301 Crossing The Border, I
'Ahhh... This feeling. She's... I can feel it!' The white-scaled Monster thought to itself.
Non-stop chills ran up and down its body.
The Commander stepped forward.
The next instant, her fist cracked the ground.
'He kept up... With that kind of speed?' Elisa asked herself internally, a nervous smile on her face.
The Commander turned to the right without raising her body or pulling the fist out of the ground.
The Evolving Monster was still on all fours.
A strident screech exited its mouth, which didn't fail to surprise both Elisa and Krista.
'If he can keep up, then...' The Princess took aim.
The Commander stepped forward once more.
But just when the Devourer was about to do the same, a Wind Arrow was shot.
A groan exited the Commander's mouth as that Wind Arrow exploded upon coming into contact with her palm.
A frown took over Elisa's face.
The timing was right.
It had forced the Commander to raise an arm towards...
Then why...?
'Why didn't he-'
"STAY OUT OF IT!" The white-scaled Monster shouted suddenly.
The Commander turned back towards it.
"We're settling this..." The Devourer continued, a wide smile on his face. "As Berserkers!"
Both Monsters stared at one another.
'Geh! Using my words against...' Elisa shrugged, but didn't lower her bow.
With wide pupils, the Moonlit Feline stared. The Master didn't want it to interfere, but if the need arose then...
Both were Berserkers.
Both were fueled by their emotions in a way.
But they were different kinds of Berserkers.
After all, only one of the two Monsters was smiling.
'I can feel it. The way she's looking at me. The air around her... She doesn't want to fight me. She doesn't want to kill me. She wants to...' The chills going up and down the white-scaled Monster's body truly felt like bursts of electricity.
The Commander's steps cracked the ground.
The Devourer advanced while keeping its body low.
One punched up. The other punched down.
BAM-
BAM-
Three consecutive hits.
Their fists collided each time.
'He could handle it? The strength from...?' It only took a fraction of a second for Elisa to realize. 'No. With each hit, he's using Wind Magic. Wind Magic and that purple Aura make it possible for his body to produce that kind of Strength. It can produce it, but not handle it. His muscles tear themselves. His bones crack. With each hit... He has to heal them.'
Elisa quickly started feeling nervous as the white-scaled Monster threw and took more and more hits.
Her grip around the bow tightened.
Even though he could heal, watching the scene left a bad taste in her mouth.
With each hit, with each collision, the Evolving Monster broke itself down.
Broke itself and reconstructed.
Tore and rebuilt.
But even though he could heal, seeing him break himself over and over,
'She doesn't just want to kill me. She wants... To make me disappear!' The Devourer's excitement surged.
As the Berserker Skill made the pain slowly fade away, as it made everything seem more and more distant,
'I love it!'
The Commander's fist reached the Monster's left side, while the Monster's fist reached the Commander's left side.
Their feet drifted on the floor for a couple of meters.
The Devourer lowered its upper body and ran, arms apart and slightly forward.
The Commander braced for the upcoming tackle.
A second later, while she expected to feel the full weight and force of the Monster's shoulder collide with her stomach,
'...!' Elisa's eyes suddenly widened. 'Now?' A smile crept onto her face.
Mark feigned tackling the Commander before slipping through the space between her side and left arm.
While it seemed that the Berserker Skill had forced him to fight mindlessly, the position he and the Commander had arrived at was no coincidence.
The white-scaled Monster slipped through that space, took a couple of steps, lowered its body, and scooped the Moonlit Feline off the ground with a hand.
Elisa immediately jumped up and started using Wind Magic, allowing her to create footing above ground.
Mark spread his wings and took off as Krista climbed onto his shoulder.
The two had moved in unison and without wasting a second.
They had moved so suddenly that the commander was left confused.
The two were rising in the air.
What for? To go where?
The Commander lowered her gaze.
The Border?
She raised her gaze again.
From above and it got further and further, the white-scaled Monster peeked at her. That Eye peeked at her.
Ani's body immediately started shaking.
"Fuck... I really thought you were going in." Elisa sighed.
"Going in?"
"Yes. As in... Fully in, you know? Like trying your luck kind of thing."
"No... No. Can't. My arms are still hurting. And my Mana is pretty much gone."
"Mm." Elisa nodded as she jumped from one platform of solidified air to another. "I hated doing that."
"Doing...?"
"Didn't you hear me talk to her?"
"I did. I heard part of it."
"Yes, well... What did you think of her?"
"What I thought? I..." The flying white-scaled Monster turned its gaze back slightly.
Only to find an airborne Commander a couple of meters away with her fist pulled back.
"Shit-"
The fact that the Commander had managed to jump this high was nonsensical enough to make Mark doubt his eyes but... He had grown used to such things.
Mana Barrier-
A Barrier large enough to envelop both he and Elisa was cast. But making the Barrier's size increase did mean decreasing its protective abilities. At least, if the Mana output remains the same.
But before the Commander could reach the Mana Barrier, it rose.
From the water below, it rose.
A creature covered by a pinkish-dark Aura.
Tentacles and claws reached towards them.
One of those tentacles swatted the Commander down to the ground with one sweep.
The strident screams of a dozen maidens resonated from below.
Screams so sharp and piercing that the air shook, and Elisa's footing grew unstable.
The white-scaled Monster managed to grab her before she could fall.
With the Moonlit Feline on his shoulder and Elisa between his arms, Mark flew away.
From the Calamity that had risen from the depths of the Border, and from the Commander.
"No..." Ani whispered as a feeling of dread took over her heart. "No..." She repeated, as she watched them get further and further.
The hit had slammed her against the ground, creating a crater.
"I can't..." She pushed herself off the ground, despite her shaking knees. "I can't let them..."
Separating them from her, was the Demon Lord Of Lust's Pet.
Tavashed.
Once more, the white-scaled Monster's gaze moved towards the area they were standing on moments earlier.
He watched the Commander run towards the gigantic Sea Monster that was Tavashed.
Losing control the way Ani had.
Letting go of all restraints and restrictions.
Going wild, freely.
It had been a while.
The invitation that the Commander had brought to the table wasn't a bad one at all.
A Battle Of Berserkers.
Exciting. Exhilarating. Electrifying.
Not bad at all.
But there were more important things.
"So you liked her too, huh?" Elisa whispered.
Mark didn't answer.
