In a matter of moments, alarm bells resounded throughout the entire city. Every corner, every street, and everywhere was ringing with the sound of an ominous bell.
This signified an attack and not just any measly attack but rather.. a large-scale one.
Hundred thousands of Faceless abominations stood outside the city walls, waiting as if they intended to attack once given an order to.
Above the walls, a fence of Faceless covered the top. The citizens and the knights outside stared with terror upon the sight of the countless Faceless.
Even the Head Knight Lancelot, who was walking in a barren street was perplexed and shocked by the thousands of Faceless above the walls.
The balls rang loudly and in a second, the Knights immediately moved to a position where they could guard every angle.
A battalion led by a Beyond Knight acted as a vanguard from the upcoming attack.
Upon noticing this, the normal knights were tasked to evacuate every close to the walls and move them to the inner walls of the Central City.
There was a crowd of people rushing to get out of that place, staring behind once in a while to check the status of the Faceless.
"We are all doomed!
"Move away! Fuck!"
"Faster! Faster!"
Many of them panicked and a stampede formed on the streets.
Suddenly! An individual was pierced in the chest by a shadowy figure with no face!
"It's a Faceless! Run away!"
The stampede grew intense and the knight's control of the people plummeted down.
"Please calm down! Everyone!"
They could not do anything!
The Faceless hid themselves among the crowd and it was difficult to discern who is who.
But that was a mistake, blood exploded in the air as many individuals were struck and died!
"Please no!-"
Veritas saw the gruesome occurrence below. The people were powerless and could not defend themselves from the Faceless' assault.
Although the Faceless on top of the walls hadn't moved yet, the people in Elrod was slowly dwindling in number due to the surprise attack.
It was surprising that Veritas handled thousands of these Faceless abominations alone! Seeing the devastation, he wondered how he even managed to overcome that hurdle!
"AHH! HELP!"
Individuals died left and right and the knighys did everything they could to mitigate the damage. Some of them fought back against the abominations but most of them were stuck in the crowds of people.
It was a dilemma, if nothing were to change in the next couple of seconds then a significant amount of people would surely die!
That is when a figure with light-golden hair, clad in steel armor, and utilizing a steel sword, appeared at the top of the crowd.
He pierced the air and the Faceless below were suddenly struck down with hundreds of pierces.
"My Knights! Close in on the enemy! Prioritize the people!"
His elegant voice echoed in the streets, inspiring the knights of Elrod to fight back?
He manipulated the tone and loudness of his voice, repeating his words in a louder pitch.
"My Knights! Close in on the enemy! Prioritize the people!"
Various sound waves traveled the entirety of the city, calming down the knights and giving them a sense of duty.
Eventually, the massacres slowed down and the Faceless that lurked inside the city were being pushed back.
"Do not let any civillian die!" A knight clad in steel armor, seemingly a senior rank, suddenly shouted.
Seeing as the situation was being taken care of, the Head Knight looked towards the walls and rushed his way through.
He swung his rapier sideways and obliterated a single line of Faceless. However.. it was quickly replaced by another wave that climbed towards the wall!
He jumped on top of their heads, piercing through it with each step.
Then, he witnessed the harrowing sight outside the walls.
His eyes widened, and his mouth went agape.
"What.. is this?"
Then, the Head Knight's foot was grabbed by a Faceless that he was standing on! He was quick to react as Head Knight Lancelot immediately pierced its leg.
'Cursed abomination!'
He repeated this action for a couple more times, piercing the Faceless that surrounded him.
Bodies piled up one another, and some even fell down the walls, splattering down and exploding their organs due to the impact.
While the Head Knight was facing off against the Faceless above the walls, various knights of Impure and Pure were fending off a load of their own.
"Hurry! We cannot fall now!"
The knight with a Pure Soul yelled and inspired his fellowmen. He used his Attunement related to earth and plunged stone spikes that came from the ground onto the Faceless bodies.
Then, a knight came out of a shadow and slashed the throats of the abominations one by one.
Slowly but surely, the population of the Faceless inside dwindled down.
After a couple of minutes, the entirety of the Faceless were almost pulverized with only a few left.
The situatuon atop the walls looked clear too! Although the Head Knight hadn't finished all of them, he already cleared a section and defeated hundreds of them.
He screamed:
"Keep fighting! Clear everything and rendezvous back when you're finished!"
The diminishing numbers of the Faceless took a significant turn, the casualties inside lowered and the knights began to see hope in defending.
If only they could see what was outside the walls, that hope would instantly crumble down.
After a few minutes passed, a couple of knights made their way to the top of the wall in order to back the Head Knight up.
"We're here, sir!"
He cleared 5 Faceless in one go and turned around to order them.
"Kill everything you see while they're still dormant!"
"Got it!"
In unison, all of them rushed towards every direction of the wall and used their respective Paths and Attunements.
Winds blew quickly and helped a knight move swiftly to cut the Facelesses efficiently. While there are also lightning that struck down, immediately killing a whole section in an instant!
"My lord, everything has been cleared here! Now standing by!"
"Same here! I've almost wiped out an entire section!"
"I need a little help on the Southern Wall! My Path isn't efficient enough to slay all of them."
"W-what is that?!"
Suddenly, the knights collectively stared at the outer walls and saw the hordes of Faceless below the walls.
"There are still so many?!"
"H-how could this be?"
Due to his enhanced hearing, the Head Knight could clearly hear their voices even from a far distance. Head Knight Lancelot suddenly reminded them, letting out a loud yet majestic voice.
"Stay vigilant! Kill everything that tries to climb up! Everyone who has a wide-range attack, use it on the enemies below!"
"G-got it!"
Lightning bolts struck down the Faceless behind the walls and wiped out a battalion of them.
After clearing a section of his own, Head Knight Lance immediately jumped down to prevent the Faceless Abominations from get closer.
"Nrrngh!"
Most of them didn't move except for the ones that aimed to climb the walls. This was not a problem though as Lancelot cleared many with a single slash!
His light-golden hair was tainted red with blood, and his armor had splashes and was smeared with blood.
His rapier, though, was still clean as ever.
Amidst the hordes of Faceless, a dim light shone through the horizon, belonging to the rapier of the Head Knight in Elrod.
He formed a flash step, moving 10 steps in one second and slashing everything in his path.
This single movement cleared about 30 of the abominations, it was a miniscule amount when compared to the hundred thousands Faceless that were here but it was still a significant progress!
The unmoving Faceless flew up as their bodies split in half, the runes screamed in front of Lancelot but he dismissed him as to not get distracted.
This went on for another minute until the earth trembled as if an earthquake was occurring.
"Everyone be careful! Something's coming!" His loud yet majestic voice echoed throughout the battlefield, "Stay in your positions, guard the walls with your lives!"
Lancelot squinted his eyes to stare at a peculiarity in the distance.
"Is that.."
He saw a figure with three heads, one was a faceless lion on the left and then there was a faceless ox on the right. It stood 2 meters in length, towering over the Faceless abominations in the battlefield. It seemed eerie but the figure's 2 paired wings made it seem divine!
It's head on the middle seemed divine, if only it had a face then Lancelot would've been mesmerized.
"What is it my lord? What do you see?!"
A knight clad in steel armor and helmet materialized in front of him, he seemed to rise up in Lancelot's shadows.
"Cassius, good timing. Teleport me there, something tells my body that that figure is the cause of all of this.."
"As you wish."
Lancelot suddenly dove in his own shadow, materializing closer to the eerie figure in the distance.
He was 30 meters away from the thing.
Now that he had gotten closer, Lancelot had a better look at it.
Its body was made of fur, covered only by a tattered white robe. Its three heads were faceless and were covered by a pair of its wings, while another pair stood majestically in its back.
Lancelot's eyes widened.
"Seraphim."
The figure shifted its head towards him, lowering the pair of wings right in front of it.
It did not speak or rather.. it couldn't do so..
It merely stared at Lancelot with intimidation, as if a second of movement would pulverize his body in an instant!
He did not move, sensing the great pressure falling before him.
Then, with lightspeed, he raised his voice and screamed:
"Bring me back!"
A sudden rush of feeling enveloped his entire body, it seemed exaggerated to the point that he could feel his body tremble uncontrollably.
Then, he fell to the ground but his body dove in the shadows and reappeared to his prior location.
He gasped for air, feeling relieved that he got out of that area.
"That... being, we can't handle it." Lancelot stared in the distance, right at the figure, "A mere gaze from it made my Soul tremble uncontrollably and my body washed with fear."
He kneeled and breathed deeply.
"It's the Seraphim of Feeling, She's back.."