The Iron-Spine Mountains seemed to groan under immense pressure. Above, colossal Earth-Breaker machines gnawed at the granite, their drills creating a deafening shriek as they tore into the mountainside. Deep below, in the dark tunnels of the earth, Lyra Van-Heal was moving upward, no longer simply climbing.
Her new modification, Eclipse-Veins, made paths irrelevant. She flowed through solid rock as naturally as swimming, her body vibrating at a frequency that allowed her to slip between the molecules of stone. She could sense the heat signatures of the Solar Lions above—hundreds of small pockets of heat clustered together in the mountain's shadow.
But one burned far brighter. A massive concentration of golden energy sat at the center of the camp, and that was General Ignis.
Lyra surfaced a mile from the main camp, appearing from the snow like a ghost from the grave. Her Shroud of Shadows swirled around her, its edges blending into the darkness of the mountain. The sun was setting, painting the sky with streaks of red, but Lyra saw the world with clarity. She perceived thermal currents, ley lines, and even what seemed like the flickering souls of her enemies.
She looked down at her hands. They were steady now. The violet ring in her eyes pulsed with each beat of her heart.
Phase one, she whispered.
Instead of attacking head-on, she began to circle the Imperial camp. With each step, she tapped the ground with her claymore, which had been modified too.
Eclipse Art: Shadow Anchor.
She wasn't freezing the ground, but rather pinning the shadows. As she walked around the camp, the shadows cast by the tents, machines, and soldiers started to grow, becoming darker and more solid, like spilled ink that wouldn't spread.
Inside the camp, the temperature began to drop. It wasn't a normal winter cold, but a chilling cold that seemed to drain the very soul, making the soldiers' torches flicker and burn green.
Report! General Ignis's voice echoed from the center of the camp. He stood on a gold platform, his hand gripping the hilt of his star-iron sword. Why are the perimeter fires dying? Why haven't the Earth-Breakers broken through the secondary layer?
General! a technician yelled, his voice cracking. The machines... they aren't hitting rock. The drills are spinning, but the sensors indicate they're hitting... nothing. It's just a void!
Ignis scanned the surroundings. His golden eyes, honed by solar energy, spotted a silhouette flickering a mile away.
There, Ignis hissed. He didn't wait for his soldiers. He leapt off the platform, his boots setting the snow ablaze as he flew through the air like a meteor. HERETIC! HOW DARE YOU APPEAR AFTER CORRUPTING A SACRED SITE?
Lyra stopped walking. She turned toward the fiery figure streaking toward her.
Ignis landed about fifty feet away, creating a crater of molten glass in the snow. He was a mountain of a man, radiating so much heat that the air around him seemed to ripple.
I am General Ignis of the Seven Scourges, he roared, drawing his sword, which wept liquid fire. By the power of the Golden Throne, I condemn your soul to the Eternal Pyre!
You talk a lot for someone whose shadow's about to eat him, Lyra said, her voice sounding like a chorus of whispers.
Ignis laughed, a rough, cracking sound. My shadow? I am the Light! I have no shadow!
Everyone has a shadow, General, Lyra replied calmly. You just need the right light to see it.
She slammed her claymore into the ground.
Eclipse Art: Great Darkening.
The Shadow Anchors she had planted snapped into action. The shadows of everyone and everything rose up and expanded, merging to create a dome of total darkness that engulfed the entire army.
Ignis gasped as everything went black. A barrier? You think a bit of darkness can stop a Solar Scourge?
He raised his sword, ready to unleash a Sun-Burst that would melt the mountain. But as he focused his energy, he felt a strange sensation. The heat wasn't going into his sword but being drawn downward, into the shadow he claimed not to have.
Lyra appeared behind him in the darkness. She didn't use her sword, simply touched his shoulder.
Do you feel it, Ignis? she whispered. The heat you're so proud of... it's just feeding the Eclipse.
Ignis spun, swinging his flaming blade wildly. Lyra caught it with her bare hand.
The fire splashed against her palm, but instead of burning, it flowed into the violet lines of her veins. She felt a surge of power, which her Eclipse-Core immediately converted into cold power.
Impossible! Ignis screamed, his expression twisting in the violet light of Lyra's eyes. A human body can't hold that much Solar Law!
I'm not just human, Lyra said. I'm the debt you forgot to pay.
She twisted his sword arm. The star-iron armor shattered, and she kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back into the dark.
Outside, the soldiers were screaming. They were blind and deaf, and the Shadow-Sentinels—born from their own fears—were hunting them.
Inside, Lyra walked toward the fallen General. Ignis was struggling, his energy flickering like a candle in a hurricane.
The Emperor... Ignis gasped, blood in his throat. The Emperor will come himself. You are a pebble in the path of the sun.
Then I'll be the pebble he trips on, Lyra said.
She raised her claymore, now pulsing with gold and violet light.
Give my regards to the Eye, she said.
She swung.
There was no sound or explosion. General Ignis vanished, leaving just a scorched mark on the snow.
The dark dome disappeared.
Lyra stood in a graveyard of golden armor. The Solar Lions were gone, dead or scattered. The Earth-Breakers were silent, their energy drained.
She looked up. The Heavenly Eye was still there, but dimmed by the violet clouds she had called forth.
Inside her, the Eclipse-Core spun with a new power. She had turned the energy of a General-level Solar Cultivator into her own.
A soft sound made her turn around to see Malachi standing there, his bandages waving in the wind.
You've made a mess, little Empress, the librarian said, his sightless eyes facing the empty field.
It's a beginning, Lyra said, sheathing her sword. Where's the next Library?
Malachi chuckled. Across the sea, in the heart of the Golden Continent. In the capital.
Lyra looked south, where the Imperial City lit up the horizon.
Then we're going there, she said. I have books to return.