Several disappearances and unexplained events have been registered shorty after the commercialization of an ancient statue linked to some legends from a mysterious place called "Reich der Finsternis" in eastern Germany, there is no know route leadin...
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Reich der Finsternis court
Liz expected to fall into a deep and restful sleep, but instead, she found herself transitioning into an alternate reality dominated by desolation. She was submerged in dense darkness that slowly lifted as chandeliers hanging from the ceiling cast an eerie glow across the space. There was no scent in the air, and her sense of touch seemed dulled to the point that the pain in her body vanished entirely. She felt weightless, like she was floating in midair.
Despite her blurry vision, she managed to sit up, desperately scanning the murky surroundings for any sign of Bernard. But there was nothing. No hint of him anywhere. Panic crept in, hard to control, because she knew her friend would never abandon her, no matter what inner turmoil he was battling. She wondered if she had woken up in another room of the palace, moved after yet another period of unconsciousness.
The hallway she found herself in was flanked by towering linen-colored marble pillars that led to a dimly lit chamber further ahead. Still confused, she patted herself down; she was unharmed, but her weapon and radio transmitter were gone, a realization that sent her spiraling into slow despair. She was about to scream Bernard's name when she noticed something odd—her breath, too, seemed almost taken away. Her voice echoed like a faint whisper in the void. Everything around her appeared consumed by a ghostly white light that heightened the sense of dread. Her heart wasn't even beating, and for a moment, she began to wonder if she was dead. Her thoughts were interrupted by faint noises coming from the chamber at the end of the eerie corridor.
As bizarre as her situation was, she still had control over her body and mind. The blinding light behind her swallowed the rest of the hallway, leaving only one visible path: the room at the opposite end. Without thinking twice, she sprinted toward it, shocked to find that her footsteps made no sound and that her body cast no shadow despite the overwhelming light.
Before she realized it, Liz had crossed the threshold of the door and stepped into an immense room, as if she had passed through a portal into another dimension. She froze as a cacophony of terrifying roars and shrieks shattered the silence of the barren surroundings. It was a massive auditorium, divided in half by a wooden wall adorned with grotesque carvings that seemed to writhe under the dim light. The gothic arches towering above gave it the appearance of a profane cathedral. Beyond that barrier, the horrors she had seen in the palace frescoes had come to life before her very eyes. Creatures seemingly pulled straight from the deepest circles of hell filled the entire area leading up to a throne. She saw disfigured faces with jagged teeth, twisted expressions, skulls with animalistic features, and demons with antlers like those of a deer, their emaciated frames reminiscent of a century-old man on the brink of death.
Yet, it wasn't the sorceress Anneliese Holzmann who sat upon the throne, but another woman entirely. She wore an elegant linen-colored gown with black accents, an extravagant necklace that reminded Liz of the queen's three gemstones, and a silver tiara that sparkled in the candlelight. Her skin was ghostly pale, her lips painted black, and her eyebrows sharply contoured, giving her an air of malevolence. Though her expression was solemn, the ruby-red pupils of her eyes dilated as she furrowed her brow, signaling the ill intent that simmered within her. She was the very embodiment of vanity, just as Liz had heard Bernard's friends mention during one of their Bible studies.
