Last Quarter

Some time before the start of the battle between life and death, Axiolypito could have been spotted walking alongside Faceless Lord in the middle a peaceful meadow.

The flowers were bright and voluminous, looming over the tall grass.

Some of those flowers were almost as tall as Axio was, yet, they were still dwarfed by the few gigantic trees populating the area.

Their shadows gave a gloomy ambience to the vibrant nature.

The meadow was a little ecosystem of its own, surrounded by tall cliffs, it existed separated from the rest world.

'What did you want to tell me, Axio? And why the need for such privacy?' Faceless Lord didn't appreciate the landscape much, due to his lack of sight.

Everything seemed monotonous through his own perception.

On the other hand, Axiolypito didn't appreciate the wonders of nature because of their beauty.

'Aah, all of this will belong to me' he smirked inwardly but putting on a grave front as he turned to Faceless.

"Listen attentively to what I am going to say" the tall minister tilted his featureless head, Axiolypito seemed awfully serious about this.

"Some while ago, I discovered that Condemned was planning to overthrow the queen" Axio dropped this huge bomb on him but didn't even let him react before piling it up.

"I have already put something into motion to deal with him, do not worry-"

"-The problem is that I was nearly one hundred percent certain that he had an accomplice and my money was on the fact that it was Scourge"

"...At least that's what I told Cradled Lich, but in truth, I suspect both her and Scourge" Axio narrowed his eyes.

"Hell, I am even starting to have doubts about Sovereign Of Flesh, you are the only I fully trust to not be treacherous" He sighed and remained silent for a while, Faceless also didn't say anything, seemingly ruminating on what he had just heard.

They remained like this for a few minutes before Axiolypito decided to go even further.

"I do not know who the traitor is, but I have a good grasp of their plan to seize the throne for themselves" he raised his index finger up in the air with a slight smile.

The wind blew over the tall grass, the flowers swaying to the side as Axio looked around the area, suspicion clear in his every movements.

"I know that they have allied themselves with humans, powerful ones, ambushes could be awaiting each of us at each corner, which is why I am asking you not to answer any demands from anyone, do not warp over to anyone, the odds that a trap is put together against you are high" Axiolypito warned him.

"Don't do it, even if it's me, until we get to the bottom of this, trust no one" 

Once again, he looked around.

"Honestly, I feel like I am constantly being watched, what about you?"

Faceless Lord had remained silent for a while now, it was invisible to the outside world, but Axio was starting to worry his play hadn't been convincing enough.

'I have a hard time believing her majesty would take in someone with the capacity to betray her' he was simply flabbergasted.

'She took me in' Axio felt like spitting that in his face but held himself back.

'Very well then, I'll go the queen's side in that ca-' just as he was saying this, a swift shadow appeared from seemingly nowhere, slicing Axio's head off without any difficulty.

His senses suddenly pushed to their limits, Faceless noticed the approach of a second person from behind him, he tried to warp some distance away but found it oddly difficult.

He managed to do so only a moment too late, a cut forming on his chest, despite the gash being so deep, it barely bled at all.

Something was interfering with his warping ability, he wouldn't be able to warp long distances, it was already so much more difficult to do one that small.

If he tried to, he would make himself an easy target and judging by the power and speed of the two assailants, it would spell his death.

The two attackers were tall men, one Faceless Lord knew and another he had never seen before.

King Roderman and Sir Solitar.

The first had been the one to slash Axiolypito's head off, it went without saying that he had been able to do that solely because it was yet another decoy.

The second had tried to swiftly deal with the tall minister, using the sudden 'death' of his comrade and the fact that he wouldn't be able to warp correctly to sneak up on the monster using his overwhelming speed.

Even though both of those things had made Faceless Lord more vulnerable than he would have been with a regular sneak attack, he had still managed to avoid a lethal strike.

"Seems like speed isn't all you make it up to be, heh?" Roderman grinned as his somewhat oversized greatsword rested on his shoulder.

"Well, I was able to actually hit it, would you and your clumsy club of a sword have done the same?" Superstes certainly would have bee, taken aback as she seen her master and the king of a while kingdom arguing in this way.

The two of them hadn't seen the other in person in a long time, decades if not more.

Yet, it was like their last conversation had only ended yesterday, as they instantly resumed preaching about which of their sword designs was the best.

Faceless Lord didn't have hands to hold a sword with, so the content of their conversation was completely lost on him.

Silently enraged at the death of his comrade, he didn't bother adressing them or inquiring about the identity of Sir Solitar or to try and threaten Roderman with the consequences his actions would have.

Instead, he instantly brought out his strongest move.

'Domain: Whispering Woods'

At the same instant he unleashed his innate ability, the meadow and everything plant life within it died, whitered away.

He had learned to control the effects his simple presence had but now wasn't the time to suppress himself.

The world turned dark as tall trees rose from the ground, the grass seemed to turn darker as well and much shorter than what it was in the meadow.

The dark horizon seemed to stretch into infinity.