Low Dimensional Game

The star fell from the sky in a beautiful arc, descended millions of miles. The arc of light in the sky was as beautiful as it was shocking.

As it rapidly approached Babus, it grew bigger and bigger. All of the people saw the burning flame and the star hidden inside the flame, which were both beautiful and deadly. This tremendous power completely exceeded everyone’s imagination. Although it was stunning, there was an eerie destruction hidden within the beauty.

They had just escaped Adonis’ undead army, only to see this dangerous scene before them. All of them fell to their knees, many hiding their faces and crying in despair.

All of the surrounding streets were burning. Many people fell to the ground, terrified by the descending asteroid. Even though they were petrified, they seemed to have accepted their destiny. A large number of believers of the Church of Light kissed the silver coins they wore around their necks, while silently reciting prayers.

“This is a punishment from God for our sins.”

“God, I repent for my sins, please forgive me and allow me to enter your Kingdom.”

Many of them could not accept this cruel turn of events and descended into a state of crazed lunacy. One such old man stripped off his top and exposed his thin ribs. He then ran down the ruined streets, which were littered with corpses, like an orangutan, laughing and crying in hysterics.

Houses burned in the backdrop as he ran. He then extended his arms and faced the asteroid at the city gate.

“Dead… Hahaha… Everyone is dead!”

“We’re all going to die! All of us!”

“This is not a punishment, this is fate, fate! It is the destiny that God has ordained!”

His sharp and frenzied voice was heard all around, causing a sense of desolation and despair to well up in the hearts of many at the scene. These people fell to the ground in tears after hearing his hopeless rant.

Within the palace, the surviving aristocrats had yet to recover from their elation upon hearing of Adonis’ death, when they discovered this new existential threat. Some fell down, as their knees had given way, while others cursed in anger.

Even more cried and screamed. Finally, they all settled down and the priests began to sing hymns. They then began to repent for their past sins and reminisce about their lives.

Edward was holding Adonis’ body, while he stared at the asteroid. He suddenly remembered what the great Sage Anthony had said before he had left…”If Babus transforms into a city of the dead, in order to make sure the situation does not get out of control, I will personally destroy the entire city.”

Is it already too late?

Edward’s eyes had lost their luster and he cast his head down. His throat was trembling. He swallowed again and again, yet could not get rid of the acrid taste in his mouth. He could not believe that, even after doing everything in his power and giving up so much, this was all he had gotten in return.

“In the end, I could not save Babus!” Edward’s tears gushed down his face

“Adonis, you were right, I could not save a single person!”

“I should die with you here!”

Edward held Adonis’ corpse and straightened the crown on Adonis’ head, then stood in the middle of the palace to welcome his last moments with everyone else. Many onlookers saw this and could not help but voice their surprise.

“Look, what is that?”

“My God!”

“Lord above, what is going on?”

The asteroid that was originally headed straight for Babus had suddenly diverted from its target, as if a mysterious force was guiding its trajectory. Just before it was about to hit Babus, it had deviated from its course, hitting the mountains nearby instead.

BOOOOOOM!!!!

The earth quaked and the impact of the huge asteroid instantly vaporized everything within dozens of kilometers of ground zero, setting off a violent chain of explosions that reached ever further away. Countless trees and mountain ranges were destroyed and smoke and ash were blown in all directions as the flash blinded all of the bystanders.

The violent impact even affected Babus, as half of its lakes evaporated into mist from the impact. A lot of lake water then fell back into the city like rain, dousing many burning houses.

Everyone looked into the distance at the scene. The shock numbed them for awhile, until they were finally overwhelmed by a sense of relief and joy. The sudden whiplash made them feel as if what had happened before was all a joke.

“We have been saved! Praise be and long live the Gods!”

“This was a warning from God and his salvation! Everything belongs to the Gods!”

“Our sins have been redeemed!”

All of the people let down their burdens and ran down the streets in wild abandon. For the time being, there were no distinctions based on rank or class, no slaves or nobles. All of the people were shouting with joy, while they celebrated their near brush with destruction and more importantly, exulted in having received God’s mercy and salvation.

Many mothers held their children tightly, overcome with tears. Elderly fathers hugged their sons. As they did so, the rain drenched all of them, as if it was providing them a holy baptism.

In Year 60 of the San Calendar, The Church of Light records show that the Undead Prince Adonis sold his soul to the devil. He then sacrificed his father and siblings in order to summon a deathly army from hell. Saint Peter then summoned the power of the gods and destroyed Adonis’ army, banishing him back to hell at the cost of his own life…

The crater of the asteroid had now formed a lake. When paired with the original lake under Babus, they two appeared like a pair of moons above the earth. They were known as the Lake Tír na nÓg and were considered to be symbols of the light of the stars and the Gods. However, most people just referred to them together as the Holy Lake.

————–

Edward selected a plot in the corner of Babus’ cemetery. The original gravekeeper, Old Chuck, had died. So, at this moment, the entire cemetery was vacant.

Due to the heavy casualties in Babus after most of the buildings had burned down, an urgent reconstruction was underway. Perhaps it was due to the redemption from the gods or because of the hope borne from the fluctuation from despair to salvation, but the city did not wallow in sorrow for long. Instead, the people quickly buried their dead and started to build a brand new Babus.

What Edward hadn’t expected was that Adonis had not killed all of the royals. He had left his youngest sister, Aisha Monar, alive.

She had been found in a corner room of the palace. In order to stabilize the situation of the Mara Kingdom, and more importantly, to benefit the Church, the new Cardinal had appointed the little girl, who was barely ten years old, as the Queen of Mara.

Edward finished digging the grave and had placed Adonis’ remains into an irregularly shaped coffin. It was only then that a silvery-white, diamond-shaped crystal, which was about the size of a bean, fell from the chest of Adonis’ remains. Edward immediately recognized the crystal.

A Philosopher’s Stone! Adonis must have managed to steal its manufacturing method and then succeeded in creating it by himself!

This was one of the most highly guarded secrets within the tower. It was also a very difficult witchcraft to master. Many Instructors could not master it, so his single-handed creation of the stone was a testament to Adonis’ genius.

Edward sighed, not daring to remove it. Instead, he put it into the coffin with all the other belongings of Adonis and buried them all together in the cemetery. He didn’t notice that this Philosopher’s Stone had let out a faint glow as it made contact with Adonis’ bones, almost as if it was about to literally merge with the remains.

Edward kneeled on the ground and fashioned a tombstone for Adonis, yet he did not write a name on it. He only signed his own name in the lower right corner as being a relative of the deceased. The inscription read: Erected by his brother, Edward Kelermo.

Edward stayed by Adonis’ tombstone until the sun set, then he finally stood up and left Babus. He never returned to the city again.

Time flew by, until 10 years had passed..

In an unmarked plot in the cemetery, the ground suddenly shook. Then, a mound of soil was quickly kicked up and the sound of a smashed coffin rumbled from below it. A pale hand of only white bone broke through to the surface.

Creak, creak!

Dundun!

The tombstone collapsed and crumbled as a skeleton with a crown emerged from the grave. It stood in the darkness of the knight within the cemetery, buffeted by the frosty winds. In the background, the ravens shrieked among the shadows of the trees.

The skeleton had a sinister green fire within hollow eyes. Its bone structure was different from that of a human’s, as it had a metallic color to it. Its joints were also wrapped in a strange layer of bone-like tissue, which allowed it to freely rearrange itself at will.

The monster looked around in a daze, yelling aloud to no one…

“Where is this?”

“Who am I?