The Faceless One and the Ghost Bride

Night had fallen deep.

Ian neither panicked nor intervened at the Faceless Ones' intrusion. His mind was still occupied with the Twilight Hermit Society and the conspiracy behind the temple.

Precisely because of this.

The Faceless Ones' operation went smoothly.

Now that they were much closer, Ian could see these creatures more clearly. They were frightening-looking beings; put kindly, they possessed an imposing presence without needing to show anger.

Their entire bodies were shrouded in pitch-black robes, their figures tall and uncanny. Most unsettling of all—their faces had no features, only smooth, mirror-like black voids, as though they swallowed all light. They moved without a sound, not even making footsteps, gliding over the ground like ghosts.

Holding his breath, Ian watched as a Faceless One stopped before a household. Clearly drawn on that home's doorframe was the six-pointed star protection sigil Kalan had made.

Under his split attention.

The Faceless One still encountered no obstruction.

Like an ashen-white bolt of lightning, it smashed straight through the household's wooden window. The sound of shattering glass was especially piercing in the silent night, and Ian could even hear a child's cry from inside.

"Where are your talismans?" Ian grabbed Kam by the collar. "Why aren't they working?"

Kam's face looked deathly pale beneath the moonlight.

"Th-that is an officially recognized enforcer!"

He stammered out an explanation. "If we interfere with law enforcement, wouldn't that make us an illegal organization?"

Ian opened his mouth, but found himself speechless for a moment.

The logic was outrageously absurd, yet damnably reasonable—the Twilight Hermit Society was an underground organization, after all. They truly did not dare openly oppose official forces.

"Your warding barrier can't even stop something like that? Then what's the point of drawing all these runes?" He looked suspiciously at the wizard before him.