Chris' legs trembled as fear rushed through his very spine. He had never felt this kind of dread–even during the Dementor Invasion when he thought the world would end. Since he used abundant resources to become a Tier 3 Aura Master, Chris has felt confident, happy, and hopeful for the future.
However, when he saw that enormous bony hand that appeared bigger than the entire planet–no, the whole Solar System–he felt his mind overwhelmed by the fear of death. All concepts of joy, health, stability, and goodness were gone, replaced only by the fear of approaching death.
Bang!
Everything shook, forcing Chris to wake up from his immobilized state and balance himself. Luckily for him and all the people in the Solar System, a pure white appeared in space, protecting everyone from the bony palm.
Chris heard an alarm from his watch saying something along the line that the Grand Arcane Shield was activated. However, he was too distracted by the constant earthquakes to pay attention.
He looked at his surroundings and saw magic circles appearing on the buildings, the roads, and above the sky.
Bang!
The magic circles in one of the floating buildings in the area suddenly stopped, and the entire building dropped from the sky. And unfortunately, it fell on poor Chris, who was trying to keep himself afloat amidst the earthquakes.
Punch!
He tore his way out of the debris as a white energy aura surrounded his body. His clothes were dirty, and his left shoulder was bleeding. Chris also felt his breathing was difficult due to breaking a few ribs.
A look of relief appeared on his face after surviving this ordeal. If he did not use all that money on his Aura Master training, he would be a corpse by now.
Chris focused his senses on listening to the people yelling for help. Despite his injury, he rushed to the nearest person. He controlled him [aura] to strengthen his body and dug out a woman.
Ignoring her constant thanks, he prepared to help another person. However, before he could move, countless Arcanists suddenly apparated and began to take action.
Some were in charge of preventing more buildings and cars from falling. Others were responsible for digging out people, healing, and managing the earthquakes. Small spaceships appeared in the sky, beaming people out from the rubble. Legions of golems appeared out of nowhere and began the repair measures with the Reparo Charm.
Someone came to heal Chris. The process took only a few minutes since his injuries were considered minor. He asked if he could help, but the Arcanist told him he had done enough and the government would take it from now. So, Chris asked if they knew what was happening, but he received a negative answer.
After healing, Chris headed home as instructed. On his way, he could see the golems repairing most of the damages, including the falling architecture. If it were not for the constant earthquakes, the smell of blood in the air, the sound of crying, and the bodies properly kept by these Arcanists, he would have thought none of the recent events had occurred.
After reaching his apartment complex, the wailing sounds became more vivid. He guessed many people must have lost someone. But he could only sigh. He opened his apartment room and saw a worried Angela waiting for him.
Usually, it would creep him out when Angela displayed such a level of human emotions. But he felt relieved this time around.
"Master, I'm glad you are okay."
"Me too. Did we suffer any destruction?"
"Yes. The Expansion Enchantment stopped working. We lost the other rooms."
Chris finally realized his apartment was smaller than usual. His bathroom, workout room, and study were now gone since the space was no longer expanded by magic.
"You should check your watch," suggested Angela, and Chris did so since he thought it was appropriate at this moment. He had three messages. The first one was about the activation of the Grand Arcane Shield, which he knew very little about until the message briefly explained it was the Empire's last defensive method in case it faced a catastrophe.
The second message was to ask all citizens to remain calm in this difficult time. In general, it reassured everyone that things were not as bad as they appeared. The third message stated the Empire would reimburse all damages suffered during this catastrophe.
"I guess I don't have to worry about the Extension Enchantment," muttered Chris, satisfied with the government's swift response. Then, he turned the TV on, waiting for any news. Most channels were not functional–including Arcane News which directly reported all news from the government.
After an hour of waiting, the earthquake reduced to a manageable proportion, and some channels began to operate. However, there was no news about the situation. The other news channels were very discreet in their report, not wanting to disseminate false information. Or they would pay dearly.
For the next 24 hours, no official news to explain the situation came forward. Chris spent the entire night before the TV, waiting. He felt relieved when he saw the beautiful face of the anchor, Akana Mikasa.
"Breaking news," said Akana with a somber tone. "A Tier 9 Death God named Guzznad has attacked all the powerful civilizations of the Milky Way Galaxy. The Intergalactic Federation and the Intelligens have fallen.
"The Elven Kingdom and the Starskins have suffered terrible damage. And many have been lost in our Empire: a total of 2.7 billion people."
The news proceeded to show a video of Empress Olivier, Bellatrix, Grindelwald, who was hiding his identity, the Flamel Couple, and Dumbledore, who had to turn into Edward's appearance, fighting a shadowy black figure.
The video was not of good quality and was very short. Nevertheless, it conveyed the seriousness of the situation to the populace. After the Arcane News relayed some basic information, the screen cut to a national address by the Emperor.
The address began with a moment of silence for the fallen. Then, the speech talked about the danger and horror of the universe. The "Emperor" told its people not to despair, that the Empire was ready to face any foreign threats and to prepare for the upcoming war that would envelop the entire galaxy.
Finally, the Emperor promised to use the highest prohibited magic of the Empire to revive the fallen. However, he also warned that not all individuals could be revived due to the nature of Guzznad's death.
Chris had to say home since many things were still shut down. Two days later, he received the news that a quarter of the people could be revived, about 675 million. This news stirred some controversy as the family of the people who experienced true death complained about how unfair it was their loved ones could not be saved.
Chris did not know how to feel about this: some of him understood their pains, but the others did not agree with their selfishness. Nevertheless, he was soon distracted by two things.
The first one was another nationwide message. The ID Watch that all citizens have been updated. Teleportation Enchantment and Technology will be incorporated to allow them to teleport the citizens to another dimension in case of a disaster like the previous one.
The message warned that teleportation might be affected and not possible during these tragedies. So, the government will build special bonkers as the last resort in case the watch fails. These bonkers are designed to survive the planet's explosion, and in the future, they will be upgraded to survive Star, Star System, and even Galaxy Level Annihilation Events.
The second distraction was a call from Doctor King to see him and check on his mental health. Chris stopped seeing her after a few sessions since he felt his mental health was on the right track. But once in a while, he would check with her, so he was not surprised by the call.