Lucent Reign

Dævd's body hit the ground like a meteor, skipping across concrete, smashing through a row of abandoned market stalls. His back slid to a stop against a broken power pole, blood trailing behind him. Lucent Grave was a dozen feet away, its blade buried in asphalt, humming with faint energy.

Dævd coughed. Blood stained his teeth.

He tried to rise once more.

Then…

A shadow loomed.

"I said stay down!" came the roaring voice.

BOOM.

Irohk landed like thunder, his flaming fist slamming into Dævd's face before he could stand. The shockwave shattered the earth, sending up a column of flame and debris. The force launched Dævd backward again, straight through two walls, skidding across a burning floor before finally coming to a stop in the ruins of a crumbled lobby.

Flames licked up the pillars.

Dust choked the air.

Irohk stepped through the wall he'd just blasted Dævd through, eyes glowing like twin embers in a furnace. His dreadlocks floated slightly, alive in the heat. Both fists burned with hellfire, cracking and distorting the very air around them.

He grinned, a cruel, euphoric grin.

"This planet is soft. Soaked in fear. You think you're ready for what's coming?"

Dævd groaned, barely on his elbows. His body screamed in pain, but his mind… his mind was still locked on every civilian he'd failed to protect.

Irohk stopped. Slowly, he raised both hands to the sky.

He began to speak. His voice echoed, guttural, charged with arcane flame.

"By cinders buried and embers crowned,

Let the heavens scream and the world drown… in flame, in ash, in verdict divine."

"Charfall Exodus!"

The sky screamed.

A ring of crimson fire ignited in the clouds, then opened wide like an eye. From it, flaming meteorites began to fall.

Meteorites the size of trucks slammed into the earth one after another, carving deep scars into the city. Skyscrapers folded like wet paper. Waves of flame surged down streets, incinerating cars, melting steel, turning everything to ruin.

Civilians scattered in every direction. Some screamed. Some fell to their knees. 

Some cowered beneath shattered cars and broken concrete. Some sobbed. Others prayed. Many… had already stopped breathing.

A Division-7 transport exploded in mid-air, scattering limbs and burning metal into nearby rooftops.

A man swung a pipe at one of the creatures and was engulfed in fire before the strike ever landed, his scream swallowed in flame.

Civilians scrambled under market stalls, dove behind burnt-out buses, many praying, some already still, beyond saving.

Dævd struggled to get to his feet coughing out blood while witnessing the apocalypse. 

Left and right everywhere he turned complete ruin.

The air was red with flame and dust, screams echoing beneath the roar of falling meteorites.

And Irohk stood amidst it all, laughing, not a quick laugh, but a slow, guttural one. It echoed through the ash-choked sky like a hymn of ruin.

"Yes… YES! Sing for me, little world…!" Irohk roared, grinning wide.

He turned as a nearby building caved in, his skin glowing with molten cracks, embers licking from his dreadlocks. He spread his arms like a prophet basking in holy fire, the smoke and flame rising behind him in a terrible silhouette.

"Pain… panic… the smell of charred hope. Mmmh. I could live in this forever." 

Irohk's lips curved into a cruel smile as he lowered his hand, the sky now bleeding red behind him.

Among the panic, a mother sprinted through the rubble-strewn road, a small girl clutched tightly in her arms. Her breath came ragged, feet slipping on ash-slick stone. Behind her, a flaming Branded minion, all charred sinew and ember eyes, gained ground.

The mother screamed, stumbled. The beast seized her by the hair, yanking her backward with monstrous force. She hit the ground hard, but twisted her body to protect the child, clutching her tighter. Her arms shook, blood streaked across her brow.

A thunderous explosion cracked the air.

A second meteor slammed into a nearby building. Its structure gave way instantly, support beams snapped like twigs, stone and steel plummeting straight toward them.

The woman's eyes met Dævd's through the dust.

Not a word passed between them, just a desperate, aching plea.

"Save her."

With a final, trembling breath, the woman threw her daughter away from the collapsing debris, shielding her with the last of her strength.

The building came down.

Stone crushed flame.

And mother.

Dævd, bloodied and buried beneath fractured rubble nearby, burst free in a lightning streak.

He shot across the distance, a blur of divine instinct.

The little girl was mid-air, tumbling.

Her tiny hands limp, her face peaceful in unconsciousness.

The dust haloing her like a fading soul.

Dævd dropped to both knees, sliding across shattered ground.

His arms extended, trembling, catching her gently.

He held her tight against his chest, as the world around them burned.

The little girl's breathing was shallow.

He looked up, his vision blurry, heart pounding like a war drum. His knuckles scraped stone. His shoulders shook.

Tears mixed with ash on his face.

And all he could do was hold the child.

The only thing he could save.

"No more." He whispered.

Then, rips off his blindfold, screaming at the top of his lungs. Not in pain.

In wrath.

Aether explodes skyward.

His aura flaring, spiraling in violent arcs of lightning and raw fury. The earth beneath him cracked, debris floating mid-air.

The air pulsed like a living drum.

He appeared at the speed of light in front of the Division-7 evacuation team. Troopers at the corner froze as he blurred toward them, a comet of pain and power.

He thrust the child into their arms.

"Save her. Now." Dævd said coldly, eyes glowing, voice trembling.

They didn't question it. They ran, terrified by the raw divine pressure that now cloaked him.

Then…

In a flash of lightning, Dævd vanishes.

He reappeared mid-air, body cloaked in stormlight, eyes glowing like stars caught in wrath. Every breath he took sent electric ripples through the debris. The ground beneath him crumbled from the sheer force of his aura.

This time, there was no hesitation. No restraint.

His voice, when it returned, was quiet and cold.

"…I'm done holding back."

Irohk turned, a grin stretching across his scarred face.

"Finally," he whispered. "The fire has found its storm."

He raised both fists, flames coiling up to his elbows and charged.

But Dævd moved first.

Faster than lightning.

Irohk turned, a grin stretching across his scarred face.

"Finally," he whispered. "The fire has found its storm."

He raised both fists, flames coiling up to his elbows and charged.

But Dævd moved first.

Faster than lightning.

His fist collided with Irohk's jaw in a thunderous shockwave, sending flames scattering and hurling the Branded warrior back across the plaza like a meteor. Before Irohk could recover, Dævd vanished and reappeared above him, slamming his knee into his spine, smashing him into the earth below.

CRACK.

The crater was massive.

Dævd didn't pause. He spun mid-air, hands wide open, summoning Lucent Grave in a single smooth motion and with a roar, unleashed…

"Arc Severance!"

A streak of divine lightning arced through the sky, slicing a wave of minions in half and tearing a molten scar across the battlefield. Screaming flame-creatures were vaporized instantly, their bodies reduced to ash before they could react.

Irohk rose from the crater, his mouth bleeding, flame sputtering.

He laughed.

"YES! That's it! Let it burn!!"

He dashed forward, fists roaring, and threw a flaming haymaker.

But Dævd leaned back, matrix-style, dodging the blow by inches, before slamming his palm into Irohk's chest and unleashing…

"Thunderbrand Pulse!"

A rippling EMP-like shockwave exploded outward, short-circuiting minions and hurling Irohk back through a building.

Civilians watching from cover stared wide-eyed. One of the surviving Division-7 soldiers whispered:

"…he's not human."

Inside the crumbled building, Irohk burst out of rubble, flames reigniting around his body, charred but grinning.

"I feel alive!" he roared, laughing as blood ran down his lip. "You've got me dancing, boy!"

He rushed again.

Fist met blade as Dævd parried with Lucent Grave, then spun, slashed through another minion, and with a burst of lightning speed.

"Volt Mirage."

He vanished from Irohk's reach, reappearing behind him and uppercutting him with the flat of the blade, launching him skyward.

Then…

"Sovereign Cut."

Dævd vanished again, a streak of divine aura through the smoke, appearing above Irohk mid-air, eyes glowing with stormfire. With both hands on Lucent Grave, he swung.

The sky split.

A comet-shaped arc of lightning tore down from the heavens, trailing stormlight and wrath.

Irohk caught the edge of the blast across his shoulder, and even he screamed this time as the cut sent him spiraling down, crashing into the earth hard enough to rupture the ground and extinguish every flame nearby.

The battlefield went eerily still. Smoke curled around ruined structures.

Dævd landed hard beside the crater, electricity still rippling off his form. His chest heaved, hands crackling, but his eyes burned with a terrifying calm.

Lucent Grave pulsed once, as if sensing what came next.

His voice was cold, shaking with fury.

"You enjoy pain, right?"

He spins Lucent Grave and stabs it to the ground beside him. The runes on its surface dimmed slightly, anchoring into the earth..

"Good. You're about to drown in it."

From within the crater, Irohk began laughing. A low, guttural, delighted sound that grew louder with each breath.

He climbed out, bloodied, torso a mosaic of seared muscle and glowing ember-veins. His arms blazed anew, fists engulfed in ever-burning fire, his flame crown flaring wildly.

"Ohh… yes," Irohk moaned, dragging a molten hand across his jaw. "You wanna bleed up close? Let's dance, lightning prince!"

They charged.

BOOM!

Their fist collided creating a huge shockwave sending debris flying.

Dævd ducked the first right hook, spinning low with a sweeping kick that cracked through Irohk's shin but Irohk didn't even flinch.

He slammed an elbow down, Dævd blocked, redirected, then countered with two rapid jabs to Irohk's ribs and a final rising knee to the chin.

Flames erupted, Irohk caught Dævd by the shoulder, spun, and suplexed him into the ground, causing the earth to quake. Debris scattered.

Dævd rolled with it, coughing, but came up with a vicious spinning backhand that cracked across Irohk's face, magma flew from his mouth.

They moved like trained warriors, but faster.

Every punch was a cannon. Every kick a shockwave.

Back at Division-7 HQ, Rena stood before a wall of holographic monitors.

Red pulses blinked across the Lagos region.

One was spiking like a seismic eruption.

A technician turned, stunned.

"Ma'am, his output just doubled again! This is… this is beyond category-level threat."

Rena's eyes narrowed, focused.

"Zoom in. Let me see him."

The screen pulled in, through smoke and debris, revealing Dævd and Irohk in the heart of the chaos. Two titans locked in close-range battle.

She exhaled, quiet.

"…He's not the same boy from the file."

"Should we engage?" another agent asked.

"No," Rena said. "Not yet. This is his war now. And if he loses… we all burn."