historical

Toz and Lucy might have relaxed just a moment too early. As soon as they sighed in relief, the ground started trembling. It was only light trembling, and the two of them didn't feel any danger, so they decided to take a careful peek and see what was causing the shaking.

But their vision was quickly impeded by the billowing fog. The barrier holding it back had disappeared, and with nothing stopping it, the fog surged inwards, drawn towards the white orb.

But the fog didn't stop at the place where Toz had last seen the orb. It disappeared into the tunnel with incredible speed. Despite how quickly the fog was devoured by the tunnel, it still took several moments for it to clear enough for Toz, Lucy, and the other cats that had left the familiar space, to see their surroundings.

During the time that the fog had been sucked into the tunnel, the trembling had only intensified, and after the fog finally cleared, the cause of the trembling was revealed. Chasing after the fog was a horde of beasts.

Unlike the enslaved beasts that had empty eyes, the ones hounding after the remains of the fog had a crazed gaze and were frothing at their mouths. Their jaws snapped shut at every wisp of fog that lagged behind. Though the fog merely dissipated and continued drifting into the tunnel without being affected by the crazed beasts.

The beasts disappeared into the tunnel, following the fog. When Toz looked closer at the tunnel entrance, he saw that the orb had disappeared from the pedestal it had been resting on.

But now that the fog had disappeared, the stampede of crazy beasts had passed, the trembling had grown weaker, and it didn't look like the demon would be coming for them Toz and the cats could start moving.

Since they couldn't head to Dormant Thunder which was most likely undergoing a crisis, their only other option was to travel through the forest, either along the plane and head for another city on Roaring Skies. Or to try and cross through to the other side of the forest.

But trying to cross through the entire forest, which was connected to a seventh level plane and was officially classified as a seventh level danger zone in most regions outside Roaring Skies, would be barely more than a suicide attempt considering the group's current strength.

With no other option, Toz and the cats started heading away from the tunnel and into the depths of the forest, planning to travel through the outer reaches of the part of the forest on Roaring Skies.

At the same time, chaos had begun taking over Dormant Thunder.

The city's defenses had been alerted of movements underground by the enchantments on the walls that stretched below ground as deep as they were tall. The city walls that should have been working perfectly and stopped any invasion, even from underground, crumbled after only a few attacks. The walls broke down, revealing an opening underground that the demonic digging creatures passed through, opening up the path for the crazed and the enslaved beasts.

But the beasts weren't noticed until it was too late due to the light grey fog that welled up out of the ground and covered the city. Both the enslaved and the crazed beasts attacked anything and everything in sight.

The city hadn't been prepared for the attack to so easily pass through their defenses, and the alarms only started blaring after the blood of the citizens started streaming down the streets.

The fog, the beasts, and the ensuing chaos prevented anyone from finding safety even after the alarms went off, and the people in the city continued dying. The few exceptions were the city guard and explorers or skilled combatants. But they also had their limits, and with the fog limiting the vision and senses, the defenders were susceptible to sneak attacks, and they also started falling one by one.

In the sky above the city, the demon Toz and the cats had seen, enjoyed the sight as he held the white marble of fog, manipulating it with his demonic energy. After some time, the demon was joined by someone else. Although the other person's appearance was concealed by dark clothes and bandages and cloths, the demon didn't seem to care and continued concentrating on the orb in his hands.

After the figure hiding its appearance removed the cloth covering its face, revealing the skin and eyes of a demon, the first demon asked,

"Finished with your enjoyment?"

"Yes, sir. Although this sight is incredible, I prefer seeing the pain of humans up close."

"What about the others?"

"They're waiting outside the fog."

"I am nearly finished here. Go ahead and join them. I'll be there shortly."

The second demon flew down and landed outside the city where a few demons with similar clothing were waiting.

On the way, its descent caught the attention of a human dressed in fancy clothes.

"This wasn't the deal! Get me out of here!"

The human was surrounded by the corpses of his guards and the beasts attacking them. After seeing the demon fly past above him, the human was outraged. He had been promised safety and power in exchange for helping the demons infiltrate the city and the city's defenses, but now he was left to die.

The demon didn't even glance at the human jumping and shouting like a madman.

After the other demon left, the demon wielding the marble of fog infused even greater amounts of demonic energy in it. Although the effects weren't noticeable at once, beasts and humans both started collapsing.

Stronger fighters and beasts managed to last longer than others but eventually, the chaos in the city died down. The screams and roars gradually grew quiet. Even the fires that had started spreading didn't gain traction due to the blood and humidity brought by the fog.

The blood spilled by the attacking beasts and the resisting humans started flowing throughout the city. Every corpse or body the streams of blood touched melted down and joined the streams.

The blood levels rose and covered the ground and streets of Dormant Thunder.

With a ripple, the pool of blood started swirling with enough force to begin tearing at the already beaten buildings. The rubble joined the swirling blood and helped tear down the rest of the buildings, creating a gruesome vortex of blood and blood-covered remnants of the city's buildings.