Lukan stood frozen, his eyes wide with disbelief. The overwhelming aura radiating from Aurora suffocated the air around him. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, as the transformation from the innocent little girl to this powerful being continued to unravel before his very eyes. The gap between their strengths was far greater than anything he had ever imagined.
Aurora's gaze locked on Lukan, her expression calm yet filled with an untouchable authority. Without a word, she raised her hand toward him, and the air rippled with her energy. A faint glow emitted from her palm, soft yet terrifying in its intensity.
Lukan's instincts screamed at him to move, to evade. But his body refused to obey. He was trapped under the weight of her power, as if his very soul was bound by chains unseen. Panic surged through him as he realized he couldn't dodge, couldn't resist. He was completely at her mercy.
"No… this can't be…" Lukan managed to whisper, his voice shaking with fear.
Aurora remained silent, her hand still extended. Then, with a single motion, a sharp light shot from her palm, cutting through the air with ease. In that brief instant, Lukan's world ended. He didn't feel pain—he didn't feel anything at all.
The beam of light passed through his body, and his form froze in place, his eyes wide with shock. For a second, everything seemed to stand still, and then, without warning, Lukan's body crumbled to ash, dispersing into the wind. No scream, no final words—just complete and utter annihilation.
Dave lay unconscious on the ground, unaware of the battle that had just ended in an instant. Aurora stood over the spot where Lukan had been moments ago, her expression unchanged, as if the act of ending his life had cost her no more effort than swatting a fly.
The silence that followed was profound. The battlefield, once filled with the sounds of clashing power, now seemed eerily calm. Aurora glanced down at Dave, her ethereal glow dimming as her features softened. She knelt beside him, her fingers glowing with a gentle, healing light as she placed her hand on his chest.
"He'll recover soon," Aurora murmured to herself, the power of healing flowing from her into Dave's broken and battered body. His wounds began to close, the bruises fading, and his breathing steadied as her energy worked through him. Every injury he had sustained from the brutal battle was being undone as if they had never existed.
As she continued to heal him, Aurora's expression shifted slightly, a hint of something deeper in her eyes—perhaps regret, perhaps understanding of a truth she had not yet shared.
"You wonder why I follow you," she whispered, as if speaking to Dave though he remained unconscious. "But it's not something I can fully explain… not yet."
Her hand lingered over his chest for a moment longer, the glow of her healing energy fading. Dave's face relaxed, his body fully mended from the damage of his intense fight with Lukan. She stood up, looking down at him with a mixture of affection and mystery.
"I wasn't meant to interfere like this," Aurora said softly, more to herself than anyone else. "But there's more to you than you know, Dave."
Her words hung in the air, but she didn't elaborate further. There was no need. She had said enough, and the rest would come in time. Whatever her reasons for staying by his side, they remained locked away, only hints surfacing for now.
Once Dave was completely healed, Aurora stepped back. The powerful, mature aura that had surrounded her during the battle slowly began to dissipate. Her height shrunk, her features softened, and her presence diminished as she transformed back into the small, innocent-looking girl she had been moments before.
The glow faded entirely, leaving her standing there as if nothing had happened. She blinked, her eyes once again wide with childlike innocence, as if the battle and the deadly display of power had been nothing more than a fleeting dream.
She looked around, confused for a brief moment, and then her gaze settled on Dave, who remained unconscious but unharmed.
"Everything's fine now," Aurora said quietly, her voice light and innocent, as if the terrifying force she had unleashed moments ago had never existed. She knelt back down beside Dave, her small hand gently brushing a lock of hair from his face.
Whatever had just transpired, Aurora had returned to the childlike persona she had worn before, her deadly power hidden away once again. The battlefield lay still, and there was no sign left of Lukan, the powerful SSS-ranked superhuman who had threatened Dave's life.
With a soft smile, Aurora sat quietly by Dave's side, waiting for him to wake, her innocent expression masking the immense power she held within.