"I think it's pretty overpowered too... one of my most useful abilities," Alaric said, clearly picking up on their thoughts, his tone tinged with a sigh.
He'd gained plenty of abilities by now, but few saw much action. Most of the matters Alaric dealt with were beyond the scope of mid-to-low Sequence Beyonders, rendering many powers useless.
Yet, thanks to the Chaos pathway's strength, some abilities proved invaluable. "Avatara," for instance, granted him true Sequence 2-level combat power without needing to borrow strength through favorability, as he had before.
But in terms of utility, the "Persona Mask" wasn't far behind.
In a world that prized humanity and anchors, the mask's power was downright broken. If Avatara provided raw combat strength, the Persona Mask was unmatched for rallying allies and stabilizing their states.
Look no further than Adam, who'd evolved to version 2.0 thanks to it!
"The only issue is, if I keep handing out masks, I'll run out eventually," Alaric muttered to himself. The number of Persona Masks he could use wasn't infinite... Sequence 6 limited him to ten, and since they needed to stay active to work, he'd been cautious. So far, only Adam, Azik, and Bornova had received them.
As for Amon, despite Alaric's relentless "talk therapy," He hadn't given him a mask.
"Good thing, once I advance to Playwright, the mask limit should increase," Alaric thought. He noticed Aucuses hesitating, as if wanting to speak, and smiled at him. "What's up, Aucuses? Something on your mind?"
"I might need one of those masks too," Aucuses said tactfully.
Alaric blinked, then raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Wearing the mask means if your emotions grow strong enough, I could manipulate you."
"But I'm already half a puppet under the Primordial God Almighty's control," Aucuses said bluntly, giving a bitter smile. "Honestly, I don't know what kind of being you are, but if you wanted to control me, you probably have plenty of ways already."
Aucuses wasn't naive. Beyond the palpable terror within Alaric and his ability to summon the Ancient Sun God, the Primordial God Almighty's wariness of Alaric spoke volumes about his nature.
This was a being even the Primordial God Almighty had to bow to!
But that wasn't the whole reason Aucuses wanted the mask.
He glanced at the Ancient Sun God, then back at Alaric. "Most importantly, I trust my lord's judgment."
Yes, the biggest reason he'd risk being controlled was his faith in the Ancient Sun God's choices and vision.
Alaric chuckled, glancing at the Ancient Sun God with a teasing tone. "Grisha, your credibility's top-notch. Worthy of a former savior of humanity, huh?"
The Ancient Sun God didn't puff up with pride. He just smiled gently at Alaric. "I think it's not just my credibility. You're genuinely trustworthy. If you were some lawless entity, no amount of my endorsement would make them trust you."
"Hiss! Divine charmer, terrifying as ever!" Alaric exaggeratedly gasped, giving the Ancient Sun God a thumbs-up. "You sure know how to talk, Grisha."
The Ancient Sun God shook his head at the reaction, his smile still warm.
Alaric turned to Aucuses. "Since you've made your choice, your wish is granted!"
He wouldn't refuse Aucuses's request... countering the Primordial God Almighty was part of their deal.
Truthfully, even if Aucuses hadn't asked, Alaric would've suggested the mask if other methods to stabilize his humanity fell short.
He just hadn't expected Aucuses to be so proactive. The Primordial God Almighty must've put serious pressure on him!
This was Alaric's first time giving a mask to a Sequence 0, though. Curious, he asked Aucuses, "How's it feel?"
"…Like an extra anchor. It's subtle but unshakably there, growing slowly but surely," Aucuses said after a moment's reflection. "The less humanity you have, the more you'd feel its effect."
"As long as it works!" Alaric listened with interest, then added, "I've got some ideas on using my power to suppress the Primordial God Almighty's influence in you, but we'll need to test them. Let's set a time later... I need to run some experiments."
Though his earlier examination of Aucuses was cut short by the Primordial God Almighty's presence, Alaric hadn't abandoned his plan to use the Nyarlathotep fragment to temporarily suppress its will.
As for whether the Primordial God Almighty would object?
Alaric didn't care. Their wager didn't cover this, and he hadn't struck the deal out of the Primordial God Almighty's charity. Why would he tiptoe around its feelings?
If anyone should fear a fallout, it was the Primordial God Almighty.
Would it mistake Alaric's actions for an attempt to taint it with absolute madness, leading to mutual destruction? No, it wasn't that foolish.
"Alright," Aucuses agreed without hesitation, nodding. Then he noticed Roselle, who'd finished his father-son moment and was now smirking at him with a gleeful expression.
"Keep it up, bro!" Roselle said, not only refusing to hide his amusement but also clapping Aucuses on the shoulder.
"???"
He briefly wondered if Roselle had lost it, but he wasn't clueless. A bad feeling stirred, and he asked, "What's got you so happy?"
"Of course, I'm thinking of some happy things," Roselle said with a smile.
"What happy things?" Aucuses's unease grew.
"My wife's pregnant… pfft!" Roselle caught himself, spitting in mock disgust. Out of some pity for a fellow sufferer, he looked at Aucuses and said, "You know how Lucifer helped me suppress my corruption?"
"How'd he do it?" Aucuses asked instinctively.
***
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