"From now on, we're entering forbidden territory!" I shouted, "Don't stop for even a second, Hate!"

"Yeah, I heard you the first time?" Hate returned a puzzled gaze.

"Oh dear apprentice, you're still wet around the ears!" Elegy smugly explained, "If she didn't give everyone that reminder just now, readers will have been left wondering what happened in the last chapter!"

That's... chapter? What's he talking about? Looks like we're not exactly on the same page after all, that Elegy and me. Hate, however, seemed to have gotten the gist.

"So it's like teasing what happens next chapter, but in reverse?" He raised an Eyebrow.

"Exactly, gold star!" Elegy patted his hair.

"Guys, you might wanna focus on where we're going." I reminded them, "That guard's still following us."

"By the Gods, come back here this instant!" He shouted with all his might, "Guests from one district are not allowed entry into any other so long as they don't meet the requirements!"

"Yeah, we kinda figured." Elegy joked.

"Does the same apply for everyone?" I realized.

"Yes!" The guard shot back immediately.

"Even you?"

"Everyone!"

So he falls into that category as well. Hmm, thinking back on it, he was on the other side of the gate when Hate broke through. So in other words, as long as we rush through the next gate before the guard catches up to us, we won't have to deal with him anymore! We'll be out of his range of operation!

"Gasp, turn right!" Elegy suddenly tugged Hate's hair, "Down that alleyway, quick!"

"What!? We have no time for detours, just keep going down the main road!" I refuted.

"Migu, please!" He pleaded.

His Eyes are serious. No, they're begging me on their hands and knees. Could Elegy have found something that'll help us? Maybe he's planning on losing the guard. The alleyways here do get quite maze-like in nature... Okay, I trust him!

"Hate, turn now!" I ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!" He nodded, drifting sharply to the right as the guard lagged behind.

"Right again." Elegy gave the directions, "Good, now keep going straight."

"Aren't you just sending us back from where we came?" I asked.

"Shh, Rule 1!" He frowned, "Okay, listen carefully, Hate! When I give the orders, you turn right."

"Okay!"

Everyone was silent. Hate was focusing his all on running desperately away, and all I could do was look behind us to make sure the guard wasn't hot on our tail. Surprisingly, it seems he really did get lost thanks to this surprise route Elegy thought up. Could he have come to the same conclusion as I did and let us go? No one said a word, yet when our hearts began to reverberate throughout the busy streets...!

"...Now!" Elegy shouted.

The sharp turn gave me whiplash, and as we cut through the tight alleyway and emerged on the other side, we were left in utter shock of what was in front of us.

"Yeah, I knew my Eyes weren't deceiving me!" Elegy proudly grinned, "The Gods really weren't lying, they actually installed a clothes shop! They work fast."

"This is why you made Hate run a full circle!?" I smacked him.

"Ahem." A chilling yet ticked off voice demanded our attention, "Finally got tired?"

"The guard!" Hate took a step back in shock.

Damn you, Elegy! What in the world made me think letting you call the shots was a smart idea!? Yeah, now that I think about it, the guard isn't dumb at all! He knew we'd have to re-emerge here eventually, so he obviously just waited for us to show up! Unlike Hate, he doesn't even look winded, dammit!

"Yo, is that clothes shop new?" Elegy gave the guard a friendly question.

"It appears so-" The guard turned back for just a second before getting his neck grabbed at full force.

"E-Elegy!" Hate and I jolted.

When did he-!? Elegy was just next to me a second ago, grappling onto Hate's head like a human necklace. To jump that fast from such a position and reach for the guard's neck, he'd have to be even faster than Vastoria and Throne! Elegy, just what the hell are you...?

"Ghack!" The guard struggled to breathe.

"Golden throat. Someone must've strangled you to death." Elegy's bone-chilling observation was quickly ruined by his jokey demeanor, "Or you might've just had asthma as a human, haha!"

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"Ngh...!" The guard feebly tried reaching for the floor with his feet.

"Not even holding your arms still, dude." Elegy smugly teased, "Here's a hint: You should probably try freeing yourself with those instead of reaching for the ground."

Despite his incessant teasing, the guard didn't give in and kept trying to feel the ground beneath him once more. To discourage this, Elegy even cruelly lowered his arm, making it so the guard was this close to reaching the ground with his toe before once again hoisting him back up.

"Come on, come on...! Bah, so close!" Elegy mocked him, "And... Up you go~!"

"Elegy, that's enough." I tried reasoning with him, "Let go of his throat, he might give us some useful information regarding our goal."

"If I let go, he'll capture us immediately." Elegy turned back to explain, "His throat's the only part he feels pain with, his literal bottleneck. Sadly, talking is out of the question."

"So what, you're just gonna choke him out?!" Hate yelled.

"That's... Hm?" Elegy noticed the guard's body going limp, "Oh, finally lost consciousness, have you?"

The guard's body remained lifeless in his grasp as the Eyes turned a deep Purple.

"...N-No, wait!" Elegy panicked, letting the body drop to the floor, "Angels can die!? What the hell, man!"

"Do Purple Eyes still mean death in Heaven 2.0!?" I panicked right next to him, "M-Maybe it just means he's unconscious!"

"...Wait, he's-!" Hate ran towards us, but was far too late to stop it.

Tapping repeatedly on the floor with his right foot, the guard, who was previously presumed dead, had slowly risen before our very Eyes. His Eyes, now back to their usual absorbent Black, looked on with pity.

"The White Monster shall eat you now." He stated, "May God have mercy on your foolish souls."

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***

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"White Monster?" I recalled Vastoria's story, "Crap, everyone close your Eyes!"

"What for-?"

"Just do it!"

Though the street we were in was busy and loud, the moment I closed my Eyes everything went deathly silent. The guard's words were neither mockery nor pity, they were genuine care. He sounded almost... sad, that he had to do this to us. That being the case, how exactly could he have just summoned the White Monster to get us? Does he, as a guard, have such authority?

"You two, still there!?" Hate's words resonated through the mist.

"Read you loud and clear." Elegy replied, "Migu, what's going on?"

"The White Monster is near." I shivered, "You feel it too, right? The air just got colder, and an overwhelming sense of doom constantly looms over us."

"Dammit, I'm gonna beat this damned guard up-!" Elegy raised his voice.

"Stop!" I yelled, "Don't move. The White Monster will put you to sleep the moment you open your Eyes."

"B-But... I feel it getting closer to me!" Hate's voice quivered, "What if it uses the fact our Eyes are closed to kill us!?"

"We can't die in Heaven 2.0." I calmly replied, "Do not, under any circumstances, open your Eyes. Most likely, the people around us, the guard included, have already fallen asleep."

"...And what happens then?" Elegy asked.

"Vastoria, my seraphim friend, she explained that everyone in Heaven 2.0 goes to sleep when that happens." I continued, "I don't know the full details, but this usually signifies the end of the cycle."

"So that's it, huh?" Hate chuckled defeatedly, "We ran out of time..."

Ran out of time? No, but... There's still more to do, dammit! We didn't even get the chance to see Vastoria and Throne again! We just barely made it to the next district over, so this can't be the end! Once the White Monster eats us, we'll lose all our progress and forget about all of this. It'll be as if it never even was, dammit! Wait...

"No, this isn't the end." I realized, "Because we still have our memories!"

"Right... Right!" Elegy's voice cracked, "We managed to survive the White Monster even though it's summoned because our Eyes are still shut!"

"Nice save, Migu!" Hate seemed joyful as well.

How long can we last, I wonder? When exactly does the reset happen, and does it include us if we're still awake? The White Monster is still standing eerily close to us as we merely kneel one after the other in a line. If we got up and continued moving now, will it forcefully pry our Eyes open?

"I think I'm starting to understand it now." Elegy surmised, "Possibly, and this is still just a theory, but if we manage to last until the reset happens for everyone else, we might be able to keep our memories for the next cycle."

"So, you're saying we should pull an all-nighter?" I joked, "Sounds childish."

"Hey, it's the best we got, right?" Hate laughed.

The air was chilling to the core. I felt a mist grow thicker and thicker around me, and it slowly got more difficult to breathe. Unlike the warm and welcoming air that was previously present no matter where you went in Heaven 2.0, this time it was only becoming drearier. We were going directly against the grain, and it somehow felt like the White Monster was tempting us to open our Eyes.

"It's weird." Hate explained it, "It's like if someone told you to open your Eyes underwater and keep them like that for hours on end."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Elegy agreed, "Except it's the opposite, 'cause in this case, opening your Eyes means instant loss."

"...Tch!" I swatted it away from my neck.

"What happened!?" The two panicked.

"I felt it. Something was just breathing on my neck just now." I explained, "Be careful not to get spooked into opening your Eyes."

I say that, but even I was mere milliseconds away from doing just that. In truth, while I was swatting it away, I happened to make contact with the White Monster. Just as described, it appeared to be a sort of goat skull. The dry, boney texture that was cold to the touch left behind a residue on my fingers that just wouldn't dissipate. If I opened my Eyes, I could see what was on my hand, but that'd put me at risk of seeing the White Monster's face.

"...I'm opening my Eyes." Elegy resolved himself.

"N-No, wait-!" Hate and I jolted before he piped up once more.

"Don't listen to it!" Elegy's voice echoed loudly, "I never said that, it must have imitated my voice to trick you!"

Phew, that was close...

"Guys..." His frail voice called out, "You're still there, right?"

"Yep." I replied, "I was close to, but you stopped me from opening my Eyes in time."

The reply was supposed to be joyous, but in the end it just became depressing. Moments later, a thud could be heard right between us. The source of the thud came from where Hate was positioned.

"...Guess he fell for the bait." Elegy's voice hesitated to admit it, "Hate got eaten."

"Hate...!" I yelped.

"It's down to the two of us." He continued with a more solemn tone, "Remember, once the next cycle starts, Hate won't remember who we are, but we still might if my theory is correct."

"Yeah, for his sake." I nodded, "We absolutely mustn't ever open our Eyes!"

Hate... Sniffle, even if it means we'll have to continue this journey completely blind! Even if it feels like someone's constantly trying to pry your Eyes open by force! Even if it means waiting for Gods know how long until the reset... We WILL find a way to send Hate back to the World of the Living!