The dead sea of civilization

What on earth is this... Clooffi muttered to himself, having spent half the day in the room, puzzled by more than just the fonts. His knowledge of magic was nonexistent, and the peculiar symbols were beyond him.

He closed the book, exhaled deeply, stretched languidly, and glanced at the clock: Goodness... two hours had passed...

Rising from his seat, Clooffi strolled down the hallway. As he meandered to the library entrance, a cloud of dust burst forth. Startled, he stepped inside, inquiring, "Do you need assistance?" He moved aside the fallen debris, "Twilight?"

After a moment of silence, a retching sound came from beneath his feet. Clooffi quickly stepped back, lifted the bookshelf he was standing on, and found Twilight, covered in dust, lying motionless on the ground. Swiftly, he lifted her, his instinct to check for a heartbeat. Pressing his ear to her chest, he felt the warmth of her body and heard the reassuring thud. He hoisted Twilight onto his back, feeling as if he'd forgotten something, and called out, "Spike?!"

A creaking sound from the base of the bookshelf responded, "What... what's happening?" Clooffi rolled his eyes, "Your sister's in trouble." The voice, groggy with alarm, said, "What? Oh... Twilight?!!!" A lavender figure rose hastily from the clutter, and Clooffi approached, "See, she's fainted." Spike dusted himself off, his eyes wide with fear, as he began to cry, "Ah... Twilight, what's happened to you..."

Clooffi cut him off firmly, "Enough, no tears. Weren't you cleaning up?" Spike wiped his eyes, pointed to the library wall, and stammered, "We... we were almost done..."

"Be quick about it!"

"We were almost done, when that glowing object appeared in the castle's center and knocked Twilight down!"

Clooffi eyed the wall skeptically, and indeed, a multicolored light hovered above the breached wall. After pondering, he said, "Spike, stay here..." He thought again, "Are there any other ponies in this castle?"

Spike replied, "Starlight Glimmer is here too." Clooffi nodded, "Get her to watch this thing, you come with me to the hospital."

"Okay, alright."

Suddenly, footsteps approached, and upon looking, it was Starlight.

She hurriedly asked, "I heard a tremendous noise, do you know what happened?" Clooffi, seeing her, gave Spike a nudge. Spike said, "Twilight was knocked down by that object. We need you to watch it until it reacts, while we take Twilight to the hospital."

Starlight was puzzled, "What object?" Clooffi pointed to the light. Starlight looked, "Oh... alright, then hurry back."

"Sure." Spike agreed, and he and Clooffi rushed to the hospital together.

Starlight observed the colorful object before her. Soon, it began to move, and she cautiously followed. It led her to the Friendship Hall, where it started to flicker and extend several tentacles towards the six seats around the round table. Sensing danger, Starlight attacked the light, but her efforts were met with a reflective barrier that nearly struck her. To avoid being trapped, she retreated, anxious and ready to inform her friends, as the light's energy intensified.

Then, a dark, blood-spattered object tumbled out.

In Shaanxi Province, the figure approached, and Chen Li and Jianjun felt the air around them becoming suffocating. Jianjun whispered in a trembling voice, counting down: "5... 4... 3... 2... 1!" Both of them kicked their legs at the same time and retreated quickly backward. Chen Li swung his iron stick and threw it fiercely at that thing, "Clang!!!" It fell to the ground; Jianjun drew his sidearm and fired wildly in that direction, the bullet clip lightening in weight at an astonishing speed, yet there was no sound of bullet collision.

When the two calmed down and looked at that thing with fearful and vigilant eyes, they were stunned.

It was a cloud of black fog, adorned with a bronze sword handle, metal chest armor, and medieval knight-like armor shoes, as if this attire firmly shaped the black fog.

Chen Li and Jianjun exchanged glances and fled. The figure, dragging the heavy armor, moved at an unaffected speed. The sword at his waist was fiercely unsheathed, and the sound of breaking wind came fiercely towards Jianjun and Chen Li.

Chen Li suddenly felt a chill on his back, turned around and saw a golden blade splitting his view in half. He hastily retreated, the black fog raised its head fiercely, kicked with its left foot, and a gust of air burst out from behind. It grabbed Jianjun's coat and flung him like a duck to the counter, slamming him against the concrete wall.

"Jianjun!!!" Chen Li shouted, quickly drawing his sidearm and firing at the thick iron armor. He pressed close to the monster, his left hand tightly gripping its fierce hand holding the sword. But it was a foolish decision, as the black fog forcefully extended its hand back, a crisp sound of fracture echoed in the air, mixed with Chen Li's heart-wrenching roar. It then locked Chen Li in front of the chest armor and thrust the sword into his right ribs. A burst of blood spurted from Chen Li's mouth, accompanied by the heart-wrenching pain in his ribs and a dizziness that clouded his consciousness.

The black fog wasn't finished; it pulled out the sword, and as Chen Li, gasping for breath, staggered and fell, a sudden immense pressure on his right hand was accompanied by the sound of sand and stone being crushed. This time, he didn't hear the sound of his own bone fracturing.

In a daze, a familiar figure charged in, grabbing the blade that was about to end Chen Li's life with one hand, and with the other, swinging the discarded iron stick, striking the black fog's head with a mad ferocity.

The black fog was enraged. It plunged the knife into the ground, freeing both hands to seize the figure, whose flesh and bones crunched under its grip, mixing with the person's moans to create a tragic, yet grand lament. The scene ended with the explosion of the figure's body.

The black fog discarded the pile of flesh and stretched its repulsive limbs towards Chen Li.

At that moment, a flash of color passed, and a surging glow spread from Chen Li's field of vision, halting the black fog.

Through his bloodshot eyes, Chen Li faintly saw a pinpoint of light, his retina barely registering its presence. In the haze, the black fog pulled the knife from the concrete and left, seemingly drawn to that light, which rapidly expanded in his vision.

'How strange,' Chen Li thought, 'Does light have edges...' Then, everything around was consumed by the brilliance.