Raiden's eyes blinked open. His head throbbed, and his body felt heavy. The rough creaking of the boat beneath him and the rhythmic splash of waves reminded him that he was far from land. As he tried to move, a sharp pain shot through his arms—his wrists were tied tightly behind him, and his back was bound to the mast of the ship.
"Where... am I?" Raiden muttered, his voice weak and dry.
Around him, the deck was filled with grim-looking men, their eyes hard and unforgiving. One of the thugs, tall and scarred, glanced over with a sneer but said nothing. The ship rocked gently, but Raiden's mind began to drift, his thoughts tugging him back to memories he couldn't ignore.
---
Flashback – The Battle of Bulham
The world shifted to a dry, lifeless battlefield. The warriors of Bulham were locked in a brutal clash with their enemies, the Red Riot. The earth was cracked and barren, stretching out like a wasteland beneath the red-tinged sky. The sharp ring of steel meeting steel and the deafening crack of gunfire echoed across the desolate landscape.
High above, mounted cannons stood atop the towering walls of the Bulham fortress, booming with every shot. Soldiers along the wall fired relentlessly, their faces set with determination, sweat dripping down their brows as they fought to hold back the advancing Red Riot forces.
The air was thick with the scent of smoke and gunpowder. The ground shook with each cannon blast, but the enemy kept coming, relentless and hungry for victory. For the Bulham warriors, each step forward felt like a battle against fate itself.
Yet, amidst the chaos, the sky above began to shift. Dark clouds swirled ominously, and something far worse than the battle was about to descend upon them.
The battlefield was a violent storm of clashing steel and cannon fire. Bulham's warriors and the Red Riot forces fought fiercely, their feet kicking up dust on the barren land. The earth was cracked and dry, scorched from days of war, while the air reeked of gunpowder and blood.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble.
At first, it seemed like the thundering cannons had caused the tremor. But as it grew stronger, every soldier on the field realized something far more terrifying was happening. The earth shook violently, knocking men off their feet, weapons clattering to the ground.
Then they saw it.
A blazing meteorite, streaking through the sky like a fiery demon. Its size was monstrous, larger than anything they had ever seen, and it was descending fast.
"The sky—what is that?!" one soldier shouted in horror, eyes wide with disbelief.
On the fortress walls, commanders and soldiers alike watched in stunned silence. Then came the frantic orders. "Fire the cannons! Bring it down before it hits!"
The wall-mounted cannons boomed, firing shot after shot at the meteorite, but nothing worked. Cannonballs vanished into the flames or ricocheted off the blazing surface. The meteorite was unstoppable.
Panic spread like wildfire.
"The cannons aren't stopping it! We're doomed!" came a desperate cry from one of the commanders.
Chaos erupted as soldiers from both sides abandoned their positions. No one cared about the war anymore. They only cared about survival. Men pushed and shoved, trying to escape the battlefield as fast as their legs could carry them.
But it was too late.
The meteorite hit.
With a deafening explosion, the meteorite slammed into the earth, and the shockwave that followed was apocalyptic. The ground shattered in every direction, massive cracks splitting the battlefield apart. The force of the impact threw soldiers into the air like ragdolls.
Then came the fire.
A blinding wave of heat and flame exploded from the meteorite, sweeping across the entire battlefield. The warriors in the open were instantly consumed, their bodies turned to ash in seconds. But the destruction didn't stop there.
The flames reached the fortress walls, tearing through the stone and wood as though they were made of paper. Soldiers on the wall screamed as the fire engulfed them, their bodies burning away in the inferno. The once-strong fortifications crumbled, collapsing under the force of the blast.
In moments, everything was gone.
The battlefield, the fortress, the soldiers—nothing remained but scorched earth and a thick cloud of smoke that stretched for miles. The once-great armies of Bulham and Red Riot were no more, wiped from existence by the meteorite's devastating power.