Chapter 55: The Faceless Gaze

"This is getting a little bit apparent," Verina commented.

"Yep."

Our footprint size from the last version of the bastion still lingered in this land.

So even though we had already downsized the scale of our current defensive perimeters, the Calamity Objects couldn't spawn or manifest anywhere near the land where it was formerly inhabited by walls, traps, and trenches.

This made all of the active-threat Calamity Objects we encountered today to spawn so far away from our current version of the bastion.

"Verina, prepare to engage," I ordered as I deployed my Fortcracker Mk II.

Just like when we were fighting the Bloodhound, this type of Calamity Object most often came in the form of hordes of the same type of entities.

Most often than not, this kind of 'horde-type' Calamity Object didn't possess any kind of crucial or complicated gimmick other than fighting them normally as if they were a normal angered beast in this world.

The Vitruvian Drones were one such example. They moved with an eerie gait as they stride into the night, but they didn't serve as a fatal threat to the bastion unless we failed to prevent their advancement.

"They started to form a formation." Verina cycled another spell into the chamber of her musket. "Will there be any pattern that I need to know of?" Sёarᴄh the NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"No need. Disrupt their movement and they will go into a chaotic berserk state, that is all that I know of them."

"Then I'll gladly assume that they have something in their sleeves when they manage to get close." Verina hit the ground in the middle of the Vitruvian Drones' formation. Immediately after, a vacuum of air started to form before a catastrophic explosion of hot mist was dispersed into the surrounding area.

"In the middle of that explosion, there is a patch of ground that has been converted into what is essentially, a reactive bomb."

"The mist you created there is combustible, isn't it?" I loaded another bolt into my portable ballista.

Verina gave me a firm thumbs up.

"Alright~"

Locked and affirmative, that patch of reactive ground had become the next destination of my furious ballista projectile.

What happened afterward was a spiraling column of shredding pyres and heat trying to reach the sky, unleashing hell to those within its vicinity.

"Looks like the chemistry lesson paid more than it was given," I said with a gleeful smile, observing the beautiful explosive art in the distance.

"I can create an even bigger chain reaction if you want."

"Preserve your lifeline."

Verina paused for a moment, "I almost misheard that as 'preserve your bloodline', thinking that you're trying to court me or something."

"... Fun fact, there are mites crawling on your eyelashes right now, and there's nothing you can physically do about it-"

"AAAA- I didn't hear anything! Not a single thing coming out of your mouth!"

Without much complication, we succeeded at fending off the horde of Vitruvian Drones from our turf.

However, unlike the last time, the Ordeal didn't give us much of a downtime to rest and laze around.

—

[The Faceless Gaze]

[Description: A shadowy, humanoid figure with no face but an overwhelming, oppressive presence. It follows individuals, always standing at the edge of their vision, yet no matter how quickly they turn to look, it's never there. The Faceless Gaze feeds on paranoia, subtly warping reality so that the colonists question who is watching them—and why]

[Hint: The longer the Gaze is allowed to linger, the more extreme its effects. Bastioneers begin to turn on each other, suspecting betrayal or covert surveillance, and may sabotage the bastion out of fear]

—

"I stumbled upon this Calamity Object before," Verina outright claimed. "Though, in case you don't know the context, are you aware of the Calamity Object that is haunting us right now?"

"Indeed," I chuckled. "That thing is appearing in the corner of my sight, comfortably admiring my face with such passion."

"Same, that entity has a good taste."

"So, since you're experienced with this Calamity Object, any input?

"I don't know any method on how to deal with it, since it's never lingering in the same spot for more than a second after it is perceived by those that were haunted by it." Verina's eyes could be seen jumping back and forth, confirming her uncertainty. "Seeing that you also saw the entity, then it's plausible that there are two of them, with each of them haunting one of us."

For the next hour, the Ordeal appeared to be gentle with us since it didn't send any kind of Calamity Object since the Faceless Gazes started to appear in our peripheral vision.

"This is annoying…"

"I'm already used to this, don't know about you, Narcy."

This might be my worst Calamity Object I had ever faced yet.

Because since the appearance of the Faceless Gaze, my Sanity has been rapidly decreasing ever since.

And now it had already went down to 60% despite my best effort to keep it high above 75%

The description of Calamity Object stated that the effect would get worse overtime.

This meant that my Sanity had a great chance to lower itself to zero at the most crucial moment of the Ordeal, especially for the Ordeal of the Midnight.

Not to mention, the probability of it staying after whatever event that occurred when my Sanity reached zero. If my Sanity was replenished right after, it might immediately sky-dive down back to zero.

On the other hand, Verina's Sanity didn't suffer any major decrease from the haunting of the Faceless Gaze. It might be due to the fact that she was a kilnalan ohrtender. Their mental faculty was beyond human, allowing them to persevere through any kind of negative influence.

"I tried to quickly snipe it with my Fortcracker to no avail," I slouched down the table, playing around with the chess piece that was in front of me. "The entity might not affect you as much, Verina, but it's greatly distressing me as of now."

"We did try to snipe the location of the Faceless Gaze relative to where it positions itself on each other's line of sight, but they are too fast." Verina leaned her chin on her bridge of palms, pondering. "I have always tried to shoot at them without aiming with my eyes, but it never hits its target for some reason, even if I laced my spell projectile with a seeking spell."

"What is the story behind your first encounter with this Calamity Object?" I asked.

"It happened while we're seeking refuge in a rather strong bastion, around 7 months ago," Verina showcased seven of her fingers as she said that. "I got haunted by one, but nobody believed me outside of an exceptional few. Some, however, ridiculed me for stating my experience."

"You're still with Lupina at this time, right?"

"Yup, she is one of the individuals who ridiculed me for believing myself to be haunted by a fictional Calamity Object."

"Looks like a fun time."

"A fun time, indeed." Verina nodded. "She only believed me after I punched her noggin."

Of course, suffering through the influence of the Faceless Gaze for the whole night was not the only option I have.