Revelation 9:1And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
God works in mysterious ways. Always liked the idea of His will being done through natural forces. Makes sense to me. Like it has to, in order to interact with our world. Not that He's limited, but chooses to do so.
Also, what were reading here is a prophet in those days trying to interpret the best he can. But doesn't mean it isn't literal as well. It's both.
True enough, but there is an ignorance of the language of the past that dealt in spiritual terms relating the rule(heaven) to the ruled(earth), Revelation is written in a prophetic language and culture of the past. The present literalisation of the book leads to a whole lot of misinterpretation and fear of the end of world. The physical world is not ending, but it will be changed.