The Shattered Masquerade Ball

“Si, silas, are you all right?”

Bael asked, his face etched with concern. Silas, turning his back on the pier where chaos had begun to erupt, smiled.

“What do you mean?”

“H-how are you so certain that the First Finger is here?”

“Ah.”

In response to Bael’s question, silas held up one of the many rings on his fingers.

“Finger, you know… Even if they don’t recognize each other, there’s at least a network.”

As if to explain what that “network” meant, silas pointed at the ring.

“This ring allows direct contact with the First Finger.”

It was a ring with a crude, yet faint glow. Displaying it, silas continued speaking.

“A message came through this ring. Apparently, they’ll be participating in this masquerade ball.”

At first, silas spoke calmly, but the muscles in his face began to harden.

“Up until now, he never interfered with anything. Just because he was born the ‘First Finger,’ he wielded the Disguisers at will.”

Silas slammed his fist down on the table, thud!

“For three years, not one word from him!”

His voice grew louder and louder.

“The Disguisers… even while the other Fingers carried out tasks for the organization, even during purges of traitors, he never showed himself once!”

“P-please, calm yourself, Lord Silas!”

“In all this time, who moved things? Who moved the Disguisers? It was me!”

The fever of emotion did not look like it would subside easily.

“With what kind of face does he dare show up at the masquerade ball!? Is he trying to flaunt his strength? Claim that the Disguisers are still his to command? Don’t make me laugh!”

But contrary to his thoughts, silas’s anger gradually eased. Then his eyes landed on Bael.

“By the way, did you know?”

“Y-yes?”

“The way I see it… I don’t think the First Finger responded out of excitement for this rare masquerade ball.”

Bael flinched. He realized that the murderous vibes that had been aimed at the First Finger a moment ago had now shifted toward him.

“There were masquerade balls before. Back then, the First Finger did not attend. So why make contact this time?”

Silas’s brute-like hand clamped onto Bael’s nape.

Move and you die.

That murderous intent was delivered clearly through his skin, leaving Bael unable to move.

“You approached the Dungeon God adventurer party. Could that have something to do with him?”

“Ka, kahhk…!”

“Hey, don’t move. I’m still not used to the ogre’s strength.”

A wicked smile began to spread on Silas’s lips.

“If I don’t control my strength, I might snap your neck. Just answer with a nod.”

Bael hastily nodded his head.

“Do you know anything about the Dungeon God adventurer party?”

Bael shook his head. At that, the grip around his neck tightened further.

“Do you know anything about the Dungeon God adventurer party?”

Under increasing pressure, bael barely managed to shake his head again.

“Do you know anything about the Dungeon God adventurer—”

“Lord Silas! Th-there’s been a commotion!”

Silas’s gaze shifted toward the subordinate reporting to him.

After a moment, he slowly released his grip. As the chokehold eased, bael collapsed to the floor, gasping and coughing.

A red handprint was starkly visible on his nape.

“A commotion? Is it the First?”

Silas muttered under his breath, shaking blood off the hand with the ring.

“Cough… cough!”

Still struggling for breath, bael continued coughing. But Silas’s interest had shifted.

“I-I don’t know for sure. Only that it’s a huge guy in a skull mask…”

“But he’s incredibly strong!”

“Y-yes! He’s been taking down other Disguiser colleagues without pause!”

The mention of someone strong lit up Silas’s eyes with curiosity.

Even if it wasn’t the elusive First Finger, perhaps it was someone related to him? That thought crossed his mind.

Perhaps even a guard.

With that thought, silas started to walk.

To seize the First Finger’s tail.

And to make sure he snapped his neck.

* * *

Barkal, where the hell are you!?

With that question in mind, Serena and I were searching the ballroom.

* 〈Thrag is cheering on his Apostle.〉

Thrag’s text kept popping up, so something was clearly happening—but with the pier so vast, it was impossible to get a sense of things.

“Graaaaahh!”

“It’s him! He’s the First Finger!”

Even worse, there was a “First Finger hunt” starting up in the surroundings, so everything was a mess.

The power of being a Disguiser’s “Finger”—those who wanted that power were swinging weapons at random. Others, grasping weapons just to defend themselves.

All of this mixed together, and the ballroom had devolved into utter chaos.

“Barkal!”

Amidst it all, I shouted out Barkal’s name. Of course, it had no effect.

“Hey! These guys look weird!”

As we searched for Barkal, masked thugs pointed at us and shouted.

“They’re trying to run! Maybe they’re the First Finger!”

“Are they the First? Those guys could be the First!”

What are they talking about?

I only have one big bro above me.

Now it seemed that Serena and I had become targets. The masked goons, howling and brandishing weapons, started to approach us.

* [You use Skeleton Summon.]

They weren’t going to listen to reason. Anticipating this, I immediately activated the “skeleton exoskeleton” tattoo drawn on my body.

Chunsik or not…

Using “Hardened Blood” to subdue them was an option, but right now, the “skeleton exoskeleton” was just right.

The thick robe meant I could avoid attention.

“Hyyyaaaah!”

One thug lunged forward, shouting a battle cry. But I had learned something from my “combination” with Chunsik.

Namely, always maintaining awareness of the distance between us and the opponent.

The “Blood-Colored Awl” is short. So if my opponent has a longer weapon, it’s hard to swing effectively.

At such times, I need to keep my eyes on the opponent’s forward step as they close in.

And before that foot even lands—when they’re most vulnerable—that’s when I have to strike.

“Huh? Wha—!?”

Just as expected, seizing that moment to close the distance, my opponent could not react.

With the “Blood-Colored Awl”

I instantly sliced the thug’s hand, making him drop his weapon, then used the grip to jab his chin and trigger a concussion.

When the attack landed on his chin, his body trembled like a tree in the wind, and he crashed to the floor.

“Serena, are you all right?”

After subduing one, I immediately looked over at Serena.

“Yes?”

She looked at me, her voice tinged with puzzlement beneath her bunny mask.

Yet, lying at her feet, three men were already sprawled unconscious.

Ah, right. I shouldn’t have asked.

But now we had a problem.

Because we had so easily dispatched these thugs, others nearby were now turning their attention on us.

Thanks to Serena’s overwhelming combat strength, no one seemed eager to rush us just yet, but people’s thinking changes if they have enough numbers.

See?

As the crowd grows, their eyes get fiercer.

“Uh, what should we do…?”

Serena must have sensed it, too, because her voice quivered with worry.

Even Serena might struggle against enemies of this quantity.

“With this many… If I don’t control my strength, I-I might accidentally kill someone.”

Yeah. I really shouldn’t have worried about you.

God of PvP matchmaking.

Side-mission specialist.

Butcher B.

And with Liberas’s heals to refill her stamina, there’s nothing to worry about.

* 〈Liberas is cheering on his Apostle.〉

Like devoted follower, like deity, I guess. Our “Goddess of love” seems to enjoy seeing her Apostle punch people.

“S-still, I’ll give it a try.”

Stretching, Serena signaled the start of her “hunt.”

And just then—

“Over here!”

A voice called from behind us. It seemed to be addressing Serena and me, so I turned my head—and there, a masked person was gesturing toward us.

“Serena, follow that person!”

I couldn’t tell if it was safe, but I felt that following was better than standing still, so I acted on that thought.

When I told Serena, she shifted her gaze to where I pointed.

She then gave a short nod before leaping into motion in time with my signal. The person who had called out to us had already turned the corner down an alley next to a warehouse.

“This way, quickly!”

The sound of footsteps closely followed behind us. But since the interior of the warehouse area was so convoluted, the footsteps soon faded.

“Phew… Thank goodness.”

Noticing no one was chasing us, the Disguiser who called us let out a sigh of relief.

I eyed her up and down. Pure white mask, neither pattern nor design—couldn’t tell who was beneath it, but the voice was female.

“I don’t know who you are, but thank you for your help.”

“No, this isn’t help. This was simply what I had to do.”

What she had to do?

“It can’t be helped that one person from your group has disappeared, but there’s still someone I was looking for, so it’s fine.”

“Someone you were looking for?”

“Yes.”

Something about what she said was odd.

We had come here unnoticed, hidden among the Disguisers.

And with our masks, it should’ve been impossible to recognize us.

Yet, this Disguiser spoke as if she knew who we were.

“Who are you?”

Curious, I asked. She answered, cautiously.

“I am the ‘First Finger.'”

Is this the guy—that brute causing chaos at the merchant guild was searching for?

The highest-up in the Disguisers?

What’s he doing here, instead of getting up on the stage?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep