[Location: The Abyss – Region 1, Sector 4 (The Garden of Silence)]

[Time: Unknown]

The screen switched back to the abyss

While Lyra and the others were preparing for war, Damien and Isabelle in the abyss were encountering troubles of their own

One moment, they were trudging through the howling winds of the Ash Wastes. Next, they stepped through a barrier of thick, grey fog, and the world went dead silent.

Here, there was no wind. No distant screams of beasts. No crunch of ash underfoot.

This was the Garden of Silence.

It was a canyon carved from grey bedrock.

Petrified trees twisted toward the fake sky like skeletal fingers.

And everywhere, scattered among the rocks, half-buried in the dirt, standing atop ridges were statues.

Hundreds of them.

They were carved from white marble, stained grey by the Abyss. They depicted beautiful, winged angels in flowing robes. But they were not triumphant.

They were grieving.

Some crouched on the ground, burying their faces in their knees.

Others stood facing the canyon walls, hiding their eyes.

Most stood with their hands pressed tight against their faces, weeping into their palms.

"It's quiet," Isabelle whispered, her voice sounding too loud in the stillness.

She relaxed her stance, the tension leaving her shoulders.

"The abyss mana here is still, Master. No beasts. No killing intent. Just... sadness."

Damien couldn't relax.

He walked up to the nearest statue, a life-sized angel standing by a dead tree. Its hands were covering its face, its wings tucked tight against its back.

It looked mournful. Harmless.

But Damien's heart was hammering against his ribs. He felt a cold sweat prickling at the back of his neck.

'Why does this feel familiar?'

He searched his memory. Not the memories of Damien Voss, the character, but the memories of Lin Ye the reader.

He scanned the "Ancient History" appendices of the original webnovel.

He remembered a footnote about the First Era. About a "Test" sent by the Heavenly Demon Lord to the surface world.

"They descended like rain. Beautiful and terrible. They did not eat flesh; they displaced time and souls."

"In three months, 30% of all life on Elias vanished. The Great Races had to unite just to banish them."

The texts called them The Pale Walkers. Or... The Calamity of Stone.

Damien took a step back, his face draining of color.

"Isabelle," Damien said, his voice trembling. "Grab my coat."

"Master?"

"Don't look at the exit. Don't look at your feet."

He stared intensely at the weeping angel in front of him.

"Look at the statues. And whatever you do... don't blink."

Isabelle frowned, confused by the sudden fear in his voice. "Why? They are just stone."

"They aren't stone," Damien whispered. "They are Quantum Predators."

The dust in the air stung Damien's eyes. He fought the urge, but human biology was a weakness.

He blinked.

CLICK.

It took less than a quarter of a second. Darkness, then light.

Damien stopped breathing.

The angel was no longer covering its face.

It had moved. It was now five feet closer. Its hands were lowered to its sides. Its marble head was tilted, neck craning at an unnatural angle.

Its eyes were wide, blank stone orbs staring directly at him.

And its mouth...

Its mouth was no longer a frown. It was a wide, predatory rictus of needle-sharp fangs, frozen in a silent snarl.

"M-Master..." Isabelle gasped.

She had seen it too. In the blink of an eye, the statue had changed from a grieving saint to a feral monster.

"Back!" Damien shouted.

Isabelle reacted on instinct. Her demon blood flared. She thrust her hand forward, violet mana erupting from her palm.

[Gravity Magic: Crush].

BOOM.

The gravity wave hit the angel with enough force to flatten a tank. The ground around it shattered. The petrified tree behind it splintered into dust.

But the angel?

It didn't move, It didn't even chip.

The spell washed over it like water over a diamond.

"It's useless!" Damien yelled. "Stop attacking!"

"Why won't it break?!" Isabelle screamed, panic rising in her voice.

"Quantum Locking!" Damien explained, keeping his eyes glued to the monster.

"As long as we observe them, they don't exist as biology. They exist as Stone. Indestructible matter. You can't kill a statue, Isabelle!"

He grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around so they were back-to-back.

"They only move when no one is watching," Damien hissed.

"That's why they cover their faces. They aren't crying. They are hiding their eyes so they don't look at each other and freeze themselves for eternity."

Isabelle looked at the path ahead.

The fog shifted.

When they entered, the path was clear. Now, twelve angels blocked the way. They were frozen in mid-sprint, arms outstretched, claws hooked, faces twisted in hunger.

They were surrounded.

"Rules of engagement," Damien said, recalling the words of his original novel.

"Back to back. I watch the front. You watch the rear."

"Communication. If you need to blink, say 'Blink.' I will widen my gaze to cover your sector."

"Light. Keep your fire burning. If the shadows touch them... we die."

"Ready?"

Isabelle ignited a ball of Hellfire in her hand, banishing the shadows. Her hands were shaking.

"Ready, Master."

"Walk," Damien commanded. "Slowly."

They shuffled forward, step by agonizing step.

Every time Damien's eyes dried out, he called it.

"Blink."

Isabelle would sweep her gaze, ensuring she saw the ones in front while he refreshed his eyes.

But the Garden was long. And the statues were many.

As they moved deeper into the canyon, the light from the entrance faded. The grey fog grew thicker.

Damien heard a sound.

However, it wasn't a regular footstep. Instead, it was the sound of heavy stone grinding against stone.

Grrrr-clack.

It wasn't coming from the ground.

It was coming from above.

Damien tilted his head up, keeping his eyes on the angels in front of him, but expanding his [Sensory Intent].

The canyon walls... the ridges... they were lined with them.

Hundreds of Weeping Angels stood on the cliff edge, looking down.

And as a cloud of ash drifted over the bioluminescent moss, casting the canyon into a split-second of darkness...

THUD.

One of them landed on the path behind them.

"Isabelle!" Damien shouted. "Six o'clock! Don't look away!"

Isabelle whipped her head around.

The angel was inches from her face, its stone claws reaching for her throat, its fangs bared in a frozen scream.

She stared it in the eye, freezing it instantly.

"I... I caught it," she wheezed.

"Keep walking," Damien ordered, sweat stinging his eyes. "We have to find the Sovereign. It's the only way out."

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