Academy City, inside a secret underground hall.
*Bang!*
"Explain! Why is that brat still alive!?" A middle-aged man slammed a table angrily.
Behind him, a dozen or so people looked at each other nervously.
"We don't know either, preacher Luis." A man replied nervously. "Our brothers in the city of Steerl confirmed that the boy came into contact with the poison. It should have activated normally."
"But it didn't!" Preacher Luis roared. "I promised the apostle that we would make our message reach the faithless in Academy City, but in the end, you somehow screwed this up! How did it happen?"
"He is the son of an earl. Perhaps he has some kind of protective artifact?"
"Or maybe they discovered the poison and got rid of it?"
"Could it be a mistake in the magic formula?"
"Useless!" Preacher Luis glared at them angrily. "Dammit. How am I going to explain this to the apostle?"
"Maybe we can try again. We could infiltrate the academy and murder him. It should be equally impactful if we succeed." Someone suggested.
"Are you crazy? The headmaster is constantly guarding the academy. Moreover, there are several bishop-level professors residing there. We would be discovered before taking the first step."
"Shut up." The preacher growled. "Our only option now is to ask for instruction from the headquarters. However, we probably won't be able to avoid punishment."
The followers looked at each other nervously.
Preacher Luis sighed and took out a magic stone. This magic stone had been engraved with a communication magic circle that allowed for direct communication with the apostle.
He activated it and waited for the other side to answer.
A few seconds later, the stone lit up.
"Apostle, it's me, Luis, from Academy City. The operation was a failure. I'm calling to ask for instructions."
But strangely, nobody replied.
Luis was confused. He looked at the stone, wondering if perhaps he forgot to activate it, but it showed that it was working.
Right now, he should be communicating with someone.
"Apostle, are you there?" He asked again.
And this time, he received an answer.
[No, he is not.]
But it was not the answer he was expecting.
[You won't be able to talk to your apostle again.]
A young female voice giggled in a playful tone.
"Who are you!? Where is the apostle!?"
[Who am I?] The voice chuckled. [Mmm, you could consider me, a messenger.]
"A messenger?"
[Correct.] The voice spoke again. [And you may wonder, what kind of message do I bring?]
"…"
[I bring a piece of bad news for you.] All of sudden, the voice became chilling and filled with anger. [You touched someone you should not have touched, and now, you will suffer the consequences.]
"… What do you mean?"
[Death has arrived.] The voice laughed condescendingly. [And it came for you. For all of you.]
At that moment, the communication stone shattered.
The preacher looked at it with a pale face.
The hall was enveloped by a chilling silence. He looked at his followers, only to realize that they were just as pale as him.
"… Contact the guards. Tell them to inform us if anything strange happens." He ordered.
One of the men hurriedly took out another communication stone.
"Brothers, are you there? Answer."
*Bzzz!*
"Brothers? Please answer."
*Bzzz!*
"Brothers?"
*Bzzz!*
The man gulped down a mouthful of saliva.
"Something is wrong. To the escape tunnel! Now!" The preacher ordered.
The group immediately rushed in the direction of the escape tunnel. They ran without caring about the things in their path, inevitably hitting the vases and decorations adorning the hall and causing them to fall.
Strangely, nobody was attracted by their commotion, which was unusual, considering that there should be dozens of their brothers and sisters outside of the hall who should have noticed.
The strange situation filled them with dread. Instinctively, they knew that something, someone, was coming.
It was coming for them.
"Arggg!" Suddenly, one of the men let out a scream as he was dragged by something into the darkness.
"It's a demon!" A woman shouted, only for a lance to come flying from another direction, piercing her chest and impaling her into a wall.
"Lord, I don't want to die."
"Sob… please… spare me…"
"No… Noooooo!"
"Shit, dammit. Everybody, use the power granted by the lord! Release it into the surroundings." Preacher Luis shouted with a frightened expression while releasing poison-filled mana around him.
This was not an efficient way of using the power granted to him by the lord, but he was grasping at straws.
Some of the people behind him followed his instruction, releasing poison-filled mana of their own.
But it was useless.
Soon, another person was killed.
"H-H...elp... Help!"
And another.
"Aaaa!"
And another.
"Spare me!"
And eventually, only Luis was left.
He panted with a look of despair, but to his surprise, a door appeared before him.
It was the entrance to the escape tunnel.
If he managed to enter the tunnels, he could use their complicated structure to lose his pursuer.
But when he was about to reach the door.
*Swish!*
A sword flew from behind him, cutting his cheek as it pierced the door.
The power of the sword was such that part of the ceiling crumbled due to the impact, blocking his path.
Luis froze in despair.
Behind him, he heard the sound of footsteps.
When he turned around to look, he was met with a cold gaze.
White hair, crimson eyes, and a strangely beautiful but ominous white mask.
As soon as he saw the appearance of his pursuer, his eyes shrank.
"White… Raven…" He muttered tremblingly.
"It looks like you know me." The man behind the mask smiled.
"Why… why are you here?"
"Don't you know the reason already?"
"B-But… W-We are humans… I-I am human!"
"Humans like you, who side with the outsiders, deserve death even more."
Luis chuckled bitterly. He pulled out a dagger from his waist and held it in front of his chest.
"I won't die so easily. I won't die!" With a roar, he infused his body and weapon with aura.
The gray aura, proof that he was someone who had reached the realm of a knight, spread to every cell of his body, multiplying his strength several times over.
He charged ferociously toward White Raven, putting every bit of his strength into his dagger.
*Clang!*
The dagger clashed with the sword White Raven was holding.
But to his surprise, his dagger pushed the sword back.
Luis was taken aback, but immediately, it was replaced by euphoria.
"Ha… Hahahahaha! What is it!? How can you be so weak!?" He roared in laughter and charged again.
He pounced aggressively, thrusting his dagger several times in less than one second.
White Raven managed to block every attack, however, his movements were strangely slow, and every time, he was pushed back several times.
"So weak… So weak!!! Was it the poison!? As expected, even the infamous White Raven can't withstand the power of our lord!"
*Clang!*
With a violent thrust, he slammed White Raven against a wall.
"The lord must be smiling at me. The apostle will be pleased when I bring the head of White Raven to him!" He said while walking calmly towards White Raven.
But at that moment, his body stiffened.
Because White Raven was smiling.
"How fortunate. It looks like just Faceless will be enough. I won't have to use the others."
He raised his face and stared at Luis with his blood-red eyes.
"Have you ever experienced darkness?" White Raven asked.
Before Luis could reply, the light disappeared from his eyes.
The dim light from the lamps seemed to fade out, engulfing him in complete darkness.
But that was just the start.
"What about pain? Have you experienced it?"
This time, his body was assaulted by an intense pain, making him scream in agony.
"What about freezing? Do you know how it feels to freeze to death?"
Following these words, a severe cold invaded his body, freezing his mana and making his thoughts hazy.
At that moment, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
"Just three. For a knight, you are really weak."
"S…pa…re…me."
"You don't deserve to live."
Luis's chest was pierced.
And his life came to an end.