A towering giant of thunder and lightning descended onto the battlefield, evoking cheers from many — humanity's top-tier powerhouse had finally made a move.
This lightning giant, standing tall like a pillar that pierced the heavens, swept its eyeless face across the battlefield. Just being glanced at by it caused many of the brave warriors to tremble, breaking into cold sweat.
Such power, such sheer dominance—it was overwhelming enough to drive away even the fear that Icarus had brought.
At that moment, people believed more than ever that humanity would triumph over this otherworldly invasion.
"Is that the Thunder Empress?"
"His Majesty the Thunder Empress!"
Cheers erupted as countless people raised their arms in celebration.
The name of the Thunder Empress was etched deeply in their hearts. A powerhouse like her naturally gathered followers by the masses—and to top it all off, Her Majesty was an incredibly beautiful woman, driving countless men wild with admiration.
For a while, the battlefield resounded most loudly with one name—Thunder Empress Vasilisa Yuryevna Mostovaya.
"Pfft, that woman... always has to show off."
"If I'd just come out a little sooner, all the attention wouldn't be on her now."
"She probably used some kind of shady magic to pull off a stunt like that."
From the shadows, other yet-to-appear figures muttered with disdain, envy, or irritation—glaring at the lightning giant now preparing to attack.
The faceless giant let out a roar, shaking the earth, making the air wail, and even causing space itself to ripple.
The giant suddenly made a throwing motion.
In its hand, lightning burst out, forming a colossal spear of thunder equal in size to the giant itself—a divine spear of judgment capable of striking down the very sky.
In the next second, the giant hurled the thunder spear without hesitation. Its throwing motion stirred up a gale of horrifying pressure, forming several massive tornadoes that reached the heavens.
But no one paid attention to the tornadoes.
All eyes were on that thunder spear, which plowed through the air with unstoppable force, annihilating everything in its path.
Its target? A massive black dragon cloaked in undead darkness that had just emerged from a great chasm.
At that moment, the spear's light seemed to swallow the entire world, as if mimicking a helium flash from the sun. When the blinding radiance faded, what remained was a colossal ball of plasma hanging in the sky—a silver-white sun radiating rays so intense that even a single glance would burn out a human's eyes.
Then, that silver sun expanded like a balloon on the verge of bursting, and with a silent explosion, an apocalyptic shockwave surged outward.
"DEFEND YOURSELVES!!!"
"Aaaaahhhhhh—!!"
"Damn you, Thunder Empress! Are you trying to kill us too?!"
"She's insane! We haven't even finished evacuating!"
Curses, cries, and screams rang out—only to be swallowed by the wave of destruction. The mountain range below was blasted clean of its topsoil by the blast, leaving behind barren rock.
Had this taken place in the surface world, the shockwave alone could have devastated an entire city. If the thunder spear had landed directly on the ground, it could have reduced Tokyo to ruins.
Anyone who witnessed that power wouldn't doubt that the colossal dragon had been obliterated.
"It's no use. That's nowhere near enough to destroy Icarus. Especially not with thunder-based attacks—those are completely ineffective."
A calm voice broke the tension beside the silver-haired hero Emilia, who turned to see who had spoken.
...And nearly passed out.
Oh god—those are illegal!!
Her first reaction was pure shock at the... overwhelming presence before her. She's so jealous she could scream.
If even a quarter of that busty goddess's blessings had been bestowed on her, she could've joined the 'blessed chest club' too!
Wait, what was she thinking?!
Shaking off the chaotic thoughts, Emilia forced herself to stop staring at those distracting proportions and instead focused on the speaker—a golden-haired beauty with dragon horns and mismatched eyes, who was watching the sky with a grave expression.
A dragonkin? Probably from the other world that was ravaged by Icarus...
"Completely ineffective?" Emilia frowned. That attack looked insanely powerful.
Of course, that didn't mean she was weaker than this so-called Thunder Empress. That woman was a mage-type hero, while Emilia was a melee combatant.
Raw destructive power wasn't everything.
Still, if that thunder spear had hit her directly, she'd be seriously injured if not dead—even with full defense.
Yet the dragonkin claimed it wouldn't even scratch Icarus?
Before Emilia could ask more, something happened that made her question reality.
Time itself seemed to freeze. Even the light in the air stopped, as if the entire world had turned into a motionless painting.
Then, in an instant, that still image vanished like a mirage.
The scene was replaced by the colossal dragon, entirely intact, floating in the sky. From its body extended several cord-like tubes that had latched onto the lightning giant, siphoning energy from it.
More importantly, there was no trace of the destruction caused by the thunder spear. The battlefield had reverted to how it was before the attack—the torn ground, the scorched mountains—all restored as if the explosion had never happened.
"Did it... reverse time?"
Emilia's voice trembled as she uttered those words.
No, wait—that wasn't quite right. If time had truly reversed, she would have returned to her previous position as well. But she hadn't moved at all.
And then—memories suddenly appeared in her mind.
Memories she hadn't had before.
She remembered Icarus launching a surprise attack on the thunder giant before it had a chance to throw the spear. The cords had latched onto the giant first and were now draining its powers.
So which version was real?
Her memory said the spear was thrown first. Reality now said otherwise—as if the past had been overwritten.
It wasn't an illusion. Emilia was absolutely sure of what she had experienced.
"What... what did it do?"
She turned to the dragonkin for answers.
And the dragonkin, voice solemn, replied,
"Icarus possesses a limited ability to rewrite established facts—to alter its own history. It's somewhat like loading a saved file in a game."
And the worst part? People still remembered the overwritten past.
Their memories kept piling up, again and again.
And with them, the despair only grew.