338 Simpler World
Fight Monsters.
Kill Monsters.
Devour Monsters.
Evolve.
Grow stronger.
---
Born with a weak heart.
What's wrong with me? I don't know.
Is there something wrong with me? I don't know.
Why are they leaving one by one? I don't know.
What can I do to change things? I don't know.
Can I change my circumstances? I don't know.
My life. The world. Myself.
Can I impact any of those? Can I change anything? Is there anything I can do?
I do not know.
What's wrong with my body? I can't tell. Half of the time, no one can tell.
Complicated.
Why does it have to be so complicated?
---
Fight. Kill. Devour. Evolve.
Is there something wrong with my body? I'll check my Status Window.
I'm weak. I'll fight and grow stronger.
I'll live as a Monster and kill other Monsters.
Simple.
This world. This life. Much simpler than my past one.
I like it.
Everything is explained through the System.
Everything is clear.
Death won't come suddenly. I'll be aware of it through my Health Points.
How tired am I? I can check my Endurance Points.
Is there something wrong with my heart? Was I poisoned? My Status Window will tell me everything that's needed.
Simple. Clear. Everything is well-defined.
Be a Monster and kill other Monsters.
Why did it have to change?
Why did it have to become complicated again?
I don't like it.
It scares me.
It feels like I'm going back to that time. That time when I didn't understand anything.
I thought I had a good grasp on it inside the Dungeon.
But now, everything changed.
Krista, Elisa.
I love them. I hate that the world has become more complicated.
Who is on my side?
Was Yarnha against me?
What was Lin after?
What is she after?
Why?
Why did it change?
Why do I feel this way?
Do I want to kill her?
Why doesn't she act like a Monster?
It would be so much simpler then.
I am a Monster.
I can't act like one.
Not in front of one who doesn't act like a Monster.
That's why I didn't kill Krista. That's why I didn't kill Elisa.
I don't want to kill her either.
I hate the fact that I feel this way.
I want to kill her.
I've been afraid of this all this time...
Afraid that it would change.
Looking back, that's probably why I wanted to kill Elisa early on. n/(o(.V(-E--l()b.)1-(n
That part of me, I didn't want her to wake up. I didn't want it to grow.
I wanted to remain a Monster. I wanted to forget about my morals.
I wanted to shut down the Soul.
To shut down -Mark-.
I wanted the Devourer and the Evolving Monster to win.
But I am both Mark and the Devourer.
Mark is weak.
Mark likes beautiful things.
Mark likes women and cats.
Mark grows to respect certain opponents.
Mark gets emotional.
Mark gets confused.
The Devourer doesn't.
The Devourer and the Evolving Monster does its job.
One purpose.
Devour and Evolve.
Much simpler. I like it more. It's easier that way.
I wanted the Devourer to win.
But Elisa tipped the scale. A scale that had already been messed with by Krista.
In front of her, who do I want to be?
Who do I want to act as?
The Devour & the Evolving Monster?
Mark?
The Devour & the Evolving Monster?
Mark?
I wanted to leave them in the Elven Forest because I wanted to Devour and Evolve. Because I wanted to fight and kill Monsters.
But if I'm not fighting Monsters...
If the one standing in front of me isn't a Monster then...
Then what?
Why couldn't this World remain a simpler one?
***
The Commander's body shook with anger.
The white-scaled Monster quickly jumped.
"You made him... Smile..." Ani whispered.
The twitching of her face, Mark recognized it.
"You were the one... Who made it smile... And then... And then..."
The torrent of thoughts and emotions raging inside her, Mark could imagine it. He had gone through similar experiences multiple times.
"You killed him... Before I could... You did it... You made him smile... You... You...!"
Ani clenched her fists powerfully, and the wind around her fled as fast as it could.
"I WAS THE ONE SUPPOSED TO DO IT! YOU... YOU...! YOU TOOK IT FROM ME!"
Mark took a deep breath in, and raised his fists.
She wanted him to smile.
She wanted to rid of him of his boredom.
But someone had beat her to it.
Truthfully, she had decided on this quest long ago.
Yet, no progress had been made.
11:35
She knew he understood her.
But she doubted that she understood him.
He made her smile after all.
But she rarely managed to make him smile. To make him truly smile.
Perhaps she didn't understand him at all.
Perhaps he wasn't just bored by his abusers, but by her too.
Perhaps he didn't do anything for her. Perhaps he simply found it even more boring when they walked towards her.
Perhaps... Perhaps...
Perhaps it was for the best that he died.
Perhaps it was for the best that someone else made him smile.
The weight of his boredom weighed heavily on him.
Even more heavily on Ani, it seems.
Still, he had died.
Still, she had to do something.
Still...
What else is there for Ani?
She followed him wherever he went.
She rose up the Ranks inside the Demon Lord of Sloth's Army alongside him.
Now... Where to go?
There's nothing left.
No one left.
That confusion, that fear, that anxiety, turned into anger.
And the white-scaled Monster seemed like the perfect recipient for that anger.
'No Mana... My Endurance Points... Feels like I might pass out anytime. I can't run away from her. I don't have the Endurance or the speed for that. In the first place... Why would I run away? Where would I run away to-'
Mark hit the side of his head with a palm.
He took a deep breath in, and calmed his mind.
'Bet everything...'
[Your Skill "Combat-Focused Pupil[C]" activates to the fullest extent!]
'On this exchange.'
With his left hand extended forward, and his right one slightly behind, Mark waited for her to move.
'Aim...'
He extended the claws on his right hand, making sure to keep them hidden from the Commander.
'For the heart.'
As time started flowing much slower inside Mark's mind, the same was happening to the Commander.
Except that for Ani, it wasn't the effect of a Skill.
Her brain was going into overdrive.
Life review.
Ani seemed to see her whole life.
She wasn't as close to death as one would expect. She wasn't closer to it than she had been in other circumstances.
She was closer to death than she had ever been after becoming an Orcish Fiend and a Commander.
But that wasn't the issue.
Her whole life seemed to have crumbled with Lin's death.
Her life as an Orcish Fiend, her life as a Commander, everything seemed to have gone up in smoke.
What happens after killing the white-scaled Monster?
Living as a Commander?
But what's the point without Lin? He's the reason she had become a Commander in the first place.
Every aspect of her life had been molded around him.
Everything had been decided with Lin in mind.
Now that he was gone... Now that he was gone...
The Commander launched herself forward.
'Screw thinking... Let's fight!'
It was the toughest decision Ani ever had to take.
<nulli>-What to do now? What to do without Lin?-
Let the fight decide it.
<nulli>-Nothing matters without him. What's the point?-
<nulli>Let the fight decide it.
<nulli>-I'm scared. How am I supposed to decide? I have no idea what to do.-
Let the fight decide it.
<nulli>-Oh. Right... If I die, then I won't have to decide.-
Let Fate decide for you.
Her fist approached his sternum.
His claws approached her heart.
Suddenly, an explosion.
<nulli>SPLASHHH-
Immediately, a wave of sudden anxiety traveled the two.
That wave didn't leave Mark.
The explosion was coming from the Border.
From the body of water.
Because of the way the fight had gone, his back was currently turned to it.
Both of them had frozen upon hearing that explosion.
Only Ani could see what was beyond.
He noticed her eyes widening.
He didn't dare turn around with such an enemy in front of him.
The next second, he could hear rapid footsteps.
"COMMANDER!!"
"COMMANDER! WE'RE HERE!"
"COMMANDER! WE MADE IT!"
Shivers started running up and down his spine.
The Soldiers that had been with her earlier.
The fight was a close one.
But with Soldiers on her side, the only way it could was-
'Why didn't I think about them?? Why did I assume... How many...'
Mark's mind raced.
And while his mind was racing, the Commander moved.
He had let down his guard.
His body froze.
Mark expected death.
He only realized that she had moved once she was standing by his side.
She was standing by his side, staring at the Border.
The Commander let her guard down.
Confusion overtook the white-scaled Monster.
In that instant, she definitely could have killed him.
That momentary laps during which he thought about the Soldiers.
What was she doing?
What had he let her guard down?
Mark was convinced. He could feel it.
His claws could definitely reach her neck right now.
That's how low her guard was currently.
But she hadn't attacked when she could have.
Was she trying to bait him into attacking?
Were her Soldiers signaling something?
The Commander extended her arms up. Only one hand could reach towards the sky.
"Ahhh..." Ani yawned as she stretched her arms. "I'm tired."
