Soaring into the azure sky, a small angel with a golden laurel crown resting on his head streaked through the clouds. Under the temple of his goddess, in Skyworld, a strange portal had opened and thus he was sent to investigate.
"Don't worry Lady Paletuna. I'll take care of this in no time!" the young angel Pit shouted with an enthusiasm that matched his shining eyes. His voice, full of confidence, echoed through the endless sky as he shot forward, gripping his bow tightly.
The portal pulsated with a strange, dark energy, that made him curious and determined.
"I'm sending you in, Pit," the kind but authoritative voice of Paletuna echoed in his head.
"All right! It's time for a dimensional trip!" Pit grinned as his wings sent him diving right inside the rift.
As he emerged on the other side, he blinked in surprise. Instead of danger or chaos, he was met with a peaceful world—a sprawling landscape of vibrant greenery. The air was crisp, and a gentle breeze brushed against his face, almost welcoming.
"Wow… This is not what I expected," Pit muttered, scanning the serene surroundings.
"Indeed," Paletuna's voice chimed in. "his world doesn't match the dark energy from the portal at all."
"Perhaps there is no problem?" Pit asked hopefully. "Can I come back home?"
"Not just yet, Pit," Paletuna said, containing a chuckle. "We still need to investigate what's going on. What if monsters were to pop out of the portal and invade Skyworld?"
Pit's eyes widened in alarm. "Wait…"
"I would have to put all the responsibility on you. Punish you to no hot springs for a month…" Paletuna teased.
"For a month?!" the angel gasped, horrified at the prospect of losing his favorite pastime. "Don't worry Paletuna! In the name of the goddess of light, I shall uncover the truth of this situation!"
"Good," Paletuna said, though Pit could sense she smiled.
In an instant, he was sent further down, far below the clouds. There, he saw a city bustling with life, surrounded by forests and mountain ranges. Among the city's landmarks, a grand coliseum stood proudly, and not far from it, a majestic castle rose at the edge of it.
"Looks like we've found something," Pit murmured, preparing to dive in.
Paletuna's voice rang in his head. "Wait, Pit! I see another portal down below, near the forest!"
He squinted his eyes and spotted the faint glow inside a small clearing. "I see it. There's someone coming out of it…"
"No time, we need to go and see what it is," Paletuna urged.
Without having the time to retort, Pit's wings glowed brighter as he was sent straight down at full speed. His face was all distorted from the sheer force he was suddenly subjugated to.
"G-force, in my faaaace!" he yelled with a mix of exhilaration and panic.
He finally landed with a thud near the small clearing while barely managing to keep his balance. The soil beneath him grounded him from the sudden speed change.
"Whoa… That was intense!" he gasped, shaking off the residual dizziness.
"Focus Pit! Stay alert!" Paletuna reminded him.
From his position, he could see the figure emerging from the portal. He appeared human, though he had an air of menace surrounding him with his blades pulled out. As he crouched behind a large bush, he strained to hear what he was saying.
"It seems our lord and savior Jesus Christ had something interesting in store for me today…" the man spoke with a deep voice as a manic grin spreaded on his face.
Pit recoiled upon seeing the man's crazy face. "Oh man… This guy looks really like a bad guy!"
"And you know what we do to bad guys, right Pit?" her voice echoed in his mind, urging him to act.
"Right. We take them down!" Pit shouted, fist in the air.
"Exactly! But remember, strategy is key. Observe his movements before you act," she instructed with a firm tone.
Pit peered from behind the bush and realized that someone else was there—a woman dressed in nun's habits, frozen in a prayer stance, her eyes wide with fear as she recoiled from the man.
"Amen!" the man declared, followed by a laugh that sent shivers down Pit's spine. His blades were now forming a cross as he held them in front of him.
"I will save you!" Pit shouted with determination as he stepped from behind the bush, holding his bow, now transformed into two blades.
The nun looked over, surprised. "...Huh?"
"Wha…" Pit froze, his eyes widening as he noticed that the woman had the lower half of a snake.
"Repent, Abomination!" Father Alexander Anderson roared, lunging forward with a swift and deadly intent, ready to strike the lamia.
The blades clashed, with Pit stepping in front of her in time to stop the attack. With a simple movement of his body, he managed to push back the menacing man before striking a pose.
"In the name of the goddess Paletuna! The defender of all that is good… Those who live in the darkness will be made to face the light!" he declared, his body shimmering with divine energy as he readied himself for battle.
Anderson narrowed his eyes, the glint of his glasses hiding his bewilderment. "An angel?"
"An angel?" the lamia echoed, smiling as if her prayers were answered. "You're here to help me!"
"That's right!" Pit shouted, clutching his blades tighter while pointing them at the man in front of him. "I won't let you harm her, monster!"
The man grinned, a chuckle escaping his lips. "Monster? An angel listening to a pagan god telling me that I'm a monster?"
Pit's grip tightened as he stepped forward, unfazed by the man's taunts. "You're the one attacking an innocent! She deserves protection!"
"I'm not sure if she is innocent, Pit. She is looking at you with strange eyes," Paletuna intervened, interrupting his speech.
"A presumed innocent person!" Pit corrected himself as if everyone heard the goddess in his head talk.
"Innocent?" Anderson replied with a low, throaty sound. "All I see is a heathen creature, cloaked in deceit. You would defend her just because she has your attention?" He pulled out another bayonet, ready to strike again.
"She's more than that!" Pit shot back, though he turned back to face the lamia for confirmation. "You're not like that, right?"
"I am a simple creature faithful to Ilias," she lied as naturally as she breathed.
"See? She's more than that!" Pit insisted with confidence.
"A dog to a false god, I see," Anderson grinned again. "We the Iscariots are the executors of divine justice. We hunt the wicked for what they truly are." Without warning, he struck with his bayonet, meeting Pit's blades once again. The clash reverberated through the clearing, making the small animals flee in fear.
Pit pushed back with all of his strength managing to force Anderson to stumble back slightly. With a fluid motion, he rearranged his blades into a bow, drawing back multiple divine arrows made of light. "Take that!" he shouted as he released them at once.
With swift movements, the priest deflected each arrow effortlessly. The arrows collided with the surrounding trees, exploding into sparkling trails of light.
"Is that all you've got, angel?" he taunted, a smirk playing on his lips as he prepared for another offensive.
"Not even close!" Pit dodged the bayonets Anderson threw at him by rolling to the side.
Sofia, the lamia, was nearly pierced by one of the blades, narrowly avoiding it by coiling her serpent tail away just in time.
Suddenly, Pit felt a sharp pain in his arm as one of the bayonets grazed him, a trail of blood dropping to the forest floor. He winced but quickly shook off the pain, refusing to let it distract him.
"Heal!" Sofia shouted, her hand glowing faintly. The scrape Pit had received soon disappeared as if it never existed in the first place.
"Whoa! Awesome!" Pit exclaimed, giving a thumbs up to the lamia. "Thanks!"
Anderson's eyes widened for a moment, clearly surprised by the sudden display of magic. "What kind of heathen technique is that?" he growled.
Without hesitation, he lunged at Pit again, his bayonets ready to impale him.
"Pit, look out!" Paletuna warned urgently.
"Got it!" the angel responded, quickly shifting into a defensive stance. But just as Anderson approached him, a hand surged from the portal behind the priest, grabbing him by the collar.
"Sorry, little chicken, this guy is mine," a deep voice echoed as a man in a red coat and a red hat with glasses stepped out of the portal. With his tie neatly arranged around his neck and his tall stature, he exuded an undeniable aura that was out of this world.
"What—?" Anderson stammered, caught off guard as he was yanked back, the bayonets nearly slipping from his grasp. His surprise quickly turned into a growl as he faced the newcomer. "You!"
"Yeah, sorry about that," the man spoke with a casual demeanor, adjusting his glasses. "Man, it sure is bright today; I really shouldn't stay here for too long."
"Who are you?" Pit asked, confused.
"The name's Alucard," the man replied with a smirk. "Now see ya, you schmuck! I've got a final battle to do, and I don't wanna miss out on this whole London massacre. Bye!"
"Wait, what?!" Pit shouted, eyes wide as Alucard turned to leave, unfazed by the chaos around him.
"Wait, is he really my Anderson?" Alucard stopped in his tracks for a brief moment before walking again, "Hey, have you ever heard of Boondock Sain—" Alucard muttered something confusedly before disappearing back into the portal with Anderson from which he came. And as soon as they couldn't see them, the portal disappeared, and with it, Alexander's good day.
"What just happened?" Paletuna chimed in.
"I have no clue…" Pit sighed, relief flooding through him now that the fight was over. He glanced around the clearing, trying to process the sudden turn of events. The lamia, appeared shaken but unharmed, her serpent tail coiling and straightening nervously as she approached him.
"Is it really over?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Pit rearranged his bow again to appear more friendly and scratched his head. "It appears so," though he wasn't sure. Those strange portals gave him more questions than answers for now and the problem was far from resolved. He had to find the source of these portals as fast as possible—or else he'd be denied hot springs for a month!
"Thank you so much for saving me…" the lamia looked at him, her eyes sincere as she began to pray in gratitude. "I knew Ilias would save me."
"You're welcome!" Pit replied though the look in her eyes made his spine shiver for some reason. "I do not know who that Ilias is…"
"Oh, right. You mentioned this… 'Paletuna'," her expression shifted as she noted his confusion.
"Yeah! She's the goddess I'm working for," Pit beamed, proud to mention it. "She's the defender of light and all things good!"
Sofia nodded, a thoughtful look crossing her face. "Ilias is similar. She represents hope and purity. And as a faithful member of her church, please allow me to thank you properly."
Pit swore he saw her lick her lips and her tail sway weirdly when she said that but he shrugged.
"Pit, I'm not sure she has the most pure intentions about you." Paletuna intervened, a hint of concern in her voice.
"How could I say no to someone thanking me?" Pit beamed, confident that it was nothing to worry about. Pit beamed, confident that it was nothing to worry about. He didn't see the warning signs; he was too caught up in the moment, eager to bask in the praise and attention.
Sofia leaned closer, her voice soft and inviting. "Ufufu… Let's pray together…"
"Huh?" Pit recoiled, sensing that, perhaps…
He should've heard his goddess's warnings.
The night started off weirdly for Luka. After leaving the corpse of the raptor and the strange White Rabbit behind in his office, he jumped into his car, gripping the wheel tighter than usual. The city lights blurred past him as he raced to check on the other portals that had manifested all over the city.
"What is going on?" Luka muttered to himself. His mind was already tired from the absurd situation he was in just a few minutes ago. He shook his head, trying to focus as his thoughts raced. The situation wasn't just some isolated incident, but curiously enough, it remained confined to the city.
"It seems the portals aren't opening anywhere else," Nina's voice chimed in through his earpiece. She was monitoring the readings of magical energy in the city, feeding him updates in real-time.
"That doesn't make sense," Luka replied, his grip on the wheel tightening as he weaved through the traffic. "Why did it stop at this city?"
"All I know is that the portals are similar to what the White Rabbit created earlier," she explained. "But since it's dead, it shouldn't be creating new portals."
That stopped Luka in his thoughts. If the White Rabbit was the cause, and it was dead, then where were the new portals coming from? The situation made less and less sense with each passing moment. And if Nina—someone who always had an answer—was drawing blanks, that sent a chill down his spine.
His foot pressed harder on the accelerator, but his progress came to a screeching halt as he rounded a corner and found himself stuck in a traffic jam. Luka's heart raced as he surveyed the chaos in front of him. The flashing lights of emergency vehicles cast eerie shadows across the congested street, and the cacophony of car horns added to the tense atmosphere.
"An accident?" Luka muttered under his breath, his instincts immediately kicking in. He couldn't afford to waste time sitting idly. He stepped out of the car, weaving between stopped vehicles as he rushed toward the source of the commotion.
As he drew closer, he saw the wreckage of several cars piled up in a tangle of metal and glass, smoke billowing up from the crumpled roofs. Police officers were trying to control the scene, but what really caught Luka's eye was a group of paramedics standing frozen in place as they saw the amount of damage done to the people inside.
"Hey! What's going on?" a man yelled as he stepped out of his car, oblivious to the destruction just ahead. He was middle-aged, well-dressed, and clearly more annoyed about his personal schedule than the disaster unfolding around him. "I'm going to be late to the party!"
"Please, get back in your cars!" a police officer shouted, trying to maintain some semblance of order amidst the chaos. His voice wavered as the crowd grew restless, some people stepping out of their vehicles to get a closer look at the accident.
"Luka! I'm picking up huge readings around the city!" Nina's voice echoed through his earpiece, accompanied by the sound of her frantic typing. "There's something—"
Her voice was cut off, replaced by a harsh burst of static.
Amidst the sound of static, something else hit him. The chaos had turned into complete and utter silence, only accompanied by the sirens of the ambulances and police cars. There was no more shouting, no more cries, not more car horns, only a deafening silence and the dark ominous glowing sky of the night.
"Nina?" he called out, only to be met with nothingness. Sighing, he turned the earpiece off to avoid getting tinnitus.
"Everyone… disappeared?" Luka muttered, glancing around in disbelief. The cars were empty, the police officer had disappeared, and even the angry guy who was late at his party was gone. Everyone had vanished into thin air.
A shiver ran down Luka's spine. "It only means one thing…" he sighed. The most logical explanation wasn't that everyone was gone.
It was he, that was gone. Did he pass through a portal without noticing? Luka didn't think so. He looked again at the sky, puzzled by the eerie purple light glowing faintly around the city's edge.
"A veil… A barrier?" he muttered to himself again, trying to piece everything together.
It wasn't the first time he had to deal with magical barriers, but it was still an impressive one if that was the case.
Then, as if to cut through his thoughts, a low rumbling noise echoed in the city. The ground trembled slightly beneath his feet as the rumbling grew closer with every second.
Luka turned toward the source of the sound. It came from the intersection just ahead, right behind the wreckage of the accident. The rumbling grew louder, accompanied by a series of cracks and pops.
Suddenly, he saw someone dressed in simple garments running at full speed in sandals, his dark hair fluttering wildly with every rushed step.
"HELP ME!" the young monk shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice raw with desperation. He sprinted toward Luka, his eyes wide with fear, and it was clear that whatever was chasing him was not far behind.
Luka's disbelief was quickly replaced by urgency when he heard the rumbling growing even closer. "What is chasing you?"
But the monk didn't even have time to answer that the thing was already here. Emerging from the shadows, a massive figure surged forward—an enormous mass of muscle and rage that barely resembled a human. Its skin glistened a hot red, taut over bulging muscles, and in its hand, it gripped a long, dented slab of rock that looked like it had been wrenched from the earth itself.
Luka's eyes almost popped out of his sockets in horror when he saw the monstrous form roaring like a beast.
"HOLY SHI— GET AWAY!" he shouted, quickly turning to flee from the beast.
This was it, or at least that's what he thought for a second. As he dashed, he felt his heart pounding against his ribs like a war drum. Each thunderous footfall of the creature sent tremors through the ground, reverberating through his very bones.
With each desperate step, he saw images flash through his mind—memories of mundane days, the laughter of friends, and the quiet moments he had taken for granted.
In unison, both the monk and he shouted with teary eyes. "I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
"ORA!" a roar pierced through their despair, echoing like salvation in the night. The beast, caught off-guard, was suddenly sent flying through a nearby building, its massive form crashing into the brick and debris.
"What was that?" Luka gasped, his heart still racing as he turned to see what had happened. Emerging from the shadows was a figure, tall and imposing, with a wild mane of dark hair and a fierce expression that radiated raw power.
"Stand back!" the newcomer shouted, raising an arm to signal them as he adjusted the black flat-brimmed cap on his head.
The man pointed at the creature, striking a pose with his dark blue jacket fluttering behind him, as a chain dangling from one side of it clicked against his back.
"Good grief…" the man sighed. "This thing is tough."
With a determined glint in his eyes, he stepped forward, strutting with confidence. The air around him seemed to warp as if a presence stood behind him.
"You're going to fight this thing?" The monk asked in disbelief, his voice laced with admiration. "No way!"
"I'm not making any promises," the man replied, his tone casual but his posture unwavering. He focused intently on the berserker, assessing its massive form with a calculated gaze. "But I'll give it a shot."
"I'll help you," Luka stood up, feeling a surge of adrenaline run through him. After all, as the guardian of this city, he couldn't just stand idly by.
The man glanced at Luka, his expression shifting as he noted the giant rising to its feet from the rubble. "I don't need someone getting in my way."
"Don't worry, I've faced worse," Luka replied while rolling up his sleeves, revealing papers sticking to the skin of his arms. Now, he was prepared to face the giant.
The man raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "I don't know what you're going to do with these pieces of paper, but get ready," he said, gesturing to the berserker, who was regaining his senses as he let out a low growl.
"You use charms too?" the young monk asked, his face lighting up with excitement.
Luka offered a quick smile, appreciating the little monk's enthusiasm. "They're my babies. Now, let's get started."
The monk nodded, looking inspired. "I can help too! Maybe my charms will work on him?" He reached into his robe, pulling out three small, intricately inscribed talismans.
The berserker roared, raising his weapon in the air, ready to strike down the three of them.
"Entwine the limbs of my foes, arm-binding charm!" the monk shouted, brandishing one of his talismans. It briefly emitted a light and, for a moment, the creature staggered, unable to move its arms anymore.
"Alright," Luka exhaled, seeing that he had reliable people around him after all. "Let's do this!"
With a powerful roar from the beast, Luka's first battle...
Begins!