Chapter 34 A Child?

Mark stared at the Guardian's unmoving body, as something akin to a sickle pierced its abdomen from the inside out.

The tender spider abdomen was vertically cut.

From that severed abdomen, something was about to emerge.

'Still alive?'

Mark immediately extended both his arms.

Mana was being condensed.

Two blazing spheres hovered.

But before they were even shot, the Great Fire Balls faded.

From the slit spider abdomen, a hand emerged.

Different from the hands that Mark was used to.

It was different from an Orc's, a Weretiger's, or even his own.

Small, weak, and fragile.

A hand that could only belong to one species.

The hand moved, and soon, an arm exited the spider abdomen.

A pale arm covered by some sort of mucus.

The arm, entrapped by the spider abdomen, struggled to push its way through.

Mark felt somewhat entranced.

Curious, he wasn't sure how to act.

'Should I attack, or...'

From the slit spider abdomen, a foot emerged.

A delicate leg made its way out.

And soon, as if from a cacoon, a creature emerged and stood on two frail legs.

Mark's muscles immediately tightened.

'A child...?'

What looked like a Human covered in mucus had exited the Arachne's abdomen.

The "child" had vibrant green hair.

Long and luscious, it covered the creature's shoulders and fell to its waist.

The creature moved its left hand.

Mark couldn't help but instinctively jump back at the sudden movement.

Gently and delicately, the "child" wiped the thick mucus off its pale skin.

Thin limbs, tiny muscles, a height that might've reached 150 centimeters at the maximum.

A frail figure that, at a glance, screamed innocence and vulnerability.

Shiver-

Despite that frail appearance, every muscle fiber, every cell that made up Mark's body, warned him not to underestimate the being in front of him.

'What is-'

A piercing gaze suddenly fell on Mark.

Piercing, yet innocent.

It was as if the "child" could see deep into Mark's soul.

Shiver-

Without meaning to do so, Mark took a step back.

The "child" had the same face the Arachne Monster wore.

An eerie atmosphere reigned inside the Boss Room.

'Is this supposed to be the Guardian's second form or-'

The "child" raised its right arm up.

Only then, did Mark notice.

The only body part the creature possessed that was not human, was that arm.

From the elbow down, the creature's right arm looked like a curved blade.

As it stared at Mark, a smile suddenly appeared on the child's innocent face.

'What... Is that?' He asked telepathically.

[The Sixth Floor's Guardian.]

His gaze slowly turned towards the unmoving Arachne Monster he had just defeated.

'And... What was that, then?'

[The Sixth Floor's Guardian.]

'What does that mean-'

Before Mark could finish his thought, two majestic and blueish butterfly wings suddenly burst forth from the child's back.

Shiver-

The sight of those wings was enough to make Mark raise his guard up.

The "child" raised its left foot off the ground.

Delicately, that foot moved forward.

'What is-'

And as soon as that weightless foot touched the ground, the Guardian disappeared.

Mark's pupils dilated.

His heart started beating faster than it ever did.

Immediately, the realization dawned on Mark, that he was outclassed in both speed and agility.

Outclassed by a landslide.

Only one thing could keep up with the Boss Monster's speed.

His Advanced Kinetic Vision allowed him to follow the Guardian's movement.

From Mark's point of view, time started flowing at a much slower pace.

This, made his movements akin to those of a sloth.

Yet, the Guardian's didn't seem affected at all.

A fraction of a second was enough, for the "child" to position itself right behind Mark.

All the latter could do, was bathe in the intense pressure he was feeling.

The Guardian's sickle-like arm was raised up high.

Images of his impending doom made horror burst forth, as he hopelessly stood tall.

Mark knew the Boss Monster was there.

He knew, that it was right behind him.

After all, Mark had seen the Guardian move.

Nevertheless, his body lacked the ability to keep up.

He instinctively tilted his body forward.

An attempt to limit the damage, he was fated to receive.

Slash-

And as a river of blood was freed, Mark's back was painted red.

A diagonal wound had been drawn.

Thin, yet deep.

Cut in two, part of his left wing hit the ground

The pain was great, but Mark had no time to dwell on it.

Gritting his fangs with such force that they bled, Mark launched himself forward to create some distance.

'Fuck! Too fast-'

With the corner of his eye, Mark managed to spot something.

Relief and freight intertwined.

'Should I call Fiery? No... I should leave. I should escape from here...'

Mark turned around to face the Guardian.

Behind it, were the doors he had crossed to enter the Boss Room.

His leg muscles were prepared to run at a moment's notice.

'I should... Run away-'

The twitching leg muscles froze.

'Run... Away?'

Mark's gaze went back and forth from the doors to the Guardian.

'No... I have to run. I can't let my arrogance-'

Mark noticed something.

'Its face...'

The Guardian stood still.

'It's not smiling anymore. It...? It looks... Stressed?'

Indeed.

The "child" wasn't smiling anymore.

It seemed Mark wasn't the only one feeling slight anxiety.

On the other side of the Boss Room, one of the dead Arachne Monster's legs started levitating.

It flew towards the Guardian with great speed.

The attack was dodged, but,

'Its movements aren't as fast... Should I... It's a gamble... A tough gamble... Either the perfect chance to flee, or the perfect chance to strike.'

A nervous smile appeared on Mark's face once more.

'What... Should I do?'

A meaningless question.

After all, as Mark asked himself that question, red Aura, proof of his fighting spirit, was already oozing out of his body.

Mark launched himself towards the Guardian.

A strong punch hit the ground where it had been standing.

CRACK-

A second punch was thrown.

A third one.

The Guardian dodged every attack.

'It's faster than me, but it's not as fast as it was before. Was that a Skill? It must have been, but then... Is it waiting for its Endurance or Mana to recover? Can it only use the Skill once? Or maybe it has some kind of a cooldown? I haven't seen any Skill requiring that but...'

After throwing more than 20 punches, Mark finally managed to graze the Guardian's side.

He had only grazed it, but the Boss Monster's side started bleeding heavily.

'Low durability, low strength. It's all agility, which means that...'

Mark stared at the sharp curved blade that was the Guardian's arm.

'What I must focus on is taking that arm. It's the only thing that can damage me.'

The Boss Monster jumped back.

Mark brought his hand to his back.

With a Fire Ball in his palm, he burnt the wound on his back.

The pain was momentarily great, but he quickly felt much better as the severe bleeding stopped.

'As long as it doesn't use that Skill again, I'll win.'

Mark raised his right hand, and a weapon appeared in his palm.

Dark Corrupting Spear.

Mark's only [A] Rank offensive Skill.

The Guardian, sensing an insane amount of Mana being condensed, flapped its wings and flew up.

Staring at the dark spear felt the same as staring at infinite darkness.

The sight of such a weapon was more than enough to make the Boss Monster anxious.

From its five fingers, poisonous bullets were shot at Mark.

A red barrier of Mana protected him.

'Can't throw the spear accurately on such a small target. I'll have to damage it with the spear if I want the corrupting poison to enter its body. But since it's so small, the poison should do the job pretty quickly.'

The next second, the barrier was undone and Mark sprinted forward.

He jumped up towards the Guardian and extended his weapon.

The Boss Monster easily dodged Mark's attack in mid-air, but a sharp projectile wounded its right arm.

'Shit. Couldn't slash it off completely...'

Mark's momentum was enough for him to reach the ceiling.

Using both his empty hand and his herculean strength, he made a hole in the ceiling.

The next second, using the ceiling as foothold, Mark launched himself like a bullet.

By a hair's breadth, his attack missed the Guardian's body.

Mark hit the ground with great force.

A cloud of dust covered the area around him.

Once he stood back up, a smile was, once more, on the Guardian's face.

It moved its wings and, slowly, started descending to the ground.

'Time's up, huh?' Mark thought as he slightly bent his knees and elbows.

He spread his one remaining wing.

With majestic grace, the Guardian landed.

Once again, it raised its foot off the ground.

'A weird Skill, but...'

Once the Boss Monster's foot was about to touch the ground, the Dark Corrupting Spear was thrown with extreme strength.

A sharp screech resonated as the weapon pierced the air.

But despite its speed, the spear missed the target.

Or rather, the target danced its way out of the spear's trajectory.

Mark felt somewhat enchanted by the Guardian's graceful movements.

But, once again, he had no time to waste.

Why?

Because the Guardian was already standing behind him, with its sharp blade raised high.

The Guardian was already standing behind him, ready to cut his head off.