"Uhmmm. That's bad, right? Actually, forget I even asked. That's definitely bad."
Jiwon started mumbling under her breath.
The shaking subsided after a while, finally allowing the group to catch their breath. But it wasn't long before a new problem rose forth.
From above them, a massive veil appeared, encompassing the entire cathedral. It looked like a sheet of glass or some kind of mirror, reflecting the moon's pale light overhead.
Some squares glowed sickly purple color while others burned a radiant gold. The moon's glow passed through these squares, individually illuminating the gardens in an alternate pattern of purple and gold.
The moonlight filtered through them in a shifting pattern, casting alternating patches of color across the Gardens—purple, gold, purple, gold—
Like a moving grid.
The mechanic's happening!
Minjae snapped his head to his party members before yelling out. "Everyone! Get to a gold square! Don't let the purple light touch you!"
But as the words left his mouth, a purple shone on one of his team members. Kim Jiwon.
SHIT!
[Stat Conversion]
[Agility: 50 → 70▲; Strength 20 → 0 ▼]
Minjae dived toward the girl at top speed, just barely managing to push her out of the shine as the both of them tumbled into a yellow square.
For a split second, neither of them moved. Then they both turned back to where they were before. The purple light passed over the spot she'd just been standing, and over the small relic that Jiwon had dropped.
The ring shriveled instantly, its surface cracking and collapsing on itself before crumbling into a gray dust, completely gone.
Jiwon's breath hitched. "…What the hell…"
We can't stay here…shit, we'll just have to gamble the Nave.
Minjae's head quickly snapped to the right, trying to locate the doors toward the Main Nave before finally finding it.
The problem? The path to get there was filled with rotting squares. But to add insult to injury, the purple squares had another trick up their sleeves.
Slowly, the grass withered away, the ground becoming dry before it completely split open. And from within those rifts, came disgusting flesh monsters that were so decayed that Minjae couldn't tell which part was meat and which was bones.
"...No way," Hyunwoo muttered. "What the hell are we supposed to do?!"
"Those things came from the purple squares?!" Ara shouted.
"Listen up!"
He barely finished his sentence before one of the first creatures lunged forward. He dodged it, already jumping to the nearest gold square and leaving it behind.
"Follow the pattern and watch the light! Kill whatever is in your path, but don't chase!"
"Got it!"
Ara yelled out first, her foot pushing off the ground as she leapt across two tiles, landing just as the one behind her turned purple and split apart.
Hyunwoo stumbled at first, barely catching himself before hopping forward. "This is insane—!"
"Focus!" Minjae snapped.
A rotting figure clawed its way up right in front of him. Without slowing down, Minjae reset his stats to their base values and twisted his body. In the same motion, he struck the dagger into the creature's head from the back, ending it immediately.
Jiwon pretty much followed Minjae from behind, landing in the same square that he did.
Another creature lunged from the side. Jiwon ducked quickly, dragging her dagger forward before she sliced it clean through the neck.
"…Okay—okay, I can do this," she muttered, standing up and catching her breath.
Behind her, the tile she'd just left turned purple before collapsing immediately.
"Left!" Minjae barked.
The entire group shifted in unison, cutting diagonally as the grid rearranged itself again. The pattern sped up, gold squares shrinking in size as the purple ones began spreading wider with each cycle.
Another wave of creatures erupted from the ground ahead.
"Ara!"
"I got it! Dive Burst!"
She drove right past the group of monsters, the force alone was enough to knock two of them aside, clearing just enough space for the others to slip through. Hyunwoo followed up immediately, arrows flying in quick succession to stagger anything that got too close.
"Nice!" he shouted, landing beside her.
A faint glow flickered around Ara's body.
[Level Up!]
"Don't stop!" Minjae yelled. "We're almost there!"
The entrance to the Nave loomed ahead, just beyond another stretch of shifting tiles. But the grid was faster, more erratic now.
Jiwon hesitated for half a second, but that was enough time for the tile beneath her to turn purple. The ground opened just enough for a fleshy hand to burst out and grab her ankle.
"Jiwon!" Minjae shouted.
But she didn't panic, quickly driving her dagger into the hand. It recoiled from the stab, letting go just enough for her to jump to the next golden square.
"…That was close," she breathed, looking back to see that her dagger had disintegrated into gray ash.
[Level Up!]
Hyunwoo wasn't far behind.
[Level Up!]
"Go! Go!" Minjae urged as he jumped to a nearby tile. The final stretch was here, just three more.
Two more.
One.
He burst through the threshold of the Nave just as the grid shifted behind them. Ara's eyes widened as the ground under her turned.
Minjae leaned forward and barely managed to catch her hand, pulling her into the main chapel. Heavy breathing followed as everyone tried to catch their breath.
There's no way…we made it out of that…with all members intact. And furthermore…
He glanced at the number on each of their heads.
Park Ara — Level 3
Jiwon and Hyunwoo — Level 2
"Yeah…" he muttered. "Not bad at all."
But what he thought was a brief moment of respite had turned into something more eerie.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Minjae's head turned toward the far end of the Nave, toward the source. And sitting lazily atop of one of the ruined benches—
Was Han Jisung…
He sat with one leg crossed over the other, elbow resting on his knees as he clapped with a faint smirk.
"I didn't know you guys were into gymnastics," he said casually. "That was pretty entertaining."
Hyunwoo stiffened. "…You've gotta be kidding me."
Minjae didn't bother replying, eyes already moving up to the bar above Jisung's head.
[Level 4]
Jisung tilted his head slightly, as if amused by their silence. "What? You look surprised."
"I figured you'd make it here eventually," he continued, tapping his finger lazily against his blade. "Though I didn't think you'd take the scenic route."
Calm down, Minjae. You planned for this.
"Seems like you had fun abandoning your team?" Minjae shot back, standing up straight.
"Seems like you didn't?" Jisung said, peering at the ones behind Minjae. "Actually, you seem to be missing one?"
Ara took a step forward but Minjae held out a hand, holding her back.
"You really haven't changed, Kang Minjae," he continued. "Still playing the hero, still dragging everyone down with you."
"So tell me, Minjae-ah… how are you planning to deal with me?" Jisung smirked before glancing over to the side.
"And him?"
The cocoon that was once there now revealed a gigantic form of someone inside. The man just hung there, suspended in torn strands.
Then…it moved.
Limbs emerged, long and skeletal, dragging themselves free as they brushed against the stone.
What stepped out wasn't human at all, more like a monster mimicking the idea of one. Its body was unnaturally tall, its spine elongated and exposed like something had tried to pull it apart and failed.
Tattered cloth hung from its shoulders, remnants of what might've once been ceremonial robes, now embedded into its skin like some kind of twisted fusion.
It had four arms, each one holding something just as decrepit as it was: a rusted longsword, an old lantern, a torn-up prayerbook, and a chipped mace.
But what caught Minjae's attention the most was its hideous jaw that he could never forget. Its lower jaw stretched all the way downward, tearing open along the center of its body…all the way to its stomach.
GRAKKKKKKKKKKKK!
It let out a loud screech, body pulling away from the rest of the threads as it dropped down onto the ground with a heavy thud.
Minjae's eyes caught back and forth between the Archbishop and Han Jisung, plan already running in his head.
But before he could give any orders…
"Allow me to…"
Jisung lifted his sword, rolling his shoulders once before—
"Make the first move!"
He charged straight toward Minjae.