[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: The Null Handmaidens have been registered as a VILLAIN FACTION in Altera Earth.]
I just stared at it for a few seconds and I smiled.
Finally. That was exactly what I wanted.
In Masquerade of Dreams: Shattered, being part of a faction isn't just a luxury. It's a necessity. Back in the old days when I was still just a player behind a screen, factions were everything. They were ecosystems of ambition and chaos. The world of MoDS was built around conflict, and factions were the ones who decided which way the world turned. And now, here it was again, breathing before me in reality.
The Masquerade System updated recently and if my understanding was correct, that meant events were coming. Big ones. And in MoDS, events were the blood that pumped life into the entire world. So, when I orchestrated the exposure of the Null Handmaidens, when I allowed the world to see us just enough to brand us villains, I wasn't acting out of recklessness. I was laying the groundwork for something greater.
To the public, the Null Handmaidens would be feared. It would be a shadow organization or a villain faction that slithered beneath the cities. But to the Masquerade System? We would be a registered Faction, one capable of participating in international and dimensional events.
Honestly, it wasn't a big gamble. It was a win win situation either way. Even if they weren't considered a Villain Faction like Ceresei, they would still be recognized worldwide and that was my goal.
The Handmaidens thought I was letting them play around but everything I allowed them to do had a purpose. Rielinne especially, since she's an Outer like me, was crucial. She could lead the Handmaidens into the events directly, operate without suspicion, and bring back rewards while I stayed under. The moment I swiped the notification away, another one appeared, sliding across the screen.
[EVENT UPDATE: July 4th - DUNGEON RUSH IS NOW OPEN.]
My smile deepened.
I remembered that name from the original game version. It's a permanent event that reset every fourth of the month, always waiting for the strongest to conquer it again.
I tapped the notification. The tablet revealed the explanation scrolled up in front of me, word by word.
---
[DUNGEON RUSH SYSTEM RULES]
[The Dungeon Rush consists of 27 Stages.]
[Each Stage contains either enemy mobs or powerful bosses every three stages.]
[Every cleared Stage grants Gold and Pearlesia.]
[The rewards start from Stage 27: 100 Pearlesia and 1,000 Gold per participant. Each higher stage increases the rewards by +50 Pearlesia and +500 Gold.]
[Every 4th Stage features a Boss Battle. Stage 2 holds the final and strongest boss.]
[All participants are temporarily immortal within the Dungeon Rush. Death does not resets their Stage.]
[Factions may enter as groups, but difficulty scales with the number of participants.]
[Inhabitants of Altera Earth can also join, provided they are part of a registered Faction.]
[Dungeon Rush resets every 4th of each month. Progress is saved until the next reset.]
Dungeon location: [Fluve Field Instance O.]
The Fluve Field made me exhale in relief. The system was too smart. For the ordinary inhabitants of Altera Earth, it would appear as a simple Fluve anomaly. That meant we could enter it openly without causing attention. No one would know it was actually part of the Masquerade System.
It's a perfect cover.
The design was classic MoDS. The deeper you go, the stronger you get, but only if you're clever enough not to burn out your team. It was beautiful in its cruelty. My fingers hovered over the confirmation. I could already see how it would play out.
Rielinne would lead them and test the waters, fight through the early stages, adapt, and learn how the enemies scale with the system's rhythm. I'd observe from the background, hidden as usual, tweaking their parameters through the faction link and observing how the Masquerade itself adapted to us.
[Faction Event Access Unlocked: DUNGEON RUSH ENTRY AVAILABLE.]
[Recommended Participants: Faction Null Handmaidens (Rank: Villain Tier E).]
The tablet was still warm in my hands when I opened the Outerchat. It had always been the same, even back when MoDS was still a game. Outers loved attention, theories and conspiracies. And today, the feed was exploding.
[Outerchat: Global Channel - 40,000+ Active Users]
The screen scrolled so fast I had to slow the feed manually. Thousands of voices flickered across the interface.
----
Outer_02311: "Villain Faction?! The Null Handmaidens are now OFFICIALLY recognized by the System?! No way! Weren't they in Geneva days ago?"
Outer_67320: "Yup. Their leader completely wiped the Geneva Fast Travel Building! No one's ever done that before!"
Outer_31102: "Wait, wait, wasn't she the one in Rome? Didn't she turn a few into Fluviums and injured more?"
Outer_77189: "I thought that was fake. Someone said she used Void Manipulation!"
Outer_90022: "Void? That's not possible. Void isn't even a registered element yet!"
Outer_30107: "Maybe she's an Outer. I mean, how else would she hide from the world all this time? Only an Outer could bypass that."
Outer_99004: "If she's an Outer, then which one? There's no record of her number."
Outer_450: "Whoever she is, she's bold. Turning a covert group into a Faction before the Dungeon Rush? That's suicide."
---
I smirked. They were close, but not quite there. She doesn't know about the system. They are trying to connect the dots, and I was about to hand them the last one.
I cracked my knuckles and opened the message bar. My username blinked faintly at the bottom of the screen:
Outer_110,635
It had been literal years since I last typed anything in Global. Who knew I would be doing this back again.
I typed one word.
Outer_110,635: "Hello."
And pressed send.
For two seconds, nothing happened.
Then the chat detonated.
---
Outer_005: "WHAT THE HELL, Outer_110,635 IS BACK?!"
Outer_2002: "No way. That's him. He is the one who rewrote the First Act timeline!"
Outer_00331: "He's one of the Four Storybreakers! The ones who destroyed the old progression system!"
Outer_01900: "I thought the developers themselves banished him?!"
Outer_0001: "No. He disappeared on his own. He always saw out conversations but never replied until now.'"
Outer_7777: "HOLY SYSTEM, HE'S ACTUALLY BACK."
Outer_00912: "Everyone shut up. If he's talking, something's about to happen."
----
Their panic was delicious. A soft notification pulsed above the chat:
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Outer 110,635, "The Eidolon Saint," has reconnected to the Global Channel.]
That alone sent shockwaves through every active user list. Hinesia gave me this name to act as my assassin name when I would act with the Handmaidens. I leaned forward and typed again:
Outer_110,635: "I see the world's been busy. For those wondering-yes. The Null Handmaidens are mine. I am their leader. You may call me The Eidolon Saint."
The moment I sent it, the system practically screamed. Thousands of simultaneous responses hit at once.
----
Outer_550: "EIDOLON SAINT? COOL NAME!"
Outer_788: "You mean YOU control the Villain Faction?! You're the reason they attacked the hotel?!"
Outer_0087: "Oh great. An Outer is a villain."
Outer_13000: "I KNEW IT. He's the one manipulating the Handmaidens!"
Outer_9920: "All hail the Eidolon Saint. Let the second act begin."
Outer_4444: "Holy... this is getting real. Dungeon Rush just got dangerous."
Outer_67900: "If a Storybreaker is leading a Faction, everyone else might as well give up."
---
Then came the System confirmation I had been waiting for.
[MASQUERADE SYSTEM: CONFIRMATION NOTICE]
[Outer_110,635 ("Eidolon Saint") has been identified as the Faction Leader of "The Null Handmaidens."]
[Classification: Villain Faction - Tier E]
[Notice to all Outers: Faction activity now eligible for Dungeon Rush participation.]
The Global Chat exploded. Entire factions started tagging my name, trying to provoke, challenge, or negotiate.
----
Outer_34001: "You're declaring war hours before the event even started?!"
Outer_92003: "Typical Saint-always painting the world black before breaking it apart."
Outer_002: "Do you ever tire of playing god?"
Outer_99999: "He doesn't play god. He is just taking advantage of that situation."
---
Then, for the final touch, I sent one more message.
Outer_110,635: "To all participants of the Dungeon Rush. Prepare yourselves. My Handmaidens and I will descend to the lowest stages. And when we reach the bottom, you'll all understand what the word 'Null' truly means. From this day forward, remember our name. You'll be hearing it a lot even in the real world."
I hit send.
Outerchat turned into a maelstrom of disbelief, threats, praise, and pure chaos.
Some worshiped me. Some cursed me.
I revealed myself because silence is vulnerability. The unknown invites suspicion, and suspicion kills you faster than truth ever could. By stepping into the spotlight, I turned every hunter's eyes toward a myth instead of a man.
Let them chase "the Eidolon Saint." Let them obsess over the Null Handmaidens. They'd never look for Phasnovterich. And while they're busy trying to decipher what "Null" means, I'll be weaving the next layer of my plan. This announcement wasn't arrogance.
It was camouflage.
When everyone believes you're untouchable, they stop noticing when you walk right beside them.