A sea of white flame was spreading across the devastated underground level, hungrily devouring everything it could touch. Darkness, the red glare of the emergency lamps, and the searing white radiance mixed together, creating a hectic atmosphere of chaos and mayhem. Dust and smoke suffused the scorching air.
Soon, the fire suppression systems came online, drowning the burning corridors in water and film-forming foam. The flames slowed down, but did not retreat. Instead, clouds of boiling steam flooded the underground level, reducing the already abysmal visibility even further.
The alarms continued to scream, summoning the security forces of the Academy to the site of the explosion.
And at the center of it all…
A radiant figure slowly rose from the white flames, wreathed in blinding light. The flame ghost — or whatever the being was — seemed beautiful and pure, as if untouched by the imperfections of the world. It possessed the graceful silhouette of a slender young woman, but also seemed… completely, utterly inhuman.
As fire swirled around the figure without causing it any harm, the radiant creature slowly looked around, as if disoriented. Then, it took an unsteady step forward.
At that point, more of the automated systems of the hospital complex finally activated. A cracked alloy plate shot down from the ceiling, and a compact security turret deployed itself from a hidden nest.
Despite the low visibility and the damaged status of many of the cameras and sensors installed in the ravaged room, it received enough telemetry to identify the presence of a dangerous and unidentified being. It only took the turret a split second to take aim.
The radiant figure sharply turned its head and stared at the twin barrels, confused.
A moment later, the turret roared, spitting a stream of hundreds of high-caliber rounds at the intruder. Each was powerful enough to pierce an armored vehicle clean through.
None of them managed to wound the fire-wreathed apparition, however.
The white flames suddenly surged, wrapping around the radiant being like an armor. The tungsten bullets fruitlessly ricochetted off the creature's naked skin, melting as they hit the walls. The being swayed, and then threw a hand up.
In the next moment, a sliver of fire separated from the blaze, streaked through the air, and hit the turret. Another explosion rattled the complex. The turret was obliterated in an instant, and the section of the ceiling around it completely disappeared, revealing the torn lattice of reinforced alloy above.
Different security measures were already deploying, however.
More importantly, the Awakened charged with defending the hospital had already arrived.
Two teams of experienced warriors appeared from both sides of the level, closing in on the epicenter of the explosion with speed. Every member was clad in heavily enchanted armor and wielded powerful Memory weapons.
Before the radiant figure could react, a silver javelin hit it in the back, biting deep before melting and disintegrating in a rain of sparks. A warrior in polished plate armor appeared nearby, delivering a crushing downward blow of his battle axe.
It did not matter.
A moment after the silver javelin disappeared, the deep wound on the creature's back closed itself. Instead of being cut by the enchanted battleaxe, it simply raised a hand and blocked the crescent blade with its forearm.
The sharp edge failed to break the being's skin.
Behind the visor of the helmet, the Awakened warrior who wielded the axe paled.
He had caught a glimpse of the creature's radiant face, and felt the immolating wrath and ruthless killing intent burning in its eyes.
The radiant figure moved, grabbing the man by the throat. The steel of his powerful Memory armor melted, and the flesh beneath it blackened. The warrior screamed. Before he was dealt a mortal wound, however, the creature shifted and threw his body at the advancing security officers of his cohort.
There were thirteen Awakened left to deal with the invader, each an experienced, well-equipped combatant and a master of their craft.
But the flame apparition was just too tyrannical.
It cut through their ranks as if dealing with mere insects. No amount of skill, no amount of powerful Memories and devastating Aspect Abilities could slow it down, let alone damage it. Faced against such an overwhelming adversary, not even the perfect synergy of the security team could play a role.
All the Awakened managed was to cover each other and save their wounded comrades from being killed by the unstoppable monster. Their ability to resist, however, was running out.
Soon, they were going to start dying.
What was worse, the whole battle only took a dozen seconds. That was not nearly enough time for reinforcements to arrive…
Or so the desperate Awakened thought, before a swift shadow suddenly appeared in their midst.
***
Sunny rolled out of the shadows and coughed, feeling terrible heat, smoke, and scalding steam assault him. He had used Shadow Step to jump to the underground level of the hospital complex almost as soon as the ground trembled, and only had time to summon the Undying Chain.
As the dull steel armor and a couple of other Memories finished manifesting themselves, he tried to take in the sight of the devastated interior and shuddered.
'Gods…'
He could not see much, but his shadow sense told a terrifying tale. It seemed as if a series of explosions had rolled through this hallway, cracking the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. There were fires burning all around, despite the streams of water and foam being discharged by a few parts of the fire-suppression systems that remained intact.
…White. White fire.
He also saw the sorry state of the Awakened security team and the radiant figure rampaging between them.
From the looks of it, the officers were not going to last long…
"Back! Retreat! I'll handle it!"
Enhanced by the [Sonorous] enchantment of the Extraordinary Rock, his voice boomed in the scorching, fire-infused darkness. Not daring to disobey the authority in his order, the Awakened did not make him ask twice. Grabbing their wounded, they hastily disengaged from the combat and ran.
At the same time, Sunny dashed forward.
His heart was beating like crazy.
'Can't be… can't…'
Because of all the fire and the damage done to the ventilation system, there was not a lot of oxygen left in the air. It was hard to breathe…
Following his will, the shadows suddenly moved and rose from the ground. Instead of touching the incandescent flesh of the radiant being and turning to ash, they swiftly formed a sphere around it and then solidified, turning into a large black orb.
That orb was durable enough to hold…
White cracks appeared on the surface of the shadow cage, which then exploded into charred pieces.
Sunny's eyes widened.
'How?! That was an Ascended cage!'
He closed in on the radiant being, allowing the Shadow Lantern to devour all the light around and submerge the hallway in absolute darkness.
For a moment, everything became black.
…And then, two furious white eyes ignited in the blackness. A moment later, a white silhouette became visible again, surrounded by a blinding glow. That glow pushed against the darkness, on the verge of vanquishing it.
However, Sunny was already near the radiant figure.
He could attack it freely.
But he did not.
An incandescent hand shot forward, aimed at his throat. Sunny allowed it to grab his forearm, instead. A terrible pressure and heat descended on his arm, slowly turning the steel of the Undying Chain bright orange. He could feel his flesh beneath it starting to burn.
But he still did not attack.
Instead, Sunny dismissed his helmet and looked straight at the flame apparition.
"Stop!"
His arm was in a sea of blazing pain.
Refusing to move, Sunny looked at the beautiful radiant face in front of him.
"Stop! It's me!"
Slowly, a vague hint of recognition appeared in the burning white eyes of the radiant monster. The blinding light emanating from her skin dimmed a little.
Sunny gritted his teeth.
"Changing Star!"
Her hand trembled. The stark inhumanity of her face grew less frightening.
The apparition opened its mouth.
Her voice was hoarse and awkward, as if covered in rust after not being used for a long, long time:
"...S—Sunny?"
He forced out a pale smile.
"It's me! Snap out of it, damn it!"
The radiant figure — Nephis — froze. Slowly, the light suffusing her skin dimmed, and then became extinguished.
The fire devouring the underground level weakened, too, allowing the fire suppression systems to douse it.
Standing naked amidst the devastation caused by her, Changing Star stared at Sunny with a confused expression.
Then, she suddenly swayed, and fell down.
Sunny was barely quick enough to fall to his knees and catch her.
Holding Neph in his arms, he looked up and noticed the Awakened warriors of the security team staring at him in shock from afar.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
"...What are you doing, fools?! Bring me something to cover her up! Don't you know who this is?!"
He shook his head, hiding the fact that he was as stunned as they were.
"This... this is Lady Changing Star, the last daughter of the Immortal Flame clan. She's back..."