Reborn As An Evolving Monster

"I'm just as bad as them..." Mark whispered after a couple of silent minutes. "I'll be killing you now, kay?" He said as he slowly stood up.

The Ex-General of the Tyrs had long accepted his fate.

The amount of blood leaving his body had diminished. There wasn't much blood left after all.

Barely conscious, he simply lay there.

A peculiar emotion filled his mind.

'I'm glad...'

The white-scaled Monster took a step closer.

'That strength, that Aura, the Magic Types used... The emptiness in those eyes, the madness, the darkness...'

And another step closer.

'It let my whip and lightning hit. How perverse...The curiosity to know what it feels like... The curiosity and desire to experience the pain they inflict... Childish curiosity. Bottomless...'

The white-scaled Monster placed its foot on the Ex-General's head.

'The laughter and shouting... The wrath and joy... One after the other... Madness... Twisted... I can tell. I've lived long enough to tell... And I'm glad that I am dying now...'

Pressure-

'You're still young. Still incomplete. Immature. I'm glad...'

"How does it feel? Being stepped on by someone who used to be a cripple?

'That I won't have to witness the horrors...'

Crack-

'That you will bring to this world...'

Crack-

'I'm glad to die before you grow, young Calamity-'

Crush-

[You have defeated a General of the Tyrs!]

[You have acquired 800 Experience Points!]

[You have Leveled Up!]

With the sound of a skull being crushed, the low whimpers stopped.

In the dead of the night, in the middle of the dark forest, it was quiet.

Not a bird, not a leaf, nothing. Nothing made any sound.

Mark remained standing for a bit, unmoving.

Quiet.

When was the last time it had been this quiet around him?

His gaze moved to the left.

A dozen meters away, a Monster resembling a large Bear.

Below his foot, another corpse.

All around him, trees and nothing else.

The moonlight reflected on the white scales.

The cold wind brought his way the scent of the Bear's blood.

They were dead.

It was quiet.

What now?

'Wonder if cooking the meat has an effect on the Devouring.'

Mark walked towards the Bear-like Monster that had been cut in three.

He stood in front of it for a bit.

Its scars, its wounds.

It was obvious that the wounds came from the Ex-General's whip.

The white-scaled Monster chuckled.

'Did you run away and find me? Or did you run towards me?'

Mark crouched, and Devoured.

He stood back up, opened his mouth wide, and brought a hand to his chin.

The white-scaled Monster's fangs started, one by one, decaying and falling off.

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" is pleased.]

[Your Title "Devourer" is pleased.]

New ones grew and took their place.

Sharper and larger fangs.

"Better to eat it raw. Maybe it's also better to Devour a body that isn't too damaged. Would be more... Nutritious?" Mark whispered to himself.

[Your Title "Devourer" nods.]

"Couldn't you have told me about that a long time ago?" He chuckled dryly.

The white-scaled Monster turned towards the main course.

"He wasn't that strong, so I don't care much about the rest. But you better get me that." It whispered.

[Your Title "Devourer" rolls its eyes.]

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" says that it will try.]

The right arm, left arm, left leg, and right leg, which had been separated from the body, were swallowed one by one.

The crushed head didn't look like an appetizing place to start from, so the Devourer started from the left shoulder.

Gulp-

[Your Title "Devourer" is pleased.]

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" analyzes.]

"Take your time. Make sure you get it."

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" nods.]

Mark stared at the message, before raising his gaze.

Where to go?

He thought about calling out the map, but that wouldn't help much.

The white-scaled Monster chuckled, and spun around for a couple of seconds, before stopping and pointing forward.

"That way."

He chuckled some more, before walking forward.

Aimlessly, the white-scaled Monster walked with an expresionneless face.

A couple of minutes later,

'Wonder where this will lead-'

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" sighs in relief.]

[You have acquired the Magic Skill "Sprite Discharge[B+]".]

'Sprite? Oh, red lightning, huh? Then this must be the one he used earlier. Good enough for me. Let's see...'

The white-scaled Monster raised a hand, and sparks of red lightning moved up and down his elbow. But,

"Tsk. Not again..."

[The Magic Skill "Sprite Discharge[B+]" is Locked.]

"Feels the same as how Fire Manipulation did at first..."

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" is disappointed.]

The white-scaled Monster shrugged.

[Your Title "Devourer" sniffs around.]

[Your Title "Devourer" watches with sparkling eyes!]

"Mm?"

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" is puzzled.]

[Your Title "Devourer" chuckles.]

[Your Title "Devourer" remembers a similar scent!]

"Similar...? Oh. Really? Now that you say that, it does remind me of it but-"

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" remembers!]

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" praises your "Devourer" Title!]

[Your Title "Devourer" chuckles.]

'Really...?'

Mark called out his Inventory.

A second later, lay in his hand,

"Huh. Nia told me to take it out then. The Monster didn't seem that strong though... Does it mean that Nia put it in there? Huh... Could that be why I thought of the centi..." Mark shook his head. "I do remember feeling anxious about Devouring it..."

In dead quietness, the white-scaled Monster laughed out loud.

"I kept it hidden for so long that I completely forgot about it! You're sure it's related somehow?"

[Your Title "Evolving Monster" nods enthusiastically!]

[Your Title "Devourer" argues that you should never doubt its sense of smell!]

"Fine. At the time, Nia said that I wasn't strong enough to use it. Guess that has changed, since I don't feel anxious at all. I just... Feel hungry. Very hungry looking at it."

On the white-scaled Monster's hand lay an Item it had acquired long ago.

"Despite leaving the Dungeon... Its Rank didn't change."

An Elixir.

[Fire Giant Core: [S] Ranked Item.]