The mask

"This is my hour!"

I was already prepared, ready to swing, and got into a stance. The demon didn't change its pace at all.

"Wait, why are the demons scattered in different directions, and only this one is running at me?"

The red demon stopped 10 meters away from the already ready to repel an attack from me, and began to look around, then shouted, "No enemies!" All the demons and insects stopped. A talking mushroom emerged from the ground and started talking to the demon:

- Helhoi-Will-Slap, Mycelius can't do our Rit's bidding, Rit didn't send anyone.

- So even you didn't find him, but our Rit gave the exact order and sending...

- Mycelius doesn't know, but Mycelius took the order and found no one.

- It's similar to what happened in the old days... I'll talk to Rit.

All the while, I was standing in the swing position. The demon came closer to me and was already four meters away. He raised his left hand up and it glowed red. You could see that the demon's right hand was larger than its left and resembled a huge gauntlet with chopping blades. The left claws, on the other hand, looked like needles, and the hand was the size of a normal human hand. The demon itself was slightly taller than I and muscular. Dressed only in black jeans with no shoes, his feet were human.

"How close he is! Okay, he's also talking! And what's that mushroom out there that talks, too!? It's so quiet, as long as we don't breathe... Ah, I don't need any air. How did I not wake up? For some reason I can't imagine at all how to go back... What is this place of bones? I won't do anything yet..."

Helhoi began to report through his left hand:

- Master, we have been unable to find your troublemaker.

- So much the better. Apparently he realized he'd better not linger here and left. Remove the order and bump the elements in the arena.

- Copy that.

Everyone in the area stared at the demon, then he announced, "Take down the order!" Everyone leisurely began to disperse, and the mushroom burrowed underground. Helhoi almost shoved me. I looked after him and saw the Colosseum.

"He said he didn't see anyone, though, he even walked right at me. They don't seem to notice me at all... And that painter... Is it some kind of god? Have I just disturbed some kind of deity?! No, it can't be... But he obviously has enormous powers since he has such a gallery and monster novices..."

I staggered back a little, and there was the crackling of one of the knuckles that was beneath my feet.

- Shit! Not again!

Neither the sound of the bone nor my voice was heard.

"What? Nothing happened? Weird, by all canon genre, I should have been heard... But I guess I missed it... All the better, and since that's the case, I should try to follow that demon what's-his-name... Ah, Halva! Or is it halva? Is that their pronunciation? They don't sound right, Rit. The demon Halva... Who called him that? Looks like whoever gave him that name really liked eating seed bars... Okay, let's forget it for now, and just follow him."

I started to follow the demon and he didn't pay any attention to me.

"Really, and he doesn't notice me..."

Along the way, I looked around, but saw nothing but hills of bones and the Colosseum. The entrance to the arena was closed, and as Helhoi approached the gate, he raised his left hand again, and it glowed red. Many monsters were nearby, crowding each other, but trying to avoid the red demon.

"This red demon seems to be in charge among them. Something tells me it's not just brute force he maintains his authority... The dream... That man clearly said I was disturbing his dream, but then who are all these monsters?"

The gate opened, after 5 seconds of glowing red demon hands and everyone began to enter the Colosseum. Once everyone was inside, Helhoi was the very last.

"Okay! We need to get in quick!"

I scooted forward and looked at the demon's glowing left hand. As soon as he stepped in and lowered his hand, the gate closed.

"It seems to be magic... He obviously has it, but what's going to happen in this Coliseum? From the conversation, there must be some elemental here, but who are they?"

Helhoi climbed up to the podium, which was high and jutting out toward the center of the arena. As soon as he was on this podium, all the monsters began to applaud. The red demon raised his left hand and announced, "For the good of our patron Rit! Today we will face the elements and find out who will be the last one left! May we witness his elemental in this arena! To the glory of Rit!", "To the glory of Rit!", all the monsters in the Colosseum shouted.

Two bars went up, from which one demon came out. One was very small and red, while the other was tall, thick and blue. As soon as they approached the center, they began a conversation that was magically audible everywhere. The small demon began with an accusation:

- Why aren't you doing anything? Why don't you care about what happens to us and our demons. Weren't you created to go to the benefit of everyone! You're going against Lord Rit's feelings!

- I don't go against his feelings, because he is diverse. You know that the demons of fear serve for the benefit of the lord, and prevent him from making mistakes that will destroy him.

- But you are utterly ignoring the pressure that you are exerting! You make the lord tolerate and fester us! Festering demons of emotion! We are the will and nature of the master!

- We too are part of the master and serve him. We help him to act sane, without your admixture of emotion!

- Your actions are killing us!

- You do not serve his thoughts!

- Yes, if the lord acts without us, he will want nothing and his flame will go out! We must keep his fire burning!

- You take too much risk when you want to activate all the kindling! Agree it better by less risky methods!

- They will go out if they don't burn. You think too much is risky! Demons die because of it! That is why no tree of desire burns because of inaction! Now only drawing keeps the fire going!

- The will of thoughts is much more important! For only they can give permanence.

- And what would our inferno freeze and even the good kindlers have no strength left? Rit gave his word to be true to himself and our world! What kind of world would there be without the strength of the warmongers? We will all die of hunger!

- Sometimes you have to work in hunger, too, for it to bear new fruit. For you cannot calculatingly trade with others, often, you do not let the tree blossom and sow the forest.

- But giving, trying to pretend like it doesn't matter, is even more destructive! We are not an eternal flame, we can always extinguish from receiving nothing in return. Of course we have reliable income in the form of food, music and painting, but Rita wants much more than that! He wants both women and recognition and a comfortable existence. Drawing may bring joy, but it's worth the titanic work of our firebrands!

- It's a secure income, and the supply of flames is sufficient for the cause, besides, don't forget that his work is very much appreciated.

- About that I agree, the appreciation of his work does keep the flame alive, but we need more of it! I suggest, direct the flame to show these works more often and be able to keep the flame up stronger.

- It's a risky investment, because they might not appreciate the work...

- Rit won't extinguish from such a thing! We just have to do it and surely there will be those who will keep his flame burning and we can keep it alive and hot! And Rit will live on and support us!

- I have lost, you will help Rit much more, therefore, I concede to you and give my consent.

- Yes! Hail Rit!

The whole Coliseum applauded and chanted, "Bodie!"

All the while, I stood at the gate.

"What kind of dialogue was that anyway? A debate? Isn't this a massacre? I was expecting demons to kill each other! And why elemental? Is that what demons are? Well, I understand about the flaming one, it keeps the fire going and doesn't let it go out, but what does the blue one do? And what's with all the mega-serious claims about such trivial things? Isn't it really important in demons? Oh, and they're both united by drawing... And who's Rit? But wait... That's the painter! That's right, they must be praising him... He's obviously not an easy person."

Helhoi continued his speech:

- Demons! Now is the time of battle! All fears hindering the execution of this plan - Call out!

He gave a wave with his left hand and tapped the ground with his right, and slimes, about 10 of them, appeared in the arena.

- It's a sloth!

He tapped the ground again, and certain fearful dwarves appeared, 7 of them.

- These are thieving dwarves who steal firewood with their doubts!

Tapped the ground a third time and 3 shadows appeared.

- And this is the fear of indifference! Put some wood to banish these shadows!

I immediately recoiled in surprise.

"These are exactly the same shadows that were in that town! Are they here, too?"

The little demon became very enthusiastic, then flamed up and started running after the dwarfs, burning them with a single touch, as if playing tag. After he burned all the dwarves, Bodie greatly increased the flames and became a huge fire demon that was 10 times the size of Helhoi. He brought his hand to one of the slugs, and it boiled and exploded, putting out the flames a little. Bodie examined his fiery hand and continued in exactly the same way on all the other slugs, getting smaller each time. When it became the size of Helhoi, all the slugs were destroyed.

The shadows were next in line, and he extinguished his flames and began walking calmly straight toward one. The shadow looked into Bodie's eyes and he stared back resolutely. After a few seconds, the shadow gradually dissolved from bottom to top, becoming a mist that was blown away by the wind. Similarly, he calmly approached the other shadow and simply stared into its eyes, bottom-up, and completely unafraid of them. After massacring the third shadow, he turned toward the stands and shouted, "To the glory of Rit!" and the entire Coliseum repeated after him, and the entire arena was filled with the cry of victory.

"Unthinkable... I don't believe my eyes, even though I know I'm dreaming... But I've never seen such a thing like that... What a strong demon this is... He calmly looked these shadows in the eyes... He also wields fire and can simply destroy everyone... And such demons serve this artist? Who the hell is he?"

Both demons dispersed to their cages and disappeared somewhere. I was immersed in my thoughts, but the gate behind me opened. The demon Helhoi shone his left hand and announced, "I declare the clash closed! All demons to their posts and places! To the glory of Lord Rit!", "To the glory of the lord!" -, all the other demons and monsters chanted.

"Looks like I ran into a demon lord... damn, how did that happen in the first place? Can I enter the dreams of such creatures? I didn't get a good look at him, of course, but he was human! And for some reason I can't get out of the dream... or can I? Maybe I didn't check properly?"

I started to think about the time, but all the demons were heading toward the exit, and it scared me. I fell to the side and regarded the huge centipedes that left first. It burrowed into the bones closer to one of the hills. Some of the winged demons began to fly, but they also left through the gate. At the edge of the gate, the same demon-mushroom that called itself, "Mycelium," emerged from the ground and immediately burrowed back into the ground. But among this whole crowd were not those "elementals" who argued and called it - "The Clash of the Elements." The crowd was also made up of demons of all different sizes and colorings, but it was Helhoi, who was the last one to go. The other monsters went through the opposite gate, and they were closed by someone less imposing, but he was too far away to be seen, but you could see that his glowing hand was blue. Helhoi was the only one in the crowd who had such a skewed left and right side.

I stood near the gate and stared thoughtfully at the asymmetrical demon until he stepped outside the gate and it began to close.

"I completely forgot! I have to run out of the gate before he leaves!"

I tried to get out in time, but the gate closed faster.

"I think I'm stuck...".

I walked around the gate and decided to explore the arena.

"Something tells me there are mysteries of my own here. I guess I didn't stay here for nothing. Just for starters, I need to process what happened..."

I walked to the center of the arena and where the fire demon had been, there was sand left behind, which had become glass in places where he'd passed when he'd blasted the first 2 slugs with heat.

"Wow, he turned sand into glass! A monster... But, is that how it works in dreams? And why aren't there others like this? Does it only get cleaned up before it starts? I don't see any other marks...and yet I would if it happened often."

I went to one of the raised grids where there was an exit for the elements, namely Blue.

"Maybe I should go inside. The demons don't notice me, even if someone does, I'm in invisible mode, and they're not likely to particularly bestow their attention on me... More surprising is how I haven't pushed anyone yet, can they at least be touched? Not a good idea, though. But if you think back to the last dream, I did it..."

I wandered around the open bars. It was dark inside.

"I don't really feel like going in here. I could move like I did with the basement and leave this place and it wouldn't be any fun at all. I'd like to figure out what's what while I'm out of sight. Hmm... I guess if I don't get caught by that demon lord, I'll be fine. And the blue and red one's still here, I wish I knew more about them, but their fight was weird. And the world here is livelier than any other place I've been to before."

I looked in the opposite direction and made sure the entrance was identical.

"They're not really different, maybe there are different beings coming out here and therefore, it's not just for those two? The philosophy of fire... more striking is that they were not fighting each other but discussing what would be best for their overlord, moreover, 3 shadows came out... What did Halva call them... I think it was the fear of indifference. Very interesting performance, I don't remember about the dwarves and slugs, but the method of destroying the shadows impressed me! Okay, I need to check on the inside, because I've been here too long."

I went inside. The corridor was narrow, but there was a reflection from the light of a torch on a corner that illuminated part of the wall.

"Oh, there are torches, great, so someone's using it already."

I turned right at the bend and saw a room with bars, and on the left a corridor leading further into the depths. There was no one behind the bars. The room itself looked like a prison. Each cell with bars had a window overlooking the center of the Colosseum. I walked further along the bars and reached another entrance to the arena.

"So they just go in a circle? It's like separate places to watch. Maybe to see their fate? Weird, but let's keep going, there's a corridor that goes deeper."

I entered a corridor that went down very deep, instead of steps, just a descent, like a path of handicapped bricks. Along the wall there was a torch for every 2 meters and the end of the descent was clearly visible. Twenty torches along the way.

"Not too deep, but deep enough. I think there's going to be something interesting down there. Ugh! This is clearly an adventure! And what's there to be afraid of when they can't see me? It's just like a cheat for invisibility! True works only on the weak NPS, the players, I mean, asleep it does not work ... Well, never mind, let's go further.

I got to the end of the descent, there was a turn to the right and heard some breathing. When I looked where the turn was going, I saw a very large room. In it stood a huge statue of a giant, 15 meters high, without horns, with a skinny build and big blue lights burning instead of eyes. It stood beside a pedestal, on which lay some kind of white mask.

"Wow, that's how they designed the pedestal, maybe it's an artifact that has colossal power? But then by logic, there is clearly a trap here, well, or the artifact is fake. Hmm... is it even worth taking it? So far, there was nothing that threatened my life, and I'm not sure about this at all. One could be riskier, but, I'd rather just see what it is."

I walked up to the pedestal, which was 100 meters from the entrance. The space itself was illuminated by a kind of hole in the ceiling, the kind you find in some caves. Behind the statue was the entrance to another room with burning torches hanging by it. The mask was thin and hovered over the pedestal.

"Wow, so it does float! It's just like those paintings in that place where that demon lord painted... Or isn't that what he should be called? Should he be called Rit? It's not like those monsters are going to answer me though, but if I have a conversation with him and happen to get caught... No, I'd rather see what's in the other room."

I headed to another room, but I accidentally snagged my umbrella with my mask and it fell to the ground.

"This is bad..."

I picked up my umbrella for defense and stood in a stance.

"Now this will definitely set off a trap, or a horde of demons will come running! Ugh... I shouldn't have done that, of course. But what will be, will be! I'm ready!"

Nothing happened, and I stood there for half a minute looking around.

"What? Where's the security system, the alarm system, or the horde of demons? Did I just bypass this mask for nothing? Is this mere decoration? Are you serious about this? Eh, I'm being totally paranoid, but it's definitely got to be something important, why is it here?"

I exhaled, put the umbrella behind my back, and squatted down looking at the mask.

"The white mask...what's the inside of it?"

I took the mask in my hands and it was white on the inside and had a rubber band on the sides to hold it on my head.

"It's just a white mask... What was I so afraid of it. I had already prepared myself for the horde of demons that would come over my head. Though... if a fireman comes, he'll burn me like that sand... I wouldn't want to get to him, and something tells me he's not the strongest here... And the mask... It wouldn't be good to steal it, but can I try it on?"

I put the mask on.

- Hmm, it fits comfortably...

- Intruder! How did you get in here? -slowly and loudly said a voice from above.

There was a statue upstairs who leaned toward me and swung her arm, clearly not for a math answer.

"I think I'm screwed..."

I immediately jumped to the statue's feet, it struck the spot where I had been standing with my hand before. The giant raised his hand as if checking out what a pile of flesh looked like. During this time, I rose from the ground and headed for the entrance, which was behind this living statue, and she lifted her foot, in order to crush me. Exactly the moment I was in another corridor, the giant's foot pounded the ground creating a gust of air that snuffed out the torches ahead.

"I can't see anything! But I'm alive! And I must run forward!"

I began to run forward blindly until I hit a wall and saw another corner of the corridor on the left side with light falling on it.

"Great!"

I ran toward the light and around the corner was a sort of river and meadow, in the same cave where the giant had been.

"There's only one way out!"

I ran inside and saw a settlement of blue demons.

"Great! They can't see me. I'll run past them!"

I started running through the settlement and saw the blue demon that was in the arena with the red one talking to the talking mushroom. The mushroom looked at me, and the blue demon looked after him. The mycelium burrowed under the ground, and the blue demon pointed its hand toward the only creature running at that moment, which was me. My feet suddenly froze in place and were covered in ice, which didn't even let me fall by inertia, then the ice expanded into a ball, which shackled my body and left only my face unshackled.

"What? I'm shackled to ice? Is it this demon's ability? Can he see me?! No!"

Right in front of me appeared the very same artist Rit:

- I have a lot of questions for you, man...