The world did not sleep that night.
Not a single nation.Not a single city.Not a single home untouched by fear.
Wherever the shadows had passed, bodies lay—still warm, eyes open, expressions frozen somewhere between confusion and terror. Families fell beside families. Strangers collapsed beside strangers. Entire neighborhoods were carved apart by an invisible hand.
Governments called it a global mass fatality event.The people called it the culling.
But Eliab knew its true name:
The Second Woe.
The Desert Village — A New Kind of Dawn
Eliab stood outside as the first pale light touched the desert sands. Survivors gathered around him, eyes hollow, expressions numb. No one had slept. How could they?
A few whispered as though speaking too loudly might summon the shadows again.
"How many died?"
"Did anyone survive in the cities?"
"What happens now?"
A child tugged at Eliab's sleeve.
"Are we still safe?"
He knelt down, forcing calm into his voice."For now."
"For now" did not comfort the villagers.They wanted permanence.He could not give it.
The man from before—Dareen—approached with shaking hands.
"Eliab… what if we're next? What if they come back?"
"They won't," Eliab said. But his voice held a tremor he couldn't hide. "Not yet."
Dareen swallowed hard."Then tell us what comes next."
And Eliab—whose heart was already breaking under the weight of what he knew— whispered:
"The world is entering its judgment."
Across the Globe — Horror Turns to Unrest
By noon, the world erupted.
Mass protests.Looting.Panic everywhere.
News anchors broke down on live television.Leaders of nations gave speeches with trembling voices.Hospitals overflowed with survivors suffering shock and grief.
One broadcast repeated on every major network:
"The death toll has surpassed 2.7 billion.This is the worst event in human history."
The world couldn't process it.
Some cities fell into chaos.Others went eerily quiet—too traumatized to speak.
The Four Angels Watch Silently
High above the clouds, the slaughter completed, the four angels hovered—wings spanning the horizon, bodies glowing like black suns.
Mareshal's voice rumbled through the heavens.
"The number is exact."
Artaqan narrowed his blade-like eyes.
"Humanity mourns. Let them. It will deepen the fear."
Khar'zul's fiery grin widened.
"Their terror makes them weak. When the final trumpet sounds, they will break."
Arael said nothing.
His great wings folded around him, almost protectively.
At last, he murmured:
"Do not rejoice. We do the Father's will… but judgment is not victory."
The others scowled but did not argue.
The sky trembled—as if sensing what was coming.
A Warning in the Wind
Back in the desert, Eliab felt a sudden chill sweep across the sands—a wind not from the earth, whispering against his ear.
A voice.Not human.Not angelic.
Something in-between.
"The time is short.The sixth trumpet has sounded.Prepare the remnant.The seventh approaches."
Eliab staggered.
A woman rushed toward him."Are you all right?"
He nodded, though his skin had turned pale.
Because he understood the message.
He knew what the seventh trumpet meant.
The dead rising.The world trembling.An event no one could escape.
He gathered the villagers, voice steady but grim.
"Everyone, listen. We must prepare. What happened yesterday… it was not the end. It was only the threshold."
Someone cried out, voice cracking with dread:
"What could be worse than this?"
Eliab closed his eyes.
And whispered:
"The last trumpet."
Across the World — A Sudden Stillness
The sun dimmed for a moment.Birds fled into the sky.Animals whined and hid.
People everywhere—in homes, in streets, in hospitals, in temples—felt a tremor run through their bones.
As though something ancientand immensewas awakening.
A little girl in Brazil clutched her mother.
"Mom… what's that sound?"
"What sound, baby?"
"The… humming."
Her mother froze.
Because she heard it too.
A low, resonating hum—too deep to be thunder,too steady to be machinery,too alive to be natural.
The sound of something approaching.
In the Desert… Eliab Felt It Too
The hum vibrated in his chest.
The villagers panicked.
"What is THAT?!"
Eliab's eyes widened with dread.
"It's the sound of the seventh trumpet gathering its breath."
The world held its breath—
Because the next eventwould change everything.
Forever.