The White Mask [Pt 1]

~VWUSH!~

Once Rey finished transporting Rebal and Kara to their respective destinations, he activated the secret lever hidden on one of the walls.

It instantly caused the ground to open, revealing stairs that led underground.

One would expect it to be eerily dark, but luminous stones brightened the path, allowing the stairs to give off a majestic aura.

"If anything happens to my Grand Elementals, I'll come after you right away." Rey assured Esme, to which she nodded.

He still didn't know what kind of expression she had under her mask, but he decided not to pry.

'We can talk about this after…'

"Thank you, Re—I mean, Sir Ralyks…" Usually, they would both chuckle at this, but not a single echo of laughter could be heard.

Only something akin to awkward silence loomed around.

"Later then."

Rey broke the silence and waved her farewell, to which she whispered her response.

He turned away, hearing how the Earth Elemental ventured into the underground area first, followed by Esme, and finally the Wind Elemental.

This formation allowed for maximum security on Esme's person.

'With that out of the way, it's about time I catch the final prey, huh?'

The honest truth was that Rey never lost sight of Scylla and her guard. In fact, he had intentionally delayed in dealing with them so he could see what they would do.

Sure enough, the bodyguard was a Spatial Magic user who teleported himself and his Mistress to a secure location—though still within the same building.

'Not that I didn't know he would do that…'

Even now, with his perception spread throughout the building, he could sense exactly where they were inside.

'It's about time.'

Clenching his fist in resolve, Rey's crimson eyes glowed beneath his black mask and he vanished from his position.

~VWUUSH!~

The world blurred as he was instantly greeted with the new area he would appear in.

Rey had already braced himself for the worst when teleporting. He expected to even be plunged straight into battle once he appeared in front of the enemy.

He had planned for traps and all sorts of preparations that his adversary would have set up in order to deal with him.

However…

'What the—?!'

… Even Rey never expected what he saw in the white and red room.

Scylla was standing about fifty meters from him, kneeling before the man in the white mask.

The moment he appeared, she turned to look at him, and he saw her wretched face—one filled with tears and melted makeup.

Black lines fell from her eyes, and a particularly horrified expression consumed her face. It was both perplexing and satisfying to see.

But, before Rey could fully savor or understand what he was witnessing, the next surprising thing happened.

~SWISH!~

Her head was sliced off her neck in one swift motion from the white masked guard.

'…?!'

There was a certain emotional detachment from the man who committed the act. His action was fluid, precise to the letter.

As he used his hand as a blade, swinging it with sharp momentum, and the head flew from the body, Rey maintained his silence and watched.

Scylla's head ascended high, her blond hair dancing in midair as bubbles of blood followed her.

Then, her lifeless body crumbled to the pure white tiles, with a red pool already forming underneath it.

Not long after, the decapitated head followed.

As Rey stood there, watching all of this with widened eyes, he only had one thought.

'What the hell?'

********

[Moments Earlier]

"Haa… haaa…"

Scylla nearly vomited as she felt herself get pulled away from the sight of horror into a white room and red room.

'T-this place is…!'

She recognized it well as her dining area.

Why would her guard teleport her to a dining area instead of the Safehouse?

'No… not even that. I didn't even know he could use Spatial Magic.' Scylla's thoughts flowed.

"Haaa…" She tried to speak, but only heavy breaths came out.

She felt very nauseous, and her body was still trembling from the leftover fear that the man in black had inflicted on her.

Right now, it didn't matter that her guard could use Spatial Magic without her knowledge.

Only one thing was of concern to her.

"C-can you beat him? That monster in the form of a man… can you win against him?"

"Hmmm…"

The guard placed his hand on his chin, located directly behind his white mask. He seemed to be thinking very deeply about it, which gave Scylla some glimmer of hope that it wasn't too absurd.

'I-if he can win… or even if they're even, then it's possible that I can escape while he tries to hold him back!'

"It's a possibility."

"Huh?"

"Me winning against him… it's a possibility."

Scylla's anxious face transformed entirely the moment she heard this bit of good news.

"Then stop him! Fight him off while I escape!"

Once again, the guard rubbed his chin for a few seconds.

'What's there to think about? I'm your Master!' Scylla wanted to scream, but she patiently waited.

"No."

Her eyes widened as soon as she heard that response.

"What did you just—?!"

"[Command Code: Kneel]." Words flowed from his lips, and the next moment, Scylla felt her body descend.

'E-eh…?!'

Her eyes began to widen as she found her body unable to move in the slightest. She merely powerlessly knelt before the man who was supposed to be her guard

—Her slave!

"W-what is the meaning of this? What's going on?"

Her question fell on deaf ears. Not only did the guard not answer her question, but he didn't seem to be paying any mind to her.

The confusion written on Scylla's face only got even more palpable by the second.

Her heart raced and a certain fear began to surface.

A fear that perhaps… she was not in control of the situation.

'No! No! No!'

"I command you by the Slave Crest to explain yourself."

No response.

"Release me!"

Nothing.

"Protect me!"

No word was given back.

Scylla wheezed as she looked at the man in the mask with shock and downright confusion.

None of this made any sense.

"W-why… isn't this working…?"

"You're quite the idiot." His voice suddenly echoed in the air, and for the first time since they arrived in the room, he looked straight into her eyes.

His glowing blue gaze caused her body to tremble in a feeling she could only associate with fear.

No… despair!

"You still haven't figured it out?"

Scylla didn't know what he was talking about. Figured what out? Who could possibly understand this paradoxical event?

He was her slave, yet not only was he not responding to her Slave Crest, but he was displaying abilities that she never knew existed.

The man before her was already beyond human when he was loyal to her, but with these new sets of Skills that he was displaying, she didn't know where to place him.

Scylla didn't understand him.

"W-who… are you…?"

Wasn't he her slave? Wasn't his name…?

'H-huh? His name? What is his name? What is… huh?'

As Scylla stared at the white mask with nothing short of stupefaction, the man behind it spoke.

"Who am I? Well… you're about to find out."