The Mask- Maker potion, beyond boosting Evah's spirituality daily, had two core abilities: "Hundred Faces Mask" and "Persona Mask."
The Hundred Faces Mask was similar to a Faceless's power, allowing the wearer to completely alter their appearance, though it couldn't drastically change body shape—only minor adjustments within limits.
But it had an edge over Faceless. The masks Evah crafted could be worn not just by himself but by others too. For now, he could maintain up to three Hundred Faces Masks at once. Creating more would likely require further potion digestion.
The Persona Mask's ability was straightforward: it could imbue a mask with any emotion—common ones like joy, anger, sorrow, or delight, or abstract ones like despair, hope, or courage. As long as the target was within 10 meters, Evah could silently make them wear a Persona Mask.
Those wearing it would be influenced by the embedded emotion, amplifying it. Once the emotion reached a certain intensity, Evah could manipulate the wearer through the mask. However, if the target's will was strong enough, they had a chance to break free. Currently, he could maintain three Persona Masks at once.
Additionally, his "Emotion Manipulation" ability had a wider reach, able to instantly ignite the emotions of hundreds of people.
Finally, there were the usual enhancements. Evah's speed and strength improved further, his physical coordination sharpened, and his mental power grew, enabling direct mental attacks that mimicked a psychic pierce.
"The blood of the Chained God Tolzna gave me the [Animal Curse] ability," Evah said, stroking his chin. "It can turn someone into a small animal, with lower success rates against higher Sequences, but it's boosted under moonlight." He muttered to himself, "Definitely influenced by the Mother Tree, but a good influence. Looks like Outer Gods aren't all bad… Still…"
Thinking of the Mother Tree and Mother Goddess's notorious traits, Evah paused. Better avoid materials tied to those two next time.
Even if he was immune to corruption, developing something like a gender-swap ability would be a disaster.
"The Hundred Faces Mask is like a supercharged Faceless ability. With this, I barely need to worry about blowing my cover. But the name… Is it just me, or does it feel backward, chaotic even? Eh, probably just the pathway's quirks," Evah quipped, moving on to other abilities. "Persona Mask is killer. Boosting teammates with positive emotions or breaking enemies with negative ones—guiding them to collapse or lose control—is super versatile."
"The real game-changer is pairing Persona Mask with Emotion Manipulation. It's practically instant puppetry, turning someone into a marionette. The target's consciousness stays intact, and if I release control, they recover fully, so it's even safe for allies."
"Wait a sec," Evah said, a realization hitting. "Isn't this basically Faceless plus a weird Puppet Master combo?" His expression turned odd.
He shrugged it off. Nyarlathotep's powers resembling the Sneaky Trio's (Seer, Apprentice, Marauder pathways) was par for the course.
"Whatever, Mask- Maker's abilities are legit strong. I could probably turn a Sequence 5 into a puppet if I get the drop on them. But if I run into some hotheaded AOE spammer who gets the first move, I'm toast—squishy as I am," Evah said, poking fun at himself. Still, he was clearly thrilled with the Mask- Maker's toolkit. His only gripe? How to act as one.
"The Mask- Maker potion's digestion difficulty is probably worth four or five Sequence 7 potions. No biggie, I'm used to it," Evah said, sensing the potion's digestion progress. Compared to the Actor potion, the Masked Master potion had only a smidge of pre-digestion.
This suggested his prior actions counted as partial acting for Mask- Maker, but they weren't quite on point, so progress was minimal.
"Let's see… Mask- Maker. It breaks down into two parts: the mask-wearer and the mask-maker. My earlier acting probably leaned toward mask-wearer, but the low digestion suggests I didn't fully commit to the mask—or maybe the focus is actually on the mask-maker," Evah mused.
Unlike the straightforward "Mischief-maker" or "Actor" potions, "Mask- Maker" was trickier to pin down.
"Acting usually ties to the pathway's traits and the potion's abilities. For Mask- Maker…" Evah's thoughts crystallized. He murmured, "Craft masks for others to wear, turning them into… puppets on a stage?"
"No, that's off. Wearing a mask isn't always bad. More accurately, it's about helping the wearer transform, then steering events to the Mask- Maker's desired outcome. Unlike the Actor, who performs, the Mask- Maker's vibe is more… backstage manipulator."
With that, Evah had a clearer plan for digesting the Mask- Maker potion.
"Maybe the upcoming Tingen incident will be a perfect chance…" Evah thought of an existing plan, a smirk creeping up. He glanced at the date.
It was already September 5. If the plot hadn't shifted, three days from now, Ince Zangwill would strike Tingen's Nighthawks.
Even if the plot had changed, Evah wasn't worried. A True God's spawn couldn't delay its descent—too early or too late would mess with Ince's scheme. Unless that old schemer scrapped his plan, he'd make his move in the next few days.
...
September 9, morning—
Klein woke early, glancing at the sky. It was clear and cloudless, yet he couldn't shake a sense of impending storm.
Three days had passed since the Qilangos incident. In that time, Klein had gotten tangled in a case involving a Desire Witch named Madam Sharon. She was no pushover, with strong abilities and the Demoness statue Evah had warned about, nearly overwhelming the Nighthawks sent to arrest her.
Thanks to Evah's heads-up, Klein had tipped off Captain Dunn in advance, and they managed to kill Sharon without casualties—though Klein's teammate, Kenley, took a bad hit and had to recover at home.
(End of Chapter)