CHAPTER 23
[GENESIS OF THE MUSHROOM CLOUD]
Far into the distance, a mushroom cloud rose, with a shockwave that simultaneously ripped through the atmosphere and the ground beneath it.
It was similar to a nuclear detonation.
The sound that erupted from it was extremely loud and deafening.
The light that came from it was equally bright, lighting up the night sky.
High up in the air, suspended thousands of feet above the ground, was Lupus, trying to figure out what was going on, as he couldn't catch a break.
Everything seemed to be happening so fast.
He kept finding himself in one situation after another.
Reflected in his eyes was the image of the mushroom cloud, vast and expanding rapidly, as his eyes widened in disbelief at what he saw.
Tremors could be felt even from where he was.
Explosive gusts of wind, caused by the detonation, blew violently against him, rattling his hair and the clothes he wore.
The whole thing couldn't have been real…
That was Lupus's initial thought.
He tried many times in his mind to dismiss the experience as an illusion, or something close to it.
But then again, he would be lying to himself if he truly believed that the shockwave he had just felt wasn't real.
And not to dismiss the other experiences he had within the Great Tombs of Constelli.
An example would be his encounter with the Creature of Nightmares.
Those experiences felt real…
Real enough for him to choose the narrow corridor that led him here rather than the Corridor of Offerings.
But he failed to realize that this experience had only just begun.
He could feel the cold night wind blowing against his face and entire body as he hovered above the clouds.
He could not deny it…
That felt real.
The light and shockwave from the mushroom cloud...
That felt real as well.
He could not deny it.
So which meant…
While Lupus was still trying to figure out what was actually going on, and contemplating whether or not the experience was real...
He suddenly felt a strange dropping sensation.
At first, he couldn't explain it.
Until he looked down.
The beds of clouds beneath him had been blown away by the violent winds caused by the explosion, revealing unfamiliar landscapes below.
It was nothing like the real world, nor did it resemble the city he lived in.
He saw what looked like scattered cities stretching toward the horizon.
Their architecture was far less sophisticated compared to the modernized world he knew.
Then Lupus realized...
He was descending.
At first, it was slow.
Then gradually, his descent began to pick up speed.
Faster…
And faster…
And faster.
"No! No!! No!!! No!!!! No!!!!!… Not again! I'm falling!… Why am I falling!?"
He shouted, overwhelmed by what was happening.
His eyes darted around wildly as his body flipped end over end, completely out of control.
He spiraled through the air, limbs flailing, unable to steady himself.
After several desperate attempts, he finally managed to stabilize himself mid-fall.
But it didn't change anything.
Thousands of feet above the ground, he continued to fall.
The air pushed violently against his body, creating drag as he spread himself out instinctively.
It certainly didn't feel like an illusion.
The friction of the air pressing against him made that clear.
So that meant…
Falling from such a height...
And landing directly on the ground...
Would likely break every bone in his body.
Or worse…
Death.
It felt like everything was out to get him.
Every step he took;
Dragged him into yet another life-or-death situation.
He kept falling, and under the effects of air resistance, he began to panic.
There weren't any safe places to land.
He kept searching around, trying to find one.
His training back home hadn't accounted for what someone should do when falling for thousands of miles toward the ground.
It was certain...there was no stopping his descent.
His fall came through like a meteor, crashing hard into the ground.
The force of the impact alone tore through a small section of the ancient city and its structures, blowing everything within range away in all directions.
A deep and massive crater was left behind in the aftermath of the impact.
And at its center… lay Lupus's body.
Unconscious for a moment.
After the dust and debris from the impact had settled, Lupus finally opened his eyes.
His fall earlier had caused him to black out completely, only for him to wake up beneath the scorching sun.
The heat was extremely uncomfortable.
He couldn't tell how long he had been out.
But he could have sworn it hadn't been more than an hour....maybe even less.
Yet waking up in the middle of the day under the blazing sun, when it had been the middle of the night just moments… or perhaps hours ago… felt absurd.
None of it made any sense.
"I'm… still alive!?... Even after all that!?"
"Now I can't tell which is worse… the thing that chased me back there… or literally falling from the sky."
He slowly began to lift his head.
Then both of his arms pushed against the ground, supporting the upper half of his body in an upright position while his lower half remained spread out on the ground.
"How did I ever get wrapped up in all of this… I could have been at home right now, enjoying dinner and getting a good night's sleep… but nooo… Draco wanted to prove a point.
That idiot…
He better hope I don't survive this, because if I do… God knows I'm going to kill him."
He thought to himself as the memory of Draco suggesting the ritual resurfaced in his mind.
As he moved, he winced in pain.
But the pain… the pain was barely there.
There was almost nothing to react to.
Even after falling from thousands of feet and crashing directly into the ground, he had expected broken bones, torn ligaments, and bruises all over his body.
But somehow…
He was perfectly fine.
Only a faint, subtle pain lingered; something he couldn't quite explain.
Then came the flood of questions that filled his mind.
Why hadn't he sustained any injuries after the fall?
Unless…
Everything had been an illusion, just like he had thought earlier.
But the heat of the scorching sun—the burning sensation; he could feel it clearly on his skin.
It felt real.
The mushroom cloud from the nuclear detonation looked real… sounded real… and felt real.
The cold wind he had felt earlier had also been real.
And the sensation of falling...
That had been real too.
It seemed impossible to describe.
Could everything that had happened all be in his head?
Perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him.
Or could it be that he had been transported to another world or realm entirely...
In a spiritual sense....while his actual body remained in the real world?
Or perhaps…
He existed within a memory.
A memory of the past.
Illusion or not, he seemed to be interacting with and experiencing everything just as he would in the real world.
He finally managed to get himself together.
He stood up....only to realize he was at the center of a massive crater.
Shock spread across his face.
"Wait… did I… do this!?"
He muttered to himself.
He then managed to climb out of the crater, hoping to figure out where exactly he was.
But what greeted him was a dreadful sight.
Ruins.
An abandoned city.
His eyes widened, appalled by what he saw.
The destruction that had reduced the ancient city to ruins still felt fresh;
As though the incident had happened only moments ago.
Lupus looked back at the massive crater he had created and refused to believe his fall was responsible for such devastation.
It just couldn't be.
He began taking slow steps forward, advancing toward the wreckage.
With deliberate caution, he moved deeper into the ruins.
Then he saw it.
An appalling sight.
Scattered before him were countless bodies.
The scene still felt fresh, as if the massacre had happened moments ago.
Smoke rose from the remains of the dead.
Men.
Women.
Children.
All victims of something that resembled a war…
Or perhaps it truly was one.
Bodies lay everywhere he looked.
Most were burned beyond recognition...charred like victims of fire.
Others were hung upon broken walls and shattered fences that could barely hold themselves together.
Some lay close to their weapons, as though they had fallen mid-battle.
Lupus could not believe his eyes as he walked further into what looked like the aftermath of a war…
Or perhaps a slaughter.
Everywhere he turned, the devastation seemed endless.
Like a massacre without end.
The gruesome sight nearly made him vomit.
He had never seen a dead body before.
He had never taken a life.
But witnessing so many at once sent chills down his spine.
He cautiously approached one of the bodies lying in front of him, hoping to confirm whether everything around him was an illusion.
The corpse had lost its lower half; likely torn apart during the conflict...leaving only the upper body behind.
Even in death, its hands still gripped a large axe.
As if refusing to let go.
As if even in death… it still had fight left in it.
The man was heavily built, muscular and imposing.
His eyes remained open, yet lifeless.
Blood had dried along both sides of his mouth.
It was a grim and depressing sight.
The body was dressed in what appeared to be formal, warrior-like attire.
It suggested he had once been part of this ancient society's army.
Then Lupus noticed something peculiar.
Every corpse around him was larger than normal.
Much larger.
Far larger than himself...
And larger than anyone he had ever seen back home.
From his perspective, they were almost like giants.
If measured…
They would easily stand at twelve feet or more.
Especially the fully grown ones.
Lupus slowly raised his gaze toward the ruins of what was once a thriving civilization—
A place that must have once been filled with life, magnificent structures, and advanced architecture for its time.
Now…
It was nothing more than a hollow shell of its former self.
He confirmed it.
This was no illusion.
The bodies were real...
Not just in appearance, but even to the touch.
Then suddenly....
Something shifted.
A memory surfaced.
A memory that was not his.
Yet it felt as though it had always existed within him.
Lupus staggered back in fear.
The situation had gone far beyond anything he could understand.
These memories weren't his.
Something was wrong.
The entire scene felt familiar....
And yet completely foreign at the same time.
Just as he was about to step back again.
A violent sandstorm surged in from the side without warning.
It swallowed everything.
The ruins.
The bodies.
Everything.
The world around him was erased in an instant.
And yet.....
Lupus remained untouched.
Unscathed.
He stood at the center of it all as the storm wiped the scene clean.
Soon after, voices began to rise.
Faint at first.
Then louder.
Voices of countless people he had never known.
When the sandstorm finally settled...
He saw them.
A horde of people marching toward him.
They spoke in a strange language.
Yet somehow…
He understood them.
They shouted as they advanced.
Their voices filled the air.
They rushed toward Lupus.
Fear gripped him instantly.
Their towering height made them all the more terrifying.
Each one of them stood like a giant.
Thinking they were charging to attack him, Lupus braced himself.
Preparing for the inevitable.
Searching desperately for a way to escape his fate.
But then...
Something became clear.
These towering, warrior-like soldiers…
Were not real.
They were not alive.
They were....
The ghosts of a memory.