Blaze shoves the mask into his face. The black tendrils behind the mask sprout out like snakes and turn into huge tentacles.
They wrap around Blaze's face and squeeze him tightly.
The ragged cloak covering Blaze also starts to writhe chaotically. It is as if the entire costume has sprung alive from death.
The white mask begins to sink into Blaze's face. It enlarges slowly so that it can envelop his entire head.
The black tentacles do not loosen. Instead, they become transparent and smoke-like. No longer pose any pressure on his head.
And then the mask cracks further. Golden crevices appear on its surface like a tattoo of an ancient civilization.
Its patterns are primordial and frightening.
And then the tentacles disappear. The white mask seeps into the face of the shadow figure, becoming its new face.
A white face without any true characteristics of a human. It has golden pattern runs on its surface, gleaming slightly like stars in the night.
Behind the figure's head, smoke-like hair is floating, writhing, and moving like it itself is alive.
[Tattered Mask is bound to you!]
[A Set Piece has activated!]
- Tattered Wanderer (2/6)
- Set Piece Power: Arms of the Broken
- Arms of the Broken: Pick any target, arms will burst out of the nearest darkness and hold the target in place.
[Tattered Mask]
Equipment Rank: Ultra Rare
- Hidden Power: Fear, Faces, Voices
- Fear: You can make any target fall into an extreme fear state toward you.
- Faces: To anyone who is afraid of you, you can make them see you as the one they have the most regret about.
- Voices: To anyone who is afraid of you, your voice becomes the one that they cannot disobey.
[Tattered Cloak]
Equipment Rank: Uncommon
- Hidden Power: One with Shadow
- One with Shadow (Upgrade): You can fuse with darkness to erase your existence. Light sources no longer reveal you once you have activated this power.
Incomprehensible chattering and whispers overwhelm Blaze's ears. It slightly lowers down until he only hears a few voices.
Voices that he recognizes.
Jake: "Kill me! Kill me! Kill me, Blaze! You coward!"
Jake screams in anger and anguish.
Veronica: "Please stop! I didn't do anything wrong! I only did what everyone else does to the trash genes!"
Veronica cries out, her voice hoarse and almost unrecognizable from the angelic voice she used to have.
Felix: "I didn't deserve this! Let me go! Let me go!"
The cyclone man of the Nocturnal Animals bargains for his fate.
Dylan: "Arrgh!"
The least intelligible of the group. Only screaming and roaring is left with the ground man.
Phuc: "I will kill you, Blaze! I'll kill you and your mother, trashy! Then I will parade your mother's body on the street!"
Phuc is still despicable as always.
The Lantern appears in Blaze's hand.
"Shut up!" He says.
All the souls flicker from fear. Each hears a different voice.
For Jake, it is the voice of his mother, the only person he dares not to challenge.
For Veronica, it is the voice of her older brother, strict and cold.
For Felix, it is the voice of William himself.
For Dylan, a voice long lost to his memory, a dead friend of his resurgence.
All four keep their mouths shut and no longer make any sound.
All except for Phuc, he hears too many voices. The voice of his deceased parents, who never said they were proud of him. Then the voice of his former boss, always telling him he is a loser. His ex's voice is also there, high-pitched and provoking like old times.
Phuc doesn't calm down. He becomes even more enraged and unstable. Curses and despicable words come out of his mouth.
This bothers Blaze greatly. He really likes his silence.
Blaze pulls Phuc's soul out of the Lantern and puts it in his mouth.
There is one function of the Hidden Power Soul Reaper of the Lantern of the Damned that Blaze has never used. The consumption of the soul.
Phuc screams in pain. His yellow soul writhes in pain. He feels every bit of the feeling of being eaten alive.
The feeling that his skin is being ripped off, the tear of his flesh and his organs.
And then the crush of his entire being.
Phuc's soul has now completely disappeared from this world.
His body was burned to nothing. Now his soul is eaten. Phuc is now officially gone from this world.
[You have gained 50 experience points!]
Blaze refrains from consuming the soul since he gained this power. The reason is he's afraid that it may affect him somehow.
Maybe the memories of the soul will get mixed up with his own.
Or maybe his personality will get twisted to be similar to the soul.
Or maybe he will become a horrifying, incomprehensible creature that is no longer human.
But the truth is there are no drawbacks at all. Only more experience.
Blaze smiles. This time, the shadowy figure actually emotes a smile. A creepy, unsettling smile instead of the white crescent moon, like always.
His eyes are blood red and lust for those souls.
Blaze pulls the Lantern up close.
"Poor lost souls..."
And then he eats them all.
[You have gained 50 experience points!]
[You have gained 50 experience points!]
[You have gained 50 experience points!]
[You have gained 50 experience points!]
[Current Experience Points: 270]
"Buy the Blood Potion." Blaze reaches his hand out, and a glass vial with blood-red liquid appears in his hand.
He puts it in the Inventory, ready for it to be used in time of need.
"Hah!"
Blaze breathes out, yellow smoke of all those devoured souls fleeing his mouth. The last remaining piece of their existence.
"Silence at last!"
Blaze unequips the Tattered Cloak and Tattered Mask. The Cloak returns to his Inventory, while the Mask disappears into his skin.
Blaze doesn't seem any different at all. But he knows that Tattered Mask has become a part of him, similar to the Lantern and the Karambit.
"So many bound pieces of Equipment. I wonder if it will have any consequences later."
Blaze feels like there may be. But that's a question for another day.
He has prepared everything. Now is the time for war.
Blaze put on a full black outfit, a pair of pants, a T-shirt, and a jacket of black.
He goes to the kitchen to meet Kana one last time before departing.
"I'm going now, Mom."
Blaze smiles innocently, still acting like Kana's precious boy even though he just consumed five souls.
Kana looks at him for a while. It's as if she wants to engrave his image into her memory.
It may not be goodbye yet. But Kana doesn't know that for sure. This moment now may be the last time they are together.
She thought about preventing him from going. But she decided against it.
Her boy is an Awakened now, and he wants justice. A true hero, not like those pretentious douchebags out there.
Kana hugs Blaze tightly. She recognizes the huge size Blaze has grown into for just one night.
Yesterday he was still only slightly taller than her. Now her head only touches Blaze's chest.
"Good luck, kiddo. And…
Don't die, okay? I can't handle another funeral."
"Don't worry, Mom. The only funerals there will be are those of my enemies."