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1. The First Roar of War
The Beast Tide surged forward like a living ocean—howling wolves, armored beetles, screeching skyshades, and hulking ogres crashing across the valley. From the top of Scorchfront's main tower, Aira saw it all.
The wave of monsters slammed into the outer barriers, clawing and gnashing.
Aira raised her hand.
> "Ignite the Ember Grid."
With a surge of mana, the runes buried beneath the fortress pulsed and erupted in a lattice of fire. Blazing channels carved the battlefield into blazing zones—some monsters burned, others howled in confusion.
It bought time.
But not enough.
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2. Wall to Wall Combat
At Moon Gate, defenders fired arrows enchanted with fire sigils. Mages at Skyreach Tower summoned barriers of molten wind, and flame-enhanced ballistae launched exploding bolts into the fray.
Aira was everywhere.
She blinked between sectors using Flame Dash, her Flame Clones covering flanks, each mimicking her perfectly.
> "Reinforce the south—Moon Gate is about to collapse!"
> "Bring mana to the barrier lines!"
> "Don't waste spells—focus fire on the elite variants!"
Her chain whipped across the walls, slamming a wyvern from the air, then wrapping around a berserker beast's legs and dragging it into a flame pit.
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3. The Breaking Point
Despite the defenses, the beasts kept coming.
A monstrous Crag Mauler, nearly five stories tall, lumbered from the rear lines. Its arms were plated in obsidian, its breath like poison fog.
> "Bring it down!" Aira shouted.
Spells rained down.
The thing laughed.
Then slammed its fists into the outer wall—and cracked it.
Flames exploded from inside, but it kept pressing.
Aira felt her mana beginning to strain. Her clones flickered.
Her breathing grew heavy.
> "Still not enough..."
A blow from the Crag Mauler sent a dozen soldiers flying. The wall began to crumble. If it breached, the city behind was doomed.
And then—
Everything froze.
Time didn't stop.
But for Aira, the world slowed.
Her heart thundered.
Her core ignited.
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4. Ascension to 35
A red-hot pillar of flame surged from her chest, visible to everyone on the battlefield.
A pulse of fire magic expanded outward, shattering a dozen beasts nearby with sheer pressure alone.
> "What—what is she doing?" someone whispered.
> "She's… leveling up?"
> "In the middle of battle?!"
The sky itself seemed to darken, clouds gathering unnaturally fast.
Flames spun around her, forming a storm.
A system message echoed inside her mind:
> [Level Up: 35]
[Talent Gained: Blazing Meteor Shower]
"Rain hellfire upon your enemies. Call down meteors of flame that ignore terrain and resistance. Damage scales with total mana capacity. Cooldown: 10 minutes."
Aira's eyes glowed white-hot.
The battlefield went silent.
Then she whispered:
> "Fall, stars of flame."
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5. Blazing Meteor Shower
From the heavens, the clouds split open.
And then—
The sky rained fire.
Flaming meteors, dozens at a time, plummeted toward the earth. Each was a miniature sun, trailing tails of golden flame. They fell upon the beasts with devastating impact.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Entire platoons of monsters were obliterated in seconds.
The Crag Mauler looked up—
—and a meteor the size of a war wagon crushed it where it stood, leaving only molten slag behind.
The very air shimmered with heatwaves. The ground was cracked, cratered, and glowing.
The tide turned.
> "She summoned stars…" someone whispered.
> "She's not human."
> "She's Flameheart."
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6. Aira's Command
She didn't let the awe break her focus.
> "Mages, form secondary rune circles!"
> "Deploy Ember Cannons at Sector D!"
> "Don't let up! We push while they're scattered!"
The soldiers surged behind her like a firestorm given legs. Her meteor shower created burning terrain that damaged only enemies—allowing friendly forces to move freely.
She used Flame Dash to blink from crater to crater, cutting down any survivors.
Even the veteran Commander Vellin, who once doubted her, now followed her lead without question.
> "Flame Commander, the left flank holds. What next?"
> "We dig in. Prepare for the second wave."
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7. Aftershock and Fear
The meteors had driven the first wave back.
But scouts reported movement beyond the treeline.
More beasts.
Stronger.
> "The first wave was just to test us," Kaelen said grimly.
> "Then we made one hell of a first impression," Aira replied.
She walked among the wounded, healing who she could with potion-infused fire magic—stopping burns, sealing torn skin, and igniting hope in their eyes.
> "Commander Flameheart!" cried a girl from the Moon Gate. "You saved us!"
> "No," Aira said, her voice steady. "We saved us."
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8. A Message from the Shadows
Just as calm returned, a raven of pure shadow landed beside Aira.
A spell raven.
It opened its mouth—and a distorted voice spoke.
> "Flameheart. We see you."
> "You burn brightly. Too brightly."
> "You will not survive the tide to come."
> "Your flame will be snuffed, and your ashes will nourish the new world."
The message ended.
The raven dissolved.
Kaelen looked to her. "That wasn't a monster. That was… something else."
Aira turned toward the southern hills.
> "The Prime Beast has a voice now."
> "Good. Let it speak."
> "So I can answer with fire."
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9. Honoring the Fallen
Later that night, after the flames settled and the defense lines were reinforced, Aira led a torchlight vigil for the fallen.
Over a hundred soldiers had died in the first wave.
She lit each pyre herself, whispering their names, remembering their sacrifice.
Her new title wasn't just "Flame Commander" anymore.
Among the soldiers, a new name was whispered:
> "Meteor Queen."
> "The Blazing Comet."
> "Ash Sovereign."
But Aira, sitting alone atop the scorched battlements, simply stared at her hands.
Still warm.
Still trembling.
> "Too much power… too fast…"
She looked up at the stars again.
> "If I keep burning this bright… what will be left of me?"
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10. In the Eyes of the World
Word spread quickly.
Within hours, nations knew.
The Flame Prodigy had reached Level 35.
And had summoned meteors from t
he sky.
Guild leaders in the east debated sending reinforcements… or spies.
The Shadowbrand cult doubled their bounties on her head.
Some wondered if she was a reincarnated deity.
Others feared she was becoming one.
But one truth could no longer be denied:
> "Aira Flameheart is no longer a rising star…"
> "…She is the fire."