Encounter

The faceless men and women creepily stared. Since they didn't have eyes, it looked as if they were lifeless dolls. If Jason didn't witness them coming alive, he would suspect that they were mannequins. But he could see anger and... pain in their featureless faces.

'They are feeling pain? Is it because I killed one of them? They share pain, or am I overthinking it... Maybe they are angry and sad that one of them died. No, they shouldn't share feelings such as this. I don't think they are alive at all, but instead the result of a ghoul's illusion.'

Jason had learned from his father and from the books in his home library that ghouls had ways to trick the minds of their victims. Also, depending on the rank of the ghoul, the illusions were usually creations of its imagination. Therefore, nothing was actually alive in the illusions except the ones that were trapped in them. Such as Jason, Perseus, etc.

'The ghouls rank is probably E, maybe D. However, it doesn't matter since only C-ranked ghouls can steal their victims memories and make their illusions more real. Maybe these faceless creatures share the same mind as their creator, the ghoul? It could explain why they are feeling pain; maybe even the ghoul felt that pain...'

Jason's grip tightened on the revolver. The 8 bullet chamber still had 6 bullets left. He had no other choice but to test the theory. But then, the faceless creatures pulled out sharp objects from thin air. The ghoul created the weapons for them. Unlike the faceless creatures, the weapons were very real since they were most likely taken from real life and sent to the illusion.

Just like the ghoul did with Jason and the rest. The ghoul had the ability to send anything and anyone to the illusionary world.

'Can I really defeat them as Non-Systemer?' Jason pondered with beads of sweat trickling down the side of his face. He had trained with his father for a long time. Sometime, his crazy friends joined, so he had learned his fair share of different fighting styles. However, he was never described as strong.

He had also never won a fight before. Most of his fights were against his father and his friends. Occasionally against some of his father's friends children who were already Systemers.

Killing the fake Tina wasn't a victory. It was an execution. But it wasn't his first-ever kill. It was different to win a fight than to kill someone when they didn't expect it.

'I will test them. If I am unable to fight them, I will escape—if I can.'

The faceless creatures waited patiently for Jason to make his first move. He didn't know what they were thinking. He wondered whether they were afraid of the iron-black revolver and the pain it could cause them. From his point of view, it looked like they were afraid of getting hurt.

However, the moment of waiting had passed.

Jason quickly raised his revolver and placed his finger on the trigger. Then, the faceless creatures moved forth and slashed with their blades. The clean, metallic blades cleaved across the air, flanking Jason from every direction.

Jason's knees suddenly buckled until his buttocks almost touched the floor. He then placed his hands on the floor and smashed his boot into the closest faceless man's leg. The kick landed on the faceless man's kneecap. The faceless creature's knees sank, and he leaned forward without wanting to. Its blade brushed past Jason's black hair.

The rest of the faceless creatures quickly adjusted the trajectories of their blades and attacked Jason's unprotected face.

However, before the blades reached him, Jason moved his revolver-wielding hand and placed the muzzle on the faceless creature's forehead. Bang. After pulling the trigger, a bullet-sized wound appeared on the faceless man's forehead. The creature collapsed next to Jason, dead.

Other faceless creatures halted for a moment as they shuddered in pain. Jason noticed that and smirked as a result. He quickly somersaulted away from the encirclement and began to run away across the hallway.

The faceless creatures couldn't make any noise since they didn't have mouths. If they could, they would be screaming in anger. But then they stomped their feet in anger and ran after Jason.

While running, Jason awkwardly reached into one of his chest pockets. There, he picked up three bullets. He then opened the revolver's barrel and stuffed the three bullets inside. Lastly, he closed it, cocked the revolver, and turned around.

The faceless creatures ran from the dimly lit hallways, their blades wildly swaying around them. They noticed that Jason had stopped running and planned to stop to take a more careful approach. However, then they heard an eerie bang.

Bang!

Jason had pulled the trigger. As the bullet pierced through the air, all the faceless men and women jumped to safety. They almost hugged the walls as they tried to go as far from that bullet as possible. However, they had separated because of the fear.

Therefore, Jason quickly kicked off the ground and approached the closest faceless creature. It was a faceless woman with few womanly features, such as two bulges in its chest. It had already sensed Jason's approach and swung the blade wildly in the human's direction.

Jason swiftly ducked the blade and pulled the trigger. The revolver's barrel was aimed at the faceless woman's thigh. The bullet easily pierced through the pale skin. The faceless woman couldn't keep standing and fell on its buttocks.

Before Jason could finish it off, another faceless creature threw its blade towards his face. Jason quickly tumbled backward and barely managed to dodge the blade. After lifting his head, he saw that faceless creatures were suffering from the pain. At least, the faceless woman was unable to continue the chase.

However, soon he saw that the faceless creatures stopped shuddering and began to run after him. Even the faceless woman who got shot. It only meant one thing. The pain was temporary, perhaps only lasting five seconds!

'So, I can't divide and conquer. So bothersome. But I feel like I might be able to do this. As long my bullets last.' Jason quickly counted his bullets. Six remained. He then dodged another blade by tilting his head to the left. Before he was able to counterattack, another blade approached from his blind spot.

Jason quickly pulled his head backward and felt the blade graze past his exposed neck. He quickly jumped backward to increase the distance. The faceless creatures didn't allow him to catch his breath and followed after him by jumping forward.

Jason lifted his revolver-wielding arm and pulled the trigger. The bullet landed on one of the faceless creatures, who had jumped after him. It was a mistake since, in the air, they couldn't possibly dodge his bullet.

The faceless creature collapsed to the ground like a heavy rock on a pond. It died. The rest of the faceless creatures felt the pain. They landed on the ground while clutching their stomachs.

Jason approached one of them. That faceless creature swung the blade clumsily while grimacing in pain. That gave Jason the opportunity he was waiting for. He caught the faceless man's wrist and squeezed it until it dropped the blade. Once the blade bounced on the ground, Jason placed the muzzle of his iron-black revolver on the faceless creature's throat and squeezed the trigger.

Bang!

The faceless creature's head exploded, and strange, greenish blood splattered across the wall. Jason remembered that fake Tina's blood was as red as it was supposed to be. It meant that the faceless ones who hadn't transformed originally had green blood. When they transform, they even copy their victim's color of blood to make their transformation even more realistic.

Jason rolled across the ground, snatched the fallen blade, and rose to his feet. There were only three faceless creatures left. They were holding their heads in agony.

Jason quickly counted the number of bullets inwardly. Four bullets remained and three enemies left. He had more bullets in his chest pocket, but in the battle, he wouldn't have time to reload. Therefore, he lunged forward and attacked.

With the blade-wielding arm, he first threw a punch, which landed on one of the faceless women's face. Then he switched the grip on the blade and cleaved it across the woman's throat.

Suddenly, a blade appeared in his peripheral vision. Jason quickly placed the woman in the way of the blade, using the faceless woman as a meat shield. The blade got stuck into its featureless face, and the attacker was trembling in agony.

Then, an iron-black revolver appeared on the faceless woman's shoulder, and the recoil, which shook its corpse, surfaced. The bullet penetrated through the faceless man's face, killing it right away.

Jason then switched his gaze to the last faceless creature. The faceless man was kneeling on the ground in pain. Before it could recover from the pain, Jason threw the faceless woman's corpse away and pulled the trigger as quickly as he could.

However, the faceless man was prepared and rolled to the side. The bullet caused a crack in the brownish floor. Then, another bang reverberated across the hallway. The faceless man quickly tumbled backward, but the bullet landed on its abdomen.

Before it could realize what had happened, Jason appeared in front of the creature like a black angel. His deep blue eyes had a strange glow of darkness, which could scare any creature to its core.

Bang!

The last of the faceless creatures fell to the ground. The hallway was suddenly messy with bullet holes, corpses, cracks, and the green blood that was splattered across the brownish walls. The paintings that existed before were now paintings of empty valleys. There were small hills, dull-looking trees, and a bright blue sky. The faceless creatures that before existed in the paintings had mysteriously disappeared.

Jason sighed and wondered whether he could use any of the faceless creature's ingredients. However, he quickly snuffed out that thought. They were creatures of imagination. They only existed in this illusionary world and would vanish in the outside world. He also didn't know what body parts he could use for potions.

Often, the potions had recipes. There weren't any recipes for faceless creatures.

'Maybe their blood? Green blood is unique even in other realms.' Jason shrugged his shoulders and walked away from the scene. He felt slightly exhausted after all that rolling, running, and jumping.

Shortly afterward, he arrived at the place where he had been initially attacked. He came here to fetch the bags, which he dropped. However, when he finally got there. He wasn't alone!

There were two men investigating the two bags. When they saw Jason, both of them showed signs of surprise.

The man, who was kneeling beside the larger bag, was a handsome man with blond hair and blue eyes. He looked quite athletic and was tall, even though not as tall as Jason. There was also dirt smeared across his face, as if he had rolled in mud. But there were scratches on his armor, meaning that he had fought just recently.

He was Perseus, a member of the Golden Lions!

The other man was a muscular man with a wide forehead, a long nose bridge, and an average-looking face. His hair was short, and he had brown eyes. The crescent-shaped eyebrows made him look like a gentle giant at first glance, but there was also fierceness in his sharp eyes.

''Perseus, Paul!" Jason called out, but then remembered the ghoul. His muscles tensed, and he closed his lips quickly.

Perseus picked up his spear in a hurry and rose to his feet. His eyes turned serious.

Paul was the same. He picked up his two-handed axe and held it firmly while looking coldly at Jason. The situation grew extremely tense immediately!