Bam
That was the starting shot that signaled the start of this duel.
Marcus reached Wu Yan easily and he spun around, drawing a beautiful and deadly arc that sliced the boulder Wu Yan was standing on into neat pieces, he made sliced tofu out of a boulder!
Boom
The pieces of the boulders exploded into dust leaving only shiny stone slabs behind. The sharp and shiny remnants were standing there, pointing at the sky in defiance of nature.
Marcus exhibited his newfound strength.
He wasn’t celebrating because he saw Wu Yan looking down at him emotionlessly on another boulder nearby. Wu Yan’s body started shining with a shocking amount of magic power.
“Indeed, you have grown stronger…”
Wu Yan talked to him like Marcus was the weaker fighter. Marcus snorted with anger and he jumped at Wu Yan again. In a black blur, he covered more than 50 meters in an instant, covering half the distance between him and Wu Yan.
Then, he made stone kebabs out of the boulder he’s standing on again. The ensuing gust blew the soil around it away. That strength isn’t something a normal tier 9 can use.
Wu Yan disappeared before he can strike him. This time, he appeared next to Marcus.
Wu Yan didn’t attack, instead, he examined Marcus’ hands.
“You…”
“Oh, you finally noticed?…”
Marcus snickered as he showed him his hands.
When he did that, Astrea gasped in shock and appall. Even Ikaros’ jaw slightly dropped when she saw his horrific hands.
His hands were covered in black scales. His index, middle, ring, and pinkie fingers grew into grostesque 20cm-long claws. His thumb was transmogrified into a wiggling tentacle like extension. The back of his hands hand spiny thorns and his palm had what appeared to be pulsating tumors.
That’s not a hand anymore.
That wasn’t the most shocking part, Marcus also removed his hood.
Covered in disgusting black scales, he had jaws like that of a bear trap. His nose was gone, replaced by an unsightly twitching meaty growth. Meanwhile, his eyes fused into one, it’s like a goggle that was rotated vertically. His eye was also shifted to his forehead.
Inside his eye, there were more bestial eyes that kept darting about like pinwheels. He had at least seven mini-eyes in that place.
Even calling him a demonic beast would be smearing the other demonic beasts. There is only one term for someone who used to be a human.
Monster!
Wu Yan breathed in deeply and he suppressed his anxiety. He stopped taking Marcus with indifference and coldness. Instead, he sighed as he looked at Marcus with pity and sympathy.
“This is the price you paid for your powers?”
Wu Yan asked.
Marcus started chuckling although Wu Yan wasn’t sure how he produced human laughter through that inhuman mouth of his. Although he sounded uncanny, he could hear the resentment within Marcus’ laughter.
“Yes, and it’s all thanks to you that I became what I am!”
He tore away his robe, revealing his monstrous torso and a long tail. He roared at him with a bellow that sounded like it belonged to a mix of tiger and lion.
“You’re the one who forced me down this path, you’re the one who made me go through this to get more power! Wu Yan!!! I will never forgive you!”
Wu Yan closed his eyes and he stayed mum.
The duel ground to a halt as silence fell. Marcus thrashed his tail about, his disgusting growths made weir d sounds as they pulsed and oozed. The mood got turned into a scary one because of his peculiarities.
Wu Yan opened his eyes, his deep red eyes were replaced with a noble golden sheen!
“You sad and pathetic existence…”
Wu Yan looked at Marcus although he couldn’t bear to look at this sad excuse of a human. His nonchalant voice rang.
“I will end it for you…”
“Ahahaha…. HAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Marcus burst out laughing, then, he followed up with a deafening roar.
“Do it! Do it, if you can!”
Marcus swiped at nothing, then, multiple dark claw beams came forth with a tiny storm. This storm of dark qi and claw beam went for Wu Yan.
Wu Yan shifted his position and with a bit of mana spent, he teleported away, the beams hit nothing.
“What’s this? I thought you wanted to end me?”
Marcus roared with his monstrous voice, his mental state appeared to be unstable.
Facing Wu Yan, he taunted him.
“What’s the matter? You wanna play hide and seek?”
“Don’t worry…”
Wu Yan slowly lowered his head, his facial expression was hidden by his bangs.
“I will grant you a splendid end…”
The mana fluctuations on his body suddenly spiked.
Fwoosh
It sounded like something went up in flames, the sound echoed around like electricity conducted through metal. The soil and dust around Wu Yan got blew away.
A bunch of ribbons made of light sprouted behind Wu Yan, he grew wings of light that looked very elegant.
Buoyed by a supernatural force, Wu Yan started floating and he ascended into the air.
Marcus flinched before he laughed out loud.
“Hmm? You turned yourself into a bird person just like your women?”
“I can’t help it…”
Wu Yan looked down at the monstrosity below him.
“To fight a monster, I must become one myself.”
“Feast your eyes…”
“On the array of spells known as the 103,000 forbidden magic grimoires…”
“Tomes?”
Marcus snickered as he licked his eyes with his long tongue.
“Whatever! Just let me rip you to pieces already!”
He pointed his claws at Wu Yan and he shot out black lasers at Wu Yan.
Without any intent to dodge, the wings behind him stirred into action, blocking the laser.
Sizzle…
The laser touched the wings of light. The moment the laser made contact, it started moving like the wings of light were made with extremely dense material, the speed of his lasers slowed down tremendously.
Then, the lasers dimmed down while Wu Yan’s surrounding lit up, when the lasers were fully absorbed, his environment dimmed down too. Marcus’ lasers got devoured without any trouble.
Meanwhile, Marcus heaved in shock.
