"More and more trees. We're out of this soon." Mark said before coming to a stop.
He turned around.
Krista and Elisa nearly collapsed to the ground.
"Get a couple of hours of sleep. We should be out by the next time we stop."
"Are you... Serious...?" Both Elisa and Krista crawled towards a tree.
The trees that covered the ground were still dead, but they were taller, had more branches, and were much more numerous.
"So tired..."
"Good. Sleep, then we'll-"
"But I can't sleep."
"Huh?"
Mark turned towards them, and both were staring with half-open eyes.
"Still waiting... For that story..." Elisa said.
The Moonlit Feline nodded.
"You can barely talk. Just go to sleep."
"That's not..." She yawned. "Entirely true."
"Right." Mark closed his eyes and feigned sleep for a bit.
"Stories are important... You know?"
"I don't have any stories to tell."
"Not one?"
"None worth telling."
"How about... Your meeting with Krista?" The Moonlit Feline groaned. "Mm, guess you already know that one. How about your meeting with the others? With... Levi, was it? Or with the Fire Spirit? Or the Wolves?"
Mark remained silent for a bit.
"As I said, nothing worth telling."
"Why is that?"
He didn't answer.
"Does it have something to do with the fact that they reek of Corruption too?" Mark's eyes narrowed. "Sorry if I'm... Rubbing salt into a fresh wound."
"It does. And you are."
Elisa rested her head on one of the Moonlit Feline's back legs.
"Strange... Very strange..."
"Is it?"
She didn't answer, and lay silently for a bit instead.
"So... No stories, huh?"
"None."
"Stories are important."
"You've said that already."
"A couple of stories..." Elisa scratched the back of her nape. "Were what kept me going... When I was trapped in that tower."
Mark rested his back against a dead tree.
"Cheerful stories, sad stories, ones with bittersweet endings... I kept repeating them to myself for a while, as if casting a sleeping spell. I had to." Elisa's eyes narrowed. "They helped me remember things. Allowed me not to forget. They brought warmth when I was cold, so to speak."
Mark nodded.
He wasn't sure what else he could do.
"You didn't have anything like that?"
"I don't think so."
"Even though you had ten Floors to climb?"
"No."
"How come?"
"Probably..." Mark's eyes wandered. "Because I had my Underlings with me."
Gulp-
Elisa mustered her courage and asked.
"Did they join you willingly?"
Mark didn't want to answer.
Eventually, he shook his head.
"Did you use the Corruption to make them join you?"
"I wouldn't... No. I didn't."
"Then?"
"I'm not sure how to explain it."
"So you didn't take control of their minds using the Corruption?"
Mark's eyes widened.
He stared at the snow below.
"No... I mean..." Mark scratched his head. "I don't think I did."
"You don't think you did? Then was it some kind of Magic Skill? Beast Taming? No... I guess that wouldn't work on Levi. How did you-"
"I killed them." He said bluntly and coldly. "I killed them, and revived them."
Elisa felt a shiver go down her spine.
"You did?" She asked as she pushed herself back.
"Yeah." Mark answered without looking at her.
Elisa scratched her head.
"I'm surprised that I'm not more scared of you."
"Ha. Yeah..."
She stared at the Monster for a bit.
"Using my powers of Corruption, I can bring them back... Or something like that. I was told this when I had an older version of the Magic Skill."
"So you are a Dark Mage."
"Guess I am."
"A Necromancer."
"Yeah, that too."
"Gross. That's so gross. And ominous. Perverse, really."
Mark didn't say a word.
Elisa remained silent for a bit too.
Her eyes did not leave him.
"Devourer..." His hand twitched. "That's how he called you, right?"
"Yeah."
"What's that about?"
"It's my Title. Unique Title, whatever that means."
"Devourer... Just like how you Devour those you defeat, huh?"
His hand twitched once more.
Mark's lips parted, but he didn't say anything.
Elisa's eyes turned cold.
"Just like you Devoured the other Dark Elves."
Mark's gaze moved towards her.
He hid his hands and instinctively extended his claws, before nodding.
Elisa took a deep breath in, before stretching her arms.
She stared at the misty sky.
"I shot you inside the Boss Room. Put a hole through your stomach."
Mark remained silent for a bit.
"You did." He muttered.
"That should be enough retaliation."
"Huh?" Surprised and perplexed, he stared.
"Wait, actually no... I took a hit for you. That Armored Man's Spear. So we're even."
"You...?"
Elisa's gaze moved towards him.
She looked at his perplexed expression for a bit, before chuckling.
"I shouldn't be laughing but... Well, I might cry if I don't laugh so, I'll laugh."
"I... I don't...?"
"You don't follow? I'm not sure that I owe you an explanation. They were... But at the same time, weren't those I knew. Plus, we're Elves." Elisa raised a finger and moved it to draw a circle. "Of the Forest, we are born. And to the Forest, we shall return."
"Of the Forest?"
"Yes, of the Forest. We're not born in the Forest, but of it. We're part of it, so we go back to it eventually. Usually, buried underground."
"That's..."
"Shut up and listen." Her eyes turned cold. "You owe me that much." Mark shut his mouth. "Going back to the Forest means being one with it once more. Underground, we become one with the earth. The small and weak organisms feed off our bodies. Get it? We spend our lifetime eating of the Forest. It's only right to become food once our life has come to an end. They would have been eaten by wolves or other organisms anyway. The dead's purpose is to feed those alive." Elisa pointed a finger towards Mark. "It just so happened that you were the Beast to feed on them."
Mark stared at the snow for a bit.
"Beast, huh...?"
"Yes."
A heavy silence reigned, until the Moonlit Feline yawned loudly.
"Ominous. Very ominous. Devourer and Necromancer."
"Mm." Mark nodded.
"You either Devour the Dead, or Revive the Dead, huh?"
"Yeah..."
"You have a strange relationship with Death, don't you?"
"I guess so."
"When did that start?"
"How would I know? Perhaps before I was even..."
Mark didn't continue the sentence.
Perhaps before I was even born-
"Storytime then?"
"Are you serious?"
"Sure am."
Ominous, ominous.
Those were usually Elisa's words.
Yet now, it was Mark who felt that way.
He raised his eyes and stared at her.
She didn't run away from his gaze, and he didn't run away from hers.
"I wanted to apologize for it. Inside the Dungeon, I wanted to apologize. But I wanted to do it by talking, not by..."
"Using the System?"
"Yes."
"Well?"
"I... I..."
"You...?"
"I feel sorry for you."
"That's all you could come up with? After-"
"I feel sorry for you, but I do not feel sorry for Devouring them."
Krista's leg twitched.
In an instant, the air had become much heavier.
"You don't?" Elisa asked as she pushed herself off the ground.
"I don't. I fought them, and won. I won, and Devoured them. It's what I do..." Mark pushed himself off the ground too. "As the Devourer."
The two stood in front of one another for a couple of seconds.
Neither seemed about to back off.
The next second,
Yawn-
Elisa brought a hand in front of her mouth.
"Guess you can be monstrous at times." She lay once more on the ground and rested her head on Krista's leg.
Mark remained silent.
He sat back down.
"Can I ask something?"
Mark was surprised by the polite request.
"Sure...?"
"That guy... The Vampire Lord..."
"Raven?"
"Yes, Raven."
"What about him?"
"Had he not saved me. Had he let me bleed out. Had he let me die there... What would you have done?"
"What I would have done?"
"Yes."
Mark scratched his neck.
"I'm not sure I follow."
"Of course, you do. Just answer honestly."
"Would I have Revived or Devoured you? Is that what you're asking?"
Elisa slowly nodded.
And Mark looked away.
He took a couple of seconds before answering.
"I'm not sure."
"Bfahaha. Are you serious? You won't even lie when asked point blank? Why not say that you would have tried to Revive me?"
"Tried, huh? I'm not sure. I wouldn't lie. I guess... I have no reason to lie to you."
Elisa pulled a lock of her ashen hair and fiddled with it for a bit.
"I appreciate the honesty. Even when it's about... Well, unpleasant affairs. Let's leave it at that."
"Mm." He nodded.
"So, story time?"
Mark massaged his eyes.
A question that had been tormenting him for a while now.
"Have you heard of Dracula?"
"Sure... The Vampire Count."
"Do you know his story?"
"Huh? Of course not, how would I?"
"Mm..." Mark thought for a bit. "Transylvania, ever heard of it?"
"Is that... Supposed to be a place or something?"
Scratch-
Scratch-
"Have you heard of Heraclès? Or Cerberus?"
"Can't say that I have."
"Mmm..."
"What's this about?"
"I guess I... I've heard of a Dracula before."
"And?"
"And I'm wondering... If Raven's ancestor is that same Dracula, I guess."
"Probably. Haven't heard of anyone or anything with that same name. Where have you heard the name? Apart from that Vampire Lord?"
A story told and written in another world-
Mark felt he couldn't give that answer.
