Chapter 57. The Sound of Belief
"Thunderbolt."
The word left Lyra’s lips, and in the same instant, a massive bolt of lightning erupted from her outstretched hand. It tore through the air, swallowing half the distance between her and the Centarian Monkey in the blink of an eye.
The creature saw it coming.
It watched the crackling arc of electricity close in with terrifying speed, and yet, despite possessing a body built for impossible quickness, it couldn’t move. Its mind raced through a dozen escape routes, calculating angles, plotting trajectories, screaming at its limbs to do something, but the body refused to listen. It simply stood there, frozen, as the lightning came for it.
Matthew watched the bolt leave Lyra’s hand, and his eyes went wide. He swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry.
Elizabeth saw it too. She watched the blinding streak of light surge toward the Centarian Monkey, and slowly, a smile spread across her lips.
I knew you could do it.
The strike connected.
It hit with a sound like the world cracking open. The explosion of electricity was so violent, so deafeningly loud, that the sound rolled across the entire forest and spilled out beyond its edges. Every bird in the surrounding trees erupted from their perches at once, scattering into the sky in a frantic storm of wings.
***
On the far side of the forest, Necrotize stood with both hands tucked in his pockets.
When the thunderclap reached him, he turned his head toward the sound. A quiet smile touched the corner of his mouth.
"She did it."
That was all he said.
Beside him, Dominic had also turned toward the noise.
"What was that?" he asked.
"The sound of belief," Necrotize replied.
Dominic stared at him. He didn’t understand, and honestly, he still didn’t have the nerve to ask what that meant. So he said nothing, and simply turned back to look in the direction the sound had come from.
***
In the professors’ observation area, nearly every seat emptied at once.
Those who had been diligently taking notes put down their pens without thinking. All eyes snapped to the enormous screen in front of them. No one spoke.
What they had just witnessed, none of them could quite believe it.
Even Ronald, who prided himself on keeping a level head in any situation, was on his feet, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. He was struggling to find words, any words, for what he had just experienced.
He turned to look at Eric beside him.
Eric, too, was visibly shaken.
***
The moment the lightning struck the Centarian Monkey, the entire area was swallowed in a blinding wash of white light. Elizabeth, Matthew, and Cline all turned away simultaneously, shielding their eyes. The roar of electricity was so overwhelming it made their ears ring.
Then, gradually, the light faded. The thunder died down.
They turned back.
What they saw made their jaws drop.
The Centarian Monkey was still standing.
But that wasn’t the point.
The point was what it looked like now.
Its body was almost entirely charred to ash. Its eyes had gone vacant, glassy and unfocused, staring at nothing. Beneath its feet, the ground had been scorched into a crater nearly a foot deep.
Then, before anyone could process what they were seeing, the creature tilted, slowly, heavily, to the right.
And fell.
It hit the earth with a dull, final thud.
***
Lyra stared.
Her mind hadn’t caught up yet. It was still trying to piece together what had just happened, sorting through images that didn’t quite feel real.
Then, without warning, the strength drained completely from her legs. She dropped to the ground, sitting where she stood, eyes fixed on the motionless body of the Centarian Monkey.
She was still staring when she noticed Elizabeth moving toward her.
Elizabeth crossed the distance between them without a word. She knelt down on one knee in front of Lyra, and pulled her into a hug.
That was all it took.
The tears came before Lyra even realized they were there, spilling down her face before she had any chance to stop them.
"Elizabeth..." Her voice cracked. "I did it. I actually did it." She clutched the back of Elizabeth’s jacket. "I’m not a failure. I can do things. I can..."
Elizabeth held her tighter.
"Nobody ever called you a failure, Lyra," she said softly, her voice steady and warm against Lyra’s ear. "I always believed you could do this. And so did he. You were never a failure, not for a single second."
The words made Lyra cry harder before they made her cry less.
But then, quietly, at the edges of her thoughts, an image rose to the surface.
A figure standing with both hands in his pockets, watching her with that unhurried, easy expression of his. The ghost of a gentle smile on his face.
Lyra didn’t know why that image, of all things, was the one that found her here.
But slowly, the tears began to slow.
And then, one quiet breath at a time, they stopped.
Slowly, Matthew and Cline began making their way over. From behind, Joseph followed.
Matthew and Joseph were both visibly elated, wide grins, light steps, the kind of energy that comes from watching something extraordinary unfold right in front of you. The result was better than either of them could have hoped for.
But Cline was different.
His gaze locked onto Lyra, and something shifted behind his eyes, a sharpening, like a blade being drawn. His grip around the handle of his bow tightened until his knuckles went pale. Deep inside him, something ignited, a roaring torrent of fire that surged up without warning and refused to be smothered.
Then, a moment later, he blinked.
His expression smoothed over. His eyes softened back to something unreadable. And slowly, a strange smile crept onto his face.
Just wait a little longer. The real game hasn’t started yet.
---
Matthew and Joseph came to stand beside Lyra and Elizabeth.
Matthew brought his hands together in a position of reverence and dipped his head toward Lyra.
"You did magnificently, Lady Lyra. That strike was something else entirely." A warm sincerity filled his voice. "Praise the Lady."
At that, Elizabeth finally released her hold on Lyra.
Almost in unison, everyone present echoed the words.
"Praise the Lady."
It wasn’t a throwaway phrase. Within this Empire, the faith of Goddess Luna stood above all others as the dominant religion, the thread that ran through nearly every ritual, every greeting, every moment of reverence. There was, of course, a certain individual of far greater divine standing currently living among them as a classmate. But no decree within the Empire compelled anyone to pray to him, and he himself had never asked for it. So no one did, even those who might have wished to.
As far as official records were concerned, there were no followers of any other Ancient Origin within these borders. On paper, at least, they knew that much.
What none of them could imagine, what not a single one of them was even capable of suspecting, was what was unfolding in the heart of this forest right now.
Or what was about to happen to all of them.