672 - Twilight Zone Part 1/2

Hymns and sweet laughter filled the air. White puffy clouds floated leisurely across the land with playful winged beings flitting in and out of the clouds. Upon closer inspection, one would recognize those winged beings as angels. Marble white structures dotted the landscape and Ramuh sat contently on his holy throne and all was right with the world.

Angels carried trays of fruits filled with celestial energy and fed them to Ramuh on the sides. Hundreds more angels carrying petitions lined up before Ramuh's throne and sought his judgement. A nod or shake of his head would either condemn thousands of mortals to their deaths or grant them life for law and order on the world must be followed!

"Your holiness?"

The land before Ramuh suddenly shook wildly. Cracks appeared and spread rapidly throughout the land. Screams and cries of horror filled the air. With a mighty crack, the land broke apart and drifted away together with the clouds that had turned dark and menacing. A pitch black monstrous serpent broke out from the ground, crying out in a foreign tongue, further causing the floating continent to break apart faster.

"NOOOO!" Leung jumped to his feet as he roared out in anger. He blinked his eyes as his senses returned and found himself standing before a huge mass of shocked worshipers. He looked around his surroundings and the dream from earlier was still fresh in his mind, the images seemed to superimpose themselves over his surroundings.

He rubbed his eyes and realized that he was still onboard the temple ship and hundreds of his followers and clerics were before him. The scene was strangely similar to his dream except there were no angels and he wasn't in his heaven, nor was the land breaking up into pieces.

"Y- Your holiness?" A timid voice repeated itself from his side. Leung looked down to see a high ranking bishop nervously rubbing his hands together. "I- Is there something n- not to your H- Holiness's liking?"

Leung shook his head embarrassingly as he noticed the worshipers before he had all prostrate themselves against the marble floor in fear. He let out a sigh and shook his head once more, "Today's mass is over. I am tired."

"By your will!" The bishop quickly bowed and informed his subordinates while Leung stepped off the dais and headed into the inner temple. He poured himself a goblet of wine and stood at the windows, staring blanking out to the clouds and airships surrounding his temple ship.

"I am not Ramuh..." He whispered to himself as he downed the whole goblet of wine in one go. He crashed the gold goblet in his hand and flung it out of the window angrily as he cried out, "I am Leung Chun Kok!"

-----

The Old World

As if in response to Leung's declaration, the lands of the Old World started shaking. Strange geysers started erupting out from the ground suddenly, but what was spewed out was not just any liquid but water filled with mana! Those born with innate magic started to sense a surge of mana in the air, allowing them to easier grasp their use of magic.

The strange events spread across the lands and even caused the current Great War to come to a halt. Soldiers from all sides paused in their battles as the land around them shook and cracked apart. Creatures thought to be extinct or myths crawled out from the depths of the earth and started attacking anyone in the vicinity.

Giants carrying stone clubs climbed out of sinkholes and wreaked havoc in towns and cities while massive wurms torn through the earth, creating destruction and chaos. By an unspoken agreement, armies from all sides halted their battles and retreated to due with the sudden surge of monsters spilling out from the earth.

-----

The End Zone AKA Sea of Clouds, Vector Three Seven Zero

The UN V - 1 Vector wing ship was flying through the thunder storm, its goblin gunners on high alert as they peer through the thick clouds and rain for any floating chunks of rocks. In its cargo belly, were dozens of infantry fighting vehicles, trucks, and military equipment, all strapped down. It was also carrying over a hundred sailors and military personnel, all excited to be on their way back to the New World.

Flight Captain Pelmo was worried as he leaned his head forward against the thick armored glass of the cockpit. The roaring storm outside scared him as it was nothing he has even seen before and he could be considered a veteran in crossing the Zone, having completed thirteen successful round trips. The intensity of the storm made him nervous as he tried to keep the wing ship level while his nervous co pilot kept his eyes glued on the radar screen, doing his best to differentiate false returns between storm clouds and flying rocks.

"Cap!" His co pilot called out anxiously. "I have never seen something like this... This place is already bad as it is... But now..."

"I know..." Pelmo replied. "I don't like this as much as you. According to our charts, we still got four hours to go before we clear the Zone!"

"Holy shit!" The co pilot cursed when a particularly thick bolt of purple red lightning flash right before them, barely missing the wing ship by meters. "Did you see that?"

"Damn..." Pelmo felt his heart rate increase. "We just need to weather it through! This lady is built for this!"

Suddenly, the storm outside seemed to get even fiercer. Winds slammed into the wing ship, threatening to flip it over. Pelmo and his co pilot both struggled on the controls, trying to keep wing ship steady when suddenly another bolt of unnatural lightning struck the left wing of the wing ship. Lightning arrestors channeled the surge of energy away, but the force of the strike knocked the wing ship off, causing the massive aircraft to flip over.

As if it was a signal, dozen more bolts of lightning struck down, making the stricken wing ship look like lightning was running through its entire body. Fuses exploded, avionics fried and cables melted. Some of the goblin gunners were electrocuted in the gun pods and they were the lucky ones, as fire broke out inside the hull and slowly cooked the screaming passengers still strapped down on their seats as the wing ship went into a death spiral.

Barely several seconds passed, all signs of Vector Three Seven Zero disappeared as the unnatural storm covered up all its tracks.


***** Author's Rumblings *****
Im down with covid =(