Mark's shoulder cracked.
'The difference in strength-'
He immediately jumped away.
The Guardian approached before bumping both its fists together.
Lightning started permeating through the scales that covered its arms.
'So he uses lightning instead of Aura?'
Once the two were within range, the fighters threw heavy punches at each other.
Mark's fist made the Guardian's mouth bleed while the Monster's left a burnt spot over Mark's stomach.
Other than the first punch from each, the rest was perfectly deflected.
'Seems we're even when it comes to Agility, but!'
Mark, feinting another punch, grabbed the Guardian's wrists instead.
The Guardian showed its numerous sharp fangs, despite its, otherwise, human-looking face.
'This is payback for before!' Mark thought as he slammed his tail against the Guardian's side just before the latter's fangs could reach him.
The Guardian's side was protected by scales, but the hit was more than enough to crack those.
The attack would have sent the Boss Monster flying, if Mark wasn't holding onto its wrists.
The Monster coughed up blood, before showing a devilish smile.
Only then, did Mark notice the sparks of lightning behind the Guardian.
'Son of a-!' Mark thought as he slammed his tail on the same spot.
"DIE!" The Guardian shouted.
But it was too late.
A net of blue lightning appeared around the Boss Monster once again.
But this time, the area covered was much smaller.
Which made the attack that much deadlier.
"AGH-"
As the lightning permeated through Mark's body, he could feel his body being burnt to a crisp.
The spots that had been reddened by the previous attack now looked like burnt coal.
Once the lightning faded, Mark's body was left swaying.
The Aura that previously surrounded him had disappeared.
Mark fell to his knees.
"It seems I have emerged victorious once again." The Guardian said as it raised its arm, ready to finish him off.
But just before it could do so, the strongest of Mark's Underlings, Calamity, hit it with great force.
The Monster was launched away and into the water.
'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck...!' Mark internally cursed as he tried his best to stay awake.
His body wanted nothing more than to collapse in order to recover.
'Calamity, you take care of him for now. Focus on protecting me.'
The Underling stood in front of Mark and faced the direction in which the Guardian had been launched.
'The rest of you... Come here.' Mark ordered, struggling to stay awake.
As if an explosion had taken place underwater, waves rippled as the Guardian jumped out of the water.
It stared at Mark and his Underlings with contempt.
While in the air, the Guardian extended an open palm towards Mark.
A great ball of lightning was launched in his direction.
The Guardian noticed the approaching Calamity right away.
But to the Boss Monster's surprise, something pierced through its lightning attack.
BOOM-
A great explosion took place in mid-air.
The Guardian, who lacked the body parts that would enable aerial mobility, was stabbed.
"Ugh!"
Great amounts of a Corrupting Poison entered its body once more.
As the Guardian's body fell to into the waters it had just jumped out from, great amounts of black blood started leaving its nose and mouth.
Splash-
'Phew... That was close.' Mark thought as he stood back up.
His body had healed up nicely.
He was still covered with burnt marks, but the serious injuries had healed.
The Guardian, feeling enraged, left the water once again.
This time, it stayed on land and ran towards Mark.
"What? Only two...?" The approaching Guardian muttered.
While there were at least 5 enemies previously, only two remained.
It puzzled the Guardian, but all it could do was be glad that there were fewer enemies.
'Having to devour my Underlings in the middle of battle... What desperate turn of events.' Mark thought.
He stared at the approaching Guardian.
'Seems like he's a bit slower than before. Calamity, let's team up this time. Since his body is pretty small, the more he moves, the faster the Corrupting Poison will spread.'
In tandem, both Mark and his Underling launched themselves towards their enemy.
A blueish light started shining through the Guardian's eyes.
Before long, Aura started permeating through its body.
'So it can use Aura too, huh?'
The three were now in range.
Mark threw a powerful punch.
The Guardian dodged it, but Calamity's leg kick found its way to the Guardian's back.
The Guardian ducked to escape Calamity's punch,but Mark threw a Tail Flick so fast it was impossible to dodge.
'This is pretty good. Fighting alongside Calamity is much better than I had imagined...'
When the Guardian tried to slash Mark, Calamity punched its injured side.
The two fought in perfect harmony.
'Since you can hear my thoughts, you move exactly the way I want you to.'
Before long, the Guardian stopped fighting.
It fell to its knees.
The Boss Monster threw up massive amounts of black blood while some started going down its eyes.
A "Sonic Tail Flick" knocked the Guardian off the platform and into the water.
'I used to think that "Sonic Tail Flick" was sort of a finisher, but I've hit him with it four times now...' Mark thought as he waited for the Guardian to reemerge.
But the Guardian didn't.
Instead, it took back the form it had first appeared as.
That of a Leviathan.
Mark spread his wings and flew up.
From up in the air, he could see the Guardian underwater.
'Going back to this, huh? Good choice. The bigger you are, the less effective poison will be. No matter if it's regular Poison or Corrupting Poison...'
Mark raised his right arm up.
'I didn't want to use these since it took a while to collect them, but... Inventory.'
A screen showcasing different Items appeared.
'Take all the bones out.'
At Mark's thought, a massive amount of bones appeared in the air.
The bones of dozens if not hundreds of Monsters hovered around him.
As they had been previously manipulated, the bones had the form of sharp spikes.
They started floating towards the ceiling.
'How large an area should I target...? This much should be fine. Let's use a third of them for now.'
The sharp spikes spun around, facing the Guardian's direction.
The Boss Monster, already in bad shape, started moving through the water.
'You can run, but...'
Mark lowered his arm swiftly.
'With that size, you'll definitely get hit.'
The spikes flew towards the Guardian and the area surrounding him.
They pierced through the water and approached the Boss Monster.
Grrr-
More than thirty spikes hit the Guardian's body.
Some could not penetrate its tough scales, but most did.
After all, the bones came from a great variety of Monsters.
The Guardian roared loudly, as its body was impaled by numerous spikes.
'Huh. That many could injure him? Good. I mostly wanted to make him run and let the poison do the job but...'
A second volley was launched.
It was just as effective as the first.
The Guardian started panicking, just like Mark thought it would.
'The choice isn't an easy one to make, huh? Either be impaled because of your great size, or shrink and die from the poison.'
At the third volley though, the Guardian roared loudly.
A net of lightning protected its body from most of the sharp spikes.
'Since you're only using it now, on the third volley... Means you're running low on Mana, right?' Mark thought.
He folded his wings and landed on the platform.
'Now. I can either finish you... Or let you die slowly-'
To Mark's surprise, the Guardian emerged from underwater.
It emerged, but not as the Leviathan it was seconds earlier.
'You won't take the easy way out, huh?'