The sudden roar echoed throughout the entire town, followed by a violent tremor from the earth.
The people who had been busy on the streets grew uneasy at this abrupt change, but the first to react were the animals.
Flocks of birds took off in fright, their noisy cries seeming to foretell something. On the streets, whether it was the pampered pet dogs led by noblewomen or the dirty strays in the alleys, all of them howled and barked madly, darting about in chaos as if trying to escape from some unseen terror.
Even the carriage carrying Fried and his companions grew restless. Though the coachman had already tightened the reins to restrain the horses as much as possible, the piercing whinnies only added to the unease hanging over the town.
“What’s going on?”
Fried shouted, his voice loud. The sudden tremor had caught everyone off guard—even he hadn’t managed to keep calm at the first moment.
“Sorry, Baron, it seems there’s an earthquake in the city, so the horses are frightened.”
The coachman outside answered the Baron. After finally calming the agitated horses, he hurriedly got down and opened the carriage door.
“Baron, it’s not safe to stay in the carriage now! Please, everyone, get out quickly—we need to find an open area to take shelter!”
Even without being told, Fried and the others knew what they had to do, so they hurriedly got out of the carriage.
With their feet firmly on the ground, they could truly feel the violent shaking. The young Bella instinctively clung to her mother.
“Mother…”
“Don’t be afraid, Bella. Father and Mother are right here with you. Don’t be scared.”
The Baroness hugged Bella tightly, soothing her over and over, while casting a worried look at her husband.
“Letua, go immediately and notify the city guards to evacuate the citizens. Try to get as many people as possible out of the city or into open areas.”
“Yes, Master!”
Fried knew exactly what needed to be done and quickly issued effective orders. Letua, upon receiving his command, turned and left at once, but just then—
“Rumble—!!!”
Buildings that had been swaying violently in the tremor began to collapse one after another. With the thunderous crashes came cries of alarm and wails—the tragedy had clearly begun.
But after four or five houses fell, the violent shaking suddenly ceased. The ground stopped trembling, and no more buildings collapsed.
Except for the screams and cries that hadn’t yet died down, it was as if nothing had happened in this city. Of course, the collapsed houses and the cracked earth were stark reminders that it was all real.
Yet just as people were about to rejoice at the earthquake’s passing and their own survival, they didn’t know this was only the beginning—just a brief moment of peace before a greater tragedy.
“Boom—!!!”
A deafening roar erupted once again, but this time it was not the mysterious tremor that started it, nor did the earth shake again.
Instead, everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the scene before them. Blazing rainbow light reflected on their faces; a pillar of fire shot up into the sky, casting a shroud of despair over their hearts and proclaiming their doom.
A towering pillar of fire rose from the ground, piercing the clouds as if to burn a hole in the heavens. Fully a quarter of the town was engulfed in this giant column of flame.
Fried watched all of this, his whole body trembling.
Fear and helplessness filled him from head to toe. After all, he was only human—and with his family beside him, he cherished his own life all the more. But he was also the lord of this town, responsible for his territory and his people. He had to stay calm and show his people a way to survive.
“Everyone! Get out of the city—now!!!”
With Fried’s furious roar, the townsfolk—who had been frozen in shock—finally snapped out of it. Eyes wide with terror, they surged toward the city gates.
People kept falling and being trampled underfoot by those behind, the scene growing ever more chaotic. Screams of agony mingled with shouts and curses, echoing through the fleeing crowd.
Fried wanted to escape the town with his wife and daughter, but in the next instant, he stopped in his tracks.
It was as if some cruel hand was toying with ants trapped in a bowl. Just as the people reached the city gates, pushing and shoving to get out—
“Boom—!!”
A roar erupted as flames shot skyward, as if the whole city had been placed atop a giant furnace. The fire completely surrounded the city. Those who were about to step out of the town were instantly swallowed by the inferno, turning to ashes in the blink of an eye.
Their deaths seemed almost painless, but those behind them suffered a far worse fate.
Set ablaze from head to toe, these human torches let out horrifying screams. The searing pain drove them to flee in every direction or roll frantically on the ground, desperately seeking a way to survive. But in the end, each one collapsed, uttering their final wails before death, their bodies blackened like charcoal.
It was like a warning—a silent admonition to those who dared to flee. Their only fate was to stand where they were and obediently await death; there was no way out.
Fried clenched his fists, watching the tragedy unfold before his eyes.
What in the world had happened? Why had Padugael, peaceful for a thousand years, suffered such calamity?
Then he saw what happened next.
A figure—a thin, slight figure—appeared above the wall of fire behind him. She hovered silently in the air, showing no urgency, as if this catastrophe meant nothing to her.
The desperate townsfolk gazed at the girl floating in the sky, at her holy, breathtaking beauty, at her expression devoid of pity or anger, and for a moment, they were at a loss.
But Fried, recognizing that familiar figure, couldn’t help but cry out in shock.
“…Miss Lanafitt.”
That figure wore a magician’s garb, a wide black witch’s hat, and held a staff even taller than herself. Wasn’t that Lanafitt?
But the Lanafitt before him now seemed like a different person. Her beautiful light-green eyes were like two dusty jewels, devoid of their usual vitality.
“…It’s the Goddess! The Goddess has come to save us!”
Someone in the crowd shouted, and instantly the whole crowd erupted.
People knelt on the ground, praying desperately, pleading to Lanafitt hovering in the sky.
At this moment, Lanafitt truly seemed like the Goddess of Salvation from the Sky Islands, descending to the mortal realm. Yet if she was a merciful goddess, why was there only coldness on her face?
Perhaps, compared to the so-called goddess, Lanafitt at this moment was more like an exquisitely crafted puppet, as if a few invisible threads in the darkness were controlling her every move.
And as everyone prayed to the graceful figure in the sky—
Lanafitt, whom people saw as their hope, slowly raised her staff. Her lifeless eyes gazed down at the crowd below, and her red lips parted.
“…Grant the heretics the punishment of the gods.”