A while later, you could see someone standing before an intersection of roads.
It was Leroy.
He had finally arrived here again. The last time, he had to give up as he couldn't manage to go past the Barrier, but this time, he was ready and determined to go through with the entire plan.
'It's do or die either way,' Leroy thought.
A slight wind started building up as if the world was getting prepared...
Pulling up his shirt, Leroy grabbed the Marble sculpture out of his belt.
Holding it in his hands, he started at it once more as the feeling of a pulsing heart reappeared.
'It's disgusting,' Leroy thought as he clenched his hand around it and started walking forward, his destination the Source.
He headed towards the left street, where he had first entered last night.
It was still the day, and before coming here, Leroy could see the entire street filled with puppets. These puppets, eerily human-like, were a strange sight. But since he entered the intersection, the puppets had strangely vanished, leaving the street devoid of life. It was as if they were only there to guard the entrance, and now that he was inside, they had no purpose.
Strangely, the deeper he went, the more the Sculpture pulsed. After a few minutes, his hand was shaking just from holding it.
The Sun in the sky strangely started shining brighter and brighter.
It felt like it wanted to engulf the entire world, burning everything with it.
The heat started piling up and it was reaching unbearable levels quickly.
'Is this another part of the Barrier? I already have the key. Why is this happening?'
Leroy thought as he was drenched in his own sweat. If this continued, he would lose the focus in his eyes, turning his vision blurry and pass out.
'I didn't go through this last night. Was it because this so-called sun god doesn't have as much influence during the night? or did they just upgrade the magic spell?' Leroy thought while struggling to continue forward.
*Ziinnkk*
A strange sound was heard coming from the Sculpture in his hands.
Quickly bringing it up, Leroy stared as the Sculpture transformed in his hands.
Its color changes to yellow, and The eye loses its pupil, leaving only a pale orange iris.
Suddenly, it started emitting light like a miniature sun in and of itself.
Leroy would have already thrown it away if it wasn't for the fact that he was already feeling much better. The heat had started to cool down, and he was regaining clarity.
'Why did it only activate now and not at the start of the path.' Leroy thought as he could finally calm down and look at the situation at hand.
Without noticing, he seemed to have arrived at an entirely different place.
It still looked just like the slums, but he didn't ever remember this place existing, and considering he had lived his entire life here, Leroy was pretty sure it wasn't here before.
Looking around, he noticed a figure coming his way from further down the street. It seemed like it hadn't noticed him yet, so Leroy quickly went inside one of the ruined buildings and hid himself.
The figure had come close a while later, and now Leroy could see it clearly.
It was another priest. This one also didn't seem to have any yellow stripes on his robes.
"Just where did that dumbass go to, in this important part of the ritual where anything can go wrong"
The Priest seemed frustrated as he clenched a part of his hair, almost ripping it off.
'He's probably talking about the priest that I killed.' Leroy thought suddenly
'I don't have much time. I either kill this one or hurry as fast as possible toward the core and destroy it. No matter what I do, sooner or later, they will notice the Priest's disappearance, and when that happens, the difficulty of stopping this evil charade will be much harder.'
Leroy thought as he waited for the Priest to go past him.
'Since I'll be found out either way soon, one enemy less is better, one more enemy.'
As the Priest passed, Leroy got to his feet and carefully walked towards the Priest's back.
*Crack*
Looking down, Leroy found a piece of shattered glass.
'Shit,' Leroy thought as he quickly looked in front of him.
The Priest had stopped walking and had turned around now facing him.
His eyebrows were furrowed as he looked straight at Leroy.
"What's a puppet doing here?" the Priest asked, not at all thinking that someone would have been able to resist the influence of their magical artifact.
Leroy lay frozen on the spot, his heart beating a mile a minute as he was thinking of all the possible ways he could die in the next second.
'I managed to kill the other one with a sneak attack while he wasn't prepared. There's just no way I can kill a mage otherwise.'
"No, you're not a puppet, are you? Now that I look at yours, it does not show the signs of a puppet at all. How were you able to resist the manipulation? It's very interesting, very, very interesting." The Priest said the more he talked, the bigger his grin got.
Leroy was still standing there, frozen.
"You wouldn't mind me checking your body a bit, would you now, kid?" the Priest said jokingly, but Leroy could see that the man was very serious at this moment.
'Calm down, calm down at the moment. He probably thinks of me as just a kid, nothing more. When he's close, I can jump him,' Leroy thought while trying to calm himself down. While it wasn't working very well, he still managed to start breathing easier, finally not feeling as if he was suffocating.
The Priest was not just a few steps away from Leroy.
"You don't have to be scared, kid. I wont do anything after all, We, the Sun God believers, and benevolent and merciful to all sinners."
'Six steps'
"All sinners will be forgiven as they give themselves fully to the Sun God."
'Five steps'
"Only by giving 'Him' your body, mind, and soul will you be in peace."
'Four steps'
"His divine being will cleanse you and give you eternal happiness."
'Three steps'
"Now stay still, and let me show you how we, his divine emissaries, help strays who have lost their way of life."
'Two steps'
The Priest still had a massive grin on his face, and it had widened so much by now that it felt like his face was being ripped apart at the seams.
'One step'
As the Priest started bringing his hand forward, Leroy's expression changed.
'NOW'