Chapter 140: Dokgo Gyeom

So my mask, which has been with me through ups and downs for such a long time, is flying in the sky.

Then what was on my face right now? Was my face exposed? Among these hundreds of masked people, only my face is exposed?

[You realize that there is nothing on your face. The fact that your face is not covered by a mask is excessively terrifying and chilling. The latent madness within you manifests, twisting your mind. Distortion begins to set in.]

The tentacles and weapons were flying in slowly somehow.

You bastards, do you think I'll get hit by this? I had to move somehow or at least cast a spell to block them... but my body was also moving incredibly slowly. Come to think of it, what was happening?

[System: Attempting to resist the distortion with your mental strength stat.]

Ah, now I understand. This was the thing where the world looked like it was in slow motion just before you died. I even started seeing my childhood self.

Nostalgic childhood memories. A playground full of colorful rides. The voice of my mother calling me from afar. Young-cheol-ah! Young-cheol-ah! It's time to eat! Aw, Mom, let me play a little longer!

No, wait.

My name wasn't Young-cheol. Who was Young-cheol? Was I going to die watching someone else's life flash before my eyes?!

[Mental strength check...]

I'm dying! This time, I'm really dying!

Wow! Damn it! Was I going to die like this?! Ah, Jang Hyeon-deok! You should have warned me with some interesting traditional myth of Sejong City!

[...Success.]

"I'm alive!"

The time that had been flowing slowly suddenly regained its normal speed.

Tentacles, tentacles, tentacles, tentacles, tentacles, tentacles, tentacles, tentacles, tentacles, tentacles, tentacles, masks, masks, masks, masks, masks, masks, masks, masks, masks, calm down!

Anyway, with [Tangled Identity] and [Shadow Deception] on my face, one could say I was wearing a magical mask. Perhaps that's why I was a bit less crazy, but madness couldn't be resolved by simply talking it down.

"My mask! Where did my mask go?"

Boom!

I activated something.

I was so out of it that I didn't even know what kind of magic I had activated.

An explosion occurred, sending the surrounding cultists flying. It was just luck that I hadn't gone into distortion.

What was the difference between distortion and just being in a state of madness? During distortion, I couldn't control my actions. Now? I could control myself to a certain extent but...

"Give me back my mask!"

It was like when my fear of rats manifested. Even then, I avoided distortion and could fight, but my hatred and fear of rats were maximized.

[Chains of Domination]

Shrrrrrrrrr!

As I jumped into the air, a severed head had struck my face and knocked my mask away. So, I sent the Chains of Domination towards the head of a one-eyed mask from the Yellow Forest Church.

Crack!

I couldn't control my strength. Too much physical force was applied. The head wearing the one-eyed mask shattered, scattering his brain, skull, eyeballs, and other parts everywhere. Ugh, it was a dead person's head anyway, but I still felt a bit sorry.

Shhhhhh!

However, the mask survived. It was cracked and dirty, soaked in blood, but I quickly put the mask on my face.

Squelch.

Sticky liquid, the stench of blood, and bits of flesh still inside the mask.

The moment I put the mask on, an overwhelming pleasure surged through me. At the same time, I realized how out of my mind I was. Damn it. What the hell am I doing!

"Is it all because of that guy?"

I saw a three-eyed mask in the distance. Seriously, isn't this too much? If you're a strategist, be a strategist. If you're a character with narrow eyes, be a character with narrow eyes. Why do you also have long-range dealing abilities?

And what is this? Are you a left-handed pitcher? Wow, it's great to have so many talents. Isn't it too much to fit all those skills into one body? Wouldn't it be better to divide it into several parts? Should I help you with that?

I landed after dodging the approaching mutants and cultists for a while.

"Damn it, where's my mask?"

Not this fake mask that's still dripping with blood! My Carcosa's Mask!

Like a child quickly finding their mother's face in the audience at a school play, I rapidly located the position of my mask.

"There it is!"

I infused the debris piled up at my feet with magical power.

[Gravitational Field]

Bzzzzzzzz!

The debris ignored the laws of physics and shot up into the sky.

"Ahhh! Get out of the way!"

"Run!"

The cultists, realizing what I was about to do, started screaming and fleeing. I swung both hands and sent the debris flying towards the three-eyed mask guy.

Crash!

And there were pesky mutants between him and me. They could get hit too!

The mutants were instantly shattered by the large debris and flew towards the three-eyed mask along with the debris.

Boom!

The three-eyed mask didn't even make a sound as he was buried under the pile of debris and mutants' bodies.

He didn't die though. Tough bastard.

His magical power had weakened, but he was still alive. Hopefully, this would be the last time I saw him.

Then I adjusted some of the effects of the gravitational field and picked up Carcosa's mask from among the debris.

I tried to wear it again... but I couldn't! The belt meant to secure it on my head was broken.

Fortunately, the mask itself was intact, but it was impossible to wear it immediately.

"Damn it!"

In the end, I tucked Carcosa's mask into my clothes and looked around the gallery. Dokgo Gyeom was grabbing one of the judges by the collar. Officially, Dokgo Gyeom and the judge were of the same rank, but Dokgo Gyeom was mercilessly beating the judge.

Was that the guy who cast magic at me earlier? Yeah, hit him some more!

"Anyway, it seems hiding any longer is impossible."

"Now is the perfect time."

Thanks to Dokgo Gyeom, none of the judges were paying attention to me. This was the moment to reveal my true self.

I activated one of the many markings I had prepared in advance.

[Chains of Domination]

Shrrrrrrr!

The chains slithered through the debris scattered on the floor, moving stealthily.

The first target was the monster hunter lying on the ground over there.

Sure enough, the monster hunter who had lost consciousness stood up. As per the command given in advance.

He raised both hands and performed an impossible feat.

[Crown of the Earth]

Rumble!

With a powerful shockwave, a violent earthquake was generated. A grand event that should have taken thousands of years to unfold was recreated at a high speed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The lavishly finished marble floor cracked, and blade-like stone pillars shot up towards the sky. He infused more magical power into it.

In any case, it was much more and much larger than originally intended!

Rumble!

Huge stone pillars formed around him. It wasn't just one or two. True to the name of the spell, a crown of the earth was created.

The huge commotion was impossible to ignore. Finally, the judges noticed and were horrified.

"What, what is this?!"

"Why does that guy have such power?!"

The judges weren't blind. Unless I took advantage of their distraction, it was impossible to hide that I was the one who activated this magic.

And then the second target.

Shrrrrrrrr!

Where was it reaching? Ah, there it was.

The wolf-masked shaman. Just because he was a cultist of [Wanderer of the Wind] and dealt with ice and cold, didn't mean he couldn't be interesting.

I made the wolf mask's body rise and forced it into a dance-like movement. The form was toxic and accompanied by numerous deathly siblings.

[Swarm of Bugs]

[Spell Enhancement: Deadly Poison]

Buzzzzz...

Buzzzzzzzzz...

An immense number of insects poured out from the ragged sleeves of his clothes.

It wasn't just a lot, it was an overwhelming amount. The insects summoned from this alternate space spread out in such a terrifying quantity that they covered the entire wide hall in darkness at an incredible speed.

"Still not enough. More!"

After pouring out the excess magical power, even more insects were created.

Bzzzzzzzz...

"What is this? What is happening?!"

Ah, that cheap witch. You have a role too, but why are you still awake?

Fzzzzt!

"Aaah!"

Taking advantage of her moment of carelessness, I sent a jolt of electricity to knock her out. I couldn't control someone who was awake. Her body soon created a massive thorny vine.

Crash!!

The entire venue started to crack. Part of the gallery collapsed and fell to the floor.

Then came the following spell. This time, the chef was to adjust the fire.

[Hellfire]

[Spell Enhancement: Deadly Poison]

Whoosh!!!

The fire had been blazing for a while, but this time it wasn't just at that level. The flames that were spreading at an immense speed generated pitch-black smoke imbued with lethal toxicity.

"What is this? What is happening now?!"

"Something's wrong! Something's interfering!"

"Who is it? Our disciples are using strange abilities!"

Only now did a few of the judges finally jump down from the gallery.

Boom! Bang!

Sounds of destruction echoed everywhere. Real monsters wielding their diverse abilities charged in.

[Lightning Strike]

Fzzzzzzzt!!!

"Ugh! Who is it?!"

"Too many interruptions! Those bugs! They're burning and flying around!"

Rocks, thorn bushes, insects, poison, fire, smoke, and now even lightning.

It was a multilayered barrier. Even for the judges, breaking through it immediately was no easy task.

Besides, even if they did break through, could they find where I was?

Ah, Achilles! How much longer do we have to stall?

I sent my consciousness and vision away again.

"Where are you now? Oh, really? Good! Send it down like that!"

Crackle!

It was already a chaotic mess that no one would call it a masquerade. The situation couldn't get any more confusing, yet a massive, ominous noise drowned out everything.

Boom! Bang! Boom, boom!!

The location of the noise was the ceiling.

"The ceiling! Look at that!"

"The ceiling is collapsing!"

The ceiling was destroyed. The structures that formed the ceiling turned into huge fragments and fell down.

Boom! Bang!

A tremendous amount of rubble and collapse.

"Get out of the way!" "Run!" "Help me!" "Get lost!" "Move!" "What's happening?!"

But it wasn't over. The culprits who shattered the ceiling poured in.

"Ahhh! What is that?! What are those?!"

They were dozens of giant monstrous birds, the Shantaks.

"Squawk!!!"

"Shriek!!!"

"Screech!!!"

Alright, it's over.

Now, if I can just grab the chest and escape, today's plan will be complete.

"There must be over 30 of those birds here."

I missed a few, but this number was more than enough. Just one of the birds was large enough to reach from the floor to the ceiling of this hall.

"Squawk!!!"

"Screech!!!"

It was a ridiculous sight.

There were more than 30 of these giant shantaks here. They were huddled together in a man-made structure, getting entangled in the scene.

This scene alone was mythically shocking. No, it was awe-inspiring. A living storm of wings, feathers, and madness intertwined.

"Th-This can't be real!"

"Run, Run away! We can't stop this!"

"Try to stop them!"

"How could no one have foreseen this disaster?!"

What a delightful atmosphere. Even the judges who had been eagerly watching until now couldn't accept the sudden change and fell into confusion.

[It's a remarkable sight. You gathered the shantaks scattered across Paju and drove them into the Masquerade party. You deliberately inserted yourself into the center of attention. Not only did you capture the attention of everyone in the hall, but you neutralized their senses by spreading your influence without anyone noticing. Even the renowned judges of the Masquerade were completely deceived.]

A message window appeared. It seemed silent all this time, but now it started chattering excitedly.

"Don't block my view, get lost!"

Boom!

I gathered the lingering grudges of the surrounding spirits and struck the message window.

[But keep in mind, this horrific spectacle you created...]

[System: The 'Madness of the Abyss' trait has been activated. The Fear effect has been nullified.]

Crackle!

Calling it a horrific spectacle.... it looks exciting no matter how you see it.

"It's Dokgo Gyeom! Dokgo Gyeom trapped us!"

"Wh-What did you say?!"

"How could we not have detected these monsters if not for this!"

Yes, good, divide, distrust, and doubt.

Crack! Snap!

The wall cracked and the ceiling collapsed.

Rumble!

Following a thunderous roar, the entire building started to crumble.

"You idiots!!!"

But even louder than that was Dokgo Gyeom's roar.

"What is this?!"

Boom!

Did I just say "thunderous"?

Real thunder actually burst out from Dokgo Gyeom's hand. And he grabbed the head of a giant shantak rushing towards him.

"Gyaaah! Gyaaah!!"

Dokgo Gyeom was only a fifth of the shantak's size.

And yet despite the huge shantak's furious struggle, it couldn't escape Dokgo Gyeom's claw-like grip.

"Judges? You arrogant fools who became puffed up because of a little praise! Scared and trembling at something like this!?"

Crack!

He pulled with both hands and the shantak's head got split in two.

Splash!

Blood poured out like a waterfall.

From the shantak's split skull, a brain larger than Dokgo Gyeom's body spilled out.

Soaked in an enormous amount of blood and brain matter, Dokgo Gyeom was now drenched in red. He looked like a true demon.

"I don't know who you are, but whoever ruined the festival I planned, I will catch you and I will kill you! No, killing isn't enough! I'll pull out what's inside your skull and make you live forever!"

Only someone with many Mi-Go friends could make such threats.