CHAPTER 74: STRANGER’S MASK

***

"Hm."

A beautiful black-haired woman looked down.

"...so this is how he felt?"

It was Eris, the Goddess inside Xenos’s very Soul.

She was in Her manor, recovering by the hearth.

"Perhaps I should be thankful for his condition."

Indeed, She had felt all that Xenos did in his battle.

Though She hadn’t seen what he saw, as that was only in his mind, She could still feel it, the emotion so heavy that it made its way deep into his Soul and into Her.

Yet thankfully, it seemed that his haunting past had been finally laid to rest.

"I’d thank it if it wasn’t so... ugly."

Eris saw that piece of Death for what it was.

Xenos, even with his Beholding Eyes, couldn’t truly see it.

And that was a good thing. She didn’t know if he’d have survived that sight.

"In any case, I..."

She was proud.

So proud that She wanted to go around to the Gods that were watching and brag about how he was HER Follower, HERS, and only HERS.

It was too unfortunate that She currently couldn’t, much too weak to do anything really.

"But if he keeps this up?"

Eris didn’t doubt that She’d be able to descend to the physical realm.

Of course, it’d not be in Her human form, but at least something physical.

She couldn’t wait for the day when She’d be before him.

Where She could actually touch him.

"Ah... please wake up already."

Eris really couldn’t wait.

***

Xenos opened his eyes to a world of white.

For a second, he thought he’d died again.

The place was quiet, and all around him was just... light.

An empty white that had stretched forever.

It was a familiar place.

He blinked a few times.

’...I won?’

The question hung there for a moment, like even he didn’t believe it.

"Guess I did."

He grinned, because yes, he did, and it was time.

It was time to get his rewards!

Before him, two Runes floated gently in the air.

Xenos instantly recognized their nature, having expected them.

One pulsed a crimson red, Blood. The other shimmered with the color of brass, Time.

"Now that’s a combo~."

Still, he didn’t bother checking their descriptions.

Runes were either worth keeping, selling, or breaking, and right now, he didn’t care which.

The only thing that mattered was the stat points he was about to get for finishing two quests back-to-back and the ’experience’ from all those assassins and monsters he killed.

And sure enough—

Ding!

The air flashed blue with a system notification.

—

╔═════════════╗

║QUEST COMPLETE!║

╚═════════════╝

[Objective: Reach the Hanged Man’s Tree and face Death.]

[+ 5 STAT POINTS!]

—

’Good.’

—

╔═════════════╗

║QUEST COMPLETE!║

╚═════════════╝

[Sudden Quest: SECOND HUNT]

[Objective: Hunt Your Hunters!]

[+ 5 STAT POINTS!]

—

’Good, good, good.’

—

[Calculating Experience...]

—

"Ahhh, stop the tension and show me already!"

Xenos waved impatiently at the glowing boxes.

—

╔════════╗

║OVERFLOW!║

╚════════╝

╔═════════════╗

║☆ LEVEL UP X 3 ☆║

╚═════════════╝

[EXP = 1000]

[Level: 23 → 26]

[+ 9 STAT POINTS!]

—

Xenos stared at the screen for a long second and then sighed.

’The big wall’s already here, huh?’

Even after a thousand ’experience’ points, a literal flood of reward, he only gained three levels.

Opening a new tab, his eyes narrowed at the new numbers.

—

{Level: 26}

[• EXP: 349/393 •]

[+ 9 STAT POINTS!]

—

’Yup. Level twenty-five really was the trigger.’

Still, it was no use complaining.

"Unfortunate."

He’d take a look at what actually changed.

—

╔══════════════╗

║Game System Online║

╚══════════════╝

{Level: 26}

[• EXP: 349/393 •]

{Health Points}

[• HP: 1/566 → 760/760 •]

{Divinity}

[• D: 12/666 → 814/814 •]

{Statistics}

[Strength] 15 → 16 (E → E+) (World Avg: C+)

[Intelligence] 20 → 29 (D- → D) (Academy Avg: C+)

[Willpower] 20 → 30 (D- → D) (Academy Avg: C+)

[Speed] 17 → 20 (E+ → D-) (Academy Avg: B-)

[Endurance] 24 → 28 (D- → D) (Academy Avg: B-)

[Appearance] 70 (B+) (Academy Avg: C)

[Personality] -1 (G) (Academy Avg: C)

[Luck] 60 (B) (Academy Avg: C)

—

He whistled.

’Real good stuff...’

Honestly, the boost wasn’t as huge as he’d hoped, but it was very, very solid.

It’d been a while since he last checked his stats, so the increase was massive in that regard.

About twenty-seven stat points in total, a result of an increase of nine levels, and that was not including the extra fifteen from the quests that he had yet to allocate, feeling them waiting in his Soul, ready to burst through into his body.

Ten came from today, while the rest came from his cat-and-mouse game with that Priest.

Reliable, indeed, still, when he glanced at the HP value, he couldn’t help but raise a brow.

’One hit point. Hah.’

He chuckled softly.

"Damnation."

It was stupid how close that was.

With the fifteen stats he now had, he could buff his endurance or strength to help make sure that never happened again, but no, he was sure to meet many foes as strong as Death or stronger in the future.

Any hope for him to survive wouldn’t be in tanking their hits but dodging them.

And so, Xenos did the only sensible thing any gamer would do...

Dump all of his stat points into one stat!

’Speed.’

—

{Statistics}

[Strength] 16 (E+) (World Avg: C+)

[Intelligence] 29 (D) (Academy Avg: C+)

[Willpower] 30 (D) (Academy Avg: C+)

[Speed] 20 → 35 (D- → D+) (Academy Avg: B-)

[Endurance] 28 (D) (Academy Avg: B-)

[Appearance] 70 (B+) (Academy Avg: C)

[Personality] -1 (G) (Academy Avg: C)

[Luck] 60 (B) (Academy Avg: C)

—

Again, and unfortunately, increasing his speed changed nothing about his other Derived Stats like HP and Divinity, but again a second time, he wasn’t planning to increase those.

His path was already focused on Divinity, so it’d be dumb for him to use his stat points on the stats that would naturally increase as he got stronger.

Xenos wasn’t planning to be an all-rounder, but getting his other stats up to snuff would greatly help him in the long run.

Smiling to himself, happy with his progress, he finally looked away from the system, only to freeze.

Standing a few meters away was the same monster that had nearly killed him before.

Death.

The being’s form was towering, and its lack of eyes watched him, perhaps waiting for aggression, or fear, or anything, but Xenos just squinted at it, seemingly wondering.

"...where did your mask go? Or did I really cut it in half?"

Death blinked at his question.

It clearly hadn’t expected that.

Why in Tartaros was this human talking so casually to it?

"Hello, are you deaf?"

After a moment, it shook its head.

"Sorry... I ask that you check your inventory; something might have happened to your mask."

Xenos didn’t bother opening the system, narrowing his eyes.

"Do They know of my system?"

Death hesitated, then slowly shook its head again.

"Don’t worry, only I do, and it’s only because I faced you. Don’t face them, and they’ll never know a thing."

That matched with what he knew; the same thing happened with Achyls.

Once one of Them saw him, his system would bear itself to Them.

He exhaled through his nose.

"Fair enough. Now, please leave."

Death gave a strange laugh and turned away.

"Don’t fall again, Stranger."

In moments, it faded into the white horizon until it was gone.

Silence returned, and finally, Xenos opened his inventory.

He could feel it; inside, glowing faintly, was his mask.

The moment he took it out, its threads of being...

Its Will, connected with him.

At once, he realized...

It had turned into a Divine Relic.

Or, in other words, a Divine Mask.

Even though it looked the same as before.

A completely plain mask with only slits for eyes and mouth.

Xenos had felt the change in its very makeup; its material heavy now.

—

[Stranger’s Mask]

[Description: For a Stranger in both worlds. Allows the bearer to breathe Divinity through Corruption.]

—

He stared at it in silence before a grin crept back onto his face.

’So... now I can actually breathe in Tartaros.’

This was a boon better than all that came before it.

’It won’t be long before I finally Dive.’

And Xenos was already making plans.