Observing the Cathedral from a safe distance, Nathan tried to understand what he was dealing with. The dark and desolate mist-covered plaza sent his danger sense soaring through the roof as an intense chill spread throughout his limbs. He couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason why, but there was definitely something wrong with it. The more he looked at the blurry plaza, the more terror-struck he seemed to become.

Shivering, Nathan retrieved his gaze from the madness-inducing mist and pondered inwardly. ‘Ayla is well aware of how weak I am. Would she send me to a place she knows I can’t handle?’ Shaking his head at his own question, Nathan believed Ayla at least had a bottom line. She wouldn’t just send him to his death now, would she?

‘Maybe she wasn’t aware of this… Smog?’ Thinking of a more likely scenario, he turned to look at the mist again.

Different from the gray fog subtly flowing through Erion’s streets, the smog-like substance surrounding the Cathedral appeared to be stationary. As if bound by some mysterious force, it remained tightly packed inside the plaza’s periphery.

Enduring the uneasiness, Nathan tried to discern the square’s size and details. From where he stood, the brightly lit Cathedral acting as a beacon turned out to be the only thing unaffected by the heavy darkness. As for everything else, the smog prevented his eyes from discerning the actual surroundings.

‘Is it about a hundred meters away? Maybe more?’ Assuming the building of the Cathedral to be the central point of the square, Nathan calculated how big a distance he would have to trek. ‘Should I just go back?’ He hadn’t even set one foot into the plaza! And yet, all he could think of was whether to retreat or not. ‘No… I've come this far already, what’s the point of going back empty-handed?’ Swallowing a mouthful of dry saliva, Nathan hardened his resolve and resisted the urge to escape as he readied himself to face the upcoming adversity.

‘Besides, what’s the worst thing that could possibly happen?’ Recalling all the times he had died to that nightmarish creature, Nathan shuddered. He wasn’t immune to fear, nor was he immune to death. However, with all the shit he had gone through so far, it was safe to assume he had developed quite the thick skin when it came to danger, at least compared to his pre-Erion self.

To make things easier on his mind, Nathan tricked himself into believing this was a test of courage. Like that, he walked right in front of the pitch-black smog’s area. His gaze never leaving the Cathedral once.

“Here goes nothing…” he whispered and plunged into the darkness, submerging himself into the dark and heavily unpleasant terrain. And, boy was it unpleasant… Having entered the madness-inducing mist, the first thing Nathan noticed was the putrid smell of rot in the air. Similar to rotten eggs, the overwhelming sulfuric scent invaded his nostrils. It was similar to leaving fish in the sun for far too long before sticking them into your nose.

The stench was so bad that teardrops started forming in his eyes. Pinching his nose, Nathan inspected the surroundings through blurry eyes. ‘What…’ Just like before, he was unable to make out anything beyond his immediate vicinity. However, now, even the Cathedral seemed to magically disappear from his view.

With the beacon of hope gone, Nathan seemed to have second thoughts about this place. Taking a step back, he tried to leave the mist’s area. However... ‘Hmm? Why am I not out yet?’ with a drop of cold sweat forming on his forehead, he slowly backed away. If one step wasn’t enough, then two or three should suffice… Alas, no matter how many steps back he took, Nathan just couldn’t seem to get out.

‘Great, just… Great.’ Realizing he was stuck inside this dreadful, stinky place, he ceased moving backward and took a deep breath of the foul air. The acidic smell was awful enough to make him focus. Trying to reign in the fear he felt, Nathan decided to move forward instead.

If he couldn’t see where he was going, then so be it. All he had to do was wander for a while and something would show up eventually, right?

*Gulp*

Swallowing down the lump forming in his throat, Nathan exhaled lightly and brought his heartbeat under control. ‘Getting flustered will get you nowhere, Nathan…’ With his new mindset, he took a step forward and then another and another…

A few minutes later,

‘How long have I been walking for?’ Having been on the move for a while now, Nathan couldn’t help feeling something was amiss. After all, he should have reached the Cathedral several times already by now. ‘Am I going in circles?’ He wondered and paused to take a break. Sitting cross-legged on the stone-paved ground, he let out a tired sigh and tried to peer through the seemingly infinite darkness.

After being stranded in the dark for so long, Nathan thought his eyes would have been able to discern a little bit of the details. However, the pitch-black mist disagreed.

“Sigh…” Letting out yet another sigh, he closed his strained eyes and tried to relax, if only by a little. ‘How is this possible?!’ Left with no words to describe his situation, Nathan couldn’t believe what was happening as he jumped up to his feet with a startle.

With his eyes closed firmly, not only could he ‘see’ the Cathedral, but even the plaza itself! What was previously shrouded in endless darkness was once more visible, as if in broad daylight! Not everything though, as Erion’s gray fog, once more prevailed over the surrounding area. From where Nathan stood, there were quite a few things to see. However, if there was one thing he had to call eye-catching, that would have to be the massive statue by his side.

Standing at no less than 10 to 15 meters tall, an angel who seemed to be missing a wing proudly pointed its massive sword in the direction of the temple. Its body, laden with scars and cracks, made one feel an oppressive battle aura emanating from the statue. And, if one stared at the angel’s complexion for too long, the angered harbinger would appear to be letting out a deafening battle cry.

Or at least, that’s how Nathan felt after staring at it for a while. Following the sword’s pointy edge, his gaze landed on the Cathedral. This wasn’t the only statue in the square though, seven more of those ‘angel’ statues were spread in an octagonal shape around the temple, all pointing their weapon of choice at it. ‘Why are they attacking the temple? Aren’t angels supposed to be God’s guards or something?’ Befuddled by the ‘angel’s weird behavior, Nathan reconsidered the building’s purpose. Maybe, it wasn’t God’s residence but a Devil’s, or something worse?

The Cathedral, on the other hand, was situated in the middle of the plaza. Unaffected by anything and everything, even the grayish-white fog perpendicular to Erion didn't seem to penetrate its sphere of influence, as a pale blue barrier protected not only the building but its surrounding area as well.

Looking at the massive temple, Nathan couldn’t help but marvel at the sight before his eyes. Unlike the rest of the plaza, the Cathedral was built on top of a short circular platform, as if to accentuate its importance.

Its height wasn’t any less than the statues and as far as Nathan could tell, it must have been more than double their size. ‘It sure is something though.’

Previously, his vision was blocked by the pitch-black mist and Nathan couldn’t make out the Cathedral’s details. However, now that he had a clearer view of it, he could tell how exquisite its structure was.

With two massive towers and a rectangular building behind them, the Cathedral stood out among the Victorian Era buildings. Made mostly out of stainless white marble, not only did its structure appear to be firm and steady, but even an aura of holiness seemed to emanate out of it as the barrier’s fluorescent light danced on its walls. Furthermore, the multitude of stained glass windows on the Cathedral’s sides only worked to accentuate its beauty, as they reflected part of the radiance outwards in different shades of red, blue, green, and yellow.

While Nathan was marveling at the majestic sight before him, he spotted something dark and eerie forming on the stone-paved ground, a few meters ahead of him. Like a pool of liquid darkness, it sprouted from the floor as it slowly but steadily increased to the size of a dodgeball. ‘What is this now?’ It seemed weird, but not particularly dangerous. With the knife’s edge pointed at it, Nathan stood motionless as he tried to figure out what he was dealing with.

Having reached its peak in size, the pool kept its distance from his figure as it casually moved around the ground’s surface like a ripple in the ocean. ‘What is it doi-’ Just as this thought started forming inside Nathan’s mind, five ice-cold fingers tightened their grip around his left foot.

Bending his head fast enough to procure a cracking noise, Nathan broke out in cold sweat as he inspected the situation around his legs. Two pools of liquid darkness similar, if not identical to the one before him had sneakily made their way behind him. From inside the pools, a pair of pitch-black arms sprouted out, each aiming to catch one of his feet.

Having been on high alert all this time, Nathan was just in time to see the second arm’s fingers land on his right foot’s ankle. However, even though he was quick enough to notice, there was nothing he could do to prevent it from happening.

‘I can’t move?!’ With cold sweat running down his spine, Nathan tried to pull away from the surprisingly tight grip of the hands. Failing to do so, Nathan realized he had been thoroughly deceived by the original pool of liquid darkness and raised his head, just in time to see a pitch-black arm jumping out of the shadows in front of him, aiming for his unprotected head.

‘No, you fuckin’ don’t!’ He screamed inwardly and raised his hand just in time to intercept it. Like a nimble snake, the ethereal arm of darkness dodged Nathan’s dagger and went for the second-best option available, immobilizing his arm.

‘Fuck!’ Cursing inwardly, Nathan tried his hardest to escape the shadow-like arms’ grasp but ultimately failed in doing so. ‘There’s more?!’ He wanted to scream as several more pools of liquid darkness started forming before his very eyes. Looking on in despair, Nathan felt like a fish trapped in a tank for sharks as tens of pitch-black fingers squirmed inside the pools, slowly making their way closer to him.

Terrified and at his wit’s end, Nathan instinctively opened his eyes. Just like one would wake up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, he awoke in a similar fashion from this dream-like state. It was only that he didn’t truly wake up, but was once more inside the pitch-black mist, where he could see nothing more than the infinite darkness.

More terrified than anything else, Nathan’s figure plummeted to the ground as he still struggled to escape from the arms’ cold embrace. ‘Hah? Where did they go?’ Confused at the sudden absence of force, he reluctantly touched the spots where the arms should have been but felt nothing.

The pain was still there but the phantom limbs were nowhere to be seen. Not that he could see anything in this darkness... ‘How weird. No, mysterious,’ he thought while letting out a tired sigh. Inside this mist-filled plaza, nothing seemed to make sense!

Slowly standing up from the cold ground, Nathan was more than glad to be rid of the hands’ control.

He instinctively dusted off his pants, and started walking down an invisible path, hesitant to close his eyes. The plaza, the statues, and most importantly the Cathedral Nathan was heading to, would all show up the moment he did so. It wasn’t instant; otherwise, every time he blinked, a spontaneous change in scenery would have occurred. But it didn’t take too long either, as it was a matter of seconds.

A good ten minutes of aimless walking later, Nathan was calm enough to analyze the situation according to the clues he had at hand. ‘If one thing is for certain, I won’t be able to escape this place unless I close my eyes again…’ This wasn’t a random thought, after walking long enough to reach Ayla’s house and back, he deemed it to be impossible to escape this putrid place, unless he delved with his eyes closed.

‘However, if I close my eyes, those arms will most likely try to block me again…’ Nathan didn’t know what their objective was, but no matter from which angle he looked at it, it had to be something bad.

Scratching his head in irritation, Nathan thought further down that line. ‘The question now is, if I close my eyes again, will I still be under the ‘hands’ restrain? Or will I be free to move again?’ Well knowing he would have to close his eyes again, Nathan decided not to delve into that matter at all. If he was under restraint, he would just open his eyes again and wait to naturally wake up.

‘Wait a minute… If I don’t die my respawn point will be set inside the mist, won’t it?!’ Shuddering at his own thoughts, Nathan trembled at the thought of having to either kill himself or let himself be killed by the pitch-black arms just to escape this place. ‘No, the ‘arms’ might not even want to kill me in the first place… They could just restrain me there, couldn’t they?’ With more and more disturbing thoughts popping up in his mind, Nathan shook his head lightly and decided on his next course of action.

‘Okay, here’s what I’ll do. If I am not under suppression, I will just make a mad rush for the temple. If they catch me, I’ll just open my eyes again,’ nodding slightly, a drop of cold sweat rolled down his forehead as he pictured what would happen should the shadowy arms pincer him down. ‘If they are still there… I’ll have to forcefully wake up,’ he told himself, resolve hardening. The intent behind his words was more than clear.

Having contemplated long enough on what to do, Nathan stood motionless, tightened his grip around his dagger, and, after inhaling a mouthful of the foul air, his eyelids were slowly shut tight.