The journey had stretched on for what felt like a lifetime. The city’s skyline, once a distant outline on the horizon, now loomed closer—an unyielding sea of towering structures that seemed to block out the sky itself. Hikari’s legs ached with the weight of the long trek, but as the streets of Long Island City unfolded before her, she couldn’t help but stretch her arms above her head with a long, drawn-out groan, her neck cracking as she tilted her head back.

“Ah, finally here,” she murmured, the exhale of relief escaping her lips like air from a deflated balloon. The weight of the walk had drained her, but there was no time to linger in exhaustion. The destination was close now.

Lila, however, had a far different reaction. Her steps slowed as she approached the boundary of the city, her eyes narrowing as her senses pricked. A thick, suffocating pressure settled over her chest, as if the very air itself had thickened, crushing her from every angle. Her body tensed instinctively, as if bracing for an invisible assault.

It was a sensation she was far too familiar with—Supernatural Pressure.

Supernatural Pressure, an extension of an individual’s Aura, was a force that came from deep within the soul itself. It was not just a manifestation of strength or intent; it was a direct reflection of the internal chaos that resided in the heart of a person. The strain of unresolved struggles, the gnawing weight of sorrow or rage, the obsessive clinging to desires unfulfilled—when these emotions reached their peak, they spilled outwards, twisting into a tangible field of energy that threatened to overpower everything in its vicinity. The Aura stretched beyond the confines of the body, infecting the air, the earth, and those unfortunate enough to fall within its reach.

But this was no ordinary pressure. This was not the raw fury of battle or the desperate fight for survival. No, this was something darker, more insidious—a heavy, crushing despair that seeped into the very bones of the world around them.

The pressure in the air thickened as Lila took another step forward. It wasn’t the usual sensation of a battle-hardened fighter pushing their limits; it wasn’t the sharpened edge of malice or vengeance. It was an unrelenting weight—grief, sorrow, loss. An emotion so potent, it had stained the very fabric of this place.

It hung there like a dark cloud, pressing in from all sides, suffocating and overwhelming, until the world seemed to blur at the edges. The weight of it was palpable—every breath felt labored, every movement sluggish. The only thing that seemed certain in this place was the absence of hope.

Lila understood. This was not a natural presence. It was an aberration, something so deep in despair that it had spilled into the world, like ink staining the cleanest of pages. And as her body reacted to the pressure, she felt her pulse quicken, her muscles tightening, the urge to flee gnawing at the edges of her mind.

“Something’s here…” Lila muttered under her breath, her voice strained as if she could barely find the words.

Hikari didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. The pressure didn’t seem to bother her in the same way it did Lila—perhaps it was the way she carried her own inner turmoil. But even Hikari’s calm demeanor couldn’t hide the way the air felt heavier than it should.

Then, without warning, the entity’s presence loomed in the distance—a shadowy form that felt like a void, not quite physical, but omnipresent, filling the space with a presence that was almost too much to comprehend.

The entity’s grief, its despair, hung thick in the air. It was a silent scream—a cry for help that had long since turned into something darker. A cry that had echoed for too long, now twisted into an oppressive weight that stuck to the ground, like tar, dragging down everything and everyone in its path.

Hikari’s expression shifted slightly, a flicker of unease crossing her face.

“I can feel it…” she murmured, her eyes narrowing as she glanced around. “But we’re too late.”

The words were soft, but the implications were far from it. The sense of hopelessness was overwhelming. The creature that had manifested its aura here, this force of supernatural despair—it wasn’t just a presence. It was a warning. A sign of something darker, something far worse, approaching with every passing moment.

They had no choice but to push forward into the heart of this oppressive, suffocating storm.

The moment Hikari and Lila stepped across the border into Long Island City, everything around them seemed to shift. At first, it was subtle—a slight distortion in the edges of their vision, like the world itself was being viewed through a cracked lens. The buildings remained the same, the streets still held the same familiarity, but there was something undeniably off.

It was as if they had crossed some invisible threshold, stepping into a place that was not quite real, not quite whole. The air around them felt dense, heavy with an oppressive weight that made every breath feel like a struggle. It wasn’t just the feeling of the supernatural pressure—this felt different. More unnatural, as if the very fabric of reality had been twisted and warped into something unrecognizable.

The shadows… they were wrong. Stretching unnaturally across the ground, they twitched and flickered, as though they were alive, crawling along the pavement like hungry insects, waiting to pounce. The buildings around them seemed to lean in, casting elongated shadows that seemed to pulse with something darker.

But it was the people that truly unsettled them. Hikari’s eyes narrowed as she scanned the passing crowd. They were walking—milling about, just like any other normal city—but something in their movements felt off. Their faces were blank, devoid of any real emotion, their eyes glazed over as they passed, each step mechanical, as though they were all following some invisible script.

“Are they… even real?” Hikari muttered under her breath, unease creeping into her voice.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“This place feels… off, but I can’t quite place my finger on it,” she added, her hand subconsciously tightening around the hilt of her knife.

Lila’s sharp senses didn’t miss a beat. Her own gaze swept across the street, studying the people, the atmosphere. Her expression darkened as she muttered, “I know. The supernatural pressure here is immense. I can’t tell if it’s Amanda or something completely different.”

Hikari shook her head, her eyes narrowing in skepticism. “I doubt even a ten-year-old would be able to have such a huge presence. No matter how powerful.”

Lila shrugged, her lips curling into a wry smile. “You never really know. I’ve seen some crazy things in this line of work.”

“And I used to watch LiveLeak videos,” Hikari grinned, her voice taking on a joking tone. “I’ve seen things too, y’know.”

But the air between them grew heavy again, and before they could respond further, a disturbance rippled through the stillness. The unnatural, robotic movements of the people around them faltered for a moment.

And then, like a wave crashing against the shore, it came.

A blur of motion—a rush of bodies moving at inhuman speed—fifteen undead humans, their limbs stiff and jerky, weapons clutched in their skeletal hands. The stench of decay filled the air as they charged toward Hikari and Lila, their eyes empty, their faces contorted into grotesque masks of death.

The pair barely had time to react. Lila’s instincts kicked in first. With a sharp exhale, she raised her hands, summoning a wave of psychic energy. A blinding beam shot out from her palms, disintegrating two of the undead in an instant. Their bodies crumbled into dust before they even hit the ground.

Meanwhile, Hikari’s eyes flashed with intent, and she twisted her hands in the air, summoning the force of her telekinesis. The ground trembled as three of the undead were crushed under the weight of invisible force, their skulls caving in with sickening crunches.

Without a second thought, Hikari swung her arms wide, lifting two cars off the street with nothing but her mind. The vehicles soared through the air, crashing into two of the undead with a deafening boom. The impact sent the remaining bodies flying in all directions, mangled and broken.

Only six undead remained.

Lila was already on the move, her speed enhanced by telekinesis as she zipped toward the remaining attackers. With a flick of her wrist, dual blades formed in her hands, shimmering with psychic energy. She spun through the air, her blades slicing effortlessly through the undead, their decaying bodies cleaving in half with a grotesque wetness. Three of them fell before they even knew what had hit them.

But it wasn’t over.

Hikari, her eyes still burning with energy, reached down and grasped a massive boulder from the nearby rubble. Her telekinetic grip tightened around it, and with a single motion, she sent the boulder crashing down onto the remaining undead. The sound of bones breaking and bodies being crushed was a sickening symphony of destruction. By the time the dust settled, only two bodies were left twitching on the ground, their movements more desperate than ever before.

Hikari stood tall, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. “Well… that was unexpected,” she said with a sigh, brushing a strand of hair from her face as she surveyed the carnage around them.

Lila lowered her weapons, her gaze scanning the now-silent street. She didn’t look impressed—only mildly disturbed. “I’d say. I didn’t expect to have to fight as soon as we got here.”

Hikari glanced at her, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. “You think Amanda did this?”

Lila shook her head. “I doubt even a ten-year-old would be able to command this many undead and make them fight with such precision.”

Hikari rolled her eyes, catching the subtle jab in Lila’s words. She shook her head, but couldn’t help the small smile tugging at her lips. “You’re quoting me, huh?”

But Lila’s eyes never softened. She had a serious look on her face, scanning the environment. “We’re not alone here. Someone else is pulling the strings.”

Hikari’s smile faded as she looked around, the unsettling atmosphere still thick in the air. Whatever was waiting for them in this warped version of Long Island City, it wasn’t going to be easy.

Hikari narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms as she stared at Lila. “What do you mean, someone else is pulling the strings? Who else could it possibly be other than her?”

Lila let out a thoughtful hum, glancing around as if sensing something just beyond the veil of perception. “It could be another supernatural entity. It’s not unusual for them to work alongside humans.”

Hikari scoffed. “Not unusual? I thought supernatural entities would rather tear humans apart than cooperate with them.”

Lila gave a small, knowing smile. “That’s true for many of them, but not all. Supernatural beings aren’t bound to simple notions of good or evil.”

Hikari raised an eyebrow, skepticism evident in her expression. “Really?”

Lila nodded, her gaze steady. “Think about it. The supernatural world isn’t some distant fairy tale—it’s here, woven into reality, just beyond the reach of ordinary perception. Most humans never notice because they lack Supernatural Affinity—the rare ability to sense, interact with, and even harness the power of these entities. Those who do possess it can wield Aura, a force that connects them to the supernatural, granting abilities like telekinesis, elemental control, or necromancy.”

She paused, her voice lowering slightly. “But power like that comes at a cost. Aura changes its wielder, slowly eating away at their humanity. The more one relies on it, the closer they drift toward the chaotic, unrelenting nature of the supernatural realm.”

Hikari frowned. That was the kind of detail she didn’t like to think about.

Lila continued, her tone even. “Supernatural entities don’t think like us. Their motives shift like the tide, their allegiances are fleeting at best. Some might help humans, while others see them as nothing more than tools or playthings. And some…” Her voice grew distant. “Some exist beyond the reach of reason altogether. Encounters with them aren’t just battles of strength—they’re battles against the very fabric of reality itself.”

A heavy silence settled between them.

Hikari exhaled sharply, rolling her shoulders. “Great. So, not only do we have to deal with Amanda, but now we might be up against some eldritch horror with an agenda. This just keeps getting better and better.”

Lila smirked. “Welcome to the supernatural world.”

The sky above was an unnatural shade of gray, as if the heavens themselves had been drained of warmth. The air felt thick—heavy, oppressive, like a breath held too long. Shadows stretched too far, bending unnaturally against the dim light of the city, distorting the familiar into something just slightly… wrong.

Perched atop the rooftop above them, something watched.

Still. Too still.

It stood at the building’s edge, not with the natural balance of a living being, but with an eerie, unnatural rigidity—like a marionette held by invisible strings. Her figure was human in shape, but something about her presence was fundamentally off, a distortion that the mind recoiled from even as the eyes struggled to process it.

Long, raven-black hair cascaded around her like liquid shadow, the strands shifting ever so slightly, even though there was no wind. They slithered, curling and uncurling, whispering softly against the air as if murmuring secrets to one another. Her skin, pale as bone, seemed almost translucent in the dim light, with faint, serpentine patterns of ancient runes etched along her arms—marks that pulsed subtly, in time with something unseen, something vast.

Then, her eyes—dull silver, hollow, yet impossibly deep, like staring into a well with no bottom. They did not shimmer with curiosity, nor did they glint with malice. They simply took in everything before them, impassive, unwavering. Cold.

A slow, almost lazy smile stretched across her lips as she tilted her head just slightly, the motion too smooth, too fluid.

“Ah, I see—two exorcists of the new generation. And what’s this~?”

Her voice dripped from the air like honey laced with something rancid, each word drawn out in a near-singsong lilt, as though she were tasting the weight of them before letting them slip free.

Her gaze flicked to Lila first. Something twitched behind her—no, inside her. The girl’s shadow rippled, subtly wrong, shifting independent of the light source. And there—flickers of gold, almost imperceptible, threading through her irises, vanishing before they could be acknowledged. A trick of the mind, surely.

The entity’s eyes lingered on the faint, fox-shaped wisps that coiled around Lila’s frame, thin as candle smoke. Something slumbers within her.

And then—Hikari.

For the first time, the entity’s smile faltered.

Her head gave an unnatural tilt, her pupils dilating, focusing, consuming.

Beneath the skin of the girl before her, an ocean churned—vast, endless, an abyss of sheer psychic force that dwarfed anything she had seen in millennia. It was raw, unshaped, a power so great it should not be possible for one body to contain it, let alone one so young.

A slow, delighted exhale left the entity’s lips.

“Well… isn’t that interesting?”

Her smile curled wider, stretching too far, the edges of her lips trembling as if barely containing the amusement threatening to spill forth.

“Two Apostles standing before me~.”

The words were light, airy—yet the weight behind them pressed against the air like an invisible hand squeezing a fragile throat.

Lila stiffened. Hikari’s fingers twitched.

The city around them felt suddenly distant.

And above them, the entity simply smiled.

To be continued.