Immediately after stepping through the portal, the group found themselves within the same pitch-black realm once more. Flashes of white lightning streaked across the dimension, but there was no rain. Asteroid belts soared violently, unconstrained by the gravity as if this was deep space.

The group stood on top of a grey rock, just barely visible. In front of them, several more rocks lay levitating in the air, rotating slowly and acting as a bridge.

And at the end of it all… a cathedral stood.

It was massive — approximately a football field’s length in terms of width, and the highest point was as tall as a three-story-building. Just like the church that held Dar’ Talor’s Dungeon, however, this cathedral was shattered and broken, giving off an ominous feeling that made the group’s skin crawl.

“H-Hah… so this is a Temple, huh?” Hurricane muttered, forcing a confident smile onto his face and ignoring the sweat that had formed on his forehead. “Since you all look so scared… I’ll take the lead.”

Saying this, he stepped forward and jumped to the next rock, footsteps light and agile. Iris, who sat on Finn’s shoulders and witnessed this, narrowed her eyes.

“He’s… become more agile than before. It would be safe to assume he has gotten stronger as well, with the help of Heartbeat. Be careful, Ace… he’ll definitely try something on this mission.”

Finn nodded firmly. “I know.”

Then, he activated the wings on his armor and took off from the ground, flying through the air with ease. Iris did the same, soaring side by side with Finn. Together, the two were like an angel and a nephilim, one with white wings and one with black.

They passed Hurricane and the others from the House of Crimson Moons with ease, and landed directly in front of the cathedral after about half a minute of flying. Hurricane, seeing this, gritted his teeth in annoyance.

“Bastard… doing that just to spite me, huh?” He muttered, glaring at Finn’s back. “Let’s see how long you can show off for… hmph.”

Of course, the real reason Finn did this was simply because it was faster and less risky than doing the parkour, but Hurricane’s jealousy blinded all logical thought when it came to anything involving Finn.

The others all made their way across soon after, standing before the enormous cathedral. Now that they were up close, they felt the sensation of dread washing over their bodies amplify.

Then, the two massive wooden doors in front of them — the only entrance — opened up with a loud clanking sound, as if welcoming them.

“It’s inviting us in…” One of the Hunters from Shuyara’s team murmured, staring into the pitch-black darkness within.

“Might as well accept the offer,” another added, stepping forward boldly.

But then, suddenly, a powerful suction force lashed out from inside the cathedral, bringing everyone to their feet.

“Ngh-!” The Hunters groaned in unison as they were unwillingly swept off their feet, slowly being dragged into the cathedral.

“No… that wasn’t an invitation…” Iris gritted her teeth and attempted to hold onto the edge of the doorway, with Finn holding onto her hand. “We never… had a choice…!”

She could feel her fingers slipping, and the others were struggling to fight back as well. They attempted to summon their Angelicas to combat this force, but the struggle was futile. The suction power, as if there was a black hole inside the cathedral, continued to grow stronger and stronger, and the group’s Angelicas could not resist in time.

“D-Damn…!” Hurricanes’s eyes widened as the trunk of the dead tree he had been holding onto tore apart, and he was sucked into the cathedral.

“AH-!”

His screams faded away instantly, drowned out by the immense wind of the suction force.

“AGH…!”

“S-SHIT…!”

“Tch…!” Finn gritted his teeth as more and more of them were sucked in. If he used his tentacles, he could probably escape from this, but that would risk the others becoming suspicious of him being a Ghost…

“Wha-!” Suddenly, the patch of grass Iris had been holding onto was torn out of the dirt, and both of them were sent flying into the cathedral as well.

At last, the group was unable to hold on anymore, and they were absorbed into the building as the doors shut tight behind them.

SLAM!

“Ngh…” Finn groaned, feeling a warm weight on his body. He could feel dull pain on the back of his head; he probably smacked into something hard.

“Ah…” Iris, who had landed on top of him, slowly lifted her head off of Finn’s chest and loosened her grip on his clothes a bit. “It’s so dark…”

A green aura surrounded her body, highlighting her normally one-purple-one-turquoise eyes the same color.

“Eye of Twilight — Nightvision.”

Glancing around, Iris spotted their teammates laying motionlessly by the walls. Not dead, but unconscious from the impact. The only reason she herself wasn’t fainted was because Finn had taken the blow — or rather, he had discretely used his tentacles to (not that anyone else knew).

“This place…” Iris gulped. “I feel an overwhelming emotion of darkness creeping up my body.”

“… Yeah. I feel it too,” Finn added, slowly standing up from the ground and carrying Iris on his shoulders.

“That way,” Iris instructed, instructing Finn to head towards where Qi Ling and Reaper lay. Since Reaper was a robot, he wasn’t unconscious, but the impact did do some minor damage to its metal frame. Luckily, none of its vital parts were harmed.

Qi Ling, on the other hand, had used thin ice to break her fall to minimize impact, but was still hurt. There was blood on her forehead and her breathing was somewhat ragged. She had gotten unlucky and slammed straight into one of the large stone pillars.

“Frostbite…” Iris murmured as Finn bent down, allowing her to check on Qi Ling.

“Engh…” Qi Ling groaned under her breath, slowly opening her crimson eyes that contrasted with her blue hair.

“Are you alright?” Iris asked in worry.

“… Yes,” Qi Ling replied through grit teeth, but judging from the strain in her voice and sweat on her face, that was anything but true. It must be difficult for her to even talk right now.

“Is there someone with the Healer Angelica here…?” Iris asked out loud, hoping someone else was awake already.

“I am,” someone said from the other side of the room. Iris immediately turned in their direction and saw one of the people from Shiphur’s Regiment standing up slowly, a light green aura surrounding him with the projection of a cross above his head.

“Allow me to take a look.”