Aside from their metallic basements and the Resonance Stones embedded deep beneath them, the floating cities all shared one more thing: an invisible wall encircling each island like a giant force field.
These force fields kept monsters out.
But technology, no matter how advanced, was never enough to stop magic. Not to mention the corrupted kind that twisted creatures into abominations and rained chaos down onto Earth.
Normally, the force field stayed invisible. But once a high concentration of magic seeped near it, the entire barrier darkened, turning into a pitch-black veil. A city swallowed in that veil entered full lockdown.
Denying citizens light, movement, and escape.
It kept the monsters from spreading but also didn't protect the people trapped inside. But that definitely didn't mean the officials simply abandoned citizens to die. The system allowed special units in and out. The Island Defense Regiment, for example.
But this… this was something else entirely.
'So how the hell did something with a hand that big get in? Or is it outside? Whatever it is… I can sense the bastard everywhere.'
Scarlet frowned, tension crawling up his jaw.
He stared at the massive hole the unknown colossal abomination had torn through the ground. Bits of stone slid off the edge and clattered against metal far below in the basement, the echoes fading almost instantly.
"So… do we go in?" Mira asked, eyes narrowed as she studied the rupture.
Scarlet didn't answer at once. He paced back and forth, muttering under his breath before he finally stopped.
"No," he said. "We go back. Prepare for a different but related mission."
Mira blinked. "Huh?"
Scarlet crouched beside the hole and spoke as if forcing himself to admit something unpleasant.
"You see, most of my theories were wrong. First, I thought the flying abominations reacted to artificial sound only if it came from something alive. Turns out, they don't react to sound at all. They're deaf. I figured that out during our last run-in with one."
He picked up a pebble and flicked it into the darkness. The faint clang of metal echoed, then died.
"They respond to blood," he continued. "Remember when we met? That bird went for you not because you yelled, but because you were bleeding. It left me alone because… well… I'm special. In a weird way."
He sighed.
"And if there are survivors," Scarlet added quietly, "leaving them here to get dragged into the chasms below… I wouldn't be able to swallow that. It'd feel like a bone stuck in my throat."
'And wasting fresh blood? Over my dead body!'
"So what exactly are you planning?" Mira asked.
"It's simple," he said. "Simple, but hard. Traveling across the city without preparation is suicide. There are fifteen sectors full of abominations. We need transport and other resources I can't list off the top of my head."
Mira's brows pulled together. "Scarlet… what are you even talking about? We are now a rescue team? We can just go down there now, turn the force field off, and get out before the Resonance Stones die completely. We have parachutes back at the cinema, enough to float off the island and glide to the next one once this place collapses. Think straight, damn it!"
Scarlet turned to her slowly.
His expression was unreadable.
"If the Resonance Stones are dying or already dead, what do you think loses power first?"
"Electricity," Mira answered without hesitation.
"Good," Scarlet said softly. "So… what powers the force field?"
Mira froze.
Her eyes widened, horror creeping across her face as the realization hit.
"It can't be…"
****
Amidst the floating cybernetic islands, a silhouette sliced through the heavy atmosphere. It was a single-occupant interceptor known as the Sparrow, a seamless, matte-black delta wing that moved with impossible grace. Crafted from layered thermo-adaptive vibranium alloy, it absorbed light, possessing no visible panels or rivets.
Its propulsion was near-silent displacement. It didn't push itself forward so much as it folded the gravity field around it, leaving only a faint, shimmering heat signature in its wake as it approached the colossal, black-veiled island. The cockpit was a singular, teardrop-shaped canopy of fortified diamond glass, offering the pilot a full view of the chaos below.
Inside the Sparrow was a man dressed in metallic armor that covered his whole body, leaving a glass helmet on his face. The helmet was split into two colors. The upper part was a light blue color, and the lower part was a glowing crimson color. Soon enough, the metals aligned and covered the lower part, leaving the red part as a visor.
In front of him were different buttons and levers. Looking ahead, he saw a floating island drowned in moving darkness, and just meters away from it was a makeshift island made of floating metal and glass. On it were different people dressed as him. So were identical Sparrows.
He reached the platform as an invisible force field became visible for a split second. He entered and parked the Sparrow near the others.
Coming out of the Sparrow were two soldiers: one with grey hair and rough skin; the other a female with blonde hair and milky eyes. Grim expressions on their faces.
The metal retracted and showed the pilot's face. He looked more like a teenager with silver hair, bright eye color, and pale skin. On his face was a mask of unreadable expression. Without sparing the soldiers a glance, he asked in a calm tone:
"Status?"
Without hesitation, the woman started:
"Captain, we've been waiting for you. The Resonance Stones are almost dead, and the island will soon plummet down. Now, we're still supporting it with little gravity force. After that—"
He interrupted and asked: "The force field?"
The two soldiers gritted their teeth and clenched their fists, respectively. In the end, the anger they tried to express failed as mixed emotions appeared in their eyes.
The young soldier didn't flinch, still waiting for a reply.
Finally, the old man answered him.
"The force field is down, sir."
The young soldier stared at the island that was meters away and scowled, which disappeared almost immediately, shifting back to his calm expression.
"But it's black. Huh? I get it. So that's true darkness. It's… an Abomination?"