226. The Mask of Phobos

“Dream on, wolfwalker. Emperor or not, why should I willingly agree to become a follower bound to your life?” The Celestial Blaze responded with a surprisingly unoffended tone. It acted as if the idea was too ridiculous to be serious or even a joke.

“Well, you would get stronger for one,” Rakna said unperturbed. “And are you really willing to spend all your life here, waiting for an ascension to your next evolution that might or might not ever come?”

“Once again, what makes you believe that I would agree to your proposal? If I want to leave, I will do it on my own grounds,” the Blaze retorted and its eyes glowed. “However, there is no need for me to even consider the question. You slaughtered the Kindles. And you drowned my Well. Your identity be damned, only one fate awaits you; Ash!” 

It yelled and a wave of raw magic power extended all around him in a circular fashion. The plants swayed along with the force and the wind blew away the clouds in the sky. The Celestial Blaze’s eyes shone strongly and in the blink of an eye, a quad-colored flame shrouded both Rakna’s figure and Ganymede’s.

“{Rakna!}” Fray shouted in panic when his view became completely obstructed by the fire.

“You don’t get it, stupid flame,” the therian’s mocking voice resounded from within the raging and inextinguishable fire. Gradually, the fire started to lose its gradient of colors and all of it became overtaken by a deep and dark shade of red. “You don’t have a choice,” Rakna stated as he walked out of the flames’ cover but with them still following after him.

The Celestial Blaze reacted strongly and flew off to take its distance before watching in shock as its flames that should never be extinguished were somehow absorbed by the wolfwalker’s body as if they had always belonged there. It also noticed how the fur and hair of its opponent had taken on an opposite tint.

The Raid Boss took a moment to glance to the side where the strange young man made out of star energy had been standing and was alarmed to see nothing happened to it; Ganymede was standing immolated, but unbothered by the heat or the flames.

“What’s wrong? Chickening?” Rakna said with a smirk full of jeering, a deep contrast to his attitude a minute prior. He also indifferently dispelled Aquarius with a finger snap, allowing Ganymede to vanish and the flames to disperse after losing their target.

“…what are you?”

“Something that burns far stronger than you,” Rakna said as his Volcanic Star absorbed the flames and turned them into mana for himself. “Fire won’t work on me, just as it won’t work on you.”

“{So that is what you meant!}” Fray had an epiphany. “{You did not come here previously because you did not possess a way to actively switch to your Volcanic Element. I had almost forgotten of your Stars’ absorbing capabilities… If that is the case, this Boss is not as dangerous to you.}”

The Celestial Blaze let out a noise akin to a growl. “I don’t know what you are but do not think this will grant you victory. Fire immunity… is not unsurmountable,” it uttered and in a burst of aura, small dots of light ranging across the red spectrum in color began to rise and congregate.

Rakna sighed with a shake of his head and with a wave, a deck of cards appeared in his hand. He casually shuffled them as the Celestial Blaze charged its spell before drawing the card at the very top. He looked at it and clicked his tongue. “Ah, whatever. It’s only twelve days,” he muttered and tossed the card forward. “[King of Diamonds,]” he intoned and in the blink of an eye, the spell in preparation was canceled as the card transformed into a flash that swallowed the flames.

“What?” The Celestial Blaze was in a stupor. “What did you--?"

“You can try again. It will end the same way,” Rakna lied through his teeth without his expression changing for a second. He grinned in a very-free spirited way despite knowing very well that he wouldn’t be able to use any of his cards for the next 30 minutes

He also was aware that the reason the card was able to stop the spell was that it was still being cast. It was the same thing back during his fight against Verias. If either of those two spells had been completed, even the Ace of Diamonds wouldn’t have worked. That could be different if he was able to use several cards at once though.

The Trickster’s Sleeve was a powerful Utility Item that could even shrink the level gap between two opponents but the cooldown was its only weakness. If anything, if the cooldown didn’t exist, it wouldn’t be surprising if the System considered it a Gold Item instead of a Red one.

“So, how about we continue our chat?” Rakna continued whilst shuffling the cards in his hands to add to the bluff. “Or, if you want, we can battle it out through our souls… It might take a while, but there is no way for me to lose.”

“{I cannot believe this…}” Fray sighed tiredly but he silently praised his soul host for the ruse.

“Or, again, if you wish…” Rakna trailed and his aura suddenly exploded. At first, the Celestial Blaze was not fazed by it but its flaming eyes gradually widened and it felt true fear. 

A malignant mana oozed out of the therian accompanied by a precipitous wave of intimidation. It was as if it was at the mercy of a giant. If it could sweat, the Raid Boss would have been drenched by this point.

“I can take it up a notch” Rakna growled out. What he was doing was very simple; he was rousing his two most powerful skills; Ascent of the Titan and All Virtues Shall Sloth, which he now could easily activate with his mana capacity and the one inside Andante.

But he was obviously not truly actuating the skills. You could say he was… flexing his power. He made sure to keep them in between a state of dormancy and activation. 

These two skills, aside from the repercussions they would potentially have, would allow someone to have their strength increased by ten-fold. Even if it was a Level 800 Host standing in front of Rakna, they would have to think twice before making a move.

‘Well, still a bluff though,’ Rakna commented internally without an ounce of shame. Not only was it not his intention to kill the Celestial Blaze, Ascent of the Titan aside, he knew for a fact that his demonization skill was impossible for him to wield at the moment.

He had already tested this Sin Skill of his… He had turned into a werewolf to raise his mana pool and combined it with Andante to do so. The result? He felt a surge of immense malignant power and the next thing he knew, he blacked out. 

One second.

That was how long he had managed to resist the ‘urge to sleep’ as stated by the skill description.

‘Even with Eye of Symphony and the added Intelligence… I don’t even know if I could last five seconds before falling asleep,’ he said inwardly. ‘If I want to use demonization at my level, it seems I will need to unlock other cardinal sins to create a counterbalance.’

“You…” The Celestial Blaze uttered gravely as the dark nature of Sloth Magic was creeping around it. “I have no idea how you can release this much power… You are evidently not a high-level Host or there would have been no room for me to resist. But I don’t believe you can attain such power without cost. I will not dare to attack… but you will not engage with me either unless you wish to suffer a meaningless loss. And neither of us can use our magic to hurt the other. Leave now and I will forget what happened today.”

Rakna grunted annoyingly and retracted his aura. “You’re smarter than you look,” he spat under his breath. At the same time, a notification rang out of nowhere and a system window popped up.

❮ ◈ ❯

Your intimidation has surpassed your real ability by many ranks.

Despair Aura has Ascended into Crown of Despair!

Your title, The Kind Demon’s Kin, is resonating with Crown of Despair!

You have fulfilled the conditions to learn an Ultimate-Class Skill! 

Crown of Despair evolves into The Mask of Phobos!

---

The Mask of Phobos

Son of Ares and Aphrodite, the personification of fear and panic itself, that is the identity of the Phobos, the God of Fright.

Upon activation of this skill, don a mask made out of your spiritual forces; your bloodlust, your mental fortitude, your emotions, your magic elements, your soul, and the very core of the horror and mayhem that slumbers within you.

As long as it remains on, anyone in the vicinity will feel the full brunt of the user’s maximum strength as spiritual pressure. Those that will look at you will see the pressure double if they are not capable of resisting the first level of intimidation.

The ones affected by Phobos’ Mask will have hallucinations, bouts of shivers, descents into madness or unconsciousness, and for the weakest ones; the loss of their lives.

Furthermore, while wearing the mask, the user will be granted boosted Mana and Stamina Regeneration proportionally to the amount of fear induced by the mask.

This skill can be used without cost and the mask can be taken on and off at will. However, when the mask is destroyed instead of willingly dismissed by the user, it will not be possible to call it for a full twenty-four hours and the user will suffer a mental rebound scaling to how much fear was being induced at the time of the mask being destroyed. The lowest risk being a loss of the center of balance and the highest risk being a fall into a coma.

Note: This is an Ultimate Excel Skill. It is non-upgradable.

❮ ◈ ❯

“Oh,” Rakna blinked at the prompt like a deer in headlights. ‘I guess I got my second Ultimate-Class Skill,’ he thought blandly.

“{Please…. Please just do what you came here for. My poor heart cannot take much more tension than this,}” Fray said blearily. “{I should have never come out of my library… It is not like you even needed my spending two weeks looking for information on the Crystal Sage.}”

‘Oh, come on, you’re a big boy. Could you not have a breakdown inside my head?’

“{Ugh, your volcanic self has no tact.}”

“Anyway, stupid flame,” Rakna raised his voice with an annoyed tone. “Can’t you just accept my proposal? It’s not like you have anything to lose. What’s the point in making me your enemy? What if I come back in the future to forcefully make you submit?”

“Then so be it,” it replied in a heartbeat. “I will have to migrate to a new Fire Well. If you find me again, what will happen will happen. I refuse to become a servant in this manner. I have my honor to defend.”

“God fucking damnit,” Rakna swore in frustration. “You’re stubborn as hell, you know that? Fine. Basically, you’re not going down without a fight, is that it?”

The Celestial Blaze remained silent but it began to grow nervous. If the power it had just sensed earlier was actualized, it didn’t even want to imagine what would happen.

“The smell of anxiety is growing on you,” Rakna deadpanned. “Kind of weird that I can even smell emotions from ethereal creatures… oh, well, I’ll ask you again; are you sure about this?” He asked one last time as he extended his arms outward, channeling his mana at the same time.

No answer was voiced.

“Alright then,” the therian muttered and in the blink of an eye, 3 000 MP were deducted from his reserves of mana. “[Star Hearth…]”

AhraManyu

A cliff? Where?