Deep within Fourth Epoch Trier, on a street shrouded in dense fog.
The Saints of the Machinery Hivemind cautiously made their way between black, asymmetrical buildings. They all wore specially crafted glasses that granted them a degree of Dark Vision, but they still struggled to see through the fog that blocked both sight and spirituality. They could barely make out their companions and the immediate surroundings.
Even so, the buildings within their view seemed to melt into the surrounding gloom, revealing only sections of blood-spattered walls or walls higher on the left than the right, like crudely made theatrical scenery.
"Be careful. Don't venture too deep, especially toward that enormous building. Getting close means death."
The Alchemist leading them, Edgar Gibson, spoke quietly to his companions and pointed toward the hazy, enormous mountain deep within the fog.
Having read the relevant documents before setting out, he knew it was not a mountain, but a collapsed palace. During previous cleanup operations deep within Fourth Epoch Trier, there had been several occasions when the fog thinned enough to reveal that palace. Those who witnessed it often ended up losing control or going mad.
Of course, the dangers of Fourth Epoch Trier did not end there. Around the outskirts of these abandoned streets, a giant shrouded in storms, flames, and smoke wandered ceaselessly. Anyone who came within a thousand meters of him would be overwhelmed by their own inner brutality, even with a god's blessing. They would either lose control or join the giant and become part of him.
Within the streets, indistinct human silhouettes occasionally flashed past, as though secretly watching them. Faint glimmers sometimes appeared on the surfaces of shattered glass on the ground, like someone's eyes peering out from within. They had barely taken a few steps deeper into the