Othello's feet seemed to be rooted to the ground as he stood there in horror. Even though he had a couple of experiences with paranormal events, he had never witnessed a person exploding into bits of flesh and blood before him, and neither had he seen anything like what happened to Patrick.
His clenched fists trembled as he observed the words in the sky.
CITADEL OF THE DAMNED.
'What kind of place did I enter... '
As his thoughts became clouded, he suddenly heard a creak before him. The towering door that had sucked the life out of Patrick opened, revealing an interior that looked nothing like a cathedral.
The whole interior was the colour of blood, with long windows that extended from the base of the building up to the beginning of the ceiling. The rich crimson colour seemed to be refracted off the windows through some incomprehensible method, gathering to a certain point.
Othello's gaze was inevitably drawn into the focus of these light rays. His eyes moved, and he saw a strange black book resting atop a tiny stone altar in the middle of the cathedral.
Othello could feel his heart pounding in his chest as his vision covered the scene. The strange deaths of his two companions had frightened him, but what made his fright turn into deep fear was the horrifying and inexplicable ways they died.
'Could it be the footsteps?' he wondered, his curiosity for knowledge seemingly greater than his fear. His eyes roamed around, looking for anything he might have missed, but he couldn't find anything noteworthy.
Just then, his pupils suddenly shrank slightly as he noticed something in the atmosphere. The mist which had seemed quite thin had thickened at some point, and vague figures could be seen moving through it.
Also, the mist seemed to be getting closer.
Othello couldn't help but take a step back, stepping into the Cathedral in the process. Immediately, the towering door slammed shut, the fast swing producing not the slightest sound.
As the door closed, Othello saw that the previous rotten condition of the door seemed to have been reversed by some force. The door was now healthy and good as new but when he took a closer look, he seemed to see a blurry engraving on the door.
The engraving displayed a horrified face with no hair or eyes. After taking an even closer look, he was shocked to see that the face actually bore a striking resemblance to Patrick who had died some minutes ago.
Othello immediately shrank back in fear, his breathing ragged and rapid.
'What kind of place did I enter?' he thought, clenching his fists so hard that he feared they might just pop. 'Those two suddenly died without any warning, and now one of them has transformed into a face engraved on the door...'
He looked up and gulped. 'It might be my turn anytime soon.'
The fear in his heart increased, but he decided to bury it and face whatever was coming for him in the cathedral. He had already thought of the worst-case scenario, so there wasn't really anything to be particularly afraid of anymore.
After all, his worst ending would be death.
Nothing more, nothing less.
His eyes glanced around once more before falling on the strange book on top of the altar. 'Since there doesn't seem to be anything to do here, I should check out that book on the altar.'
Othello came to a decision, but he didn't immediately move from his position. His cautious nature had been developed through his years of living, and the strange deaths of Patrick and Reo were gruesome reminders that intensified this nature of his.
Therefore, he didn't move rashly and chose to observe very well.
Upon taking a closer look at the altar he planned on approaching, Othello discovered faint triangular engravings that seemed to run from one side of the altar to the other in a rectangular pattern.
He didn't put much importance on it and was about to look away when the layout of the empty cathedral suddenly caught his eye.
The tiles.
The layout of the tiles on the floor seemed to be a natural artist's design at first glance, but it had a whole different meaning if one compared it to the engravings on the altar.
After staring for a while, his feet started moving. The moment Othello stepped on for the first time suspected to be a part of the design, one of the engravings on the altar lit up.
Othello was thrilled. 'It is just as I thought. There's a certain connection between the two, which means I have to follow a certain pattern to get to the altar.'
After unveiling the secret behind the altar, he moved quickly, stepping on all the relevant tiles and watching their corresponding points on the altar light up.
In a minute, Othello had reached the altar. Although the fear buried deep in his heart was still going strong, there was another feeling that had emerged at some point.
Curiosity.
As he stood before the altar, the curiosity in his heart reached an unbearable level to the extent that he couldn't wait to take the strange black book off the altar.
As such, he didn't notice a sudden ripple in his shadow.
Othello took a moment to glance at the cover of the book. Apart from its tenebrous nature, a symbol that closely resembled a sphere was drawn on it, and behind the sphere was a half-covered eye that looked at the sphere from afar.
The strange thing was that the moment he reached the front of the book, the eye suddenly turned to look at him.
Othello's burning curiosity was immediately cleared from his face as the fear rapidly emerged from the depths of his soul. He suppressed a scream and tried to jump away from his position, but his shadow suddenly rose at this moment, covering him and restraining his movements completely.
He could only watch helplessly as his hand neared the book with a look of terror on his face.
In the next moment, Othello's hand touched the book.
And then, the world suddenly turned dark.