CHAPTER 2
The crowd froze in the town square. Every head tilted upward toward the sky.
A meteor.
That blazing giant tore through the black clouds, its tail streaking across the heavens like an infernal dragon descending to devour the world. Flames scorched the sky, the air hissed, and the ground beneath their feet trembled.
Ryu stood paralyzed, his face pale as death.
"Th–that's… a meteor…?!" His voice was hoarse, almost swallowed by the chaos.
"N-no way…" he whispered again, breath caught as if his lungs themselves were burning with the fire falling from the heavens.
Screams erupted from the masses.
People shoved, trampled, and scattered in every direction. Bodies collided, some fell and were crushed underfoot. The stench of fear filled the air.
Evelyn seized Ryu and Leon's hands, shouting, "We have to run!"
Her hand trembled, yet her grip was iron, pulling them through the raging sea of terrified people.
The meteor drew closer, its blaze blinding, painting the world in crimson. The air grew hotter, searing their skin, their hair lifting in the surging heat.
And then—
BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!
The cataclysmic explosion shattered the earth. A shockwave surged outward like a tsunami from hell. Houses crumbled in an instant, bodies were hurled into the air, trees snapped and burned.
The ground convulsed violently. Cracks snaked outward like black veins, splitting open to swallow everything above.
Fire spread with the rolling clouds of dust that consumed the city. Screams melded with the roar of destruction—a tragic symphony marking the beginning of a small-scale apocalypse in Indosvara.
---
"Ukhh—cough—cough!"
Ryu hacked violently. The air was choked with dust. His eyes burned, his lungs stung, his chest felt crushed beneath a suffocating weight.
His body staggered, scraped and bruised from being flung into the rubble. He forced himself up on shaky legs, ears ringing as though the world had fallen into a deafening silence.
But only one thought pulsed in his mind.
Father… Mother… Sister…
His heart froze. Panic devoured him. He whipped his head side to side, searching desperately for Evelyn and Leon through the choking haze.
A blurry silhouette emerged—Evelyn and Leon, battered and bleeding, but still alive.
"Thank God…" Ryu choked in relief. But it lasted only a heartbeat. His family—he had to find them.
Without another thought, he stumbled forward, lungs burning, legs screaming, yet fear drove him faster.
"My home… Mother… Father… Sister…" His voice cracked, spilling into sobs.
Evelyn's eyes widened as she saw his direction. Panic seized her face. She sprinted after him. "Ryu, wait! I'm coming with you!"
Leon, trembling, broke off toward his own home, heart weighed with dread for his father.
---
Ryu and Evelyn ran through a vision of hell.
Bodies littered the ground—some whole, others in pieces. A mother wailed over her child crushed in the debris. Children cried out for parents lost in the inferno. Lovers lay dead, hands still entwined in a final grip of eternal devotion.
Every step stabbed Ryu with invisible knives.
He staggered through blood, through screams, through the broken bodies of those still clinging to life.
Tears streamed down his face, but he didn't stop. His hope burned with one desperate prayer: that his family had survived.
---
At last, he arrived.
And his world shattered.
Where his home once stood was nothing but collapsed beams, shattered bricks, and smoldering flame.
Ryu froze, trembling, reaching out with quivering hands. His eyes went wide.
"N–no… no… no!" His voice broke, drowning in sobs.
Evelyn stopped behind him, tears spilling down her face. She covered her mouth to hold back a scream.
Ryu no longer cared. He lunged forward, clawing at the ruins, screaming as he heaved away massive beams with bloodied hands.
"Mother! Father! Sister! Where are you?!"
His cry echoed with panic and despair.
Evelyn rushed beside him, hauling away debris with bleeding hands. "Ryu! I'll help you! Don't give up!"
The wood cracked, dust flying.
And then—
"R… Ryu…"
A faint voice.
Ryu whipped his head toward it. From a gap in the rubble, Elena—his older sister—staggered into view, bloodied and battered, her forehead streaming crimson. Limping, but alive.
"S–Sister!" Ryu collapsed into her embrace, tears flooding his face. Evelyn wept beside them.
Elena smiled weakly through her bloodstained face. "Let's… find Father and Mother…"
The three of them clawed through the ruins. Their hands shredded, nails torn, but they didn't stop. Only one thing mattered: family.
---
And then they found him.
Sato, Ryu's father. His body was pinned beneath a massive stone slab. Blood pooled beneath him. His head hung limp, eyes staring blankly into nothing. He was gone.
"No… NOOOOO!!!" Ryu's scream tore the sky. Elena collapsed, broken with grief. Evelyn's knees buckled as she covered her face, sobbing.
But worse still—beside Sato lay Salsa, their mother.
Alive.
Her leg was crushed beneath a beam, her face pale, lips stained with blood.
"Mother!!!" Ryu, Elena, and Evelyn rushed to her side.
They heaved at the massive timber. "Hold on, Mother! We'll save you!" Ryu shouted, his throat raw from screaming.
But Salsa only smiled faintly, tears trickling down her face.
"My child… it's useless. My legs are gone…"
"Don't say that! You'll survive!" Evelyn cried, her tears streaming. Elena only shook, staring at her mother in horror.
Salsa coughed blood, her voice trembling.
"Listen… one last time…"
"Don't say that, Mother! Please, don't leave us!!!" Ryu's hands bled as he strained against the beam, muscles tearing.
But Salsa's words continued, soft, broken between breaths.
"You three… are my only treasure… Evelyn, Ryu, Elena… thank you… for filling my life with color…"
Their tears fell harder. Ryu shook his head violently, refusing to accept it, but in his heart he knew—this was the end.
"Please… endure… even without me. Don't despair… even in this cruel world…"
"Mother!!! Don't speak like that!!!" Elena wailed.
Salsa smiled, blood streaking her lips.
"Promise me… stay together. Don't fight. Protect each other… always…"
Their cries shattered the air.
"There's so much… I wish I could say… but…" Her voice weakened to a whisper. "Remember… I love you… more than anything in this world…"
Her eyes dimmed. Her head fell limp. Her breath stopped.
"Motheeeeeer!!!"
Their screams merged into one, tearing through the air. Ryu clutched her cold body, sobbing until his voice broke. Evelyn collapsed to her knees. Elena stared blankly, hollow, her soul refusing the truth that had destroyed her world.
Everything had fallen apart.
---
But the tragedy was not over.
DUARRR!!!
The ground shook once more. From the crater where the meteor had struck, a surge of violet light shot into the heavens. An unholy roar echoed, as if thousands of beasts screamed in unison.
The earth split.
And from the abyss, horrors emerged.
Monsters.
Their bodies black and dripping with slime, eyes glowing crimson, teeth sharp as daggers. They howled with hunger, crawling, staggering, leaping.
The survivors screamed in terror.
The monsters lunged upon the nearest humans, ripping them apart, blood spraying in fountains. Heads bitten off. Bellies slashed open, spilling entrails onto the ground. Human screams were swallowed by the crunch of gnashing teeth.
Evelyn staggered, trembling at the nightmare before her. Elena covered her mouth, tears mixing with bile rising in her throat.
"No… this isn't real…" Ryu whispered, pale with horror.
But one of the monsters turned. Its eyes locked onto them.
With a guttural roar, it bounded across the ruins, landing atop the corpses of Salsa and Sato.
"GRAAAAAHHH!!!"
Their heads—his mother and father's remains—were crushed beneath the beast's landing. Blood sprayed, splattering across Ryu, Elena, and Evelyn.
Ryu froze. The world collapsed again. His tears burned away, replaced by fire.
"Mother… Father…" His voice trembled with fury. "They weren't even allowed to remain whole…"
The monster crept forward, claws glistening with fresh blood, its breath foul with rot.
Evelyn and Elena clung to Ryu.
"Ryu! Don't! You'll die if you go near it!" Evelyn screamed in terror.
But the beast advanced, drool dripping from jagged teeth.
Elena stepped in front of her siblings, trembling but desperate to shield them. "What do I do… God, what do I do…?"
The monster raised its claw high, death's shadow engulfing them.
And as the claw swung down—
To be continued…
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