Reborn As An Evolving Monster



'Not yet...'

The first Colossal Harpoon made with Corruption Magic was dodged.

'Not yet...'

The two remaining were immediately rotated so that their trajectories converged on the Commander.

At the same time, Mark upped his speed.

Noticing that the three would arrive at the same time, Ani's mind went blank.

Thinking was more Lin's thing after all.

When things get a bit tough or slightly dangerous, her mind would shut off.

'Geh!' Mark groaned as a punch blew one of the Colossal Harpoons away. 

Not only was it blown away by her strength, but the wind pressure made it so that even the dark liquid the weapon had been made of was splashed away from her. 

'Still...!'

With a backswing, the remaining Colossal Harpoon was blown away. This time however, the fact that it was a swing and not a straight punch tore the Colossal Harpoon. Ani's left arm was splashed by the dark liquid.

But that wasn't Mark's goal.

At this distance, with this timing, the Commander only had two choices. 

Defend against the Colossal Harpoon, or against the Dark Corrupting Spear in Mark's hands.

The fact that Ani chose the former made the corners of his lips curl.

The tip of the spear kissed her stomach when,

'Ha!'

Mark's smile turned nervous as the Commander's left hand took hold of the Dark Corrupting Spear.

Even though he was holding it in both hands and using all of his strength to push it forward, one hand while standing upright was more than enough for her to counter him completely.

Mark's left hand moved away from the Dark Corrupting Spear as flames rose.

With a snap of her wrist, Ani broke the Dark Corrupting Spear's blade off.

Fire Manipulation-

With his palm to her face and flames rising, Mark's goal was,

Slash-

Five seconds later,

"Well... That's embarrassing."

"You don't have to say that twice." The white-scaled Monster groaned as it scratched its nape. 

"Ugh..." Elisa sighed and scratched the side of her head with her Timeworn Elven Dagger's hilt. "Didn't strike me as the kind to have sharp senses." 

"More like a wild beast... If that even makes sense?"

"It does. Could be a Passive Skill. Or just pure instinct."

"Pure instinct?"

Isn't instinct just the body moving by relying on the senses?

'Huh... They're talking? Just when I was getting in the zone too.' Ani thought to herself.

"What do you think?" Elisa asked.

"Same as before?"

"Not sure that would work against her. I attacked when she was most focused on you. Barely grazed her neck when the goal was to... Anyways. Her Senses aren't that sharp. But her reaction speed is as fast as it gets."

"So?"

"So... What do you think?"

"You have no idea or plan?"

"Nope." Elisa shrugged. "I can keep up with her speed. It's a Strength Versus Win Magic battle. At least until... Whatever coming gets here."

"You can see it too?"

"Sense it, yes. I'll fight, you assist me."

"Fine..." Mark grumbled, unable to find a better way of fighting.

But the next second, 

"Commander!"

"Commander!"

"Shit..." Elisa cursed.

"Took you a while, lazy bums." Ani turned towards Elisa who was walking closer. "So it's you, huh? The one who killed him. You have a light step. And don't leave traces behind you." She cracked her knuckles. "Makes more sense."

"Not sure who you're talking about." Elisa stretched her arms up. "Anything I killed, he could have killed alone."

"I doubt that would be the case with Lin. Remember him? Orcish Fiend just like me. Green skin. Green eyes."

"Doesn't ring a bell..." Elisa lied before letting out a long yawn. "Maybe he died too quickly to make an impression."

A vein popped on the Orcish Fiend's neck.

"That's how you want to play it?"

Despite the smile on Ani's face, Elisa could notice her anger.

"Mark, you take care of those with Krista." 

"Huh?"

"I'm taking her." Elisa suddenly turned around after taking a step forward. "I noticed you've been staring at her a lot too. That your type?"

"My type?" 

Ani let out a chuckle. Even though she was preparing to kill the two of them.

"Well..."

Mark's gaze lingered on Ani's body. 

The latter felt a chill go down her spine.

A familiar feeling.

"I've always had a thing for muscles, I guess." Mark added before turning away. The Commander's Soldiers were approaching Krista after all.

"Muscles, huh?" Elisa turned back to face Ani. "I wish I could say Speed Versus Muscles. Let's call it Muscles Versus Brains."

"Don't you two get along well. An Elf and a-"

"Stop right there." Elisa interrupted and made her Timeworn Elven Daggers spin. "I've heard that one before."

Ani let out a chuckle.

"I can imagine." She said before clenching her fists and moving forward.

A couple dozen meters away, the Lioness roared and the ground below its front paws started freezing.

The Ice quickly started spreading towards the enemies approaching, which forced them to jump back.

Out of the ten Soldiers serving under the Commander, three were Archers.

They hurriedly took aim and shot their arrows.

But before they could hit target,

Wind Blast-

With a swing of his right arm, Mark blew the incoming arrows away.

"This might be more my level." The white-scaled Monster whispered while the Lioness behind it roared.

Each group stared and studied the other for a bit.

"Oh, a dog."

"I'M A KOBOLT!!"

"Right... Been a long time since I've seen one."

"One?"

"Yeah." Mark smiled slightly. "One of your kind."

Boa, one of the Commander's Soldiers, couldn't believe his ears.

"Coming from a Monster? Racism? Really?" He let his arms hand in front of him. "If it came from a Human I would understand but... No. I'm used to it from Humans. But from a Monster? That's just... THAT'S JUST-"

"That would be Speciesism."

"Huh?"

"Speciesism, not racism."

Boa's eyebrow was left twitching.

The next second, his gaze moved all the way to the right, before moving all the way to the left.

He locked eyes with each of the Soldiers by on side before,

"We're..."

They tightened their grips over their Swords, Spears, Maces, and Chains.

"We're killing him."

Punch-

Elisa dodged by bringing her center of gravity back.

This allowed her to retaliate with a leg kick which landed on Ani's side.

"Aiming for where he punched earlier?"

"How about no talking?" Elisa jumped back.

"I couldn't sense you at all. It's like you weren't even there."

"Thank you." Elisa rushed forward while keeping her body low.

"You hid all that time using the tentacles, huh? Almost gross how good you are at doing that." Ani said as she repeatedly dodged the Timeworn Elven Dagger's blades.

"Makes it all the more annoying that you're still standing after that."

The tip of Elisa's blade pierced Ani's shoulder.

No. She let it pierce that shoulder.

'Shit-'

Elisa crossed her Timeworn Elven Daggers in front of her chest before the hit could land on her body.

"Muscles beat Brains it seems." Ani sneered as Elisa's body was lifted into the air by the hit.

The latter used the force to spin in the air before landing gracefully.

"Mmm... Not how it went with that guy. Two of you are kin, right?" Elisa asked confidently. 

She did her best to hide the shaking of her arms. The sting from the impact of Ani's punch wasn't negligible.

Still, this wasn't a Mindless Monster she was fighting. Different rules for different kinds of Monsters.

Ani's eyebrow twitched.

"That Commander. Oh, right. That's who you were talking about. Green skin, yeah. Passed by a bunch of Goblins on the way here, so I got confused."

The Commander's hands opened and closed repeatedly.

"What was his name again?"

"Lin."

"That one was Brains, wasn't he? Mmm... Didn't turn out so well for him."

"How did it happen?"

Elisa made her Daggers spin.

"Who knows."

The ground broke below the Commander.

'Breaking without her moving... No Aura either...' The corner of Elisa's lips started rising. 'I'm getting better and better ideas about ways to rile you up further!!'

The iron chain was spun faster and faster.

At its end, a spiked ball of iron.

"Haven't seen of these ever." Mark whispered to himself. He raised his left arm, and a dark liquid started seeping out of the dark circles on that arm. "Let's try it."

Two Soldiers swung their Swords horizontally and in unison. The white-scaled Monster jumped up to dodge their tips and spun, aiming to land a Tail Flick. But before its tail could move, two Spears were extended towards its side. 

Wind Blast-

While the Blast threw the Spears out of their trajectories, it also moved the white-scaled Monster as it was airborne.

As he landed on the ground, Mark spun the chain in his hand. The dark and spiked ball at the chain's end collided with the one made of iron used by the Soldier.

'I need to keep an eye on Elisa. Tsk. This could be fun, but I have to finish it quickly. If the three of us move against that Commander, then we might stand a chance.'

A thin and shallow wound was drawn on Ani's arm.

'Get more annoyed. Get angrier. Show me... More openings!'

'The traces of Corruption... They weren't only coming from him...'

The quietly enraged Ani cracked her neck.

"One as crazy as the other, huh?"