A Smile Painted on a Mask

Bolg stared at the arrow in his hand, his fingers trembling slightly from the shock of his own reflexes.

— Maat, he called out, his voice carrying a mixture of recognition and wariness. I know that voice. Show yourself instead of hiding like a coward.

A laugh echoed through the trees, melodic yet cold.

— Oh, how delightful! Little Bolg thinks he can give me orders now.

Suddenly, a volley of arrows burst from the forest canopy, raining down on the group from multiple angles. Suzaku raised her hands, blue flames forming around her fingers as she prepared to incinerate the projectiles.

Bolg moved with surprising speed, unwrapping his spear from the blanket on his back. The weapon gleamed as he spun it in wide arcs, deflecting arrow after arrow before they could reach his companions.

— Do not waste your mana, he said urgently to Suzaku. Most demon weapons are coated with resistance to intermediate level spells. Unless you intend to unleash your full power from the start, it would be wiser to conserve your energy.

Suzaku lowered her hands, her flames flickering out as she processed this tactical information.

— Then what do you suggest?

Bolg continued deflecting the incoming arrows, his spear moving in precise patterns.

— Leave this to me for now. Maat is testing our capabilities.

The arrows that remained intact after being struck by Bolg's spear suddenly began to levitate. They spun in the air for a moment before shooting back into the forest, disappearing behind the thick canopy of leaves.

Alpha watched this display with growing concern.

— What kind of ability is that?

— Arrow manipulation, Bolg replied, keeping his spear ready for another volley. Maat can control any projectile he has fired, bringing them back to reuse or repositioning them for surprise attacks.

Kuria moved closer to the center of their formation, her staff glowing with protective magic.

— How do we fight someone we cannot see?

Bolg's red eyes scanned the treeline, searching for any sign of movement.

— We need to locate his general position first. Once we can pin him down or force him into the open, Suzaku can finish him with one of her devastating spells. But until then, we are at a severe disadvantage fighting an invisible opponent who can strike from any angle.

Suzaku remained focused on the forest canopy.

— Does this demon have any resistance to magic himself?

Bolg shook his head.

— Maat was built for assassination and stealth, not direct confrontation. He possesses no particular resistance to spells. His strategy relies entirely on remaining unseen and striking from advantageous positions.

— That is all I needed to know.

Suzaku raised both hands, white flames beginning to form around her fingers.

— Everyone duck. Now.

The group immediately dropped to the ground as Suzaku unleashed her spell. A razor-sharp wave of white incandescent flames erupted from her position, expanding outward in a perfect circle. The burning wave sliced through everything in its path with surgical precision.

The sound of splintering wood filled the air as hundreds of massive tree trunks toppled around them, their severed bases smoking from the intense heat. When the flames finally dissipated, the entire forest around them had been reduced to stumps.

All except for one small area directly ahead, where a cluster of trees remained standing untouched.

A voice drifted from the surviving grove, filled with disdain.

— What a barbarous way to fight. I thought the legendary mage was much more graceful than that.

Suzaku's knees hit the ground as the exhaustion from her massive spell caught up with her. She pressed one hand against the earth to steady herself, breathing heavily.

— I need a bit more time to recover, she whispered to her companions. But now that Maat has nowhere to run, you should be able to handle the rest.

The party quickly repositioned themselves. Kuria knelt beside Suzaku and placed her hands on her shoulders, golden light flowing between them as she began channeling mana regeneration. Alpha moved forward, sword drawn, positioning himself as a barrier between the back row and the remaining cluster of trees.

Bolg gripped his spear tightly and drew back his arm.

— Time to end this hiding game, he called out before hurling his weapon toward the grove.

The spear streaked through the air and embedded itself in one of the tree trunks with a solid thunk. Without hesitation, Bolg activated his dash ability, his body shooting forward at incredible speed toward his weapon's location.

But as he flew through the air, a hand suddenly emerged from behind the trees and seized him by the throat. Bolg's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt as fingers tightened around his neck.

Maat's voice carried a mocking tone from somewhere in the grove.

— You really thought I came alone? No, I brought your replacement.

A tall and thin figure began to emerge from behind one of the thicker trees, his grip still tight around Bolg's throat. His unnaturally long limbs crawled out from his hiding place with unsettling movements, as if each joint moved independently. The creature wore a large red mask carved to resemble a minotaur's face, its painted expression frozen in a twisted grin.

Multiple other masks of various colors and designs revolved slowly around his head, levitating in a hypnotic pattern. Each mask depicted a different mythical creature - a snarling dragon, a weeping phoenix, a laughing gargoyle, a screaming banshee. They rotated like a macabre carousel, casting shifting shadows across the forest floor.

Alpha tightened his grip on his sword, his eyes tracking the floating masks.

— What is that thing?

Maat's voice drifted from the grove with obvious pride.

— That is Grimjaw. He is our newest prodigy.

Alpha's eyes darted frantically between Bolg struggling in Grimjaw's grip and the vulnerable Suzaku and Kuria behind him. His sword wavered as he tried to decide which threat to address first.

Bolg twisted against the fingers around his throat, but Grimjaw's hold remained unbreakable. The rotating masks around the tall demon's head spun faster, their painted expressions seeming to mock the young demon's efforts.

— I do not know what to do, Alpha muttered, his voice tight with panic. If I leave them to help Bolg, Maat could attack Suzaku and Kuria. But if I stay here—

— Stay put, Dave said urgently, already floating toward their enemies. We need more information first. Let me check what we're really dealing with.

Dave moved swiftly through the air, positioning himself near Grimjaw first. The tall demon's data panel materialized before him, and Dave's expression grew grim as he scanned the information. Without wasting time, he continued toward the grove where Maat remained hidden, opening another panel to analyze their archer's capabilities.

To Dave's surprise, Maat's stats were straightforward - high agility and damage output, exactly what he expected from an assassin. His skills reinforced this nature: short-term invisibility that made Dave particularly nervous, massive damage multipliers when he remains unseen, and the ability to pierce through resistances. Dangerous but predictable.

Grimjaw's data panel, however, made Dave's blood run cold. The main body had minimal stats across the board - literally 1 in every category. But each mask floating around his head contained its own skill set and stat bonuses that completely transformed his capabilities.

The red minotaur mask he currently wore granted massive physical strength and damage. But the others were even more concerning: the weeping phoenix could absorb and store magical damage to enhance the screaming banshee mask, while the laughing gargoyle did the same for physical damage to boost the minotaur mask. The screaming banshee specialized in magical attacks, and the snarling dragon mask could combine all abilities simultaneously for one minute - though using it would prevent him from wearing any mask for an extended period afterward.

Dave rushed back to Alpha's position.

— Alpha, listen carefully, he said urgently. Maat's just a typical assassin - watch for his invisibility and keep him from getting behind you. But Grimjaw is the real problem. He can switch combat roles instantly by changing masks, and some of those masks absorb damage to make the others stronger.

Alpha's grip tightened on his sword, a nervous smile crossing his pixelated features.

— So Grimjaw was supposed to be Bolg's replacement, but he feels more like a better version of me. Someone who can actually fill every role perfectly instead of just... adequately.

Dave floated closer to his friend.

— Hey, don't sell yourself short. You can do everything anytime you want, while he's just a specialist who needs to switch gears to be useful. I've got a plan, and it's time to show him what a real jack of all trades can do.