In a small village nestled beneath the stillness of a pale morning sky, a dreadful hush clung to the air like a curse. The clouds hung unmoving, grey and bloated, casting a grim pallor over the cracked cobblestone square. A crowd of villagers knelt, trembling—men, women, and children alike—with their foreheads pressed to the earth as if hoping it would swallow them whole. Their breath came in choked sobs, their bodies frozen in fear. The silence, broken only by muffled weeping, carried the weight of inevitable death.
Before them stood a trio that radiated dread.
At the center, regal in presence yet terrifying in stillness, stood Lilith, the Queen of Chaos. Her gaze was hard, regal, and unfeeling. One arm cradled a seemingly innocent creature—Gaffard, limp and small in her grasp. To her right was Nephthis, whose eyes glimmered with faint amusement as she held a young girl named Clair close against her hip. Despite the carnage yet to unfold, the girl's face bore a strange calm, her wide eyes watching the villagers with curiosity, not compassion.
Lilith's voice rang out, her tone unnervingly soft.
"Why do you show me tears? Are you not happy to see me?"
Her face remained composed, untouched by anger or cruelty—yet there was no kindness in it either. Just a haunting calm.
A desperate voice cried from among the villagers, cutting through the tension.
"We know who you are, goddess. Your presence alone brings death!"
Nephthis glanced across the crowd, a smirk tugging at her lips.
"They're not very welcoming here," she said with mild mockery. "Quite the unruly bunch."
"I think they need a little lesson in respect," Lilith replied, her voice like velvet over steel. "I'll teach them to kneel."
A low rumble of frantic prayer followed. The villagers raised their voices to the heavens, pleading for mercy, for protection, for anyone—anything—to save them. Their words, laced with desperation, filled the square in a chaotic chorus of fear.
Lilith's expression grew colder, her tone laced now with a wicked edge.
"Your prayers will go unanswered. Who dares to stand against the Queen of Chaos? A Velari? I would love to see it."
Nephthis gave a mock-thoughtful hum. "Should we wait for one?"
Lilith tilted her head upward, eyes narrowing as if seeing through the clouds above. "I think we should! Actually..."
The sky cracked.
A deafening thunderclap split the heavens as a golden roar surged downward from the clouds. Light exploded above, and a streak of divine brilliance plummeted to the earth like a comet tearing the sky apart.
The impact quaked the square.
Uriel, one of the Twelve Great Velaris, landed with explosive force. Dust spiraled around him, but his presence cleared it just as quickly. His aura shone with divine radiance, his armor gleaming like dawn light forged into steel. His gaze burned with righteous fury.
Lilith turned to face him, voice dripping with mock delight.
"Uriel," she greeted. "How great it is to see you, my child. And who do I thank for your presence today?"
Uriel's sword was already in hand, gleaming with a holy intensity. He raised it, pointing its tip directly at her.
"Lilith! God sends judgment!" he declared, his voice like a trumpet over a battlefield. "I will have your head, goddess, and you can thank God personally!"
Lilith petted Gaffard gently, a look of bored amusement crossing her face.
"Is that so?" she murmured. "I'm afraid that just won't work, you see... My dear Hallel gave me orders that I must carry out."
Without warning, Gaffard's body lurched.
It dropped from her arms, convulsing on the ground. Limbs twisted grotesquely, skin stretching and tearing as its small form grew, grotesque and monstrous, expanding with a sickening series of pops and cracks. Claws sprouted from its hands, jagged and thick. Its head snapped back as rows of teeth pushed forward like daggers.
Lilith's voice curved into a smile.
"And I never disappoint my master."
Gaffard lunged.
It came at Uriel with monstrous speed, claws swiping in arcs of death. But Uriel moved with grace born of divinity. He stepped around each strike with ease, his movements so fluid they seemed choreographed. He slashed in retaliation—once, twice, then a third time. Gaffard howled in pain, its body buckling under the divine edge. With a final screech, it vanished into the shadows, fleeing.
Uriel didn't pause.
He activated his Divine Sword, golden light exploding from the weapon as it pulsed with sacred power. In a blur, he vanished—reappearing before Lilith in an instant, blade driving forward toward her neck.
But it stopped.
The sword pierced her skin... yet refused to cut.
Uriel's eyes narrowed, confusion flashing across his face.
The Divine Sword should have cut through easily. Killing her might be a hassle, but she's not that tough.
He growled.
"So this is all it takes for the Goddess of Chaos?" he spat. "Pathetic!" But Lilith only smiled wider, her calm unmoved.
"It's funny how naive you are." Her voice dropped, becoming deeper, more guttural—inhuman. "Morvella... come."
A sickening sound followed.
From the base of her neck, a black hand erupted, clutching Uriel's sword with impossible strength. Uriel stepped back in alarm, yanking at his blade, but it refused to budge. The hand held firm, immovable.
Then a new shape began to force its way from her body—a towering, inky figure that tore through her form like a parasite being born.
Morvella.
Uriel's instincts roared. He deactivated his sword, twisted his body, and crouched low. In a single smooth motion, he reactivated the blade and swung upward as the beast's massive fist descended.
The sword collided with Morvella's arm—only to bounce off, harmless. "What?!" Uriel gasped. "How is that possible?!"
He leapt backward—but Morvella moved faster, grabbing Uriel's leg mid-air. With a guttural roar, the creature hurled him into the ground with devastating force. Cracks spiderwebbed across the stone beneath him. Uriel's body screamed in pain.
Morvella raised a fist, ready to strike again.
Uriel vanished—reappearing far above.
His voice echoed through the sky.
"Good luck blocking this one! EARTH SHATTERING—" But his words stopped short.
From behind, a blade tore through him—a massive scythe ripping through his back and bursting from his stomach. Blood gushed forth, his body stiffened. The world spun.
He crashed to the ground with bone-snapping force.
He coughed blood, blinking up at the blurry figure now towering above him.
"What the hell is—?"
Morvella's foot came down hard on his back. Uriel screamed, agony ripping through his nerves.
Lilith approached, her stride slow and deliberate.
"Not yet," she said, her tone motherly—eerily soft. "He has to see how badly he failed."
"Ouu, can I do it?" chirped Clair, suddenly jumping out of Nephthis's arms with excitement in her voice and a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
Lilith nodded, as if indulging a child. "Sure—but make sure he watches."
Clair clapped happily. "Morvella, get him!"
The creature obeyed. It slammed a massive hand onto Uriel's head, pinning it upward. His neck strained—he had no choice but to stare straight ahead.
Clair's body ignited.
Blue flames erupted from her limbs as she stepped forward, her silhouette bathed in infernal light. She walked with purpose toward the villagers, eyes glowing.
Uriel struggled, gasping. "What are you—"
Before he could finish, pain exploded in his arm.
A colossal slash tore through it, severing it clean from his body.
"Stop talking," growled the shadowed figure behind him—the one with the scythe. Its voice was deep, unnatural.
That thing can speak? Uriel thought, reeling. Clair raised her hands, her face beaming. "Now burn!"
The world turned blue.
Flames erupted, sweeping through the square like a tidal wave. Screams filled the air. Uriel watched, helpless, as blue fire devoured the villagers—men, women, children. Their wails pierced the heavens.
Clair rose higher, her wings of flame spreading as she flew. Laughter rang from her like a twisted hymn. She bathed the village in fire, every home turned to ash, every life turned to embers.
Uriel's face was stained with tears, blood streaming from his mouth and wounds. He couldn't move.
Morvella raised one final hand—massive, unstoppable—and slammed Uriel's head into the stone with a bone-cracking force that ended everything.
Silence returned.
Lilith stood still, her expression unreadable as she watched the final embers fade.
Then, slowly, she chuckled.
The sound grew, low and resonant, curling into a dark laugh that echoed through the dead square. Her eyes gleamed with wicked satisfaction. The smile that stretched across her face was merciless, cruel, and endless.
And the sky, once still, seemed darker than before.