The next two hours or so of their journey were quiet, but quite eventful. They had certainly sped up a lot, and by the end of the second hour, they were already nearing the far right side of the hill– but the problem was that there were, more than before, Awakened Nightmare Creatures that they weren't willing to fight.
There were a few times within that two hour period where they had to diverge from their path and weave through the buildings in the dark city wearily as to not alert the creatures they saw, which was slowing them down considerably.
Neither Day nor Caster were certain why there were creatures sticking against the wall, but it wasn't really that much of a problem, in truth. Each time they spotted a creature, they were far enough away to prevent even the chance of a confrontation, so that was what they did.
Day kept his new sword in his hands as they moved. His body was battered, and his mind was tired, but he was still on alert. Day would be lying if he said that he wasn't extremely paranoid even when he saw the creatures beforehand, because he was weak in comparison to everything else, bloody from a hard fought battle, and lacking a watchful eye to alert them of danger– therefore, he and his companion were still prime targets, even if the thing that saw them only did so from far away.
Once again, far in the distance, Day spotted another Nightmare Creature. They had just finished turning a corner to get back on the quickest route when the beast appeared in the distance. It may have seemed odd to most that they were walking out so calmly, but they were sure to at least do some scouting and checking from the cover of the buildings before walking out– so randomly seeing a beast that forced them to go back into hiding sort of pissed Day off.
'Should we just stay in the city? Ugh, but it's so much slower…'
Day groaned softly, signaled Caster to stop by raising his sword slightly, and then turned around with one swift motion and started walking back into the dark city's embrace. Caster seemed confused for only a single moment about Day's intentions before he promptly collected himself and quietly began to follow.
He weaved through the tenebrous buildings purposefully, like he wasn't bloody and broken by his previous endeavors. It was truly peculiar how little Day was affected by his state, but Day prided himself on being adaptable, and his driving force, as always, was simply the fact that he couldn't afford to take a break.
For the next few minutes, Day did nothing but waltz quietly while keeping gaze sharp and watchful.
But then, out of nowhere, just as Day was starting to ease back into the journey after the surprise of another creature's appearance, the corner of his eye caught a structure amidst the many ruined buildings that stood out. It was different from the rest in size, shape, and, weird as it was, the aura it gave off. It felt sinister, but contained in some way, like the danger it presented wasn't worth jumping about at all, but that it could be.
Day stopped. He wanted to walk to it and check it out, but he wasn't entirely certain if it was a good idea. Weirdly enough, just at a glance, he got the feeling that whatever laid within wouldn't pose much of an issue.
'Hmm, what's the harm?'
Was it really so terrible to want to learn more about an uncharted, brand new section of the Dream Realm? Day didn't think so, and the truth was, he would have probably checked out that other building if it weren't for the creature that was nearby, prepared to cause trouble.
'It doesn't really seem like there are that many Nightmare Creatures in this ruined city. I think it should be fine to get a quick glance– maybe it could be interesting, or possibly useful… The Dream Realm is full of secrets, after all. I'd hate to miss out on something important.'
With that, Day had made his choice… but he knew he had to consult his companion first. If his companion said no, that would be a done deal– no questions asked.
He glanced over at Caster, and then whispered:
"I saw something of interest. Shall we check it out? We'll only be sidetracked for a moment, and you can keep watch outside if you are weary of danger."
Caster raised an eyebrow, "I don't mind, but you are really bloodied up. What if something happens? I saw the place you are talking about. It seems sort of eerie, no…?"
"You are right, which is why I'm asking you. I just want to see if there's anything that could be useful, but if you say no, it's fine."
Caster frowned.
"Are you really trying to pin it on me? Okay then, I'll play your game… If you want to do it, we can do it. I see no problem with a small detour, but just remember, it was all your idea."
Day chuckled.
"Sure, fine by me– it was all my idea. "
With that, they moved forward, but now, it was towards the building that wasn't quite yet in sight.
When it did come into sight, however, Day was shocked.
In front of him was a large, tenebrous, ruined, but eerily intact cathedral. The smaller buildings around it were practically dwarfed in comparison. It was, like the larger building they saw before, broken in certain places, but unlike the other one, the entrance was in sight.
But with the sight of the entrance came a sudden, gripping fear. Day clenched his fist and took a sharp breath in. When he glanced over at Caster, it was clear to see that even the prideful Legacy was shaken up at the sight of the insidious cathedral, bereft of the light that one would expect such a structure to be graced with.
"Is it weird to say I'm still curious?" Day suddenly whispered.
"Quite." Caster responded grimly.
"Well, I'm going in, I guess? Uh, if I can find a good way in…"
Day took one big step, looked over at Caster, who had no reaction, and then continued forward normally towards the large cathedral.
When he got close, he spent a few minutes looking around. The entrance was quite messed up, more than he thought, actually, so he had to look for a good way in instead of just walking in through the front.
After finding the way in, Day squeezed through and started forward. He wasn't exactly sure what he would find, so he moved quietly and looked at his feet to make sure he didn't misstep.
After a few seconds, the main hall of the cathedral came into view…
And Day's heart sunk to the floor. He froze completely, and stopped breathing. The main hall was colossal, with a plethora of columns, broken and intact. There was also furnishing, and just like everything else in the large room, some of them were broken, and some of them were fine.
On one of the sides of the hall, there was an extremely tall statue of some unknown woman, that stretched all the way up above.
But what stood out the most in the entire hall… Was a singular, tall pitch-black steel knight. There were intricate carvings on its mighty armor, and there was a raging flame within the visor of its helmet.
'That… That isn't…'
That wasn't a Dormant creature… No, Day could tell, it wasn't even Awakened.
The sinister realization Day immediately came to… was that the creature that lay ahead was none other than a Fallen creature. A creature of legends, that up to this point, Day had only ever seen mentioned in the media.
Day started to sweat profusely at just a mere glance of the creature. He took a sharp breath in, and then took a step back… but when he did, a rock shifted under his foot.
The Black Knight glanced in his direction, and lifted its sword slightly. The raging flame in its visor burned a little brighter for a moment. Day heard a low, ghastly sound coming from the direction of the creature… but at that point, Day was already gone– and the noise was merely an echo.
He dashed outside of the cathedral, without a care in the world of the noise he made. After his mistake, if the creature knew he was there…
'God damn it all, why did I…? Damn it! Why did I choose to check it out? Never again, never again! How could I have ever expected a damned Fallen creature!? We need to get the hell out of here! '
When he exited, he saw Caster immediately. The Legacy was standing a dozen or so feet away, tapping his feet impatiently as he studied the buildings around him purposelessly, like he hadn't spent the past day or so walking amongst them.
The moment Day saw him…
"CASTER!"
Caster's head shot back with an enraged, worried glare.
"What is wrong with-"
Caster froze completely when he saw Day, and said not a word more– like he knew exactly what Day was going to say.
But unless Day was wrong, he didn't have the luxury to say anything, and thus, didn't have the luxury to care if Caster wanted an explanation.
Suddenly, Day's legs were covered by his light, his weapon disappeared from his hands, then, with that… he started a mad dash. Sweat born from fear dripped from his face and splattered on the ground, but Day left even that behind in not even a second as he ran faster than he ever had before.
The duo ran, and ran, and even when Caster called out to him minutes later, he kept running. Tunnel visioned, terrified, and caring not an ounce about the pain, he moved. Even Caster had to use his Aspect Ability a few times to keep up with Day, who didn't seem to have even a thought in the world about stopping.
Though, at a certain point, he had no choice but to stop. Even an empowered Sleeper was destined to become fatigued if they were running ceaselessly with all of their might.
He began to slow down, and eventually came to a stop near a building. He was breathing heavily, mostly out of fear.
The last thing Day would have ever expected was that he, fresh out of his first Nightmare and new to the Dream Realm, would even lay eyes on something as out of reach as a Fallen creature.
Beast, Monster, or something else… It didn't matter. A swipe of its hand, and Day would be dead.
'Surely it didn't follow us right?! Where's Caster?!'
His eyes shot to the side slower than his head could move.
Just as his heart was about to shatter at the absence of his companion, he saw Caster come from around the corner, panting.
Day didn't walk up to him, instead, he called out almost immediately after seeing him.
"Nothing is following us, right?!"
Caster reeled back slightly, and then said.
"Gosh, can you calm down for a second and explain? No, nothing is following us… what happened? Why are you so terrified?"
Day was moments away from beginning an explanation, but before he could start speaking…
Day heard the sound of shattering rocks, and the sound of screams.
But the yelling wasn't urgent… Rather, it sounded commanding.
Like it was coming from a human.