Reborn As An Evolving Monster

"Ah...Ahh... AARGGHHHH!"

Mark could feel goosebumps as the Guardian screamed and cried.

The eyeless hawk that had protected it from many attacks was now gone.

The crushed and decapitated head rolled on the ground, several feet away from the Boss Monster.

'Finally... Finally!'

The exit.

The outside.

A whole new world.

After who knows how long.

After who knows how many fights.

After so many cuts, wounds, and injuries sustained.

After so much pain.

The result of all his suffering, was finally within reach.

Mark wanted to think.

To reminisce.

But now was not the time.

Despite losing one of its heads, the Guardian was still standing.

And judging from the pressure it exuded, it would remain standing for a bit longer.

Now wasn't the time to reminisce.

Mark's feet hit the ground.

Now was the time to topple the final wall standing between him and the world.

Without a care about the Guardian's cries, Mark extended his claws.

Lacerations upon lacerations were drawn on the Boss Monster's back.

The latter stumbled as it turned around, its right arm still frozen solid.

Grey jumped up after closing the distance.

Wind Blast-

With a Bam, the attack hit the Boss Monster's side.

It wasn't powerful enough to inflict any visible damage, but more than enough to make the Guardian lose its balance.

And as it fell, Mark launched himself forward, as if to lay on his enemy's body.

The Boss Monster's back hit the ground, and Mark's claws approached its neck.

Suddenly, the Guardian opened its mouth wide.

No sound, no screech, no scream.

But it only took a split second for Mark to realize what the feeling that had taken over his body meant.

He had no time to think.

Berserker[SSS].

With speed his mind was unable to keep up with, Mark's hands instinctively lay on the Guardian's chest.

Using his momentum and the Boss Monster's body as a ledge, he threw his body forward into a front handspring.

Mark's gaze didn't leave the Guardian's mouth.

It couldn't.

Not after that had materialized in front of its mouth.

The attack had missed him.

But not by much.

A hair's breadth.

The distance Mark both adored and detested.

Adored when he was in control, and detested when...

He raised his gaze to the ceiling.

A gigantic dark sphere covered a large portion of that ceiling.

The sphere started suddenly shrinking in size.

It only took a second for it to disappear into thin air.

As if it had never been there.

The only thing that remained, was a large crater.

Mark's leg twitched.

The same Magic Type that the Calamity Of Minos had used, way back on the Eighth Floor.

After experiencing everything that the Dungeon could offer, Mark understood.

Dark Magic.

He had only seen it a handful of times, but he had tasted it twice.

Dark Magic.

It doesn't burn things to ash.

It doesn't damage things until they turn to dust.

No.

When hit by it, no sense of pain follows. Not even when losing a hand.

No.

There is no need to inflict pain or agony.

Dark Magic is much simpler than that.

And Mark understood.

With his gut, he understood.

Dark Magic simply, and unfairly-

"Fuck... Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Elisa shouted. Dark Magic. Memories. Bad memories.

Mark gave an order, his hands still on the ground.

The Fire Spirit extended his palms towards the fallen Guardian and Grey opened his mouth wide.

Elisa brought her hands together, conjuring a spherical, violent, and unstable typhoon she could barely control.

Eye Of The Storm-

Scorching Sun & Flame Of Chaos-

Wind Blast-

The three attacks were shot at once.

And once they covered about half the distance, Mark's Mana Points were consumed at an incredibly high rate.

Earth Manipulation-

Since the ground was made of stone, and not earth, the Mana Consumption shot way up.

Manipulating a floor made of stone, and not earth, was something he had previously tested.

The stones surrounding the Guardian were broken and reassembled at an insanely high pace.

This, too, increased the quantity of Mana consumed.

Entrapped under a dome made of a thick layer of stone, was the Guardian and the three Magic Attacks.

Elisa and Grey had started running away from the Guardian's position as soon as they had shot their attacks.

Mark remained on the same spot, increasing the number of layers around the Boss Monster and their thickness.

The attacks collided with the Guardian's body, and Elisa caught Mark out of the corner of her eye.

As if in a trance, he continued using his "Earth Manipulation" Skill.

She raised a hand in his direction.

Unbeknownst to him, a layer of protective Wind had been cast around his body.

'It'll explode any second now... Any... Second now...!'

His Mana Points kept getting lower and lower, until,

[Your Moonlit Feline Underling is looking at you.]

As if suddenly woken up, Mark jerked his head, stood up, and took a step away from the-

An explosion the likes none inside the Boss Room had ever witnessed took place.

The dome of stone, despite its numerous layers, could hold it in.

And the Fire Spirit seemed pleased.

"Looks like we might be a match made in heaven after all..." He whispered, before the shockwave forced his flames to fade away.

...

'Argh. What just...'

Mark opened his eyes.

Dizzy and confused, he looked around.

Pain all over his body.

The Boss Room.

His heart rate shot way up.

Sigh-

He thankfully noted that the smoke inside the Boss Room hadn't settled yet.

His back was against the wall.

And it hurt. His spine had been severely damaged.

'What happened... I can't see through...'

Kek-

'Don't tell me it...'

Kekekekek-

Delirious laughter echoed from the center of the Boss Room.

The Vigor Stat necessary to withstand such an attack head-on, Mark didn't even want to think about it.

Advanced Body Reconstruction-

'With this, about two-thirds of my Mana is gone...'

He remained unmoving and silent, quietly letting his Mana Points recover.

Apart from the Guardian's laughter, no sound could be heard.

Nothing moved.

Mark assumed that the Fire Spirit and Elisa had decided to act the same way he was.

'Grey, is he still alive?'

The System answered.

[Affirmative.]

'Good. Then right now is-'

Slash-

Mark's eyes immediately widened.

Something had been sliced.

He couldn't tell what it was.

Or who it was.

Heaps of blood cascaded onto the ground.

He could only hear it, but there was no doubt in his mind that was the sound of blood being spilled.

'Elisa...?'

Mark wanted to call out to her through the dense smoke.

He opened his mouth, only to close it back down a second later.