The beast began biting and scratching the tree. The tree turned black for a few seconds and then reverted to its original state. The beast tried to bring the tree down, but it had no luck. It roared in anger and tried to bite again, but the result was the same.
Suddenly, the door of the house began to open. An old lady, her back bent, her skin so wrinkled that she looked eighty or ninety years old, emerged. Her hands were shaking. One hand held a staff for support, and the other held a letter with blood stains. In the hand holding the letter, there was a small, tiny seed. She walked towards her little garden and bent down slightly to inspect it. Her plants were healthy and green, but a yellowish color was spreading across some of them.
Some plants were also beginning to wither, and others were losing their scent. As the lady tried to stand, she placed both hands on her staff and pushed herself up. During this, the seed fell to the ground. She paid it no attention and continued walking. Her staff pushed the seed into the soil. As soon as the seed went into the ground, the earth began to shake. The beast, still roaring, began to move backward in fear. It tried to run, but a voice filled the entire area, freezing it in place. The beast struggled to move, finding nothing physically binding it, but it remained paralyzed.
The voice said, "I need nutrition for my garden." Suddenly, the earth stopped shaking, and the beast was free, but it had lost its will to fight. A root burst from the earth, pierced the beast, and lifted its half-alive body towards the sky. When it reached a certain height, the root stopped.
The beast looked around, searching for an escape, but it panicked upon seeing its situation. There were seven or eight similar structures where beasts were hanging like it. These trees were execution grounds for the beasts, but something else made it roar in terror. All the beasts were shrunken, their life and energy slowly drained. It saw that all their bodies were intact and, most importantly, alive, but they were nothing more than nutrition for the lady's garden.
It saw one beast shrunken to the size of a human fingernail, and another tree was left with only a dark, cloud-like residue—a mere remnant of one of their kind.
"The sky, the sky..." "What? What are you saying?" a man asked in confusion, holding a golden box. "What happened?" the man asked a guard who gripped his shoulder. "Please, come outside."
They rushed outside, and the man froze in place for a moment. From the golden box, another voice roared, "Evacuate everyone! We don't have time." "We are already too late," the man said, dropping the golden box to the ground, where it split into two.
This scene was repeated all over Acroniya. "Run, everyone, run! Leave them behind and just run!" soldiers shouted to people clinging to their belongings. "The sky, the sky..." the people screamed in fear.
The sky began to darken with each passing second. "Sir..." a soldier looked towards the prince, who was shaking after witnessing the scene.
"What has to be done?" the prince asked, his eyes locked on the sky. "Yes, we have to," the soldier replied quickly.
Nearly a minute passed, and the sky grew increasingly dark. Wind began to flow from the dark clouds. "My feet are frozen..." "Me... me too..." "I'm suddenly feeling cold..." "What is actually... what's happening?" people began to murmur amongst themselves. As time passed, colder and stronger winds descended from the sky.
"That mountain, the energy is most condensed and most dangerous there," a soldier said to the prince. "Well, I'm certain that's the case, but it makes me more confused... the thing is..." he paused and looked towards the sky.
A strong gust of wind rushed from the dark clouds. "Quick, lower your heads!" the prince shouted, and everyone obeyed. A powerful gust of wind roared from the clouds.
The prince looked into the darkness, and his eyes widened in shock. "We're done for."
"Shhh..." a strong wind rushed from the mountain range. "What happened? What was that?" Everyone in the royal castle panicked, confusion spreading through the crowd. From the dark clouds, a translucent energy burst out. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, the air exploded.
A series of explosions occurred in the sky, and then everything turned calm and silent. "Some..." Before the prince could finish his sentence, a deafening sound exploded across the area. Nearly a minute after the first wind rushed out, a second, equally destructive force was released from the same source.
After a few seconds, when everyone recovered from the deafening sound, the aftershocks struck the area. The energy was nearly two hundred to three hundred meters above the ground, but its aftershocks were incredibly strong.
"Prepare yourselves..." the prince shouted, but before he could finish, the earth began to break. A deep crack wound its way towards them. Suddenly, a deafening sound exploded in the area. Before they could recover from the painful sound, the crack reached them.
Everyone closed their eyes in fear. "I'm sorry I can't perform my du..." Prince Aaveer suddenly opened his eyes and saw that the crack had stopped a few centimeters before him. As he was about to move, the ground beneath him began to crumble. He quickly froze and braced for the worst, but to his surprise, his leg sank only a few centimeters into the ground.
He looked at the ground and found that the crack was only a few centimeters deep. He smiled and turned to tell his comrades. "What happened, sir?" a soldier asked. Prince Aaveer said with a smile, "It's not that dan..."
But before he could finish, he froze. "But what? What happened, sir?"
A soldier tried to peek in front, but the prince blocked his view. "Everything is fine. Haven't you seen the smile on his face? Let's move." "Stop in your place and don't make sudden movements. Move slowly backward."
"But what ha..." "Just do as I say," Prince Aaveer said, stopping the others from finishing their sentences. When everyone had moved to a safer distance, Prince Aaveer slowly turned towards the area and was shocked.