The Rise Of The Omega Luna

CHAPTER 73

The square was an inferno. Fire licked across stalls, devouring canvas and wood, the heat warping the air into a furnace. Screams clawed through the night as the mob became a storm of panic and bloodlust—people trampling each other, torches crashing, shadows writhing in the smoke.

Elise barely had breath left, every inhale a searing knife. Her arm was slick with blood, her side on fire where Becky’s blade had bitten. Yet her grip on the spear was iron. Her eyes never left Becky.

Becky—cloaked in flame, face twisted into something almost inhuman. The smile that had always been too perfect was gone, burned away. What remained was raw, wild, a predator in the light of her own destruction.

“You can’t stop it,” Becky’s voice shredded the air, half-laughter, half-scream. “They’re mine, Elise! Every soul here! Every stone of this city! Burn with me!”

She lunged again, dagger a streak of fire in her hand. Elise caught it on her spearshaft, the c***k of steel on wood splitting the night. The force rattled her bones. Becky shoved, strength fueled by frenzy, forcing Elise back against the overturned cart.

Kai slammed into them, blade cleaving a mercenary that leapt from the smoke. Blood sprayed hot across his face, his eyes wild as he spun, blocking another arrow with the flat of his sword.

“Elise, we have to cut through!” he bellowed, voice nearly drowned by the roar of fire.

“I’m not leaving her standing!” Elise snarled, forcing Becky off with a savage twist. Her spear lashed low, carving across Becky’s thigh. Blood spilled, dark and hot, but Becky only screamed louder, her fury feeding her.

From the rooftops, more mercenaries appeared—shadows with bows drawn, their flames bright as falling stars. Mira staggered forward, sword trembling in her hand. Her lips were pale, but her voice was sharp.

“Roofline—take the roofline!”

With a roar, she hurled her blade upward, spinning end over end. It struck one archer clean in the chest. The man toppled with a scream, crashing into the mob below.

The crowd broke further, chaos unraveling into chaos—half fleeing the flames, half surging forward with murder in their throats.

Elise’s muscles screamed, but she pressed the attack. She drove Becky toward the burning stalls, every strike of her spear a thunderclap. Sparks rained down around them, each impact a heartbeat from death. Becky parried, ducked, twisted like smoke itself. Her dagger slashed Elise’s cheek, hot blood streaking her jaw. Elise didn’t stop.

Kai cut down another mercenary, teeth bared, but a blow smashed into his back. He staggered to one knee, groaning. Elise saw Becky’s eyes flick toward him—predatory, hungry.

“No!” Elise roared, and with all her strength, she swept her spear wide. The shaft cracked against Becky’s ribs, hurling her against the burning cart. The wood splintered, collapsing. Becky rolled clear, cloak aflame, her dagger still in hand.

She rose laughing, the fire clinging to her like a crown. Her voice was hoarse, savage.

“Do you see? Even the fire bends to me. I AM THEIR SALVATION!”

Arrows hissed again from the roof. One streaked for Elise’s chest—

—but Kai intercepted, his sword snapping it aside. The effort nearly sent him to the ground. His knees buckled, blood soaking his tunic.

Mira stumbled to his side, clutching a stolen blade in her unsteady hand. Her face was gray, but her eyes were iron.

“Elise—finish it!”

The mob roared again, surging closer, pressing like a tide.

Elise’s vision blurred from blood loss, the fire painting the world red. Becky stalked toward her, limping, yet unstoppable, eyes bright with ruin.

This wasn’t just a fight anymore. It was the spark of war.

Elise tightened her grip on the spear, her breath ragged. Her body begged to collapse, but her spirit was a wall of stone.

No matter the flames. No matter the blood.

Tonight, only one of them would walk away.

Screams rose above the crackle of fire, the mob no longer one voice but a thousand—some shrieking in rage, others in terror, bodies colliding, trampling, clawing their way through smoke.

Elise staggered forward, spear slick with blood and sweat. Every wound screamed at her, but she refused to give ground. Becky’s laughter rang through the chaos, high and sharp, cutting above the roar.

“Look at them!” Becky cried, her arms spread wide, cloak burning like wings of fire. “They kill each other for me! Do you understand, Elise? This city has always belonged to ruin—my ruin!”

The mob surged, pressed by fire from behind and frenzy from within. Hands clawed toward Elise, Kai, and Mira—stones, knives, bare fists, all turned to weapons.

Kai shoved Elise aside, cleaving down a man who rushed with a broken spear haft. His breath came ragged, his face a mask of blood and soot.

“We’re getting buried here!” he roared. “We’ll never hold them!”

Elise spun her spear, striking the hands that clawed at her, the shaft cracking against bone. “Then we cut through!”

But Becky was already moving, her dagger flashing. She tore into the press of her own followers, cutting them down without hesitation. Their screams only fed the frenzy. She carved a path straight toward Elise, her face lit with fever-bright madness.

Mira, pale and swaying, intercepted her. Their blades clashed, sparks showering. Mira’s teeth clenched against the pain in her arm, but her stance held firm. “You’ll fall before she does.”

Becky hissed, lips curling into a feral grin. “Then you’ll die first.” She shoved hard, sending Mira sprawling into the mud.

“Elise!” Mira gasped, scrambling to rise—but the mob closed around her, dragging her down. Elise’s chest seized in panic.

“MIRA!”

She tore forward, spear thrusting, splitting a man’s chest, slamming another aside with the butt of her weapon. Blood sprayed, hot and metallic in her mouth. She carved her way toward Mira, but the tide was endless.

Kai fought beside her, a whirlwind of steel, but even he was slowing. A mercenary’s blade tore across his back, and he stumbled with a roar. Elise caught him before he fell, their shoulders braced together, their backs nearly touching.

“We’re surrounded,” Kai gasped. His eyes burned, fevered with fury. “They’ll crush us.”

Becky’s laughter rolled over the square like thunder. She stood atop the wreckage of the cart again, cloak aflame, dagger dripping. “Yes! Let it close! Let it bury you in fire and ash!”

From the rooftops, more flaming arrows rained down. Stalls collapsed in bursts of sparks, beams crashing, the smoke choking. The mob was screaming, fighting each other now as much as Elise.

The whole city square was collapsing into madness.

Elise gritted her teeth, blood running hot down her arm, her side, her face. She looked at Becky—bleeding, laughing, radiant in ruin—and felt a cold certainty settle into her bones.

This wasn’t just a mob anymore.

It was war, and Becky had lit the first fire.

She lifted her spear, voice raw but unyielding. “Then I’ll end it here!”

The mob surged, the arrows fell, and Becky leapt from the flames with a scream.