The world inside that radius ceased to function as a battlefield.
People caught closest were gone before their bodies could react, armor glowing and then failing, silhouettes swallowed by light. Defensive engines positioned to fire outward were struck from behind, frames folding and shattering under the force they were never built to withstand. Stone cracked and flowed like wax. Metal screamed as it twisted, then vanished into the inferno.
Sound arrived late.
A deep, rolling concussion that punched outward after the light, slamming into the city walls and the siege lines beyond, rattling teeth and shaking instruments from dwarven hands.
From the outside, it looked like the heart of the settlement had been replaced by a sun.
From inside, there was no time to understand what was happening.
Death.
Pure and simple.
That's what this was.
