Becoming a Monster

Chapter 131: Chapter 131: Survival’s Burden

”We can’t afford to play it safe anymore, Raven. We’re on the edge of survival here. Yesterday we only had to concern ourselves with walking zombies and oversized animals. Today, we faced three evolved zombies, while the rest were all able to run. What about tomorrow? Or the day after?”

As Raven imagined their base being overrun by hundreds of evolved zombies, her stance began to falter.

”We are evolving,” Levi continued. ”So are they. We need every advantage we can get. You may believe you are doing the right thing, but you are only delaying the deaths of everyone here if we don’t use this knowledge to become stronger. Strength in this world has become more valuable than our morality.”

Raven’s gaze dropped to the ground, her mind racing through the possibilities and consequences. She hated to admit it, in fact, she was barely preventing herself from disagreeing, but Levi had a point. She had just lost another one of her followers from the recent attack. How many more will they lose if they continue on the same path as they are now? The information might not benefit her group directly, but what would happen if her group wasn’t the only ones having to directly confront the monsters?

In the end, Raven sighed, feeling the weight of the decision pressing down on her. ”Fine,”’ she said, her voice heavy. ”But we do this carefully. We start small, we only accept volunteers. I don’t want to force the people we are supposed to be protecting to fight. As far as the cores go, I still say we should keep that information to ourselves, at least limit who can have that information.”

”I also agree with Raven,” Peterson stepped in. ”We all should make sure to keep our group in order, anyone who steps out of line should be met with harsh punishments. And anyone caught killing another human being just for these cores.....should be put down immediately.”

Raven was in direct approval of killing anyone who would view humans as just a resource. A small gleam crossed Levi’s gaze, but then his expression softened. Talking to Noah helped him understand that obtaining power had to be sought out with his own hands. He wasn’t going to just rely on his faction’s support, nor would he continue to solely rely on using guns.

Although he was aware of the resources the chest provided, he was blinded by the safety firearms offered and the easy experience gained from their usage. Through Noah, Levi finally understood the true value of the chest and the potential it held. He also came to the realization that only through facing adversity and risking his life could he truly live up to his ideal world.

——

”It’s only until we’re done, don’t get too upset.” Ailetta attempted to pacify Noah for the uptenth time as they walked down a second flight of steps leading to the holding cells, where surprisingly the mysterious figure decided to set up shop. Noah walked half a step ahead of her, intensely gripping the metal railing every few steps, warping the bar under his grip with each squeeze.

”But I am upset, those fuckers live in a world full with zombies, and somehow Fenrir and Arachne is too ’scary’ for them?”

Ailetta awkwardly smiled in response, looking towards the few guards that were ahead of them. Not one of the guards even thought of turning around, while the guards lingering behind them made sure to keep a respectable distance.

Even as she glanced behind her, the guards would jerk their heads away, not wanting to provoke Noah by looking at ’his woman’. Seeing how they reacted and witnessing first hand how the civilians reacted when seeing Noah for the first time, she could understand why the others wouldn’t allow his creatures to follow him. The murmurs, along with the surprised yelps and cries from young children and women alike, Ailetta could already imagine the scene if his monsters were accompanying him. Much to Noah’s annoyance, Ailetta also felt that leaving them outside was the right call, but she had to wonder....

”Why didn’t you use that skill you told me about? You know...the one where they go inside you?” Ailetta’s question helped to divert Noah’s anger. On a normal occasion, he wouldn’t have understood what skill she was referring to so quickly since it’s been so long since he had to use it. However, when told that his creatures couldn’t enter the base with him, his first thought was to use the newly improved Meditative Temple that was once known as soul cage. Although he was tempted to use the skill, there was a problem.

”It’s because of ’Neal’,” Noah blurted out, his expression holding a hint of regret. ”Fenrir is the one in control of him. If I was to bring Fenrir and Arachene with me, I would have to leave the new abomination alone; who knows how it would behave without Fenrir there.”

”Oh..” She responded, almost forgetting about the third wheel. ”But what about Arachne? Couldn’t you have at least brought her with you?” She couldn’t help but ask. Despite the fact that she wasn’t aware that Arachne and Noah had never been separated since the start of their spiritual bond, she could tell during their departure that Arachne was becoming more and more distressed as the distance between them widened.

Although Ailetta sees Arachne as a romantical competitor, underneath their rivalry, Ailetta also respects her. Ailetta had an acute understanding that the reason Noah hasn’t lost himself within his own monstrous urges, the reason he was able to retain his sentimentality and his emotions that allowed herself to be able to find her place by his side, all of that was possible because Arachne was there.

Noah didn’t think there was any hidden meaning behind the question besides her curiosity. ”And leave Fenrir alone, without any supervision? I tried doing that before, twice, in fact, and each time I left him on his own he managed to eat someone. If I can’t be there to watch over him, then I can only leave Arachne to do the job. She’s good at making sure Fenrir behaves.....sometimes..”

Thinking back to the two moments Noah spoke of, Ailetta smiled embarrassingly at how absurd but also true Noah’s words were. Looking at each other, the two could tell that the other was thinking about Fenrir’s ”silly” antics, laughing together as a result. The guards around them all felt a shiver down their spines towards the couple, wondering why their leaders would allow someone like them in.

Even Levi, who took it upon himself to take them to the shop, was unable to not be affected by their conversation, almost stumbling over himself as a result. ’Note to self, never approach that beast when Noah isn’t around,’ Levi promised himself, at the same time he began to envy Noah more and more. Noah was everything he wanted for himself: to have the power to do anything and everything he wanted, to be outspoken and true to himself without always having to live behind a multitude of masks and characters.

His envious thoughts, alongside Noah’s and Ailetta’s playful banner, quickly subsided when reaching the last floor. The chill in the air that brought about an ominous tension affected everyone, including Noah, much to his surprise. His mood grew solemn as he speculated about the figure’s identity, wondering if the creature in question was sent by that voice to help them or if its presence signified something deeper.

The pressure of the chill in the room continued to progress, enveloping them in a somewhat suffocating pressure, akin to having less oxygen when reaching high altitudes. Cell after cell was passed; each cell they passed was empty, besides one in particular. Noah only casually glanced towards the person before continuing, there was a bit of curiosity towards the identity of the person, especially after noticing the cell occupant’s despondent posture, unperturbed from their presence. However, the person wasn’t more important than the shop.

Unlike him, Ailetta wasn’t able to ignore the person, stopping by her cell before turning towards Levi. ”Why is she in here?”

Levi showed a hint of surprise to her question, not believing that someone who could laugh about a wolf eating people would actually care about a stranger. Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to ignore the person so close to Noah. He made his way towards the person’s cell, calmly staring in the occupants direction.

”She’s an unfortunate one, someone who cannot accept the reality of the world. She killed her husband after he turned into a zombie, catching him in the middle of eating their youngest. God must’ve had a grudge against her because out of her three kids, another was awakened as a zombie, infecting the other.”

Hearing him recount her story, the woman flinched, the power in her flinch was loud enough that everyone heard it. Seeing her reaction, Levi turned away, continuing their trek towards the shop entity with Noah and Ailetta following along the way.

”She was able to make it here with her child still alive, but.....the infection finally turned her last living child into one of those things. Maybe it’s because the child was all she had left, or maybe she couldn’t accept the reality of zombies. When Peterson’s men put her child out of her misery, she attacked everyone.” He gave a slight pause; no matter how selfish he was, it wasn’t possible for him to remain unaffected by the woman’s story. Ailetta looked back towards the cell, pity reflected in her gaze.

”We’ve put her there hoping she would reflect, maybe even gain the strength to want to live out her life, if not for her, atleast live out the life that was taken away from her family. But as you can see, she’s become nothing more than an empty shell; she probably lacks more life than the zombies themselves. That’s the life of those who aren’t able to adjust to this world. Many more will follow suit soon.”

By the time he finished, Levi finally came to a stop. On his side was the last cell, the cell that contained the entity for the shop.

Noah was about to move, but he stopped when he noticed Ailetta was lost in her thoughts. He already could imagine what she was thinking about. Bringing his hand towards her head, he gave her a casual flick, eliciting a small gasp of pain.

”Hey!” Ailetta rubbed her head, giving Noah an annoyed glare.

”She doesn’t deserve your sympathy. I would feel sorry for her children before feeling any form of compassion for someone so weak.” Ailetta, initially shocked by his statement, struggled to come to terms with his apathetic view.

”But...It’s not right to blame her, what happened to her was out of her control...could having power save her children if they were already dead?”

Noah’s expression softened softly. ”I’m not talking about physical strength....If I was that woman, I wouldn’t allow myself to die knowing that whoever caused this was watching our every move. I would give everything to reach them, to seek revenge, God or not.”