Serei watched Romon leave and suddenly snorted.
Just then, cries of alarm suddenly rose from the group.
Serei frowned and looked over. Seven or eight priests in the group had gone pale, their faces betraying unmistakable terror.
"What happened?"
No one answered. A bishop suddenly dropped to his knees and prayed, gasping for breath as he repeated his prayers over and over.
"What happened?" Serei demanded furiously when no one answered, his hand already resting on his sword.
"...Commander, just now, we felt utterly empty inside, as though we had lost our Lord's favor," a priest said, his face pale.
"No, how is that possible? The young prince died, but we haven't abandoned our faith. Our Lord couldn't have abandoned us!" Serei was shocked. This only happened when a deity fell or when an entire group committed blasphemy.
"...No, our god has not abandoned us. I simply feel that some power here has cut us off from our Lord's power, leaving us empty inside." The bishop rose, looking much calmer now. "Look around. We seem to have entered an extraordinary region."
Everyone's expression changed. They left the building with grave faces and stepped into the square. One glance upward revealed a black sun.
"Ah! Have we entered the Abyss?" a mage cried, unable to contain himself.
A black sun closely matched descriptions of the Abyss.
The bishop gazed into the distance, staring motionlessly for a moment before saying, "No, we haven't entered the Abyss. Look around. There is no abyssal aura here."
It was noon, and sunlight shone down. Everyone could see the surrounding trees and fields. Though they seemed somewhat stunted, this truly did not look like the Abyss.
It was full of life.
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the bishop said with a bitter smile,