Bam-
"Mark."
Bam-
"Mark."
Bam-
"Mark...?"
The Wind around him called, but he couldn't hear a thing.
The Monster lay on the ground, bleeding and unmoving.
Bam-
Zephyr retracted his bloodied fist for the seventh time.
Bloodied, but not by his own blood.
"Passed out? Already?"
As he retracted his fist, the Monster's deformed face was revealed.
The right side of its face had been thoroughly pummeled.
Zephyr slowly stood back up.
'Definitely fills many of the General's requirements. Strength, speed... It's all there.' He thought.
Zephyr picked up the Spear by his side.
'Were he to get a bit faster, I could've been in trouble. Good thing the General recommended that I come Armored.'
Pierce.
AARGHH-
Screams and growls of pain exited the Monster's mouth, suddenly woken up by the Spear going through its thigh.
'Who would have thought reaching this level of strength would take so little time...'
The Monster's cries became even louder as the Spear was pushed deeper, widening the, already, large wound on its thigh.
'The Deadly Sins. Even just a fraction of them can bring about disasters, huh?' Zephyr wondered as he stared at the Monster's hateful eyes.
The Spear was pushed even further, and the Monster immediately sat up and lay its hands on the Weapons spiraling blades.
'Still...'
With a kick, the Monster's body was launched a dozen meters away.
'Having my 30% of my Stats Locked is quite the handicap.'
"What the fuck..." The Monster whispered, barely able to talk.
It struggled to stand, as can be expected from anything with a wound such as the one on its thigh.
Through the hole in the thigh, the wall behind could be seen.
"Do you want..."
Blood was flowing down its whole body.
Uncontrollably so down its mouth.
"More... What more... Do you want...?"
Despite the blood going down its mouth, the Monster talked.
Perhaps it couldn't do anything about it.
Perhaps it wasn't even aware of it.
"Not healing?"
Choked chuckles exited the Monster's open mouth.
It couldn't be bothered to close it. Or it, perhaps, simply couldn't do so.
Mark raised his hands up, showcasing the total lack of hostile or fighting intent.
"Sucked... Dry."
"I see."
The two remained unmoving and silent for a moment.
Mark did not lower his hands.
"Starting to think... A last... Exchange... Would have been better... Than this." He struggled to utter.
"Death sounds better than suffering?"
"Right about... Now... Mm... I..."
Mark took a short pause.
He lowered both his hands and gaze.
"Just... Kill me... Already."
"Don't like being toyed with? I understand." Zephyr said as he stepped forward. "Not the end the General had expected but..."
"What... Ever... I... Can't... I... Just..."
Exhausted beyond belief, Mark truly couldn't find a way out.
"You won't Devour them? Even now?" Zephyr asked.
The Monster's lips parted, but only for a moment.
Mark stared at the ground, silent.
Were his thoughts racing?
Was he internally debating it?
Whatever the case might have been, the silence was taken by Zephyr as Mark's answer.
"Well, then..."
Zephyr's feet moved.
The ground cracked.
Mark, on the other hand, remained immobile. As immobile as he could. His body was swaying slightly from side to side.
His gaze went back to Zephyr.
Mark stared at the approaching enemy.
The Speed, the Strength, the Armor, the Spear.
Mark chuckled internally.
'And he's not even using Magic.'
At the thought, his pupils widened slightly.
'Not even...?'
The Spear was approaching.
And Mark did not have the energy to dodge in time.
He thought about resting.
About closing his eyes.
The Spear was two meters away from Mark's chest.
He sighed internally.
Regrets? Of course, there were some.
Hopes for the future? Of course, there was a whole world out there.
Still, there wasn't much Mark could do in the situation.
'It was fun.'
He closed his eyes.
And waited.
Mark hoped it wouldn't hurt too much. He was already hurting a lot after all. Has been for a while.
Actually, it wouldn't have been an overstatement to say that the whole Dungeon was a succession of pain and healing.
He hoped it wouldn't hurt too much, but that hope only lasted a fraction of a second.
Mark hoped it would hurt.
He wanted it to hurt.
He wanted it to hurt more than anything that had ever hurt him.
The most painful experience possible.
The most painful sensation ever.
That's what he wanted.
Because in a bit, he would be back.
Mutters-
Back to the endless and cold void from which he had been pulled out.
Mutters-
Back to the endless nothingness.
Mutters-
Back to... Nothing.
Mutters-
The most painful sensation ever.
Yes.
That's something he would've liked to experience before going back there.
He liked experiencing new things, however extreme they were.
He loved new things.
He loved change.
He hated stagnation.
He hated it when things remained the same.
He loved chaos.
He hated boredom.
Perhaps, that is why he hated that endless void.
Perhaps, that is why his Soul was chosen.
All the same, the time for him to go seemed to have come.
"MARK!"
At the Wind's sudden shout, he opened his eyes and was blown away.
Bleugh-
Heaps of blood exited his mouth, thrown up upon his back hitting the wall.
'I'm sick... Of this...'
His fell to the ground and lay unmoving, chest against the floor.
Mark could barely keep an eye on Zephyr.
Keeping track of him and controlling that eye seemed like incredibly tiresome tasks.
Even that tired eye wanted to close and rest.
"Mm. I see..."
Zephyr turned away from the Monster.
And the latter did its best to stare at his back.
His eye glanced at every part of Zephyr's body.
Every part of the black Armor tinted in gold that he wore.
Not one crack.
Not one fissure.
Not even a scratch.
Nothing.
So much fighting.
So much suffering.
So much Evolving.
Yet, not a scratch to be found.
That's how much he amounted to.
Not even a scratch.
Zephyr pulled his Spear back, and the ground below him cried as it broke.
'Huh...? Why is he... Turning his back...?'
"No Underlings allowed." Zephyr said.
Mark realized what had happened.
He realized that Zephyr's Spear hadn't killed him for one reason and one reason only.
The Wind had protected him.
Her Wind.
And now, Zephr, with all his strength, throws the deadly Spear towards her.
Mark assumed it was all his strength, as Zephyr had not used, at any time, as much power as he was now.
A thick wall of bricks strengthened by Mana separated Elisa from the incoming Spear.
A thick wall Mark knew wouldn't be enough to stop the Spear's approach.
Was she even aware that the Spear was approaching her? Mark did not know.
He lay on the ground, bleeding
Unable to do a thing, he watched the Spear approach the wall of stone.
Perhaps, because that was all he could do, Mark extended a hand in her direction.
As if that could be of any help to her.
The Spear pierced the wall, and he couldn't do a thing but watch.
Mark wanted to close his eyes.
He didn't.
