The City of Circles

After hours of walking, the group finally arrived at a towering two-meter gray wall. At its center, a barred gate blocked the entrance to what seemed to be a well-developed town.

Triss came to a stop, turning slightly toward Adam. "We're here." Then, facing him fully, she continued, "We plan on taking you to the center circle, where the church's cathedral is stationed."

Adam blinked. Circle? Cathedral? His mind reeled. Woman, didn't you say village? This is a whole-ass town!

Keeping his internal frustration hidden behind a composed mask, Adam gave her a warm smile. "That's fine, but will they be able to answer my questions?"

Triss signaled to the guards at the gate. As it creaked open, she turned back to him. "The Pope will. He is a half-angel on the cusp of becoming whole. With you being a complete angel, I'm sure the Pope himself will attend to you personally."

Adam gave a slow nod, absorbing that information.

A sudden weight of a gaze made him shift his attention to Maple. She had been sneaking glances at him ever since they entered the forest, and now she was outright staring.

Raising an eyebrow, he met her gaze. "Hmm? Something wrong?"

"Eeep!" Maple jolted, quickly looking away. "N-nothing!"

How curious.

Letting it slide for now, Adam followed the pair through the gate and into the "village."

The streets were nothing like he expected from what Triss had called a "village." Instead of simple wooden huts or scattered shacks, the outer circle was lined with pristine, white-stone buildings. The streets were paved with a similar gray-white stone, giving the entire area a clean, almost sacred appearance.

People bustled through the streets with vibrant energy, their conversations lighthearted and cheerful. However, every time Adam passed, the lively atmosphere faltered. People would stop mid-step, their gazes locking onto him with something akin to awe. It was as if he were some kind of celebrity.

Other than that, everything seemed... normal.

The moment they crossed into the middle circle, everything changed.

The buildings, still pristine, were even grander. The streets were cleaner, polished to near perfection. But it was the people that caught Adam off guard.

Their attire—if it could even be called that—was scandalous. Men strolled about topless, some abandoning even their pants in favor of only their underwear. Women wore cropped tops with panties, skirts without shirts, bras with only pants—some were practically naked.

Adam felt his expression twitch, his brain trying to process what he was seeing.

Then he saw people kissing—no, making out—openly in the streets. Tongue and all.

Do these people even know each other?

A few minutes later, his gaze accidentally landed on something even worse.

A couple. In an alley. Having sex.

His eyes widened. What the fuck…

Snapping his gaze away, he tried to refocus, only to see another couple. And another. And another.

Everywhere he turned, it was the same. The air itself felt thick with an intoxicating energy, a charged atmosphere that set his instincts on high alert.

And the worst part? No one seemed to think any of this was abnormal.

By the time they reached the final gate, Adam's mind was buzzing with a thousand questions he wasn't sure he wanted answered.

Triss spoke briefly with the gate guards, and they were granted passage into the innermost circle.

The atmosphere shifted yet again.

The roads and buildings were now made from dark stone, contrasting starkly with the brightness of the previous circles. At the heart of the district stood a massive cathedral, its dark stone façade accentuated by ivory and gold highlights along its edges. An ebony flag hung at its peak, embroidered with the elegant image of a white fox curled into a spiral. It was... breathtaking.

But as Adam's gaze moved away from the grand cathedral and onto the people who inhabited this place, his entire body stiffened.

They were naked.

Every single one of them.

Men. Women. Old. Young. Not a single scrap of clothing in sight.

The corners of Adam's mouth twitched. His brows furrowed. "They're naked..." he muttered under his breath, his mind struggling to keep up.

Before he could ask any of the questions flooding his brain—

A crushing force slammed down on him.

It was as if the sky itself had collapsed. His knees buckled, slamming into the stone pavement.

Then came the fire.

A searing, burning sensation erupted in his chest, spreading like wildfire through his veins. His limbs trembled before giving out entirely, his body collapsing to the ground.

The more pressure he felt, the hotter the flames burned. The hotter the flames burned, the heavier the pressure became.

A cycle of agony. An inescapable torment.

His vision darkened. His thoughts faded. His body went limp.

And then—

Nothing.