Chapter 143: Tur'uga Explode

  In a chamber swallowed by shadows, where the air was stagnant and smelled of ozone and ancient dust, the only source of light came from a wall of flickering screens.

  A lone, mysterious figure sat atop a throne made of twisted, dark metal that seemed to grow out of the floor. The figure was shrouded in darkness, their features obscured, but their presence filled the room with a suffocating weight.

  Their eyes—hidden behind a veil of shadow—scanned the displays with cold, calculating intensity.

  On the central monitor, a recording played on a loop. It showed the blinding golden light of Raito and Yukari obliterating the mechanical Chimeras in the desert. The power was raw, divine, and undeniable.

  The figure waved a hand, a gesture of sharp, imperious command.

  The monitor flickered and changed. The scene shifted back in time. Two years ago. A grainy, desaturated recording of a rain-slicked alleyway in Jinlun. A boy with nothing and a girl with everything, meeting for the first time under the weeping sky.

  The figure waved their hand once more.

  The monitor split. It now looped back and forth between the two scenes. The helpless children in the rain, and the god-like warriors in the desert. The beginning and the current end. The Alpha and the Omega of an anomaly.

  The figure looked down at their own hand. Slowly, methodically, they curled it into a fist.

  CRUNCH.

  They slammed it down onto the throne's armrest. The metal shattered under the impact, crumbling like dry clay.

  "How peculiar," the figure said. Their voice was a gravelly, distorted rasp that sounded like stones grinding together in a deep cavern.

  As they spoke, a side monitor lit up with a new vision.

  It showed a live bird's-eye view of the Zarateph region. Mount Tur'uga, the central volcano, was no longer dormant. It was spewing a massive column of ash and fire into the atmosphere, a wound in the earth bleeding magma.

  The figure stared at the eruption.

  "Peculiar indeed," they said again.

  One by one, the monitors turned off. The blue light faded, the images of Raito, Yukari, and the burning mountain vanishing into black.

  The room plunged into absolute darkness, hiding the figure's visage once more in the shadow where they belonged.

  Meanwhile, back in Kah-Kamun City...

  "Tur'uga exploded!" a person screamed, pointing a trembling finger at the pillar of smoke dominating the horizon.

  "That mountain never erupted in our ancestors' lifetime! Why now?!" a Sacred shouted, clutching their children close.

  "It's the apocalypse! The gods have abandoned us!" another voice joined the chorus of terror.

  Pandemonium broke loose. People were running in every direction, blind with fear. Market stalls were knocked over, spilling expensive spices and fruits into the dirt to be trampled underfoot. The scent of panic—sweat and fear—replaced the aroma of street food.

  Kah-Kamun guards quickly intervened, forming lines with their spears held horizontally to push back the tide.

  "Please calm down!" they shouted, their voices straining over the din. "We will investigate the source of this! Please stay calm!"

  "How can we stay calm?!" a merchant rejected the order, shoving a guard. "Tur'uga never erupted, you know! Ever! In history!"

  "This is the end!" a lady screamed hysterically, fainting into the arms of a stranger.

  "Calm down! Calm down!" the guards pleaded, trying their best to control the masses before a riot started.

  Slowly, the plaza emptied as people fled to their homes or the temples, seeking shelter from the wrath of the earth.

  In the now quiet, deserted plaza, three figures were left standing in the middle, an island of stillness in the wake of the storm.

  Raito, Yukari, and the Old Man from the desert.

  Raito looked around at the overturned carts and scattered debris.

  "Everyone just left, panicking," he noted, scratching his head. "Is a volcano erupting really that big of a deal? I mean, volcanoes do that, right?"

  "No idea," Yukari replied, her eyes fixed on the plume of ash. "But based on what they've been screaming about... this never happened before. It's an omen."

  "Tur'uga... screaming..." the Old Man muttered, his eyes wide and unfocused, staring at the distant mountain. "Pain... deep..."

  He turned abruptly and tried to run, aiming at the city gates.

  CRACK.

  A wall of solid ice erupted from the cobblestones in front of him, blocking his path instantly. The Old Man skidded to a halt, banging his fists against the cold barrier.

  "Oh no you don't," Yukari said, stepping forward. Her voice trembled slightly. "We have been looking all over for you. There are so many questions we need to talk about."

  She walked closer, but her gaze was avoiding the Old Man's face, staring instead at his ragged boots.

  "No... Tur'uga... screaming. Need to go... please," the Old Man begged, clawing at the ice.

  "Please, just for a bit," Yukari said, her voice cracking. "We need to talk."

  "No! Need to leave!" the Old Man said again, looking around frantically for a way out, ignoring her completely.

  "Why..." Yukari whispered.

  She looked up, tears streaming down her face.

  "Why won't you talk to me, Papa?!" she screamed.

  The silence that followed was heavier than the ash falling from the sky.

  Raito walked next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, offering silent support. He looked at the stranger with new eyes.

  "Please, old man," Raito said softly. "Talk to us."

  The Old Man stopped clawing at the ice. He turned slowly, blinking as if seeing them for the first time through a thick fog.

  "Tur'uga... Tur'uga... more important," he muttered, his hands shaking.

  "More than your daughter?" Yukari asked, taking a step closer, her heart breaking. "More than me?"

  The Old Man looked at her. He squinted, tilting his head like a bird. There was no recognition in his sunken eyes, only confusion and a deep, abiding madness.

  "I... I don't know... you," the Old Man said, pointing a trembling finger at Yukari.

  Yukari’s mouth fell agape at that declaration. It was a physical blow; harder than any punch she had taken in battle.

  "Papa... it's me. Lin. Look at me," she pleaded, stepping forward and grabbing his ragged sleeves, trying to jolt something—anything—out of the man who had raised her before missing. "It's your Lin."

  "No..." The Old Man shook his head, his eyes darting nervously. "Lin... Little Lin... she is... back home. With Lei. Safe. Need to go to Tur'uga. They are screaming."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He tried to pull away. "Need cure. For Lei."

  "Lei... Mama..." Yukari choked on a sob. "Mama is gone! Do you know how long you have been gone?! It's been decades! I'm Lin! Why won't you believe me?!"

  She screamed the words, shaking him. "I'm Lin... I'm Lin... I'm Lin..."

  She kept repeating her name, hoping that the syllables would act as a spell to bring her father back from whatever mental wilderness he was lost in.

  However, the Old Man wasn't listening to her. His mind was too preoccupied, locked in a loop of duty and delusion, focused entirely on reaching the erupting volcano that loomed like a judgement in the distance.

  RUMBLE-CRACK.

  At this point, the ground shook once more. This tremor was violent, a shearing force that rippled through the plaza.

  The intense vibration was too much for Yukari’s hastily constructed barrier. With a sharp shatter, the ice wall cracked and exploded into shards of diamond dust.

  Seeing his opportunity, the Old Man didn't hesitate. He bolted out of the scene, running toward the city gates with a speed that defied his age and frailty.

  "No! Wait!" Yukari screamed, her hand reaching out to the Old Man whose back never turned to her, not even for a second.

  She tried to stand up and chase, but the quake rolled the cobblestones like a carpet. She lost her balance, stumbling forward.

  Raito was there. He caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist to keep her upright as the world shook.

  "We need to go after him!" Yukari ordered, struggling against Raito’s grip. "Let me go!"

  "We will," Raito said firmly, holding her tight. "But everything is still shaking. If we run now, we'll be thrown around. Let's wait for the aftershock to pass."

  He looked at the direction the Old Man had fled. "We know where he is going. He is, for some reason, infatuated with the volcano. So, we will head there."

  Yukari sagged in his arms, nodding in understanding as the dust settled around them. She watched the empty space where her father had stood.

  "Why..." she thought, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Why does it feel like time is standing still for him?"

  A short while later, the heavy double doors of the Kah-Kamun throne room groaned open. Raito and Yukari stumbled in, breathless, their clothes coated in a fine layer of desert dust that dulled their vibrant gear. The cool air of the palace hit their flushed skin, a stark contrast to the heat outside.

  "Oh, welcome back, you two!" Bob boomed, stepping away from the large map table where he had been discussing logistics with the King.

  "Are you two alright?" Zhu asked, stepping forward. Her sharp eyes immediately picked up on the tension radiating from Yukari's posture, the way her shoulders were hunched, her fists clenched at her sides.

  "We are, Mother," Yukari answered. Her voice was brittle, constrained by a heavy thought she couldn't quite vocalize.

  "What is going on?" Zhu asked, walking closer, her boots clicking softly on the marble. "You don't look like you are glad you survived an earthquake."

  "Because it's not about the earthquake," Raito stepped in, shielding Yukari slightly with his own body.

  "What exactly do you mean?" Bob asked, his smile fading into a frown of concern.

  "Can... can I?" Raito asked Yukari softly, turning to her.

  Yukari closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded.

  Seeing Yukari's consent, Raito exhaled a long breath that seemed to empty his lungs. He looked directly at Zhu, meeting the General's gaze.

  "We found him," Raito said, his voice steady. "Harrison Aster. Yukari's father."

  Zhu’s eyes went wide, the pupils constricting themselves to pinpricks. The color didn't just drain from her face; it vanished, leaving her looking like a porcelain doll on the verge of shattering.

  She moved with a blur of speed, crossing the distance in a heartbeat. Her hand shot out, grabbing Raito by the collar of his tunic and twisting the fabric tight.

  "Don't lie to me!" she shouted, her voice shaking with a volatile mix of rage and desperate, agonizing hope. "Harrison... he... he is supposed to be missing... we all believed he was dead for decades! Do not mock the dead, boy! Do not play with my ghosts!"

  "Unfortunately, I'm not," Raito said, his gaze remaining firm despite the General's fury radiating off her like heat. "I met him. In the desert."

  Zhu turned her head to Yukari, her hand trembling violently on Raito’s collar. "Lin?"

  "He is not lying, Mother," Yukari said, her voice hollow, her eyes red-rimmed. "It was him."

  Zhu lets go of Raito, stepping back as if physically struck. She pressed a hand to her mouth. "Where is he?" she demanded, her voice barely a whisper.

  "That... is what we wanted to bring up to you," Yukari began. "He ran toward—"

  RUMBLE-CRACK.

  The floor beneath them didn't just shake; it lurched.

  The massive crystal chandeliers overhead chimed violently, a discordant melody of glass against glass. A priceless vase toppled from a pedestal, shattering into ceramic shrapnel across the floor.

  "Another shock!" Tanvir shouted, his legs adjusting instantly to the shifting ground, balancing himself effortlessly while others stumbled.

  Everyone quickly braced themselves near the walls or pillars, holding onto solid stone. As soon as it arrived, the shockwave passed, leaving only a lingering, bone-deep hum in the air and the sound of settling dust.

  "Is it just me, or did the shock become more frequent?" King Ahmed asked, straightening his crooked crown with trembling hands.

  "It's not just you, my friend," Tanvir said grimly, walking to the center of the room. " The intervals are shortening—and the tremors are intensifying."

  He closed his eyes, placing a palm flat on the floor. He frowned.

  "No Ground elemental energy," he whispered. "This is unnatural. The crust isn't moving naturally; something is making it move. It feels... hollow."

  "Well, can Mr. Quake Lord find out what is going on?" the King demanded, panic rising in his voice.

  "You think I haven't tried?" Tanvir snapped, standing up and dusting off his hands. "This is not a movement of the tectonic plates. If it were, it would be under my control. This feels like... something waking up."

  "Then... what shall we do?" Queen Aleena pondered, staring at the map of the region where the volcano was marked in ominous red ink.

  "We have to go towards Tur'uga Volcano," Yukari said, stepping into the center of the room, her voice cut through the panic. "I... no, my father, Harrison Aster, might have a clue. He was heading there. He was obsessed with it. He kept saying it was 'screaming'."

  "Do you know exactly what you said, Miss Yukari?" Queen Aleena asked gently but firmly. "Your father, Harrison... he might be an outstanding adventurer, but he went missing decades ago. Considering his age... he would be nothing but bones and dust by now."

  "Your father is a human, Lin," Zhu added, her voice soft with pain, trying to protect her daughter from delusion. "I don't like saying this... but he would be way older than his lifespan allows. He would be over a hundred."

  "I'm not lying," Yukari said, her expression hardening into diamond. "I know it. Raito knows it—he already met him in the desert. And I saw him from his memories. We need to catch up to him and get to the bottom of this."

  "Now, now, everyone!"

  Samira interjected, clapping her hands loudly and stepping between the tense family members.

  "Don't be so uptight! If Yukari says she is not lying, then... I believe in her! We should just go and see with our own eyes to check it, right? Simple!"

  "Oh no, no, no," the King wagged his finger frantically.

  "You are just trying to find an excuse to run away again, aren't you?" Queen Aleena glared at her daughter with maternal suspicion.

  "Uh... no?" Samira's voice cracked. She shrunk a little. "Maybe?" she admitted with a shrug.

  The King and Queen sighed in unison, the sound echoing in the hall. "This girl..." Queen Aleena complained.

  "Tanvir," the Queen barked, switching back to ruler mode.

  "Yes, Your Majesty?" He looked up.

  "Go make a small team with them. Investigate this phenomenon at the volcano. And make sure everything is safe. If not, quickly send word back to us. We need to know if we need an urgent evacuation of the city."

  Tanvir saluted sharply. "Yes, Your Majesty."

  "Yes!" Samira pumped her fist into the air. "That means I can come, right?"

  "No," both the King and Queen said at the exact same time.

  "Then..." Samira moved quickly, linking her arms with Mila and Malik, trapping them. "Then they will come as my guard! The Hero of the Wind and the Royal Scholar! Perfect protection!"

  "Eh?" Malik looked shocked, his glasses slipping down his nose.

  Mila just sighed, looking at the ceiling as if asking why she was the designated babysitter.

  The King panicked, looking at his wife. The Queen rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. Bob laughed loudly, the sound bouncing off the walls.

  "Fine," the Queen relented, too tired to argue. "As long as you don't stray one foot from those two."

  "Yay! You're the best, Mom!" Samira gleefully hugged her mother, nearly knocking the wind out of her.

  The Queen turned to Mila. "Sorry. I'll leave it up to you."

  "I'll... I'll try my best," Mila said, patting the hilt of her sword.

  Aside from the royal drama, Yukari, Raito, and Zhu were having their own quiet conversation in the corner.

  "This better be real," Zhu whispered, her eyes intense and wet.

  "It's very real," Yukari replied, squeezing her arm.

  "I mean," Raito interjected, scratching his cheek, "we just found out I came from space, from almost a million years ago, with a space power inside me. Is it really that unbelievable that Yukari's dad is alive?"

  Zhu looked at him, then let out a shaky breath. "The living part is definitely believable at this point. But we also know... everything has a cost. I just hope nothing is wrong with Harrison. Or if he is still... him."

  She straightened her spine, turning to the Queen. "We are ready, Your Majesty."

  The Queen nodded. "Good then. Tanvir, Zhu, Raito, Yukari, Mila, Samira, and Malik. I leave the initial investigation with you. Disperse!"

  They all saluted sharply. "Yes, Your Majesty!" they said in unison, their voices echoing off the high stone walls.

  Somewhere in a deep, verdant jungle a few miles away from the base of Mount Tur'uga...

  A figure with matted blonde hair tore through the undergrowth. He wasn't running with the grace of an adventurer, but with the frantic, stumbling gait of a man possessed. He dodged trees and leaped over roots, moving against the flow of nature.

  Around him, animals—monkeys, jaguars, brightly colored birds—were fleeing in the opposite direction, screeching in terror as they ran away from the looming danger.

  "Tur'uga... Tur'uga..."

  Harrison Aster shouted the name beneath his short, exhausted breaths. His lungs burned, his legs screamed, but he forced them to move.

  "Tur'uga!" he shouted again, louder, desperation cracking his voice.

  In a sudden moment of stillness amidst the chaos, a voice answered his call. It didn’t come from the air—it resonated directly inside his skull.

  "Harrison... quick...."

  The voice sounded deep. Ancient. Like the grinding of tectonic plates.

  Harrison stumbled, catching himself on a tree trunk. "The cure... what... about the cure?" he gasped, sweat stinging his eyes.

  "Help... me... and... you... will... get... it..." the voice promised, slithering through his mind.

  "Lei... Lei... Lei!" Harrison shouted, pushing off the tree.

  He ran closer to the erupting volcano. The air grew thick and sulfurous. The lush jungle plants around him didn't just burn; they wilted instantly, turning brown and crumbling to dust as the supernatural heat rolled over them.

  BOOM.

  In the horizon, another eruption occurred.

  A fountain of viscous, reddish liquid—magma mixed with something darker—poured out from the tip of the volcano, cascading down the slopes like a bleeding wound.

  And deep within the smoke and fire, unseen by the fleeing animals but felt by the man running toward his doom...

  A large, vertical yellow eye snapped open.