Becoming a Monster

Chapter 122: Chapter 122: What is they come here with other intentions?

”Noah?” Ailetta worriedly glanced towards Noah. The chilling sight of tens of overzealous zombies sprinting with unmatched agility in their direction heightened her concern for both hers’ and Noah’s safety.

Instead of comforting her, Noah advanced ahead of her, his hands empty of any weapon as he raised both his palms. The circulation of mana began to form a sphere, rising in intensity with each second. Without turning back, he responded to her, ”Don’t forget what I told you before.” He left her with his cryptic guidance, and before he unleashed his turbulent spheres of mana, he once again caused the surrounding zombies to freeze in place so he could amplify the effects of his skill to its fullest potential.

’That’s right...’ Ailetta was enlightened, reclaiming her purpose. Her intent gaze overlooked the once incoming zombies, focusing solely on the functionality of her puppet. ’In this world...as long as I have the power, then there’s nothing to fear.’ Her brows furrowed with increased concentration as she made her puppet rampage through the horde of zombies.

Subconsciously, she made the abomination under her control perform a sickening action that she visualized would’ve happened to her if she continued to walk towards Fenrir that day. Under her direction, the puppet would grip an unfortunate zombie within its claws while simultaneously engulfing its entire head within its maw, crunching down with unfathomable force for just being a corpse.

Blood splattered while the sounds of their crushed skull echoed, moving onto another zombie to perform the same deed without bothering to check on the results of its attack.

All the while, Noah had just finished the full manifestation of his ability. An eager glint passed through his eyes, fully anticipating the amount of numerous mana orbs he would accumulate after this was over.

With his recent nature-defying transformation and his creatures’ prowess increasing exponentially after their evolution, Noah felt no fear when being swarmed by monsters, especially when those monsters happen to be unevolved undead. There was a prideful indifference to the situation, although Noah once reminded himself to never become arrogant to power, he just couldn’t get that same rush of adrenaline when his life wasn’t at stake.

”Manabolt..” Noah stoically muttered aloud. Once, he was overly excited to use this magic spell, but now it was viewed more as a means to an end when left to use it on unworthy opponents. Still, that didn’t stop him from invoking the spell’s name without the need to do so.

For a brief moment, the release of such energy caused a shudder among all living beings around. And within another fraction of a second, a mini explosion was created, causing a mass of debris, blood, and the occasional body part to fly through the air. Almost twenty to thirty-five zombies became casualties to the blast, with only a fourth of those were effectively killed from the explosion.

”Tsk! Wasteful...” Noah clicked his tongue, dissatisfied with the results as he compared it to the amount of his mana reserves used. Without caring about the horrified expressions directed his way, he materialized his sword; a dark mist radiated from its bladed edges as he triggered a small percentage increase of his ruler’s fury ability.

Still astonished by his open display of power, Ailetta awoke from her momentary gaze when she saw him advancing. For the first time since the ordeal, Noah began to feel a sense of exhilaration building within, a smile forming on his face as he saw the hundreds of eyes looking menacingly in his direction. Despite his fantalization of being able to wield magic, what he enjoyed the most was being in the center of battle, fully embracing the sensation of feeling ”alive”.

Noah’s speed was comparatively faster than before as he quickly submerged himself within the zombie horde. His blade slashing through the air with an indescribable ferocity, wherever his blade flowed, a zombie would mysteriously find a way to place itself in its path.

The scene was inconceivable. It wasn’t on just one occasion, Noah would seemingly swing his blade in a random direction just for a zombie to intercept the attack with its face.

Even then, Noah’s attention was never focused on the decapitated bodies. His ever alert gaze continued to pick up on every minute movement in his vision, while his second pair of eyes centered on the closest threat. Despite his focused target, his body would abruptly turn, claiming the ”life” of a zombie that was out of his vision.

It was a surreal experience, one that Noah completely submerged himself in. Unlike before, when his sensory hair’s ability only allowed him to perceive encroaching danger, allowing him the chance to react. His newly developed skill not only enhanced his reaction speed, his body would instinctively move on its own, eliminating any delay between his nervous system and his muscles.

Although Noah held the sense of his body moving on its own, it was more efficient to describe his body as being on a conscious autopilot; where every action performed by his body was fulfilled with his subconscious confirmation. Meaning, that as soon as he consciously decided to maneuver his body during the process of the ”autopilot,” the transition would occur seamlessly, letting him achieve the ability to consciously move his body while going back into letting his body instinctively move on its own again.

With inhuman sensitivity, Noah moved through the overwhelmingly large number of zombies without fear. His body hacking and slashing his way through the horde, creating a path of pure carnage that was quickly filled with the bodies of more undead.

Those watching would describe Noah as an untouchable existence, but others with a more keen eye would notice that despite his seemingly otherworldly reactions, he couldn’t avoid everything. There were times that a zombie would catch his arm within its grasp, only for Noah to spin with his current momentum, causing the zombie’s arm to contort and break in multiple places, allowing him to escape the fate of being surrounded.

There were also times in which a zombie would lead in with its teeth instead, successfully biting into Noah’s figure. Yet even though the zombie’s bite force could potentially dig through his skin despite Noah’s drastic increase in constitution, the zombie was met with an extremely tough elastic sensation of his self-created armor. The mana infused silk inherited an effectively versatile absorption quality that distributed the pressure across its flexible structure, preventing the zombies teeth from penetrating through.

Meanwhile, as all the zombies began to barbarically charge in Noah’s direction, the chaotic battlefield warped into pure pandemonium.

Mark’s group were once indecisive, their hesitance rooted at the sight of the abundance of zombies all in one place. Fear of the zombies changing their mind and returning their focus onto them plagued their hearts. However, experiencing zombie after zombie sprinting past them without sparing a glance their way had finally encouraged them to press forward.

Shouts of retribution echoed in the streets as their morale soared. The zombies’ deaths, still not eliciting their retaliation, only gave rise to a sense of reckless abandon in their actions.

Those close to Noah; Fenrir, Arachne, and Ailetta, held a sense of urgency to support Noah. Their once practiced attacks became more urgent, their emotions in disarray as they witnessed the swarms of undead rushing past them, every single one of them zeroing in on Noah.

Fenrir’s form receded in size, his physical transformation lowering his body mass by three feet, simultaneously increasing his agility and stamina. His claws glistened with the reflection of blood against the sun’s rays as he butchered his way through. Fighting alongside him was Arachne, who attacked with an even greater fervor. Her goal wasn’t to kill as many potential threats as she could; it was to reach Noah’s side to act as his shield.

————-

Still standing atop the police station’s rooftop, the trio faction leaders were unable to directly witness Noah’s chaotic battle. Instead, they observed the undead swarm thinning out, their diminishing numbers only heightened their apprehension about what was going on beyond their line of sight.

Peterson, the leader of the police faction, looking pensively in Noah’s direction. ”There hasn’t been anymore zombies heading into our location ever since they were attracted to whoever is over there....I can’t tell if that’s a good sign or if we were given this respite through those people’s sacrifices...” Peterson recalled the earlier screams which were no longer heard after some time.

Raven nodded in agreement, her glare softened now that she was assured of her faction’s safety, but worry gnawed at her heart when she imagined vivid images of innocents being torn to shreds because of them. If they never behaved so recklessly, opting to use firearms in the first place that only continued to serve as a constant attraction to the zombies, then those people wouldn’t be in danger. Thinking that they all should take responsibility for their inadvertent actions, Raven took a step forward, unable to contain her impatience. ”We need to get over there and see what’s happening.” Her suggestion came off more as an order.

”I don’t believe that’s necessary...” Both Raven and Peterson stared into Levi’s direction. Raven’s eyes blazed with a daring gesture, threatening Levi to watch his step. Her threats were treated as empty air; Levi casually glanced her way before continuing. ”Although we can’t definitively conclude what’s going on over there, I find it strange that the zombies were still being attracted over there despite the sounds of our guns.” Levi voiced, gaining the other two’s utmost attention. their thoughts churned, but they remained silent as they could infer that Levi was leading them to his answer.

”So, what are you suggesting?” Raven asked, her hostility barely concealed.

”I’m suggesting that there is something....or someone, who is drawing the zombies away. If that’s the case, then that must mean that they must have the capabilities to handle the other zombies that went in that direction.”

Although both Levi and Peterson were normally at odds, Peterson nodded thoughtfully in consideration of the implication. However, he soon frowned, noticing that Levi’s tone was still suggesting something else, something that Peterson felt he wasn’t going to like to hear. So he had to ask, ”I’m not gonna like what you have to say, am I?”

Again, Levi casually glanced in Peterson’s way, before returning his gaze towards the distance. ”Besides that explosion, there has been no sound of gunfire...If there are people with the strength to defeat all of those monsters without the use of firearms, then what would that mean for us? What if they come here.....with other intentions?”