The essence of Facelessness and the unseen face

Six days didn't pass in a blink of an eye.

Kai remembered their every second, every minute, and the smell of dusty, old lamps over his head in the library. If it was in his hands, he could have stretched the time to sixty days.

An end was inevitable.

Kai was sitting on the same chair in the library, books, and scrolls strewn around him on the table neatly. His face was pale white, hair rough and tangled, and he had become leaner by such a degree that one could see the change. His eyes were sunken into his skull, but there was a perceptible glint within them, an unearthly desire and hunger for knowledge.

Simon was standing at his side, and he was looking at Kai like he had never seen a thing like him. A thing indeed he was, as no Contestant with his Stats could stay awake for 6 days and yet function with the same output as the very first day. It was an inhumane, nonsensical, and mind-bending work of art, seeing Kai devouring books after books, and scrolls after scrolls.

As he sat there at the table, there was something about Kai that baffled all the eyes watching him. An amalgam of demonic and researcher Wills that could scarcely be found near each other, and when they did, it all culminated in one word. Insanity.

By now, Kai had gone through all the books, documents, scrolls, and miscellaneous notes at least once. His curiosity and scientific mind had even shocked the High Priest when Simon failed to answer the questions after the second day. The best Occlumens under the 5th floor wasn't enough to tackle the otherworldly, hideous theories that Kai kept coming up with. By the time the 6th day approached, even the High Priest had to spend many hours thinking before answering his question.

Kai could have downplayed it a bit, he knew. But he was also aware of the fact that he wouldn't be coming back to the Temple of Byagoona for a long time. So, he let himself loose.

Kai put down the last scroll, closed his burning, numb eyes, and his mind raced to the thousands of theories combining Occlumency and Multiverse Interdependency. His mastery of the three core fields specified by the High Priest hadn't reached the level of those who had been studying them for years, but it was still way ahead when one took into account the time of mere six days.

But no matter how much Kai tossed and turned, and tried to become a puppeteer of these theories, he failed to come up with a structure of his own. Ideas, more devious and vile than the last, kept coming to him, but he rejected them all. Nothing short of near-perfect was good enough for him. He wanted something that he could keep enhancing as his strength and grasp over the Mana grew. He wanted something absolutely unique that not only anyone had heard of, but they would also fear coming in contact with.

"It's time," Simon said, his voice frail. "You must leave, now."

Kai sighed, shook his head, and pushed himself up. A sudden weakness that he had never felt before pained his spine, neck, and every joint. Like a walking corpse, he followed Simon out, giving a last look to the library from over his shoulder. The words Occlumency on the wooden board were still as clear as he had seen them for the first time, and only when Kai reached the main hall did he recall that the section of Legilimency was just by its side. If he could stay here for another 6 days…

'You would die,' a voice told him, originating from his heart. 'Now you need rest and time to digest what you have learned. Selene is starving. And you have a price to pay.'

They found the High Priest standing by the pool, surrounded by the giant statues of gods. The dim glow of the lit red candles flickered on his black and white cloak like a hundred horses galloping away.

Kai neared him, and stood on his left, his eyes looking down into the stagnate black pool. He could see their faces reflected by its mirror-like surface, but something about these reflections repulsed him. Simon left the High Priest and Kai alone and retreated farther to the comfort of some stone bed.

"You have made a man wonder about your life before the resurrection, Blood Demon," the High Priest said, his green eyes pulsating as he looked at Kai through the water. "No doubt a person like you had a Worth to get two Abilities just after coming to the Primordial Tower. But were you Worthy enough to get more? That's a billion MC question, isn't it?"

Kai didn't lock his emotions. He was weak, but his breathing was calm, and with every next breath, his agitation receded little by little. Control wasn't easy, he had learned. He would need time and practice. A lot of practice.

The High Priest lifted his face and turned to look at him. Kai had to reciprocate.

"Before you leave the Temple," he told Kai, "let a man warn you. The nature of our deal demanded you receive your end of it beforehand. But in case you are to renegade from paying the price, your Candidacy will be canceled, and you will become the top enemy of the Temple. A man need not tell the consequences of such a title attached to your name. Even after you had paid the price, the knowledge you have learned in the last six days belongs to the Temple of Many-faced God, and you must not transfer it to anyone without the High Priest's exclusive permission. Any such attempt will be known."

Kai nodded. He just wanted to leave now. The desire to run back to the library was eating him from within, and he knew some emotions were harder to control than others.

The High Priest turned and walked towards the enormous doors. Kai followed him, and as they neared, the doors opened by themselves. A light, milky white mist was dancing over the green floor of grass way beyond the building's knoll. And he could even hear water walking over stone and pebbles. Soft, but determined.

"You have read about all the Multiverse Interdependencies," the High Priest said, stopping at the gate's threshold. "But the most supreme of its kind wasn't among them."

Kai's eyes narrowed, halting beside the faceless man.

"A man hopes you would consider becoming HIS priest," the High Priest continued, looking out to the golden horizon. "The Temple needs a Contestant like you, Blood Demon. So, let a man show you some goodwill. The paramount Multiverse Interdependency that the true faceless men use to combine their nature with the concepts of Occlumency and Legilimency is based upon a Saying. A Saying that has been passed down from ancient times before the first dawn. It has no true meaning, and every faceless man has interpreted it in their own unique way, concluding a result different from all. Listen —"

Outwardly, there seemed to be no change in Kai's posture, but something had already clicked in his mind. He stared at the High Priest, waiting to hear the words. Why was he being told this? He would think about it later.

The High Priest opened his mouth, his pale green eyes solemn. "… The gates of the true essence of the Facelessness open when the White acts as Black and the Black acts as White."

'This…' Kai's mind immediately ran, trying to fit this sentence somewhere, meanwhile deciphering what these words meant.

A sudden push jolted him awake, and his eyes squinted as he saw the sun resting high in the sky.

'What?!' Kai was shocked. 'Is this some hallucination? Another magical trick?'

But when he turned to look at the High Priest, he saw the truth on his face. "How long…?"

"7 hours."

Kai gulped and wondered how much longer he would have stayed in that trance if the faceless man hadn't bothered to bring him out.

"You must be careful while meditating over it, Blood Demon," the High Priest warned. "Always have someone with you to bring you to reality. Otherwise, the gulf between the Black and White will consume you. Now, go."

Kai ran his hands through his hair and felt their roughened texture. He was hungry, and delicious Gyarados' roasted meat was waiting for him inside his MRB. But he would only have it after going well out of the Temple's reach.

He was on the last step, just over the rocky founding, when the High Priest's voice reached him.

"Wait!"

Kai doubled back and saw the faceless man looking down at him. Only now he felt he couldn't even shout.

"Are you going to attend tonight's auction?" the High Priest asked.

Kai felt confused but nodded. He had an instinct that this man already knew he would attend. He was just glad the High Priest didn't raise any questions about Mission Credits. Kai wasn't sure he could lie without getting found out.

"Good," the white-black cloaked man said, nodding. "The most important object in this auction is a Clue."

'Eh?!' Kai didn't get to ask what this statement meant. The High Priest turned around and went back in, the doors closing behind him majestically.

Not knowing what to do, Kai just shook his head and traced his steps back. The moment he felt that sensation again, all signs of the House of Black and White behind vanished.

And Kai knew no matter how much he would try, he would never find the Temple again without a faceless man's help.

*

*

Inside the House of Black and White

Main Hall

The doors closed, and the High Priest approached the Pool of Truth. Simon was waiting for him there, standing strong, his back slightly hunched.

"What was the need of telling him about the Saying and even passing it onto him?" Simon demanded, his tone expressionless. "Blood Demon is not HIS priest yet."

The High Priest whispered something to himself before speaking out. "The strings of fate have been shaking since his arrival," he told Simon. "It was a gamble. Drastic? Yes. But necessary as well. Blood Demon will not come back to us."

Simon went silent. After nodding to himself, Simon asked, "Then what about the Clue? Do you think he is Him?"

The High Priest looked thoughtful. "If Blood Demon traces the clue back to the source successfully, finding the-one-who-returned… Then, yes. He is Him."

Suddenly, they both laughed, but no sound escaped their throats.

Their heads dropped to look down into the Pool of Truth, but unlike before, the mirror-like sheet of water wasn't reflecting their faces.

There was only a blur. A blur that kept shaking, transforming into a hundred faces. If Kai was here, he would have recognized one of these faces instantaneously.

What would he have done then? It's a question that would never be answered.