At this moment, their adrenaline fades away, the air mixed with the stench of blood and gasoline. They sit on the ground and stare blankly at the wolf's mangled body.

  "Finally... Oh, by the way, you made a nice boom," Jonas says, his voice exhausted.

  "Haha... Thanks for the compliment," Falkmar replies with a wry smile.

  Dong... Dong... Dong...

  A loud, deep sound travels through the air to their ears. Their eyes widen and fill with dread as the giant humanoid shadow in the huge fog that covers the horizon draws near, every step making the land tremble.

  Now the fog creeps into the city, shrouding the ruined buildings. Falkmar and Jonas are far from the huge fog, but its incredible speed is alarming.

  "Run!" Falkmar shouts, his voice filled with fear.

  He rises anxiously, quickly pulls up Jonas, and they run. As their adrenaline surges, their exhaustion fades, and their pace quickens.

  They turn a corner and run in the direction of the underground shelter. Right now, the race has begun.

  "The speed of that fog is too fast!" Jonas shouts desperately, but his pace doesn't slow down.

  "It's far from us! And our shelter is near! Keep it up!" Falkmar shouts to encourage Jonas.

  They run and jump over obstacles in the road. Feeling their lungs burning and legs aching, they are determined to reach the shelter before the huge fog engulfs them.

  Time passes little by little, and the fog gets closer and closer. The giant humanoid shadow appears to control the fog because it keeps following him.

  Dong... Dong... Dong...

  The giant humanoid shadow takes a few steps forward, pauses, then repeats the pattern. If they were watching from the side, they would see many tentacle-like shadows and hand shadows pulling the giant shadow to stop.

  Far away in the city, the giant shadow leaves huge footprints wherever it passes. Its footprint resembles a human's foot but with twelve toes.

  Falkmar and Jonas sprint down a ruined street, their hair flying and sweat streaming down their foreheads.

  "It's near! It's near!" Falkmar thinks.

  "Finally almost there!" Jonas thinks too.

  They are afraid to shout it out, fearing a lack of oxygen. They have already been running for a long time, and their adrenaline is starting to fade.

  But now the fog is right behind them, engulfing everything relentlessly, moving incredibly fast, and starting to reach their feet.

  When the fog touches their feet, they feel a cold sensation spreading from the soles of their feet to their whole bodies. Their hearts race as they realize the fog has touched them.

  "Oh shit!" Jonas thinks, his eyes widening as he glances down at his feet. With that, he immediately speeds up.

  Jonas is running behind Falkmar, so he is the first one touched by the fog. The fog gives him the motivation to speed up and overtake Falkmar.

  "What the?!" Falkmar's eyes widen as he sees Jonas overtake him. In his opinion, this is impossible. Jonas' stamina has always been worse than Falkmar's from elementary school to college.

  An abnormal sight makes Falkmar look back. When he looks back and sees the huge, heavy fog just a few feet away, his face changes from confusion to fear.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "Fuck you!! Jonas!!!" Falkmar shouts in panic.

  "Why scold at me?!" Jonas shouts in grievance.

  "No why!! Just wanted to fuck you!!" Falkmar yells, immediately speeding up.

  The fog behind them feels like a grim reaper pursuing them. They want to escape it, but their adrenaline is completely gone, and the distance between Falkmar, Jonas, and the shelter is just a few hundred steps more.

  "Keep it up! I see our house now!" Falkmar yells to Jonas.

  Jonas doesn't respond to Falkmar. His vision starts to blur, and he feels dizzy. The long run has already drained his energy, and he won't last much longer before fainting.

  Falkmar notices something is off and turns back, realizing Jonas is lagging and looks unwell. Just as Falkmar slows down his pace to wait for Jonas to catch up... Jonas faints.

  "Jonas!" Falkmar quickly runs to him and catches him.

  His clothes are soaked with blood and sweat, his breathing is weak, and his face looks pale. A wave of worry rises in Falkmar's heart. After catching Jonas and carrying him on his back, he runs toward their shelter.

  However, Falkmar's actions bring the fog closer to them. Now the fog touches Falkmar's feet again, almost engulfing Jonas.

  Falkmar's heart races in his chest, and his legs tremble from exhaustion and the weight on his back.

  As he steps into the forecourt of Jonas' luxury villa, he feels a surge of ecstasy. But the fog follows closely.

  Jonas' villa has a second floor with a swimming pool and a garden. Once beautiful and luxurious, it is now ruined. The villa has collapsed, the water in the swimming pool has drained, and the flowers in the garden are withered.

  Falkmar sees this view and doesn't stop but runs inside the collapsed villa because the shelter is located there.

  The door to the shelter is concealed beneath a carpet at the entrance of the villa. Falkmar, carrying Jonas, quickly runs to the carpet, but his eyes widen with desperation and sadness upon seeing that the carpet is gone and the shelter door is open.

  "What...?" Falkmar's eyes fill with surprise, and his voice trembles as he speaks.

  "Dad! Mom! Are you guys there?" Falkmar shouts. The light in the shelter seems off or broken, so it's entirely dark.

  A few seconds pass, and Falkmar doesn't receive any response. The fog stops right at the villa's forecourt as if also waiting for a reply from Falkmar's parents or Jonas' parents.

  "Mr. Jeckrew? Mrs. Mila? Are you there?" Falkmar doesn't give up and shouts again, this time calling for Jonas' parents.

  A few seconds pass again. Falkmar wants to go down and check, but his reason warns him not to. Dread builds inside his mind as he stares into the dark.

  Boom!

  A sudden sound scares Falkmar. The sound is a stomp from the giant shadow inside the fog; it seems the shadow is mad.

  This stomp causes the hands and tentacles on its back to vanish while also accelerating the movement of the fog.

  The fog suddenly moves toward Falkmar, leaving him no choice. He anxiously considers whether to step into the fog or descend into the dark shelter.

  Just as Falkmar is about to carry Jonas down into the dark shelter using the ladder, a sudden exhale carrying the stench of blood wafts from the entrance of the shelter.

  "Huh...?" Falkmar is stunned and smells the stench of blood from the exhale. His hand, which is about to carry Jonas, freezes.

  "Who's down there?!" Falkmar whispers, his voice heavy with fear. He carries Jonas and subconsciously walks backward.

  Because of Falkmar's actions, the fog behind them engulfs both him and Jonas. Falkmar's eyes fill with desperation as the fog envelops them; he doesn't know if their parents are still alive.

  After they are engulfed by the fog, not only is the grass on the forecourt gone, but so is the ruined villa. Falkmar knows it's not because the fog is too thick; it's because the fog transports them to another space now.

  Just when Falkmar sees the blood-red wolf, it further confirms his idea that the fog is connected with other worlds. After all, there is no creature like that on Earth.

  Now the space where they stand is entirely white. It seems boundless, and there is nobody here but Falkmar and Jonas.

  Falkmar suddenly sits down as if he has lost all his strength. Killing the blood-red wolf and the long run have already exhausted him.

  "Ahh...!!!" At this moment, Falkmar cries, tears begin to fall from his eyes, blurring his sight.

  Falkmar slams his fist into the ground, not stopping until blood appears. He doesn't know if their parents are alive or not. Seeing Jonas lying fainted beside him in this boundless white space, Falkmar's eyes fill with tears and desperation.

  Right now, he feels helpless. He doesn't know what to do and sits on the ground with his hands covering his face.

  "Ahh!!!" Falkmar shouts until his voice becomes hoarse.

  "What the hell happened to this shit world!!!"

  "Everything is the best arrangement? Fuck your asshole arrangement!!!"

  "Why! Why!! Why!!!"

  Falkmar shouts angrily, venting all his feelings of fear, helplessness, and madness in this space. He hates, he fears, he despairs, and he loses all motivation to live.

  "Jonas... I'm sorry..." Falkmar says in a low voice, using his hands to cover his face as he cries.

  A young man's mind collapses. The weight on his back feels like a mountain pressing down on him. He sits on the ground and cries for a long time.