As he was running, he remembered her words "As long as you don't stay still." the monsters won't attack...
It took him a while to remember it.
He kept jogging forward, his fur suit was a little heavy, lowering his mobility.
But he was moving at a steady pace, the pillar slowly grew more stark and visible, its black color stark and too visible in the gray background.
Azreal kept moving forward, and surprisingly, no monster ever attacked him afterward.
His presence seemingly nonexistent, and the monsters didn't even bother to even look at him... he didn't even see any monster, in fact.
His progression was slow but continuous, and he was sure that he'll be able to meet Raphae soon enough.
The pillar grew wider slightly; as he got closer, and the columns on both sides of the road grew ever so slightly taller.
The black tiny building became much easier to see, and closer, and more could be seen, now.
It all was a strange image, that he felt like he's staring at an abstract painting, or an illustration of some kind.
The colors were dull and lifeless; the hue was lacking that he could barely see any color.
Most of what he sees is black and white and many grays.
The weather is unbearably cold and hostile; the air feels like many, sharp razors brushing against his skin.
His muscles grew weaker and weaker, and he could feel his knee-joint almost detaching.
As he looked forward, he saw something in the corner of his eye, something small and... !
A tiny moving figure, wearing white fur, and running... slow.
'It's Raphae! It's definitely her, she is running towards the road... She definitely saw me.
So, we'll meet again, then.'
Azreal ran faster; hoping to reach her faster, even though he knew that they'll meet anyway.
Azreal kept running and running until she jumped onto the road, while he was running closer, very close towards her.
Suddenly, the figure looked at him with a little bit of confusion.
Azreal reached the figure, but...
It wasn't Raphae, it was someone else! Black straight hair, black eyes, a stronger nose, and a long smile that looked as fake as a student's desire to study.
He started walking forward, which startled azreal; Azreal thought that he had to run to stay alive, and so seeing that person just walking was shocking.
Azreal slowed down until he was just walking, side by side with the stranger.
The stranger spoke first... 'Finally! That took him long enough to speak.' Azreal thought.
- "Hey! I'm Mike, nice... I guess it's not very nice, but I'm definitely happy to see you."
He then flashed a smile.
Azreal was a little surprised; the first two people he saw were rather talkative and enthusiastic, but he still preferred Raphae; who was less shiny.
Azreal spoke -
"Nice... to meet you. I'm Azreal."
Mike raised an eyebrow, then he spoke -
"That's a weird way of pronouncing it...
Isn't it Azrael?"
- "Possibly..."
Mike reluctantly turned forward, facing the black pillar.
Then he spoke -
"You seem to know how things go here... who taught you?"
Without thinking, Azreal answered -
"Raphae."
Mike didn't really make any reaction, he just smiled slightly wider.
The two spoke a few more times, but Azreal wasn't being talkative, which somehow convinced Mike to stop talking.
Azreal was obviously relieved, but he was also curious about many things... so, eventually, he spoke -
"Hey... do you know how we'll get the key to the tower?"
Mike flinched unnoticeably and then replied -
"Ah... that...
Well... we'll just have to kill a monster."
Azreal shivered and spoke slightly louder -
"How the f-... how the hell are we supposed to kill that fuck?!!"
Mike made a forceful chuckle, before he replied -
"... to be precise, we aren't sure, but we have the tools to kill one..."
He took a deep breath before continuing -
"And one of us actually witnessed it happen once a long time ago... with the group who came before us."
Azreal let out a breath of relief, but then he asked -
"How did you get those... 'tools'?"
The two were still walking, Mike turned his head to look at him with a smile, then he spoke -
"... From the black buildings."
After that, the two fell silent again, which felt unbearably awkward to Azreal, even though he wasn't a talkative person.
Mike, on the other hand seemed chill, and on the air, with light steps and a bright face.
But it was obvious even to Azreal that it was a mask... but masks have their own way of representing the person wearing them.
The two kept walking for a while before they saw a figure running towards the road from afar.
And after a while, the figure jumped onto the road, a relieved grin on her face.
Raphae stared at the two before she spoke -
"Been a while, Mike.
Happy you reached it, Azreal.
You wouldn't believe how weird it was to be digested by fucking massive bird !"
Azreal replied with a little more energy -
"Actually, I tried it.
Those rocks... damn rocks."
Mike stared at the two of them with confusion -
"... What connections does a rock have with a bird's digestion?"
Raphae replied -
"Since they don't have teeth to chew on their food, they just swallow rocks to help with digestion."
This conversation seemed too lighthearted for Azreal, who was extremely bewildered by their energy.
The two kept talking like kids arguing about their favorite show.
Azreal sighed, as the three kept walking forward, their pace was slow, but with their energetic conversations, time seemed to fade into the background.
Azreal knew, of course, that their laughs are just their way of coping with the torturous agony of living here... even death wasn't an option to them.
Each one of them wishes for death, which was surprising for him to see such energetic people with that wish.
It made him slightly jealous.
.
.
.
The three slowly reached the pillar despite their slow pace, and the tower was towering, truly.
And the sun was getting to the center of the sky, not that it wasn't there, but was slightly off the center; closer to the peak of the pillar.
The pillar was even longer than he ever imagined, and its walls were seamless and flawless.
Black stark against the dull gray of the sky.
Underneath the tower is what looks like fifty to a hundred long columns encircling a wide empty field that wrapped around the base of the giant pillar.
The three walked into that open space, and in front of them, eight people who seemed to have been waiting.