The higher Alba climbed, the more alarmed she became, because the surroundings grew increasingly disturbing. Black mist coiled through the air, resentful wails echoed faintly, and unknown vines crawled across the walls while thin strands of lightning drifted and cracked.
The once bright Cathedral now felt like a battlefield split between light and shadow. Even the word chaos barely covered the scene, and the vast interior was empty, with not a single figure or corpse in sight.
In some corners, black and White Tier flames spread together, and within the fire she could vaguely see fragments that shattered Shard past and future. The sound of pages flipping echoed, and space itself seemed fractured, like countless prisms reflecting different angles where up and down were reversed.
To be honest, even if a huge man wielding twin blades suddenly fell from the sky with loud music and a Fog Gate appearing at the same time, Alba would not have been surprised. Yet along the way, aside from the oppressive mood and dim visuals, there really was nothing else, perhaps because Holy Light Shield was constantly active on her body.
She could barely hear any sounds of battle from outside and could only keep climbing the stairs. After finally exhausting herself, Alba tried to recall what had happened after she used Summoning earlier.
The Black Book was still safely on her, though its position seemed to have shifted slightly. When she opened it again, she found that Summoning was marked as unusable once more.
"I could use it before. It said something about being in a special environment. What kind of special environment was that. Could it be something like large scale slaughter."
"And what exactly did I go through before. I cannot remember."
A sharp headache made her feel like she was about to be torn apart by Rend. Alba could not see much else, only vague fragments that broke through Shard, showing her body moving on its own and swinging a hammer at something, maybe three very large figures.
Then the viewpoint shifted, and she could finally look down at herself from above. She saw her own form clearly.
"Mm, as expected. It is actually much more normal than I thought."
In the memory, her body was shrouded in black smoke, and a blood red scene spread within the shadow behind her. Alba felt calm about it, because aside from heavy black mist effects, there was not much actual change.
As for what she had been hitting back then, she could vaguely sense it. She had only felt that kind of presence once before, at the scene of the Evil God summoning, and there was no doubt it was related.
"Uh, now that I think about it, maybe they are not that bad. They push me hard all the time, but when something really happens, they do show up."
After thinking it over, Alba felt that the Evil God watching her from behind was not entirely malicious. At least, the requests she made back then had been fulfilled.
Still, such an existence was hard to judge, and she did not dare to label them as completely White Tier. After resting a little longer, Alba continued upward.
Since that Evil God wanted her to ring the bell, and Elvin and even her own heart felt that ringing it would solve everything, then she would do it. It was just climbing stairs.
After walking for a while, Alba suddenly turned her head sharply, sensing something peering at her from behind. But when she looked, there was only empty space.
She tightened her grip on the hammer and kept going up. Near the final few floors, the expected obstruction finally appeared, and as she stepped forward, a jumble of noise filled her ears and her body felt heavier.
What were those sounds. Were they pleas, Prayer, or cries for help. Alba could not tell, only feeling irritated and slightly dizzy.
She shook her head and ignored them, continuing upward. The noise turned into wisps of black mist that clung to her without her awareness, making her feel heavier.
She kept climbing, with about four floors left. This time the sounds were louder and more chaotic, with faint crying and screams mixed in.
"My head hurts more, but it is still manageable. This is really annoying."
Holding her head, Alba continued upward, unaware that the heavy remnants left behind were adding themselves to her burden. The dark atmosphere grew denser, and countless strands of black mist coiled up like snakes, silently tugging at her steps.
A faint glow appeared. But things were not that simple.
Outside the Cathedral, using the deaths of thousands of monsters as cover, a hidden descent ritual had already been completed. Dozens of monsters twisted together into a grotesque Magic Array, glowing faintly with blood light as they sacrificed themselves to bridge space and time, allowing the blasphemous angel to descend.
His consciousness had arrived, but he did not act immediately. Instead, he hid himself and sensed the surroundings, then widened his eyes in fury when he felt the decayed aura, especially the two blazing flames on the battlefield.
Looking up at the Cathedral wrapped in both Dark Power and Holy Light, he stared at the ascending radiance whose form was already faintly visible. He was terrified by his own thought and withdrew back into the Magic Array, quickly checking around and confirming that the Black Dragon was not present.
"What is that."
Elvin reacted instantly, drawing a fiery line through the sky and slashing at the oncoming black mist. The molten heat burned part of it away, but the rest scattered, regrouped, and surged toward the top of the Cathedral.
"Do not even think about it."
Raina struck the holy banner torch in her hand, raising a faintly red glowing screen. Even so, the black mist forced its way through despite being burned, preserving its core and flying toward the Clock Tower.
Raina felt her Barrier shatter, and her expression changed. "This is bad. Get inside now. Whatever that is, it cannot be allowed to interfere with Alba."
Elvin rushed toward the Clock Tower, but stopped in shock. Despite flying at extreme speed and feeling the air rush past her ears, she could not get any closer, as the space within the Clock Tower seemed infinitely stretched.
Realizing she was trapped, she landed and tried to enter from the ground. It still did not work, and the Cathedral began to emit light and darkness together, its surface flickering between ruins and wholeness like overlapping mirrors.
It behaved like a bug within the World, constantly Blink. Elvin held her sword, frowning, unsure of what had changed.
Outside events no longer reached Alba, because she could not sense anything beyond herself. The higher she went, the louder the noise became, too chaotic to understand.
"Go away. Stop bothering me. I am really tired."
With every step, Alba felt an immense weight pressing down on her, now visible even on her clothes. Half of her White Tier robe had turned black, with chains and threads extending downward into unseen depths.
She did not know what they were, nor could she sense them, only endless exhaustion and pressure. She moved forward solely because she wanted to ring the bell.
"How long can I really hold on."
"Come back."
A shrill wail erupted behind her, and an angel formed of countless limbs and black feathers appeared, each feather dripping with innocent blood. The withered old face roared in rage, abyssal flames spilling from eyes and mouth, while the Holy Light around Alba prevented direct contact.
At that moment, the burden on her back doubled, nearly forcing her to collapse. She still reached out, steadied herself, and continued climbing, seemingly unaware of what pursued her.
"That feels a bit cold. Why."
The chill came from inside her body, not from the air, and rubbing herself or tugging at her clothes did nothing. She rubbed her hands hard and used the hammer as a cane.
"It is fine. I can still take it. Keep going."
Step by step, she climbed, leaving frost and scorch marks on the stairs. Only two floors remained.
As she thought this, the chains in her back felt embedded in flesh, each step making her tremble as blood dripped onto the ground. The angel raged, swinging the Scepter and plunging everything into darkness so thick she nearly slipped and fell.
She grabbed the railing at the last second and pulled herself back. "Is it night, or did the Cathedral forget to turn on the lights. I cannot see. Good thing I still have this hammer."
Using it to feel her way forward, Alba kept going, her figure growing faint and her glow dim, like the last light after sunset. The angel smashed the Scepter down on Holy Light Shield again and again, roaring for her to stop.
With a final blow, the shield shattered completely, and the Scepter struck her back, scattering light. Even then, she was not knocked down, though her neck felt close to breaking under the weight.
She sensed she could throw away the burden behind her and run freely if she wanted. Even discarding part of it would make things easier, since it all came from endless darkness.
The stairs twisted into an infinite spiral, and she found herself back at the beginning. The burden remained unchanged.
She pressed her lips together, took a deep breath, and said softly, "Fine. It is just being tired a bit longer."