A week had passed since Veritas' return to Central City.
For what seemed to be a vision, it seemed like reality itself had mended into his vision. Previously, he could observe from a singular point of perspective like the vision that he experienced with Duncan.
But now..
Even Veritas did not know what he was supposed to see or experience.
That said, the Queen was still missing in action. She had not shown up once to the Central City and the people inside were in a deeper state of panic.
Every day, the population in the Central City dwindled.
More and more people succumbed to what they call now as the Curse. Normal people, knights, and even royalty were not immune to this occurrence!
The first symptoms that were observed is an unimaginable surge of emotions. Whatever the individual was feeling at the moment would turn into an exaggerated amount of emotion.
If they felt fear then they would tremble uncontrollably and if they felt joy then they would be jumping and laughing all the time.
Then, after a day of feeling a surge of emotions, their faces would slowly melt like a candle.
Their eyes would flow down their cheeks, their noses would melt like wax, and their mouths would melt as if it were burned thoroughly.
In the end, the individual would become Faceless and would be in a state of panic. Of course, without their normal facial features, they could not breathe! Thus effectively killing them and deeming them useless.
After they died, their body would move like abominable creatures that acted merely on instinct, attacking everyone on sight. Some said that they were acting like this due to their repressed emotions and will. But it was not the truth at all..
Veritas knew that the cause of the Curse came from the Seraphim of Feelings.
Such a widespread phenomenon could only be explained by a Hallowed being.
Perhaps this was the essence of the Seraphim's path..
However, even though the Queen had slain the Seraphim herself, Veritas knew that She was still alive. Maybe located somewhere remote, hiding herself to perform a large-scale attack on the kingdom or maybe hidden in plain sight, blending Herself amidst the people.
Veritas walked through the streets of Elrod, it was empty and abandoned. Remnants of human activity such as food stalls, jars of ale and rum, broken wood signs, and many more..
The once joyous streets of the Central City turned gray in atmosphere, not a person was on sight except for the patrolling knights that walked through once in a while.
He followed some of the knights and eavesdropped.
Veritas saw three of them wearing tightly-suited steel armor, and steel blades sheathed in their waists. They wore a medieval knights helmet that was layered with chainmail so Veritas could not determine what they looked like.
"I've heard that they're laying off some of us knights due to the food shortage."
"Almost 10% of our kingdom's population had succumbed to the curse. I've heard that it has also spread to other regions.."
"In this time of peril, how dare the Queen abandon us.."
They walked through the empty streets and their voices echoed amidst its emptiness.
"After we patrol around this corner, my shift will be finished. You two can handle every thing right?"
"Yeah."
"I have to go home, back to my wife. I've actually been thinking of leaving the Knighthood for a while now.."
The knight rested his arms on the hilt of his blade.
"I totally understand you.. With the crisis that we're experiencing, I would want to leave too. If only I had someone to go home to."
The fellow knight on the right stared at the knight in the middle and laughed awkwardly.
"You- You're Marcus, right?"
"Yeah. That's me."
The knight in the middle touched his fellow knight's shoulder.
"You'll find someone.. I'm sure of it, you're still young and you still have many years ahead of you. Once this crisis is over, leave the Knighthood and live a normal life."
"If only it were that easy.."
He sighed and continued:
"I've done a lot of bad things throughout my entire life. The Knighthood is the only way that I can redeem myself. I appreciate your concern though."
With that, the three of them crossed the corner of the street and turned left at the upcoming dead end.
However.. the knight on the left, who was walking slightly in front suddenly halted.
"You two, quiet down for a second."
He raised his arms and gestured for the two of them to stop, he slowly used his other hand to put it on his blade.
Upon turning left, they saw a person huddled up in front of a door to a house, embracing herself.
Her head was in a downward position, wrapped by her arms and laid down on her legs. She wore a white tunic, along with brown leggings covering down with her leather boots.
She was trembling as if she had seen something utterly terrifying.
The knight on the left slowly walked towards her while the other two stood vigilant.
"You there!" He unsheathed his blade, "Uncover your head and show us your face!"
He pointed the blade towards her and remained wary.
The girl slowly tilted her head upwards to stare at the sudden sound of a voice.
"P-please! Help me.. my husband, h- he's!"
Seeing as her face was clear and intact, the knight rushed towards her and carefully searched for any signs of other symptoms.
She seemed perturbed and anxious but it was not exaggerated to the point where she trembled uncontrollably and awfully.
"Where is your husband, miss?"
"He's- inside.. please, my lord!"
"Has he succumbed to the curse?"
She stared directly at the knight.
"Barely! It was only an hour ago when his face started melting.."
"I see." The Knight looked behind to stare at his other 2 companions. "Come, this will be our last case for the day."
"Yes sir!" The two said in unison.
The knight nearest to the girl suddenly stared at her and said:
"Please move over. We will end this quickly.."
Tears started to come out of her eye, and she felt sorrow and regret at the same time.
"Thank you, my lord! Please put him to rest.."
The knight opened the door and entered, followed immediately by his 2 companions.
Inside, it was dark and empty, a cold breeze enveloped through their steel armors, feeling it seep through the gaps and chilling their skin.
It was.. eerily quiet, almost devoid of any sound as a silence enveloped the house.
They explored every corner of the house and checked every room while covering each others backs.
Splitting up now would be fatal, although efficient.
It consisted of two floors, the knights were already on the first floor and stairs led to the second. There was also a pathway leading to the attic but the knights didn't emphasize that much on it.
The tables were eerily still as pieces of bread were located on top of it. It seems that the woman and her husband were in the middle of a meal when the Curse happened.
As for the rooms, most of them were open except for a bedroom from the farthest corner of the second floor.
"Locked. Shall we push through?"
"Yes, but be careful. He might've already succumbed from the Curse and completely turned into a Stage 3."
"Got it."
The three of them gripped the handles of their blades tightly and prepared to bash through the wooden door.
"Ready yourselves."
The knights breathed deep and steeled their resolve.
"On my signal."
He raised his sword up.
"3.."
"2.."
"1.."
"G-"
Suddenly, a smooth hand pierced through the Knight's body! It penetrated his steel armor and passed through his body like butter.
Blood gushed out of the wound as his eyes widened in surprise.
Without even giving a time to react, the hand immediately retreated and the figure from behind vanished in the shadows.
The two Knights beside him was shocked, and they immediately turned their backs behind the room.
"Sir!"
"Shit!"
The Knight kneeled down and coughed up blood.
"...I've been had, it's.. up to you two..."
He fell to the ground and with a loud thud, a pool of blood formed beneath their feet.
"Marcus! Head to the door, I'll guard your back!"
The two ran quickly down the stairs, crashing through every furniture that was in their way.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!"
In a state of panic, the younger knight' Marcus, loosened his grip on his sword. His arms felt weak and his resolve faltered upon the sight of his senior succumbing to a surprise attack.
"We can't handle it with the two of us! It's an Impure and none of us are Pathbearers. We must retreat immediately!"
"Already on it!"
They ran through the first floor and made their way back to the entrance of the house.
The older knight went first and twisted the handle of the door but..
"It's locked."
Grim washed over their bodies and their eyes widened in horror.
He tried opening the door once more..
"It's locked! Fuck! It's locked!"
Left with no other option, he raised his sword and struck down the door. But it was to no avail! It only left a mere slash that didn't even damage the door thoroughly.
"We're trapped!"
The older knight stared at Marcus.
He saw him trembling, his grip of his blade was weak and his posture showed fear.
"Marcus. Are you scared?"
"...yes."
The older knight stared at the blade that he was holding tightly. He then realized the seriousness of the situation.
How could he just let a junior tremble in fear! As a senior knight, he needed to protect him, not the opposite.
The older knight came to that realization and stepped forward.
"Marcus we.."
He hesitated and words couldn't come out of his mouth.
However, after a few seconds, he spoke.. sharing a terrifying truth about their situation.
"We are probably going to die here."
"S-sir-"
"That senior knight was our last chance to succeed. He's the only Pathbearer in our group and he succumbed to the Faceless' strike easily."
His arms trembled.
"So.. are you prepared?"
He shifted his head to the trembling young man's arms.
"Y-yes sir!"
The two of them stood side by side, their backs turned against the door behind them, holding their blades as they committed a last stand.
Suddenly.. figures appeared in front of them. In fact, there wasn't only a single figure that walked slowly. Rather, there was 6!, including the senior knight that had just fallen.
..All of them had no faces.
Upon entering the area, their heads immediately shifted to the direction of the older knight and Marcus.
Their heads snapped as if it broke down.
Then, they rushed towards the two!
In a desperate attempt to fight back, the two tried to deflect and strike down the Facelesses. However, it was useless as the two of them were desecrated and massacred easily.
Guts and blood spilled on the ground, splattering all over the place, and spreading around the walls.
The table that had a plate of bread on top of it was smeared in the two's blood.
It dripped down and flowed on the floor, eventually making droplets of blood.