Chapter 199

The storm had been gathering for days, but it was on that night that everything broke. The Great One had been watching. Patient. The sky was an ugly mess, heavy clouds pushing against each other, as if the earth itself was bracing for something. It wasn't just the wind that was sharp—there was something in the air that made the hairs on the back of people's necks stand up. The Great One had already started to make his move, slowly, methodically. He had decided the world had become too much of a mockery. Humanity had stretched too far, broken too many rules, had fed on greed and had drowned in pride.

But what was worse than all of that was their stupidity. They didn't know what they were dealing with, and by the time they realized, it would be too late.

The skies cracked open with an unnatural fury. Streets flooded as thunder shook buildings, cracking windows and sending glass spiraling like knives. People stumbled into the rain, some in shock, others still unsure what was happening. It didn't matter. In the span of hours, half of humanity would be wiped from the face of the earth.

He began with a message, a simple one that spread faster than any news could.

"The Great One has spoken. Obey or perish."

No one knew where it came from. It wasn't on the radio or TV; it wasn't a government announcement. It was everywhere, crackling through speakers, flashing across screens, vibrating in the back of people's skulls like a warning. The Great One had no need for technology—he spoke in ways they could not comprehend. His presence was known to the world, like a phantom, creeping into minds, hearts, souls.

The Great One didn't care for the trivialities of language. He didn't care for politics or wars. His interest was in something far simpler. His plan was set into motion, and the rules were clear: bow to him, bend to him, or be wiped out.

For those who didn't obey, the punishment was swift. Entire cities began to crumble, swallowed by the earth itself. It wasn't an earthquake—no, it was something much worse. As though the ground itself was disgusted by them. Streets cracked open in jagged lines, swallowing whole blocks of buildings, people, cars, homes. The Great One's touch was everywhere. The world twisted under the pressure of his will.

Lena could feel it. She was in the middle of it when it started, staring at her phone, the message still on the screen, "Obey or perish."

Lena had never believed in any of it. Her life had been ordinary, uneventful. A job she hated, a life she'd been desperate to escape from, but there was no escape. It felt like she had been born into this existence, like she was always meant to be here, her own little cog in a machine she didn't understand.

Her phone buzzed again, this time with a new message.

"50% of the world's population must comply. The rest will cease to exist."

The hairs on her neck stood up. Her heart beat faster. She could feel it then, as though something was crawling beneath her skin, pushing against her bones.

Obey or perish.

Lena didn't have a choice. No one did.

She ran, running from the fear, from the unknown. She didn't know where to go. The streets were empty now, save for the scattered remains of humanity's recklessness. The sounds of destruction echoed through the air, distant cries, the crash of buildings, the unholy thrum of something alien and ancient pushing through the world.

But the rain didn't stop. The wind didn't die down.

Then she saw it—an old man, standing alone in the middle of the street. His face was etched with lines, his eyes distant and hollow, and though his appearance screamed frailty, there was something unnerving about him.

He didn't speak, but she felt his gaze.

Her legs stiffened, fear climbing her spine. Something about his presence made her feel like she was being watched by the universe itself, something larger than anything she could fathom. She had to look away, but the air seemed to hold her there, rooted to the spot.

"Obey," the old man whispered. His lips barely moved, but she heard it, clear as day.

Lena took a step back, her breath shallow. She didn't know how to answer.

It wasn't a choice anymore. She could feel the ground tremble beneath her feet. The earth itself was waiting, listening, as if it had heard the words before. As if it was prepared for this moment.

Then, something twisted deep within the old man's eyes, and before she could process it, the sky split open. It wasn't a lightning strike. It wasn't anything she'd ever seen. The heavens cracked wide, and something worse than a storm rained down upon them.

The rain didn't fall in drops.

It fell in ash.

Lena gasped, her lungs burning. Her skin stung, the burning particles catching in her throat. She coughed, spitting out the bitter taste that coated her mouth.

She looked at the old man again, but he was gone.

Only then did she hear the sound.

It was unlike anything she'd ever heard—deep, guttural, like a thunderous growl that rattled her bones.

Something was coming.

Her heart pounded in her chest. She needed to move, to escape, but the world felt wrong, as though every inch of it was bound by a force she couldn't see. It was pulling at her, suffocating her.

That's when she saw it.

The ground didn't open up; it simply became alive. Shapes, deep and unnatural, began to twist out of the earth. Great, monstrous forms, too large to comprehend, stretched into the sky. They were nothing like animals, nothing like anything she knew. They were holes in reality, dark, undefined, endless. And from them, the voice came again.

"Obey."

Lena ran.

She wasn't the only one. Others had started to move, all heading for some place unknown, but she couldn't tell if it was hope or fear driving them. They weren't running from the destruction—it was already happening, already falling apart. They were running because they thought they could escape.

They thought they could hide.

But they couldn't.

The moment they took a step, the world around them shifted again. Buildings cracked, collapsing on top of the people, swallowing them whole. Screams filled the air, but they were soon swallowed up by the silence that came afterward.

Lena's breath grew shallow. She stumbled, falling to the ground, a burning sensation seeping into her skin. The world was closing in, as though everything, every corner of existence was being squeezed tighter, bit by bit.

And then, standing in the distance, she saw the shape again. It was towering, vast, impossible to ignore.

The Great One.

He was not a man. He was not a god. He was something worse. A presence, an idea, an entity wrapped in the horrors of human folly. He stood at the edge of the city, still and silent, as if waiting. Watching. Judging.

And it was in that moment, as Lena's breath slowed, as her vision began to falter, that she understood.

There was no way to escape him. There was no way to fight him. He didn't need armies or weapons. He didn't need anything but the mind.

She watched, powerless, as the Great One's reach spread, crushing whatever stood before it. People screamed, begging, pleading. Some tried to run, but they never made it far. His power wasn't something they could outrun.

Lena was on her knees. The wind howled, the ground cracked, and there was nothing she could do. The Great One's words were not just in the air anymore. They were inside her.

"Obey."

And that was the end of it.

Not the end of her. Not just the end of the world.

The end of humanity.

Because humanity had already failed.