Reborn As An Evolving Monster

295  Nonsensical Strength

Geh-

Dd-

Ugh-

The white-scaled Monster groaned and grunted as it defended against the Orcish Fiend's attack.

"Come on! Is that it?? That all you got??" Ani provoked as her fist landed on Mark's defensively risen fist.

Each hit was enough to blow his arms away and leave his body defenseless. Yet, he still had the time to bring those arms back in front of his body. Even if just barely.

'Fuck...' Mark cursed internally. 'This is so infuriating!!' The white-scaled Monster's right foot stepped back and its upper body spun.

Destructive Tail Flick-

"Mm." Ani nodded as the hit landed on the side of her arm. "This one isn't bad."

'Barely made her move. This freaking Monster!!'

Mark tried widening the distance, but Ani didn't let that happen.

Ice Manipulation-

Frost covered the ground below the white-scaled Monster's feet and started spreading towards the Commander when,

"You'll have to try harder..." Ani raised her left foot off the ground. "Than that!"

Both Frost and ground were cracked. The Ice had been completely blown away.

Still, this movement allowed Mark to jump back.

'So infuriating!' He thought as Ani's words resonated inside his head again and again.

Show me-

You'll have to try harder-

Words that reminded him of another's words.

'Feels just like it did against that fucker!! Annoying... Infuriating...! Aghh, I'm sick of it.'

Mark shook his head.

Now wasn't the time to think about useless things.

'Me having shards of two Deadly Sins... Is it that interesting to you all?'

"Let's keep this going! Show me what you can do!!" Ani shouted as she ran forward.

'Just fight me!! Why...' Mark launched himself forward, holding a Fire Ball in each palm. 'Why do they all feel the need to test me??'

With the Commander's speed being superior, it took no time to cross the distance.

Instead of focusing on speed, Mark focused on timing.

'It's tough enough that I don't know anything about thise World...'

As she pulled her fist back, he brought both his palms and the Fire Balls resting above them together.

'And they just keep swarming and testing me one by one...'

The two Fire Balls were stable apart, but by bringing them together and pumping them with Mana at a critical time,

BOOM-

A cloud of smoke filled the area.

'Just let me go about my fucking business. Just doing that is confusing enough!'

The High Elven Pupil made it so the smokescreen hid him but didn't hinder his vision.

"Tsk."

The Commander clenched her fist, but the instant she was about to swing her arm, a tentacle was slammed.

The smoke dissipated, revealing Ani's body barely bent down due to the pressure and weight.

"You should seriously..." Her hands reached above, taking hold of the tentacle that was about twice her height in width. Despite the tentacle's slimy aspect, her grip was strong enough to grab. The Krishren tried pulling it back, but she refused to let that happen.

With her arms raised above and her hands full, Mark immediately decided to go on the attack.

"Stop butting in and..."

Still, closing the distance against the Commander didn't seem like a good idea.

Mark prepared to use the Scorching Ray Magic Skill, but before it could be shot, Ani's body moved.

"READ THE FUCKING ROOM!"

The Mana that was being Condensed dissipated.

Mark could only stare in disbelief.

BAMM-

Fighting large enemies was something he had grown accustomed to. The fact that "bigger" didn't always mean "stronger" something he had learned long ago. The Eighth Floor's Guardian was smaller, yet stronger than all the other Minotaurs that inhabited the Floor.

But it was Mark's first time witnessing something so nonsensical.

"Phew..." Ani wiped her forehead. "Now I'm mad."

Grabbing it from its tentacle, the Krishren had been pulled out of the water.

A Monster many times bigger than the Commander.

Its body, not only had been pulled out, but lifted into the air and slammed on the ground.

It hadn't been dragged or pulled, but lifted.

The strength to punch through a bigger enemy and the strength to lift that enemy are completely different things.

"Now..." Ani cracked her knuckles. "Let's continue."

The white-scaled Monster could only chuckle nerveously.

'Good thing she's taking her time though...' Mark thought to himself as he took a step back. 'If she had been going at it seriously from the beginning...'

The Commander took a step forward, before abruptly coming to a stop.

"Shit..." Ani cursed. "Thought I had a bit more time."

Mark raised an eyebrow.

The next second, all the remaining Krishrens dove under and disappeared.

He didn't want to take his eyes off the Commander, but she was standing so nonchalantly as she stared at the body of water that he felt he could afford to do so.

'Huh...'

The instant Mark's High Elven Pupil was directed at the water,

'What is...?!'

A gigantic and chaotic mass of purple Mana was traveling under the surface, getting closer and closer.

"Agh..." Ani sighed. "Tshukah's Pet is already here, huh? Should have taken it a while longer to sense me and cross the border though..." She whispered. "Anyways. We can either finish this a bit further or continue here."

A slight frown appeared on the white-scaled Monster's face.

"You seem confused, so I'll explain. We move away and I'll take my time killing you. We stay here, and I'll have to do it quicker. What do you think?"

The white-scaled Monster's nostril rose, and so did its cheeks.

"Huh... That's an interesting expression. Suit yourself." Ani cracked her neck.

Ani smiled as she slammed her fists together.

"Let's make this a good one. And the last one."

'She doesn't want to fight whatever is coming. Frankly, I'd rather not fight both at the same time. Actually... If whatever is coming can get in her way from time to time, that would raise my chances.'

Mark let out a sigh.

'Realistically, there are zero chances of me winning against her. So what I have to do is...'