"Damn it. We fell for it."
The Pope's head had barely finished speaking when Knov took a step forward.
His arms hung at his sides, his fingers motionless. Behind his glasses, his eyes stared at the Red Door, empty and unfocused.
"Stop!"
The Pope's lips trembled.
"Knov! Don't go over there! You can't enter that door!"
But Knov seemed unable to hear a thing. He took another step.
The black lines of space spread across the floor writhed and contracted with him. Every time his foot came down, they dragged him a little closer to the Red Door, as though he had teleported.
"We're done for. We're done for..."
The Pope tried to bite Knov's clothes, but with his head suspended in midair by the golden rope, he couldn't reach them.
The Pope shouted frantically.
"Wake up! Aren't you a spatial ability user? Close the door!"
Knov did not respond.
His right index finger twitched twice. He tried to raise his hand, but it only reached his waist before dropping again.
"Close the door!"
The Pope screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Let your people out! Have them beat you awake! Anyone will do!"
Knov's fingertips rose again.
Nen had barely gathered in his palm when the dark red light inside the door spread outward. Knov's wrist turned, and his fingers opened of their own accord.
His ability failed to activate.
He kept moving forward.
The Pope's teeth began to chatter. There was no path beyond the Red Door, nor could he see anything else—only layer upon layer of light contracting inward.
But he had seen this door before.
The Creation Society had entered the ruins many times. They did not encounter those eyes on every visit, but whenever they did, terrible danger followed. By now, more than ten