Chapter 78 Toys And Playthings

BOOM-

Both Mark and the Fire Spirit gazed at the explosion that covered the village in smoke.

"Strange... Only got one message this time." The Fire Spirit commented.

'So all of them survived, huh? Expected as much.'

"What we doing now? Should I keep shooting?" The Fire Spirit asked, excited to be outside the Fire Spirit Core.

While he could enter the red gem whenever he wanted, the Fire Spirit could only leave it when called out.

'Let's go take a closer look. Levi, you come too.'

A couple of minutes later, the three stood in front of the village.

The ground was scorched.

The logs of wood that made up the houses were burning vividly.

"Hehe!"

The village had been left in shambles due to the attack.

And the Fire Spirit truly felt proud of its own firepower.

Every house had been destroyed.

Only the slightly smaller shack, made of bricks, remained.

Though it was half destroyed.

"Marvelous..." Levi commented as he looked around.

"Isn't it? Haha!"

'Your destructive power really is insanely high. The rest is... Well, most of them dodged the attack, didn't they?'

"Uhu. Guess so. Are you saying I lack accuracy? Need I remind you how I had you on the ropes last time?"

'Well, yeah. You had me on the ropes. And yet, here you are.'

The Fire Spirit looked away, obviously annoyed and unable to retort.

'Still, I'm surprised most of them had the time to run away...' Mark wondered.

"Should I go look around the... Village, my Lord?" Levi asked.

Indeed.

It could barely be referred to as such anymore.

'Sure-'

Weak and barely audible growls that only Mark had managed to pick up echoed.

'In there...?'

Mark stared at the brick shack.

It was half destroyed, and yet,

'Something in there?' Mark wondered, as he walked towards that shack.

"My Lord?"

"Anything left?" The Fire Spirit asked excitedly.

Mark peeked inside the half-destroyed shack.

His eyes widened.

It was more a room than a shack.

"Argh..."

It was more a prison cell than a room.

"Arghhh..."

Painful weak cries echoed.

Rays of sunlight passed through the holes made by the Fire Spirit's attack.

'This guy is...'

The same skin.

The same hair.

The same long ears.

'Different.'

"Waaa..."

Wide and round eyes stared back at Mark.

Levi stood a couple of steps away from the shack.

"My Lord?"

The next second,

SMASH-

Mark's back hit one of the shack's brick walls.

BAM-

He was suddenly launched away with great speed.

Mark's body tore down multiple trees before hitting the ground and coming to a stop.

'Ugh. Strong...' A drop of blood went down Mark's face.

GROWL-

A ferocious and vile creature broke the chains that held it captive.

"My Lord!" Levi shouted before running towards the shack.

GROWL-

Before he could get close, the shack was turned to debris.

Destroyed by the Monster's sheer physical strength.

Its body was incredibly muscular.

Purple veins covered its arms, neck, and face.

So did large and dark purple spots.

"Amazing..." The Fire Spirit commented.

The Monster's red eyes were burning vividly.

"It took my attack. And yet, less than a third of its body was burnt."

The Monster was about four meters tall, making it much taller than both Mark and Levi.

Its left thigh and side were burnt to a crisp.

"Still. A third isn't too bad." The Fire Spirit whispered, as if trying to make himself feel better.

The next second, a punch landed on the Monster's side.

Meanwhile,

'Ahh. It hurts...'

Mark pushed a fallen tree off his body.

'That guy really can throw a punch. Did it break ribs? Mm. Seems not.'

He stood back up.

'Its Strength is probably way higher than mine. Since it caught me by surprise, I can't really judge its Agility.'

Mark's gaze fell on the Monster.

It had just grabbed Levi's arm.

The next second, the Underling's whole body was swung into the air before being slammed onto the ground.

The Fire Spirit lazily watched over the scene.

[Corrupted Dark Elf Berserker: [A] Ranked Monster.]

'Berserker? I've heard of those. If its Rank is the same as that one, then...'

Mark started running forward.

'It probably sacrifices both Agility and... Intelligence? For Strength and Vigor.'

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

[Sacrifice?]

[That's a good way to put it.]

The Monster growled powerfully.

'Now's not the time. Stop talking.'

Levi's body bounced off the ground, after being slammed.

"Ugh!"

He hurriedly stood back up.

Sparks of electricity appeared all over his arms.

The Berserker's growls stopped.

It opened its mouth wide.

The ferocious growls turned into laughter, as a twisted smile appeared on the Berserker's face.

'Its strength is extraordinary, but it seems to have lost all reason.' Levi thought as he raised his arms.

He observed the incoming Berserker.

The latter came to a stop.

"Eeeh?" It cried out.

The Berserker's eyes were wide open.

'Really?' Levi thought, as he stared at the Berserker whose posture changed.

He took a step forward, and so did the Berserker.

'It's mimicking my movements. Does it not think me a threat?' Levi asked himself.

The smile on the Monster's face grew wider.

"Suit yourself." Levi declared solemnly.

The two stared at each other.

As if the scene had been previously rehearsed, both moved towards one another at the exact same time.

But before they could each other,

'Levi sure is mature, huh?' Mark thought as his body spun in the air, just behind the Berserker.

Using his momentum, a violent and instantaneous tail flick hit the Monster's nape.

Sonic Tail Flick[B+]

The Berserker stumbled.

The shock from Mark's attack had left the brain inside its skull shaking.

'I would've definitely been riled up by its taunting.' Mark thought, as he landed by Levi's side.

"My Lord, are you-"

'Don't worry about it.'

Mark immediately ran towards the huge stumbling enemy.

Red Aura appeared all over his right arm as he clenched his fist.

Punch-

'Huh?'

A smile appeared on the Berserker's face, as it lowered its gaze.

'It's like...'

The world around it had become blurry, but not so blurry that its enemies couldn't be seen.

The Berserker used an open palm to sweep the area in front of it.

'Hitting a mountain-'

Occupied by his own thoughts, the attack sent Mark flying.

'It doesn't even need to use its whole body. Just the strength of its arm is enough to push me away!'

Mark turned his body around to kill his momentum.

He landed on all fours.

The next second, Mark ran towards the enemy once more, leaving the ground below cracked.

Meanwhile, consecutive quick attacks landed on the Berserker's stomach.

Levi's fists, covered by a Mana that resembled lightning, left faint burn marks on the Monster's body.

"You really think your little sparks will be enough to burn it? When my Fire barely did?" The Fire Spirit commented from afar.

"Cease your blabbering and fight instead." Levi retorted as he attacked the unmoving Monster.

"Nah. Don't wanna!"

The Fire Spirit stared at the scene.

'It's not fighting back. Actually... The more this guy's attacks land, the wider its smile gets. Don't tell me...'

A chuckle escaped the Fire Spirit's mouth.

'It's almost like those sparks are tickling it.'

With great speed, Mark's claws drew four bloody lines on the Berserker's lower back.

'Tsk. Can't slash through all that muscle.'

The Monster, sensing pain, immediately turned around.

Its chin was met by a tail flick.

'It landed! This much should-'

The Berserker stumbled, and its smile widened.

'Just how sturdy is this fucking guy?!'

Mark's claws slashed the Monster's stomach and chest again and again, while Levi punched its back repeatedly.

"Ha... Hahahaha!"

'It's laughing?'

The Berserker stumbled forward.

Noticing that slight movement, Levi immediately slammed both his arms on the enemy's back.

'Nice timing!'

The Monster lost its balance and fell to the ground.

'What the hell?' Mark thought to himself, bewildered by the sight.

The Berserker's laughter only got louder.

"HAHAHAHA!" The Fire Spirit, who stood a dozen meters away, laughed out loud. "It's the dizziness! The dizziness is making him laugh hysterically."

Indeed, the Corrupted Dark Elf Berserker couldn't hold its laughter back anymore.

The combination of both dizziness and uncontrollable laughter made getting back up a struggle.

'The dizziness, huh? Is it the first time you got that feeling, sturdy fucker?' Mark thought, as he angled his body.

Suddenly, the Corrupted Dark Elf Berserker's loud laughter ceased.

It raised its arm.

A great "Bam" resonated, as Mark's tail hit the Monster's open palm.

Grab-

'What-'

Mark tried to free his tail, but the Berserker's grip strength made that an impossible task.

"Pffff! The dizziness is gone, now he's mad. Oh my! This is so funny!"

"My Lord!" Levi shouted as he rushed at the Monster.

With a spinning back fist, the Berserker launched Levi away.

The Monster raised its arm up.

And with it, Mark's body upside-down.

Feeling humiliated, rage immediately filled Mark.

'You little...' He pointed an open palm at the Berserker's head.

A fireball appeared.

The next second, its flames became red.

[You have learned a new Sub-Skill!]

[You have learned the Sub-Skill "Flame Of Chaos, Fire Ball[B]".]

The Fire Ball exploded on the Berserker's face, immediately burning part of it.

"GRRAAA-" The Monster mindlessly shouted as it stepped back.

'How do you like that? Little fuck-'

But just as a second Fire Ball was about to be shot, the Berserker started spinning around.

Like an athlete about to perform a 'hammer throw', the Monster spun around and around.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck! Didn't loosen its grip at all!'

Faster and faster, the Berserker spun around with its arms extended in front of it and Mark's tail in its hands.

The latter tried raising his arms, but realized he couldn't.

The speed at which the Berserker was spinning around made it impossible.

'The force is... It's limiting my movements!'

The Fire Spirit's laughter echoed.

The speed kept increasing. Until Mark could feel his tail being stretched.

The fear of having his tail ripped activated the Passive Skill "Tail Lengthening[D+]".

And as the tail in its hands started getting longer, the Berserker's stern expression quickly turned into a smile once more.

"Uwaaa!"

The spinning got even faster.

"My Lord!" Levi shouted as he ran towards the scene.

The next second,

"Bwaa!"

Mark's tail was let go of.

His body was thrown.

With insane speed, he pierced the air.

Mark tried to spread his wings, but the speed was such that he couldn't help his wings from folding.

"Waaaa!" The Berserker's eyes shined as it stared at the moving Mark.

A plaything that was getting further and further.

"Insolent little...!" Levi raised both arms at the Berserker's back.

Great Lightning Bomb[C-]

Boom-

The explosion slightly burnt the Monster's body.

Still, it chuckled.

Despite the lightning permeating throughout its body that made its muscles twitch.

'Now that its movements have been impaired, I'll-'

Levi's thoughts were immediately interrupted as a powerful fist covered his field of vision.

The world around him became blurry.

Levi's whole body would have been launched away, had the Berserker not gotten a hold of his arm.

The Corrupted Dark Elf Berserker raised its hand and, therefore, Levi's body off the ground.

He tried to free his arm, but once challenged by the Monster's grip strength, that very same arm broke like a twig.

Painful cries echoed.

Still, despite the pain, Levi extended his free arm towards the enemy.

A smile appeared on the Monster's face.

A second punch was thrown by a Berserker.

That smile got wider.

Followed by a third.

A fourth and a fifth.

But then, the Berserker's smile disappeared.

"Ughhh!"

It moved its newly acquired toy around.

"Agh... Agh...!"

The plaything had gone limp.

The Underling, Levi, had lost consciousness.

"AGHHH!"

Great rage took over the Berserker.

Rage so powerful, that it was about to break the toy it had been playing with.

"My, oh my. Seems I'll have to step in now."

A red fireball hit the Berserker's back.

"Uwaa?"

It dismissively threw away Levi's body.

"An unmoving toy isn't that interesting, huh? Truly childish. I like you. Although... You're pretty ugly."

The Berserker's smile came back as its gaze laid on the Fire Spirit.

It excitedly ran towards it.

The Berserker clenched its fist and,

Woosh-

Its eyes widened.

'Owaa...?

The punch it had thrown, with all its strength, had simply passed through the Spirit's body.

A palm made of flames hung in front of the Berserker's confused face.

"Mm. Good luck winning against me."

A fire ball hit the Berserker's face once more.

"Hahahaha!"

"You still think it's funny, huh? Yeah, I really like you."

The Corrupted Dark Elf Berserker eagerly swung its fists repeatedly.

"Uwaaa!" It screamed out cheerfully.

The Berserker had found a new toy.

An incredibly amusing toy.

A toy, it couldn't wait to break.