The Demon Lord of Lust grimaced at the scene.
It wasn't the desired outcome. Or rather, the desired conclusion had failed to spurt forth.
Still, this wasn't too bad, the Demon Lord of Lust thought, a grin on its face.
[The Unique Title "Devourer" looks at the Demon Lord Of Lust.]
[The Unique Title "Evolving Monster" looks at the Demon Lord Of Lust.]
The Demon Lord smiled wider as the messages appeared in front of him.
"Brothers. No... Nephews?"
The Unique Titles were peculiar existences.
They were made from Shards of the Deadly Sin of Greed and the Deadly Sin of Gluttony, each held by a Demon Lord.
The Shards were, after being extracted, mixed with the Candidates' Souls.
Each Soul was mixed with a combination of those Shards.
In this case, the Shards fed on the Soul's Greed and Gluttony, before giving birth to the -Evolving Monster- and -Devourer- Unique Titles.
"That's what's happening, huh?"
It was no wonder that the Demon Lord of Sloth and the Demon Lord of Lust felt something peculiar and familiar inside the Devourer.
They, too, bore Deadly Sins after all.
The combination of the Demon Lord of Lust's Influence and that of the Shards of the Deadly Sins inside him was more than enough to overpower him. Partly because the Sins had the peculiar ability to strengthen one another.
The Titles that had remained silent for a while struck stealthily and quietly this time.
In truth, it wasn't the Titles, but the Shards they were made out of. Of course, the distinction between the two isn't clear and should, quite frankly, be ignored and not taken into consideration for now.
'What the hell... Happened?'
The white-scaled Monster took a step forward.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She shouted, swinging her dagger.
Mark couldn't hear her.
Perhaps because of the Influence of the Titles and Demon Lord hadn't faded completely yet?
Perhaps because of the dagger embedded through his eye and skull?
It wasn't clear.
What was clear however, was the fact that she didn't want him anywhere near her.
Mark looked her up and down.
He studied every inch of her body, a dazed expression on his face.
Wounds.
No, bitemarks?
Broken wrist.
Swollen face and eyes.
Her neck seemed to have been-
Mark's mind went blank, and he felt the urge to throw up suddenly.
He didn't let it show, and pushed down whatever had been rising from the inside of his body.
The gluttonous Devourer throwing up? Impossible.
As he swallowed, images started filling his mind.
Confusion. Shock. Denial.
Confusion. Shock. Denial.
No. No. No! It didn't...! He hadn't...!
The urge to throw up arose once again, much stronger.
His body started shaking.
Mine-
I could have killed her that day-
I saved her many times-
No!
Take. Break. Destroy-
No!
Fuck. Kill. Destroy. Devour-
No!
Take her. Force her. Break her-
'What was I... About to do? What was I... Doing??'
The expression on the white-scaled Monster's face changed as his heart filled with dread.
'I didn't... It didn't happen... I didn't mean to... I-'
His throat was burning.
That's when he realized that despite opening his mouth, no words were coming out.
'I didn't mean to! It wasn't me! It was-'
No words were coming out.
Why were no words coming out?
Perhaps because there was nothing to say.
Mark started to remember.
Those bite marks, he had laid them. That neck, he had strangled. That wrist, he had broken.
That gown, he had torn.
It wasn't me!
It was!
It wasn't me!
It was!
"Get away from me... Monster!"
The torrent of thoughts and emotions. The unease. The confusion. What he had seen, what he had lived. What was real and what wasn't? Was he strangling Mina? Was he strangling Elisa? Which one had he tried to kill? The world started spinning. Confusion. Confusion. The one strangling Mina. The one strangling Elisa. The one strangling Mina. The one strangling Elisa.
Which one was he?
"GET AWAY!"
What to say? How to explain?
Explain what? Even he could barely...
The white-scaled Monster's brain shut down. The only suitable answer was...
The tears that had been hanging by a thread started flowing down the Dark Elven Princess' face as she tightened her grip around the bow in her hands.
The expression on her face, torn between anger, anguish, and hatred.
The Wind around her spun violently, blowing the descending tears away.
The ground cracked and groaned while the air screeched as an immense quantity of Mana turned into an arrow.
The Dark Elven Princess pressed her lips, closed her left eye, and took aim.
She clenched her teeth as the tip of the arrow was pointed at it.
At the white-scaled Monster's back that was getting further and further.
At the white-scaled Monster that was running away from her.
More Mana than ever before.
More power than ever before.
More anger than ever before.
More hatred than ever before.
The white-scaled Monster ran further and further.
She pulled on the bowstring.
Her wrist was in no condition to be used optimally. But by Manipulating the Wind around, she managed to hold the bow in place.
The white-scaled Monster ran faster and faster. Further further.
It was dawn.
Its body was starting to disappear into the horizon.
Elisa slowly lowered her bow.
She collapsed to her knees, and cried like she had never before.
...
Mark ran.
As fast as he could, he ran.
With the Demon Lord's Influence gone, all the tiredness had come back to him.
His legs were heavy, his heart was burning, his lungs were on fire. Good!
He ran.
Away from her.
Away from Elisa.
Away from what he had done. From what he had been about to do. From what he could have done.
Why was he running?
Mark stopped.
Just when he was about to turn around, he found himself unable to do so.
He was scared to look in that direction.
Scared to look in her direction.
Even though she had disappeared into the horizon, he was scared of looking.
Dread. Dread. Dread.
His fingers and claws twitched.
He held his stomach until his claws left marks on his sides.
BLEUGHHH-
A dark puddle was thrown up.
The puddle grew larger and larger.
He suffocated as more and more of the dark liquid exited his mouth.
Dazed and lightheaded, Mark stared at that puddle.
At his reflection.
At the dark liquid slowly descending from his lips to his mouth.
Ugly. Disgusting.
He stared at his eye.
At the dark lines going down his eyes.
His hand reached for those lines.
He expected it. He wanted it. But that wasn't the case.
Those lines were the same as ever.
He wasn't crying.
He was a Monster.noVe)lB/In
Mark started running again.
As fast as he could.
As much as he could.
The tiredness from not sleeping. The drowsiness from being under the influence. The dread.
He fell to the ground, stood up, and kept going.
Running. Running.
Retracing his steps. The steps he had taken with her. With them.
Run. Run. Get away from them.
He ran until his heart was about to give out.
Until his lungs were about to explode.
Until his feet were about to tear.
Run. Run!
Run, lest it catches up to you.
Your past. Your darkness. Your sins. Your greed. Your gluttony. Your lust. Elisa. Krista.
Run, lest it catches up to you.
Leave it all behind. Run. Run! Keep running!
Look at you! Running all this distance!
That's right, keep going!
You're running!
Finally, you're running freely!
Finally, the boy who loved running can run!
Amazing! A miracle! He can finally run!
Why are you making such a face, Mark?
Why are you feeling this way?
You can finally do what you have always wanted!
Why do you feel so bad?
You're running!
Why do you feel so bad running now? When it was what you had always dreamed of?
What's wrong with you Mark? Why aren't you happy?
You're running! Isn't that what the story you told Elisa was about?
You're running! Keep running!
It's all you can do! Run! Run! Run!
Oh, I see.
It doesn't feel as good as you thought it would?
Were you mistaken to dream about running?
Is running not all that great after all?
No, that's not the case, is it?
You feel horrible about what you've done. About what you were about to do. About what you could have done.
But it should have been expected, Mark.
In any case, why do you hate running too?
The boy you used to be, the boy who loved running, wouldn't have felt this way.
Running would have been enough for him.
THIS would have been enough for him.
You changed. Did you change?
Why did you change? How did you change?
You can't tell, huh?
"Well..." Shrouded in darkness, an onlooker whispered. "I'll have to teach you some things."
The white-scaled Monster fell to its palms and knees.
It raised its gaze.
It was back.
Back at the Border between Sloth and Lust.
How terrible it feels to retrace one's steps.
How terrible it feels to run this way.
You get it, don't you?
The difference between running towards something, and running away.
The body of water started suddenly moving.
An explosion occured under the water.
Or at least, that's what the force made it seem like.
Dozens of Monsters exited the water with that explosion.
But they didn't have their eyes on the white-scaled Monster.
What lay at the center of the mass of Monsters was...
"ARGHHHH!!"
