Before the Church

After bidding farewell to the professors of Zaras Academy of Literature, Shade continued toward the Nature Church in the center of the Interstice. The letter informed the church within the Interstice that, once they heard bells coming from the direction of Sikar Mountain, they were to begin the ritual ahead of schedule.

Such an important letter had been entrusted to a stranger like Shade because this message was being conveyed through more than one channel. Something seemed to have happened on Sikar Mountain, and The Church intended to begin the ritual early.

Even with sound suppressed, strange noises could still be heard coming from various places along the way.

Joey Barton, whose true body was currently of unknown whereabouts, was surely controlling the undead, while the Interstice itself was also striking back against the living. The Church had mobilized a large number of people this time, and with assistance from the Three Great Arcane Academies and friendly organizations such as the Seer Association, they were barely able to withstand the Interstice's counterattack so far.

And when he finally neared the Nature Church, Shade witnessed an "undead tide" with his own eyes.

It was a terrifying sight. He climbed to higher ground in an attempt to get his bearings, then saw the fog churning continuously off to one side, as though stirred by the wind. Using his jumping ability, he leaped over the street onto a somewhat bent Gas Street Lamp, then jumped to the roof of another house facing the street. Only then did he see the densely packed undead, surging like a tide toward the Nature Church, which flickered in and out of view within the fog.

Everything in the Interstice was a "worn and damaged version" of the Reality World, but the Nature Church alone looked almost exactly