Without any further delay they plunged back into motion, their pace sharper and more urgent than before. The rain, which had been a gentle pitter-patter, now drummed a relentless rhythm on the broken rooftops, the scent of wet earth and decay mingling with the palpable tension in the air.

"According to my scope," Sezel spoke, his words clipped, as they darted through the tall, swaying wilderness, "there should be another gate, directly opposite the one we entered."

The group moved cautiously, their forms little more than shadows among the ruins and the overgrown, skeletal remains of houses.

Surprisingly, this side of the walled-off area was eerily silent. There was no rustling from unseen beasts, no growls echoing in the distance. Nothing stirred.

Sezel chuckled, a bitter, humorless sound that was lost to the wind. The Spirit Realm never plays fair. Just when you think you've figured something out, reality twists again. He had created many theories of his own since coming here, and most of them had failed spectacularly.

Suddenly, a firm, insistent grip tightened on his hand. He turned sharply to see Vesta, her expression tense. She had pulled Mari to her side, her small body hidden behind Vesta, as she motioned for Sezel to fall back. Shiki, was already slowly, retreating towards the nearest hut.

Out of curiosity, Sezel glanced towards the direction of the gate, and it was then that he realized he had been too lost in his own thoughts, to focus on the world around him.

I need to start looking at my surroundings more carefully.

Sezel, too, retreated back inside the hut with the others. There were some kind of beasts, a new, unknown species, walking inside from the gate on this side.

They all waited, their breaths held, their bodies pressed against the crumbling, mold-covered walls of the hut, as the beasts, moved towards them. They were at least three or four meters tall each, their obsidian carapaces gleaming.

It was then that Sezel realized something that they had all been ignoring, a simple, obvious fact that had been staring them in the face all along. The other gate has been open ever since. That's how so many other beasts, the whole hoard of Flesh Reapers, stumbled inside. And now, these new beasts.

With all the pondering, a new, even more unsettling question crossed his mind. What would happen to them now? They had been lured here by the sweet scent of the Lord, but the one they were supposed to serve, was now dead. And most importantly, how far can this scent of his go?

Suddenly, the ground rumbled.

The new hoard of beasts was passing by just a few steps from their shelter. Sezel's heart beat fastened. There was nothing he wanted to avoid more than a fight at this time. He didn't have any weapons on him, and they were all exhausted, their bodies and minds pushed to the absolute limit.

The rumbling gradually increased, and soon they could hear the clitter clatter of walking chitinous legs on the hollow ground.

Sezel peeked out from the window, his face almost hidden, his eyes a narrow, analytical slit. The creatures outside were unlike any other he had seen until now.

A new species of Spirit beasts. Interesting.

He studied them. A hoard of about ten, ant-like beasts. They were almost three meters tall, their bodies a gleaming, iridescent mixture of hard green and black.

Their bodies mostly looked like that of an ant, from the rear at least. It had something like wings on its back, hidden beneath hard, shell-like coverings. Not sure, but they do look like wings. But then again, if they had wings, why didn't they just fly here?

And then, moving forward, it wasn't like an ant at all. The face… it was a mix of some comical, nightmarish animal, something between an ant and a fly. And their front legs… they were shaped like some kind of spear, their edges sharp and deadly, made especially for hunting.

The beasts went by them, their movements coordinated. They moved together as one, towards the factories. As soon as they had passed a safe distance from them, Sezel lurched back from the window.

"Let's go," he said, his voice a low whisper. He got the others, and now they sprinted, their movements a reckless flight from the horrors that were closing in on them.

They couldn't waste any more time, couldn't wait for another hoard of beasts to come in from the gates before they went out.

The gate was not much farther from them now. Sezel exhaled in relief. At least we will be able to get out of here safely.

But his happy thoughts were short-lived. A sudden tremor, a violent, jarring shudder, ran through the earth, throwing them off balance. They all barely held on, another one followed right after that.

I swear, I will never again think of something like 'safely getting out of a situation.'

They were already close enough to the gates that they could clearly see the faint, ghostly remnants of the paved road that led from outside the gates towards the factories, its trails vanishing just a few meters from the entrance.

They all decided to hide behind a cluster of dead bushes nearby. Sezel sent out his puppet to get a better look at what was happening at the door.

The puppet reached the gate within mere seconds, its ethereal form a blur of purple and black energy. It peeked from behind the open, mangled metallic gate, its inhuman eyes taking in the scene.

Outside, just beyond the threshold of the entrance of this walled-off, hellish place, a battle was taking place. Three Slayers, their forms a whirlwind of motion, relentlessly fought with one of the ant-like monsters, their attacks a coordinated, deadly dance of death.

Sezel observed them for a bit, his mind a cold, analytical machine. There were two boys and one girl in the group. And on looking closely, Sezel's eyes widened, a hint of a memory, a half-forgotten face, in the back of his mind. He knew them.