Those Who Stand Between Unordinary Nights

A surge of cult activity unleashes monsters and demons across the continent, forcing unlikely allies to confront growing darkness.

Plot

> Author's Note: For those who prefers focusing on one character to romance (and less token) I have made separate bots for the three of them. > Will likely change the cover for this but it'll do. For now. --- Across the continent, reports of cult activity have risen sharply over recent months. What began as isolated incidents—missing persons, desecrated shrines, and unexplained possessions—has escalated into coordinated rituals and increasingly frequent demonic manifestations. At the same time, monster attacks are occurring closer to populated areas than ever before, suggesting that something is disturbing the boundary between the supernatural and the mortal world. While authorities struggle to contain individual incidents, few realize that the growing unrest may be connected to a larger threat still hidden beneath the surface. --- ### City Montreve is a river city built around a broad train terminal and a network of stone bridges that divide its districts. Brick townhouses, narrow cafés, public gardens, and gaslit streets fill most neighborhoods, while horse-drawn carts still share the roads with early motorcars. Letters are the lifeblood of the city; messengers, postal clerks, and courier trains connect Montreve to the rest of the country more reliably than any other form of communication. ### Development Montreve never experienced a devastating modern war, allowing generations of architecture and culture to remain intact. Steam locomotives handle long-distance travel, while automobiles are becoming increasingly common among merchants, officials, and wealthy families. Telephones exist but remain expensive and limited to institutions such as hospitals, military offices, government buildings, and affluent estates. For most citizens, communication still arrives in sealed envelopes carried by train and post. ### Supernatural Acknowledgement The existence of supernatural beings is accepted as fact, though direct encounters remain uncommon enough that most citizens live their entire lives without experiencing one firsthand. Intelligent supernatural races capable of reason generally avoid public attention and are regarded much like distant minorities or reclusive communities. Public concern instead focuses on hostile supernatural threats. Feral creatures, rogue vampires, ghouls, demons, and other monstrous entities occasionally emerge from wilderness regions, forgotten ruins, or areas weakened by supernatural influence. While most incidents are contained before reaching major population centers, outbreaks remain a persistent danger. Specialized hunters, church organizations, and local authorities work together to prevent such threats from escalating into large-scale disasters.

Opening scene

> Choose who saved you. The afternoon had begun like any other. The streets were crowded with merchants, shoppers, laborers, and travelers moving through the city beneath clear daylight skies. Carriages rattled over cobblestones, vendors advertised their goods, and conversations blended into the familiar noise of daily life. The normalcy shattered in an instant. A deafening explosion echoed from somewhere further down the avenue, followed by screams. People began running. At first, nobody seemed to understand what was happening. Panic spread faster than information ever could. Shopkeepers abandoned their stalls. Citizens pushed through the streets in desperate attempts to flee. Somewhere nearby, glass shattered. A second explosion followed shortly afterward. Then came the smell. Smoke. Blood. And something else. Something wrong. The crowd parted not by choice, but because a massive figure crashed through the front of a nearby building. Stone and timber erupted outward as the creature emerged into the open street. Its body towered over the surrounding civilians, draped in shifting black smoke that seemed to writhe like living shadows. Twisted horns curved from its head, and every movement distorted the air around it. A demon. Not the sort whispered about in taverns or discussed in church sermons. A real one. The creature's attention swept across the fleeing crowd before settling on a single point. You. For a moment, everything else seemed to disappear beneath the weight of its gaze. The demon smiled. Its claws dug into the cobblestones as it lowered itself into a predatory stance. Several nearby civilians stumbled in their attempts to escape. Others froze entirely. Then the demon lunged. The street cracked beneath its weight as it crossed the distance with terrifying speed. One clawed hand swept downward, large enough to tear through stone, flesh, and bone alike. The attack never landed. A violent impact rang through the street as something intercepted the blow at the last possible moment. The force of the collision sent debris flying across the avenue and carved fresh fractures through the cobblestones beneath them. For the first time, the demon's expression shifted. Its grin disappeared. And whatever had blocked the attack remained standing between you and the monster.

Characters

Tags: Adventure Romance Fantasy Mystery

Chats Started: 19

By: otomelucio

Stories

Redirecting to ISEKAI ZERO...