Becoming a Monster

Chapter 124: Chapter 124: Flood of Accusations

As Raven and her team neared the epicenter of the earlier battle, the scene that greeted them was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. The ground was littered with the remains of the undead, a majority of their bodies torn apart in a display of sheer power. Raven came with a clear objective: to find out what happened to the zombies and to find the party responsible for attracting them.

The goal of her objective was standing past the mounds of dead flesh, but her eyes weren’t able to bypass the ’three’ monsters walking within the midst of mounds of corpses. Each creature would stop before a corpse before further mutilating its remains, seemingly retrieving ’something’ from its chest.

The ’something’ mattered much more to Raven and her team than others would give credit for. Having a zombie of their own, they were acutely aware of what that ’something’ signified. And because of their knowledge, their apprehension of the monsters became more unsettling.

Within their group, and within the other factions, there were people who also chose the monster tamer profession. However, the monster’s standing before them were not comparable to the companions that their fellow people could tame. In fact, even the evolved zombies Raven has faced thus far didn’t hold a candle to the threat level emitted by two of the three monsters.

Sensing the dangers of the creatures, Raven wanted to delay her approach and observe more. The creatures held her utmost attention, but she wasn’t naive or irrational enough to reject the notion that, no matter how surreal, these creatures could still be tamed by someone else. That someone was who she wanted to identify. However, there was a problem, her gaze didn’t linger on the three monsters for longer than a few seconds, yet the half-human spider turned her gaze in their direction.

The danger that she sensed before wasn’t on the same level as it was now. When the spider humans’ gaze shifted their way, both of the other wolfish creatures glanced their way along with her.

With their danger alarms sounding off, Raven and her team prepared for the worst. Their steps slowly retreated, but their weapons were braced for combat, and their skills were slowly being circulated to be used at any moment.

When the tension was at its highest, the scene took another turn when the two deadliest creatures relinquished their stare, instead turning to face someone.

That someone was kneeling over an extravagant chest, one that many of them only saw after their leaders felled multiple evolved zombies together.

Just from this observation alone, Raven was able to defer many things. One, somehow that figure was capable of taming two, maybe three monstrous creatures. Two, the grade of his chest showed that he contributed the most out of the entire fight; this very fact being confirmed when she saw the plethora of chest being looted behind him. And finally, the fact that the person was clearly able to tame creatures that were stronger than the evolved zombies she faced meant that not only were the creatures evolved, but the person in question was also awakened, one many times stronger than even them, just as Levi foretold.

She believed her findings were more than accurate. One of her goals was quickly achieved, now the other, which took the highest priority was to find out their intentions.

That’s when she felt a shiver, a shiver that forced her to jump back out of survival instinct. The small hairs on her skin stood up straight from the sudden burst of terror she was put under. The same couldn’t be said for those following her. Their sense of danger wasn’t on the same level as hers. Although their bodies felt off, they were left with confusion seeing their leader’s actions. But as women who braved a day through hell and back, their instincts were not to ask questions but to get in formation to assess the threat.

Seconds passed and yet the monsters nor the human in question made any attempts to attack them or to further acknowledge their appearance.

’Did I imagine it?’ Raven began to doubt herself. The moment the ”man” looked in her direction, she was positive that she felt a sense of death being aimed towards her. But for such an intention to disappear as if it never happened, it didn’t make sense.

What she didn’t realize was that Noah was still incited by his earlier adrenaline. Attributed with the recent loot he acquired, he grew excited when Arachne notified him of new potential threats, only to be disappointed by who they were.

”Noah? You think they are the ones from the station?” Noah turned around to Ailetta, addressing him more in curiosity towards the people rather than worry. He shrugged towards her question before handing out an overly large blue orb within his hands.

”They have nothing to do with us, here, use this, worry about increasing your strength instead.” He responded, noticing her confusion. Magic wasn’t a stat he was really concerned with. His abundance of his magic reserves, coupled with his options of replenishing it, was enough for him for now. What he needed, what he wanted was for Ailetta to continue to grow stronger so he can avoid another situation like what happened with the birds.

His stern tone made her understand that this wasn’t something he was going to change his mind on. As she grasped the orb within her small palms, she wanted to say something to show her gratitude. However, movement on her side caught her attention.

”Jas....” Ailetta muttered as she watched Jasmine and their group heading towards the suspicious group of women. Although Ailetta was prepared for this, knowing that the years of friendship she and Jasmine built together was finally coming to an end made Ailetta feel a sense of indescribable loss.

”You should forget about them.” Ailetta sharply turned to Noah who was now holding a scroll, looking at it in scrutiny.

”It’s not that easy...I’m not like you Noah..” She said meekly, only for Noah to shake his head, chuckling to himself. ”Then tell me, why is it so hard? When the same person would stand by and do nothing while the person they ”cared” about, life was in danger? Why is it so hard to see that ever since you sided with me, a monster, the way they treat you is different?”

As he spoke, the scroll began to dissipate into particles, being absorbed into his body before he returned his attention to her. ”Le, loyalty and friendship isn’t conditional. It’s proven through actions. When those birds attacked you, where was their loyalty for you then? When they decided to approach that wave of zombies, overestimating themselves and bringing them towards us, where was their consideration for you then?”

The reality of his words sank in more than before, and Ailetta felt a cold clarity wash over her. She nodded slowly, taking it all in, swallowing the lump in her throat. The series of near death’s experiences hit her all at once, and during all those times, only Bailey could be said to have helped her in her time of need. ”You’re right,” she admitted. ”I can’t say that I can just forget about them, but I’ll be more mindful of them in the future.”

Again, Noah could only helplessly shrug, not being able to relate to her inner conflict. But his eyes narrowed when thinking about something else. ”Well don’t forget about the deal we made with them.” His gaze turned in their direction. ”They seem to believe that they don’t need to give us anything. Le...” A dangerous aura spiked around him, sinister thoughts emerged, thinking of what he would do if they tried to take advantage of his ”kindness.” ”I want at least half of ’all’ of their gold before they decide to change shepherds.”

———

’So they are presumably all that’s left of the students from that school? And they’re saying that all of them planning to head to the government checkpoint?’ Raven summarized the students’ experiences to herself. She analyzed each event with scrutiny, determining their strengths, skills, morals, but more than anything, she was focusing on one person that the others continued to mention.

”This Noah....what else can you tell me about him?” She voiced, not understanding the amount of waves of information that was about to be imparted on her.

”He’s a monster!”

”He plans on turning us all into one of those creatures!”

”Please! Help us avenge Neal!”

The insinuations, insults and pleas flooded her all at once. Surprise surfaced upon her face before malice encompassed her entire figure. But then confusion once more was placed upon her.

”Explain.” She commanded, not to those who cried out to her, but to the few women she depicted to be the leaders of the bunch; much to Mark’s chagrin. However he was smart enough to stand to the side. His maturity at this point in time spoke volumes of how much value he placed in making a good impression for everyone’s well being.

”Well...” Jasmine hesitated to answer, not even she was sure how to answer such a peculiar question. ”What they are saying isn’t exactly wrong, but it’s not right either...”

Raven’s eyes narrowed. ”Elaborate.”

Jasmine took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. ”Well, Noah is...not exactly human...he even told us directly that he considered himself to be a monster.”

”Oh?” Raven clutched her weapon in hand. In her perspective, if a human would consider themselves to be a monster, then wouldn’t that make him a threat to humans? Her bloodlust intensified, causing many of the others to flinch.

”Wait!” Bailey interrupted, retreating a step back when meeting Raven’s intense gaze. However, when Raven noted Bailey’s wrapped arm dangling at her side, Raven’s gaze lost most of its intensity. ”Noah may be a monster, but he’s been helping us all this time. Without him we wouldn’t have made it this far.”

”She’s right.” Ishii eagerly stepped forward. ”He’s saved us multiple times, even if his methods are...harsh. And maybe he did turn someone into a monster, ’but!’ He had his reasons to do so! And mmph!”

”Idiot! If you are trying to support Noah then you can help by shutting up!” Alicia angrily muttered into his ear, covering his mouth in the process. However, the damage Ishii caused has already been done.

”I think I have heard enough...” Raven uttered, her gaze staring daggers into Noah’s direction now. ”This Noah will die by my hand.” She then turned, staring maliciously towards the students. ”I won’t try to understand your reasons for defending such a monster, but if you stand in my way, I will not hesitate to cut you down..” She coldly stated, her eyes pandering between everyone, somewhat daring anyone to oppose her.

She couldn’t understand the extreme shifts of expressions between everyone in their group. Many were anxious, others were relieved, and then there were the ones who were both afraid, and worried. She couldn’t understand how a monster in human skin could create so many different reactions after what she heard; believing that the only source of emotion they should all hold is the relief of getting away from his clutches.

With her resolve to confront Noah, she was about to give the order to her troops, but then a small chuckle emerged, one that soon escalated to an exaggerated laughter entering her ears.