"Fuck you, mother bitch!"
Looking at the angry monster standing before him, Kang screamed in horror as the creature swung one of its tentacles, sending him flying away. For some reason, he found himself standing before this creature a couple of minutes later, after meeting his demise thanks to a random drunk driver.
The monster resembled an octopus with three eyes on the top, right above its mouth, which was filled with countless sharp teeth arranged in a circular form. Just like its teeth, the monster had countless tentacles near its bottom, which it used to move and support itself. Kang himself was an average young man in his early twenties with short black hair and a tall, moderately muscular body.
"I'm sorry, I swear I won't call you a hentai monster again!"
Hearing Kang's words, the monster screamed in anger before shooting him across the hall where they stood. The monster paced around, trying to calm his anger caused by the foolish human in front of him.
"Just shut the fuck up for a moment and wear this mask, you psycho—"
Summoning a black mask adorned with red symbols and a single golden sun mark on the top, the monster threw the mask toward Kang before beckoning him to pick it up. Being familiar with all these transmigration and reincarnation tropes since he was a writer, to begin with, Kang looked at the mask with a weird look on his face before responding to the monster in front of him.
"Wait up, let me get hold together!" Being frightened, Kang tried to calm himself down before speaking.
"Sorry for cursing you, I just died a moment ago and now I'm here somehow. Aren't you gonna explain why I should wear this mask or what it is in the first place? No, how the fuck did I get here, and why are you calling me a psychopath?"
"Listen, bitch, I'm trying to prevent myself from slapping you once again since I still need you alive. No, you didn't die; I saved you at the last moment."
"You are standing here in your flesh; you should thank me, mother fucker!"
"What? No! Who the fuck said I wanted to survive that crash, you imbecile?"
"Just pick up the bloody mask! If you wrote a story about a ruthless psychopath, then you will manage this one fine. Stop complaining and just accept your fate."
"I should have died and never gotten here anyway, besides the fact that you never explained everything. So why should I take your offer and just do what you tell me?"
"Alright, alright, I will explain it in the simplest way possible so your small human brain can understand it."
"See the mask in front of you? It's a cursed object with immense power, but none of these fuckers whom I picked accepted wearing it because they refused to throw away their humanity—"
"Oh look! I can tell from your facial expressions that you want to wear it right away. I knew you wouldn't care about becoming a public enemy to your race!"
"You underestimate our greed for power, you tentacle fuck. As long as I get the money and bitches, then I don't care about the outcome at all!"
"However, what is the price for getting this thing?"
"Good answer! You see, I'm a monster that feasts on gods, but to feast on them, I need to weaken them first to avoid risky contact. The most optimal way to do this is to kill their servants, which weakens them greatly."
"But you see, those ones I've sent have been avoiding hurting innocent lives, which ends up making them weaker compared to gods' servants."
"So I request you to hunt them down to reclaim my power and use it to hunt those gods' servants. What do you—"
"Yes, I will take it, but what does this mask do for it to be rejected to this point?"
"This mask contains the power that alters your whole being, turning you into an eldritch creature just like me. However, be warned, the mask requires you to feast on living creatures to maintain your power. Otherwise, you would become weaker than any of those whom I sent."
"Good, I don't mind that. Is there something else that I should be aware of, and will I be found out since I'm not human?"
"No, you will be sent to another dimension where my target is. Once you are done, I will send you to another dimension for your next hunt. For your first time, the place you will be visiting is an alternative reality created by my target. It's an apocalyptic reality similar to your world, where people are granted powers through awakening that thing called class that they use to fight against monsters sent by that god as a method to grow their faith."
"I see, so gods send monsters through gates or whatever way they want so the poor humans are forced to become servants by awakening their class."
"Correct, I'm glad you understood right away."
"Fine, I will get going then." Finishing his words, Kang wore the mask he was holding in his hands as the tendrils shot through the mask, piercing his skin and digging deep into his head as he heard a strange voice inside his head.
[Ding!]
[Curse of the Crimson Mask equipped…Compatibility: 691%]
[Altering the host's body has begun…13%...31%…]
Ignoring the loud voice inside his head, Kang rolled around on the floor as his body started disintegrating quickly, turning entirely into nothing but blood. Time passed slowly as the eldritch creature stared at Kang, leaving him alone to be tormented.
Three hours later, most of Raiden's blood started solidifying once again, taking the form of a crimson knight that stood tall in front of the monster he was familiar with.
Raiden's face was replaced by the mask he wore, which was now a part of his own body, and his skin was replaced by a solid layer of blood which was reinforced by another layer composed of swirling, coagulating blood.
[Altering successful…status is available to the host.]
"Dismiss." Being familiar with systems, Raiden spoke before looking at the creature standing before him, "How do I look?" Muttering his words, Raiden called his status window to check on his information.
{Blood Warlock System}
[Name: Liu Kang]
[Race: Nyxthar]
[Class: Blood Knight (S)]
[Class Evolution Path: Unavailable]
[Class Upgrade Requirements: 2000 Blood]
[Blood: 100 | Lifespan: 70]
[Race Abilities]
[Detect(EX): Get a full report of a target
[Disguse(EX): Imitate the form of one of your victims and hide your true status]
[Lifesteal(B): Steal 10% of the blood and life force from those you kill]
[Power Absorption(SSS): Absorb and alter one ability from those you kill]
[Class Abilities]
[Crimson Armor(C): Consume 5 blood per second to summon the crimson armor.]
[Blood Weapon(C): Consume 1 blood per second to transform one of your limbs into a weapon.]
[Absorbed Abilities]
[N/A]
"Not bad, I can see that you were able to keep your base form similar to the previous one. I recommended using your Disguise ability to hide your true self as we are viewed as monsters among the other races."
[Disguse activated!]
Following the creature's words, Kang did as told before inspecting himself. Surprisingly his form was transformed into human, but he knew he was far from a human deep inside.
"Since you are my brethren now, shouldn't you introduce yourself formally?"
"Indeed, but you can just your Detect ability for such a thing. Anyway, I'm Xol Barth. I hope it will be nice working with you."
"I'm Liu Kang, I assume you know from the very being since you have the same abilities."