Her sharp eyes moved toward the third wall and the fog that mysteriously remained there. When she was about to move past the wall she heard a creak. “Barnacle…” Whispered Navia as she hid behind the wall, she peeked out to look for the monster but the fog was too dense to spot it.

“I can’t see anything… Except for… Roofs.” Once she looked up she could see the higher parts of the buildings. “I can avoid the monsters by sneaking on the roofs. It should be easy with Wind Step…” Navia looked for the power inside her, the same power that let her move fast and swiftly on the battlefield but she couldn’t find that power inside her, like it was gone or rather it wasn’t part of her. Worries slid to her face and she began to stress. “I can’t open any of my gates. Like they are hidden somewhere in the fog and I can’t find them… I can’t fight without them. Better to avoid any unwanted encounters.”

Navia took a deep breath and dashed forward toward the building. She heard a creak near her, and turning toward it she saw a silhouette of a monster right beside her. Her body burned like a furnace as she saw the monster but she moved forward, stepping away from it she felt a cold of uncertainty. She had to move forward without looking back but she had to check if the monster saw her, if it was chasing after her.

The monster stopped in place and didn’t move. Navia stopped moving forward, not understanding why the monster stopped, she didn’t want to risk making herself more visible to the barnacle or risking being chased by the remaining monster that lurked in the city.

Sudden movement of the barnacle made her flinch and reach for her blade, it only twitched at first. Its head began to turn toward her, making her heart race, her ears were pounding as blood ran through them.

“Shit.” She cursed in her mind but didn’t move, she waited for the monster to move first and respond accordingly but she never fought them without her powers, her gates. That was the other reason for her hesitation “Will I survive?”

While she was lost in thoughts the barnacle took a step forward with its head still turned toward her direction. It moved without purpose, away from her, and without turning its head around.

Once the tension fell she felt light, almost as if her Wind Step came back. Taking one last look she moved forward and a building appeared in front of her. The entrance door was slightly jutting out from the building and was surrounded by a stone frame that Navia could easily grab and rest her foot on. Lifting herself up she saw another part of the building to use for climbing. Metal cylinder embodied in the wall to stick the flag in it. With each step higher she was able to spot another object behind the fog that she could use to climb up.

The rooftops of the buildings looked like a small archipelago with a mist above the water. At the other side of the district, she saw a last wall that defended the city. Seeing it intact gave her hope that there are survivors and her companions' deaths weren’t in vain.

Navia thought that moving on the rooftops would be safer and easier than moving through the thick fog but once she was on top she saw how wide the distances between some buildings were. Standing on the edge the gap seemed even bigger, especially without her power that would let her move faster and be pushed by the gust of wind.

“You can do this… You can do this.” She encouraged herself by repeating those words but she moved once she imagined Taizen saying that to her, his trust in the voice that she still remembered.

She stood on the other side of the roof to have a greater run-up. While she was running her focus was on the roof tiles to not break them and make her fall to the ground where the monsters lurk. Once she saw the edge she panicked as she thought “I won’t make it…” Her heart began to race but it was too late to stop, she had to jump. Using all her force from her legs she jumped and flew above the river of fog. She had her eyes closed, thinking she would fall down to the street but she felt the air from above, she was still moving upward. Navia landed on the roof on the other side of the street and stopped two feet away from the edge.

“Was I that strong? I could easily jump further with Wind Step but I did that with my own legs…” She thought as she tried to figure out what had happened to her, it hadn’t crossed her mind earlier as she had vertigo and tried to remember what had happened. Then her focus was on finding the survivors but “How did I survive? Did I even survive…”

Navia had many questions but no one to answer them for her. She had to look for them later as they could wait compared to the survivors on the other side of the wall.

She jumped from one roof to another roof but each time she landed she felt weird, like that strength isn’t hers or at least her body wasn’t used to it. As if she used a hundred percent of her strength without exhausting herself in the process.

Once she landed on the wall she ran up to the other side to check how many survivors were there or if they evacuated the citizens. Approaching the edge of the wall she looked down expecting people or no one but her hopes were far from the truth. The whole ground from the walls to the mountains was covered by barnacles. A whole army of monsters was standing still, awaiting the command of those cursed gods. Looking down she noticed that the walls were untouched as well as the gates that were simply wide open.

“Those damn cultists… They must have opened the gates for those monsters.” She whispered, gritting her teeth in anger as those people did the opposite of what her order was doing.

Counting how many of them there were she saw a last glimpse of hope. The gate to one of the shelters wasn’t broken. If there are any survivors that would be the only place. The last gate on the right side of the mountain.

“How do I get to the shelter… Without those monsters entering it with me…” Navia tried to think of a plan and fate brought her an idea. To her side were cannons that were still intact with ammunition right beside them. “Navia… You’re one crazy lady.” She whispered with a smirk of pride on her face.