Chapter 234: Attack on Rafa/HMS Stormbreaker

The sky over Rafa was bleeding.

Crimson cracks split the heavens like shattered glass, oozing a thick, black ichor that hissed as it struck the ground. The air smelled of burnt copper and rotting meat—a stench so thick it clung to the back of the throat.

Somewhere in the distance, a building collapsed with a thunderous KRRRSSHHH, its steel skeleton groaning as it folded in on itself. The streets were rivers of panic—screaming civilians, overturned cars, the relentless DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA of machine gun fire as the military tried to hold the line.

....

Lyra's boots splashed through a puddle of something that wasn't water. Blood. Oil. Maybe both. Her Imperial mage corps uniform was torn at the shoulder, her gloves slick with sweat and grime. At her side, Milanda—her spirit fox familiar—bared her teeth, her nine tails flickering like blue flame.

"Left!" Milanda yipped, her voice a sharp, ethereal whisper.