Ethan frantically scrambled towards his backpack, hoping to pull out the bottle of holy water in time.
But just as his hand was about to reach it, a powerful force struck him hard in the stomach, sending him flying against the room's door.
The blow seemed to have broken a few of his ribs; a sharp pain shot down his side, making him groan involuntarily.
From the ceiling above, tentacles looking like tendrils of black smoke swayed erratically.
The lights in the room began to flicker incessantly. He could smell the foul stench of sulfur spreading through the air.
A shrill, childlike laugh assaulted his ears. Ethan spun around to face its source.
Hidden in the shadows was the priest who had offered him lodging. It was unclear how long he had been standing there, his upper body flickering like a staticky old television screen, only his eyes visible, staring intently at him.
A chill ran down his spine. He remembered the priest assuring him he was safe because he had entered a True Faith Threshold. True, but it was a D-True Faith Threshold.
A "Corrupted Faith Zone."Ethan quickly realized his predicament: he had been lured into a Restricted Zone created by one or more individuals harboring demonic faith, or beliefs in the dominance of evil over that location!
Perhaps the priest before him had fallen, becoming a Wendigo – someone parasitized by an Entity, craving the flesh and blood of their own kind with malicious intent.
The priest's once portly figure now swelled up like a balloon overfilled with nitrogen. Lumps of flesh bulged on his body, then burst open, sprouting stiff, bristle-like hairs.
The cracking of his joints made Ethan's skin crawl. His face began to elongate, his snout stretching wide to his earlobes, his eyes gradually turning a ghastly white.
The priest, now merely a Wendigo, began to cackle and advance slowly towards him.
Its eyes shifted to a bright red, and its pupils contracted until they were just dark, thin slits.
It raised its hands; its fingers became deformed, their joints jutting up and down like zigzagged broken twigs, then elongating, its fingernails sharpening.
It pointed a finger at him and emitted a shrill screech.Ethan screamed in terror, trying to turn and open the door, but it seemed to have been locked from the outside.
In utter desperation, like an ostrich, he slumped down, burying his head between his knees, hoping this Wendigo wouldn't make his death too painful when it tore him apart for its meal.
Just as the priest's hand – now a tentacle – was about to touch him, Ethan felt an intense heat radiate from his right thigh, and a loud explosion accompanied by a flash of silver light forced the Wendigo to retract its hand.
Amidst the dust-filled room, the wall to Ethan's right had a large, circular hole blown through it, chunks of plaster raining down.
He covered his mouth, coughing violently as dust entered his throat, and looked towards the opening.
The chapel wall was punctured, looking like the burrow of an earthworm.
Before Ethan could fully register what was happening, figures slowly and calmly entered. They stopped just before the crumbling wall, facing the Wendigo.
It was the girl who had shown him the way to the chapel. Ethan's jaw dropped. He had thought they would tear him to pieces, but when he saw her companion, a wave of relief washed over him: it was a Holy Knight.
The Holy Knight, standing there in the characteristic silver-white uniform, sword at her hip, was a very young-looking girl.
Her East Asian features and fair skin stood out against her neatly tied black hair.
The Wendigo began to falter upon seeing the Holy Knight intrude upon its D-True Faith Threshold. Ordinarily, as long as it remained within this Threshold, no one with an opposing faith could enter unless it permitted.
But Ethan realized what had happened; the silver crucifix in his pocket was still hot, glowing faintly through the layers of fabric.
It was that girl who had slipped the crucifix into his pocket. It was made of pure silver, used for exorcism.
And when this Wendigo invited him into the chapel, it had simultaneously invited the Holy Knight into its Threshold as well.
He touched the spot where the silver crucifix lay. It must belong to her, that Holy Knight.
Now he understood why he alone had gotten lost in this ancient quarter; he had been chosen as bait by the Holy Knight standing there.
Although a flicker of anger arose – if they hadn't arrived in time, he would have been torn to shreds by now.
But her appearance indeed brought him immense reassurance.
After all, Holy Knights were elite individuals who had passed The Divine Order's rigorous training, possessing special skills and abilities to combat Entities.
The Holy Knight girl calmly watched the Wendigo snarl and charge at her.
The priest, bones cracking, contorted his body grotesquely.
With hands full of sharp claws, he lunged at the Holy Knight, his now yard-long arm lashing down.
The girl deftly leaped backward, avoiding the strike, which was so powerful it left a deep gash in the floor.
The girl who had shown him the way, a Supporter, had quickly dodged to a corner beforehand.
The Holy Knight drew her sword. It had three sharp edges forming a triangular blade, its silver hilt carved with a cross and thorny roses, blue gems inlaid along its guard.
A strange and powerful sword. With swift footwork, the girl twisted her body to evade the Wendigo's heavy blows, simultaneously severing one of its arms.
The peculiar sword could flexibly retract its edges to stab, slash, or deliver deadly strikes.
The Wendigo shrieked, recoiling slightly before, as if enraged, leaping at the Holy Knight.
Its face split open, revealing a large mouth filled with sharp teeth snapping viciously at its target.
A second later and that horrendous mouth would have left a gaping hole in the Holy Knight.
Fortunately, her agile combat skills helped her narrowly dodge the bite.
She staggered slightly to one side, then used her four-edged sword as a support to launch herself up, stabbing straight into the priest's abdomen.
The sword plunged deep through the Wendigo, leaving a cross-shaped hole in its body.
From the wound, a torrent of black blood gushed out, accompanied by a foul stench that filled the air.Ethan could see the wound turn bright red and burn, spreading with excruciating pain. The Wendigo shrieked miserably, writhing and clutching the stab wound.
If the weapons of the Strike teams were produced based on Psyk particle technology – a type of Entity-destroying particle developed from studying Entities themselves – then The Divine Order described their weapons as "equipment blessed by God."
They were forged from ores – later called Anti-E minerals – found around locations where dormant or dead Entities were discovered in Earth's dimension. The reason for the appearance of these minerals was unknown, but organizations quickly seized them to create anti-Entity weapons, as they could rapidly damage and decompose Entity cells. The level of damage caused by weapons made from Anti-E ore was even more terrifying than the most advanced Psyk particle technology guns. The world had almost reverted to the Middle Ages with swords and blades instead of firearms, as the mineral ores were limited and could not be wasted on bullets.
Thus, the preferred weapon for both Strike teams and Holy Knights was always an S3 blade infused with Anti-E ore.
Currently, Ethan was witnessing how such a weapon operated.
"Let's end this quickly," the Holy Knight girl muttered, her voice quite soft, but Ethan thought it was rather pleasant.
With a decisive move, giving the Wendigo no chance to recover, the four-edged sword decapitated it.
The Wendigo's body swayed for a moment before collapsing. The smell of sulfur intensified, making Ethan dizzy.
Before fainting, he just managed to see the girl who had guided him run towards the Wendigo with a gas mask, quickly kneeling beside its corpse.
When Ethan awoke, the space was completely silent. He propped himself up and looked around.
Although the Wendigo's body was gone, the hole-ridden wall reminded him that what had just happened was not a dream.
He stood up, moved large pieces of plaster to retrieve his backpack, and found his phone stuck in another corner.
He put the phone in his pocket, then quickly fled the cursed chapel.
But soon, Ethan was drawn by a noise from the deceased priest's room.
He crept through the living room and saw the Holy Knight and the Supporter searching for something in the small room. Curiosity piqued, he tiptoed closer and hid behind a corner, just close enough to hear their conversation.
"Try prying up the floorboards, Wendy. See if he hid the Key under there."
The Holy Knight was rummaging through papers in a small cabinet beside the bed, speaking without looking back.
The girl who had guided him, Wendy, was using a large crowbar to pry up the floorboards, sweat dripping down her face.
"You should have captured it alive, made it reveal where the documents are. You were too reckless, Hannah."
The girl grumbled.
"Wendigos have no consciousness, you fool. All they want is human flesh. Although their nature is currently changing, fundamentally, once they become like that, they lose all ability to distinguish or perceive anything."
"Alright, I see it! It's here! There's a small hollow here."
As if to ignore being reminded of basic knowledge, Wendy shouted, announcing her discovery.
They both sat down and removed the cover of the hollow in the floor.
"Here it is, information about the Key."
"It will help us close the Hell Gate, right, Hannah?"
The girl asked eagerly.
But Hannah met her question with silence. She said nothing, merely gathered all the documents without missing a single sheet, placing them into a folder after a brief skim.
"What about the guy who was bait, Hannah?"
"Forget about him. The D-True Faith Threshold is broken; when he wakes up, he'll know enough to run. Our mission is to bring these documents back. Let's go, Wendy!"Hannah stood up abruptly, handed Wendy the folder, and quickly left the room.
As she passed by where he was hiding, she muttered with a determined expression.
"The South, huh…"Ethan waited until their footsteps completely faded before emerging from his hiding place and fleeing the chapel in a mad dash.
His mind was a chaotic mess. What were they talking about?
Is there really a Key that can end this Holy War Era?
Why didn't they announce it to the world to broaden the search? Why the secrecy?
He navigated the alleys, ignoring the darkness descending upon him. Strangely, he quickly found the main road out of the ancient quarter.
As he stepped out of the main alley, Ethan realized the sky had turned the pale blue of a new day.
He looked up at the sky, where only a few tiny stars twinkled, a consequence of past environmental degradation.
It seemed everything was going off track; this Holy War held many hidden events.
Pulling the silver crucifix pendant from his pocket, he wondered what was happening in this world.
Why did he, and the ordinary people who make up the main current of history, not have the right to know the truth?
In an instant, he clenched the crucifix in his hand. He had made his decision.
Head south.
The ringing of his phone in his pocket startled him. Ethan pulled it out to see the signal bar at its highest level.
He sighed wearily.
"Damn it, how on earth did it only get a signal now…"