Reborn As An Evolving Monster

417  This Darkness Belongs To...

"DON'T GO EASY ON ME NOW!" The white-scaled Monster shouted as it struggled to get its balance back.

A punch from the General of Wrath had landed on its stomach, yet the General hadn't pursued. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"You really are the best!" Zino leaped forward.

The exchanges had gotten more and more intense, but as Mark's Endurance Points were getting lower and lower, the General of Wrath had adjusted his speed.

Just fast enough for the white-scaled Monster to barely have the time to react.

The General was kindly and generously allowing that Monster to shine. To shine as much as possible before the end.

The white-scaled Monster extended the claws of its left hand.

"That won't work on me!" The General of Wrath shouted as he pulled his arm back. An arm covered by Aura!

Zino's pelt was too thick. There was no way for Mark's claws to pierce, slash, or damage the General.

But that wasn't the white-scaled Monster's goal!

The General of Wrath's clenched fist connected with the Monster's cheek, immediately sending the latter's body away as well as breaking its fangs.

But as that fist connected,

'He's not going for my stomach...?'

The claws had suddenly started moving upwards.

They clashed against the scales that covered the General of Wrath's wrist!

And from that collision, sparks were born.

The hit had launched the white-scaled Monster away and into the air. One of the sparks born from that collision was different.

Spark Of The Primordial Flame-

 BOOM!

The distance and timing were perfect! The explosion had hit the General with full force, making the wind flee and the earth tremble! "That..." The white-scaled Monster's words were cut short as a bucket of blood was thrown up. Its shattered teeth fell to the ground. "That wasn't nearly enough, was it? Zino!"

With a chuckle, the General of Wrath cut the cloud of smoke in two, his eyes sparkling.

"You really are the best!" Zino shouted with a large smile. "I can feel an explosion approaching!"

'This isn't enough. More. I need more. To shine brighter... I need that Darkness! Dark Magic!'

Tsk-

'But I can't feel it! That connection, that feeling... Who knew fighting an insurmountable wall could be so fun? Who knew facing Certain Death could be so freeing! It's so freeing that it feels like there's no darkness in me. But I need it! Search for it, pull from it, bring it out! The same way that the Corruption inside my body flows outwards, bring out the darkness in me!'

Mark's eye suddenly widened. Zino smiled. The explosion approached!

'Absorbing Mana from his hits... I can't do it well without those Gauntlets. But this is different! Lightning, I do not know. But Darkness, I am familiar with!'

"EXPLODE BRIGHTER, MONSTER!" The General shouted as he started running forward, sparks of Lightning oozing out of his body erratically.

'What I need to pull Darkness from... Isn't myself!' The white-scaled Monster's hand started moving. 'What I need to pull Darkness from...' His palm touched the ground. 'Is this place-'

Both noticed it at once.

Zino, from the corner of his right eye.

Mark, from the corner of his left eye. The General would have noticed first, was Mark not already aware of it.

The capriciousness of the Moon and its Light!

Whimsical vibrations moved through the air.

Both were facing one another. At the edges of their fields of vision, the Moon hung high.

Light that only exists when seen-

The Moonlight had suddenly grown weaker.

No, it was growing weaker!

They turned their gazes towards the Moon at once. And as they did, Mark and Zino noticed them.

Spirits? Ghosts? Creatures Of The Night? Devils?

Dozens, hundreds of them!

They all stood motionless, with their arms slightly raised, and their gazes fixated on the Moon.

The full Moon, up in the dark sky. Its light had grown... Weaker?

No, something was there!

Something was spreading!

It was as if the Darkness in which the Moon floated was starting was spread! As if the Moon, through its Light, had detached itself from the Darkness and that, with its shadow-like hands, the Darkness was holding onto the Moon, refusing to let it separate itself from the Darkness!

The shadow-like hands spread! The Darkness aimed to Devour the Moon!

'What is...?'

It was as if something was placing itself between them and the Moon. Something that exuded no light was moving to cover the Moon. To keep its Light from reaching the ground. To plunge the world into Darkness.

'A lunar eclipse...?'

But even more so than those, it seemed like the Moon was spinning. Like it was turning around. Its bright side disappearing. The Dark Side Of The Moon showing itself. Synonymous to the Darkness in which the Moon bathes in appearance.

The Ghost-like beings' mouths opened. They stared, as if enchanted by the spectacle.

Soon, only a ray of Moonlight would remain.

The Ghost-like beings screeched! Suddenly, more of them appeared, as if pulled from their slumber by their brethren's screeching.

Hundreds and hundreds filled the area. The General of Wrath imbued his body with Lightning!

The last ray disappeared. A hundred wolves howled! The Ghost-like beings moved with great speed!

No, they didn't move. They were pulled. Their bodies quickly formed a river. Mark and Zino were like unmovable rocks that the flow moved around!

The General turned around.

What they were moving towards was...

A piercing and bone-chilling screech resonated!

Laylah's body moved. There was no other way to say it. The movement was too bizarre for Laylah to have moved by herself.

On each side of her body, her arms had remained limp. Her knees didn't bend, nor did her hips or any other part of her body.

It was truly as if a large and invisible hand had wrapped its fingers around Layla's body, and brought her to her feet.

The blood that stained her pale skin faded away. A weak light shone from her side and stomach. Magic! Something translucent... Filled the space that had been made by the General's attack. Translucent skin, translucent organs. A very, very weak and faint light.

She was brought to her feet. Like a lifeless doll, her head hung forward.

With a sudden jerk of her neck, Laylah raised her chin. Or was it raised by that invisible...?

Her eyelids opened wide as dark veins appeared around her eyes!

She stared at the Moon. The Moon that had been swallowed by Darkness. The Moon that had been hidden. Her eyes were dark. Her pupils, her irises, her sclerae.

She stared... At the Dark Side Of The Moon.

The General of Wrath, seeing Laylah sacrifice herself for the Monster, assumed that the latter was the Treasure. That the Protected was the more valuable. That Laylah was the Key that had opened the impenetrable Barrier.

But it turns out that...

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