one eye Night

All at once.

Their heads twisted.

Their limbs jerked.

They snapped toward Night and Alex in broken, unnatural steps — like marionettes on tangled strings.

Alex's eyes sharpened. "That's a Dormant Devil. And a strong one at that."

Night blinked.

A bit surprised that Alex could so casually identify the class and rank of the creature standing in front of them.

"…I'm really unlucky," Night muttered, sliding into a ready stance.

It wasn't that he wasn't afraid.

It was that even in fear, he knew better than to lose his composure.

Alex drew both swords in one fluid motion. "I'll handle the poor bastards. You go for the mask bastard."

He grinned — sharp and reckless.

Night gave a small nod.

There was no way he could deal with a dozen puppets alone. But the mask — the Devil — was orchestrating everything.

Which meant its mind was split.

Focused outward.

Physically, that might be its weak point.

Especially if it was a mind-type Nightmare creature.

But he had to be careful — one slip, and he could be trapped inside a mental loop, or worse.

Still... there was a reason he was here.

And as much as he disliked relying on others, Night knew Alex wasn't simple. The guy always acted disarming, lighthearted. But strength hummed under his every step — quiet and dangerous.

Night didn't like depending on someone else's power.

But in this moment... he didn't have a choice.

As Alex dashed forward, blades flashing, Night sidestepped the puppets lunging toward him.

He broke into a sprint — eyes locked on the masked figure.

The Dormant Devil.

In one fluid motion, he slashed with his sword.

And then—

His mind blanked out.

This wasn't a daze.

It was an intrusion — deep and invasive.

Something reached inside him. Not just to halt him, but to understand him. To tear through his thoughts like brittle pages in a forgotten book.

He felt it through [Insight].

And yet, he couldn't stop it.

"Damn it... am I going to die like this again?" Night thought desperately.

"No. I refuse."

He struggled. But every effort was swallowed into darkness.

Until something shifted.

[Mysterious] flared — no longer just a passive trait, but a wall. Vast, Cold, Unknowable.

The probing presence slammed against it—

And failed.

Night's jaw clenched. Through sheer will, he tore free of the trance — his blade already descending.

The Devil moved. But not fast enough.

scraping across the mask with a sharp, ringing impact.

A fracture appeared.

The creature recoiled — its body intact, but the mask cracked.

"So… its body's just a phantom," Night thought grimly.

Night pressed forward.

Flipping his off-hand dagger, he thrust it toward the Devil's face.

This time, its hand solidified — snapping up to catch the strike mid-air. The other curled into a fist and slammed into Night's gut.

Pain exploded in his stomach. He staggered, coughing up blood.

"Damn it…" he hissed, stumbling back, never in his life has he eat such solid punch.

Its body… wasn't just illusion.

It could phase in and out of reality.

It was dancing on the edge of existence — weaponizing uncertainty.

Night drew in a breath. Then lunged again, blade flashing through the haze.

But this time, he wasn't looking at the creature.

He was looking through it as with [Insight] he observe Every twitch, every shimmer — exposed.

The Devil shifted.

But something was wrong.

It hadn't moved. Not really.

A phantom motion. A false signal.

"Mind tricks," though cross Night. "Too bad I see through them."

The Devil didn't know he could see through illusion.

It didn't know the trap had already failed.

Mask see as night launch an attack at the fake phantom it created and was ready to Strick but

Night suddenly pivoted —his legs twisting, waist snapping — and changed his blade's angle mid-swing.

The Devil try raised a hand to defend.

Too late.

The sword struck the fracture—

And breaking the mask in two.

But in its final act, the Devil retaliated.

The dagger it had seized earlier slashed outward — aiming for Night's neck.

He saw it.

But the Devil was faster.

He moved — but not fast enough.

The blade carved across his left eye.

Blinding pain.

His vision blacked out on that side as blood gushed from the wound.

"Gh—damn it!" Night roared, stumbling back.

He covered his eye, teeth gritted. Vision gone. Everything spinning.

Then — the spell's voice whispered in his mind

[You have slain and dormant Devil: Smiling Mask.]

phantom Body of Mask bastard disappear living only two broken peace of Mask in the ground

"Spiteful bastard," Night muttered through clenched teeth. "Can't you just die quietly?"

[You have received an Echo.]

Night's remaining eyes widened.

"…An Echo?"

A bloodied grin cracked across his face.

"Hah... Yes."

Then the pain surged, and he groaned.

"Ah — damn it..." never in his life he thought he be blinded one day, should he start called himself 'One eye night' frow now on.

this name is not that bad but he still prefer not being blind in one eye, fortunately after this nightmare is over his beloved eye be back.

with this though in mind Night focused on the forming runes.

---

Echo: Smiling Mask

Rank: Dormant

Class: Devil

Attributes: [Mocking Mind],[Hand Behind the Mind],[Crown of the Inner Realm],[Phantom Script]

Four attributes.

Night's breath caught.

"This thing... wasn't normal. Not even close. I knew it. No Dormant Devil should've been that strong."

He focused on each attribute.

---

[Mocking Mind]

Its smile mocks ignorance. It learns faster than any. Thought bends to it, knowledge unravels before it. It does not study — it understands. To think near it is to already be too slow.

[Hand Behind the Mind]

Unseen yet ever-present. It slips past thought and nests within awareness. It reads intentions like open books... and whispers new ones back. You act as yourself — never knowing the hand guiding your will isn't your own.

[Crown of the Inner Realm]

Crowned in mind, soul, and spirit. It thrives where others falter. Thoughts flow around it, souls pass through it, spirits yield to its presence. Its strength lies in the unseen realms.

[Phantom Script]

It writes with thought, creating phantoms like stories. When needed, they become real — turning imagination into living force.

---

Night's hands trembled — not just from pain, but from realization.

 "If not for [Mysterious] attribute I'd be one of them. Just another puppet."

[Insight] let him see through the phantoms.

[Mysterious] kept his thoughts sealed.

"My attributes countered his. otherwise outcome would be different."

He stared down at the broken mask on the ground.

Even broken, it still looked like it was smiling.