The Phantom of the Empire

Transport craft of the Imperial Special Forces swept over Wolf Central Square, solemn and imposing beneath them, trailing blue-white exhaust as they arrived at the battlefield.

Augustgrad was a city unlike any other, unmatched in grandeur and magnificence. Its straight streets and rigid grid of roads stretched endlessly beneath the shifting horizon. The countless lines and right angles of its urban layout gave the mighty city the cold bearing of a monarch.

Nova Terra sat in the last row of seats, her head resting in the shadows cast by the lights. In silence, she watched Augustgrad's central district race past the observation window. An eerie red glow reflected outside, draping the jagged skyline of skyscrapers in crimson. Even the gray transit network and the parks scattered with greenery had been stained blood-red.

It was an unusual color, belonging neither to a sunset's red clouds nor to the brilliance of neon lights, neither natural nor artificial. It was deeply unsettling.

The culprit behind it all was the colossal stone pillar occupying her entire field of vision. Every Sky Tower in Augustgrad's urban districts paled beside it. Its sharp, angular spire seemed to hold up the sky, plunging into the roiling clouds above. The sight was nothing short of breathtaking.

This supernatural object known as a Void Shard was beyond imagination. It had appeared almost out of nowhere. Tens of thousands had watched it rise from nothingness, as though it had crossed over from another dimension.

Nova had lived in Augustgrad for several years. She had spent the last years before adulthood here. At first, she had only come to Augustgrad to train at the Ghost Academy. She had decided to leave her sorrowful past behind and begin a new life.

With the royal family as its patron, the Terra Family's holdings