Destroyed

“Unnie!”

Rei’s scream tore through the air, hoping that it would do something, but all it did was stun Jimin.

The slab was already in the air.

Voidborn wouldn’t make it in time.

Then—

In that split second, Voidborn twisted his body in the direction opposite the bugbear and leapt. His body flashed through the air, surging towards the mobile drink stall to Jimin’s side, kicking it with all his might.

A thunderous, catastrophic crash exploded across the street.

The slab smashed into the obstruction with a deafening boom. The wood broke into pieces, splinters and shattered glass bottles exploding outwards in every direction. Dark crimson beetroot juice sprayed across the pavement like blood as the cart disintegrated under the devastating force.

But that was not all.

As the concrete slab fractured into pieces, a stray, jagged chunk of debris broke off and hurtled towards the civilian man that Jimin had been trying to save.

There was no time to scream.

The debris struck him right in the torso with a sickening wet crunch. His body folded inwards instantly, the fat around him barely doing anything to cushion the impact. His ribs shattered like dry twigs under the immense force, blood and viscera exploding outwards in a grotesque spray, innards bursting from the ruined cavity of his chest and abdomen. What remained of the body crumpled like a discarded rag, his limbs twitching once before going still.

He was dead.

Jimin cursed at the sight, but there was no time to mourn.

Enraged that its attempt to kill Jimin failed, the bugbear tightened its grip on its club and bent forward, charging towards Jimin.

“Get out of the way!” Derrick shouted, scattering five metallic cubes with a copper sheen across the ground.

Voidborn lunged forward and grabbed Jimin’s hand by the wrist, yanking her aside.

“Stay away,” Voidborn ordered, pointing her towards the alleyway where all the civilians hid.

As the metal cubes landed flat on the ground, tiny mechanical legs snapped out from their edges, lifting them slightly. A small cylinder of about two inches tall rose from each cube, a barrel sliding out with a sharp click. The cubes scuttled towards the charging bugbear, which was swinging its club wildly with every thunderous snap.

Missiles screamed through the sky.

They struck all four limbs and the chest at once.

Miniature mushroom clouds burst on impact. Thunderclap shockwaves spread from the impact points, carrying a searing heat of white that made Voidborn squint. Dust and powder from destroyed rubble all around flooded the air, forming a mist of grey that obscured sight.

The stomping stopped.

The swinging ceased.

“Was that enough?” Derrick frowned, his flying orbs still firing beams into the haze.

“I don’t care,” Rei replied. “Assume that it’s never enough.”

She closed her eyes and focused, the orbs above her head merging into one. A golden-orange light swelled above her, igniting into flames as she compressed the energy.

Voidborn stood to the side, sword still drawn, observing silently.

“It’s not dead,” he stated.

Through the fading curtain of dust-snow, the bugbear could be seen kneeling, propping itself up with its spiked club. It was only stunned. Not defeated.

“No matter. This will burn it to death.”

Rei waved her hand and her floating tome flipped opened, pages turning rapidly on their own before stopping. A reddish glow seeped from the book, and the golden orange light above her had expanded rapidly, filling the space above her like a miniature sun.

“Incinerate.”

She pointed at the silhouette in the dust cloud. The enormous flaming orb collapsed into a white bead of light and shot forward, carving a straight white line through the dust.

Impact.

The dust warped inwards.

Then—

Blinding light.

Silence.

The bugbear was set ablaze.

Noise all around was consumed as golden-white flames erupted, expanding rapidly and filling the space with nothing but overwhelming heat. The bugbear roared and fell to the ground in agony, thrashing wildly as it tried to extinguish the flames. But it was useless.

The suspended dust acted as fuel, igniting the proximities into a sea of flames. Golden-white fire clung to its body like liquid starlight. The creature’s thick hide that could withstand sword slashes and energy beams began to melt under the insufferable heat. Its skin turned dark as it bubbled and blistered, melting and peeling away like wet sheets. Its prided tough skin was slowly liquefying, revealing the raw, red muscle beneath before that too began to blacken and char.

The flames were strangely beautiful in their devastation.

They danced across the bugbear’s massive frame, consuming the meat with greed like how fireflies flock to light, turning the entire street into a temporary inferno. The monster’s thrashing gradually weakened, its powerful limbs twitching as the fire consumed it from the outside in.

The roaring slowly dropped into deep, guttural groans of despair. Then even those faded.

By the time the last of the floating dust burned away, the golden-white flames had died down into quiet embers, consuming whatever left that remained. The once fearsome creature now lay as a heap of charred, blackened bones, the skeleton curled on its side, smoke wisping from its remains. The air smelled of scorched flesh and sulfur.

Silence fell over the alleyway.

Rei stood motionless, her floating tome still open. The open page she had used tore free and floated upwards, disintegrating into ash. Derrick’s mechanical orbs and cubes returned to him, weapons retracting with soft clicks.

Jimin stared at the burning corpse with wide eyes, an uneasy orange swirling within her.

Even the civilians who had hidden in the alleyway and the rats which had come out to witness the commotion remained deathly quiet, watching the pyre with a mixture of horror and awe.