The team cleared out a space large enough to lay out their bedding for the night. Yumi quietly claimed a small, enclosed booth in the corner, something once called a confession booth.
Outside the chapel, Corgius and Henry sat under the pale moonlight, stationed as the first watch of the night.
"...This reminds me of a ghost story I heard a few days ago," Corgius murmured.
"Don't make this place any creepier, commoner!" Henry snapped, clutching his cloak tighter around him.
Meanwhile, Dante had already dozed off inside. In about three hours, it would be his turn to keep watch with Aaron. But Aaron wasn't sleeping.
He sat alone in the main hall, gazing up at the cracked ceiling of the church, where faint remnants of paint and scripture faded into the dark. His thoughts wandered, spinning in slow, silent circles. The fight with the Tailsetris still played in his mind, blurry at the edges but vivid in its intensity. He had been chosen as the leader… but it didn't feel earned.
What had he done, really? Just acted on instinct and adrenaline.
It didn't feel like leadership.
"You're still awake, I see."
The voice was soft but clear. He turned to see the red-haired girl emerging quietly from the booth she'd claimed.
"You're not asleep either, Yumi."
"I've been studying this book… something called the Holy Bible."
Yumi sat beside him, though she kept a polite distance. She opened the thick, ancient tome on her lap, flipping to a marked passage.
"Listen to this," she said, tracing a line with her finger. "'Seven trumpets are blown by angels, each unleashing apocalyptic events. The seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:15) declares the reign of God.' Does that sound familiar to you?"
Aaron raised an eyebrow, startled. "It does, actually. The old folks in my village… they used to talk about hearing a massive trumpet in the sky." He had heard the story more than once, always from elders, always whispered like a fading memory.
"This book," Yumi continued, "it reads like a warning. It talks about a time when the world came to an end. And something called the Rapture."
"Rapture?"
She flipped to another page. "'For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.'"
Her voice lowered thoughtfully. "It's saying… that if this being, this Lord descends from the heavens, those who follow this faith will ascend to the skies and join Him."
Aaron blinked slowly. "…And those who don't believe?"
"Most likely… they stay behind. And suffer."
He looked down, frowning. "Wait, what are angels, anyway? Or archangels?"
Yumi tilted her head slightly. "I think… they're something like spirits. But angels are said to be servants of God. At least, that's what I gather."
Aaron nodded slowly, pretending to understand.
I don't get any of this at all! he screamed inwardly. Is this the difference between a noble and a commoner?! The gap's way too wide!
Inside his mind, two tiny versions of himself appeared one with white wings and a halo, the other red-skinned with horns, a spiked tail, and a trident.
The angelic version whispered into his ear, "Even if you don't understand, listen respectfully. Talking with her might teach you something new, something you'd never discover on your own."
Then the devilish one yawned and muttered, "Just zone out, it's boring anyway. You didn't understand a word she said."
But before he could respond, the angel drew a glowing sword, teleported behind the devil, and pressed the blade against his neck.
"This isn't advice, it's an order! Listen to her, or your darker half will suffer the consequences!"
"O-Okay! Geez, who's the bad one now?!" the devil cried, shivering. Even he didn't expect it to go this far.
Back in reality, Aaron shivered slightly from the force of his own imagination and shook his head quickly.
"U-uh… I'm curious," he said aloud, glancing sideways at Yumi. "What was life like as a noble? Could you… tell me a little about it?"
Yumi's eyes remained fixed on the pages of her book, her expression unreadable in the flickering candlelight. Aaron, seated beside her, found his gaze slowly drifting to her face.
No matter how he looked at her, she was beautiful. That long crimson hair cascading down her back looked meticulously cared for, gleaming even in the dimness of the church. Her slender frame, the way her long legs were neatly tucked beneath her, partly hidden beneath her knee-high boots…
Aaron quickly shook his head, snapping himself out of it. "Focus, idiot. Don't start thinking something inappropriate now."
"Hm... the life of a noble, huh?" Yumi finally answered, her voice distant. "I'd say it's… incredibly dull. Every day, you're expected to entertain people you don't know, get engaged to some old man whose wife left him, serve as some decorative piece for your parents' social games... It's all so pointless. The only thing I ever found worthwhile was being allowed to read from the library in my house."
Aaron blinked. "Sounds like doing that day after day would make anyone sick of it."
"Of course it does," she replied matter-of-factly. Then she turned her gaze to him for the first time. "What about you?"
Aaron smiled softly, a faint trace of nostalgia surfacing on his face.
"As for me… I used to be a woodcutter. I never had parents. The people in my village, up in Lotts District, found me floating in a basket on the river when I was just a baby. They took me in and raised me."
Yumi blinked, visibly taken aback. Then she lowered her gaze.
"…I see. At the very least, you were accepted by the people there."
"Yeah… something like that."
Their conversation dwindled after that. Silence slipped between them, not quite comfortable, not quite awkward, just… lingering. Aaron had run out of things to say. In his mind's eye, he could almost see his angelic inner self staring daggers at him, unimpressed.
He cleared his throat abruptly and stood up.
"Well, I guess I should sleep. I need to wake up in three hours anyway. You too, don't stay up too late. I hear a woman's worst enemy is sleep deprivation."
"You don't need to worry about me," Yumi replied with a quiet smile, not lifting her eyes from the book. "I'll sleep once I finish analyzing this."
Aaron gave a small nod and walked away toward the bedding they had laid out earlier.
[DAY 2 — Kshatriya Initiation]
After catching what little sleep they could, and taking turns for night watch until morning, Aaron woke everyone up at first light. The group quietly gathered for breakfast. It was a modest meal ration packs given to them for the two-day initiation.
To put it bluntly: it tasted terrible.
Aaron couldn't help but wince at the flavor. He had no choice but to accept the cruel fate of military food.
Their plan for the day was simple, though grueling: they would engage in mock combat against the Enders scattered through the ruins of a deserted town. Calling it "combat" might've been a stretch, it was more about sharpening their teamwork, learning to fight as a unit.
Aaron took the reins of the horse-drawn carriage as the others prepared in the back. Yumi was calmly counting her bullets, ensuring her ammo was ready. Corgius warmed up with a bit of shadowboxing. Dante quietly polished his massive blade. And Henry… was hugging his spear like it was a treasured companion.
As the cart rolled through the sparse trees and broken paths toward the abandoned town, Aaron caught sight of something in the distance.
Something flying.
Fast.
His eyes narrowed, straining to make out the shape through the haze and light of morning. But it was too far, too fast. Just a blur.
He shook his head, muttering under his breath as if to ward off his own unease.
"Probably just a bird."
With that, they entered the silent, forsaken city.
Time passed swiftly, swept away by the chaos of battle.
From morning till late afternoon, they found themselves locked in near-constant combat against swarms of low-level Enders known as Beetlekins, a grotesque fusion of skeletal predators and parasitic plantlife. Their humanoid beetle-like forms skittered across the ruins, red eyes gleaming beneath twisted, leaf-armored carapaces. Clawed limbs tore through debris as they shrieked in unholy harmony, driven by primal instinct.
At Aaron's signal, Dante surged forward with a powerful roar, his greatsword swinging wide in a mighty arc. The sheer force split the horde cleanly down the middle, scattering Beetlekins to both flanks.
"Split them up!" Aaron shouted.
Corgius dove into the left cluster with reckless abandon, his fists flying in a blur of precise jabs and heavy hooks. Each punch crushed carapace, each motion a dance of raw, explosive rhythm.
On the right, Aaron charged ahead with Yumi at his flank. His blade carved through Enders in wide slashes, while above him, Yumi had taken position atop a half-collapsed building. Her twin pistols barked with rapid fire, bullets finding targets between carapace plates and snapping spines.
By the time the last Beetlekin fell, the sky had turned a burnt shade of orange, the sun inching toward the horizon.
Corgius collapsed onto a chunk of concrete, arms sprawled behind his head as he groaned, "You've gotta be kidding me… There were so many of them, we've been fighting almost the entire day!"
They had taken shelter inside a crumbling structure, once tall and square, now half-consumed by time and decay. Rows of dusty desks filled the chamber, papers still scattered across surfaces. Faded pie charts adorned the crumbling walls, along with broken filing cabinets and long-dead monitors.
Dante scanned the space, running a gloved hand over a cracked wooden desk. "Feels like a place where people just sat all day… pushing paper. Some kind of bureaucratic hall, maybe? Like a royal court… but for numbers."
Yumi, as calm and collected as ever, moved through the room without a trace of fatigue. She knelt beside a scattered bundle of folders, opening one carefully. Her eyes flicked across the page.
"'Yearly Fund Allocation'..." she read aloud. "Hm. I think this was where they managed finances. Possibly the old world's treasury."
"So, like the kingdom's treasurers, huh?" Henry scoffed, flipping his hair with a theatrical flourish.
Aaron said nothing. He was seated in the corner, drinking deeply from his water canteen. His throat was sore, his voice hoarse from a day full of shouting commands. Sweat streaked down his neck and brow, stinging his eyes.
Leadership, he realized, came with its own kind of exhaustion.
"Has everyone rested enough?" Aaron asked, brushing dust from his clothes. His voice was hoarse, but resolute. "If so, let's head back to Avalon. With this… our Initiation is complete."
He stood up and walked out of the ruined church. Corgius followed close behind with a satisfied stretch.
"Finally, we're going home. I can't wait to eat meat again," he said, arms raised toward the dimming sky.
Henry scoffed with a cruel laugh. "Hah, commoners. You must not eat meat every day, huh? No wonder you miss it so much."
Dante rested his greatsword on his shoulder and sighed, uninterested in continuing the class conflict. He followed them in silence.
Yumi was the last to leave. She stood beside a shattered window, the cold night wind brushing her silver hair. Her eyes narrowed, scanning the distant horizon. Something… flickered. A shadow too fast to catch. Her expression darkened for a moment before she shook her head and turned away.
Outside, the argument continued.
"Listen here, you pompous little noble," Corgius said, pointing at Henry. "The right to eat meat belongs to those who actually work for it. You? You've never earned a damn thing."
"Haah?! I work hard too! I'm a noble!" Henry shot back, his voice shrill with indignation.
Aaron ran a hand down his face, already on the edge of a breakdown.
"You two, just shut u---"
CRAAASH!
A deafening impact split the air.
Something collided with Henry...at an inhuman speed.
A winged figure, piercing white armor, inhumanly graceful struck like lightning, driving a glowing violet spear straight into Henry's chest.
Time seemed to stop.
The spear shimmered with crackling purple energy, and where it pierced through, Henry's blood gushed out like a fountain. His body was lifted clean off the ground, impaled like a ragdoll.
And the one holding the weapon,
Was no human.
The creature floated inches above the earth. Its form was wrapped in silver white armor, sleek yet jagged, gleaming softly under the moonlight. From its back stretched two vast black wings, not of feathers, but of shadowy tendrils that twisted and moved with sentient malice. Its weapon pulsed with ethereal light, more energy than matter.
A jagged crown of light hovered above its head like a broken halo. There was no face, only darkness beneath its helm, and from within, a gaze without eyes burned like judgment itself.
It made no sound. No war cry. No threat.
It simply hovered, like a divine executioner descending from the heavens.
"HENRY!!" Yumi screamed, her hand snapping to her sidearm.
Henry's body convulsed once before the spear was withdrawn with a sickening squelch. Then he crumpled to the ground, lifeless, like discarded meat.
The creature slowly raised its hand.
The spear still slick with Henry's blood twitched in midair. Then, with a sharp whir, it flew back into the creature's open palm, as if summoned by unseen strings.
Aaron's eyes widened. His breath caught in his throat.
He saw death. Real death.Not a warning, not a drill.A human life, gone in an instant, like a flame snuffed out.
Henry's body twitched once more before falling completely still. Blood pooled beneath him, steaming against the cold stone. His eyes, once arrogant and gleaming, were frozen in shock, wide open, staring at nothing.
Aaron stood there, paralyzed.
Corgius, trembling, stepped back. His voice cracked."Aaron! What are your orders?!"
Dante moved in front of the group, his greatsword braced defensively. His voice was calm, but his stance screamed urgency."Aaron! Snap out of it! Prioritize our survival!"
Even Yumi, normally the calmest of them all, turned, her face contorted with fury and fear. Her voice, loud and sharp, cut through the tension like a blade."Aaron! We have to run! This Ender...it's not in any of the records!"
Still, Aaron didn't move.
He couldn't.
His legs refused to respond. His heart pounded against his ribs like a war drum. His mind, once sharp, was now drowning in images he couldn't process.
Blood. Henry's vacant stare.Organs spilling across the stone floor.
It was too much. Too real. Too fast.
His hands trembled. His throat felt dry. The world seemed to narrow, sounds muffled, like he was submerged underwater. This is real. This is death. This is what it means to be a Kshatriya.
And he wasn't ready. He wasn't ready at all.
Corgius, still waiting for a command that never came, gritted his teeth."Damn it! Dante, you take command!"
"M-me?! …Fine! Yumi, get the horses! Corgius, you and I will hold it off!"
Yumi nodded and turned to run, but before she could take more than a few steps...
CRACK!
The winged Ender was already there.
It landed soundlessly in front of the horse-drawn carriage. Its presence alone made the air tremble. With one effortless strike, it drove its spear into the ground. Electricity burst outward in a violet arc, striking one horse dead on the spot. The other screamed and bolted into the forest, reins snapping like threads.
Yumi froze, eyes wide in disbelief."No... No way... It's that fast? And...it understood us?" Her voice trembled. Her knees buckled slightly as a chill ran down her spine.
Corgius, overcome by rage, screamed."You bastard!"
He charged, blade raised, and leapt through the air, but the Ender met him mid-flight.
A blur of motion. A flash of violet. Its spear carved a clean arc across Corgius's abdomen.
SHHRRRK
THUD!
Corgius was flung sideways like a broken doll, crashing through the wooden frame of a ruined building to their right.
"Corgius! Dammit!" Dante roared.
Without hesitation, Dante charged in, greatsword dragging sparks across the ground as he swung with all his might. But the Ender, this thing, was ready.
With a single hand, it caught the blade mid-swing using the shaft of its spear. The clash rang like a bell across the night sky.
Then, it spun the weapon.
Once.Twice.A violent, whirling tempest.
The force alone sent Dante flying backward, his feet skidding across the stone as he slammed into the church wall behind them, coughing blood.
Yumi fell to her knees. Not out of exhaustion. But despair. "Aaron..." she whispered, voice quivering.
Aaron stood frozen.
His sword was still sheathed. His arms limp. His mind spinning, drowning in panic. He could only watch, watch as his comrades were torn apart one by one.
The Ender stepped forward.
One step.Two steps.Three.
Its violet eyes locked onto Aaron like a predator closing in on its prey.
Now it stood before him. Tall, terrible, and silent.
The spear rose.
Time seemed to slow.
Aaron's breath caught in his throat as he looked up, at the gleaming point of death, violet and crackling with dark energy.
And in that suspended moment…something pulled him inward.