Events that took place 10 minutes before Gerda's arrival.
The airship "NOX" hovered over the city of Fieri Di at an altitude of 10,000 meters. The door to the crew cabin was wide open, and strong air currents raged inside. Two passengers clung to a metal support: Commander Amber Daumi and Private Foxtrot Shi. They had parachutes on their backs and masks on their faces.
— Ready, Private Foxtrot? — the commander asked.
Shi stood before the open door and looked at the burning city through the clouds. He admired the beauty of the lights, shimmering in different colors. But this was only the beginning of his admiration. Ahead, this city awaited complete destruction. Shi swallowed and said resolutely:
— Ready.
Daumi untied the rope that held Shi and kicked him in the back. Shi, stumbling, fell overboard the airship.
— That's it, your death will not be in vain, — Daumi said.
He slammed the fuselage door shut and sighed heavily. Taking off his parachute, he took out explosives with a timer from his bag. Activating it, he ran to the stern of the airship, where the aircraft was located. Reaching the stern, Daumi opened the cargo bay door, and the air currents began to rage again. He unfastened the blocking chains from the wheels of the aircraft. Quickly jumping into the cockpit, he turned the steering wheel to the left, and the aircraft began to roll down the inclined plane. Daumi tried to start the engine, but nothing happened. Time passed, the wheels were already five meters from the edge of the cargo bay, the air currents slowed down the aircraft. After several attempts, the engine started, roared, and the aircraft began to move faster. It reached the edge of the cargo bay and stopped. The bottom began to heat up, and flames erupted from it. The fire engulfed the side, and at that moment, the explosives detonated. There was an explosion. Then several more explosions thundered. A bright glow appeared in the sky.
Shi fell overboard. He floundered in the air, falling down. He was overwhelmed with joy and admiration for this operation, but not for long. The Commander-in-Chief ordered Shi to be killed, disguising it as an accident. Shi learned about this immediately after the fall, after the betrayal of Commander Amber Daumi. Shi had an operation to clear Fieri Di with fire. Unlike ordinary soldiers, he had the ability to emit powerful flames from his body.
Falling from the sky, he wondered why he was doing all this and why. Thinking about this, he flew into a rage and, pointing his hand at the sky, towards the airship, spewed out powerful flames. The fire reached the fuselage in a couple of seconds and incinerated the airship. A bright glow and a fiery condensation trail appeared in the sky.
After a few minutes, Shi fell into a large lake and sank to the bottom. Bubbles rose from the bottom for a couple of seconds, and then everything became quiet.
Pshshshsh~ Pshshshsh~
The water in the lake began to boil and evaporate. In a couple of minutes, all the water boiled and evaporated. A fiery creature resembling a fox stood on the edge of the evaporated lake. The fox began to whine and growl. The fire around it grew larger and larger. And suddenly, complete silence fell. The fox looked around. Huge structures, multi-storey buildings, surrounded the lake.
The fox stepped into the air, and it supported him as if it were a solid surface. The fox began to rise into the sky, as if climbing an invisible staircase.
In the air, he observed the life of the city of Fieri Di, its picturesque scenes of destruction.
The fox rose again, 15,000 meters above the city, and swooped down. Fiery flames fell upon the city along with him. The city was completely ablaze, the screams of the townspeople and explosions were heard everywhere.
— Why are they saying "Oh, God!"? — Gerda asked.
— Hmm, I can only say that you surprised them, — Agatha replied.
— Surprised them, so...
Gerda and Agatha walked along the narrow path and found themselves in a labyrinth. There were two paths before them. Agatha, knowing where to go, turned right, and Gerda followed her. The passage narrowed and widened, and soon they reached a deep pit. Agatha put on her k-pop style clothes and approached the edge of the pit. Leaning on the railing, she shouted:
— C-H-A-G-E! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, APPEAR!
The water in the pit rose to the railing and swirled into a whirlpool. The current grew stronger and stronger. Thick dark gray vapors began to rise from the water, as if evaporating. They gathered in a heap. Gerda felt a chill, aggression seized her, she looked at what was happening with malice.
The black cloud took its shape, the same as a few hours earlier. Clusters of the cloud moved in different directions.
"I, Forion Chage Pistol, the great and wisest spiritual mentor and the most developed being in this system. What do you desire?" — a hoarse, coughing voice echoed in the ears of Agatha and Gerda.
— C-H-A-G-E! — Agatha shouted. — We need help!
"F..o..o..l.. Don't yell at me! — a cross appeared in the center of the cloud. — I can see and hear! So what do you need?"
— A granddaughter has come to us here, we need to wash her, — Agatha said.
"Granddaughter? — the cross narrowed and seemed to direct its gaze at Gerda. — Analyzing... Gerda Felis, age unknown, race unknown, abilities unknown... So you want to wash her?"
— What did you just mutter? What's with the "unknown"? And yes, I already said that we need to wash her, wash all the dirt off her!
The water around Chage began to boil and rise into the air, gathering on both sides of him. Its volume was impressive. Gerda jumped back and wanted to run, but something stopped her.
Huge flames erupted from the pipe where the hot air vapors were coming from, burning everything in their path.