Leta gritted her teeth against the creature’s hot breath as she stared it down, that ugly side of her that was in control reveling in its terror. She could feel the energy of the storm above and around her.

It mirrored the roiling destruction within, like calling to like.

Fearless, she reached one blood-soaked hand outward and wrapped her fingers around its horn, small snaps of lightning branding the creature and searing its flesh.

[Corrupted-Minotaur. Inert Nanites: 1,782,925. Absorb inert Nanites? Yes/No?]

“Fuck. Yes.” Leta growled each word through clenched teeth.

[Host has selected yes. Absorbing Inert Nanites.]

The monster bellowed in agony and terror as its very essence was sucked out of it. Leta felt like her body was swelling with vitality, the heady flush of energy making her skin so feverish she expected steam to start rising off her.

Power was pouring into her as a lightning bolt struck a hill so close that even in the rain, her hair began to float around her from the static in the air.

Under her hand, the hair of the beast withered as its muscled body began to age. What had once been the size of a minivan quickly diminished to the size of a shaggy horse. Still, it struggled to break free from her grasp, its head shaking as if maybe, just maybe, it could get free and run away with its prize.

It snorted and twitched, bovine noises becoming hoarser and rougher, the sword dropping from its mouth as lightning struck the fiery truck only a few meters away from them.

But it couldn’t break free.

As its vitality was leached away, Leta’s power increased until she felt like she was at the point of bursting like a too-full water balloon.

All her focus was on the monster in front of her, its hair smoking and chard, eyes glazed as its vision dissipated along with its Nanites.

Leta could feel the storm swelling above her, the snap of atoms in the clouds ready to unleash super-heated potential.

And she welcomed it.

She called to it even though she knew she was already in such an unstable state.

The power within her was too much. She could feel it tickling between her organs and searing at the tiny cuts that healed, burst open from her power, then healed again.

With each jolt of power, she thought the energy would lessen and gradually disappear, but as lightning cracked and thunder boomed around them, the energy above seemed to fan the flames of her destructive power.

In her mind, she could visualize a pressure gauge that cracked as her body took in the vibrating energy of the storm that her mortal form couldn’t sustain for long periods and the Nanites that instantly healed any wound inflicted by being stuffed with power.

It was a vicious cycle of destruction and restoration over and over again.

She knew she needed to let this power loose, but like grabbing hold of a live wire, she couldn’t let this power go so quickly.

It needed an outlet.

It needed a victim.

The Minotaur pawed at the ground, a feeble attempt to push away as it sensed its coming doom.

But it was no use.

It looked up, nearly blind as the last seconds of its life ticked by, to behold an incarnation of chaos.

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A storm encased in skin and rage.

Like called to like.

A blue-white bolt of lightning split the night, arching from the clouds to hit her Leta, instantly vaporizing the droplets that had collected on her skin and searing her clothes.

A bellow of wrath and ruin ripped from her throat as she acted as the conduit to thrust the storm’s power into the beast, eyes unblinking as she willed the very essence of the power of the storm into her adversary.

This was not your typical summer storm lightning.

This was the gathering of the storm’s entire destructive force into one single blow.

The Minotaur threw its head back, its jaw dislodging as its body contorted in tortuous agony.

Leta grabbed the sword’s hilt before it could slip free from the creature’s mouth, keeping it in place as she punched more and more lightning through the beast.

[Atlanite weapon detected.]

Leta ignored the notification, her entire being focused on eradicating what was before her.

The Minotaur was dead in a heartbeat, body locked in twisted agony as the last thing it knew was the white-hot heat of a burning star and the face of a being that shouldn’t exist.

Its skin peeled away and turned to ash, its body acting as a pressure cooker and causing its organs to liquefy only for its blood and bones to turn to dust on the breeze.

Muscles and hair vaporized as a torrent of electricity with the destructive power of a raging sun, blasting through the charred remains to turn the stone beneath it into molten liquid.

For countless seconds Leta held the bolt of lightning in place, its continuous force blasting out windows in homes and cars for miles in every direction as it began to suck away the air around them.

She could feel the clothes on her back burning to cinders but held the storm’s power in place until even the beast’s shadow was nothing more than motes of dust and regret that vanished into the rain.

As immediately as the lightning came, it vanished, and the clouds above them suddenly became silent, save for the rain pattering against the still-burning truck.

Leta’s muscles twitched uncontrollably, arches of electricity moving through and around her, as the lingering energy of the storm-ravaged her internally. Her skin cracked and bled with each movement before the wound healed immediately, just as another crack appeared.

‘It’s still too much.’ Leta thought through chattering teeth just as Gada notified her.

[Host has absorbed the kinetic force of a lightning storm. Though much has been depleted, the remaining force is too great for the Host to consume now. The Host must dispel the energy before serious internal injury occurs.]

Leta did feel like she was about to be ripped apart by the energy still inside her. She could feel muscles clenching and unclenching, straining like metal wires handling a load that was too heavy for it.

Fingers tightened as she shoved the sword from its sheath and raised it above her head.

With a scream, she thrust the sword into the earth, cutting through stone and rock a knife through wet paper And letting loose the energy that was inside her.

It poured out of her like a fire hydrant cut wide open, a hot flood of potential buried deep into the ground as she used the sword like a lightning rod.

Into the earth, the energy went, absorbed, and redistributed among the rocks and roots till it was no more.

Leta’s breathing was hard as her death grip on the sword loosened, her muscles relaxing as the adrenaline and rage that had been fueling her was spent.

Lightheaded, she looked up to the road above them and could make out the outline of the slinking Loupgarou watching them from above through the rain.

It made no move to approach, its wary gaze fixed on her as if to gauge if it was the next target of her fury.

Leta tried to stand from where she’d been kneeling, but even rising a few inches had her lightheaded as her vision swam.

[The Host has depleted stamina due to excessive channeling of kinetic energy. It is recommended that the Host rest until stamina has been restored.]

“Not if there’s a fucking werewolf.” She groaned but stumbled into the mud around her, losing her grip on the weapon.

“Leta!” She heard Koa shout from a distance away as her head hit the ground, her lungs unable to get enough air as her heart continued to race unnaturally fast.

She could feel the thump of his footsteps through the earth as he ran for her, but she never took her eyes off the monster watching them.

“Shite! Leta! Holy-are you-of course you’re not okay.” Koa exclaimed, interrupting himself as he hovered over her.

His touch was painful against her sensitive skin, but she only had the energy to flop one arm in the beast’s direction as the edges of her vision began to dim.

“It’s… there…” She breathed, her lids heavy with exhaustion as she finally succumbed to all that had taken place.

She didn’t see Koa grab at the sword, only to wrench his hand free as its hot metal seared his flesh.

She didn’t see a Loupgarou’s focused gaze track her even breathing before slinking away, vanishing into the darkness of the rain and the night.

She didn’t see the giant red-haired man and his black wolf run down the hill or remember the hands that pulled her onto a stretcher.

But Koa did.

He remembered a being of fire and destruction unleashed upon this world.

He remembered the sound of her fury shattering his eardrums and the smell of her power as it set the air ablaze.

He was in awe.

And he was terrified of what fate held for this world because this being was in it.