky.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5TabsMHSV
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbYjnrX6XF
A surviving creature - something with too many legs and a mouth that split its torso - finally processed where it was. It screamed and charged.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGD6cnDrF6
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TLJiJDSgo
Not at Celvian.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0vZSrvrtqV
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoCVHkQHD5
At Esrin.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDbm3IyMX7
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SBLIMmBtG
The others followed, a diminished horde but still deadly. Claws, teeth and hunger, all focused on the creator of this world.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hngVGKvFB
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZtQfF5v2xQ
Celvian glanced at her, uncertain. Should he move? Fight? Was that even needed?81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rEGxT50Pu
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKS7Ll0J6v3
Esrin's wings dissolved, folding back into nothing with a whisper of lightning. She stood there, hands still clasped loosely before her, watching the charging creatures with no particular expression. Like she was observing rain. Or dust settling. Something mundane and beneath notice.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2TBGfRnhf8
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplsEMdhAgM
Then, her hand rose. Slowly. Deliberately.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwckxbVrH9
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83vpTvJfS1
In the storm clouds above, lightning responded.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaESulQSOmd
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZViFYI1LjD
It gathered. Coiled. Dozens of separate arcs converging, pooling, growing brighter and brighter as they twisted together. The sound built - a rising whine like metal screaming, overlaid with thunder that made Cel's skull ache.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz72kNMpkog
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPzUm9luKiO
The creatures were twenty steps away. Fifteen. Claws extended. Jaws gaped.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBJ7bO9ruN
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipgeVcZj9o
Esrin's fingers came together.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1fG1oG6Kd
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbUpaiOMQh
Snap.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZttIPxgao
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Lightning fell in an instant.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynG5uFMIAC
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2XeFCkeDV
No warning. No buildup. One moment the clouds held their charge. The next, black-white bolts erupted downward in a forest of destruction. 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCukChYvUY
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPaD6yaADqH
The creatures didn't scream. Didn't have time to. One moment they were charging, the next they were simply gone.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhC2lktR5Ga
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOl7wB6B8X
Bodies torn apart. Flesh vaporized. Chitin shattered into powder. The lightning didn't just kill - it erased, ripping through matter with such violence that there was no blood, no remains, no evidence except scorch marks burned into the black and white marble.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4UzZ6CYHv
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The thunder that followed shook the platform.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiAGtzUyIz
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY95jrYK6dn
Cel stood frozen, weapons still raised, staring at the empty space where a hundred creatures had been half a heartbeat ago. 81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZhCpqDXkD
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFngUs18e1
Esrin lowered her hand.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2Y8bVDHr7
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtK1JZirup
"That," she said quietly, her voice somehow carrying through the rumbling thunder, "is what a World Creation can do."81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWoF49r7PDZ
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtoDFNvApBQ
Celvian stared at the scorched marble. At the ash. At the woman who had just erased dozens of monsters with less effort than swatting flies.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNI9Bi4bdZc
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnuTzkfkhJ
She turned to look at him, ruby eyes reflecting the fractured sky above.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7Zz1zj8ih
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxjkOCIx7d
"Any questions?"81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdUtnhy98T
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Cel shook his head mutely.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknvgM9bGvx
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTwZA0B2qJ
She raised her hand again - a different gesture this time. Palm open, fingers spread, as if releasing something held.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLXegYmYkh
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakwI6voZ5i
The world exhaled.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuM8tUBflpH
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QXhfH2iaH
It didn't shatter or explode. It simply... receded. The storm clouds pulled inward, condensing back toward Esrin's position. The pillars and their floating debris dissolved like mist under morning sun. The fractured sky sealed itself, cracks zipping closed with soft whispers of thunder.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eB67yAO1g
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFpZl0eYNX
The marble beneath Celvian's feet faded, reality reasserting itself - grass and dirt and stone returning as if they'd never left.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEHWypwg7M
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbswkr1Iy0
In seconds, the World was gone.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaNwbwsFP7
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOwMupTxU1
They stood in the field again. Moonlight washing over them. City walls rising. Rift pulsing with energy.1234 copyright protection77ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkdAtZ26sG 尼

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