A large portion of the wall was brought down.
Multiple pieces of rubble fell to the ground.
With each piece of rubble breaking as it hit the ground, Mark's body shuddered.
"When I say no Underlings..." Zephyr slowly turned around to face him once more. "It means no Underlings."
Mark opened his mouth, but no words came out.
He stared through the hole in the wall, but nothing could be seen.
What had happened? He did not know.
Had someone been hit? He did not know.
If someone had been hit then who? He did not know.
Seconds earlier, the Spear was approaching.
The Spear that was synonymous with Death.
Death was approaching him.
But she protected him from it.
And now...
Mark clenched his teeth.
'I-'
Before he could even start the thought, something appeared through the hole.
Something appeared on the other side of the Boss Room.
"It's... Uhh... Phew. Just a scratch. Just a scratch-" Elisa shouted, but she was interrupted as a violent typhoon appeared, filling the hole that the Spear had created.
Mark couldn't hear her words.
He simply noted the usual cheeky smile on her face.
Mark stood back up. He barely succeeded in doing so.
"What... Was that for...?" He struggled to ask.
Zephyr stared for a bit.
"The Test's Difficulty will increase."
Mark's gaze went from Zephyr to the ground repeatedly.
Anger and rage screamed inside him, but they could barely express themselves, choked under the excessive weight of his pain and tiredness.
'Every fight... Is a Test. A Test to discover... Who has the right...'
His knees gave out.
'To stay... Alive.'
Mark fell to the ground.
'That's how it is... In here...'
And as he lay, it didn't hurt as much.
A chuckle escaped his mouth.
'Test... Difficulty...A bit... Too high... This time...' Mark thought.
He closed his eyes.
And for the first time, in a very, very long time, Mark felt like he could sleep.
For the first time, in a very, very long time, he thought himself capable of going to sleep.
Capable and willing.
When was the last time he had slept anyways?
He couldn't remember.
Sure, he had passed out a couple of times during his rise inside the Dungeon.
During every Evolution, Mark passed out.
Once, he had been Poisoned, and passed out.
Against the Corrupted Dark Elves...
Plenty of times, his eyes had fallen on the sleeping Moonlit Feline.
'Huh. Wish I could sleep too from time to time...' Mark used to think.
And now, for the first time-
Mark's eyes opened suddenly.
'Every fight... Is a Test... How it is... In here...!?'
"How was your nap, Devourer?" Zephyr asked as he stepped forward.
With his eyes open wide, Mark remained on the ground, though his body sporadically twitched.
He sat up suddenly.
So suddenly, with such speed, that Zephyr was slightly surprised.
Mark's gaze seemed to wander randomly while he brought a knee to the ground.
With his right foot and left knee on the ground, he thought.
With his right arm resting on his right knee, he thought.
Mark's eyes and whole body froze.
"You're killing, right? This is a Test, right?"
Zephyr remained silent for a moment.
"That's right." He answered.
A hand slowly made its way towards Mark's neck.
Scratch- Scratch-
The hand stopped moving.
Scratch- Scratch- Scratch-
"It's not the same... Not the same... Different... Too different... I can't..."
Scratch- Scratch- Scratch-
'Did the fear of death break something? Or was it the fear of that Underling's death...?' Zephyr wandered.
'Each fight is a Test. The Victor gets to survive... Each fight is a Test. The Victor gets to survive...' Mark repeated to himself internally for a couple of seconds.
Instantly, dozens of encounters entered his mind.
Dozens of fights he had gone through.
Dozens of enemies he had defeated.
Dozens of enemies he had killed.
Scratch- Scratch- Scratch-
'So many, I have already...'
The image of a certain Underling suddenly came to mind.
The X inside the X had agreed to play a certain game-
And just because the X X were the losers this time, didn't mean they had any right to complain or hold a grudge-
After all, the X, too, had killed monstrous amounts of living beings along the way-
Mark's eyes, wide open, moved towards Zephyr's.
"Why... Are you killing me?" He asked.
Once again, Zephyr took a moment to answer.
"Because you're failing the Test."
Mark's gaze fell to the ground.
"I can't..."
And his eyes were cold.
"Let you do that."
"Let me?" Zephyr was taken aback by Mark's words, but also slightly amused by them.
"I can't let you kill me.."
"Ah! So that's what-"
"Not... For that reason..."
"The reason? Is that-"
"I can't let you kill for that reason... That reason is..."
As Mark continued talking, Zephyr realized that the former couldn't hear him.
"Testing... Testing... Judging..." Mark whispered as he scratched his neck.
A scale suddenly fell off that neck.
Mark remained frozen for an instant.
"Who are you... To judge me? I can't accept that... I'm not letting you kill me... Not that way..." He pushed himself off the ground as he whispered.
"Who am I to judge you? I am simply..."
Mark's eyes were locked on him, which is why Zephyr knew he was being heard.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have talked.
Zephyr wouldn't waste words that way.
"Someone much stronger."
Mark's gaze went back to the ground.
And he thought.
He remembered.
Every encounter.
Every fight.
Every time an enemy stood in front of him.
Every time he was much stronger than the enemy.
Mark raised his gaze once more.
"As... I thought..."
Mark's body swayed from side to side.
"I can't... Accept it."
Zephyr wanted to laugh, but he didn't.
"After killing so many Monsters during your rise inside this Dungeon, after killing so many on your way here, you can't accept that your time has come? Of course, you can't. Death is always terribly hard to accept, once it stands before us."
Mark opened his mouth. But for a couple of seconds, no words were uttered.
"..."
Inaudible whispers. His gaze went back to the ground.
"Huh?"
"I can't... Accept it..."
Zephyr sighed.
"It's getting repetitive. Let's end this now." He said as he stepped forward.
"I'll do my best... To kill it..." Mark whispered.
"Save it."
"And it'll do its best... To kill me..."
Zephyr suddenly stopped his approach.
"What's that?" He asked.
"I'll do my best to kill it... And it'll do its best to kill me..." Mark whispered once more.
"Is that supposed to-"
"I'LL DO MY BEST TO KILL IT... AND IT'LL DO ITS BEST TO KILL ME!" Mark suddenly shouted.
With hateful eyes, he stared at Zephyr.
The latter stayed silent.
Mark's body shuddered.
"If you are to kill me... Then do it... The right way."
"The right way-"
"Do it. Not because... Of some Test... Not after judging me... Kill me... The way Monsters kill."
Zephyr's eyebrow twitched.
"Kill me... For no other reason... Than the fact... That we've met..."
[The Title "Monster Hunter" is listening to your words carefully.]
"Kill me... For no other reason... Than the fact... That our roads crossed..."
[Your Title "Evolving Monster" is looking at you.]
"For no other reason... Than the fact... That we've looked at each other..."
[Your Title "Devourer" is looking at you.]
"And that neither of us backed down... Neither of us... Ran away."
Mark's lips were shaking.
And as they shook, they slowly turned into a smile.
A smile that filled Zephyr with disgust.
"Kill me... Because that's what Monsters do-"
BAM-
Mark's body hit the wall.
"Sorry, kid..."
An incredibly quick elbow had landed on his chin, launching him away.
"I'm not about to fulfill your fantasy, or play along with it."
Zephyr stood tall.
"You're dying because you've failed this Test. Because you've been judged unworthy. Because..."
Mark growled loudly as he pushed himself off the wall.
[Your Title "Devourer" roars!]
[Your Title "Evolving Monster" screams!]
"I've judged you unworthy."
The two launched themselves towards one another.
Despite the fact that one was much stronger.
Despite the fact that one was much faster.
***
A couple of minutes earlier, on the other side of the Boss Room,
"It's... Uhh... Just a scratch. Phew. Just a scratch-" Elisa shouted, but she was interrupted as a violent typhoon appeared, filling the hole that the Spear had created.
The Wind filled the hole, and the Monster couldn't be seen anymore.
Whimpers and cries.
"Oh, come on. Don't look at me that way." Elisa said as she lowered her gaze.
The Moonlit Feline pressed its paws against her left knee.
"If you had seen... How beaten up he was... You-"
BLEUGH-
Elisa immediately fell to her knees as heaps of blood exited her mouth.
Her body hit the ground.
The Moonlit Feline walked to her side.
Krista didn't want to see, but she felt like she had to.
Her eyes stared at the wound on Elisa's stomach.
At the hole that Spear had left.
At Elisa's missing side.
"Think you can-"
Cough-
"Think you can... Freeze it... Or something...?" Elisa struggled to ask.
Krista's trembling paws slowly moved towards the wound.
In truth, the injury was too severe to be called a wound.
"You know... He-"
Cough-
A look that said "Don't talk" fell on Elisa.
She knew that look well.
"He-"
Cough-
"It's not as wide... As the hole I put... Through his stomach... So-"
Elisa coughed up more blood.
"We're... Even."
It only took seconds for a pool of blood to appear around her.
From the corner of her eye, Elisa noticed the blood pouring.
A second later, her vision became blurry.
She clicked her tongue.
Elisa wasn't fond of that color.
The color of her own blood.
