"How many people have disappeared?" Uriel asked, looking at Dale with a face beginning to show exhaustion.
"Around six hundred people," he informed, tired.
Uriel looked at the Master with a complicated expression, then observed the soldiers continuing to patrol.
Six hundred people from one day to the next. And still no trace of what had taken them. It didn't matter if they were alone, in a group, or in a crowd; for whatever was attacking, numbers were irrelevant.
The next day, seven hundred people had disappeared, including 20 Sleepers. The rest were mundane people. Among the disappeared were members of the mundane army.
On the third day, two thousand people had vanished from Camp Erebus. There were no clues. People began to notice the disappearances, and fear started to spread, though it hadn't yet turned into panic. The fear, the exhaustion, and the atmosphere were draining and overwhelming.
To make matters worse, on the third day of the disappearances, they were attacked by a flying Corrupted Devil. He had to use Gunlaug to eliminate the troublesome vermin.
Apart from the attack of the Nightmare Creatures, each passing day brought a headache that grew worse.
By the time the second week of disappearances began, they had no rest, barely having time to rest for an hour or two.
To make matters worse, Camp Erebus was attacked by a large swarm of abominations that descended from the mountains, led by a Tyrant that resembled a hedgehog, capable of releasing sharp needles that could pierce the walls.
The battle was difficult for the weakened and exhausted army. They lost many, but in the end, they won, only to be immediately attacked by another, smaller swarm of Fallen monsters.
After the battle, several Sleepers woke up, only to disappear along with a few hundred more people.
From a Category Three Gate, some small Corrupted scavengers emerged. With a tired expression and large dark circles under his eyes, he obtained the Echo of one of the annoying things, which he simply transformed into a Dark Creature, feeding it the strongest metal he could find or hard bones from the Corrupted Devil. He wanted to create the ultimate tank. So he named it "Iroh," thus obtaining his sixth Echo.
When he finished destroying the swarm, he returned to Camp Erebus, noticing that the monster corpses had a light layer of snow.
Looking at the sky, he noticed gray clouds that had formed at some point, becoming denser.
It was something he didn't pay much attention to; he was too tired to think about many things. His headache was so bad he could barely formulate simple thoughts.
'I should sleep. Nothing is stopping me from sleeping. Sleeping is vital. I just need to get far enough away, just a few hours,' Uriel thought. However, even though his mind told him one thing, his body acted differently, refusing to rest.
A few days later, three thousand more had disappeared, totaling around thirteen thousand five hundred missing.
Uriel was sitting on the wall of the siege city. Rather, it seemed like a ghost city. People had been assigned to zones to be counted, continuously watched in an attempt to find the causes of the disappearances.
Uriel heard footsteps and saw Asher approaching with two cups of hot coffee.
"Captain... I have a crazy theory. Can you hear it?"
Uriel looked at his subordinate for a few moments before nodding without saying anything.
"Well, it's about the disappearances. Over the past month, the number of victims has been increasing. First, it was fewer than a hundred, then it doubled, and it kept escalating until thousands disappeared in a week. Although I've explored the entire city completely, there's no trace, not even a drop of blood. It's as if they simply aren't on Earth. Even using my Aspect, I don't feel anything."
"Are you saying they ascended to the sky?"
"Yes, that's the conclusion I reached."
Uriel looked at the layer of gray clouds over the city, stretching beyond the mountains. He ignored the throbbing in his head.
"Yeah, I have that same idea. So I'll stay here for a while to get a better view," Uriel said, looking at the sky.
Somewhere, a thick mist began to surround the streets toward a small crowd of people, at least a hundred strong.
The mist covered them before rising to the sky, leaving the street completely clean.
Uriel rubbed his face wearily. Like Asher, Uriel looked at his subordinate.
"We need to change tactics. Meet with Master Randal and tell him to keep his cohort close, and the same for Dale. As for you all, form teams of two and avoid falling asleep. We don't know what's happening, so it's better to keep our eyes wide open."
"What about you, Captain?"
"I'll be fine. I'll continue watching."
"Understood."
Asher nodded as he walked away.
Uriel stayed on the wall without moving an inch, his eyes watching the city the entire time. Three days passed, and the disappearances continued.
Despite the security measures, the disappearances continued unabated. Measures were expanded, changed, surveillance increased, but everything had failed.
At some point, Colonel Anders met with Uriel to see if he had anything, only to leave annoyed and frustrated by the lack of results.
There was another attack, and Uriel only sent his Dark Knight to the battle. Master Randal participated with his cohort. Uriel preferred to stay in his position on the wall without moving.
In the end, they won and returned with several injuries, which Miranda healed.
After the battle, there were more disappearances. Everyone was tense and under a great deal of stress—the Awakened, the soldiers, and the mundanes.
The civilians... they were tired and scared. They were just people who, until a year ago, were living their happy lives, and now they were slowly disappearing into the unknown nature of what was happening. If not for Anders' presence, along with the promise of help, the city would have erupted into chaos.
Uriel didn't care. He just sat eating bars of disgusting-tasting synthetic paste, watching the city as the wind moved his hair and the robes of his Holy Mantle.
Hearing footsteps, Uriel saw that it was Randal.
"Master Randal," Uriel said in a muted voice.
"Master Uriel," Randal greeted.
The veteran Ascended had an equally tired and exhausted face from what was happening and the long two weeks of being unable to sleep.
"You've been sitting in this spot for almost a week without moving. You even only sent that Echo of yours to battle instead of going personally."
Uriel nodded.
"I'm investigating."
Randal sighed.
"What exactly are you investigating? The number of missing has already reached fifteen thousand, and it's estimated that number will increase even more. And we've made no progress."
At that moment, a group of people from one of the bunkers came out into the street with clouded eyes and calm expressions as a ghostly mist surrounded them before rising to the sky and disappearing, leaving the street silent.
"True, but what can we do? We have to keep trying to find whatever is causing these disappearances. We can't even leave; the streets and surrounding area are full of abominations, including several Corrupted. Even with my Echo keeping them at bay."
Randal made a sound resembling a low, tired curse. It was evident that the Major was having a hard time, like everyone else.
"We can only wait for help. They should have arrived a week ago, but there's still no sign of them," Randal said.
Uriel closed his eyes and sighed.
At that moment, another group of people left their shelters, disappearing into the mist without leaving a trace.
"Possibly they're dead. Or the gods know what happened to them. We'll wait another month. If no help arrives, we'll somehow move all the civilians to Falcon Scott."
Randal nodded.
"Alright, I'll start making preparations, then," the Master said, withdrawing from the walls.
Uriel watched as the Master walked away before bringing a hand to his head and growling quietly at the last stab of pain that spread through his entire head.
Breathing with some difficulty, his vision darkened for a few moments.