Chapter Thirty-Two: The Masked One

The Amons running wild seemed unable to adapt to the energy of the Paths, though that was understandable. Even when Fire Thieves stole extraordinary abilities, they primarily relied on their own spirituality to drive them.

That said, wild Amons possessed an astonishing capacity for adaptation and had no natural predators to speak of. For that very reason, they could survive and reproduce in all kinds of extreme environments.

Yet this power from beyond the world still seemed far too overwhelming for them. If they had stolen only a little, it would not have caused much trouble. But Sairis wanted to see what would happen when they came into contact with the Paths, so he had completely lowered his defenses.

It was like inserting a straw into a tank under tremendous pressure—the gas inside would instead burst out and blow the tank apart.

The Amons had assumed that stealing from such a powerful being would be extremely difficult, so they had thrown themselves into it with all their might. In the end, they had only fallen into the trap.

Amid a series of sharp snapping sounds, the unlucky Amons who had drawn Destruction, the Hunt, and Nihility turned into Time Worms and tumbled all over the ground. The few who had been luckier fled in all manner of bizarre forms.

A few Time Worms a month? Was it worth risking their lives? A clone’s life was still a life! Next time, they would send out several clones of clones to test the waters.

Only the very first Amon remained completely unharmed. After exchanging a glance with Sairis, his figure blurred and abruptly vanished from the spot. He had stolen the distance between himself and a streetlamp across the road.

Once he reached the opposite side, Amon’s figure rapidly shrank, reverting to the stray dog he had possessed. It swiftly disappeared into the crowd.

Sairis did not stop him. He watched Amon flee, then turned back and glanced at the empty sky. Bending down, he picked up a Time Worm and toyed with it between his fingers. When he gave it a squeeze, it made a soft, squelching sound.

It was quite fun.

He then reached out casually, and the dog possessed by Amon appeared in his hand. Holding it by the scruff of its neck—by its fate—he carried it to the tavern.

Once there, Sairis casually tossed Amon onto the sofa and sat down opposite him.

“All right. I’ve dealt with the other Amons for you, so now it’s time to discuss our cooperation.” As he spoke, Sairis took out his own mask and waved it in front of Amon.

Amon reverted to his original form and sat on the sofa, staring at Sairis’s mask. “A mask? What does this mean?”

Sairis chuckled. He rose, walked over to Amon, reached into the pocket of his robe’s inner lining, rummaged around for a moment, and pulled out a black mask.

The mask itself was black, with its features painted in white. Around the right eye were twelve pale-golden, translucent worms, linked head to tail to form a circle.

Sairis smiled and waved the mask in his hand. “Oh, you.”

Amon reached out and took back the mask. “It seems you know where it came from?”

Sairis raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t He tell you?”

“He? No. I suddenly acquired this after having a dream.”

“Is that so?” Sairis sat down again. “Looks like I’ll have to give you a little lesson.”

Amon assumed an attentive expression and met Sairis’s gaze. After several seconds of silence, when Amon still showed no sign of doing anything, Sairis looked at him in surprise.

“You’re trying to get this for free?”

Amon was equally astonished. “Huh? So you didn’t come here specifically to explain it to me? I thought you were one of those beginner-village tutorial NPCs Roselle talked about.”

He pursed his lips. “Fine, then. What am I supposed to offer in return?”

P.S. Exams are coming up. To avoid failing, my updates may be later and shorter during this period. I’ll make up for the missing chapters after the exams.