"To those who cower beneath the roaring skies, know this: I am the thunder that rides the storm."
The overcast sky roared. Thunderbolts snaked through the clouds, violently tearing the darkness.
At the center of the devastated plain, the rain-soaked ground exhaled the bittersweet scent of wet dust and ashes. Beneath that stormy firmament, she stood her ground.
She remained standing.
Lucretia is breathing with difficulty, her bruised and battered body trembled with each inhale. Long, soaked hair clung to her skin, heavy with sweat and rain. Yet there was determination in her eyes.
Her left eye, blue as the sky; the right, green like the heart of the forest. Both glowed with an almost inhuman intensity.
Sparks danced around her, crackling on her skin as if kissed by embers. Her aura pulsed with incandescent force. The protective glove on her right hand had been torn. Scars — memories she had never wanted to reveal — now shone under the flashes of lightning.
Still, her fist clutched the sword tightly.
Bolts of energy tore at her flesh, yet she endured. The same lightning that scorched her skin also ignited her resolve.
Because Lucretia was the last wall standing between that thing and everything she loved.
Hordes of enemies encircled her, answering the will of a living nightmare — the Mother of Calamities. A vile, powerful, and merciless being.
But Lucretia's face remained serene.
She knew what she had to do. And for the first time, she felt no regrets.
— "It may have been brief… but I was happy," she whispered.
Her gaze fell upon an unconscious man lying among the rubble. Blood on his face, body unmoving. Perhaps alive. Perhaps not. Yet still, she smiled.
She whispered something no one else heard.
And then, walked.
Smoke blanketed the battlefield. The enemy's silhouette burned like a demonic mirage. The Mother of Calamities, her eyes blood-red, shimmered with fury.
Her screams could no longer reach Lucretia. Her eardrums had already been ruptured.
But in the silence, her heart still trembled — and that was enough.
When the first monster lunged, the heavens responded. A thunderbolt fell with divine fury, lighting up the battlefield and blinding all before the radiant flare.
— "You shall not pass!"
Even if she could no longer hear her own voice, she hurled it into the world with all her conviction.
Electricity crackled through her body. It was more power than any mortal should contain. Her muscles burned. Her skin seared. Her fingers sparked like living blades. The sound tore the air, like a thousand birds fleeing in panic.
She knew what this would cost her. But felt no fear — not anymore.
So advanced.
Each step cracked the earth beneath her feet. One step, one thunderclap. One bolt. One cry.
She was like a force of nature — unstoppable — unleashing her wrath upon her enemies. And as she tore through their ranks, her mind drifted from the present.
It wandered through memories that had led her to this moment.
The orphanage. The loneliness. The master. Smiling faces. The thank-yous. The "I will protect you."
The "I love you" she never had the courage to say.
She remembered herself as a child, saying, "If I'm strong, I won't be alone."
And a laugh can't be stopped. What irony.
Lightning pulsed, burned, tore through. She had become a living calamity, one with the storm. Not for revenge. Not for glory. But by choice. For love.
The Mother of Calamities faltered. An "inferior" being advanced on her with divine fury.
Before The Mother could react, light consumed everything.
......…
At the heart of the smoking crater, Lucretia still stood.
But her breath began to slow. Her body was now in a pitiful state. Knees buckled, eyelids heavy.
Lucretia looked back one last time. And smiled.
Above, the sky had finally cleared. The stars peeked shyly through the clouds.
Lucretia beheld them like someone gazing nostalgically at a distant home.
She sighed, content.
No sorrow. No fear.
Only peace.
And the vision of stars slowly faded as her eyes closed.
Then, she collapsed to the ground.