The Extra's Supremacy

"I will take you out of Kythera City," Kain said, his voice firm, yet tinged with urgency. The weight of the moment hung heavily in the air, and his eyes were locked on Elara, trying to understand her next move.

"No need," Elara replied, her voice steady, almost distant, as though she had already made peace with whatever was to come.

Kain's brow furrowed in disbelief. "But if we stay here, we'll die," he insisted, his tone rising with frustration. His mind raced, trying to find any other solution, any other way out, but everything seemed to be closing in on them. He couldn't afford to lose her, not now. Not after everything they'd been through.

Elara's gaze softened, but her resolve remained unshaken. "As long as I'm alive, nothing will happen to you." Her words were like a quiet promise, one filled with a power that Kain couldn't quite grasp. She continued, her voice barely a whisper, "I guess it's time."

Kain blinked, confusion clouding his expression. "Time for what?"

Elara didn't immediately answer. Her focus seemed to shift inward, as if preparing herself for something monumental. Her next words were heavy, laden with a kind of inevitability. "Time for me to end this."

Kain's heart raced. "End this?" His mind struggled to keep up, but Elara's resolve was clear. Something deep inside her had shifted, and Kain could feel it—an energy building, a change that was about to unfold in ways he couldn't even imagine.

Elara turned toward Kain, her expression resolute, and said, "Take Lily and stay back."

Kain's eyes widened as confusion gripped him. "Mom, where are you going?" Lily's voice trembled as she called out, but Elara didn't turn back, continuing her path toward the broken entrance. The crowd, too, watched her, puzzled by her actions. Why was she walking toward certain death when there was still hope—the hope that Supreme Zander would arrive to save them?

Kain's mind raced as he realized what Elara had decided. He whispered to himself, "About time she made up her mind."

Lily, clinging to Kain's arms, heard her uncle's words and looked up at him with wide eyes. "w-what do you mean, Uncle?"

Kain, though troubled, simply smiled at her, though it didn't reach his eyes. He felt helpless, his second attribute still out of reach, his energy barely a fraction of what it needed to be. But if Elara was in danger, he would join the fight—he would fight until the last breath if it meant keeping her safe.

For now, however, he couldn't do anything. He set Lily down gently and snatched a short blade from a nearby person, who didn't seem to care. The weapon would have to suffice.

Elara walked past the fallen wyvern, her figure moving with the quiet determination of someone who had made her peace. The onlookers watched in silence, unsure of what to make of her resolve. Some feared she had lost all hope, others, like Kain, knew better.

Before Elara could get too far, Aric who had been observing the scene had rushed forward and grabbed her hand. "Stop, you can't go any further," he urged.

But Elara didn't even flinch. She turned to him, her gaze cold and unwavering, and Aric, without fully understanding why, found himself suddenly on his knees, bowing before her as if he had no control over his own body. The air around them seemed to crackle with an invisible energy.

Kain watched, knowing exactly what was happening. Elara was no ordinary person. She had hidden her true power for years and her will had always been stronger than anyone realized, and now, in the face of the impending calamity, she was unleashing it.

Elara began to remove the seals on her mind, and as she did, her energy surged like a storm breaking free. It surged from Seeker to Master, then Sovereign—the realm she had reached years ago—but it didn't stop there. It continued to rise, surpassing Sovereign, breaking through to Archon.

The entire city seemed to hold its breath. Even the creatures paused, as if they too sensed the overwhelming power that was now awakening.

Elara's black hair shifted, ripples of energy transforming it into a vibrant purple hue that glowed with raw power. The sky darkened, and clouds gathered over a vast area, stretching for 100 miles. Her left arm rose slowly, then came crashing down.

Silence.

And then—thunder.

The earth itself trembled as over a hundred thousand lightning strikes rained down from the heavens, each bolt like a spear aimed directly at the creatures of Kythera City. But none of the strikes touched the ground. Instead, they hit only the beasts—Defiled, Corrupted, even Terror-ranked creatures were torn apart by the fury of the storm. Each bolt was perfectly aimed, each strike as deadly as the last.

The power was indescribable—immense, unrelenting, and swift. Even creatures that were miles away, beyond the city's walls, fell beneath the storm's might. A Terror-ranked creature nearly 90 kilometers away was struck down in an instant, its monstrous form disintegrating before it could react.

For a moment, everything was still.

The thunder ceased. The ground stopped shaking. And the monstrous threat that had ravaged Kythera City was gone.

The calamity had ended.

The wyvern, battered and broken, slowly began to rise, its massive wings barely capable of supporting its weight. It shuffled forward, toward Elara, its movements sluggish but purposeful. The once-ferocious beast, which had terrorized the city, now seemed subdued. The wyvern did not attack—no, it did something entirely unexpected. It lowered its head, bringing it gently to the ground before Elara, in what could only be described as an act of submission.

The silence that followed was thick with awe. The beast, once a symbol of destruction, now knelt before her, as if recognizing her power and authority. The sheer weight of the moment was impossible to ignore.

Elara stepped forward, her every movement exuding confidence and unspoken command. As she reached the wyvern, she placed her foot gently on its massive head, asserting her dominance in a quiet but unmistakable gesture. The wyvern, having once been a terrifying force of nature, now seemed but a humbled creature before her.

The people in the evacuation center, the survivors, and even Kain and Lily—all watched in silence. The world, for a brief moment, stood still in reverence of what had just transpired.

That day, the Lightning Empress was born in the history of Altheria. Her name was... Elara Moonshard.