The loud cheer of the audience reverberated, echoing past the walls of the arena. With every punch and kick, every droplet of blood that splattered, the cheers grew louder.
They were like vultures, reveling in the pain of others.
"I bet all my money on you, Atlas. Don't disappoint me," a random man in the audience shouted.
"Crush him, Lucas," another yelled.
"Don't let me down..."
"You can do it."
Inside the ring, the fighters were still engaged in a fierce battle, exchanging blow after blow. The referee stood at a considerable distance out of harm's way, his eyes watching keenly.
The fight was slowly reaching its climax, and the crowd was in a frenzy. Just when it seemed the winner would emerge, something unexpected happened.
"W...what's...going on...?" That extra sensitive but too slow to act person among the audience stuttered.
The lights flickered, and the arena went dead silent as everyone looked on with wide eyes and open mouths in shock at the sight.
Slowly, panic overtook their shock, and screams erupted.
It happened in an instant. The space cracked, and a giant black hole appeared in the middle of the ring, and continued expanding in size.
It swallowed up the two fighters and the referee, and the ring collapsed, disappearing into the black hole.
A loud humming sound filled the space that was once the arena blending with the panic cries of the people. The sound further increased the fear of the people scrambling to escape the arena.
They knocked into each other, trampling whoever was unfortunate enough to fall under foot.
Lightning erupted from the black hole, destroying everything it touched, and then, it began sucking in anything close to it.
While the chaos continued in the arena, somewhere, in the hallway, cast in shadows, Alastor watched the whole ordeal, his hand pressed against the wall beside him. People ran past him without sparing a glance. Not caring what happened to anyone besides themselves.
While the arena crumbled and sucked into the hole, he remained frozen in place, staring at the sight like it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
As if in a trance, he took a step forward towards the black hole.
"What are you doing?" A hand clamped around his shoulder from behind.
He stopped and snapped his head around at the familiar voice.
"Cat…." he muttered, a bit disoriented.
"We have to leave now," Without waiting for his reply, she held his hand and dragged him out of the arena.
Outside of the arena was not any different. In fact, it was worse. Similar black holes appeared in different parts of the city, even the roads weren't spared. Whole carriages and horses were sucked in along with all those that were inside while simultaneously spewing monsters out of it.
The sound of a thunderclap resounded and lightning lit the sky. Dark clouds overtook the sun, hiding its presence as if to plunge the world into darkness.
The town's guards and the knights in the area had already come forward fighting to defend the citizens, but their efforts weren't yielding any difference as they were easily killed by the monsters or sucked into the black holes.
"It's Chaos," Alastor muttered, his eyes scanning the area, taking in everything that was happening.
"Yes, it's chaos all around. That's why we have to leave here now," Catherine said. Looking over her shoulder, she glared at him. "Let's find someplace to wait it out."
But even as she moved, Alastor remained rooted where he stood. His eyes almost shone at the sight, a subtle smirk formed at the corners of his lips.
"What is wrong with you today?" Catherine yelled, her voice startling him. "Where'd your sense of danger go?"
A deep scowl settled between her brows as she turned to look at him. Although she tried to appear strong, he could see the fear in her eyes and the slight trembling of her lips.
"Ah…right, let's go," he took her hand and started running in an uncertain direction.
Even as they ran, Alastor couldn't help but marvel at the sight of the destruction around him. The look of despair in men and women as well as the cries of children who've lost their parents or looking to rejoin them were like a beautiful symphony performed by an orchestra just for him.
There was something familiar about this senseless destruction and if he were alone, he would have stopped to listen more. To see more. To feel it more.
But here, he was with his sister. She would freak out should he stop now, and her safety mattered the most to him.
"Where are you taking me?" Catherine asked. They had been running for so long that she couldn't tell where they were anymore.
"Somewhere safe," Alastor replied.
"Nowhere is safe in this…"
"Trust me," Alastor said before she could finish. "My instincts tell me it's safe there."
Catherine glanced briefly at him before nodding her head, trusting him.
They came across a rundown cabin in the outskirts of the town and stopped. Alastor let go of Catherine's hand. She walked two steps forward before falling on the ground, panting.
"I can't believe…you can still stand upright after… running for so long," she said, between uneven breaths.
Alastor only smirked, his gaze staring into the town. Even from this distance, he could still hear it, the sound of the chaos as if it was calling to him.
"There's something wrong with this place," Catherine muttered, standing to her feet. She looked around and saw animals running towards them chased by… "Light…?"
She turned and called, "Alastor, we have to…" but her words fell short when she saw him walking towards the light. "Alastor!"
"A mana vein," he muttered subconsciously.
"What?" Catherine frowned. "You know what that is?"
"Get behind me, Cat," Alastor said, his voice calm, but the urgency in it was not hidden.
"Alas…" Seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Catherine held back her words and did as he said. "Shouldn't we at least run?"
"Can you outrun that?" Without looking at her, he asked. Catherine shook her head. "Brace yourself, and no matter what, try to maintain consciousness."
As soon as Alastor said that, the light reached them, enveloping everything around. Catherine cried out almost immediately as the light made contact with them, and soon, she lost consciousness.
Alastor didn't have the luxury to attend to her having his own problems to deal with.
The moment he made contact with the wave of mana, he felt like his soul was knocked out of him and then forcefully pushed back in before an excruciating pain took over. He fell on his knees, gritting teeth as he fought against the pain.
White vein-like lines streaked down his body, starting from his head to down his toes as the mana threatened to consume him.
Heat built up inside him, circulating around his chest, threatening to burst out. Alastor felt as though his insides would melt at any moment.
Unable to contain it anymore, he let out an ear shattering cry, and along with it, flames burst out of mouth like molten magma. Its force was enough to clear out the wave of mana around them and instantly burn flora in the vicinity.
Once it was all over, his body became weak and fell backward. His body crashed against the ground with a loud thud. The world began to blur and spin and slowly, his consciousness faded.