Destiny's Reshaping: A Danmachi Reincarnation Tale

"DON'T LET THEM SURROUND YOU; ATTACK!"

The clamor of clashing weapons and battle cries filled the hall as the group of monsters and men threw themselves at each other with fury.

Mark, still feigning injury, took a deep breath. With a fluid motion, he drew his claymore and easily parried a goblin's attack, then swiftly decapitated it with a quick sword stroke.

Every attack and parry by Mark was executed with lethal precision, yet he kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings. The others fought ferociously, and even Narak seemed to be struggling.

The clangor of weapons was deafening, and the speed of the skirmishes made it difficult even for Mark to follow every movement.

FUSH!

"Shit!"

Distracted by the duel between Narak and the mutated hobgoblin, Mark almost didn't notice another hobgoblin's attack. He dodged at the last moment, feeling the air whizz past his head.

The monster attempted another attack, but Mark was quicker. Ducking, he avoided the blow and counterattacked, cleanly severing the opponent's leg. The monster, now off balance, fell to the ground and Mark finished it with a precise thrust to the head.

"GRAAA!"

"KILL THEM!"

SMASH!

"Ironically, all this chaos plays into my favor, but that's a problem."

Mark turned his attention back to Narak's battle. Despite the hobgoblin regenerating its arm, the wound to its eye inflicted by Mark was still there, and that was the weakness Narak was using.

Each of Narak's attacks targeted the monster's blind spot, creating a stalemate. Narak couldn't land a direct hit due to the brute strength of the monster, while the hobgoblin struggled to strike accurately because of Narak's cunning agility.

Narak continued to move with agility and precision, using every opening left by the mutated hobgoblin. Each attack aimed at the monster's blind spot, attempting to inflict increasingly severe damage.

The hobgoblin, furious and frustrated, wielded its massive cleaver with brutal force, but every strike missed or was deflected by Narak. The monster roared in anger with each failed attempt to strike its adversary.

"You're slower than you look, beast." -Narak hissed, a cruel grin on his face.

The hobgoblin responded with a furious roar, launching another powerful attack. Narak agilely dodged, allowing the monster's blow to crash into the ground with a thunderous boom. The floor cracked under the impact, sending debris and dust flying.

Seizing the opportunity, Narak grabbed a handful of dust and threw it into the monster's eyes. The hobgoblin roared in pain and frustration, trying to clear its vision. Narak wasted no time. With lightning speed, he closed in on the monster to deliver the decisive blow, but the monster suddenly opened its eyes as if the earth thrown had not received any discomfort.

"!"

Narak realized he had been deceived, but it was impossible to stop his attack with the axe.

They both attacked each other causing a serious cut, Narak on the chest, while the monster on the stomach.

"GRUUAHHHAH!"

Without granting the slightest rest, the monster charged again, putting more and more pressure on Narak.

'Not yet.'

Returning to his fight against the remaining monsters, Mark carefully analyzed the battlefield and the condition of Narak and the monster. The number of guards had halved, as had the monsters, and both Narak and the monster were still in good shape, so he couldn't act recklessly.

'If Narak can't kill him, do you think I can?' -Mark asked the Guide, killing another goblin in the meantime.

[The more he's weakened, the greater your chances of victory, though it's true that a cornered predator should never be underestimated.]

'That's true.'

[But host, I think you're forgetting something.]

'What?'

Slash!

With another swing, another monster died.

[Where are the other monsters that attacked the citadel?]

'Well, we...!'

A strange feeling came over Mark. He quickly looked around, but aside from the massacre caused by both sides, he couldn't see any other monsters, which made no sense. All that noise should have drawn the remaining monsters, but strangely, there were none, and those they had killed on their way there were not nearly enough.

'There has to be something!'

The feeling of unease grew stronger, but there was nothing suspicious, at least until he looked up at the ceiling riddled with holes. Still puzzled, he felt some rocks fall on his face, and his expression paled.

"SHIT-"

SMASH!

"cough, cough I'LL KILL YOU, BASTARD!"

With several wounds, Narak was thrown into the center of the room, where the other guards were still fighting.

"GRUAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

The monster let out a terrible roar that momentarily stunned the guards in the confined space, but the strangest thing was how it immediately began to flee.

Tremors!

"What?"

Confused, Narak looked around when he saw a figure darting towards the monster. Before he could process it, the ceiling cracked and tons of rocks fell on them.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

The monster moved farther away, heading to an area unaffected by the landslide. It had ensured that the remaining monsters dug as much as possible into the ceiling and caused its destruction at its command. This resulted in losing all the monsters under its command, but given the outcome, it was more than satisfied.

"Grrr..."

The monster held its aching stomach. The wound caused by Narak had worsened during their battle, so it needed to hurry and find more magic stones to consume if it wanted to heal.

Crack!

The sound of creaking alerted it, and it tried to dodge to the side, but still received a wound.

"GRAAAA!"

The monster angrily touched its wounded shoulder and, upon seeing the culprit, it grew even more furious, especially since it was the same person who had taken its eye.

"Damn these rocks, and here I was hoping for a clean kill." -Mark remarked ironically, immediately putting himself on guard.

Though he seemed nonchalant, he felt his palms sweating. Upon realizing the room was a trap, he left no room for doubt and escaped as quickly as possible, but at the same time had to use 'overload,' which led to an immediate waste of at least half his energy.

The two eyed each other warily as they circled. Mark could see the monster was severely injured, but he wouldn't underestimate it; rather, he would be even more cautious.

With a roar, the monster launched an attack, swinging its clever with brutal force. Mark agilely dodged the first blow, feeling the air cut close to his face. He drew his dagger and with a quick rotation, attempted to stab the monster's side, but it countered with an elbow to his face.

Mark's head spun and blood trickled from his nostrils, but he recovered quickly enough to block the monster's blow with his claymore and used its strength to move enough away.

Ptu.

Spitting out the blood in his mouth, Mark never took his eyes off the monster. The first clash ended in his defeat, but he was in better shape than it.

"Not going to be easy, huh?" -Mark muttered, gathering his strength.

The monster attacked again, lifting its clever for a devastating blow. Mark sidestepped, feeling the wind of the weapon passing by, and countered with a slash of his claymore. The blade cut into the monster's flesh, eliciting a cry of pain, but not deep enough to stop it.

The monster reacted instantly, pivoting and delivering a punch that knocked Mark to the side, knocking the wind out of him. With a quick move, the monster raised the clever for another attack, but Mark, though in pain, managed to roll away and retrieve his weapon.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The monster continued to pursue him, slamming the axe forcefully toward him as he continued to dodge and roll away.

As the monster raised the clever again, Mark threw the dagger towards its already injured belly. The dagger lodged into the wound and the pain slowed it momentarily, allowing Mark to get back on his feet.

The monster roared more ferociously and ripped out the dagger, throwing it away. With a leap forward, Mark tried to exploit the opening, but he never expected the monster to throw its weapon.

Mark barely managed to dodge, but the next moment his face was caught by the monster, lifting him like a ragdoll before slamming him to the ground. The impact momentarily knocked Mark unconscious and loosened his grip on the claymore.

The monster didn't stop there. It forcefully dragged Mark's body across the rocky floor, then slammed him against the cave wall.

COUGH!

Mark coughed up a mouthful of blood. His vision was blurred, but strangely, he didn't feel much pain. He wasn't sure if it was due to adrenaline or the kind of torture he was forced to endure every seven days, but he still managed to maintain a lucid state of mind.

The monster held Mark's body against the wall so he couldn't touch the ground. The hobgoblin raised its other arm and attempted to stab Mark's heart, but at the last second, the blow was deflected toward his side.

Mark gritted his teeth because he couldn't afford to waste time, having activated 'overload' again. He felt the strength with which the monster gripped his face growing stronger, so he grabbed its elbow and pulled it as hard as he could while locking its forearm.

CRACK!

"ROOAGGGGGHAHH!"

The surge of force allowed Mark to break the monster's arm holding him up, and with a kick, he pushed it away.

Despite the broken arm, the monster didn't give up. With fierce determination, it lunged at Mark again, trying to grab him with its other arm. Mark dodged the attack and, in a fluid motion, grabbed his claymore from the ground.

"The fragment... will be... mine!"

With his body weakening, Mark didn't yield. With a shout of pure strength and determination, he brought down the claymore with all his might, aiming for the monster's neck. The hobgoblin tried to block with its arms, but the blade sank deeply, severing its arms before almost decapitating it.

"THE FRAGMENT IS NOT YOURS!"

With his last ounce of strength, Mark gripped the claymore's hilt so tightly it cracked and pushed downward.

Tud.

The monster's head fell to the ground and its body transformed into dark particles, leaving behind a large magical stone and a strange cube.

Heavy breaths.

Mark barely stood with the help of his weapon. He felt like he could faint at any moment, but he couldn't afford to. Biting his tongue, he managed to regain some composure.

The wound on his side is still bleeding, but all the other attacks had hurt him badly too

"If he hadn't already been wounded cough, cough, I'd be dead." -He said weakly.

[True, but a victory is a victory, and that's your reward.]

"Is that... the fragment?"

[Yes.]

The fragment was cube-shaped, with silver edges and several pulsating golden lights inside, giving Mark a sense of comfort.

[Beginning absorption process.]

At the Guide's words, the fragment became even brighter, transforming into thousands of particles that entered Mark's body.

"This-"

[Now the fragment is safely inside you.]

Mark sighed with relief at the news. He also took the monster's stone with him when he heard a voice.

"Already leaving us, young Mark?"

"What?!"

Turning abruptly, he saw Narak almost in perfect condition, along with five other guards, all injured but more than enough to kill him.

"The wounds? In the past, I stole from a merchant who had several potions on him, so I always carry one around, you know, for emergencies." -He said with a smile, stroking the blade of his axe.

"As for us, purely luck. But I must say, I'm genuinely surprised you managed to kill that monster." -Narak said.

"Still, there's one thing, a tiny thing I don't understand. Did Morpheus really give you his blessing and hide it from me? And how did you become a level 2 so young?" -He asked, genuinely curious.

"First of all, it's two things cough, cough, and second... did anyone ever tell you that you suffer from delusions of being a king, you sociopathic bastard?" -Mark replied, raising his middle finger at him.

He knew he would never let him live, so he might as well be honest.

The guards looked on in terror as Narak's expression turned livid.

"You have no idea how much I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart. Maybe then you'll be more willing to talk."