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[Translator – Jjescus]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s Disciple]
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The one chasing me and Number 26 raised its head. The Pale Mask, the predator of the deep sea second only to the Sea Demon, is notorious for its repulsive appearance as much as its mighty power. Its overall form resembles attaching the flat fin of a stingray and a long tail to the body of a sperm whale. Although its appearance is a mix of features from various marine creatures, the most striking aspect is undoubtedly the faces on its body.
True to its name, the Pale Mask’s body is adorned with pallid, grimacing human faces. When contrasted with the black outer skin, these white faces give the impression of barnacles attached to a whale’s body.
[PR/N- Barnacles are encrusters, attaching themselves temporarily to a hard substrate or a symbiont such as a whale (whale barnacles), a sea snake, or another crustacean, like a crab or a lobster.]
‘Barnacles. It’s not a bad metaphor.’
Those faces are a kind of symbiotic organism naturally generated on the Pale Mask’s body. These faces can be considered symbols of the Pale Mask. Although described as barnacles, these symbiotic organisms do not harm the host. Instead, they utilize their various abilities to protect the host, creating a symbiotic relationship similar to the tooth fairies and me.
‘Of course, these faces are much stronger than the tooth fairies.’Gii, Gii, Gii
The water-soaked faces emit eerie cries in response to the host’s will. It’s like the laughter of a water spirit, a sound as unsettling as its grotesque appearance. I paid no attention to their cries and calmly observed the creature. Understanding their abilities is crucial before engaging in a fight since their combat capabilities vary significantly based on gender and growth level.
It seems the Mother of the Sky had similar thoughts.
｢Judging by its size, it’s already in the adult stage.｣
She had transformed back into a humanoid form, not the griffin. Instead of replying to her, I nodded in agreement. I’ve faced the Pale Mask in the game several times. While I couldn’t precisely measure its size just by seeing the head above the water, I could make a rough estimate.
‘It should be around 50 meters.’
The adult Pale Mask’s body length ranges from 40 to 50 meters, placing it among the larger specimens. There is another distinctive feature.
The gender of the Pale Mask can be identified by the faces attached to its body. Interestingly, if it has human female faces, it’s male; conversely, if it has male faces, it’s female.
All the faces on its body were those of pale women.
[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZZ (It’s a male)]
｢Ugh, this is getting annoying.｣
The Mother of the Sky clicked her tongue. She was right. Despite the male being two-thirds the size of the female, it is much more powerful due to its troublesome characteristic.
‘The hypnotic ability is irritating.’
The male Pale Mask’s ‘hypnotic waves’ continuously emit a wavelength that confuses the minds of other creatures. While similar to the ‘hallucination’ ability of the Red Mist on the jungle planet, it is specialized in applying debuffs rather than showing illusions. If affected by its hypnotic waves, one becomes unable to use concentration-demanding abilities and techniques. In my case, it seals psychic power abilities, nest-related features, and nest link abilities.
My thick head carapace collided with the creature’s head. The massive shockwave from the impact swept across the beach, scattering sand in all directions. The Pale Mask, with a head size approaching 10m, clashed with my head carapace, which was less than 3m.
When the two collided, the outcome of the fight was clear. However, the one screaming in extreme pain was not me.
Giiik! Giiik!
The faces of the creature, sharing sensations with its host, let out agonizing screams. Blue blood and whale brain oil flowed from the creature’s thick head pierced by my horn. While my horn may be needle-sized to the creature, with a powerful collision, it’s a different story.
The creature, with a split wound on its head thicker than my carapace, writhed in unfamiliar intense pain. I firmly held onto its head with my combat-ready arms to prevent my horn from dislodging.
Gii, Gii
Perhaps realizing it wouldn’t work, the Pale Mask swung the leg-shaped tails resembling stingrays all around its body towards me. Just like the stingrays’ tails have venom, these legs also contain a powerful toxin, but it doesn’t affect me.
However, the creature seemed to have decided that keeping a distance was a priority rather than stabbing me with its poisonous stinger. Its thicker legs than my body lashed out at me.
‘Oof!’
Is this what being hit by a truck feels like? Struck by the creature’s legs, my body floated in the air and flew far away.
Giiik!
The creature, looking at me floating in the air, opened its mouth wide. The Pale Mask can compress digestive fluids inside its body to create a highly destructive breath attack. It has the power to melt even the outer shell of a sub-adult Aymoph, for example.
At that moment, dozens of transparent energy projectiles flew from the opposite side and struck the Pale Mask.
Giiik?!
｢Don’t bother the big guy! You jerk!｣
The angry vibes emanated from Number 26. Safely landing on the ground, I looked in the direction where the creature was.
Number 26 was hiding behind rocks on the beach, shooting energy projectiles with its tentacles.
‘It grew again in the meantime.’
That technique is a unique skill called ‘Demon Crash,’ inherent to Sea Demons. Number 26 acquired it as its second skill after ‘Terror of the Deep.’
‘It may not be as powerful as the Sea Demons I knew, but…’
The original Demon Crash unleashed by Sea Demons has very high attack power and randomly inflicts short-duration debuffs. Number 26, being still young, hasn’t demonstrated that level of power yet.
‘Still, the intent seems to be well communicated.’
Giiik! Giiik! Giiik!
As the energy projectiles hit its eyes, the creature convulsed. It redirected its anger from me to Number 26.
A new attacker appeared at that moment. It was the Mother of the Sky, a creature with an eagle’s head and a lion’s body, in a hybrid form. She leaped onto the Pale Mask’s back, which had climbed up from the beach with a golden spear in her hand.
‘The Priest’s Golden Spear? Did Adhai give this to her?.’
Before descending into the depths, I handed Adhai a backpack filled with loot. It was evident that Mother of the Sky had requested equipment from Adhai to confront the Pale Mask.
‘Indeed.’
In a situation where she couldn’t properly utilize Divine Engraving, the only meaningful means she had against the Pale Mask, with its thick hide, was the shining spear.
Despite the Pale Mask shaking its body as if annoyed, Mother of the Sky’s posture remained unwavering.
Kiii!!
With a short stroke, she deeply cut into the creature’s hide. Blue blood sprayed from the wound, and the Pale Mask writhed in agony. Its legs soared towards Mother of the Sky, aiming to tear her apart.
｢Me｣｢You｣｢Support｣
At that moment, Adhai swooped down from the high sky like a predatory bird. Simultaneously, Mother of the Sky folded the Priest’s Golden Spear and leaped towards the descending Adhai.
At the perfect timing, Adhai caught Mother of the Sky with her four legs and ascended. The Pale Mask’s legs missed them by a paper-thin difference.
｢Get on for a moment.｣
｢This｣｢Time｣｢Only｣｢Next｣｢Not allowed.｣
In mid-air, it seemed like Mother of the Sky lightly mounted Adhai’s back. While in the griffin form, Mother of the Sky is much larger than Adhai, but right now in her humanoid form she was much smalll.
Mounted on Adhai’s back, Mother of the Sky drew her spear again.
Giiik! Giiik!
Every time the Gallagon approached the marine monster, she swung the spear vigorously. Golden light flickered, leaving behind deep and sharp wounds.
Adhai seemed to have chosen a supportive role, given the difficulty of direct attacks due to the Pale Mask’s mesmerizing waves.
‘Not bad.’
Even without explicit communication, it was a companion who didn’t betray expectations. Adhai actively utilized her swift flight speed, attacking at the right moments and assisting Mother of the Sky in easily striking the Pale Mask. The creature tried to trap Adhai by spreading the fins on its sides like wings, as Adhai’s interference seemed to irritate it.
‘But I can’t let that happen.’
I raced along the beach, stirring up sand with my combat arms. Approaching the Pale Mask in an instant, I raised my upper body and brought down my head on its head.
Giiik?!
Although my body length and weight are less than half of its, it’s not to be underestimated. The creature staggered significantly from the impact of my body press.
However, my attack didn’t end here.
I maintained that position, firmly holding the creature’s head with my combat arms to immobilize it. Using my tail, I started winding it around the creature’s head.
Applying force to the winding tail, I began squeezing its head. It was as if a constrictor snake was squeezing its prey until the bones snapped.
The friction between my squeezing body and the creature’s head produced a chilling sound.
｢Kki, Kkiik!｣
In the agony of its contorted head, the creature screamed in pain. As it thrashed, waves formed around, creating a tidal wave. Waterfront structures around were swept away and submerged in the wave created by the Pale Mask.
Giiik! Giiik!! Giiik!!
The parasitic faces attached to the creature’s body unleash a concentrated onslaught to protect the host.
‘Useless.’
Kkiik! Kkiik!
Attempting to block me with shockwaves was futile. Instead, the creature crumbled further when I exerted more force.
Gi…Giiik?
It seemed the creature opted for a different approach, feeling like its head would explode at this rate. Abandoning the shockwaves, it used its fins to propel itself forward rapidly.
Its chosen method was to stomp me into the ground while I remained bound.
The massive marine monster, with a size of 50m, charged at full speed towards the sandy beach, aiming to crush me, attached to its head, in a single-minded determination.
‘Can’t let it happen… Ugh?!’
Though I was not the one being stomped, I hastily tried to free myself, but the creature’s legs entwined around my combat arm and head.
I attempted to deploy corrosive tentacles from my back to counter, but this time, the creature was slightly faster than me.
Its head was driven into the bare ground, and I, attached to its head, felt a powerful impact.
[Pain Nullification Activated!]
‘Crack!’
My skull took the damage, and the protective coverings on my body fell off. Some of the claws attached to various parts broke, and one of my combat arms was fractured.
It was a significant injury, but not as severe as I had anticipated.
‘…Number 26.’
The flowing psychokinetic power sensed from a distance undoubtedly belonged to Number 26. Thanks to its ‘restraint,’ the Pale Mask’s strength weakened when it attempted to slam me into the sand.
If not for that, the situation might not have ended here.
Giiik! Giiik!
The creature raised its head again, seemingly ready to finish the job. Knowing I couldn’t endure another direct attack, I quickly freed myself, increasing the distance from the creature.
‘Unexpected damage, but…’
It wasn’t all losses. Thanks to the current skirmish, I had the opportunity to lure the creature onto the land.
Half of the creature’s body, resembling a mix of sperm whale and ray, lay on the sandy beach. From its appearance, it was clear that the creature wasn’t well-suited for terrestrial combat.
Grrr
Feeling the recovery of my broken arm through the effects of the regeneration trait, I stood up.
Now, it’s time for the second round.
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[Translator – Jjescus]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s Disciple]
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