Chapter 99: A Play Button?

"Then what's the wait for?... Let's stop dawdling and just get this over with"

........

*Flash*

Marcus and his demon jumped into the portal without any hesitation. Marcus seemed more interested than the demon as he took the first step into the void less portal.

The demon who comprehended Marcus's interest was surprised, just minutes ago, the man before him was crying for petty reasons. Now just after enduring the hidden memories of his first dungeon which was supposedly one of his biggest traumas, he had started acting how an 18-year-old would.

The light inside the portal was a bit too blinding, it was a bit too lustrous for Marcus, who had lost his powers for the time being. But he didn't wince, Instead, he stared into the exit point which was, now just a few meters away from him.

The demon grinned to himself as he watched Marcus dive headfirst into the exit. One of the dungeons was enough to bring an attitude change to this extent.

The demon could only marvel about the random probabilities which would possibly occur in the happening minutes. He now wondered only one thing.... a synonymous question and an obvious one at that too, which started with 'WHAT IF?'

'What if, Marcus went through the remaining ones?'

The question was worth asking for, the demon thought. If Marcus could have a large scale change after his time inside the hidden memories, then...

Would it create an indestructible monster who could fly in the face of even gods, or would it possibly create the strongest guardian ever to whom even the gods would fall short?

The Demon put a period to his questions.

He knew...

Only time could reveal the answers to his questions.

*Flash*

Marcus landed on his feet as soon as the hole on the portal vanished. It was just as he suspected. It was the second dungeon... the home of the nine tails!!.

He walked on the grass as he glanced right and left, watching the familiar trees and the dense forest inside.

"We are here!"

The Demon came right behind him and patted his shoulders.

"You ready?"

"Yea"

Marcus replied to the demon. He shook the demon's hand off his shoulder.

"What?... I am trying to be nice here"

The demon took a step back, shrugging bus shoulder... and in a swift action kicked the redhead in front of him.

He kicked him... or so he thought.

Marcus was quick on his feet when he sidestepped to his right dodging the demon's obsidian leg.

And keeping his hands in his Capri, Marcus turned a whole circle before hopping in the air to land a jawbreaking tornado kick with his left on the alarmed Demon.

The kick connected straight and square to his jaw, as the demon, clutching his jaw, pummeled into the ground.

"That there was a good kick"

The inner demon emerged from the air behind him and grinned.

"I know... Now let me finish this one as well, you are wasting my time"

Marcus shook his head and started walking off to the forest.

"Yeah sure... Go on..."

The demon gestured with his hands open towards the forest.

"We'll have to fight soon anyways... kekeke"

The words of the inner demon were barely mutterings as they escaped from his mouth.

....

Marcus was still walking deep into the forest. He type of had a rough idea of what to search for him to trigger the second trauma.

'Wait!, Am I a bit too excited?'

Marcus thought. He was oddly trying to find the mental trauma as soon as possible.

'Do I actually have a pain fetish'

Was another thought that passed through his mind.

Marcus was thinking to himself as he wandered deeper into the forest until he reached an open space, equal to the size in which revoker arenas were constructed.

"And there he is"

Marcus let the words escape as his eyes spied the boy in front of him.

It was the boy... His younger self... But this time, his body was not frail like it used to be. Rather, his body was polished, with ripped abs jutting out like keypad buttons. The new Marcus was leaning his back against a tree and yes, he was, yet again, weeping.

This time, Marcus wasn't appalled. Instead, he sprinted towards the boy with everything his legs could muster.

His face had no expressive detail, it could've been called neutral, but the way he hooked his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes could only be interpreted as one thing... that his mood leaned a bit towards the angry side.

*Bang*

Marcus thrust his leg into the stomach of his younger self, he kicked him!!. He kicked him with such force that even the tree the boy was leaning on broke into two.

Marcus's eyes shot up for a second. He was surprised at how fragile the tree was... just like he used to be, it somehow made him think that the fragile tree symbolized his past self and how he had just overcome it and broke it into two.

But it didn't matter to him. Because right now, only withstanding his trauma amounted to something, and for that, he needed to uphold physical contact with his younger self. He realized it from the previous dungeon.

Touching the young Marcus took him to the hidden memories and undoubtedly it was the same case in this dungeon as well.

So he thought... why not be rough?

"It's Cringe... The way you cry even when you've been given the tremendous duty of a 'Lame' guardian."

He was barefoot and his leg was nudged into his younger self's gut, who was now out cold, sprawled on the green dirt ground.

*Zap*

Marcus was yet again hit with the tormenting pain which coursed through his leg. But it soon vanished as he thought it would when his mind cleared and the indistinguishable murkiness, giving rise to its arrival, engulfed him.

It was as if he was floating, not in the air, but water. Marcus's vision was dizzy, he felt as if he was sinking deep into a bottomless ocean.

It was murky, to that very extent that he couldn't see anything besides the bubbling murkiness all around him.

But the small screen, yet again, arising before him was as clear as the day to him.

But this time what the screen showed was something a lot different from what he had seen heretofore.

He remembered that the screen on the previous dungeon had just displayed menacing eyes and elicited dialogues.

But the screen before him this time had buttons on them. And the vision on the screen itself was a lot distinct from the visions a few minutes ago.

On the very center of the screen was a familiar 'Play' button.

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Author Notes.

I hope it wasn't rushed, but I seriously think this was necessary.

Reached the word count so I'll be splitting the chapter. Accidently wrote more than I should have. But trust me everything I am writing now will carry gravity for the future of Marcus. So stay tuned for the hidden file which is soon uploaded.

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