An opportunity

The mountain road was rugged, but this King of Angel seemed particularly familiar with the way up. He led Neph onto a flight of stairs.

The stairs were paved with gray stone, and the steps were rather high. Neph struggled a little as she climbed. She looked up ahead of her, where the silver-haired Angel wore a linen robe, his bare feet stepping steadily onto the gray stone stairs.

...Such delicate feet?

The phrase popped into Neph's head. She hurriedly suppressed that deeply irreverent thought and climbed another two steps before she finally could not resist suggesting:

"How about... slowing down a little?"

"Hmm?" Ouroboros stopped and looked back at her.

"The steps here are a little high..." Neph explained.

His beautiful face did not change in the slightest. Neph only saw him nod before turning back around, but he did slow his pace considerably.

Buildings of various kinds stood on either side of the stairs, their towering silhouettes blocking the light. The only source of illumination Neph could see was the Beastskin Lantern Ouroboros carried.

Its dim yellow light enveloped them, yet Neph found the whole thing rather puzzling-neither of them needed illumination. She might have had to worry about encountering danger in the dark, but the protection of a King of Angel would certainly solve that problem.

...So what exactly was that lantern for?

Neph said nothing. Their journey went quite smoothly, and they encountered no monsters along the way. After climbing stairs for several hours, Neph was thoroughly astonished by her current physical fitness.

At last, they emerged from the darkness and reached the only place in this land with natural light. There stood a collection of buildings frozen in twilight. They were grand and enormous, nothing like dwellings for ordinary people. The immense structures stood silently