[Cathedral]

Using every ounce of willpower he could muster, Claude tapped into his mental energy reserves. His heart pounded in his chest, echoing like a drum in his ears as he focused his thoughts.

In the astonished gaze of the entity grappling at his neck, a large orb of water began to condense between it and Claude.

The air shimmered as droplets of moisture coalesced into a single ball of water.

Before the ghost could register the threat in its formerly immaterial brain, the orb of water shot into its gut.

Bang!

The orb pierced through the ghost with a violent force, leaving a massive gaping hole in its stomach area.

It then shot past the ghost, crashing into a nearby building with a deafening roar, collapsing it.

With a look of shock coating his translucent face, the ghost could only helplessly watch as his form began to dissipate, unravelling like mist.

It wasn't just the ghost that was shocked by the events that had just transpired.

The rest of the group and the other ghosts were stunned; the former was filled with joy and disbelief, while the latter was consumed by abject horror.

For centuries, they had claimed countless lives here. Yet, for the first time since their coming into being, they felt the threat of death.

Claude panted heavily, his breaths coming in quick, sharp bursts, but he was still unable to move after dealing with the ghost.

Sweat dripped down his brow, and his vision blurred at the edges. Despite his exhaustion, he didn't panic. He understood exactly what he needed to do next.

Once again, he reached into his mental energy reserves, condensing the vapour in the air.

Similar to when he dealt with the twilight cobra, he generated many small droplets of water rather than a single large one.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Before the entities even had the chance to react, their panic-stricken forms were pierced with numerous holes.

A piercing wail erupted from them as their spectral forms began to slowly fade like the ghost from earlier until they had all disappeared.

The air was mostly silent, the only sound being the rapid heaving and heavy breathing of the group.

"We're alive…?" a person spoke up in disbelief, his hands stroking his face as if to confirm his survival.

He wasn't alone; everyone was still in shock from the encounter. When they had set out on this journey, they all knew that they might die during it.

Yet, once the time arrived, they found themselves reluctant and afraid, especially when they thought of how they had accomplished and gained nothing during this expedition other than confirming the site of the ruin.

"Claude… Thanks." Karl walked up to Claude and rested a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly. "Thanks for saving us…"

Karl shut his eyes as he stepped away from the group, his shoulders sagging.

Once he had distanced himself from the others, he crouched down, running a trembling hand through his hair. His face was contorted, eyes clouded over and unfocused.

Seeing Karl's distress, the rest of the group turned to Claude, gratitude overflowing as they thanked him for saving their lives.

Then, one by one, they headed over to Karl.

Peter approached Claude last, his expression was solemn. "Thank you," he said, his voice heavy with emotion.

Claude looked at him before gesturing to Karl's lonesome figure. "Is something wrong with Karl?" he asked.

With a sigh, Peter replied, "I know enough about the chief to understand what he's thinking." Shaking his head, he continued, "He probably just feels guilty that we almost died there."

"But that's not his fault, right?" Claude queried, confusion knitting his brows.

"It's not. But, you must remember that we make up the majority of the village guard. If we all die here, the village would be basically defenceless…" Peter answered.

A glimmer of understanding sparked in Claude's eyes as he realised why Karl was feeling so down.

He looked over and saw the others comforting Karl, no doubt a sign that none of them blamed him for what had just transpired.

With a brief period of peace settling in for everyone, they took this time to regroup and gather their thoughts, each processing the events that had just transpired.

Claude, however, was trying to sense the current situation of his mental energy reservoir.

'Four left…?' He shook his head gently, slightly annoyed by the current situation.

Despite only using two spells, his second one was on a much larger scale than a normal one.

Thus, he used the mental energy of three spells overall and only had enough left to cast four more normal ones.

After combing through the current situation of his mental energy, he placed his focus on the 'ghosts' that they had just encountered.

'Were they subspace beings...?' Claude pondered, it was the only way to explain it.

However, just thinking about what had just happened sent a chill down his spine.

The mere presence of those beings was enough to freeze their movements, rendering everyone vulnerable.

In such a scenario, he was truly the only one who could have ever hoped to fight back as his powers were centred around his thoughts instead of his body.

Thus, as long as his mind was unaffected, he would be able to fire spells at any given enemy.

Nevertheless, as he thought back to the fight earlier, he found something that didn't add up.

'This city... Why were there subspace creatures here? Does the city itself have something to do with the subspace...?'

Questions floated in his mind, growing with each passing second. 'Now I think about it... Why are there ruins in the first place? And, if humanity held the technological capability to construct such a city... Why were they so fractured and weak...'

Unless... This city... No, this ruin... It isn't from this world?!

Claude felt as if he was teetering on the edge of uncovering something shocking.

Links started to form between previously unconnected ideas.

And that link was... the subspace.

It dawned on Claude that the mechanism behind these ruins appearing here could be similar to how he appeared here with the subspace network.

The subspace could even explain the oddity of those 'ghosts' he had previously encountered.

Yet, his thoughts were soon disrupted by the situation at hand as he heard Karl speaking to the group once again.

Karl, who remained slightly downhearted but filled with now determination, stood before the group and said, "I know you all may be a little frightened after what we've just been through… But, haven't we already faced the worst of it?"

His words resonated with the group. As terrifying as their previous encounter was, they all shared the belief that they had already faced the most dangerous part of these ruins.

'We almost all got killed by a bunch of ghosts before being saved by a divine emissary using the power of the Gods...It doesn't get scarier or stranger than that...' This thought flashed through the minds of most of those present as they heard Karl.

"Therefore…" He continued, his voice firm and resolute, "We must press on and accomplish what we set out to do. We must conquer these ruins!"

A cheer responded from the group in response, and thus, with a renewed sense of resolve burning deep inside them, they ventured deeper into the city.

With their steps echoing through the looming silence of the abandoned streets, they soon arrived at the centre of the city, where a massive building stood.

It was a grand structure, its large brass dome gleaming under the faint scarlet light that managed to seep through the moonlit sky.

A massive spire projected from the top of the dome, standing tall amidst the desolation. The sight of it filled them with a mix of awe and foreboding.

As they got closer, they began to understand the true scale of the building. "A cathedral…?" Karl muttered softly, catching Claude's attention.

"You know what this is?" Claude asked him, curious about the purpose of the colossal structure.

"You shouldn't take my word for it…" Karl grasped his chin with his hand as he continued, "But this seems like the cathedrals that were built in the old days in worship of the Gods…"

'The Gods…?' Claude squinted, suddenly feeling wary of the building.

The city itself had an unknown link with the subspace, and now it was linked with a God, Claude couldn't find himself not being suspicious of this new finding.

"This was used for worship…?" Peter repeated in confusion, "But for which God?"

His words were met with silence. They all wanted to know the answer but had no clues.

Worst of all, as the identity of the God worshipped here was a mystery, so too was its nature. 

Was it a 'good' or 'evil' God?

Could they find something useful there?

And… would there be dangers inside?