Chapter 129 - Wolf in a Demon’s Skin
What a fate, or whatever it was.
Tave had tried more than once to communicate with the spirit inside the relic, the mask Fokil had crafted using the materials from Tave’s previous Rift. It was made from the carcass of a monster he’d slain, one with illusion abilities and mental manipulation, fused with a soul stone taken from a shadow wolf.
The result was a mask with unclear ability yet. It hadn’t responded to him, not really. Just the occasional low growl from deep within, nothing more. Likely because the original soul belonged to a shadow wolf, a creature that couldn’t speak in the first place.
Unlike his sword, which housed a high-grade relic spirit. Intelligent, emotional, and often annoyingly talkative.
Until that moment.
The first real response came weeks ago, after Tave had killed a demon. Not just any demon, but the one he’d used as a sacrificial offering for his bloodline override. Maybe that was the key. It was the only demon he had slain entirely with his own hands. The others had fallen to his allies.
And now, when the tension in the forest had reached its peak, he felt the surge. The vibration of power thrummed from the mask, and a notification of the bond blinked into existence before his eyes.
That was the moment Tave used the mask.
And its true function was to let him wear the face, the voice, and the expression of an intelligent creature he had personally killed.
And the one bound to this mask... was that demon.
Now, Tave moved among the enemy with a demon’s face. His armor was scavenged from demon corpses. His presence was reinforced by the single horn of his newly gained Sigil. The mask didn’t create the horn, but it didn’t need to.