Chapter 346 The Monster & The Child
Sometime earlier,
Her arm was reaching forward.
Her lips had parted, but the words refused to be uttered.
'Don't...'
Elisa grabbed her extended arm by the wrist and brought it closer to her heart as she trembled.
'Leave me alone...'
***
"Oh... I get it now. You're-"
BLEUGH-
The white-scaled Monster threw up.
And what exited its mouth, was a dark mass of,
Krch- Krch- Krch
Scamper- Scamper- Scamper-
"Ha... Haha... What the hell..." Mark chuckled weakly. "What the hell is that?"
What had exited his mouth was dozens, no, hundreds of dark insects.
They flowed out of his mouth and landed on the ground as if heaps of liquid.
Spiders, centipedes, cockroaches.
Hundreds had exited his mouth as he threw up.
'What the hell...'
Mark thought it was strange. He had fought Monsters similar to those insects. Gigantic Spider Monsters, huge Centipede Monsters. It truly was strange. Why did seeing these insects scare him more than their -much larger- versions?
The sound of hundreds of legs. The insects walked on one another.
Krch- Krch- Krch-
The dark insects scattered.
Was it a hallucination? Was it the dark liquid he had grown used to seeing hallucinated as a mass of insects? Mark assumed that was the case.
Still, a thought he couldn't keep back.
"I... Had all this inside me?"
A surprising thought. After all, hadn't he Devoured many Spider and Centipede Monsters inside the Dungeon? Why was there a need for a Floor full of Insects? Why choose such a Floor, especially when the Candidate was the Devourer? Mark hadn't thought anything of it all this time.
The way that the spiders' legs mixed up, making it difficult for the knots to be undone. The way the cockroaches flapped their wings without flying, the sound they made. The way the centipedes contorted their bodies to climb up or crawl below the others' bodies.
'All this... Inside me?'
The white-scaled Monster's puzzled eyes stared at the dark and moving mass for a while.
Between the layers of insects,
'Grass?'
Mark pulled his gaze away.
He was in a forest.
The sun had set long ago.
Had he spent hours running? Days?
It didn't really matter. So his gaze went back to the scampering mass on the ground in front of him.
The way that the centipedes had to twist themselves into a ball because their legs were caught by something. The way that the cockroaches at the top of the pile sank to the bottom from time to time. The way that the spiders at the bottom, despite being pushed down repeatedly, continued trying to climb.
Was it the dark liquid he had grown used to seeing hallucinated as a mass of insects? Mark assumed that was the case... At first.
"Oh... I had all this inside of me..." He whispered. "Then it makes sense..."
The white-scaled Monster's eyes widened.
Krch- Krch- Krch-
The sound didn't come from the insects on the ground.
Krch- Krch- Krch-
'There's... Something. Something... Stuck.'
Mark stared at his open palms for a bit.
'Need to...'
The next second, a dark Aura covered the tips of his index fingers.
'Get it out.'
He passed the lower portion of his hands over his head.
'Yeah... I always thought it was weird...'
His index fingers and the dark Aura came into contact with the sides of his head.
Twitch- Twitch-
Mark passed his hands and fingers over the ears he had just grown.
'Good. Good...'
Krch- Krch- Krch
He tilted his head to the left, and, with an open palm, slapped his right ear.
Krch-
Again.
Krch- Krch-
And again.
Krch- Krch- Krch-
A fourth slap made his eyes widen as he realized.
His fingers moved towards his left ear.
Pull-
'What was that doing there?' He asked himself as he stared at the red centipede held between his index finger and thumb that squirmed and contorted its body in an attempt to free itself. Mark brought it closer to his face. 'How long have you been in there?'
He stared at the centipede, and it wrapped itself around his index finger.
"Oh. Did Nia put that in there? During that Unique Evolution? Oh... It was around that time that my mind became... That was sneaky Nia! All this time it's been messing with my head. No wonder my thoughts felt scrambled. No wonder I couldn't think clearly. Mm." Mark nodded. "I should have known there was something wrong. It's red. Is there something special about it? I bet there is. Even though just having any centipede messing with one's brain perpetually would-"
"What are you doing?" The Darkness that suddenly appeared asked.
"Why... Why are you still...?"
"Stop trying to make excuses. Stop trying to put the blame on-"
"What... Where did it go?" Mark asked as his gaze went back to his hand. His index finger was covered by blood. "Where did it...?" He lowered his gaze. "Oh. Must have slipped away and joined the others."
"Are you done?"
The white-scaled Monster's face twisted.
"Why are you still here?"
"You can't keep deluding yourself-"
"I took it out. Why... Why are you still...?"
The Darkness remained silent for a couple of seconds.
"I won't let you."
"You won't let me... What?" Mark asked.
"I won't let you."
"YOU WON'T LET ME WHAT? YOU WON'T LET ME BE IN CONTROL OF MY OWN BODY? YOU WON'T LET ME LIVE AS I WANT? YOU WON'T LET ME STAY WITH ELISA? WHY? WHY DIDN'T YOU LET ME STAY WITH HER? WHY? WHAT DO YOU WANT? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM ME??"
"I don't want anything. I just won't-"
"OH! I GET IT! I UNDERSTAND NOW! FUUCK!!!!" Mark shouted as his fists descended upon the ground. The swarm of insects seemed to have scurried away. "THE REASON WHY YOU KEEP DOING THIS! THE REASON WHY YOU WON'T LET ME BE WITH ELISA! IT'S ALL CLEAR NOW!"
"What is?" The being shrouded in darkness asked as it tilted its head.
"YOU WANT TO GO WILD!"
"No, that's-"
"YOU WANT TO BREAK THINGS! YOU WANT TO DESTROY! YOU WANT TO KILL AND BREAK! YOU WANT TO MAKE OTHERS SUFFER! YOU WANT ME TO SUFFER! YOU WANT EVERYTHING TO BE DESTROYED!"
"THAT'S NOT TRUE! IT'S NOT TRUE!"
"THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
"I won't..." The Darkness started. Mark remained on his knees, and moved towards that Darkness. "I won't... Let you..."
"Because of you, I can't be with Elisa. Because of you, I was constantly scared of hurting them. Because of you, I can't trust anything fully. Not my vision, not the world around me, not my body, AND NOT MYSELF! BECAUSE OF YOU!"
"I WON'T LET YOU-" The being's words were interrupted, as both of Mark's hands were plunged into the darkness shrouding that being, and took hold of its neck.
"Die. Die. Die. Without you, I'll finally... You should just die. I want you to die. Die. Die! DIE!"
"I WON'T! I WON'T!" The being shouted as it choked for air.
"Die. Die. Die!"
"I won't! I won't let you kill me! I won't let you get rid of me!"
"I'm better without you!"
"SO WHAT? I WON'T LET YOU!"
"YOU WON'T LET ME WHAT?"
Part of the Darkness faded, revealing the right side of the being's face.n.-OVElb1n
It was obvious from the start, Mark thought. Size, voice, everything made it clear from the beginning.
"Die. Die. Just die!"
A teary eye. Dark hair. Bony cheeks.
Enraged by everything around him. Hateful because of his uselessness and helplessness.
Enraged, but unable to fight back against the white-scaled Monster's grip.
"I WON'T LET YOU..."
The white-scaled Monster squeezed with all its strength, wishing for nothing more than to break the child's neck.
"Die. Die. Die! Why won't you die? Why won't you disappear? LEAVE!"
"...FORGET ABOUT ME!"
The child it used to be.
"Just die!"
The white-scaled Monster's tone made it unclear.
Was it giving an order, or begging?
"I SAID I WON'T LET YOU FORGET ABOUT ME!!" The child shouted, its face revealing a mix of wrath and fright.
"I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER! JUST GO AWAY!"
"I'M NOT LETTING YOU DO THAT! I'M NOT LETTING YOU THROW IT ALL AWAY! I'M NOT LETTING YOU THROW ME AWAY!"
"I DON'T NEED YOU! I DON'T WANT YOU!!"
"I DON'T CARE! I'M NOT LETTING YOU FORGET ABOUT ME!"
The white-scaled Monster had shouted and squeezed with such intensity that it was left feeling dizzy.
Its bottom fell back onto its heels.
The white-scaled Monster used its hands to crawl back.
"DON'T RUN AWAY FROM ME!"
"I'M DONE RUNNING AWAY!"
Both stared at one another.
Both felt enraged.
Both hated the other.
For different reasons, they hated one another.
The white-scaled Monster rose to its feet.
Neither moved forward.
Neither looked away.
Neither stepped back.
The white-scaled Monster and the child stared at one another, their hands shaking.
The white-scaled Monster.
The crippled boy.
The white-scaled Monster.
The crippled boy.
Which one feared the other more?
