God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 611: Temple of Sand.

Cain walked quietly behind the red-masked Pilgrim.

'Sky Ward? Sky Warden? Whatever it is, it sounds cool as hell!'

He had no idea if this was a title or not, but it did seem fitting, seeing as this individual could grow literal wings from his back.

Cain sucked in a deep breath as he increased his pace, eventually walking beside the Pilgrim,

"Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot. But you can't blame me, can you?"

The Pilgrim remained silent, not even glancing at him.

Cain cleared his throat, "Look, I'm not that strong. I just caught you by surprise. Just recently, I struggled fighting against a {Sand Wraith}. Trust me, you are definitely far more capable than I am with your-"

"If you don't shut it, I'll slice your throat!" The Sky Ward said, his slightly distorted voice filled with darkness.

Cain raised his hands in defeat before letting out a sigh.

'He's not buying it.'

Everything was not going as planned. He didn't want this kind of attention, at least not yet. The worst thing had almost happened a few minutes ago.

If they had gotten into a real fight and leveled the entire block, he would have to run away from here, effectively ruining his plan.

The thought of taking on the entire place by himself when he witnessed just how strong this Sky Ward was.

He knew beating this Pilgrim would'nt be impossible. In fact, it would probably be easier than expected for him to kill him. However, it was difficult enough. So much so, he was certain he wouldn't be able to take on ten like him at a time.

His speed, the ferocity of his attacks, as well as his strange movement technique and ability to fly were things Cain knew would likely give him a bit of trouble.

'Let's just go with the flow and see where this takes us.'

They stepped back onto the main road, filled with people.

This time, Cain didn't have the luxury of carefully appreciating his surroundings.

Perhaps they would have been able to reach there faster, but it seemed as though this Pilgrim had other things in mind.

As they walked through the crowd, the people walking in front parted and made way for them, some even blowing in reverence.

The Pilgrim's were practically the mouthpieces of Balangol. A God that had come to their aid in the most desperate of times would be held in extremely high regard.

As such, most, of not all of the people here were devoted worshipers of Balangol.

Voices that spoke again the Celestial were branded as Heretics by the Pilgrims and swiftly either executed, or taken into custody, their fate unknown.

Of course, Cain didn't know all this. Instead, all he could see, was that there was obvious fear, and respect written on the faces of these people as they passed them by. Some of them even threw curious glanced his way, as it was obvious he was following the dignified Pilgrim.

As they walked, Cain got to see other Pilgrims as well. All Pilgrims they passed by seemed to pay their respects to the Sky Ward with a slight courteous bow of their head, before going about their business.

'So even here, there exists a hierarchy amongst the Pilgrims, although there is nothing to distinguish these ranks. At least, none that I can see yet.'

Cain continued to follow the Sky Ward in silence.

Eventually, they broke out of the main street and arrived in a less populated area.

Immediately, he was able to spot the difference.

The houses here were not the repaired ruins that made up most of Valestorm. Instead, they were strange pieces of architecture that didn't seem to belong to the time and world, almost like they had been spawned out of a rift in time.

However, this was not the case...

These buildings had been constructed from the ground up. Aesthetically, he the looked far more pleasant that what he was used to.

The buildings were huge and immaculate, making him wonder how exactly all this was done. However, he didn't need to think too hard.

Back on the Western Island, a huge wall had been created in so little time as well. It could only be a consequence of magic.

Or rather, in this case, Mana Tech.

This interior part of the City had more advanced infrastructure as well.

In the other parts of the City, the dark streets were lit up by lanterns made crudely using metal and Mana shards.

The lamps illuminating the Evernight here, were far more sophisticated. Theyr shine was powerful, efficient enough to light up almost every nook and cranny of the place.

It was cleaner, and there were no vendors selling their wares at every corner. If he had to take a guess, he would say that this was the affluent neighborhood where the Pilgrims and those associated with them lived.

What truly gave it away, was the fact that everyone walking into and out of this place wore different masks of all shapes, sizes, and colors, as well as flowy robes.

'What is their obsession with masks and robes?'

{Replying to Host: They do this in emulation of the Celestial, Balangol. Besides the many weapons he possessed, Balangol was also famous for being as elusive as death itself. The Celestial wore a strange mask that always hid his face, making it impossible for his servants to know his countenance. As such, the Pilgrims of Balangol adopted this practice as well.

Eventually, it became a way to distinguish the fateful from the rest}.

Cain frowned, 'Then what about the robe?'

{Replying to Host: The robes have special enchantments that provide ease of movement in battles. Balangol also preferred wearing robes like this}.

'How very odd...' Cain wondered what kind of Deity this Celestial was, to influence the mind of his subjects so much.

It was strange, odd, and off-putting...

Either way, it was none of his business what these people wore.

All he had to do was make it out of this situation in once piece.

'Hopefully, things go as planned.'

"We are here." The Sky Ward said.

They had walked for some time now, eventually arriving at the Center of the place.

There, stood a very large building with a large hemispherical dome made of some sort of emerald green marble material.

The building itself looked as though it had been forged from gold. Cain immediately knew this wasn't something created by humans.

'The Temple of Balangol.'

His heart turned cold. This was not good news...

The doors to this enormous building screamed of holiness, like the doors to the dwelling of a true god.

Imprinted on the door, just above the handle, was the image of a devilish mask. However, the image was constantly shifting like sand. One moment, it resembled a Devil, the next moment, it was as though he was staring at a divinely pure angel.

It made him even more unsettled...

The moment they made their way to the stairs, the doors were opened. Standing at the doors were two figures in black and white robes with gold lining, each holding a weapon, and of course wearing a mask.

The one on the held a bejeweled golden scepter in his right hand, and the one on the right held a fear inducing black scythe in the other.

Both weapons represented an aspect of Balangol's domain, his authority over the element of Sand, and his authority over death.

The one wearing the white robe had a plain black mask on, while the one with the black robe wore a plain white mask. Tearing his gaze away from them, he continued moving.

They didn't seem to react to his presence at all.

Once he made his way past the doors, just behind the Sky Ward, the doors stuh themselves.

'That's creepy as all hell.'

Shaking his head, Cain continued to follow the Sky Ward.

He curiously observed the walls and ceiling along the way.

The interior of the Temple was... strange.

It was a bit dark in the Temple, almost as though whoever was in here didn't like too much light.

It was also deadly cold, so cold, Cain wondered if he had any clothes on.

He rubbed his hands together then stared at the walls.

He blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

The walls were... made of sand.

Moving sand, for that matter...

There was no other way to explain it.

This hallway was large and it stretched out quite far into another corridor . The entirety of the walls of this corridor, were a pale golden in color.

The grains of sand that made up the walls were constantly moving and flowing within the boundaries, as though they weren't tied to one point, making it seem as though the entire place was alive.

Cain was appalled at that thought, but quickly calmed himself down. He knew that wasn't possible.

Once he was calm, he focused on the walls even more.

The closer he looked, the more he could see something.

'The sand... Those are images! But I can't tell if what exactly.'

It was odd. It also made him incredibly curious. Everywhere he stared, it was almost as though he was watching a blurry story unfold. There was something happening on the canvas of sand, he just couldn't see it yet. At least, he believed so...

"What are you doing?" Cain heard the Sky Ward call out to him.

He frowned, "This... What's up with the walls?"

The Sky Ward turned to stare at the walls. Then he turned to stare at Cain,

"Are you feeling okay? Why would anything be up with the walls?"

Cain stuttered, "W-what do you mean? Can't you see the-?"

The Sky Ward shrugged, "I don't see anything. You should get your eyes checked." Then he began walking forward.

Cain was stumped. From what he could observe, it seemed like the Sky Ward wasn't trying to play games with him. He genuinely believed there was nothing up with the walls.

Staring at the magical scenes unfolding before his very eyes, he closed them, rubbed them, then opened them again.

Still, nothing changed.

He could still see the shifting sand trying to create images, but he was unable to make heads or tails of what he was seeing.

'So he can't see them? Am I the only one that can see them?'

Cain let out a sigh before tearing his eyes from the wall.

'This place... I'm glad I came here.'

He truly was. It was definitely the right decision. At least for now...