Chapter 1: A Thief and an Unconscious Person

In this world, masks (helms and other face ornaments) possess a strange type of power. What kind of power? Well, for starters the most common will just make you more of a monster than a human in terms of raw strength.

Some also give you the ability to enhance basic human senses, even ascending the wielder's pain threshold. There are also those that can grant you the ability to wield elements or some weird energy making you somewhat like a wizard. In other words, there are many varieties on how a piece of mask can grant someone power.

But there are those that defy reality, granting the power of a God into an individual. A power born from an unknown source. The current holder of the masks in question are what they call, [Heralds] and they number in ten.

The Ten Heralds never thought of crossing each other fortunately, instead, each of them went on their own separate ways. Some established their own territories, some went on a journey…and some just vanished in thin air.

With every generation of new Heralds, new policies are sure to be changed. Some policies established at the first generation are still there to put order…This has been the setting for the last thousand years, but a shift in the wind is soon to be made. After all, it is inevitable.

-Present Day- 1,000 years later

"Fudo! Right! He went to the right alley!"

"I got it! I'm trailing him already!"

We start our story in the territorial city of Fukuoka ruled by a, fortunately, fair and wise leader. What's happening right now is a chase. The term "cops" would fit the bill but they have no guns or badges, instead they possess their own unique masks granted to them by their Ruler.

They call themselves [Swords], a team assigned to perform the duties of maintaining law and order. In hindsight, the cops indeed.

"Damn you Swords! Can't you see it's just one box of fruits! One!" Exhaustingly said by the runaway man which then quickly followed up by a loud voice of the woman chasing him.

"Wait! So you're telling us to tolerate it just because you only stole one!?" "Uhh.." the thief couldn't spare another reply after having that blow. To refresh some memories, the one who is doing the chasing, [Swords] member's name is Fudo.

Going back, when the thief thought he would be caught in just a moment, the man finally turned around. To her surprise, the thief is currently wearing a mask. It has a pretty ordinary design that anyone can already tell it's one of the common ones.

But that's not the issue here. See, masks are not just being handed to anyone. Especially since they're not at war or anything, so providing citizens or ordinary folks with a mask is out of the question. So seeing the thief in possession of this is quite not what she was expecting.

"Hold on, why is someone like you in possession of a mask?"

The thief paused for a moment after hearing Fudo's inquiry, after a brief while he would be seen shaking as if he's gritting his teeth. "Someone…someone like me you said!?" Fudo was alarmed by the tone of the thief, she hastily replied "Wait no! It's not what you think it is! There are just a hierarchy that is needed to be follow—"

"Screw you!" In a fit of rage, the thief charged at Fudo aiming for a grapple. It was done in a quick manner different from a human perspective. It must have been the effect of the mask. Unfortunately for him, [Swords] members are well-trained. Even with their masks off. For more information, the [Swords] do not just wear their mask brazenly or out in the open. In order to maintain good public relations, they only wear it on more major tasks but not on a usual patrol. They always have their mask "sheathed" on their waist or hidden somewhere they could quickly access.

As a result of the aforementioned attack, before the thief makes contact, Fudo quickly gets a grip of her situation and manages to leap away, forming quite a distance from her and the thief.

"Belittling those who are below you…all of you are just enjoying your power while us ordinary citizens are under your palms! We would like to experience it too, wielding such POWER!"

"Hmm, that way of thinking…it's surely an influence from someone" a voice from behind the thief can be heard. Before the thief had a chance to turn around, he felt a heavy blow from the back of his head, rendering him unconscious. The man in question is none other than Fudo's partner for today, Yato, who caught up after a while.

Yato confiscated the mask which was in the possession of the apprehended thief. "What do you mean by that?" Fudo inquired. Before Yato makes his reply, the two would meet eyes and trail their gaze upon an old open shed near them. There, they would notice a person lying down on the floor, seemingly unconscious. The two of them approached the unconscious man with caution until they noticed something and halted.

"It's one surprise after the other…" Fudo tiredly commented. "Mhm" Yato added with a nod. The person in question is not just wearing a mask, but it also has a crack forming at the center which means the mask is supposedly fake. It is said that all the masks, even the most common ones, are difficult or almost impossible to destroy. To add more to their curiosity, it is a mask that they have never seen before.

The man is about 6 ft tall and has a well-built body which is leaning more on the thinner side. He has a pale complexion, which matches his porcelain white hair. About his appearance, unfortunately, no one can tell what's behind the mask since it's covering the whole face.

The design so to speak is not grand but the unique thing about it is how it looks to be made by hand. A wooden-carved mask done by a craftsman. To add, the mask does not have any holes for the eye to see or for a lot of oxygen to enter which makes the two ponder if the masked person is still alive.

They both arrive at a conclusion that the mask is a makeshift one without any power, but only just for show. "We should get this makeshift mask off of him, it would be bad if he suffocates completely." After speaking his mind, Yato reached out to the mask and tried to take it off.

"...."

"Yato, what's taking so long?" Fudo asked while picking up the apprehended thief. "We should get going and bring him to the hospital" After a while, Fudo would notice that Yato had been struggling to take the mask off the unconscious person.

"Err, I'm pretty sure I'm using enough force to take it off but something seems wrong" Yato shrugged it off as he was already too tired to think after a long day's work. He carried the man behind his back and lets out a sigh. "Maybe the infirmary will know what to do, let's just hurry."

Fudo nodded in response although she seemed to be confused about what just happened. After all, it's only taking the mask off an unconscious person. Ornaments, helms and masks are quite difficult to take off by a different person other than its wielder, but once the person is out for the round, it should be quite easy. The two also confirmed that the man in question is absolutely not faking it, his breath and heartbeat matches a sleeping person.

Thus, the two decided to restrain him for now as they boarded their patrol vehicle and left. "So, about what you just said earlier about the thief" Fudo glanced at Yato, likely waiting for an answer. Yato then responded in kind: "Someone has likely influenced him. I don't want to sound like an elitist, but that man can't get his hands on a mask that easily." Fudo interrupted for a moment. "Wait. Does that mean.."

"We've been living in peace for quite a prolonged time. Someone out there might finally be brewing some trouble" Yato concluded. The two drove off without so much conversation with themselves as to give their mind some space for various logical thinking.

-Somewhere around a secluded area in the territorial city-

"More and more people are joining us lately. Not that I'm not happy with it, just curious how we're reaching them without alerting the [Swords]"

"Lay off. It's none of our concern, just focus on the upcoming attack."

"What are the odds of us winning?"

A tall man emerges from the dark corner of the building. He can't help but to butt in their conversation after hearing their discussions. With an ominous smile, he answered them:

"Winning today is just a bonus reward. Sending them a message is our goal." With that, the man just left without adding any more to his message. The men who are gathered can't help but to notice the mask hanging on the mysterious man's waist.

"That's no ordinary mask. It looks like a unique type."

"Which means..."

"He is one of the officers. Only they wield masks of greater power."

As the conversations between the members settles in, the preparations they are making have finally come in fruition.