After deciding what to do about his future, Samael eventually fell asleep.
As always, he felt the world distort.
Reality was pulled away.
And he was dragged once again into the Dream Realm.
"It's such a pain that Awakened get sent here every time they sleep."
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a familiar place.
The Tomb of Rime.
Three days had passed since he had promised to explore that place with a certain strange raven.
At last, it was time.
Tenebrae stood atop one of the cemetery walls, gazing at the distant horizon.
— Have you stopped being an idiot? — the raven asked without even turning his head.
Samael looked around.
Everything remained the same.
The gravestones.
The walls.
The distant golden tree.
The overwhelming aura of death that permeated the place.
— I'm back.
An awkward silence followed.
— Come on, Tenebrae.
— I'm curious to see that tree.
— You took far too long, — the raven commented as he slowly descended toward the center of the cemetery.
Then he lowered his head.
— Forgive me, Lady Rime.
The words were spoken with such profound respect that even Samael was surprised.
A moment later, Tenebrae raised his head.
— Fly.
A strange wave of essence spread through the gravestones.
The hidden enchantments buried throughout the cemetery awakened.
The entire world trembled.
CRACK!
CRACK!
Earth began to crumble.
Stones broke loose.
And before Samael's wide eyes...
The entire cemetery began to rise into the air.
A massive crater was left beneath them.
Samael was stunned.
— What?!
His golden eyes sparkled.
He looked like a child seeing a new toy.
— This thing flies?!
— Teach me sorcery! — he immediately begged, completely forgetting that the raven could kill him at any moment.
— No.
The answer came instantly.
Cold.
Merciless.
— You didn't even think about it...
— No.
The tomb began floating toward the enormous golden tree.
But slowly.
Very slowly.
— Isn't this way too slow? — Samael asked.
— This is the fastest speed I can reach in my current state.
— Well.
— At least we're safe.
Tenebrae let out something resembling a laugh.
— Don't fool yourself, filth.
— Now that we're controlling the citadel, the creatures will no longer avoid us.
— At least the Cursed ones won't.
— Fortunately, only their weakened forms can approach.
Samael swallowed hard.
That wasn't reassuring at all.
Tenebrae watched him.
More carefully than usual.
— What have you done since our last meeting?
The raven's talons dug into the stone.
Threateningly.
— Nothing... I think.
— Is something different?
Samael looked himself over.
Nothing.
Then he opened his Runes.
And froze.
Attributes:
[Adaptation]
[Animal Instincts]
[Divinity Allergy]
[Nephilim]
[Outsider]
— Hm?
That one was new.
[Outsider]
[Description: You are a being who does not belong to this land. The environment around you becomes strange to this world's natives, and because of that, unusual encounters and extraordinary events are drawn to you.]
"What a peculiar Attribute..."
He tried to remember.
It had appeared sometime between his last meeting with Tenebrae and now.
And the only thing that had changed...
Was that he had begun accepting himself.
— I gained a new Attribute, — he answered.
Tenebrae withdrew his talons.
Arrogant.
Yet cautious.
Apparently, keeping the flying citadel afloat demanded his full concentration.
The more exhausted the raven appeared...
The calmer Samael became.
Because it meant one thing.
Desperation.
And desperate beings were always more predictable.
Samael stood at the cemetery entrance, watching the landscape drift by beneath them.
Until something caught his attention.
Ruins.
But different.
More recent.
Much more recent.
Collapsed buildings.
Broken walls.
The remnants of a civilization.
— Where did those ruins come from?
— They're much newer.
— Humans, — Tenebrae replied indifferently.
— Humans who died not long ago.
Samael's heart tightened.
"They must have been settlements built by America's natives."
"Maybe they managed to survive here..."
"Maybe they did."
"For a while."
Several hours later...
The cemetery finally descended to the ground.
Tenebrae looked exhausted.
— This is my limit for today.
— From here onward...
— The end of the outer region begins.
Samael's eyes widened.
— There's an inner region?
— What's the difference?
Tenebrae slowly turned his head.
A cruel smile spread across his beak.
— You'll find out.
A chill ran down Samael's spine.
"Damn miserable raven."
He walked toward the gateway.
— Until next time.
Tenebrae didn't even respond.
And somehow...
Being ignored by that old raven was already starting to feel normal.