Chapter 60: [60] Zantei
"Zantei: Keraunos Cathedral"
The words left Thalia’s lips, and reality fractured.
Purple-white lightning erupted from her body, shooting upward and outward in blinding arcs. The cathedral walls dissolved as her domain established itself, replaced by a vast storm-dark arena that stretched fifty meters in every direction. The floor transformed into crystallized lightning—smooth, translucent plates that crackled with contained energy beneath her feet.
Towering storm pillars materialized around the perimeter, each one a massive column of churning thundercloud that reached toward a ceiling of roiling darkness. Lightning constantly arced between these pillars, creating a cage of electric energy that defined the boundaries of her domain.
The air itself became charged, each breath tasting of ozone and power. Tiny sparks danced across every surface, and the ambient light shifted to an otherworldly purple-white glow that emanated from nowhere and everywhere at once.
The crystal serpent froze, its reflective surface now showing only Thalia’s storm-filled domain rather than her face. The remaining Mirror Man by the core took a step back, its featureless head turning as if searching for an escape.
Thalia stood at the center of the storm, her periwinkle hair floating upward as if gravity had partially released its hold. Purple electricity coursed across her body in intricate patterns that resembled both circuit boards and ancient geometric designs. Her eyes glowed with the same energy, turning from their usual purple to a brilliant white.
"This is my domain," she said, her voice carrying a subtle echo as if the storm itself spoke with her. "In here, all lightning answers to me alone."
The serpent recovered from its momentary paralysis and lunged toward her, its crystalline body reflecting fragments of lightning as it moved. Before it could reach her, a bolt of lightning struck it from above—not by chance, but by Thalia’s will.