Julian stood up and walked over to the corner of the church, retrieving his clothes from a pile of feathers.
After he put everything back on, he carefully walked to the exit of the church and glanced around. This time, he couldn't spot anyone, and from what he heard, they were heading back to their base, so he might be safe.
Still...
'Pulling that arrowhead hurt like shit, but at least I managed to stab it into that guy. Even then, those people stepped over me twice or so. But since the arrows slowed my heartbeat so much, they couldn't tell I was alive.'
Come to think of it, those people were ghouls, a sub-species of demons. From what he'd read, ghouls had gone extinct several hundred years ago after the demons began birthing vampires.
Furthermore, ghouls were supposed to be stupid creatures that acted on instinct, but these people were smart and calculated.
But then again, the Reverie Realm and the Mortal Realm were only slightly connected. This Second Heaven section in particular was a total mystery to him, so he didn't even try to use logic here.
Nonetheless, he waited inside the church for another hour, making sure he was in tip-top shape before going out.
His shoulder still ached, but there was no sign of an injury.
Taking another look around, Julian finally stepped out of the church and began walking along the feather-filled ground, which appeared to be made out of marble, most of which was cracked for some reason.
The air turned colder as the sky darkened. The Reverie Realm had its own night cycles, which were slightly longer than the days. And during the night, he didn't really want to be out.
He walked along the marble ground, crunching feathers with every step. There were usually camps in the Reverie Realm with humans settled down, but after what he had just seen, finding something like that was extremely unlikely.
Even so, after what felt like hours of non-stop walking, the feathers had become more sparse. The ground was just marble, and a bit further ahead, grass. Beyond that was a forest that seemed just like on Earth.
But he knew that the Reverie Realm's regions and biomes did their best to seem normal when in reality, they were all extremely ominous. However, the alternative was staying on this fallen, church-filled marble ground.
So, having made up his mind, Julian stepped off the marble and onto the grass. The silence deepened.
But right as he thought he would carefully begin making his way into the forest, the ground shook. The marble ground began to show cracks, and soon enough, a trumpet sounded from the distance.
The marble ground shook even more fiercely, its cracks expanding further. Then, the marble ground suddenly began to rise. One meter, two, one hundred... It kept rising past his sight. A tall, rune-etched foundation replaced it, and it seemed like it had no intention of stopping its rise any time soon.
Once it had risen nearly a kilometer, Julian spotted a few holes in the foundation. They were just small enough for someone to live in.
When he realized that, Julian froze, his heartbeat quickening.
Just then, through one of those holes, he saw a pair of crimson eyes. The number of eyes progressively increased, and having an actually functioning survival instinct, Julian didn't wait around for those things to come out.
He ran straight into the forest, weaving behind trees without a care in the world. He was slightly hungry, but for the time being, he needed a place to hide from the evil spirits.
A minute after he began his run, he heard screeches in the distance. They were more like wails, and each one sent a shiver down his spine. Yet, despite him running at full speed, those screeches were getting louder.
'Shit... This forest is never-ending too. I can't just climb onto a tree since the evil spirits are not totally braindead.'
Still, having been left no choice, he continued running. Half an hour later, Julian began to grow tired, and yet he didn't see any way out of this situation.
He wasn't one to despair in times like these, but he really felt like this was unfair.
No weapon, no place to hide... Not even a bite of food. Dying like this was the worst.
Yet, when it seemed like all hope was lost, Julian caught a whiff of fire. It wasn't a pleasant stench, likely burning bodies. But it was a start, and the only other way out of this mess.
Therefore, he ran toward it, catching sight of tens of evil spirits running behind him. Within just a few minutes, he saw the fire, and when he approached it, he was left pleasantly shocked.
Beside the raging bonfire was a man donned in pitch-black armor, with only his long black hair visible through the gaps in the helmet. He wore a cape woven from miasma feathers and held a bloodied steel longsword in his right hand.
He was immersed in the bonfire in front of him, but when he heard footsteps coming toward him, the armored man immediately put his guard up, readying himself for a fight.
Yet when his eyes locked with Julian's, the armored man froze, and so Julian ran up to him and... past him.
"Take care of them for me, would you? Good luck!"
Just like that, Julian continued to run ahead, not taking any chances. Or that was how it appeared to the armored man, when in reality, Julian had climbed onto a tree in the man's blind spot and decided to observe him.
The armored man was strangely calm, and soon enough, a horde of evil spirits arrived by the bonfire.
Wraiths, lesser demons, imps, and even crazed werewolves. Each one was a strong evil spirit in its own right, and they could easily maul Julian.
However, when they arrived in front of the armored man, one swing of the sword was all it took to sever the heads of five evil spirits. He hadn't even moved from his spot, and before the heads of those evil spirits could fall, he swung his sword again.
With every swing, many evil spirits were killed, until eventually, the evil spirits stopped approaching.
One or two still tried their luck but got cut down. When the last of the evil spirits gathered on the outskirts of the bonfire noticed that, they slowly began to retreat, realizing that fighting the man was a bad idea.
And so, they coincidentally retreated in the direction where Julian had 'run off,' leaving the armored man alone by the bonfire once again.
He heaved a deep breath and stabbed his sword into the grass. Despite how he carried himself, he looked exhausted.
The armored man sat down, leaning against his sword. He remained silent for a few short moments, but then, he shot a glance directly at the tree Julian was hiding in.
And without saying another word, he patted the ground beside him, signaling for Julian to approach.