Leave The Monster Alone

Right out of the way of the bit that was coming toward his hand and face. Sharp canines bared at him as the dog stood up, now much more oriented than before.

And horrified purple eyes took in the dog who shook the wounds off with a shrug of his fur. This really was not a dog at all.

And Mark remembered what he had forgotten till now. It all came rushing back inside his mind.

Darn, shit. How could he forget something this significant? How had he made such a big error while coming back here? His body trembled as those purple eyes looked back at him in interest.

"Where is help when you actually need it. I wish I had a weapon on me right now" the dog barked at him and Mark had to make full use of his brain to remember how he had dealt with this situation before. 

Did he have any help or had he outrun them? He surely had not killed them because he had no weapon on his person. So maybe someone had helped him? Wasn't this the time Lim had tried to inform him about the truth? And Mark had needed convincing in the form of proof?

Ah yes, now he remembered what had happened. Liam had saved his ass by beating this monster before he could do any real harm. As it stood, Mark could take on this monster himself as well but he would need a secluded space to do that.

Since there was no telling how bad things were going to get, it was best not to risk the attention of local people. Without Liam here, who knew how this world would turn out to be. It was at these moments that he missed his team the most.

As it stood, Alan and Luna should still be here with most of the others. He could go to them for help as well. Maybe that was what he was supposed to do to better the world this time around. There was another bark loud to ring inside his ears and Mark focused his attention in front of him.

The monster was still foaming at his mouth, his yellow eyes looking at his prey in aggression. Mark knew that if the other got his jaws around him then it was a doomed effort on his part. He had to make sure he had his life secured before he went ahead with his plan.

"G-Good doggy. Be cool and collected so that I can get away" of course the monster did not give him any time to do so. There was a small snap before Mark was running away and the dog chased behind him. No one paid any attention to their chase, their program being reverted to the basic models.

Since there was no helping him, he ran through the town on his bare feet. There was no taxi or similar thing as well which could have been a massive help to him. Mark ran and ran till he entered a relatively unknown part of the town.

There was a silhouette, a familiar visage of a person in front of him. Had Mark thought about it, he would not have dragged the other behind him but he was a little preoccupied. That's why he took that arm and pulled the other after him.

"H-Hey, is this a kidnapping? W-Who are you and what do you want with me?" it was after this that Mark realised that everyone had reverted to their past selves, even Luna who was being dragged right behind him. This was just his luck, right? 

"Keep on running if you want to live. There is a rabid monster chasing behind us right at this moment" the teen looked confused but he did look behind him to see the shape of a dog chasing them. It made him even more confused and he turned those eyes on Mark.

"That's just a dog. Can we not lose him easily?" but only if things were that easy. Mark would not have to run around in circled and he would be able to do more important things. Not that saying it out loud was going to help.

The monster jumped into a light patch, his purple eyes looking at its prey and his mouth foamed as it looked at his potential prey. Mark heard Luna's terrified gasp and he had to contain his feeling of surprise. Why had he forgotten their current condition?

"Go, run the other way. I will stop this monster from rampaging around needlessly" Mark pushed at Luna to go the other way. It did not matter that it had been Mark's fault in the first place. He wanted Luna to survive. Luna had to survive for the betterment of the future.

"Oh god, what is that?" Luna could not help but ask. He had never seen such a big monster before. In fact, he had never seen a monster before today. What is a hallucination or his imagination? At this point, he could not tell.

As for Mark, this simply solidified the fact that this was not the Luna he knew. The other looked conflicted, he had simply given him an out of the situation. All he had to do was to run away from the situation.

This should have been a simple solution to all their problems however when things have gone his way for Mark. Of course, Luna chose not to leave but help him out which just made the whole situation a lot more complicated. 

The Monster took a swipe, but his claws were unable to catch anything. In the end, it had been Mark's quick thinking and crazy reflexes that saved their lives.

"Can you, for a second, take a break and explain to me what that thing is?" Luna huffed this out as he ran behind the other. At this point, his feet were beginning to sweat and he could not run any longer. 

Mark knew that as well, so he chose to pull the other into a safe and secure location before the monster could catch them.

"You are right, that is no animal but a mutated monster. I don't know how, when and why but they have started to appear all over the place. It would not be long before they started taking humanity for real" that was not the whole truth, but this was what he chose to go with. 

After all, it was not like he could tell Luna everything without revealing even more disturbing facts.

Most importantly, it made Mark's odds of being able to survive that much worse. He did not know what the knowledge was about to unleash would mean for the future, but he didn't know that a paradox would be created if he told the truth too early. Especially to Luna and the system which has fixed data available to it.

"Looks like we're safe" that was what they believed. However, Mark could hear the small sound the monster made as its feet met the ground. It was uncomfortably close and it would not be long before he found them. Mark had to take care of it before they took care of them.

That meant that he had to describe the use of the skills he had not yet cultivated. One has to wonder how his body would be able to hold up. His current body was neither in shape nor did it have the reflexes needed to fight the monster off.

"Well, wish me luck" with those words, Mark took out an operation knife he kept on his person for emergency situations and made a dash toward the location from where the sound was coming from. His knife met a solid mass of a body before it was sinking inside the body.

The Monster let out a loud scream which indicated that it was in massive amounts of pain. It was either about to go berserk or they were about to find salvation themselves. Either way was fine with him. It was not like living further would actually help him out.

As long as the teen got out alive, his own life did not matter at all. Or at least that was what he chose to believe. Whether it was the truth or not he was not aware but this was what everything indicated.

Even Liam, who was a sole authority and the reason behind Mark being alive in the first place, thought the same. And also, Alan would prefer if his brother lived to tell another day. The kid did not know Mark in this life, or rather, in this saved file so he was unlikely to be sad about his death.

As for Kuro, she would likely find the other half of her soul and would not have to suffer as much as she did last time. It would also save a lot of time and effort on the resistance part should not be there to foil their plans.

This was what he believed and Mark was ready to meet his end.