CHAPTER 27: BOUND ANGELS

The mist curled thick as wool around Thane’s body, clinging to his skin and seeping into his lungs with every breath.

"Hmm? There’s something wrong with this air. But I feel a trace of magic..." Thane paused as he walked onwards. He muzzled over the fear of this strange mist being poisoned.

But his body felt a tingling sensation. But it was as if there was something inside of Thane that resisted the magic he ingested. A strange heat gathered at his heart. Something within him devoured the mist he ingested.

And as it did, his body began to heal.

"It really is healing my wounds!" Thane was amazed.

"Spirit Breathing. Focus. Make the mist flow towards my heart!" Thane concentrated.

He brought his palms to his chest, as he felt he could quickly direct the mist to heal him with Spirit guidance.

With each heartbeat, he sends a pulse of healing energy.

He exhaled, watching the vapor spiral into the mist.

But as he took in the energy, a strange, familiar sensation began to weigh upon his very soul.

An invisible heaviness crushed his chest, whispering to him with voices both familiar and strange.

"You are nothing. Just a cog. A slave to work. A failure in two worlds."

Shadows writhed inside the fog, stretching into grotesque shapes. Empty eyes. Hollow faces. A woman’s weeping echoed, low and endless.

Thane staggered, clutching his head. His Supreme Perception didn’t just sense killing intent anymore, but now knew that the mist was despair itself. Waves of depression rolled through him, a crushing sense of futility.

He almost let the Spirit flow falter.

But in this depression, Thane laughed.

"No. Not today, Satan. I’ve lived in cubicles filled with despair, under managers who fed me lies of worthlessness. I have been a good and faithful servant. And that wasn’t done through victory but defeats. I may have died from stress as my body gave in, but my spirit never once wavered! True, I complained, but I always had hope! If I endured that... I’ll endure this!"

The whispers hissed louder. Shapes rose in the mist, looming giants, faceless clerks stamping endless papers, orcs dragging chains, printers towering like idols. All illusions, born of the same poison he’d inhaled.

"Enslavement... Fear..." Thane muttered, forcing another surge of Spirit Breathing. His lungs burned, but this time the air filled him with more than oxygen. Peace, faint but real, pushed against the darkness.

He stood straighter. As his heart beat, he absorbed so much of the mist that it was healing his body. He stood as stalwart as ever, even though the power of the mist would have driven normal people insane.

"Eh, I could have fought off Scarecrow’s gas with my faith that was the fruit of perseverance borne from my earthly trials. This little thing ain’t nothing! Don’t underestimate those who have renewed their strength again and again!" Thane laughed as he walked on, fully healed from his internal injuries.

The mist whispered, but Thane ignored it and pressed on.

Soon, his steps allowed him to see the strange flora around him. Mushrooms with stalks like glass, pulsing with inner light. Flowers with petals that bled glowing dew. Vines that dripped sparks like tiny fireflies.

"Future stew material. Gordon Ramsay would cry manly tears if he saw this. The mana potency of these things is amazing!"

Step by step, he pressed deeper. His Perception was drawn to collect many of these foana that had magics flowing around them.

He found a deep pool of water that was stirring and could detect high mana from it.

"A pool of mana water..." Thane observed.

Thane decided to absorb a few liters.

He went on collecting more and more of the magical plants.

Thane drew Stabby Boi and began slicing carefully. Each cut released scents both sweet and acrid. Like that of honey, iron, or incense. He collected glowing caps, luminescent moss, and strands of crackling vine. The Celestial TV storage swallowed them with little pings.

After a while of walking deep into the mist, Thane had collected several of the things he deemed worthy in this world.

[Stored: Luminshroom (x7) – 25 MB]

[Stored: Embervine Coil (x3) – 40 MB each]

[Stored: Blooddew Lily (x5) – 35 MB each]

[Stored: Mist Flower (3) – 63MB each]

[Stored: Magical Water of the Mist (10 Liters)- 2 MB per liter.]

The highly potent plants he managed to get were a great haul.

But then he saw it.

The fog thinned to reveal a colossal passage leading downwards. Black stone columns rose like petrified trees, etched with carvings that spiraled like coiling snakes. The walls bore scenes of war with depictions of angels with wings of fire, beasts that resembled bulls and lions, and rivers of blood flowing into the earth.

At the end of the passage, a staircase descended. Its steps were wide enough for giants, worn smooth by ages. Chains thicker than Thane’s torso dangled from the ceiling, broken links clattering faintly in the unseen wind. The Mist poured upward from below, a steady exhalation of ancient breath.

Thane’s skin prickled. His Perception screamed. The very stones radiated dread.

Thane could see a strange series of symbols carved on the wall. It looked like it was depicting something. A being of many eyes and many wings inside a large triangle, and it seemed that it was inside some form of spell circle. Surrounding the spell circle were many figures that clearly portrayed different races.

Elves. Dwarves. Men. Winged beings that seemed like fairies. There were other strange races of monstrous form surrounding the strange spell circle.

Marks that appeared like a cross were seen all over.

Thane watched the strange figures and tried to understand the hieroglyphics on the wall.

"Are those races surrounding that wing-eye creature to seal it in some spell? And that form... Wings, eyes, wheels... Is that an angel?" Thane frowned.

Thane felt an ominous presence inside. Ever since Thane awakened in this world and learned to understand more of the things around him, he knew that he would always be victorious because of the ’plot armor’ that went along with his reward in this world.

He had shown fear and shock at first, but they all diminished. He was a man of faith, and if this world was his reward, he knew he would always succeed.

But now, there was a strange, ominous power, far stronger than the mist.

It made Thane doubt.

"Hmmm... Is there a sealed angel down there? Why would God put a sealed angel in here?" Thane thought for a bit.

"Jude 1 tells of angels being kept bound... Is this what it is?" Thane had his suspicions. If this were true, then the only angels that God would bind would be rebellious.

"Is this why the TV won’t work? A Fallen angel is in there? I did not expect that..." Thane sighed. He glanced back as if considering a way to scale the cliff and fight the current.

"But there is no other way. I can’t get out of here... I guess, whatever is in there, I have to face it. Here goes nothing! Lord, let your divine plot armor protect me!" Thane prayed as he moved into the temple.

He descended the steps leading down as the thick mist spilled forth.

Each step echoed like a drumbeat in a funeral march.

The carvings on the wall seemed to move in the flickering light as the mist reflected a rainbow glow. The angels in the murals now had a strange creature that appeared below them.

And soon, each of the creatures appeared to be terrorizing the ancient cities.

Thane saw a creature he associated with a chimera. He saw a lion, a minotaur, and a two-headed beast-dog. A large octopus. A centaur with two bows and four hands, a winged lion, and a massive scorpion among the intact murals.

These creatures were also depicted as terrorizing cities and would eat and kill various races.

The staircase ended in a vast, cavernous hall. Black pillars rose like spears.

The corridors continued onwards and were covered in thick mist that even Thane couldn’t see.

He sighed and quickly took out a torch from his inventory and ignited it.

The light helped him see through the mist as he continued onwards.

He then saw a massive, broken bell on the ground.

"What is this place?" Thane frowned. He had not seen any shows that depicted these places.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

"...I.... Sense.... another... life...." A deep, ghastly, monstrous voice echoed out from the chambers deep within the temple.

A pulse of magic flowed from the ground.

"Oh boy. This can’t be good." Thane sighed.

But as Thane stood there, he didn’t notice a frail figure watching from above.

It had heard the voice and the sighing Thane from above and sprang up to see below.

She was in a room above and looked down on Thane through a massive hole in the ceiling.

"A... boy?!"