The sickly green, ethereal mist continued heading directly upwards, towards Noah. Strangely, none of the monsters around it seemed to notice or react to the mist's presence.

'Oh, come on... What now?!'

Noah instinctively ducked, but the ethereal form adjusted itself to his new position. The mist enveloped him, seeping into his body. Instantly, Noah's headache intensified, and his muscles spasmed with excruciating force.

"Aggggghhhh!"

A scream tore through his throat, echoing off the cavern walls, drawing the attention of its horrific dwellers.

The insectoid monstrosities began scaling the chasm walls towards him. Meanwhile, the winged horrors hanging upside down also began to stir from their slumber, sensing the disturbance.

'Must... run...'

Despite the agony coursing through his body, Noah pulled himself up to his feet, pushing through the pain as he began to race along the path.

'Dead... I am so ducking dead.'

Noah ran as fast as he could, as the entire cavern appeared to awaken into a murderous frenzy.

Between the pain he was in and the swarms of monsters heading his way, Noah failed to notice that the cavern floor was cracking under his feet.

'Huh?'

When Noah took his next step, his foot sank into the ground, as it suddenly collapsed under his weight. Noah screamed as he fell through the crumbling cavern floor. The screaming turned into a pained groan, however, as Noah hit the rocky edges of the forming pit, being bounced around before crashing on his back at the bottom, small rocks and debris landing all around him.

Once the cave-in had settled, there was an eerie silence. Unlike the cavern above, there was no luminescent flora down here, only complete and utter darkness.

"No more... I can't..."

Noah began to sob but willed himself to stop. With the throbbing headache and muscle spasms being so intense, he didn't even notice the new cuts and bruises he had suffered while falling.

"I... Can't die down here."

Shaking from the muscle cramps, Noah turned on his omni device's flashlight.

"What the...?"

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Noah was inside a narrow corridor, its walls lined with worn, moss-covered bricks.

The surprising discovery had distracted Noah for a moment, of the agony he was experiencing, as he forced himself up on his feet and began to wobble forward, along the corridor.

'What is this...?'

There were skeletons splayed along the floor. Some were the remains of monsters, while others, human.

'Holy cow...'

These were people from the world which had merged with Earth. Noah was sure of it. When the two worlds had their 'cosmic unification', the only living things from the other side were monsters and abominations. There were remnants of human civilization, however. An extinct one.

From their long-abandoned towns and cities, archeologists had deduced that the peoples of the other world had been wiped out hundreds of years before the two worlds had merged, likely by the same monsters that had driven humanity into a small number of megacities. At the time of their extinction, they were at a technological level equivalent to our own early Middle Ages.

Sure enough, many of the skeletons were wearing chainmail and plate armor, torn and corroded with rust, along with weapons such as swords, spears and maces. This was the site of a battle between monsters and the people of the other world, that must have taken place centuries ago, if not longer than that.

Noah continued to waddle along the corridor, using one hand to support himself on the ancient brick wall, while trying not to trip on the skeletons. By now, this deep underground, Noah was finding it difficult to breathe, although the pain was at least... manageable, somehow.

Eventually the corridor led to a massive hall, also covered with human and monster remains, all the way to a broad staircase.

'What was this place?'

The floor, as far as Noah could see from the few spots not covered with corpses, was marble. Worn, cracked and discolored, but marble all the same. There were rows of enormous pillars all the way up to the high ceiling.

Noah climbed up the stairs, using his hands to balance and support himself, occasionally sliding when losing his footing due to the skeletal remains.

At the top was a human skeleton in plate armor. While worn and cracked, the armor was in a much better condition compared to those of the other fallen human warriors that Noah had passed by. Still clutching a Greatsword, the warrior was surrounded by the skeletons of monsters.

'A last stand, huh?'

That was Noah's conclusion, since up ahead was a giant pile of human skeletons. No weapons and armor. Just a massive heap of disjointed and torn bones, scattered haphazardly.

A faint noise began to echo through the hall, the unmistakable clicking and scraping of the insectoid monsters.

'They followed me!'

Half a dozen monsters emerged from the corridor Noah had come through and were heading right towards him.

"Command that skeleton warrior to rise!" A gravelly man's voice that felt as though it originated from Noah's own mind had suddenly demanded.

"Huh?!"

"Do it now or you'll die!"

'I'm losing my mind...'

Noah looked at the skeleton surrounded by monster corpses and then cleared his throat.

"Get up?"

"Do you think this is a joke? You're about to get torn and eaten alive if you don't take this seriously."

The insectoid monsters were now climbing up the stairs.

"Rise!" Noah yelled.

Sickly green mist surrounded the armored skeleton. Its chest began to soar, before the mist dissipated and the skeleton fell back down.

"Again! Command it!"

The monsters were almost at the top of the staircase.

"Rise!" Noah shouted as loud as he possibly could. "I command you to rise and protect me!"

The green mist surrounded the fallen warrior again, as it began to soar up.

'What's happening...'

Noah felt every drop of vitality drain out of him, as he fell down.

'Am I dying...? Is that what it feels like?'