Unable to truly see the attacker even through their communion with the world’s flesh, the Crimsons along with Lyra’s parents, were more than convinced: this could only be the work of a Saint... or something far worse.
It wasn’t really that they couldn’t see anything.
Only that what they could see, was just a green flame, shaped in the silhouette of a man.
No matter what they tried; through Will, dynisis, or soul resonance, that was the only image that came through. A glowing figure, its form composed entirely of otherworldly emerald fire.
They watched as the wall of the hospital crumbled before this figure, and with his mere presence alone, he stripped the air from Lyra’s control.
Worse still, far worse, he forcibly extracted her dynamis. Not just wrested it from her grip... he pulled it from her body.
And she couldn’t fight back... She couldn’t even breathe.
That level of suppression... no, dominion, was something even the gathered Saints could not claim to be capable of.
They watched as he cupped her chin almost tenderly, and as he did so, Lyra stared up at him, her eyes hollow and blank, stripped of consciousness. Watched as her body moved on its own with rage, like a puppet under command.
He leaned in took a handful of her hair, and took a slow, deliberate inhale of her hair.
Fine fissures raced across the floor of the room—Hamada, Lyra’s father, at the epicenter.
His eyes were reddened, bloodshot with fury. It was as though he were daring the figure to do something... anything, so he could justify unleashing the wrath bubbling in his soul.
He seemed to have forgotten that this was only a memory... a mere replay through the world’s lens. That even a single unconscious burst of his power could obliterate countless lives within this very hospital.
Sixtus moved instantly. His aura expanded, snuffing out Hamada’s Will and reinforcing the room with his own. The other Crimsons shot Hamada warning glances.
Thankfully, the green flame figure withdrew from Lyra after that, doing nothing else.
As it left, the world finally decided to listen to her, and she gained back control over her breath, and dynamis.
They watched as her vacant eyes widened, her lungs gulping in air like it was salvation. She drew in dynamis with such desperation and force that her dynisis roots tore under the strain.
And once she regained a semblance of composure, she attacked. But she was trapped in a bubble.
They watched as she struck, again and again, her gaze still blank but her actions feral and relentless. A hollow fury driving her, and her dynisis roots, collapsing on itself.
And just when it seemed she might totally destroy herself... the man’s aura seeped back into the bubble unknown to her, and then, seeped into her. Stabilizing and strengthening her, which in turn allowed her to draw out more of her potential.
They watched as she fought on, her momentum climbing like an unyielding tide, formidable and in steady streams. Yet ironically, her movements grew increasingly erratic.
Then... something began to shift... Her movements began to touch something, an echo, a rhythm beyond herself. And in that moment, the world responded.
Tendrils of light emerged and began augmenting her every action.
They felt the change before it happened, a descent of something beautiful, unique and yet... common.
Comprehension. Not just one, but two Comprehensions!
Two separate understandings layered upon each other in rapid succession.
And as though that wasn’t enough, her Will evolved. It shattered its former limits, breaking into a realm that belonged to Saints. Life bark—Young tree.
An Awakened Will evolved from seed, to sprout, to sapling, bloom, and then flourished into a Young tree, otherwise called Life bark.
Her lifeless eyes sparked awake, and hints of clarity shown within them. They watched as within that clarity, a deep, searing hatred bruned... igniting like fire in them.
And then she moved with every power-up she had earned. Like an arrow let loose, fired by the bowstrings of anguish.
But what followed made their hearts drop.
The green figure, until now restrained, finally released his aura.
When they had felt it before. From a distance, it was vast, terrifying, but resistible. They had been able to withstand it, even challenge its weight.
But now, re-experiencing it directly through the world’s memory... Their souls trembled.
In one day, they were jarred with more than one wake up call.
They watched as even Ares—the planet itself, stirred, waking in panic. It summoned its deepest defenses, numerous runes embedded into the fabric of its very being flickering to life.
And yet it wasn’t enough.
The aura spread like poison, seeping between Ares’ runes like a cancer. The planet fought hard, trying to reject it, but the force continued to proliferate, violating the world like an incurable disease. What it did do however, was expose its aura.
It was this same aura they had felt earlier. The first mind boggling aura they felt back at the rift... Just before the descent of the ruby eye.
As though summoned by that thought, the familiar pressure of the eye once again descended. That weight so vast it made their Wills falter.
Even now, despite already having felt it before, felt like death itself, had settled over their shoulders.
However, at this point, they were more baffled than scared. Because even under the pressure of that eye, Lyra was still moving into a final strike.
Even the green-flamed man was immobilized under the oppressive power of the ruby eye. Even when the second pressure descended, clashing with the will of the ruby eye, she kept moving.
To ordinary eyes, all this happened in an instant. But to beings of their level, a single second was vast. Within that single instant, they perceived everything as though time had slowed to a crawl, dissecting the event into sequential pieces.
From the moment her Will had evolved to the moment the ruby eye appeared in the skies, not even a full second had passed.
And just when they thought things couldn’t become any stranger, the impossible happened... The being they believed was immobilized as well, smirked.
With an insidious smile, he withdrew the tendrils of his power that had been anchoring and stabilizing Lyra’s body.
Then she collided with the the bubble he had trapped her in, shattering it under her assault.
But at the same time, with nothing left to stabilize her, her now overwhelming power, rampaged through her weak body.
And just like that... She was ripped apart.