As Valeira writhed in pain, the Seraphim collectively made their way towards her, slowly walking as their footsteps resounded with a heavy thud.
"What dost thou know about Death?"
She heard the Seraphim's heavy inquiry and coughed up blood due to the physical manifestation of her Soul to be attacked.
However, while still in pain, Valeira boldly replied:
"Death?" She laughed hysterically. "Death lies in dormancy, dreams itself is a form of death - albeit slow and painless, dreams could be described as a lesser version of Death."
Valeira looked up and stared at the Seraphim.
"And you.."
She spat blood at the Seraphim, staining its white robe with a crimson liquid.
"You have already been put to sleep."
Suddenly, the Seraphim faltered, showing hesitation as She tensed up due to her words.
However.. it was merely a bluff made by Valeira! That split-second of hesitation was all it took for her to strike at the Seraphim.
"T-thou!"
Valeira pierced her blade at the Seraphim's abdomen, pulsing it through her insides as a red liquid gushed out of the wound.
"So you do bleed."
She plunged it deeper, casually making the Seraphim cough out blood. The other 2 avatars rushed towards her, hoping to stop her from causing more damage. But then! Valeira spun behind Her body and used the wings as a cover.
She then grabbed the layered wings from the bottom and compressed them with her two hands.
"ARRGH!"
Then, with all her strength, she gripped it as tightly as she could, moved her feet to the Seraphim's back, and kicked with the full force of a Hallowed.
A ripping sound was made and 2 pairs of wings were disconnected from the Seraphim's body.
"Now both of us are weakened!"
The Seraphim lay on the ground and wiped the blood on Her mouth.
"Thou dares! Gah- Tis a sensation that I have yet to experience. Foul Queen of Elrod, thou hadst done an act of disrespect to the Sun God!"
Valeira carried the 2 pair of wings on her hand and mocked:
"Suck beautiful feathered wings, a pity that they belong to a creature as ugly as you."
She stared at the Seraphim with contempt, and then threw the wings on the ground, stepping on it with fury.
The Seraphim then merged with Her other two avatars which had gotten weaker due to the loss of 1/3rd of Her Soul.
Wings grew on Her back but they were smaller than that of their original size.
The surroundings trembled and cracks formed on the pillars of the hall. Valeira was invoked with the feelings of dread and fear, they were not mere emotions but a deep feeling engraved to her body.
She took notice of this and said:
"So this is how you managed to fell my Knights. Truly a frightening experience."
Suddenly, something within Valeira shattered and all of her emotions and feelings were removed. That includes the feeling of pain, anguish, happiness, excitement, and many others.
She felt numb but it was necessary to defeat this wingless Seraphim.
Valeira walked towards the fallen Seraphim and held her steel blade tightly. It scraped across the floor making a screeching noise.
However, this screech invoked a foreign feeling to the Seraphim. Her Soul trembled as her body fluctuated into an incorporeal state and a physical one.
"What's the matter?" Valeira said emotionlessly. "Are you afraid?"
The Seraphim's eyes widened at her statement.
"Fear? No such thing exists within mine Soul!"
"Is that so? Then why is your hideous face showing fear?"
She touched her three faces, hoping to visualize it with Her hands.
Valeira grinned as her eyes grew darker as if it were abyssal.
"Your emotions are fractured, dear Divine One."
She pierced a steel blade into Her heart.
"Now sleep... Sleep and fall unto an endless dream as you lie in dormancy, experiencing the touch of Death."
Valeira's eyes turned colder.
"Sleep and witness the Dream of the Dreamless."
The Seraphim's eyes rolled back as She fell to the ground.
Valeira sighed and stared at the devastation inside, her 12 Knights lying on the floor, already dead.
There were 2 pairs of wings on the ground, turning into fragments by the second. The pillars and the walls of the room were cracked. Luckily, the two of them were not an attack-type Pathbearer, otherwise.. the entirety of the Central City would've been decimated by now.
Valeira kneeled but held herself together with her steel blade.
She gazed upon the sleeping Seraphim, and thought of her next set of actions.
There was no way to kill Her at all.
As long as Her emotions and feelings existed, the Seraphim would not die at all. Most of the Seraphims held unique attributes that defined their very Souls.
The Seraphim of Feeling had an indestructible body, Valeira was only able to pierce it due to the fear that she had caused the Seraphim. Additionally, the Seraphim did not know the feeling of fear at all, even if She embedded it to her victims, the Seraphim Herself was foreign to the feeling of fear.
"It.. isn't over yet."
The walls and pillars continued to break, it seemed that the mere presence of the Seraphim caused the atmosphere itself to tremble.
Valeira could kill the Seraphim now, but that was highly unlikely as Her body was indestructible. As long as her emotions were connected, the Seraphim would never suffer from any damage. It's just that a split second of faltering caused Her to lose against Valeira.
Even the 12 Beyond Knights fell at the emotional attacks of the Seraphim. Valeira was lucky to have faced a Seraphim that focused more on the mental side of the Soul rather than an aggressive physical Seraphim that could potentially lay waste to the castle in a second.
Valeira was not going to let that happen though.
She suddenly leaned down and carried the Seraphim in her arms.
"I have to bring her somewhere remote."
If the Seraphim stayed at the castle or was imprisoned somewhere near a human settlement, the people's emotions would get swayed and the surroundings might even get destroyed by her Hallowed presence.
But first.. Valeira grieved for her 12 Knights, that is if she could even feel grief right now..
The Seraphim held quite a considerable weight, She was heavy... but Valeira possessed the strength of a Hallowed so she only struggled for a little.
Thus, she walked towards the large doors and exited the castle.
*
The news of the Seraphim's attack spread throughout the Central City of Elrod. Various Knights tried to mitigate information from spreading but the truth was eventually revealed.
The citizens were struck in awe, and held a newfound respect for Queen Valeira.
Hours passed and the sun set in the horizon. The Knights managed the castle in the time-being and the Queen's consort guided them.
And then.. night struck, the Queen hasn't returned yet.
This caused quite a great concern to the Knights and the heads of Elrod. Yet, they held a hope that she would return once the day ended.
But she never did..
Weeks passed.
Queen Valeria still hadn't come back.
This caused worry in the people's hearts. What were they to do without the powerful Queen that ruled them?
They knew that she was still alive but her whereabouts were unknown.
Search parties were made, and adventurers set out to look for remnants of the Queen. Even the regions were notified of her disappearance and caused quite a turmoil within them.
But eventually, the Dukes helped in finding the Queen.
And so.. more weeks have passed, and remnants of the Queen were untraceable. As if she had suddenly vanished into thin air.
However.. On a particular misty day, a peculiar occurrence had fallen upon the Kingdom of Elrod.
A lonely Knight guarding the gates that led to the Central City was patrolling in the middle of the night.
He held a lamp in his hands and stood at the watch tower of Elrod.
When suddenly, a somber figure appeared within the mist.
The Knight squinted his eyes and aimed the light towards the figure.
It walked slowly and carefully, moving at a considerable pace that matched that of a turtle.
Upon looking at the figure for a couple of seconds, the Knight's eyes widened.
"Your majesty?!"
He quickly rushed down to welcome her.
She wore the usual royal garments, it was as clean as if it had been set for the usual meetings and public appearances. She wore a red mantle and her radiant white hair seemed paler than usual.
As she emerged from the mist, she walked slowly towards the Knight upon noticing him.
The Knight held his lamp tightly, and shone it through the figure of the Queen.
"Oh how we've longed for your return!"
The Knight bowed and grinned ear to ear. He moved over to the side and welcomed the Queen back to the city!
"The people searched all ov-
In a split second, the Knight's head was decapitated.
He fell to the ground as the lamp shattered in pieces.
The Queen's figure walked slowly to the kingdom, making her way back to her rightful throne.
And on her face was a face devoid of feeling or rather.. devoid of any expression at all.
Her eyes, nose, mouth, and every part of her face was gone..
..She was simply, faceless.