The Man without a Face

The nameless as described by Jamous Grey.

Name: He has no name.

Theme Music:
Mitternacht
Down with the Sickness

Age: Unknown, but by his height and shape I assume he’s in his early twenties or late teens.

Race: I don’t know. His appearance is vague of all races, but he’s definitely bipedal and human-like in his mannerisms.

Sex: Male, that much I’ve gathered by the way he’ll be caught “staring” at the female gender, much like a teenage boy would with his head cocked curiously. This is the main human trait I’ve picked up on that points to his sex.

Hair: His hair is a rich blood-like crimson, flowing far down his back. His bangs fall before his faceless head, a few strands reaching his chin. His hair is very unruly and tends to rule itself. He probably doesn’t have time to tend to his hair, but it doesn’t really matter.

Eyes: He has no eyes, yet still he can still see things using an unknown power. I personally believe that he sees with his sword or mask, but I can’t really confirm this.

Weight: He keeps his weight at around 130 pounds regularly; however, he can change this as wished, being able to crush an elephant with his massive weight, or float away with the wind… theoretically of course.

Height: About six feet tall, though I… haven’t quite walked up to him with my measuring stick.

Items:

Key
He wears a strange key tied to his neck by a silver chain. This key’s purpose is unknown, but it appears to mean a lot to him. Usually it’s tucked underneath his clothes to be sure of its safety.

Mask
It’s not apparent as to why, or at what times, he wears his mask. He seems to wear it more times than others, and then sometimes he doesn’t want to wear it at all. There seems to be a significant reason as to why he even has this mask, but from all the information I’ve gathered I can’t seem to figure it out.

The mask’s appearance is that of a demonic skull with long pointed teeth that sometimes puncture his neck. It looks like an ordinary mask when held in the hand, but when he wears it, it suddenly becomes real. It’ll move and act like it’s a part of him until he takes it off again. When his opponent sees the mask, they are automatically filled with fear and their actions are more irrational. To some, it’s even caused panic and mild hysteria. I’ve had nightmares about this very mask, and it is part of the reason why I’m continuing my research on this strange person.

Weapons:

Mysterious Blade
This blade has a name, yet I don’t know it. I know it has a name, though, because the way he’ll look at it when it’s unsheathed represents dedication and carefulness to his weapon. A fighter with these characteristics usually names his sword, and the feeling I get every time I look at it gives me the shuttering sensation that the blade’s looking back at me.

It’s obvious from a distance this device holds a phenomenal power. It’s black and rigid, serrated down the sides in various and seemingly random fashions. Other than the sense of oppression and torture one usurps by staring at the sword, they might take note of its flawless design and intricate markings and carvings in the blade and handle. No ordinary human could sculpt such a perfect blade, yet no demon in Hell would want to touch such an evil device of war.

Other than its dark design, when removed from its sheath, I’ve noticed that the blade is surrounded by a thin black fog that revolves around the weapon seamlessly. Small lines of black lightning can be seen sizzling through the sword and fog, but usually no one gets close enough to take note of them, but I have. When I touched it… it left me scarred. When my hand hit the handle, my finger hardened. Small black, armored metal-like plates started to grow from my finger. I noticed that this is the same armor that covers the nameless one’s arms and feet. I believe the sword can’t be held unless the wielder has these scale-esque plates concealing their hands.

This sword seems to change in length and size at will of the nameless one, yet maintains its original design. No one’s been able to touch the sword, other than the nameless one, without being harmed, but no one desires to touch such a vile blade... even I hesitated. Satan himself wouldn’t go near the thing… well… I know I wouldn’t ever again.

When this blade strikes things, it disrupts the elements. When it cuts through earth, it seems to pull earth along with it. It’ll carve through mountains if wished. When it cuts through a tree, the tree will grow in the direction of the swing. When the sword cuts through flesh, however, it’ll create a shockwave that repels its victim across the battlefield. It reacts differently to each element it touches, but sometimes its effects change.

Bladed Hat
This hat is worn atop his head most of the time, other times it’s strapped to his back. It has a long rim that is lined with a sharp blade. I’ve seen him throw the hat into his foes, bringing it back by teleporting it with a vortex. He’s also used it as a shield, using the blade to deflect swords and the rest to absorb magic and catch arrows. It doesn’t seem to burn, like the rest of his clothes, because it will regenerate as soon as it’s consumed.

On the left side of his hat, a small medallion dangles from a chain. He uses this medallion as a handle. He grabs it, and when he swings his hat with it, the chain lengthens a good ten feet at the longest. He spins his hat around him, slicing through anything it touches. It’s a very deadly weapon when he uses it, combining his vortex power with his attacks makes it even worse.

Armor:
The only armor he has is on his hands and his legs. The armor apparently has no purpose whatsoever, seeing how it doesn’t do well against defending. It protects better than his skin, but appears to be made out of a very weak metal, almost having the texture of hardened ash. The armor is black and scale-like; it also seems to grow from him. I’ve yet to see him take it off, but I don’t think he can.

Strengths:
The nameless one’s tactics and fighting styles are not marked down in any known books. Those who try to copy his style can’t bring themselves to do so without their mind numbing in a painful headache. I’ve even tried to describe them in this profile, but every time I do my paper catches fire, so I’ll save a few trees by saying it is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Believe me when I say this: His style doesn’t exist in our world. Trust me, I once ran a school for martial arts and shinobi training. This is one of his strongest traits.

Also, he is very fast, faster than anything else I’ve witnessed. His ability to teleport multiple times in the blink of an eye is unsettling and nigh impossible. No one has been known to beat him, not even the dark one.

He has a strong mind, despite not having a brain. I've yet to see a mental trick or illusion work on him, as well as any form of mind control or mind reading.

Even though he has no face, he can still see, smell, hear, and seemingly speak. So his facelessness is not a weakness.

Weakness:
I’ve taken note of his weaknesses as I’ve studied him. His limbs apparently break very easily, his entire body being hollow. However, when he’s wounded or looses limbs, he regenerates very fast. (clothes and items included) The limbs or clothes severed turn to ash as he regenerates. He’s not that strong, though each time he swings his blade, the sword itself has strength. He can’t lift heavy objects by himself, but with the sword he can push or lift virtually anything. It’s complicated; one would have to witness it to understand what I’m talking about. I think he still feels pain, though, despite his regenerating abilities.

Skills/Magic:
I’ve seen some strange things in my life, but I think this guy takes the cake. I’ve seen him… disappear and suddenly reappear in another location—seamlessly blending together in one motion. He can create portals with mere thoughts! Though I’ve noticed that with almost every portal he makes, a second portal also appears. I believe they’re only short ranged teleportation methods, but he uses them in his combat style. I’ve kept note of all the techniques I’ve seen him used and have written them here for your convenience. Who knows? Maybe you might find away around these attacks and possibly kill this guy.

Teleportation
This is his most frequently used technique. He can vanish and reappear instantaneously. I believe his teleportation has a range limit, though, possibly to either anywhere in sight or within a certain radius; I’m not sure due to his erratic style of combat. He can use this move numerous times in a row, working it to confuse his enemy. I don’t think it wears him out to use this tactic because I’ve seen him use it almost non-stop with his battle against Sin.

Each time he teleports, when he appears and disappears, h leaves behind a white smoke. Usually it gives the impression he’s used a smoke bomb for a getaway, but really he’s actually teleporting. He also can teleport his sword in this same sort of fashion.

Vortex
This is his second most used skill. He can generate black swirling portals of nearly any size, sometimes creating up to around ten at a time. Each portal has a counterpart where when something starts passing through one vortex, it comes out the other. I’d describe the portals as doors more than teleportation devices. Say if you stick your arm through one, it’ll stick out its counterpart at the same time and speed your hand went through it.

He also seems to be able to change the speed and force something passes through his portals. Someone could walk through one; then be catapulted out the other. Or one could run into one, and then fall out another with virtually no force behind it.

The portals he forges work similarly to his teleportation ability. He can create portals at any point he can see… I think.

Wall
This isn’t so much a wall, it’s really when he create a vortex without an exit. Whatever tries to pass through it is ejected out that same side at an incredible force. It works well for deflecting virtually everything. When a human tries to run through one, the knock back is so intense that those without protection occasionally break a few bones. I believe it uses more energy for him to create this wall than it does for him to create two ordinary portals. I’m not sure why, but it might be because he has to cancel out the second portal that wants to materialize when the first is made.

Speak and Listen
Even though he doesn’t have a mouth, he can still speak. This took me a while to understand until I figured out it was done telepathically. He can choose who hears what he says, or he can let everyone hear it. The person hearing his voice will think he’s merely talking aloud, they won’t notice it’s all in their heads. He can decide from which direction they’re hearing him, and he can decide what his voice sounds like. He seems to have fun playing with his victim’s heads.

Though I don’t know how, he can listen to other people’s minds. However, he can only listen to the thoughts currently running through the person’s head at that moment. Also, he’s limited to reading only one mind at a time.

Regeneration
Whenever he is wounded, he regenerates his body rather quickly. I believe he still feels pain, but doesn't seem to die. This regeneration doesn't just include body parts, but it also includes his clothes and items.

Appearance:
His most noticeable feature is that he has no face. Despite the fact his head is completely void of eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth; his senses seem to be completely in order.

The next most prominent feature would probably be his incredibly long, and very red, hair. His hair reaches about to the bottom of his back, if not lower, the bangs falling randomly in front of his face.

The third most notable feature would be that his black, scale-like armored hands and feet seem to grow out of him. I myself have spent a long time pondering this, because I too have a finger with this same armor from when I touched the handle of his blade.

Finally, the thing that has me scratching my chin would be the scar in the center of his neck. It looks like it might be a dagger or an arrow wound, but his incredible regenerative ability should have cured it… just another one of his mysteries, I guess.

His large hat covers most of his head, while his hair still falls out of it freely. He wears a black jacket over a black shirt of some kind. He wears very baggy, red pants that have me wondering how it’s possible he moves so fast in them. His feet aren’t covered by anything but the armor that grows out of him.

Overall, he’s a rather scary looking person.



Personality:
His personality is a hard thing to judge. He doesn’t say much during battle, but outside he’ll speak a little bit more. He never talks about himself, and if asked about his name or his past, he won’t say anything. He doesn’t seem to laugh or get angry much. In fact, he seems to have a very monotone personality. Still, he has a sense of humor. He’ll crack humor, though usually a dark sort of humor.

In battle, and out of it, he seems very serious, when actually he’s secretly very carefree. When the mood is right, some of the things he does can come out as plain childish. He’s not prone to unnecessary violence, but when threatened he’s not afraid to kill. Despite his darkness, he actually appears to care for life. He’ll save innocent people in danger if he can, but he won’t bother with those who deserve their fate… or if they’re one of the thousand.

He’s very complicated, and even I don’t have him figured out.

Here’s where Jamous Grey’s knowledge's usefulness has ended.

Biography:

3 killed, 997 to go.

Jamous Grey’s head lay on the ground; his body slumped in the corner. He died only several hours earlier, along with a group of villagers from the City of Fire. Why this crazed lunatic decided to start killing was unknown, but he was going to be executed for his actions. He was tonight’s sacrifice.

In the darkness, he waited. His pitiful captors had no consul idea what powers he had. They thought they could keep him sealed up behind a locked cage, how droll. They were sick and disgusting creatures, he had a right to despise them. Yes, they were human, but their practices and mindset were very demonic. Ironic, seeing how at that moment they were performing a ritual devoted to their god. He knew he was part of the ritual, but he trusted Her enough to understand that this pathetic tribe’s god would be here today for him to make his first move. Today would set in motion the end of the old, and the beginning of the new. When the ritual came to their chanting, he knew the dark one’s arrival would be soon. His cage opened, revealing the one of the villagers. He pulled him from his cage, out into the open. He cuffed a metal link around his neck, pulling him by a long chain. He was ready to meet Sin.

***

Yes, no mistake this time, he knew he was hearing what he thought he was. Every time his full name was spoken, he could hear it, but this wasn’t just one person speaking his name; it was an entire population. It was a chant, as in some sort of worship. Either that… or they were trying to summon him. If it were the latter, they would get their wish. Sin would take a look at this society; then use them to his advantage.

The God of Darkness took a moment to get his bearings, and lurched off into the night. Their location was distant, but at the speeds he was traveling he would get there in a matter of minutes.

What would he do with these people? Would he kill them all from the very start? Or possibly, they might serve him as some other sort of use. He hadn’t had an inside connection to the humans before, perhaps he could use these people to his advantage in a different way. Some things couldn’t be solved by killing, having a civilization to build his rule on was what he had planned on from the start. Until he had his army up and running again, these fools would have to do.

***

He learned a few things from this twisted village, but there were still a few things he didn’t understand. The town rested directly alongside the lake, which seemed a little odd considering how anyone who saw the lake would almost always flee in fear of it. He noticed during his captivity that at the beginning of each week, one select member from the city would swim into the lake and never return. He assumed that it was some sort of honor to do such a thing, because the ones chosen would do it without a fuss. Maybe they were trying to survive it. He of all people knew the powers of the black lake, and he knew that these people, no matter how many they sent in, would never survive the black lake.

He could leave their chains at any time if he wanted to. He could convince his captors to set him free with a simple thought, considering they had the right sort of mind. He didn’t want to leave their captivity, not yet. He had a purpose here, and that purpose was a simple one: Prove himself to Sin.

They had him before a large, blazing bonfire. Many of the simpleminded knaves danced about, strange face paintings and masks making up their attire. He assumed he was some sort of sacrifice, but that didn’t matter. She knew what She was doing, so he was safe.

Facing the foreboding black forest at the edge of the town, he waited.

Suddenly, the fire roared, tongues of flame licking the sky. The fire crackled and buzzed; everyone becoming quiet. All eyes were focused on the fire, or rather what was in the fire. In the center of the flame, a dark and ominous figure loomed. He was blacker than the night sky, eyes piercing out of the shadows. It was amazing how the fire around him didn’t even singe his clothes. Everyone bowed before their god, everyone but he.

Despite his eyeless face, he stared into the blazing white orbs of the one who called himself the God of Darkness. He was unimpressed by his power and his demeanor. In a few moments, Sin would be impressed instead.

***

Sin stared into the featureless face before him. He got a good long stare, trying to figure out why exactly this man had no distinguishable features. He couldn’t sense life in the man, but he knew it was there. There was something peculiar about him, and he would find out soon.

Sin noticed everyone was bowing to him now. It was no doubt that he was their god. They were all very devoted, and many were excited. It appeared as if they all were born for the day they would meet him.

One of the bolder humans, probably their leader, raised his head from his place on the ground, trembling before he spoke. “Oh great sculptor, long have we awaited your return!” Sin turned to stare the man in the eye. He trembled for a brief second, and then continued. “Here we have a sacrifice for you, a possessed monster from the black lake.”

Sin’s attention was snagged by those words. Could it be… the Black Lake? The same one he submerged himself in, the same one where he first tasted true power? Sin’s attention snapped back to the faceless one once more. He came from the black lake? Why was he so… different than he was?

He’d find out soon enough.

Sin whipped his clawed hand out of the fire, digging it into the stranger’s faceless skull.

***

So it began.

He felt Sin’s hand scrounge around the inside of his head. It hurt badly, but he let him do it. He had to let Sin know that where he had always succeeded, he would now fail. He could see it on his face now: Disappointment and shock. This was his moment to act.

He vanished. Sin’s eyes were wide with amazement. One second he was there, and the next…

“Hello, pawn.”

Sin wheeled around, swinging his blades where this stranger was once standing, but in his place there was nothing but a white smoke. Sin cursed. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy if it were true that he came from the lake.

A whoosh of wind from behind signaled his attack, and Sin’s blades were ready to block it. The first clash between the powerful combatants only began a series of many other strikes. Sin moved back, taking the defensive. He never took the defensive. He couldn’t think clearly, he wasn’t allowing him. He could only block and walk backward, he’d have to move up to his more powerful techniques this early on.

The villagers moved to make room for the two, surprised at how their prisoner escaped and retrieved his blade without them noticing. Still, watching their god in action amazed them. They weren’t afraid to die if they got in the way. This was a great day, and death on this day would be an honorable one.

The faceless fighter heaved his dark blade through the air, just barely missing his target before Sin sunk through the ground. He vanished nearly at the same time, appearing on the roof of a nearby cottage.

Sin was gone, or invisible. He could be anywhere. The fool… He didn’t realize that stealth and trickery wasn’t Sin’s tool… it was his.

The dark lord appeared from behind. He didn’t have to turn around, he saw him anyway. A mere fraction before Sin’s blade would have struck him, a dark portal suddenly swallowed the dark god. A second vortex materialized in front of the strange faceless, and left a clear striking blow open. He whisked his blade through the wind, meeting metal.

Sin signaled one of his weapons to fly on its own. The faceless saw it, catching it in a black hole, sending it into the ground below. His blade met Sin’s again, grinding down its serrated teeth to the guard.

The god of darkness let go of his sword, the faceless flipping it off to the side. Sin back-flipped off the building and to the earth below, simultaneously firing an orb of black fire.

He saw it coming, and enveloped it in one of his swirling portals just before Sin’s blade returned to fighting him. Again he sent the blade away with his vortex ability.

“Is that the only trick you can do?” Sin shouted from below.

On queue, dozens of the same black portals covered the area. One of the villagers accidentally stepped in one, falling out another somewhere in the distance, screaming.

Sin stared at the swirling doorways, intrigued by their design and function. Did the black lake grant him this ability? Whatever it was, Sin wanted it, but this faceless man didn’t seem to have a mind to devour. What was he?

The faceless stabbed his sword into the roof of the building, removing his hat with his other hand. “This is true power, Sirius, the ability to outwit your opponent, not sheer force. No matter how strong your attack is, I’ll be able to deflect it.”

His voice, where was it coming from? He knew he was the one speaking, but his voice didn’t come from a particular direction. It didn’t matter, Sin would kill this thing soon enough.

The faceless man tossed his hat without warning through a vortex. It was then that Sin noticed how the portals were lined up, and noticed the razor sharp blade lining the rim of the stranger’s hat. The hat flew from one hole and into another, coming out one more and back through another. It was zipping rapidly through and across all the different doors, moving through them quickly in his direction. If Sin tried to move, he would fall through one of the portals due to there being so many, but if he stood still the hat would hit him. He let the hat come. His concealed mouth lifted slightly with a smirk. Finally, the bladed hat was upon him. First it passed through his chest, not harming him the slightest, but when it came back from a different portal, it was flying true toward his only weak spot: His head. Sin saw the projectile coming. He could have dodged it, but he didn’t. He grabbed it with one hand, blade doing nothing to his armored hand.

Sin began to laugh. “Your tricks don’t work on me.” His voice trailed off because when he turned his head back to the faceless, he wasn’t there.

The portals all vanished. Sin spun around, sword snapping into his hands. He swung hard, decapitating the stranger’s head from his body. But he also received a wound: A sword through the front of his head, out the other side.

Both stood there for a full minute. A headless body and a skewered god. Neither moved, neither fell. Sin stared at the blade lodged in-between his eyes. He stared at the designs, the blackness of the blade. It was foreign, even to darkness itself. It was darker than darkness, much like himself. A familiar presence suddenly filled his head, and he knew what he was looking at. He knew this sword.

“So you understand now.” The faceless said. Sin took a double take. The man’s head was back as if it were never missing, his hat even atop his head once again. He slid the sword from Sin’s skull, wiping it off on his pants.

Sin snapped his neck to the side, his head healing slowly. “So you come from the black lake.”

He didn’t respond to his question, though it sounded more like a statement. Instead he got straight to the point. “Sin, I have the key.”

The dark god didn’t move. Did he mean… that key? “The key?”

“The key needs to be unlocked before it can work.”

Sin paused. It was that key. “How many?”

“Nine hundred and ninety-nine.” The villagers stirred. They could hear him now.

“Then we better get started.”

*applauds* Creative! He's approved!