Reborn As An Evolving Monster

128 The Final Guardian

'Understand with my gut... Understand with my gut... That means focusing on how it feels, right? The same way I learned Earth Manipulation, huh? Not by thinking about Earth Magic, but rather about how Bone Manipulation feels, and assuming that Earth Magic would be something similar...'

[Your Title "Gaavah's Follower" is waking up from its slumber.]

'Was that as productive as you thought it would be? Cause I expected more.'

[She told you that you lack understanding, didn't she?]

'Yeah. So?'

[It's not a matter of productivity.]

[You're the one lacking, so don't complain.]

'Whatever.'

[I'm guessing you'll now go to the Guardian?]

Mark's hand twitched.

With his left hand, he grabbed his right wrist and moved his right hand around.

'Yeah. The Final Guardian...'

[The Dungeon's Guardian.]

'That's the one...'

[You're nervous.]

Mark only answered a couple of seconds later.

'I am.'

[Good.]

[You should be.]

'That's not reassuring at all.'

[It's good to see you nervous before a fight once in a while.]

'Oh, really?'

[Yes.]

[It means that you will take it seriously.]

Mark put a hand over his shoulder.

Crack-

'I'm not in the habit of not taking things seriously anymore.'

[You say that, but I doubt your words.]

'This isn't just any Monster waiting for me. It's the Dungeon's Guardian.'

[So you'll use everything you have right from the start?]

'Well... No. Because...'

[So you're not taking it seriously.]

'No. It's just that... I would rather not overuse the Berserker Skill.'

[You can't be scared of your own Skill.]

[You'd be fighting two battles at once.]

'Any advice then?'

[Nothing new.]

[Keep in mind what she told you.]

'About understanding Skills?'

[Your Title "Gaavah's Follower" falls back into a silent slumber.]

'Mmm... The Berserker Skill...'

Mark wondered about it.

...

About two hours later, Mark, Elisa, and the former's Underlings stood next to the tower of bricks.

'Nia.'

[Your Title "Gaavah's Follower" is waking up from its slumber.]

[Need me to show you the way?]

'I'd appreciate it.'

The next second, a good distance away, a portion of the forest disappeared.

"That where the Boss Monster is?" Elisa asked.

[Probably.]

She took a deep breath to calm herself.

Mark thought her anxious, but it was the opposite.

Her restless hands rubbed against each other.

[You almost seem excited.]

"I am! How can I not be? I'm finally making my way outside. Away from this tower, from this fake forest, from this lame excuse of a sun, and this fabricated Mana. Finally..."

[Good.]

The group of eight started walking forward.

They walked silently, but two members seemed keen on breaking that silence.

"Aren't you?" Elisa asked.

"Of course he is. He's a brute that's acting like it's tamed itself." The Spirit argued.

"Is that so?"

"Obviously. He's making it seem like he's deep in thought and nervous, but he's not."

Elisa nodded.

'That makes me feel a bit better.' She thought.

[If you really want to know, I'm not excited.]

[Sorry to disappoint.]

"Huh? Even though we're about to make it out?"

[Because we're about to make it outside.]

"I see."

[I usually don't get excited before fights anyways.]

[I only do once I see the enemy.]

Elisa chuckled.

"Yeah. I can picture that."

After walking for a while, they arrived at a curious area.

"A hole in the scenery." The Fire Spirit commented.

"Shows how fake the sky and everything else is."

Mark and his Underlings had previously found the wall that encircled the forest.

A wall that perfectly maintained the illusion of an endless forest.

A portion had now disappeared, leaving a large and dark hole through that wall.

They stood in front of that hole.

Beyond it, a floor made of grey stones with a greenish hue.

Mark was the first to take a step through.

His Underlings followed.

Despite her excitement, Elisa seemed to prefer taking her time.

A cramped corridor.

Dozens of meters beyond, a narrow circular room.

'No doors?' Mark asked himself as he cautiously approached the room.

Once he stood at its center, its function became obvious.

"Should I pull it?" Elisa asked, her hand on a lever.

'Get away from the walls.' Mark ordered his Underlings.

Seconds later, Elisa pulled the lever.

Cogs started moving.

Creaks and squeaks.

The room started moving.

Krista immediately glued her body to Mark's legs.

"An elevator, huh? Isn't that nice." Elisa commented as the room moved upwards.

"I don't like it. Makes maintaining my flames harder. Since it's constantly moving and I have to readjust." The Spirit grumbled.

"It probably won't last too long. Now that I think about it, the other Floors didn't have elevators. Made going back to the forest a chore."

'Tell me about it.' Mark complained to himself.

"Pretty interesting mechanic." The Spirit commented.

"Probably made by Dwarves."

"Dwarves? What's that?"

Mark wasn't a fan of elevator small talk.

Badam-

Creak-

The cogs had stopped moving, and so had the room.

"We're here." Elisa said.

[We are.]

She was the first to step out of the room and enter a short corridor.

It gave way to a large room.

Stairs.

Seven steps.

And beyond those steps, gigantic doors closed shut.

Mark and his Underlings stood below those stairs for a bit.

So did the Fire Spirit and Elisa.

They stared at the enormous doors.

"So... What do you think is on the other side-"

Ear-splitting screeches resonated from beyond the doors, interrupting Elisa.

Shrieks and screeches took turns making Mark and Elisa's stomachs turn.

Cries and howls.

Full of agony and pain. Of rage and hatred.

Elisa quickly realized what caused those cries. She didn't know what kind of Monster, but what that Monster was afflicted by was obvious.

Mark's left arm shivered.

[Your Title "Devourer" is eagerly licking its lips.]

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" demands more traces of Corruption to play with!]

'If it's been Corrupted, that means it won't be able to fight at its best. Or at least, it'll have lost, at least, a portion of its intellect... But even then, if a Monster is strong enough, no matter how much it is poisoned or weakened-'

"What are we going to do?" Elisa asked as she stared at the ground below.

[Kill it and get out of here.]

"Yeah. I guess... Yeah. That's what we're doing."

[Need some time to get over it?]

"Get over what?"

[I don't know.]

[Whatever it is.]

"Hmph!" Elisa turned her head away. "Just because it's suffering from Corruption too doesn't mean I feel bad for it."

[Good.]

Mark stepped forward.

"Huh?"

[Let's go in.]

He walked over the steps, and placed his palms against the huge doors.

"Just like that?"

With a grunt, Mark pushed the doors.

[Just like that.]

The group peeked through the narrow opening.

And what welcomed them was,

ROARRR-

SCREECH-

An abomination.

A monstrosity.

A creature whose appearance was so hideous, so repulsive, so horrific, that it made even Mark take a step back.

'What is... That...?'

The nightmarish creature seemed to be about five or six meters tall.

Its height was hard to estimate due to its constantly hunched back. A back from which the creature's spine seemed on the verge of bursting out.

Pale skin all over, so pale it appeared blueish. Covered by small bumps.

Its feet resembled those of an eagle. Its talons were sharp and long. Too long, in fact. So much so that their continuous and unnatural growth and contact with the ground had grotesquely deformed them.

Its legs seemed to have, long ago, been covered by feathers. Now, however, only patches of colorful feathers remained here and there.

The creature's wings and arms were one. The separate limbs seemed to have, for some reason, fused together. They, too, had lost most of their feathers. At the end of its upper limbs, deformed fists and claws that had taken the appearance of rocks.

At the joints, pieces of flesh were missing.

The creature had three distinct heads.

"That..." Elisa started.

One of those heads, was that of a hawk. An eyeless hawk.

Its second head was that of a woman with long dark hair. A woman with no eyes or lips. A woman whose lips and cheeks had been burned off, setting free her teeth into a brazen and unconcealable smile. A woman whose eyes had, somehow, been fully erased, leaving not even a trace.

"Is what you can usually expect from Corruption."

The creature's third head protruded from its stomach. A head with no features. None, except two wide eyes devoid of eyelids. Two wide eyes cursed to stay open forever. Two wide eyes cursed with Corruption that had turned them completely black. Differentiating between those eyes' pupils, iris, or scleras was impossible.

Unnatural.

Synthetic.

Anyone could guess with a glance.

Noticing the numerous stitches that connected the creature's different heads to its main body was far from necessary to tell.

Cursed, the creature's eyes sporadically let out dark tears as it screeched with pain.

Elisa slowly stepped back, and so did Mark.

A moment after his hands were pulled off the large doors, the gap between those doors disappeared.

Elisa walked away and towards a wall.

With her back against that wall, she bent her knees and let herself slowly fall to the ground.

Her gaze was glued to the ground.

"It's a Harpy. Or at least, used to be one. And now..."

She sighed.