A Hunt for the Damned

"When I told you, there is something more dangerous than a nightmare. It is the unknown or ancient nightmare. Luckily for you, you met the holy knight 'Ars', and not the great guardian of the lord who has no name," said the Faceless One in a terrifying tone, as he wiped his index finger across a bookshelf.

"Did you know that?" German looked very angry. He tried to get up from the chair, but Vanix held his shoulder and sat him back down.

German looked at Vanix angrily and pushed his hand away. Then, he stood directly in front of him, face to face.

"Haha, do you want me to break your other hand, or what?" Vanix laughed softly with a sharp mocking tone.

"Try if you dare, or you'll see your head flying in the air, you filthy servant," German said angrily with a strong and clearly challenging tone.

Vanix growled in anger and tried to grab German's neck using the Crimson Authority. But German caught Vanix's hand and threw him toward the red window… However, Vanix quickly regained his balance, drew his sword that was dripping blood, but the Faceless One knocked three times on the table.

Knock… knock… knock…

German looked toward the Faceless One, feeling the terrifying pressure emanating from him. Vanix sheathed his sword and bowed respectfully toward the Faceless One, apologizing:

"Forgive me, my lord, I lost control of myself."

"Next time, try not to lose control," German said as he glanced at Vanix mockingly from the corner of his eye.

The Faceless One appeared before German, placed the card around his neck, and spoke in a terrifying voice:

"What's wrong, punished hunter? Is this simple nightmare going to drive you mad?"

German sat on the chair, broken from all sides—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. As if all the goals he once had led him to a dead end.

The Faceless One subtly moved his left hand. Vanix noticed the hand movement and understood it as a signal to leave the room.

Vanix revealed a card with a black hole on it. He tilted it, revealing a large portal inside, and the gate closed behind him.

Only the Faceless One and German remained… the atmosphere in the room was terrifying and extremely hot… even the silence at times was enough to make a person uneasy.

"To be honest, I don't think I deserve to be a hunter or even the son of the Fifth Emperor, haha… just a brat who likes to yell and swing a sword stupidly." German placed his five fingers on his face, speaking with self-mockery.

The Faceless One made a gothic chair rise from the ground and sat directly in front of him… speaking with a tone of wisdom and strength:

"No one ever climbed from the thousandth floor suddenly. You must start from the first, second, third, and fourth floor… and so on. Reaching power is not an easy task. You must train. The more you train, the stronger you become… and the stronger you are, the less likely you'll be scratched in battle."

"In your opinion, do you think I can kill the Beast Hunter or the great knight 'Ars'? I can't even reach half of their power." German spoke flatly, looking toward the destroyed city behind the Faceless One.

The Faceless One placed two cards on the table with a strange and frightening smile on his face, speaking in a terrifying tone:

"You can cut off their heads and place their filthy bodies in this ruined city."

German seemed somewhat disturbed by the Faceless One's frightening manner and that strange smile. He spoke to himself:

'I don't know what you are, Faceless One, but you're hiding a great secret behind you. Your presence, your power, and the ruined city—all of them are strange, and the only explanation lies with you.'

The Faceless One pointed his finger at German's forehead, speaking with a fearsome tone beyond insight:

"Do you know who reached complete insight? Do you know who controlled all five nightmares? Do you know who terrified the ancients and legends? Do you know who commanded armies capable of destroying an entire continent? He is the Wise One, the First Eternal Revered One, the Truthful One who hates lies, the Mighty One, the Truly Smiling One, the One with the Sharp Sword, the One who Terrifies the Nameless… Without a doubt, he is the ruler of the Empire of Mesopotamia and all the nightmares of 'Gilgamesh'—the First Lord of Insight."

He stood as he looked around the destroyed city, then turned his head slightly back as he continued speaking to German:

"You might ask, what does this great being have to do with a failure like me? Because this being is you, German… Be like Gilgamesh."

"The great being is me?" German's body shivered as he held his face with his five fingers. He stood up and looked toward the Faceless One, speaking with extreme arrogance:

"All those attributes you mentioned about this mysterious being… will become mine… and you will see that, Faceless One."

"Hahahaha, that is the response I've been waiting for from you, German. Swing your sword, even if it's the last moment of your life, Punished Hunter. Punish all the monsters—including the monster of your weakness," the Faceless One laughed in a horrifying voice, gripping German's shoulder as he spoke like a legend.

"And now, when will I begin training?" German stretched his hand forward and asked calmly.

The Faceless One sat on the gothic chair and knocked three times on the table.

Knock… knock… knock…

The air in the room split, revealing a large and massive rift, from which a person of immense presence and terrifying aura emerged.

German was stunned by the presence of this terrifying and frightening figure. His features were extremely sharp and intimidating. His long black hair reached his neck, and he wore a long black robe with a white shirt underneath. There was also a solar eclipse symbol in the middle of his abdomen, close to his chest. He carried two swords on his back: the first bore the mark of the Cursed Eclipse, and the second bore the image of the Crimson Moon with a giant beast on it.

This terrifying figure looked at German and calmly walked toward him. With each step, black sparks from the Forbidden Flame erupted.

He was so tall that German's head only reached his abdomen. He looked at him with eyes like black rain and spoke with a royal, terrifying tone—more frightening than 'Ars' himself:

"In the name of the knight among the Cursed Eclipse Knights and the servant of the Nameless One… you may call me 'Akrov,' the Ninth Saint among the knights."

German was shocked by the presence of this figure—one more terrifying than Ars himself. German spoke to himself in disbelief:

'This person… by God… he's more terrifying than Ars himself. And the terrifying thing is that they belong to the same order——'

With a frightening tone, Akrov placed his index finger on his lips and said with royal horror:

"Don't think too much about Ars. You must focus only on your goal. If you don't, I will break every bone in your golden-eyed body."

'Golden-eyed? He can read my thoughts too? Who is this terrifying person, and why did he call me the golden-eyed one?' German began thinking wildly as he spoke to himself.

The atmosphere in the room was terrifying, to the point where the Faceless One was merely writing in a blood-stained book, completely indifferent to the event unfolding before him.

Akrof opened a dimension with a straight line, then split it with his hand, revealing a gate that exhaled dreadful breaths—as if death itself were breathing through it.

Akrof pointed his hand toward the gate, commanding German to enter. German had no other choice. He stepped through the gate, followed by Akrof.

The gate closed behind them. The Faceless One raised his head slightly and spoke in a horrifying tone:

"Out of German's might, saints come to see him… only to kill him."

German and Saint Akrof appeared in an enormous royal hall. The ceiling was made up of galaxies swirling and producing terrifying sounds. All four walls had windows holding portraits of great beings—but their images were unclear.

Some pillars were destroyed, while others floated mysteriously. In the left corner, swords floated mid-air, and phantoms of knights moved throughout the eerie hall.

German looked around, astonished by such a terrifying yet beautiful design.

"These artifacts exist only in the Hell of Death," German uttered in horror at the majestic Victorian design.

"Now, German. You have three cards. These are your weapons that will destroy the ten regions from all the monsters of the Kingdom of England," said Akrof, showing a set of cards, each bearing an illustrated representation.

German stepped toward the cards and examined them all… One category was sword-based, containing many cards. The second category held a single card representing a weapon currently in hand. The third card was mysterious—its nature completely unknown.

He took the middle card, which depicted a man cutting off a demon's head while screaming. German placed the card into the four slots on his palm, and a long sword with deep scars and violent winds emerging from it appeared.

He touched the blade and smiled, saying:

"This sword has a spirit of its own."

When he tried to draw the next card from the weapons category, it was a pistol with deeply engraved patterns and carvings. Its barrel was dripping blood ever so slowly.

"But why? Shouldn't I place the card into the four palm slots?" German questioned in surprise.

Akrof answered calmly, explaining:

"Cards with matching illustrations combine to form a single weapon at the same time."

German touched his chin thoughtfully and said:

"I see… Now I understand."

He continued:

"And what about this mysterious card?"

Akrof took the card in his right hand, approached German, and grabbed his hand. He then pressed the sharp part of the card against it, wounding German.

German quickly pulled his hand back, astonished by Akrof's actions.

"Why did you do that?" he asked in shock.

"You'll see, boy," Akrof replied and threw the card to the ground.

A knight clad in black armor with glowing blue highlights emerged. His black helmet emitted blue sparks from its eye sockets. His sword resembled German's.

The knight looked at German and knelt before him in complete respect.

'What just happened?' German smirked sarcastically, clueless about what was going on.

Akrof stepped beside the knight and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, then said calmly while pointing at him:

"Not everyone receives such a rare card. But you and Ophelia are exceptions due to the strength of your insight. The more insight you possess, the stronger the knight becomes—even surpassing his own summoner."

"Hahaha, that's amazing," German laughed as he looked at the knight with joy and wonder.

"Now, give the knight a name. You'll also begin your training," Akrof said sharply to German.

"There are many names… but this one suits him—'Artrois'." The moment German named the knight, Artrois stood up, drew his sword from his back, placed it to the ground, and held it with both hands.

"If you want to cancel the summon, simply ask him for the sword… This ability drains a lot of your insight power," Akrof explained more details about the mysterious knight.

German nodded… then extended his hand and curled all five fingers backward as a signal.

The knight handed the sword to German, then knelt and vanished… transforming back into a card.

"Enough delays… let's begin training," Akrof clapped thunderously, summoning a horde of monsters similar to those from the Yarakmen zone.

Their numbers were overwhelming, and their weapons were strange and varied.

"Now, German, begin your slaughter," Akrof ordered with a dreadful tone.

"Looks like this will be fun," German said sarcastically, then charged toward them.

German began his training, swinging the sword and pistol all around, killing monster after monster. Their numbers kept growing rather than decreasing, building up his endurance and preparing him for prolonged, exhausting battles.

After four continuous hours of training, German had slain them all, enjoying every kill, excited and unfazed by fatigue.

"You've done something great. But what if I show you something that boosts your power and shatters your fear?" Akrof said challengingly, as if he were about to summon something straight from hell.

Akrof stomped his foot on the ground, revealing a creature so horrifying that German's cheerful and smug expression turned into madness and fierce determination.

"Now this… this is real training," German muttered with a crazed smile, raising his sword upright in front of his face, voice filled with challenge…

Five days later…

The Faceless One gathered with the five hunters in the cathedral's main hall for a terrifying extermination mission.

"Now, hunters, we're assigning you a mission. It will be heavy, but you're capable of handling it," the Faceless One addressed them, explaining what was ahead.

A girl with long red hair, beautiful green eyes, and shy features—dressed in a black shirt tucked into her pants—raised her hand, seeking to ask something.

The Faceless One looked at her and calmly said:

"What is it, Huntress Elianora?"

"Will that crazy hunter be joining us on this mission?" Elianora asked, walking elegantly toward someone as she spoke.

The Faceless One looked at Vanix, who was also surprised by her question…

"Oh, you mean German… I didn't expect he made that kind of first impression, haha. Yes, he'll be joining this mission," the Faceless One replied with a light laugh.

As he said that last sentence, a black portal opened, and German emerged, looking at the hunters and speaking with arrogance and sarcasm:

"Looks like the knights await the arrival of their emperor."