Low humming voices chanting spells, filled every corner and reverberated off every wall.
It was loud, but not the type of loud that would have your chest thumping, rather vibrations that made one's ears ring.
Marcus and his knights were experiencing this as well.
They had just stepped into the auction house and from the moment they set foot into the place, it seemed like a different world.
A space of darkness, coated with a pungent odor.
Even as they tried to create some form of light, it continued to be swallowed by darkness.
Thinking on his feet, Marcus conjured a ball of fire the size of an egg, and this time, he was able to provide some light.
Looking back, he saw nothing but darkness. The entrance had vanished.
"Let's continue forward," Marcus said.
They had only taken a few steps forward when suddenly, they were surrounded.
No words were exchanged.
Both sides were already at war. It was kill on sight or be killed.
Brown and Logail charged in a direction, while Marcus's hands moved with a blur.
With all the battles they had fought before today, and real-life experiences he had gained from them, Marcus didn't need to chant his spells anymore.
His hand signs were enough. It only took a few seconds, before a halo of flames burst forth from his position.
Every faceless masked person who charged at him was quickly pushed away, burning as the distance increased.
But strangely, none of them made a sound. As though they couldn't feel any pain.
This sent chills down their spines!
"Clear the way!" Marcus heard a familiar voice coming from behind.
It was Zach, charging forward with his spear.
Behind him was Veronica, still in her disguise, however, she couldn't escape the touch of battle as bloody wounds marked her body.
Bringing forth a force of spiraling wind, the masked ones who were already burning were thrown into the air.
"Let's move! The formation's core shouldn't be far off, I can feel it!" Zach said, not wasting any time.
With that, they charged forward, dealing heavy damage to any masked cultist they came across.
It took nearly an hour before they somehow stepped out of that dark world.
Suddenly, they all found themselves on an altar, surrounded by a glaring red glow that seemed to stretch on to the sky.
Clouds were above, and a river of blood flowed violently in the distance.
Within it, bones jutted out from time to time, under the waves of the blood river, as though they were drowning.
It was as if they had exited the auction house.
[Lord With A Will (Lv1)].
"Ugh!"
A few people fell to their knees.
Their minds felt sluggish, as though they had been poisoned.
Brown and Logail seemed fine. Even Marcus was able to withstand this sluggishness.
"Protect your minds! It's the spell of these devils!" One of the knights shouted.
On the altar, there were twelve, naked, and faceless corpses laid in a hexagonal shape. These corpses had no genitalia.
One of the faceless corpses moved, and then another, and just like that, they all stood up.
Their awakening came with a monstrous pressure that shook clouds in the sky.
Those who were already struggling to stand, and those who were standing, all fell to the ground.
Marcus felt as though his face had been stained. His [Lord With A Will], pushed itself to the max, working to resist this pressure.
And yet, it was futile.
"Argh!!" Many cried out as they too fought this pressure.
Sweat dotted their heads and backs, cascading around protruding veins.
"Fight back!" Zach shouted, seemingly resisting the pressure better than the others as his knees were off the ground. "The core is just ahead, fight back!!"
His Blood Force exploded, casting a radiant crimson glow around his body.
He had taken that step, breaking through to a new realm. Zach had become a Radiant Knight.
This breakthrough was like a catalyst, paving the way for other students and knights to break through.
Including Brown and Logail.
Aura after aura burst forth, pushing this pressure placed on them.
Everyone but Marcus had broken through, but he wasn't to be left behind.
Something in his mind shattered, creating space for a greater force to occupy his thoughts.
[Lord With A Will (Lv2)].
A wave of breeze strong enough to push those around him appeared.
Brown, Logail, and the others who thought to assist the young lord were filled with surprise.
They could all sense a threatening might coming from Marcus, but it seemed… illusory.
No Blood Force or Mana, but there was something.
"Young lord, you've been hiding yourself properly." Zach praised.
However, this was not truly a cause to celebrate, Marcus didn't think so, nor did the rest.
Yes, they had all broken through, however, all they did was to resist a suppressive pressure.
Whatever, or whoever was the source of the pressure wasn't something that they could handle.
All of them realized this after their breakthrough.
"We should leave this place. Agard is done for." Eddy said, already searching for a way out.
This suggestion earned a glare from Marcus that made the young man retreat.
Only after he retreated did he realize what he had done.
How could he, a Radiant Knight, be afraid of a person like Marcus?
"There's no point in doing that now. We are already in too deep to step back now. Either we win or we die trying." Zach said.
And it was the bitter truth.
None of them could see anyone surviving this disaster.
The Inspectors were nowhere to be seen, probably killed off somewhere.
Outside, there were probably few survivors. But their fate remains dire as Agard has been sealed off from the rest of the Kingdom.
"Then let's do it!" Someone said, foolery or not, death was inevitable.
Their confidence rose, and yet, all Marcus did was to look at everyone present.
He marked their faces, etching them into his memory.
The fifth problem… We don't really know what this faceless cult wants and why the kingdom is willing to sacrifice Agard. Marcus thought.
"That altar should be the core, charge!" Zach bellowed as he moved forward, pointing his spear ahead.
The faceless humanoids reacted to this provocation and vanished from the altar.
Their disappearance came along with brutality. No one had seen how it was done, but chunks of meat from the knights that charged forward were flying around.
Blood splashed onto the faces of those behind, magnifying the horrors of their predicament.
Even Zach wasn't spared.
"Milord, let's search for a way out," Brown spoke up. He too was terrified by what he was seeing.
"No, this is where I die." Marcus refused as he squinted his eyes and looked around once again.
This time Eddy was nowhere to be seen.
Veronica appeared beside him. "Even in the face of death, you manage to remain interesting. How annoying of you."
Her figure vanished once again, only to reappear in front of one of the faceless humanoids.
Boom!
She struck forward with her fist and a devastating shockwave blew everything and everyone away.
Her body shone in this horror, as though she were made of glowing crystals.
The humanoid she attacked was also blown away, with its hands deformed from trying to block her fist.
This was a side of her she hadn't revealed since the beginning of this ordeal.
Her disguise had broken, letting her red hair flow to her waist.
This was the last thing Marcus saw before he died.
He was unaware of what killed him, whether it was the shockwaves from Veronica's punch, or a faceless humanoid that had gotten to him without his knowledge.