'That's not as scary as I first thought...' The white-scaled Monster realized about a minute later.
Boom-
An explosion caused a could of dust to rise. Mark managed to dodge at the right time, as he had a couple of times already.
'Those punches of Aura are interesting... The further they get from him, the weaker they grow. They become pretty easy to dodge once they exit the Aura surrounding him.'
Mark dodged a couple more of Lin's attacks and,
ƥandasnovel·ƈom "Is this it? A Commander?" He whispered to himself after jumping to the side.
"Find it underwhelming?" A voice asked, sending a shiver down Mark's spine. "You might be able to dodge, but you've been unable to inflict any damage, you know? Oh well, that's Sloth for you."
An attack aimed at his right side approached, and he was reminded of what had started annoying him more than the fact that he hadn't inflicted damage on the Commander.
I'll be tailing you-
If it wasn't for the sentences she uttered from time to time, Mark would have definitely forgotten about her.
But Elisa was there.
'I'm not much of a Shield, am I?'
Her movements were silent and stealthy.
Perhaps just as stealthy as Light, Mark thought at first.
It didn't take him long that the two couldn't be compared.
Even when he moved at full speed silently, she remained there, behind him.
Hidden perfectly from Lin's field of vision, she remained.
Mark could tell.
'She's hiding from him... But also staying in my blindspot, constantly.'
He couldn't tell everything that was going on though.
After all, he couldn't see her move and twist her body with every one of his movements.
'Even with Light hiding inside my shadow it didn't feel this eerie. Right, it's almost like...'
"We're going in soon...." The ghost behind him uttered.
'Being inside his Aura is pretty weird but... Her tailing me is starting to feel much creepier.'
'Tsk.' Lin clicked his tongue. 'Crafty forest-dweller...'
"Make sure you keep up." Elisa whispered.
'Keep up?' Mark dodged an attack by jumping to the side. The instant his foot touched the ground, his left hand opened.
'Oho. The Corruption I could feel inside Yarnha. Finally...'
'You're the one tailing me, aren't you? Then...' The ground below the white-scaled Monster cracked. 'I'll do what I want...' He leaped forward as a Dark Corrupting Javelin was formed in his left hand. 'And let you react however you want.'
Elisa's eyelids rose slightly at the sudden leap and her lips started curling upwards.
'Losing your Underlings left a void, didn't it?' She thought as she lowered her body. 'I'm sure you can't even tell how large the void is, but I noticed. Every time you fight, every time you're in the midst of a battle, you inadvertently... Maybe even unconsciously... Look for them.'
'She's keeping her body that way while running at such speed just to remain hidden? That's a shrewd Elf if I've ever seen one.' Lin's eyes didn't lose their shine once. 'Forcing me to keep an eye on you, huh? Wind Magic is the trickiest to read and notice. And you're using that to your advantage? Even though you have no idea if I'm even keeping an eye or not. How very... Not slothful.'
The instant Mark's body was about the enter the Commander's Aura, he suddenly killed all of his speed using the Wind Blast Magic Skill.
The thought that Elisa might crash into him crossed his mind, but he didn't pay it any mind.
He opened his mouth wide and,
Freezing Mist-
The thick icy mist covered the area in front of him, and the Dark Corrupting Javelin was thrown will all his strength.
'Tsk.'
Just as it left his hand, Mark started running to the right, aiming to circle around the thick mist.
The idea that Elisa might choose to go left crossed his mind. He counted on it.
The Magic Skill "Freezing Mist" was one that Mark had acquired after Devouring the Olga.
Its Effect was devastating. He had witnessed it first hand after all.
Why was the Effect of the Skill so much less impressive when he was using it though?
Simple. The difference in size was something that the Magic Skill took into consideration.
How much "Freezing Mist" could be produced and ejected at once depended largely on the User's anatomy.
Having used it a couple of times already, Mark had a good grasp on how far the Freezing Mist could reach.
So why was it about to touch the Commander's body now? When that should be outside of the effective range?
A slight smile appeared on his face as he ran.
The Wind was on his side.
How could it not be, when she was on his side?
Lin extended an arm forward, and the Mist stopped moving. Even though the Wind was doing its best to make it advance further, it stopped. The right to move had been taken away from it. Even the right to move around was something a Commander could take away, in his Territory.
'I've already taken one from your book so...' A Great Fire Ball, coated by the Flame Of Chaos, hovered in front of Mark's palm. 'Let's take this one too. Now, Commander. How will you react...'
The white-scaled Monster's hand pierced the blazing sphere.
'Fire Control, huh? Tsk. Looks like you got it too.'
'To a Magic Skill like this?'
Mark rapidly pulled his arm out of the sphere.
'Good one, haha!' Elisa chuckled internally.
The white-scaled Monster leaped into the Commander's Aura before swinging down the red whip of flames in his hand.
Lin sidestepped, leaving more than enough space for the whip to descend.
'Giving it a form like this, you're crafty one too. It might look like a whip, but it's still Fire Control. No reason to believe that it'll behave like an actual whip would.'
The Commander expected it to stop in mid-air and wrap itself around his ankle or, at least, try to.
But it didn't.
The whip approached the ground.
Lin's eyes widened as the Mana flowing out of the white-scaled Monster's hand increased dramatically.I think you should take a look at
He could tell what would happen once the flaming whip would touch the ground.
And of course he could tell. It was happening inside his Territory after all.
The Commander jumped back.
Mark leaped forward with a smirk on his face.
The whip hit the ground.
'Huh?' Despite the surprise, Mark's speed didn't decrease one bit.
BOOM-
Through the smokescreen created by the explosion, the Commander's eyes shone.
'He delayed the explosion? What kind of-'
Not giving any time to the confused enemy, Lin leaped forward, his fists under the Gauntlets clenched.
Mark quickly pulled his left arm back, and the Commander focused on his vision.
The image reflected by Mark's pupils told him everything he needed.
His right arm threw a punch, while his left arm was extended behind him, blocking the Dark Corrupting Javelin that was flying through the air.
With one palm in front of the other, Mark blocked the hit.
'Tsk. I held onto it after he dodged... Even this isn't enough, huh.'
Mark rotated his body, and as his foot left the ground to throw a kick,
[You have acquired a new Magic Skill!]
[You have acquired the Magic Skill...]
Mark's eyes widened with surprise as the Wind propulsing his leg felt completely different than it used to.
The Commander, not expecting such a radical change in speed, could only block with his Gauntlets.
The white-scaled Monster's shin collided with the metallic Gauntlets.
Upon impact, the Commander's arms were pulled back.
Whether he couldn't handle the kick's power or not, wasn't clear.
Nevertheless, Mark didn't think about it too long.
As his leg was left to move freely, he immediately jumped and threw a kick with his other leg.
'Amazing...!'
The speed and power of his kicks forced his lips to curl up.
The Commander managed to block the succession of attacks, but seemingly not without difficulty.
'And now...!'
After the succession of kicks, Mark started throwing in punches and elbow strikes.
'Tsk.'
With each hit thrown, Mark's movements seemed to grow faster.
As if the momentum of the previous attack was carried by the next.
The constant speed made his options seem limitless.
Lin's eyes were forced to work harder.
The goal wasn't keeping up after all. But anticipating.
'Skill Activation is something you can read, huh? Then... Can you read this way?'
Punch-
Kick-
Strike-
Again and again.
Until at one point, a distraction? A lack of Endurance Points?
An opening.
Mark had seemingly been a tiny bit too slow retracting his leg after the kick thrown.
The leg was grabbed.
And the Skill was activated.
'Using it to run away? Or...!'
Lin took hold of Mark's other leg before its speed could increase.
With both legs grabbed, his body started to fall.
Spin-
"Don't think spinning will get you out of-"
Indeed, Mark couldn't spin his body around when the one grabbing him had such strength.
Not an issue.
Spinning wasn't the goal.
But momentum instead.
Wind Burst x Destructive Tail Flick
BAM-
The hit landed on the Commander's nape.
The strength and power forced the Wind around them to flee.
The impact caused Lin's brain to collide with the inside of his skull repeatedly.
For a second, the Commander's eyes stopped shining.
For a second, his Aura faded.
For a second, the Commander lost consciousness.
