The fog thickened, crawling over the stone and swallowing every sound but the crunch of boots and the ragged breathing of scattered Zenith angels. Their tight formation was gone, ripped apart by Melody's unseen attack. Now, every angel was left to their own corner of Envale, fighting for survival.
Eleanor flew through the crumbling alleyways, white wings glowing faintly through the mist. The village felt wrong; every step echoed too loudly, like the air was stretched thin. A heavy silence pressed in, a cloak woven from Melody's divine aura.
A shadow lunged from the right. Eleanor pivoted, eyes flashing gold.
"Divine Art: Solar Sever."
A crescent arc of pure light snapped from her fingertips, slicing the creature clean through. The Black Angel's body hit the ground, smoking. Normally that ended it, but this one twitched, then rose. Bones cracked and reformed with unnatural force.
Eleanor stilled. Something was boosting them. The creature's veins pulsed violet. Its jaw unhinged with a roar not meant for mortal lungs. Eleanor settled her stance. "Alright, then. Come on."
Far from the noise and fog, Katya knelt on the cracked earth of the Silent Canyon, the purple glow of the binding runes illuminating her face. Her lips were cracked, her breathing shallow. The Void was a cold, alien entity she was attempting to fuse into her soul, and the process was nearing completion. She felt the distant thrum of the massive battle, a sound wave that should have deafened her, but her focus was absolute. A tremor ran through the canyon, not from the battle, but from the immense power struggling to be contained. She pressed her hand to the ground, whispering one final word of command.
Across the battlefield, Lucy stood ten steps from the Supreme Goddess. Melody's bare feet barely touched the ground. Her eyes, soft lilac and glowing with cruel curiosity, never once blinked.
"Why that face, Lucy, was it?" Melody asked, tilting her head. Her voice carried like a violin note plucked from silence. "You look as though you've seen a ghost."
Lucy's fingers barely twitched. "You're no ghost."
"Then why does your heartbeat tremble?"
Lucy gritted her teeth. Melody was reading her sound waves, every pulse, every breath.
Melody's smile widened. "Where's your little sun angel? I expected her at your side. Surely she didn't run away?"
The jab hit its mark, but Lucy didn't flinch. "She's handling your trash."
Melody blinked once. "How sharp your tongue has gotten. If I wasn't fond of you, I'd have torn it out." A flicker of amusement crossed her expression. Then her voice dropped lower. "Tell me, Lucy, has Eleanor told you what she is?"
Lucy didn't move, but her heart spiked for half a second, and Melody grinned like she tasted it. "So she hasn't. How adorable."
Before Lucy could respond, Melody vanished. A whip of compressed sound blasted past her face, shaving a line through her cheek. Lucy staggered back, barely catching the direction it came from.
"Stay still," Melody whispered behind her. "I'll play with you gently."
Lucy spun, blades flashing.
Meanwhile, Robert ducked under a brute's swing, rolled, and blasted a burst of kinetic light from his palm. "Divine Art: Momentum Crush!"
The shockwave slammed the Black Angel into a house, but the monster instantly bulldozed through the debris. Its muscles bulged, wings twitching like broken machine parts. Robert gasped. "Bro, why are you built like a damn refrigerator on legs?"
The brute roared and charged again. Robert met him head-on, palms out, energy swirling. The monster's claw raked across Robert's shoulder, sending him spinning through a stack of crates. Pain exploded down his arm. He forced himself up. Melody amped him. The brute slammed its fists together, cracking the ground. Robert spit blood and grinned. "Alright, round two, you damn brick wall."
Allen was running, his chest heaving, the fog closing in like a mouth about to bite shut. Every corner felt wrong, too quiet, too still, like a trap waiting to spring. "Silvia? Anybody?" he called.
Nothing. His heartbeat pounded louder than his footsteps. His wings twitched.
A whisper slid through the fog behind him. "…Allen…"
He froze. That voice was soft. Human. Familiar.
He spun, and his stomach dropped. His brother stood in the fog, broken halo dimly flickering above his head.
"No," Allen whispered, backing up. "You're dead. I watched you, you can't be."
The figure smiled, tilting its head. "Come here, little brother."
Allen's wings flared in terror. Melody's messing with my mind. The illusion vanished, replaced by a Black Angel lunging at him with a guttural screech.
Allen screamed and fell backward, raising his hands.
A blazing violet streak tore through the fog.
It was Silvia.
Her blade carved the monster in half with merciless precision. The creature's body hit the ground, sizzling, and Silvia grabbed Allen by the collar, dragging him up. "Get your head together damnit!" she snapped. "You freeze up like that again and you're dead!"
Allen choked on his breath. "Sorry! I just, I heard."
"I don't care," she growled. "I'm not losing you today. Now man up!" The fog thickened again. Silvia tightened her grip on her sword. "And definitely not to some knockoff hallucinations."
A distant scream tore through the air. Silvia's heart dropped. "That's him." She bolted toward the sound, blade igniting in violet fire, wings spread as she flew over.
Eleanor blasted her enemy back and wiped sweat from her eyes, her breath coming in ragged bursts. "These Black Angels are evolving mid fight. That's not normal."
The creature lunged again, but before Eleanor struck, her instincts screamed.
A ripple of sound swept the battlefield. A gentle note, barely audible.
The moment it touched her skin, Eleanor froze. Melody's voice drifted through the fog: "Little sun angel, I've been waiting for you."
Eleanor's blood ran cold. Melody's presence rippled through the air, a vibration searching for its target. She knew exactly who Eleanor was.
A second pulse rolled through the village, soft and melodic. The buildings hummed like tuning forks. Stones cracked. Melody wasn't approaching; she was tuning the battlefield.
Eleanor steadied her breath, fists tightening. "Come out," she whispered.
A gentle laugh responded, echoing from everywhere at once.
Lucy braced herself, legs bent, blades raised. She could feel Melody's melody reaching outward, a web of sound touching every corner of Envale, searching.
"She's shifting the field," Lucy muttered. "She's isolating us."
A blow of compressed sound slammed into her before she could dodge. She was thrown through a wall and hit the ground hard, coughing blood.
Melody touched down in front of her, floating just centimeters above the rubble.
"You angels are so dramatic," Melody sighed. "One little tap and you're coughing up your insides."
Lucy forced herself up, blade trembling. "Not done yet."
"Oh, you are," Melody said sweetly. "But don't worry. I'm focused on someone else." Her eyes held a strange, unsettling warmth, like watching a pet before a feast. "The last sun angel, the one your dear Mariam warned me about."
Lucy's stomach twisted.
Melody leaned closer, voice dropping to a whisper. "I'm going to talk to her now. Don't interrupt." Then Melody vanished into the fog like a disappearing note.
Lucy slammed her fist into the ground, the force shattering a piece of rubble. "Eleanor, stay sharp."
Robert staggered as the Black Angel brute charged again. Sweat dripped into his eye, blood down his arm. He was seconds from slowing down.
The monster lunged, claws wide. Robert smirked through clenched teeth. "Alright, let's finish this. I'm trying to get back to the squad."
He dropped into stance, wings spreading fully. "DIVINE ART: FORCE REBOUNDER."
A barrier of swirling, condensed momentum wrapped around him. The brute punched him dead-center, full force.
The rebound effect detonated.
A shockwave blasted the brute backward, ripping up dirt and stone. The creature slammed into the far wall, bones cracking. The shield shattered too, and the impact sent Robert sliding back, collapsing onto one knee.
He wiped blood from his nose. "Bro, why are you still standing?"
The brute rose again, staggering, twitching, but not dead.
Robert groaned. "Man, Eleanor better not be slacking right now."
Silvia and Allen broke through a collapsed archway, heading toward the growing sonic resonance. They skidded to a stop.
The fog parted.
Melody stepped into view, barefoot on the cobblestones, every movement weightless. Her hair glowed faintly, drifting as if underwater. She wore no armor, just a pale, flowing garment shimmering with runes of sound.
She smiled. "Eleanor."
Hearing her name from Melody's mouth felt like ice sliding down the spine. Eleanor forced her posture firm. "You've been expecting me."
Melody's eyes held that unnerving fondness. "Of course. Your existence is a song I've heard since you were born. A tiny sun, trying so hard to shine."
Eleanor swallowed, wings tightening behind her. "Why attack this village?"
"Hmm, boredom," Melody hummed. "Curiosity. A little anger. But mostly?" She stepped closer, and Eleanor felt reality warp around her. "I wanted to meet you."
Eleanor's heartbeat hammered. She raised her daggers.
Melody smiled wider. "Oh. You think we're fighting now?" She giggled, lifting one finger. "No, no. I'm only going to test you."
The air around Eleanor vibrated. Her chest tightened. Melody flicked her finger forward.
A note rang out. Soft, gentle, beautiful.
Then the world exploded.
A wall of compressed sound blasted into Eleanor, flinging her through two houses and into a collapsed barn. Dust billowed. The ground cracked beneath her body.
Eleanor gasped, struggling to inhale.
Melody's voice drifted through the air: "Don't worry, little sun. I'll break you down slowly."
Eleanor's eyes blazed gold. She pushed herself up. "I'm not breaking."
Melody's smile sharpened. "Oh, we'll see."