Chapter 81 Encircled

"Uwo...?"

The Monster took a step back, leaving the confused Berserker staring in disbelief at the stream of steaming blood leaving its body.

'Mm.'

Mark nodded to himself.

'That was a good fight-'

[Your Title "Devourer" is starving.]

[Your Title "Devourer" is urging you to hurry up!]

'Yeah, yeah-'

Suddenly, Mark's instincts made him jump back.

'What was... That feeling?'

He stared at the Berserker, but its body wasn't moving.

In fact, the Berserker's body looked like it was about to fall to the ground, face-first, at any moment.

A silent second that seemed to last a minute passed.

'Finally...' Mark sighed internally, as the Berserker started falling.

But once its upper body was parallel to the ground, it stopped.

'Seriously...?'

The Berserker's muscles started twitching.

Trembling.

Mark smiled nervously, as shivers went down his spine.

'I can't even count how many attacks this guy took. You're telling me he still has more?'

FWOO-

As if its body had been lit on fire, massive amounts of steam were released by the Berserker's body.

'Huh...?'

Shrouded by a cloud of steam, the Corrupted Dark Elf Berserker's enormous muscles started shrinking.

'What is-'

The cloud of steam had been split.

But what used to stand at its center had disappeared.

'Wha-'

Before Mark could even lift a finger, the Berserker had already closed the distance.

It stood tall right, in front of him.

The Berserker raised its arms up.

'Shit-'

Mark jumped back as fast as he could.

SLAM-

The Berserker's fists hit the ground, and the whole area shook.

'What... The hell...?'

Mark was in total disbelief.

A large fissure had been carved on the scorched earth below.

"His fists just... Split the earth!" The Fire Spirit whispered with shining eyes.

It was, of course, a massive exaggeration.

But there was no denying that the attack was an extremely powerful one.

The long and deep rift it had left on the ground was more than enough proof of that.

Mark's wings enabled him to quickly move away from the gap created below him.

But once his feet touched the ground, the Berserker reappeared.

'Are you serious-'

Long rifts were, again and again, drawn on the ground.

Each time, the Berserker's imposing muscles shrunk more and more.

Mark's "Superior Kinetic Vision" was constantly in full effect, allowing him to barely escape his enemy's deadly fists.

Again and again, the Berserker split the ground.

By the time it happened for the fifth time, the Fire Spirit's eyes had lost their spark.

"Not bad..." The Spirit commented.

'He's not giving me any time to counter-'

The Berserker raised its arms high, once more.

And Mark jumped away as quickly as he could, once more.

Tremble-

The flow of time seemed to have been slowed.

No.

The flow of time seemed to have been halted.

The Berserker stood with its arms raised high.

But those arms never touched the ground again.

As if frozen in both time and space, the Corrupted Dark Elf Berserker's body remained still.

Standing tall.

Unmoving.

"Not a bad ending..." The Fire Spirit commented, before letting out a weak chuckle.

A second later,

[You have defeated a Corrupted Dark Elf. 50,000 Gold Coins and 100,000 Experience Points earned.]

[You have leveled up!]

'For real?'

Mark's whole body was aching from the many hits he had taken or barely dodged.

Truthfully, it had been aching for a while.

'He died standing? Seriously?'

Mark cautiously approached the defeated and unmoving enemy.

Standing a couple of centimeters away from the Berserker, Mark's body refused to let its guard down.

Despite the Berserker's stillness.

Despite the System's messages.

'Huh...'

And as he stared, a quiet wrath started rising inside of him.

The cause of which wasn't clear.

Mark stared and stared, but there was no denying it.

The powerful and unpredictable Berserker was now long gone.

Skinny, frail, and unmoving.

Unrecognizable.

'Mm. Not how I wanted it to end...' The victor thought.

Mark extended a hand towards the Corrupted Dark Elf Berserker's forehead.

'Did he convert those muscles into energy somehow? He kept getting skinnier and skinnier...'

With the light tap of a finger,

'Bam.'

Mark toppled over the Berserker.

Its body hit the ground.

Dry and cold.

'Mm. If he consumed those muscles to turn them into energy, then...'

[Your Title "Devourer" is sobbing.]

'There's not much merit in devouring the remains.'

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" is crying out.]

[Your Title "Devourer" is criticizing you for playing with your food.]

'Huh? When was I-'

The next second, Mark turned around.

'Tsk. Not giving me a second, huh?'

STUSH-

His Endurance and Mana Points were reaching an all-time low.

Breathing heavily, even simple movements were deemed a struggle by his beat-up body.

'How could I forget...'

A volley of arrows had been shot, aimed right at him.

'That there was a whole village.'

Mark did his best to dodge, but three arrows ended up piercing his limbs.

UGH-

The pain forced his exhausted body to move faster.

'They waited... For one of us... To end it...'

But fatigue was rapidly building up.

Corrupted Dark Elves left their hiding spots.

Armed with Dark Elven Daggers, they growled while approaching.

It had to be eliminated.

The threat, that was standing on the scorched earth below.

The threat, that had scorched that earth.

The threat, that had destroyed their home.

'Fuck!' Mark cursed internally.

Three Corrupted Dark Elves ran towards him.

He immediately raised his guard.

'Can I... Take them on...? That guy is with me but... If, like earlier, they can dodge his attacks then...' Mark thought while breathing heavily.

He quickly pulled the embedded arrows out before using the rest of his Mana to heal the wounds they had inflicted.

'Fuck...'

Mark's current Mana Points: Zero.

'I'll have to make this a close range-'

Growl-

'Huh?'

Once they were about ten meters away from Mark, the Corrupted Dark Elves stopped their approach.

'Why...?'

They growled at the enemy, while taking short sideway steps.

'They're not approaching... Could they be stalling for time? Waiting for something?'

A slight smile.

'No. They watched me fight the Berserker. And so...'

Mark immediately lowered his body.

'They're not sure they can take me on...'

His leg muscles contracted.

'They're scared!'

Mark immediately turned around and leaped away from the three attackers.

But the next second,

Growl-

'Shit...'

Only then, did Mark realize.

Three Corrupted Dark Elves stood in front of him.

Three behind him.

And three to each side.

A circle of Corrupted Dark Elves, with Mark at its center.

'These bastards...!'

Realizing that they were more numerous than originally thought, Mark's head and pupils turned in every direction to keep an eye on each enemy.

A bush in the distance shook.

STUSH-

'That's-'

By swiftly bending his neck, Mark dodged the arrow.

'They still have more hiding in the forest...'

Much more numerous than originally thought.

'I don't even know how many are hiding...'

An unknown amount.

Uncertainty settled in.

The next second, one of the Corrupted Dark Elves moved.

Armed with two "Timeworn Elven Daggers", it charged.

'One-on-one? Is that what they want?'

Mark asked himself for a second before running forward.

'Suits me-'

STUCH-

Two seconds later, the Corrupted Dark Elf jumped back to its spot.

Having fulfilled its purpose, it filled the hole it had left once more.

'Fuck!' Mark cursed.

His focus on the incoming enemy had been broken.

'Tsk. How...'

An arrow was now embedded inside his back.

A shallow wound had been drawn on his side.

'I can't... Focus on each one of them... And the incoming arrows... At the same time...'

It was obvious.

Focusing on "everything" at once is impossible.

'Then... What should I...'

To truly focus on something, one must discard the rest.

'As long as the arrows don't hit vital points... I can take them... Then...'

There was only one thing to do.

'The next one to attempt the same...'

A Corrupted Dark Elf moved.

'Is dying.'

Mark's feet hit the ground.

Aura covered his right arm as he pulled it back.

STUSH-

A smiling Corrupted Dark Elf quickly jumped back.

'Huh...'

Before Mark's fist could shatter his enemy's skull, it had been pierced.

'They can aim... That well...? Where will the next arrow... Come from...?'

Mark clenched his bleeding fist, breaking the arrow.

'They're...'

Uncertainty had given birth to pessimism.

'The archers are...'

Mark immediately imagined 50 pairs of eyes hiding all around the forest.

'Everywhere.'

The worst-case scenario.