Death itself had become reluctant, a process no longer straightforward, as if the very fabric of existence had begun to unravel. The natural order of life and death, once a certainty, now seemed to waver, as though the universe itself hesitated to claim what was due. People with grave injuries, who should have succumbed to their wounds, clung to life far longer than anyone thought possible. Stories spread across the land, whispered in hushed tones, of heads surviving for days, even weeks, after being severed from their bodies. These were not mere tales of folklore but accounts backed by witnesses, their faces pale with disbelief. The heads would blink, their lips moving as if trying to speak, their eyes filled with a haunting awareness of their unnatural state.
Those afflicted with ailments suffered the most. In a world where doctors were few and far between, the sick endured prolonged agony. Diseases that should have been fatal dragged on, their victims trapped in a limbo between life and death. Cancer-ridden bodies withered but did not expire, their breaths shallow and labored, yet unceasing. The elderly, who had once yearned for more time, now found themselves cursed with it. Lifespans stretched unnaturally, with some individuals living well beyond 200 years, their bodies frail and broken but refusing to surrender to the inevitable.
The rumor's began quietly, almost imperceptibly, like faint tremors of an earthquake. At first, it was the shadows, shapes flickering at the edge of vision, dark and formless yet unmistakably present. They moved where no bodies stood, lingering, stretching across walls and vanishing when one turned to look. People dismissed them as tricks of light, the mind playing games in a world already on the edge of madness. But the shadows persisted, growing bolder, more defined, until they could no longer be ignored.
Then came the voices. At first, they were faint, like a distant murmur of a forgotten memory. Whispers in empty rooms and distant voices in the darkness. Some didn't think much of it until the voices grew louder, more insistent. The voices called out in the night, pleading, accusing or simply wailing in anguish. Some claimed to recognize the voices, loved ones long gone, their tones aching familiar. Others heard only chaos, a cacophony of cries that seemed to echo from some unseen void. They were relentless, haunting the living as if the dead were desperate to be heard.
And then, the phantoms appeared. They were no longer shadows or disembodied voices but fully realized, tangible beings. These were not fleeting translucent specters of ghosts stories but solid, undeniable presences. They walked among the living, their forms as real as flesh and blood, yet their eyes betrayed their other worldly nature. They were unmistakable forms of loved ones long passed, parents, siblings, children, friends, their faces etched with sorrow, anger or confusion. They carried with them a weight of reality that defied all logic, their very existence a violation of the natural order. They seemed trapped, caught between worlds, unable to move on.
The creators absence left a void in the supernatural hierarchy, a power vacuum that sent ripples through both the mortal and immortal worlds. Without the creator's guiding hand, the boundaries between life and death blurred, and the natural laws that governed existence began to crumble.
The celestial kingdom, once a perfectly ordered realm, descended into chaos. Without the central judge's guidance, the boundaries between pure and impure souls became blurred. Opportunistic and malevolent souls that had been previously contained saw their chance. Some sought conquest, other subjugation, turning the heavenly realm into a battlefield that mirrored the destruction on earth. The remaining celestial soldiers, those who had been mere executors of divine will, found themselves thrust into a leadership role they were ill-prepared for. Desperate to restore order to their realm, they made a drastic decision. They began casting out the souls that had entered their realm since the day of judgment, pure and impure, forcibly removing the contaminating entities and sealing their gates.