Underground storage room part 4

James forced his hand to move, every motion a battle against the instinct screaming at him to turn and run. His fingers found the cold metal latch with a deep breath, he twisted it, the mechanism clicking open with a sound that seemed far louder than it should have been. Slowly, agonizingly, he pushed the door ajar the creak of the hinges sending shivers down his spine.

The gap was narrow, just enough for him to peer through but all he saw was an endless void. The world outside was consumed by darkness, an abyss that swallowed every trace of light. His breath quickened, the oppressive silence amplifying his growing panic.

Then right in front of his eyes without a warning the darkness shattered like a broken mirror by the flames that sent down from the pits of hell to burn everything to ashes. The scarlet flames consume the sky in one.

James stared at the flames like a moth seeing the light for the first time in its life, James couldn't take his eyes away from the burning sky, couldn't even think about anything else as he never felt such fear in his life before nor could he imagine seeing the burning sky.

For a fleeting moment the world beyond the door exploded into view illuminated as though. James's eyes darted over the scene taking place in chaos surrounding him with fractured glimpses: shipping containers ripped open like cheap cardboard, their contents spilled and scattered haphazardly; mangled steel twisted into jagged, alien shapes; melted like it was dipped inside the lava, debris covering the ground like the aftermath of some colossal tantrum. The scene was chaotic, violent, utterly incomprehensible.

And just as it comes then it was gone too, like it wasn't there in the first place. Everything was just an illusion his eyes saw or things that his mind was showing him to make him crazy and insane.

The pitch-black void swallowed everything again leaving James to wonder if what he had seen was real or some cruel trick of his imagination but the reality of the moment soon crashed back as a thunderous explosion ripped through the air, shaking the ground beneath him. The noise was deafening, a sharp contrast to the heavy silence before it. The blast sent shockwaves through his body, each vibration rattling his bones before he could process it, another explosion followed by the giant scarlet and orange fireball, lighting up the scene once more.

James almost lost his grip from the ladder and door above him, he stood frozen in time to make up for what he just saw, every muscle locked in place, his chest heaved but he couldn't seem to draw in enough air. His eyes remained glued to the door, as if expecting some monstrosity to burst through it at any moment. His heart hammered violently in his chest, the sound of it reverberating in his ears like a drumbeat of panic. His mind couldn't even understand what just happened.

He was so consumed by terror that he didn't hear Yui's voice at first. It was sharp, cutting through the fog of fear like a blade.

"James! Snap out of it!" she shouted, her tone a mix of irritation and urgency.

James flinched at her words, the sound jolting him like a physical slap. Slowly, his mind clawed its way out of the abyss of fear, enough to let him register his surroundings. He wasn't the only one paralyzed by the explosions; the others huddled nearby, their faces pale and their bodies trembling. Only Yui was unaffected, her sharp eyes darting between the door right above their head and on the rest of the group but they couldn't see that she wasn't affected by the explosion.

"Move, James!" she shouted again. "We can't afford to lose time!"

The words get him into action as he comes out of his shock, he shuts the door, the latch sliding back into place with a metallic clink. His hands shook violently as he looked back at the group down below, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

The others exchanged hesitant glances, the fear in their eyes mirroring James's own. Nobody moved, the weight of the unknown crushing their resolve as they were fearful of what James might have seen to close quickly without any hesitation.

James opened his mouth to take deep breath inside his lungs, as he opened his mouth the torch light fell from his mouth to the ground. He looked at the falling torch light as it was about to hit the ground but no sound came out of the falling torch as Yui caught the falling torch with her hands.

"James, you almost broke the torch. If I didn't catch it in time we would have lost it for good, pay close attention." Yui said with a serious tone as they can't lose the light.

"I'm sorry." James answered with a cracking voice as he felt guilt about accidently damaging the torch but it wasn't his fault entirely either as what he did was also normal human reaction shown when they're in danger.

"James, was there lots of skinnmore in our surrounding?" Noah asked the question with hesitation and fear in his voice and Yui standing beside him saw the clear terrifying fear on his face as Noah's forehead is covered with sweat rolling down from his face.

"No, there wasn't any skinnmore or any nightmare realm creature. Just a massive fireball exploding in the sky, lighting up the sky and sending shockwaves." James honestly told the truth.

Even though there wasn't any nightmare realm creature but fireball and burning sky almost scared him to death as he can't imagine who or what might be creating such massive fireball with destructive power and one who taking this attack doesn't seem affected by the attack as sound of explosion they were hearing from time to time without stopping.

Yui saw James frozen in his fear and thoughts once again, if they continue to remain fearful of outside situations they will never be able to escape from here, they have to get out of here and search for return crystal. 

"I'm throwing the torch right at you, catch it don't let it fall this time."

"Okay, throw the torch. I will catch it." James said with a bit down voice.

Yui throws the torch right at James' hands so he can easily catch the torch but for James it seems as if he has to focus on the light to catch the torch but it turns out to be as easy as catching the torch more easily than thought it would be.

"James, what is it like out there in the surrounding?"

"We also saw the flames light coming through the slightly opened door." Yui asked the question they all had in their mind after they saw the explosion light coming for a few seconds and the shockwave that followed after the light sent shivers down their spine. 

"There's... nothing out there," he stammered, his voice hoarse. "Just... darkness. And destruction. It's chaos."

"Everything seems to be destroyed by something, we wouldn't understand it completely chaotic outside and from time to time the sky is burning with these flames that no fighter jet can create." James' voice starts to crack as he is afraid of what he saw but he knows that despite the fear he has to go outside.

"Let me check the surroundings one more time and I didn't see any of those weird monsters out there." James tries to sound normal but they can hear his fear from his voice as they are also afraid of the skinnmore monster.

James carefully place his hand on the door push it upward bit so he can see with his eyes level and he greeted with same darkness as before he waited to see if there's going to another explosion but explosion didn't happen but sound of inhumane scream continues to comes from distance from time to time.

After few minutes James hands start to feel numb as he holding the ladder and door for minutes, he pushes open the door completely to climb out but just as he does that giant fireball pass through the sky like cannon in dark sky and get devoured by the darkness another and explosion rattled the storage, followed by a chorus of muffled bangs in the distance. The sky starts to burn again in the sky, its lights flickered briefly, casting shifting shadows across the walls down below.

"We can't stay here," Yui said, her voice cold and firm. "Whatever's causing this, it's not stopping. We need to move, now."

Yui pressed her lips into a thin line. "We can't stay here. If whatever's causing those explosions gets closer, this storage will become our tomb."

James's knees felt weak, his fear threatening to pull him under again but Yui's unwavering voice in front of fear unknown held him steady, anchoring him in the storm.

The word tomb hung heavy in the air, a grim reminder of their fragile existence in the chaos above. James wiped the sweat from his forehead and brow, his mind started racing. He had no idea what lay beyond the door or if leaving the underground storage was any safer, but he couldn't shake the feeling that staying put would be a mistake. Whatever lay ahead, he knew one thing for certain: staying behind wasn't an option.