Phantium Card
"Our first law, hunter, is to fear the Old Nightmare," spoke the mysterious man as he looked at German with an eye resembling a Victorian clock.
German looked toward the man lying on the ceiling. He spoke arrogantly, saying:
"What are you talking about, you monkey? Come down from the tree."
"Which tree do you mean?" German was shocked to find the man behind him, even though his body was still on the ceiling. German gave half a glance behind and said:
"But how? How are you behind me when your body is still up there?"
"What do you mean? Oh, you're asking how I can be here while my body is there. Man, it's simple. Every person from the Five Families has unique traits, and you possess one too—your instinct to kill and your faceless appearance."
"And you are part of the Condoleezza Cathedral family. The Faceless Elder Hunter and I tested you to see how capable you are at hunting beasts."
"It seems you are strong, but the one you faced—Sir 'Arxen', the Beast—is not someone easily defeated. You only survived because his daughter was killed. Otherwise, you would be dead now." The man with the Victorian eye explained some unknown matters to German, yet German was stunned that this entire trial had taken another turn.
"So all of this… was just a test. That bastard made everything unclear."
"Oh, dear Lord, and who do you mean by 'bastard'?" said the mysterious faceless man sarcastically as he played with the head of one of the beasts.
German looked at him with intense anger, stepped forward, and aimed to fire a bullet at his head—but 'Phanex' grabbed his hand and broke it… then shattered German's gun into tiny pieces. He finished with a powerful strike to his chest that threw him to the ground from its force.
German spat blood on the ground, clutching his broken hand… he looked at Phanex furiously.
"You bastard," German growled with fury.
The faceless one put a hand on Phanex's shoulder and spoke calmly while pointing at German:
"Easy with the family's new guest. He's a beautiful piece, Lord Phanex."
"My apologies, sir, but he disrespected you," Phanex said while bowing in apology to the Faceless Elder Hunter.
"No need, Phanex. Rise now," the elder said calmly to Phanex, then walked toward German, who still didn't understand anything happening.
"Stand up, Lord. Men like you don't stay lying in the dirt." The Faceless one ordered German to rise.
German stood, eyeing Phanex, speaking to himself in question about this hunter:
'Phanex… his movements were incredibly fast. I couldn't even control the flow of the fight. I can say this man is terrifying—stronger than that beast.'
Both Phanex and the faceless one walked toward the tavern. Phanex entered the tavern in a strange manner, as if he were swallowed.
"What just happened?" German was stunned by the event.
The faceless one turned his head toward German and said quietly:
"Don't you want to enter the family's headquarters, Lord?"
'Up until now, everything is unclear. And beyond that, the beast hunt was merely training until that hunter-beast—Sir Arxen—appeared out of nowhere… There are too many questions that need logical answers.' German thought to himself, confused, not knowing what was happening around him.
"Before I ent—"
Suddenly, the faceless one appeared holding German's shoulder. German wasn't surprised, but simply looked at him… The faceless one said sarcastically:
"Enter the tavern. We have some chicken… and some answers to your questions."
The faceless one entered the tavern. German gave a fake smile, then followed him inside, saying:
"Looks like that bastard heard the joke I made while entering the area."
German stepped into the tavern but was shocked to find himself inside a massive wormhole of planets, traveling through it at great speed—until he arrived at the Condoleezza Cathedral.
The cathedral's design was bizarre—completely upside down. The ceiling was the ground, and the ground was the ceiling. A giant white vase with a faint touch of red rested on the ceiling.
On the ground, there were swords and hanging corpses. Strangely, a moving void emitted a sound similar to an alarm.
On the ceiling hall, spiral staircases led to a dark, strange place—the same way people enter the tavern.
On the ceiling, there were five hunters—three women and two men.
German was admiring the strange yet beautiful design of the cathedral when someone approached him.
"Looks like you're the new member of the Condoleezza family. Welcome, hunter. My name is Lenkaten. What's yours, hunter?" Lenkaten's face was calm and handsome, with short blond hair and green eyes. He spoke gently and warmly, extending his hand for a handshake.
German was stunned by this man's strange welcome, but reached out and shook his hand with a fake smile:
"Nice to meet you, Lenkaten… I'm German… a pleasure to meet you."
From afar, someone leaning on one of the spiral staircases spoke mockingly:
"German? What a strange name… Did you think of it while you were in the bathroom?" This man had long, somewhat dark hair and brown eyes.
German looked toward him and charged quickly.
"Say that again, bastard. I didn't hear you well… were you eating my waste while speaking?" German replied sarcastically.
"And now the drama starts… Clantin, what a reckless guy," said a beautiful girl with white eyes and pitch-black hair. She wore a black coat with a white shirt beneath.
"Are you trying to be funny, fool?" Clantin clenched his fist tightly and threw a powerful punch at German's face—but he dodged it swiftly. German grabbed Clantin's collar and aimed to punch his neck—but was suddenly struck in the stomach by someone—both Clantin and German were knocked backward.
German held his stomach and looked toward his attacker, surprised to see an extremely beautiful, tall woman with silky black hair and wide blue eyes. She wore a long red robe adorned with strange tattoos and a crimson collar around her neck.
"Oh, didn't expect a pretty woman like you to be in this damned place. Aside from the one who burned a few hours ago," German flirted with her in a clever and humorous tone.
"Why did you interfere, Ophelia? It was between me and him—none of your business!" Clantin shouted at her. Ophelia raised a black card to his neck and said coldly:
"You didn't see the golden shadow watching you with fury."
Clantin was shocked and looked at German, as if he were seeing golden hell through his terrifying eyes.
Phanex appeared in the middle of the hall and looked at German with his Victorian eye.
"The Elder Hunter awaits you upstairs. Don't be late," he said before vanishing like mist.
"Looks like the Elder Hunter has some nice answers… see you later, hunters." German headed toward the staircase, walking in a heavy, provocative manner, even his tone reeked of arrogance.
German entered the second floor through the Trunk Dimension. The girl with white eyes asked with curiosity:
"Who is this madman?"
German appeared in a strangely designed office, with architectural elements from the Danis era. Columns burned with black flames, and as the fire moved, horrifying faces appeared. On the right side, a window overlooked a red city drenched in heavy rain. On the other side, ancient texts hung on a crumbled wall, which was gripped by a giant hand.
From the ceiling hung giant cards with images of people in odd poses. In front sat the Faceless One at a broken desk that somehow remained standing. He sat on a tall-backed chair, also damaged, from which eerie sounds emerged. Behind the chair lay a shattered Victorian city.
"Welcome, German. Looks like this is your first time seeing my office… Sit down. We have much to discuss," said the Faceless One with a calm, mysterious tone.
Phanex stood to his right, eyes fixed on the floor, both hands gripping his sword.
"Honestly, you have a great taste in office design… I expected your aesthetic to be empty—like your face," German joked, prompting Phanex to grab his neck with the Crimson Grip.
"Hey man, what's with this brute—I was just joking," German said, clutching the invisible hand on his throat.
The Faceless One ordered Phanex to release him. Then he raised a giant chair from the ground with his hand burning in black flames.
German sat, still astonished. The Faceless One began discussing things German still didn't understand:
"At first, the hunt was just a test to gauge your strength. And you showed up in a terrifying and powerful way… but the appearance of the Forgotten Beast made things even more exciting. You would've died had his daughter not intervened."
"Do you remember the four holes on your hand? These signify you're part of the Condoleezza family. As I told you before, they also enhance your insight. Not every person or hunter gains insight… only those chosen by the Crimson Moon Beast have the ability to see. If blood seeps from the holes."
"But it's not a grand gift to see what was once hidden… you will witness the nightmare in reverse, in such a horrifying way that your mouth splits from one end to the other."
"But if you fear rain turning to blood, creatures will appear—creatures never studied, not in the texts of Danis nor even in modern scriptures."
"Man, stop for a second…"
"Man, stop for a second, you're making me regret asking… but is the nightmare really that terrifying? Damn it, I just want to go back and get revenge—I don't want to get involved in this nonsense."
German's primitive mind couldn't handle this kind of information… but all he cared about was revenge against the kings who destroyed his family.
The Faceless One laughed that mysterious laugh, and spoke in a sharp tone filled with deep thought:
"Revenge… it's a beautiful thing. But continuing on your current path is what completes that revenge."
The Faceless One continued:
"You've seen the cards, right? The ones you used? Or the ones Ophelia used? Or the ones on the ceiling?"
"Yes, what about them?" German replied, puzzled by the matter.
"Those are your weapons. The two weapons I gave you—they were just ordinary tools. But those cards are the real combat weapons… and there's one card called Phantium. It's a simple name in the Ninth Sequence. There are many sequences for these cards, and they evolve through each battle," the Faceless One explained, holding a card that showed a person carrying his own head with a disturbing smile.
"For God's sake… did you give me useless weapons? You bastard."
German was slightly shocked by that information, then continued:
"And how are these weird cards supposed to help me?"
The Faceless One placed the card onto the four holes on the palm of his hand and clenched his hand with force…
Suddenly, a black weapon engulfed in dark flames appeared, screaming with a terrifying, loud sound…
It was a long, sharp sword.
"That's how it works, Hunter German… this card belongs to the First Sequence."
He spoke with an eerie calm while holding the blade.
German was stunned by what he saw… he spoke to the Faceless One, asking something on his mind:
"When will I get my own Phantium card?"
"Rest today. Tomorrow, you'll begin training with these weapons and choose the one that suits you best."
The Faceless One spoke while looking toward the Victorian city behind him, raining black.
"But why not star——"
The Faceless One snapped his fingers, and German instantly vanished from the office.
Phoenix then spoke to the Faceless One about something cryptic and strange:
"This time too?"
The Faceless One turned his head toward Phoenix and spoke with a quiet, burning anger:
"There's no other choice.
The nightmare won't vanish…
Not unless something appears—
Something that is the nightmare itself."