The castle was shattered into pieces, accompanied by debris flying in all directions, destroying everything around it.
The people who entered the castle grounds, including the police, Liam and his three friends, were thrown thirty metres away from the castle path.
The gate was instantly filled with helpless bodies, some of which had been crushed to death by the castle debris.
There were three explosions, and the fourth was so powerful that it created a cloud of hot black dust that covered the area around the castle.
Half an hour after the explosion, the sky turned grey, and thunder rumbled loudly, signalling that rain was coming soon.
Meanwhile, Liam had regained consciousness. The first thing he felt when he opened his eyes was a sharp pain in the back of his head.
"Ahh..." Liam cried out as the pain slowly spread throughout his body, especially in his chest.
Thunder clapped every second, making Liam's heart race. He tried to stand despite the excruciating pain. But when he tried, his legs couldn't bear the weight of his body.
Plunk!!! He fell, his forehead hitting the road rocks quite hard. Liam did not give up, trying to calm down and as much as possible clear the dust that was blocking his vision and also the sensation of heat hitting his back.
Around him, Liam could hear almost nothing except thunder, his own heartbeat, and his own breath. He also did not know how long he had been unconscious.
After the first explosion, there was a strong force that swept away anyone standing on the castle path, including several visitors and Liam.
Separated from his three friends, he was thrown to the right and, unfortunately, his head was hit by debris from the second explosion, which passed in front of him.
Meanwhile, Liam wanted to find his watch. Perhaps due to his good luck, the watch was attached to his trousers and his coat pocket had been torn by friction.
Click...
"3:10 p.m... right?" Liam closed the watch, put it back in his trouser pocket, and tried to crawl to find help.
The sound of thunder echoed in his ears again. Five minutes passed. On the right side, the ruins stood in a cloud of dust, and black smoke billowed, covering the sky and turning it dark. Lightning continued to strike, its sound rolling endlessly.
The air was filled with ash and the remnants of the explosion, making Liam's breathing laboured. Each breath felt heavy, his chest growing more painful. His vision blurred, and his body weakened. In the haze, his consciousness slowly faded. His eyes closed, and the world around him sank into silence and stillness.
Half an hour after Liam fainted, he lay limp on a mattress in one of the tents. Meanwhile, Leo and Zeta had regained consciousness first, waiting for Forn and Liam, who had not yet come to.
Leo felt guilty because his invitation had caused his friends to suffer. Reflexively, he bowed his head from behind, silently praying to the goddess Yarandrela that they would quickly regain consciousness.
Dewi Yarandrela was known to have widespread influence, especially in the Forgenate District, Leo's hometown. However, in the Tezny District, only a handful of people still worshipped the goddess in the main church. According to the leaders there, Eaurealis Castle was believed to be an ancient relic from the time when the gods and Dewi Yarandrela still descended to the human world.
Outside the tent, the rain fell heavily, accompanied by echoing thunder and strong winds that blew against the tent where the castle explosion victims were staying.
Now they were all in the house of one of Zeta's doctor acquaintances, and Forn and Liam were still unconscious, lying limp on the bed while being examined by the doctor.
"Are they all right, Mr. Aghris?" Leo asked worriedly, glancing at the rain through the window.
"Your friend here," Aghris pointed at Liam, continuing, "is in pretty bad shape, but he'll come to soon."
"Meanwhile, the young lady lying over there is fine, no fatal injuries, and she will regain consciousness in twenty minutes."
After those words, Aghris left the room, heading downstairs, leaving them behind.
"The rain is really heavy, isn't it?" Zeta muttered, trying to break the silence, as she looked at Leo's face, which was filled with despair.
Outside, the rain was getting heavier and thunder was still rumbling.
4:30 PM. The heavy rain had stopped, and the atmosphere had returned to normal, though it was still overshadowed by the previous horrific events.
They both woke up at the same time, and Liam once again had a nightmare about the death of the real Zavi.
Cold sweat drenched his body, and his breathing suddenly became heavy.
From the side, Forn, who had just woken up, carefully observed Liam's pale face. Feeling something was off, his eyes widened, and he immediately sat up on the bed.
"Hey, why are you so pale?" he asked, noticing Liam's trembling hands.
Liam closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm his mind and body. After that, he turned his head, and his hands were no longer trembling as before.
"It's okay, I'm just dizzy from the previous collision," Liam replied calmly, glancing at his surroundings.
A strange room. That question suddenly popped into his mind. But he didn't care where he was now, Liam only thought about his head, which still hurt and throbbed from the effects of the nightmare.
Getting out of bed, Liam tried to stand up to see if his legs could move as instructed.
Thud!
His feet touched the floor, and he was immediately greeted by the coldness of the marble floor. Meanwhile, Forn stared in surprise at Liam's behaviour.
He immediately stood up, approached Liam, and tried to help him walk.
"Don't push yourself, Zavi!" said Forn softly as he supported Liam's frail body.
Liam was a little annoyed, so he immediately sat down on the mattress, choosing to rest until he had fully recovered. To change the suddenly awkward atmosphere, he chose to ask Forn some questions and also sought information about this world.
"I have something to ask," Forn immediately stopped in his tracks and continued, "Do you know about the prophecy?"
His body froze instantly, his eyes staring intently at Liam's face. "Why are you suddenly asking about that? Of course, everyone in this city believes in the doomsday prophecy, but there are also a handful of people who don't believe it."
Liam, who had just heard this, suddenly remembered Ren, who did not believe in the strange prophecy. Suddenly, he remembered the mysterious daily activities that Ren did.
"One more thing, about the large number of deaths? It's impossible for a skilled killer to kill like that," Liam asked again.
Forn continued walking, sat on the bed and looked at Liam's face.
"I couldn't find any clear information about the victims' deaths. But one person found something strange, which was a small black dot on the underside of the victims' necks."
Liam was shocked, suddenly turning his head and saying, "A black spot?"
"Yes," replied Forn, continuing, "I know the person who found the body. Do you want to meet him? After all, a year ago, my brother died in the same way."
Liam suddenly touched his chin. Before he could say anything, Forn answered the unspoken question.
"Don't worry about me, I know you were going to say that." After that, Liam closed his mouth and straightened his gaze.
"If you want, we'll meet that person tomorrow," said Forn as he tidied up his pillows and mattress. After that, he lay down and stared at the ceiling.
Five seconds after he lay down, Liam turned to the window that separated the two beds and was startled by the faint sound of footsteps from outside the room.
Liam suddenly turned his head, along with Forn, who lifted his head slightly, both staring intently at the door.
The doorknob turned. Click. The door opened, and two people entered, followed by another man with black hair and glasses whom Liam and Forn did not recognise.
Leo and Zeta walked towards them as they stared at him. Meanwhile, from a distance, Aghris smiled because they had regained consciousness from their injuries.