The landscape of the Veil was familiar, the plains and rolling hills of Albion. Yet, it laid dead and lifeless. There was no grass, and the trees were dead, without their leaves. It was barren and sickening to see.
A desert that wasn't supposed to be a desert. A wasteland that was not to be.
And in the skies of that expanse—
“Hup—!”
Marilyn—a girl of white hair with a silver eye—flew, dispersing the dust in the air through sheer speed, advancing in one of the chosen paths towards the capital. The speed at which she flew was exhilarating, almost overwhelming, the chill of the Veil’s barren air biting at her skin.
She felt the weight of the dead landscape below her, stretching out in endless shades of grey and brown, a twisted mockery of the Albion she once knew. The only sound was the distant rush of wind and the occasional call of her teammates, voices cutting through the emptiness as they maintained their formation.
She wasn't alone in the skies however, as her eyes had gazed upon two people in particular.
“This is actually my first time flying like this, quite so~!” Eldryn said out loud, his trajectory nearing Marilyn's to speak to her.
Marilyn smiled, “You better get used to it then!”
“I know~! It's reeaally fun, on Blessed One~!” The preacher laughed out loud as he parted ways from her, advancing further than her with his staff in hand.
The other one in the skies with her now would be her closest friend, who flew just above the surface, perhaps a few dozen feet up in the air. The princess had used her flames to fly in such a way, equivalent to that metal armour based superhero she once knew from those movies and comics.
Cecilia didn't bother flying any higher, for that wasn't the task for her. As one might see, this was a formation of sorts, and each person had their roles.
Obviously, Adrian would be the leader, on the ground upon a phantasmal horse that Vincent had summoned for him. He was the one that got the recording first, and knew how to use strategy the most.
Vincent in the meantime acted as the rear guard, riding his own phantasmal horse that he summoned. His senses are among the most acute, and his eyes were the sharpest of the six people that was their team. Any sort of threat from behind he could see from far away as a result.
Cecilia and Elysia acted as the wings of the formation, positioning themselves on the flanks of the team. This was why Cecilia was flying so low, for she was there to help in either intercepting any threats below or above when needed.
Elysia was similar in that regard, for she was the strongest in physical capabilities, she could either jump up high as she was on all fours, or decimate any hordes immediately coming their way with her sword.
This would mean, as the only two people to fly so high in the sky, Marilyn and Eldryn acted as their aerial support. They were there to watch the skies and help from above in any threat they may face.
They had the most devastating array of magic, unlike Adrian and Cecilia's which were mixed with their martial combat, or Vincent which had a more gun-man style of fighting.
At least, that was what Adrian and Eldryn himself had said. She didn't actually know what kind of abilities Divine Magic had that Eldryn could use. It was, after all, an esoteric field of magic fully based upon faith and belief alone.
And according to Eldryn's very own words, his magical prowess could be ‘anything that the Goddess Seraphina provided for him’. Whatever that could mean.
They moved like parts of a well-oiled machine, each one trusting the other with their lives. This was more than just a team—it was her family, her bond, forged in trials she never could have imagined. They were all she had, and she would give anything to protect them.
But in any case—
“Hmm…”
She wondered how big of a role the Onlooker Gods did have on Divine Magic. She knew just based on context alone, from what Sophia had said, that Personifications weren't really gods in the way the Onlookers were. They may have the powers that could have them be considered as such, but Marilyn supposed they didn't play any surmountable role in the actions of a Divine Magic user.
Unless faith and belief were much more versatile than that, and that Personifications could empower those individuals if they so choose, Marilyn thought of any sort of ‘blessings’ they may have would be much more direct than it was nebulous.
Well, that may have gotten off-topic. For Marilyn had now led herself to believe that the support of the Onlookers were truly nebulous, if she wanted to separate them from the Personifications that she knew of.
Then—
Notice: Incoming threat detected. Large in number.
Being warned by her Eyes of Heaven, Marilyn’s gaze darted across the barren expanse below, her silver eye narrowing as something unfamiliar caught her attention. At first, it was only a faint tremor in the air, barely noticeable—a distortion, like ripples spreading over water. But then the ground below seemed to shift, an unnatural haze gathering just beyond their horizon.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
A low, rumbling vibration grew steadily, thrumming through the Veil's dead silence. Marilyn’s heart quickened as she recognized the faint shapes beginning to form within—beasts galloping at an impossible speed, hooves striking noiselessly against the cracked earth.
Phantoms. Thousands of them, shadowy steeds with crimson red eyes and skeletal faces, and riders clad in the dark, faded remnants of Albion’s ancient armour and weapons.
“Adrian!” Marilyn called, her voice sharp and urgent, cutting through the quiet. “We’ve got company—a whole stampede of Phantoms, heading our way up ahead!”
Below, Adrian looked up, meeting her gaze with a steady nod, his hand already gripping his weapon, the others doing the same.
Marilyn’s pulse raced as she kept her eye on the advancing horde, the shadowed riders drawing closer with each passing second. They were relentless, heedless of death or fatigue—a force driven by pure malice, and they were aimed directly at her team.
Adrian’s voice rang out, commanding and steady. “Everyone, remember your roles! Maintain cohesion!”
The six of them advanced towards the incoming horde. They did not want to lose momentum against them, as their numbers were not enough to stem the tide through defence, they must use their mobility and individual power to cut through them.
Then, as they approached—
“Take this!”
A brilliant blast of light had cut through the sky, and unto the incoming wave of foes below.
Marilyn had unleashed the first attack, as it dispersed those thousands, destroyed dozens, and forced them into disarray. It was the prime opportunity she had provided for the rest of her team.
Cecilia was next to strike, flanking around the incoming horde before charging at their side. With a flourish of her blade, flames spiralled forth, as she cut through the stampede like a dance within their blind spot. Those fallen riders attempted a defence, but their forms were destroyed as the enchanted fire cut through them.
"Keep pressing!" Adrian called, his voice ringing clear. From his place at the front, he raised his weapon—the Azure, glowing with its blue flames, striking out like a snake poised to strike.
With his phantasmal horse galloping forward, he struck through the heart of the horde, unleashing Essence-fueled blasts with each swing, collapsing into empty shadows.
Elysia charged forth right after, jumping into the fray, slashing each and every rider that was near her with her new sword. She and Adrian were like a dynamic duo of precise strikes and brutal force, the vanguard of this group as they disrupted the stampede’s formations directly at its heart.
Behind them, Vincent rode forward towards the other side opposite of the princess’ own flank, his keen eyes aimed at the formation. With a grin, he readied his revolver, charging Essence into it, and unleashed a yellow blast of magic, piercing through them by the dozen.
“What a fucking weapon!” he smiled, as if he had found his lover.
And observing from above, as each of those four people fought on, resisting the tide that had pressed onto them, Marilyn turned towards Eldryn, as she also opened up volleys of magic unto the horde.
"Now would be a great time to show us what your 'divine magic' can really do!" She called him out, as she fired a pulse of light to decimate around half a dozen more of those riders.
Eldryn laughed, floating effortlessly beside her. "Ask, and I shall provide!" With a dramatic flourish, he raised his staff, which pulsed with a soft, golden light. “Oh goddess, grant me strength to push them back!”
The air shifted, and the oppressive weight of the Veil momentarily lifted as his magic took form. A celestial light descended from above, akin to lightning from a tear in the sky itself, illuminating the field below.
The light touched the ground, and created an oppressive wave that pushed those Phantoms back, their movements growing sluggish at the end of it as they came into contact with the divine energy.
Miraculously, none of their allies were even affected, as if they were excluded in spite of the attack’s area of effect.
Marilyn breathed a sigh of relief, her fingers tingling with residual energy as she prepared her next spell. "Nice one, Eldryn—”
Her gaze had caught something strange.
Beyond the light, high in the sky, there was movement—something vast and dark, circling just at the edge of her vision. Her heart stuttered, an inexplicable chill settling over her. Whatever it was, it was far larger than any of the phantoms below, and its presence seemed to sap the light from the sky itself.
"What…?" she began, her voice barely a whisper.
Marilyn’s silver eye narrowed, glowing a starry azure, honing in on the shape, trying to make sense of it. It was like a stain on the sky, a darkness that wasn’t merely an absence of light—it was something alive, pulsating with an ancient, malevolent energy.
Object Identified: Hunting Horror.
Threat Level: Extreme.
It grew larger, moving like a school of fish in the ocean, casting an enormous shadow across the battlefield below. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, a primal warning of danger she couldn’t fully comprehend.
"Adrian!" she shouted, her voice strained. "Above us!”
Her teammates looked up, their eyes widening as they too saw the encroaching shadow. Elysia crouched low, her sword poised, ready to spring, but there was a flicker of doubt in her usually fierce gaze. Even Vincent, in his trance of combat, had a flicker of unease as he stared into the void above.
Even the stampede had stopped its fighting, as they too gazed upon that shadow, in awe instead of concern.
The shadow loomed larger, spreading into a hand—or something like a hand—black and lined with writhing tendrils of dark mist. It blocked out the weak, pale light of the Veil, casting the entire landscape into an unnatural twilight.
Marilyn felt a pressure in her chest, as if her very soul was being compressed under the weight of this presence. She gritted her teeth, willing herself to stay calm, to focus on the task at hand. She would not let fear control her, not when her friends were depending on her.
Gathering Essence around her, she casted—
“Lancea Lucis Magna!”
And a massive blast of light was ushered forth from her staff, making contact with that shadow. But it did little.
The creature’s gaze—or what she could only assume was its gaze—locked onto her. An overwhelming sense of dread washed over her, a feeling like icy claws digging into her mind.
“Hrk—!”
This wasn’t just a mindless creature. It was intelligent, malevolent, and it had singled her out.
In the span of a heartbeat, the shadow shifted, descending with impossible speed. Marilyn barely had time to react, her instincts screaming at her to fly, to evade, but it was too fast, too vast. She raised her hands, summoning a shield of shimmering light, bracing herself against the impact.
But the darkness swallowed her whole, a maw of pure shadow enveloping her, silencing her cry.
"Marilyn!" Cecilia’s voice echoed, frantic and raw, but it barely reached her.
In the final seconds before the world vanished completely, she caught a glimpse of her team, their horrified faces looking up at her, powerless to stop what was happening. Then, the shadow closed in fully, and everything went dark.