“I found them Isa! I found them!” a man shouted excitedly, waving his arms in the air like a lunatic.

“Shut up Rick”, grumbled Isa, looking her crazy partner with an exasperated look on her face. This moron delusion wasn’t getting any better. Even if he was one of the guild’s VIP, she just couldn’t tolerate his antics. Her tolerance had limits.

“No Isa this time it’s for real! Look! They have come for us!” said Rick seriously.

“I can recommend you a good psychiatric Rick.” replied Isa deadpanned, not wanting to accommodate the sick man in the least.

“I am not sick Isa, they are real!” Rick's face lit up with excitement, as he pointed toward the air around them.

Isa reluctantly followed his gaze, expecting to see nothing. But to her surprise, there was indeed something peculiar around them. Faint glows, like flickering flames, illuminated the night sky, rendering her speechless.

She squinted her eyes, trying to make sense of the strange phenomenon. The faint glows seemed to dance in the air… resembling the erratic movements of fireflies.

“Rick they are not supernatural entities… they are just fireflies…” she said looking at him like a lost cause, as she massaged her aching temples.

“No way Isa, they are fire spirits” said Rick with a triumphant look on his face, like a kid who received a Christmas present.

“Rick … they are just… fireflies…” repeated Isa while closing her eyes, not wanting to look at this clown anymore.

"Fireflies?" Rick repeated, with a deflated expression on his face, glancing back at the flickering glows in the night sky.

"But they seemed so... different. I was so sure…" he continued, with a hint of disappointment and embarrassment in his voice.

“Don’t pull the puppy card on me Rick,” Isa exclaimed angrily, opening her eyes to glare at him “man up a bit, will you? You are not a kid anymore.”

"I'm sorry, Isa," Rick murmured, seemingly hurt by her harsh words. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought... maybe this time it was something more."

Isa sighed. She massaged her temples harder to keep her temper in check. She was fed up with this insufferable idiot. Babysitting had its limits. She really wanted to beat the living daylight out of him to vent her anger. But she knew she couldn’t. Her head would fly if she did. He was the guild master son after all. That said, having to pretend to be a teammate to indulge a useless dandy made her want to punch someone. But she couldn’t defy the guild master order. Her boss cautioned her to protect his son to the best of her abilities, while pretending to be his teammate. For the first time in a while she thought her life sucked.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Suddenly, a deafening noise interrupted her monologue.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM”

The ground shook beneath their feet as booming noises reverberated through the air.

"What the hell is happening? " Isa exclaimed with a flabbergasted expression, her voice drowned out by the chaotic noise.

"Isa, I told you they were real! This is it! They have come for us!" Rick yelled, as his eyes widened in awe and disbelief, like this disaster was one of the world seven wonders.

“Are you crazy Rick? This is not the time to be joking, we need to take cover!” shouted Isa on top of her lungs, her heart beating crazily in her chest.

“No way, we need to kneel down and pray!” answered Rick like a fanatic in a trance while bowing down until his forehead hit the ground.

This idiot. Do you think you have ten lives or something? Isa though, outraged by his careless behavior.

“Snap out of it! This is not a fucking game! We will die if something falls on our head!” She shouted exasperatedly.

“The sky is crashing down, down, down!” was his only answer.

The lunatic freaking began to sing for god’s sake! He began to sing!!! Isa though, wanting to strangle him to death to regain some peace of mind.

Should I make a run for it? As soon as the though crossed her mind, she gave up the idea. Nope. Impossible. The boss will hunt me down if his darling son dies while I am guarding him… and death would be the last of my worries once he catches me… I am fucked.

In the middle of her monologue, Rick vanished in front of her eyes with a smile on his face.

As soon as her eccentric teammate disappeared, chaos unfolded.

The sky was set ablaze with swirling flames, just like the red glows they saw earlier. But this time, on a much grander scale. It was as if reality itself was being torn apart by a gigantic maelstrom of flames.

The sight was so freakish and surreal that Isa froze, unable to think coherently.

Soon a strong acrid scent permeated the air, accompanied with a dense black fog which made Isa snap out of her daze.

What the hell is happening? This must be a nightmare!!! What kind of freaking disaster is that? Is it the end of the world??? Isa though, while frantically looking for a place to hide.

But she wasn’t fast enough.

As soon as the fog touched her skin, waves of excruciating pain wracked her mind and body. The intensity of the sensation was unbearable. Every single part of her body hurt like hell. It was as if her insides were being twisted by invisible hands, torn apart into tiny pieces and forcefully put back together with a hammer.

She gritted her teeth, trying to suppress the screams that threatened to escape her lips to no avail. A deep primal scream escaped from her throat, tears flew down her face uncontrollably.

Isa's vision blurred. She felt as though she were being consumed by the maelstrom of pain. With the last bit of lucidity, she managed to muster, she wondered if she was going to die. Her life didn’t even flash before her eyes because of the inhuman pain she was in.

Just as she was about to draw her last breath, the pain disappeared without a trace.

Time stopped.

The noisy world turned silent.

The air static.

A transparent screen appeared above her head.

YOU HAVE DIED.

??????