Chapter 31 - VS Marius

Marius looked at his karambit. It was a gift from his father, nearly 15 years ago, when Marius was just a young boy. He didn't have a good relationship with his mother, so his father was his saving grace...

Its original purpose was so that he could defend himself against monsters, but it has since lost its purpose, becoming a murder weapon, used to slaughter those who oppose him, or the Zodiac's ideals...

Daphne was also feeling her daggers. They were both nearly a foot in length, resembling Kukri daggers, but more curved, and sharper. They were iridescent, rainbow in color, and they shined brightly.

They weren't a gift, but rather, custom-designed for her to accommodate for her blindness. You see, her daggers were crafted in such a way to where they would vibrate with noise, or motion, so she could tell where her enemies were at.

Both of them gripped their weapons, shaking, due to the sheer weight of the situation. Daphne's heart was pounding, and so was Marius's. Neither of them wanted to die, but they both knew they had to kill, to survive.

"You eight, I don't want you to die. Retreat to a safe location, and return to your human form. Go, now!" said Marius. The remaining 8 monsters ran away quickly. Marius then proceeded to give a speech,

"Before we begin our duel. I want you, and the rest of the heroes over there to know, that you've ended nearly 15 lives today. We started with 30 people, 7 ran away, 15 were killed, and these remaining 8 are lucky to be alive..."

"...why do you guys insist on killing monsters, continuing to live your lives the way you always have been, while people die every single day to their wrath? You can't kill monsters quicker than they can kill people."

"If everyone became a monster, then we would have nothing to worry about! Sure, it's going to be a long-drawn-out process, but in the end, it's going to work! Lives will be lost along the way, but it will pave the path to a more prosperous future..."

Marius was pleading his case once more to the group, and to Daphne. It seemed logical enough, but it had one major flaw, which Daphne pointed out immediately...

"If you're so keen on saving humanity your own way, then why not use your abilities, and everyone else in the Zodiac, to help eradicate monsters entirely? You obviously possess an insane amount of power, so why not use it the way the rest of us do?"

Marius closed his eyes and assumed a melancholy expression. He knew something the rest of the heroes didn't. He opened his eyes once more, and proceeded to speak,

"Eradicating monsters... is impossible...at least, by your means."

Everyone's eyes widened, except Daphne's, who remained looking in no specific direction. However, her lips started quivering.

"What? How so? Isn't there a finite amount of them? We should just be able to-" Daphne was interrupted by Marius.

"You don't get it... monsters are a global problem, they aren't localized to just the hero camps. They're everywhere in between. We evolved into a world dominated by these beasts, and if we can become them, we might as well. We're at the bottom of the food chain..."

"They can reproduce infinitely quicker than you could eliminate them. Even if you sent out global search teams, there would be too many to deal with. Your numbers are too low. If we all turned into monsters, they would have no obligation to eat us, and would naturally die out."

"And how do you know all of this?" asked Daphne. It was a valid question. There was no way Marius could be this knowledgeable on monsters unless he received some insider information from another source.

"I wish to not speak on this matter. If you're going to go against my ideals, then I have no choice but to eliminate you. Are you ready to duel?"

Tears began to stream from Daphne's face, as she broke into complicated laughter. She was an emotional rollercoaster, switching back and forth between anger and sadness. Marius was a brick wall, unable to be spoken to. His ideas were twisted.

She began to think to herself about her past with Natsuo, and the things they used to do together. The places they went, the monsters they slew together, and the protection Natsuo offered her when she needed it. Marius was responsible for his death... he could never be forgiven.

"...Natsuo, tell God I said hello, and I appreciate him for blessing me with such a divine soul as yourself..."

"What are you babbling about now? Just strike me already!" yelled Marius, waving his arms out. He was instigating the battle, offering himself up for grabs. Daphne didn't fall for it though.

"No, I don't think I will. From how my comrades have been reacting, you seem to have some strange power. How about you strike ME first?"

"Okay, you asked for it!" said Marius. Then, he began to run towards Daphne, karambit in hand. Meanwhile, Daphne was tracking his motion through her sense of touch and hearing. She was pinpointing his location, as well as calculating every possible pattern he could opt for.

"..I got you now.." said Daphne.

"Yeah right, you're as blind as a bat. Good luck catching me!"

Then, Marius leaped into the air and dove towards Daphne. She nonchalantly slid to the left, causing Marius to barrel toward the ground. He landed with a thud, and Daphne immediately swooped in and decapitated him.

"NYAH!"

But as usual, Marius reappeared behind her. However, Daphne knew this was coming. She could feel his presence reintroduce itself behind her. She instantly turned around, and roundhouse kicked him to the ground.

"WHA-OW!" *THUD*

"So, your power is that you can respawn on death? You're just like Rebirth Man! I know just how to deal with people like you."

"It's a little more complicated than thA-WHOA!"

Daphne proceeded to slice Marius across his body numerous times, relentlessly attacking him, reducing him to minced meat. He simply sat there, and took the hits, before he fainted, and reappeared behind Daphne once more.

"You're a feisty one, ain't ya! Give me some breathing room!"

"Tch!"

Daphne wasted no time talking and lunged toward Marius, but he dodged, and counterattacked, slicing Daphne across the cheek with his Karambit. She landed, and blood began to spill from her wound.

"Yikes, he got me. Well, I should have seen it coming. Wait, but I can't see, what would I say then? Hmmm."

"Are you even paying attention to the battle?! I slashed you, you should be in pain!" said Marius, annoyed.

"I think it would be most appropriate to say I should have known that would happen. Yeah, that sounds nice."

"Oh, you needed something? Sorry, here, let me return the favor," said Daphne, coming to her feet. Then, she spun her kukris in the air, and ran in a zigzag toward Marius. When she made contact, she stopped her dagger an inch from his face, faking him out.

"Please work..." said Daphne.

Marius fell for it and shed into a new body. Daphne calculated this perfectly and turned around as fast as she could. She stabbed Marius through the chest with both of her daggers. He had no time to react, and was now in serious danger.

"AAH, WAIT, WAIT, OW!" said Marius.

"Checkmate, I figured you out..."

Marius coughed up some blood and widened his eyes. He didn't shed into a new body in time and was now bleeding out. He quickly kicked Daphne in the stomach, sending her to the ground, before removing the daggers from his body, and tossing them away.

"Ah!" *Thud*

"You've just proven yourself to be dangerous... I can't fight you in this state, I'm going to need to do this if I am to survive..."

Marius then pulled a monster heart out of his pocket and ate it. The heroes on the hill gasped, and each got up, running towards Marius before he could transform into a monster.

"SHIT, HE'S TURNING INTO A MONSTER! GO!"

"Heh heh, you're too slow..." said Marius, swallowing the heart...

It was too late. As the top ten approached his body, a powerful gust of air blew out in all directions from him, sending the heroes flying back. Marius then began to transform, his body growing in size, and his skin changing color.

"It's too late, heroes. Accept your fates, and allow the Zodiac to continue their progress."

Horns grew out of his head, and he grew dragon wings. His hands became hooves and he turned scaly. He had turned into a Dragon Ram, but a humanoid version. I recognized this, and spoke to Ambrosia.

"Ambrosia! That's the thing he turned into in the alley! But this time, he's much bigger! What gives?"

"Gosh, that's terrifying... he has to be nearing 60 feet tall... I wish I could help, but my powers haven't recovered yet..."."

"Do you think I could try taking control of him? Maybe I've recovered enough."

"No way, Yuki! Look at the size of that thing! Your body will explode under the pressure. Just let them do their thing, they're the top 10, they know what they're doing..."

"But they killed Natsuo! Those monsters are no joke!"

"They might have defeated Natsuo, but that doesn't mean we can't avenge him. Plus, Natsuo has the power of God's will on his side, I wouldn't be surprised if he survived somehow..."

Ambrosia and I continued to watch the fight from the hill. Ready or not, I was willing to try taking control over Marius's monster form. I just had to wait for the right opportunity. I analyzed his form and made some realizations.

It seemed like depending on how much room you had, you would grow to an appropriately sized monster upon transformation. Given the fact that Marius was in an open field, he grew to nearly 60 feet tall.

The top ten came to their feet, astonished. They had never seen a monster like Marius before. Marius was easily a level 7 threat, and perhaps beyond.

"There's no going back now. You've made your choice, heroes. It's time to finish what we started…"

Daphne retrieved her daggers from the ground, and felt them to check for damage. They were fine. Gunslinger Master ran over to her.

"Are you alright Daphne? He got you pretty good. I'll pump this bitch full of lead!"

"I'm fine. Go ahead and fire at him, he needs to be destroyed. I'll try flanking him from behind if you can distract him."

"You got it! Watch out, guys!"

Jirochi then pulled his revolver out from its holster and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were glowing purple, and his gun began to glow as well. I was beginning to see a pattern here. Whenever a hero was about to use their ability, their eyes would glow, and so would their weapon(s). In the case of Ambrosia, her whole body glowed.

"Oh, what, you think a little bullet from that gun is gonna hurt m-"

*BANG*

"..." "ah, shit."

Jirochi fired his revolver. The bullet exited at light speed, followed by a trail of purple light. It rang out as it flew through the air, eventually making contact with Marius's right horn, completely shattering it. This was a warning shot…

"MY HORN! Damn, what kind of gun is that!?"

"It's a one of a kind…" said Jirochi, blowing the smoke from the barrel. "GO DAPHNE!" he yelled afterwards.

"Right!" yelled Daphne back to Jirochi. She grabbed her Kukris and ran around the back of Marius's body. She was going to try and slice his legs off.

"I hope to God he can't shed into a new body in this state because if he can, we're all screwed!" said Daphne, lunging into the air.

She landed against the side of Marius's leg, and began to run in circles around it, slicing it in an attempt to sever it. Marius took notice of this and kicked his leg around.

"Ah, you bitch! Get off of me!" said Marius, kicking Daphne off of him. But she had already done enough damage. Marius began to limp.

"NOW, EVERYONE, UNLEASH YOUR ATTACKS!" yelled Grandmaster from the crowd. Marius turned around, and saw the top ten, airborne, lunging at him from all directions.

"Ah, damn, I'm in trouble, aren't I?" said Marius.

"You bet your sweet ass you are..." replied Tasuki, wielding Natsuo's sword, he picked it off the ground, as it was undamaged.

"If I'm going to avenge Natsuo, I better do him justice by using his weapon! This one's for you, Divine Knight!!"