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1. The Siege of the Southern Ring
Night fell like a guillotine, swift and merciless.
Yet the monsters did not stop.
If anything, the dark emboldened them.
> "Southern perimeter breaching!"
> "Third defensive wall has collapsed—repeat, collapsed!"
> "They're inside the lower district!"
The southern ring of Scorchfront, once a thriving civilian hub, now burned under the thunderous claws of beasts. Cries echoed through alleyways. Infernos lit up the sky. Metal clanged against bone, and the scent of blood was thick as tar.
Aira rushed through the chaos, her tattered cloak trailing sparks. Every breath felt like fire in her lungs, her vision tunneled from mana drain, but she didn't stop.
> "Get the civilians out!" she roared, slamming her palm onto a cobbled street.
Flames surged, forming a barricade of molten rock that halted a wave of scaled hellhounds.
> "Reposition to Ember Alley! Keep the children behind the vanguard!"
Her voice whipped through the howling wind like a whip of command, igniting hope in the shattered eyes of soldiers and terrified refugees.
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2. Aira's Fire Burns On
She fought like a living inferno.
Her Soulfire Chains lashed out and tore limbs from grotesque ogres.
Her Eternal Ember devoured the resistance of plated beasts.
One by one, she cleared the alleys, dragging the wounded herself when medics fell behind.
At one point, she burst through a collapsing building's side wall, carrying a screaming mother and her toddler, the child's blanket aflame.
> "I thought you were gone—"
> "I'm not that easy to kill," Aira muttered, collapsing beside them for two seconds before standing again.
She was coated in blood—some hers, some not—but her eyes burned brighter than ever.
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3. In the Heart of the Slaughter
Deep in the southern ring, Kaelen's squad fought a hopeless battle.
They were pinned at a shrine plaza, surrounded by four-legged beasts with glass armor—the Shardfangs.
Kaelen's lightning sword crackled, but their armor redirected the current. His men fell one by one.
> "Fall back to the statue!" he cried.
> "We're surrounded!"
> "Then we make them bleed for every step!"
But just as the lead Shardfang lunged—its crystal jaws open wide—
A blaze ripped through the night.
Aira landed like a comet, flames exploding in a twenty-meter radius.
> "Get away from my people."
Her Blazing Meteor Shower fell once more—five streaks of skyfire that slammed into the monsters and vaporized them in an instant.
Kaelen stared, wide-eyed.
> "You came."
> "Of course I did."
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4. The Monster General: Varnok the Maw
As the plaza cleared, a new roar boomed from the cratered streets beyond.
Out from the dust stomped Varnok the Maw — a rhino-sized creature with jagged red horns, serrated limbs, and a mouth that opened across its entire chest.
Its bellow shattered windows. Its footsteps cracked stone.
> "Flameheart," Kaelen murmured. "That's one of them."
> "A Beast General," Aira confirmed grimly.
Varnok charged, and the street shattered beneath its bulk.
Aira met it head-on.
Their clash sent shockwaves through the city.
Aira rolled mid-air and lashed her chains around its throat, embedding them in its muscle.
But Varnok spun and slammed her into a wall with bone-breaking force.
She coughed blood.
> "Still not enough…" she hissed.
She focused everything—what little mana she had—into one spell.
> "Eternal Flame Nova—Full Discharge!"
Her body ignited in a sphere of white-hot energy, her flames bypassing every defense, crawling into Varnok's open chest-maw.
The monster screamed—a horrific, dying screech—and imploded in a pillar of light.
Silence followed. Then cheers.
---
5. Holding the Southern Line
They rebuilt the barricades with haste.
Reinforcements from the inner city finally arrived—archers, mages, and a contingent of heavy shield-bearers.
Aira, still smoldering with the lingering embers of her spell, directed traffic with bleeding hands.
> "No one rests until the last civilian is pulled out."
> "Commander, you can't keep this up—"
> "Neither can they if we don't."
Her resolve was as unbreakable as the walls of the High Citadel.
And slowly—inch by inch—they began to push the beasts back beyond the outer ring.
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6. Emberhold Arrives
As the night grew colder, so too did the morale.
That is, until a new sound echoed across the battlefield—
Horn blasts. Rhythmic and ancient.
Followed by the thunder of war wagons and ember-chariots cresting the northern ridge.
The reinforcements from Emberhold had arrived.
They came with siege beasts, rune-banners, flying mages, and a hundred burning lances.
The tide began to turn.
Aira stood on a half-destroyed tower, watching the cavalry ride down the retreating second wave.
She didn't cheer.
She simply collapsed to one knee, exhaustion claiming her.
Kaelen rushed to catch her.
> "It's over for tonight."
> "Tonight," she breathed. "But not tomorrow."
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7. Midnight Report
Later, in the hastily assembled war tent, commanders from all fronts reported the damages:
Northern defenses held, but just barely.
East Ridge was lost entirely.
Civilian casualties: 1,200 confirmed.
Soldiers fallen: over 2,800.
Beast bodies counted: more than 10,000. And more unaccounted for.
Aira sat quietly, arms wrapped in mana-soaked bandages.
General Roth of Emberhold bowed his head to her.
> "Commander Aira. Scorchfront lives because of you."
> "We live because my people stood and fought. Give them credit first."
He nodded.
But the respect in the room was undeniable.
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8. Aira's Reflection
Alone later in a recovery tent, Aira stared at her trembling hands.
Her mana reserves were dangerously low.
Every spell felt like it carved into her soul.
She thought of the Fire Goddess from her dreams.
> "Is this what you prepared me for?" she whispered.
> "To become fire that never sle
eps?"
She felt the flame inside her flicker… but not fade.
Outside, the wounded rested. Fires crackled low. The walls still stood.
And tomorrow, the beasts would come again.
She curled up on her cot, whispering one final vow:
> "I will not break."