Ch.133Beyond the Deep Sea (3)

The creature chasing me and No. 26 raises its head.

The Pale Mask is the second most powerful predator of the deep sea after the Sea Demon, infamous for its disgusting appearance as much as its overwhelming strength.

Its overall shape resembles a sperm whale’s body with several flat stingray fins and long tails attached to it. While its appearance mixes features from various marine creatures, the most striking aspect would be the faces on its body.

True to its name, the Pale Mask has pale human faces attached to its body. The stark white faces contrasting with its black skin remind me of barnacles attached to a whale’s body.

‘Barnacles, huh. Not an inaccurate comparison.’

Those faces are a type of parasitic organism that naturally forms on the Pale Mask’s body.

Those faces could indeed be called the symbol of the Pale Mask.

Though I described them as barnacles, these parasitic organisms don’t harm their host. Rather, they use their various abilities to protect their host. In a way, it’s similar to the symbiotic relationship between the tooth fairies and me.

‘Of course, those faces are much stronger than tooth fairies.’

“Giiiii” “Giiiii” “Giiiii”

The wet faces make eerie crying sounds according to their host’s will. Is this what a water ghost’s laughter would feel like? It’s a sound that sends chills down your spine, as repulsive as its appearance.

I ignored the creature’s sounds and calmly observed it. Since these creatures show significant differences in combat abilities depending on gender and growth level, I needed to assess it as much as possible before the fight began.

The Sky Mother seemed to think similarly.

“Judging by its size, it’s already at the adult stage.”

She had returned to her half-human, half-beast form rather than her griffon appearance. I nodded in response to her words.

I also have considerable experience fighting Pale Masks in the game. While I couldn’t measure its exact size just by looking at the head above water, I could roughly estimate how big it was.

‘It seems to be almost 50m long.’

The body length of an adult Pale Mask ranges between 40m and 50m. This one is on the larger side among regular adults.

There’s also another characteristic about this creature.

The gender of a Pale Mask can be distinguished by the faces attached to its body. Peculiarly, if it has human female faces, it’s male, and conversely, if it has male faces, it’s female.

All the faces attached to this creature’s body were pale women’s faces.

[Zz zz zzzz (It’s a male)]

“…Tch, this is going to be troublesome.”

The Sky Mother clicked her tongue.

She was right.

Although male Pale Masks are about two-thirds the size of females, males are actually much stronger. The reason is due to a troublesome trait unique to males.

‘The hypnotic wave trait is annoying.’

The male Pale Mask’s “hypnotic wave” is an ability that continuously emits waves that confuse the minds of other creatures. While similar to the “hallucination” trait of Red Mists that inhabit jungle-type planets, it specializes in applying debuffs to enemies rather than showing them illusions.

For instance, when affected by its hypnotic waves, you can’t use traits and skills that require concentration. In my case, traits like Psychic Power, nest-related traits, and nest link abilities would be sealed.

That’s also why the Sky Mother reverted to her griffon Volf form, her transformation canceled.

To maintain Incarnate form, one needs to maintain a state of concentration, but within the range of hypnotic waves, it could be canceled at any moment. Rather than risking an unintended cancellation during battle that could put her in danger, she probably decided to fight in human form.

It seemed we weren’t the only ones feeling strange about the creature, as No. 26 sent me a wave.

“Big baby, I don’t like that thing.”

Looking at the effects of the Pale Mask’s hypnotic wave trait, it might seem that Sea Demons would be at an overwhelming disadvantage, but Sea Demons are immune to such disruptive attacks by waves or pheromones.

If that weren’t the case, No. 26 would have been confused every time I used my mimicry organ.

Still, the unfamiliar feeling seemed to make No. 26 uncomfortable, as a faint light flickered from its body.

“I” “feel” “bad” “unpleasant” “unpleasant”

Adhigh Orr also shook his head from side to side, trying to shake off the strange feeling.

Unfortunately, Green Gallergorn doesn’t have the same immunity as Sea Demons. It will be difficult to use the strategy of supporting allies with Purple Lightning in this battle.

“Giiiii” “Giiiii”

While I was analyzing the creature, the Pale Mask seemed to have finished its observation of us.

It decided we were worth fighting and initiated the attack first. The gazes of the faces attached to its body turned toward the beach where we were.

Then, strong shock waves were fired from the mouths of the faces.

Those shock waves are the Pale Mask’s basic attack, but being fired from hundreds of faces, their power is by no means light.

[Zz zzzz (Everyone be careful)]

Being the one with the toughest exoskeleton among our group, I quickly moved forward to take the shock waves with my body. My exoskeleton shook violently as if it would separate from my flesh.

It was painful, but an unavoidable choice. No. 26 isn’t fast enough to dodge shock waves on land.

‘And I need to check how strong their attacks are.’

Taking it directly with my body, I found it bearable. Pain Reduction didn’t even activate.

‘At this level, I can ignore it and endure with my body.’

While I was taking the shock waves with my body, Adhigh Orr and the Sky Mother, with their superior mobility, quickly flew away to escape the range of the shock waves.

“Giiiii” “Giiiii”

The Pale Mask howled, having gained little from its shock waves. It stopped emitting shock waves and turned its head to dive back into the sea.

The creature’s action might seem like it’s fleeing, but that’s not the case. A powerful attack will soon hit the beach.

[Zzzz (Fall back)]

“Okay.”

I had No. 26 retreat and rushed forward myself.

‘Now it begins.’

As I was crawling toward the direction of the Pale Mask, digging through the sand, it showed itself again. The Pale Mask raised its head high, like a whale breaching the surface.

Like a sperm whale headbutting with its head, it can also use that huge head as a hammer.

Its head, weighing dozens of tons, falls toward me.

Instead of retreating, I used the strength in my tail to propel my body up from the sand. With my head carapace and body in a straight line, I was shot like a cannonball toward the Pale Mask’s head.

‘Force against force.’

My thick head carapace and its head collided. The massive shock wave generated by the impact swept across the beach sand.

The Pale Mask with a head nearly 10m in size, versus me with a head carapace less than 3m.

When the two collide, the outcome seemed obvious.

But it wasn’t me who was howling in extreme pain.

“Giiieek!” “Giiieek!”

The faces that share sensations with their host screamed in a single cry. Blue blood and whale brain oil flowed from the creature’s thick head, pierced by my horn.

My horn might be just needle-sized to it, but it’s a different story when accompanied by a powerful collision.

The creature writhed in pain from the two gashes on its head. I firmly gripped its head with my combat arms to ensure my horn wouldn’t come loose.

“Giiiii” “Giiiii”

Seeming to realize this approach wasn’t working, the Pale Mask swung its stingray tail-like legs at me.

Just as stingray tails have poison, those legs also contain a powerful poison, but it doesn’t work on me.

However, the creature seemed to prioritize getting me away rather than stabbing me with its poison stinger. A leg thicker than my body’s width struck me.

‘Ugh!’

Is this what it feels like to be hit by a truck? My body, struck by its leg, floated in the air and flew far away.

“Giiiii”

The creature looked at me floating in the air and opened its mouth wide.

Pale Masks can compress digestive fluids stored in their bodies to create a breath-like attack, and its destructive power is very high. It can even melt through and penetrate the exoskeleton of a subadult AMorph.

At that moment, dozens of translucent energy bullets flew from the opposite direction and hit the Pale Mask.

“Giiiii?!”

“Don’t bully big baby! You bad thing!”

No. 26 emitted angry waves. Having safely landed on the ground, I looked in the direction where it was.

No. 26 was hiding behind a rock on the beach, shooting energy bullets with its tentacles.

‘It’s grown again in the meantime.’

That skill is a Sea Demon-specific technique called “Demon Crash.” No. 26 has acquired a second Sea Demon skill following “Terror of the Deep.”

‘Compared to the Sea Demon I knew, the power is weaker, but…’

The original Demon Crash has very high attack power and randomly applies short-duration debuffs. No. 26, perhaps due to its youth, couldn’t demonstrate that level of power.

‘Still, its intention seems to have gotten through sufficiently.’

“Giiiii!” “Giiiii!” “Giiiii!”

The creature shuddered as the energy bullets hit its eyes. It seemed properly angered and changed its target from me to No. 26.

As its massive head was about to target another enemy, a new attacker appeared.

It was the Sky Mother, a Volf with an eagle’s head and a lion humanoid’s body. In her half-human, half-beast form, she kicked off the beach sand and jumped onto the Pale Mask’s back.

She was holding a golden short spear in her hand.

‘The Golden Spear of Shaman? She got it from Adhigh Orr.’

Before descending into the deep sea, I had handed over my backpack containing the spoils to Adhigh Orr. The Sky Mother must have requested equipment from Adhigh Orr to face the Pale Mask.

‘As expected.’

In a situation where she couldn’t properly use Incarnate, that shining short spear was the only means for her to inflict significant damage on the Pale Mask with its thick skin.

The Pale Mask shook its body in irritation, but the Sky Mother’s posture didn’t waver in the slightest.

“Hah!”

With a short battle cry, she made a large cut in the creature’s skin.

Blue blood gushed like a fountain from the wound, and the Pale Mask writhed in pain. Its legs flew in to tear the Sky Mother to pieces.

“I” “will” “support” “you”

At that moment, Adhigh Orr dive-bombed from high in the sky like a predatory bird hunting prey. Simultaneously, the Sky Mother, who had folded the Golden Spear of Shaman to make it smaller, propelled herself toward where Adhigh Orr was descending.

With perfect timing, Adhigh Orr grabbed the Sky Mother with his four legs and flew upward. The Pale Mask’s legs missed them by a paper-thin margin.

“I’ll ride for a bit.”

“This” “time” “okay” “next” “time” “no”

As Adhigh Orr ascended, I could see the Sky Mother nimbly climbing onto his back.

When the Sky Mother transforms into griffon form, she’s much larger than him, but not when she’s in humanoid form like now.

The griffon humanoid riding the cosmic dragon draws her short spear again.

“Giiiii!” “Giiiii!”

Every time the dragon approached the sea monster, she swung her spear widely. Golden light flashed, and in its wake remained deep, sharp cuts.

Due to the Pale Mask’s hypnotic wave, Adhigh Orr seemed to have chosen the role of supporting others, as direct attacks were difficult.

‘Not bad.’

Even without being told, he didn’t disappoint my expectations.

He actively utilized his fast flight speed, striking and retreating at the right moments, helping the Sky Mother attack easily. The Pale Mask, finding Adhigh Orr annoying, tried to crush him by bending its widely spread fins on both sides upward.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

I sprinted across the beach, digging through the sand with my combat arms. Approaching the Pale Mask in an instant, I lifted my upper body and struck its head.

“Giiieek?!”

While my body’s length and weight are less than half of its, they’re not negligible. The creature’s body staggered greatly when its head was hit by my body press.

But my attack doesn’t end there.

In that position, I grabbed its head with my combat arms to fix my body, and used my tail to wrap around its head.

Then I started to squeeze its head with my wrapped tail, like a python crushing its prey’s bones.

As my squeezing, pressing body and its head rubbed against each other, a chilling sound was produced.

“Kki, kiiiik!”

The creature screamed in agony as its head was being crushed. As it writhed, the surrounding waves surged, creating a tsunami. The stilt houses around the beach were swept away by the waves created by the Pale Mask and submerged in the sea.

“Giiiii!” “Giiiii” “Giiiii”

The parasitic faces attached to its body concentrated their fire on me to protect their host.

‘It’s useless.’

“Kiiiik!” “Kiiiik!”

Trying to stop me with shock waves is futile. As I applied even more force instead of loosening my body, the creature screamed in agony.

“Gi, giiiii”

Fearing its head might burst and die at this rate, the creature chose another method.

It stopped using shock waves and began to move forward rapidly, kicking the ground with its fins.

The method it chose was to charge straight into the ground with me still attached.

The 50m-sized giant sea monster charges at full speed toward the sandy beach. With the sole intention of crushing me, who is attached to the tip of its head.

‘I can’t let that… ugh?!’

Of course, I wasn’t going to just take it, so I hurriedly tried to unwrap myself, but its legs wrapped around my combat arms and head.

I tried to pull out the corrosive tentacles from my back to counter, but this time, it was a bit faster than me.

Its head was driven into the bare ground. A violent impact also hit me, hanging at the tip of its head.

“Pain Reduction activated!”

‘Kuk!’

My head carapace cracked, and the exoskeleton covering my body fell off. Some of the claws attached to various parts broke, and one of my combat arms was broken.

It was serious damage, but not as severe as I had expected.

‘…No. 26, huh.’

The flow of psychic power I felt from afar was undoubtedly No. 26’s. Thanks to its “Binding,” the Pale Mask’s force weakened at the moment it drove me into the sand.

If not for that, it wouldn’t have ended this lightly.

“Giiiii” “Giiiii”

The creature raised its head high again to finish me off. Not one to be hit by the same attack twice, I quickly unwrapped myself and created distance between us.

‘It was unexpected damage, but…’

It wasn’t all loss. Thanks to the exchange, I was able to lure it onto land.

Half of the creature’s body, resembling a mix of sperm whale and stingray, now lay on the beach sand. As evident from its appearance, it doesn’t have a body shape suitable for land combat.

“Grrrrrr”

Feeling my broken arm recover due to the regeneration trait, I got up.

Now begins the second round.