The glorious nation of Lanista was formed in the 50th year of the Divine Madness (DM), after humans of different races, cultures, and backgrounds were forced to leave their continents and settle on the only land untouched by the divine chaos.
On that piece of land, the great nation of Lanista was born, marking humanity's union against the heavens. However, this union—originally believed to be formidable—was soon dragged back to reality when Lanista's first representative for the Armageddon Games died in the fourth month of the game, and the angels reached the continent with their horde.
By 63 DM, barely over a decade after Lanista's formation, 30% of its seemingly strong empire had been conquered, and it began to dawn on the common man that their usual methods were no longer effective.
They came to understand that while the Ascendants were truly formidable, they were far too few to protect all of humanity alone. If humanity wanted to survive, everyone had to be involved. With that mentality, the masses rallied under the leadership of a man called Van De Rio, and thus the deadly cult Lucifer's Crown was formed.
At that time, Lanista's forces were focused on the frontlines, holding back angels and their hordes. As a result, internal security weakened. This gave Lucifer's Crown the space they needed to grow until they became a powerful sect that terrorized Lanista for 30 years.
Reading about their atrocities and crimes over those decades—and how Van De Rio was finally killed 30 years later by the same man who gave humanity peace afterward—left Liam stunned.
As a devoted fan, he always knew Alistar White made his debut by killing Lucifer's Crown's leader during the Warring Era. However, he never understood how significant that achievement was until reading the full records.
"Wow." Liam reluctantly returned Lia's phone, dazed by the wealth of information he had just consumed.
He could understand the desperation and noble intentions that sparked Lucifer's Crown, but there was one small problem they failed to consider.
Spirituality has a core concept: "As above, so is below."
Ancient mystics believed that whatever existed in the spirit world reflected itself on Earth. So when a mystic acted here, something answered from there.
This meant mysticism worked through connection, exchange, and alignment.
Mystics begin by reaching into the spirit realm in search of a force or entity through which they can channel power.
The problem is that the spirit realm is basically an ever-shifting forest. One can easily run into wicked entities without knowing it.
That brings us to the second step: exchange.
Upon contact with a spiritual force or entity, an exchange must occur. Nothing is free, reaching out to it will cost you and whatever you desire requires something of equal or greater value in return.
This rule of mysticism is why sacrifice is so common in spiritual practices.
Finally: alignment. Even with the perfect sacrifice, the entity is still an independent creature capable of rational thought. In cases of encounters with wicked spirits, possession, manipulation, and all forms of corruption are possible.
Allowing a large number of people uncontrolled access to this power—without proper knowledge or any enforcement body to oversee their actions—meant it wasn't impossible for gruesome events to appear in the morning newspapers daily until humanity eventually went extinct.
With great power comes great responsibility, but through studying history, Liam had come to understand that humans are not responsible by nature unless forced into that position. That's why he supported the current system over Van De Rio's ideals.
"We don't have time for this. It's already 9, and we're supposed to leave by 1 a.m. Forget Lucifer's Crown and focus on your training instead," Lia scolded.
Liam lazily raised his head to meet her annoyed gaze before letting out a defeated sigh and nodding.
"Alright, alright. Let's get started." He corrected his sitting posture.
Lia's annoyance slowly faded, and her usual neutral expression returned. She picked up the book and walked to the far right of the room, which had a glass wall offering a great view, along with comfortable couches and a center glass table.
She went straight to the two-seater couch and patted the space beside her, signaling for Liam to come over.
'Stop being dramatic and just spill the beans,' Liam screamed inwardly but maintained a gentle smile.
He walked over and sat down with an attentive gaze.
"How much do you know about spirituality and mysticism?" she asked softly.
Liam froze, thought for a moment, and gave a brief answer:
"To be honest, not much." He shook his head, and Lia sighed.
"Close your eyes and try to use your curse," Lia instructed, and Liam obeyed without fuss.
He shut his eyes and fell silent, thinking back to the time spent in the containment cell with Roman. The familiar feeling of ease and connection slowly returned. Opening his eyes, Liam looked directly at Lia—but there was no rune on her, no sin worthy of his attention. It had been this way since he met her, and that mystery always intrigued him.
"Don't look at me. Pay attention to your surroundings and tell me what you see," Lia scolded, arms folded.
Oh…
Liam blinked in surprise. He had never thought to do that before. Whenever he used his curse, he always focused on the sins of people, never the environment itself. Looking around now, he gasped at the world before him.
"What you see now is the veil—the barrier between the mortal realm and the spirit realm," Lia explained when she noticed his shocked expression, but it did little to ground him.
Her voice sounded distant, even though she sat right beside him.
What Liam saw was a duller, almost black-and-white version of the world, as if someone reduced the saturation. Everything had a translucent, glass-like quality, giving this realm an entirely different atmosphere from the one he knew.
Here, sounds from the mortal realm were muted even when the source was close. Instead, he heard whispers—but he couldn't understand a word. The air felt heavier, yet he felt strangely lighter. The contrast left a lingering discomfort he couldn't shake off.
Snap! Snap!
It took Lia snapping her fingers twice in his face to pull him back. Shaking his head, Liam's pitch-black eyes returned to normal, and full color returned to the world.
"Normally, humans trying to experience what you just saw would need the Eye of Providence. But Ascendants don't need spirituality to access this realm thanks to our curses," Lia explained. "So when dealing with anything unusual, rely on the veil world. Ghosts, spirits, demons, angels—everything is revealed in that realm."
Liam nodded while processing the information. It was like priests during exorcism—only they could see the demons because they peered into the veil using the Eye of Providence. Everything was beginning to make sense.
While Liam silently deliberated, Lia flipped through several pages before stopping at one with descriptive illustrations. The first image at the bottom showed a flat land with buildings, streams, livestock—things familiar from the mortal world.
"This is the mortal plane of existence, where you, I, and every human live," she explained. Her slender fingers then moved to the glass-like barrier surrounding the mortal plane. "And that is the veil."
Then she grabbed Liam's face, holding him firmly as she stared straight into his eyes.
"The things we draw power from exist beyond the veil," she warned sternly. "In that world, there are more than ghosts. There are spirits, essences, laws, echoes, entities, demons… Never attempt to explore that world without me. Do you understand?"
Liam smiled and tried to remove her hands. "Alright, alright. You don't have to overreact."
But Lia resisted, tightening her grip on his cheeks and leaning closer with a deep frown—and a hint of fear.
"No. I'm not overreacting," she said firmly. "I've been here for three years, and in those three years, every single Ascendant who came with me—and every one who came after—has died because of this same problem."
Frustrated, she let go and stood up. She paced around the room with a frown, annoyed that Liam didn't understand the danger. Most times, dark entities reached out to Ascendants through the veil using echoes and whispers.
They whispered poison into a person's mind for months or years, breaking their mental fortitude until they finally gave in. This problem was responsible for more than 60% of all Ascendant deaths or corruption. That's why she was so insistent.
It was also why many believed Alister White was the luckiest man alive—he had encountered these dark entities twice and survived, when most Ascendants died on the first encounter.
Meanwhile, Liam couldn't help but chuckle at Lia's concern. From a distance, she looked cold and indifferent, but once you got past the exterior there was only warmth. It felt strange having someone worry about him so much, especially considering his background and years of neglect and abuse.
Strange—but in a good way.