Becoming a Monster

Chapter 148: Chapter 148: Experiment two

The Queen’s figure quickly disappeared as she rushed towards her underlings. Though she always considered herself to be a unique and superior species, destined to usher forth a new era. Her queenly nature prevented her from risking the annihilation of the colony she painstakingly built. The instinctive nature of preserving her colony spurred her to forgo her own selfish ambitions.

Her drive to kill Ailetta was momentarily overshadowed, but as she raced to the aid of her minions, the burning hatred she harbored for Ailetta grew. The animosity that Ailetta had stirred within the Queen even superseded the loathing she once held for Noah. The mocking smiles on Ailetta’s body became a symbol of the humiliation the Queen vowed to erase.

In just a few breaths, the Queen had already arrived at the scene of her army being decimated. However, ”decimated” didn’t quite capture the horror of what she was witnessing in front of her. Her army wasn’t just being outright killed, they were all being eaten!

Yet, ”eaten” still wasn’t able to fully convey what she was seeing. The two insectoid slimes weren’t using their natural mouths to feed; instead, the many mouths flowing across their bodies widened, revealing cannibalistic teeth that could mince through any resistance. The voids reaching deeper inside their mouths resembled a seemingly bottomless pit.

It was those same grotesque maws that would latch onto the swarms, tearing through their hides and flesh. As these numerous mouths greedily consumed whatever life they could get their teeth on, both the centipede and the centipede’s aura would grow stronger with each body consumed.

The Queen had already lost a considerable amount of his minions during the initial stages of the battle before she had decided to intervene. Now, with the two insectoid-slimes feeding on her followers, she was left with approximately a fifth of her entire army; she couldn’t let any more perish.

Focusing her fury, she set her sights on the first target; the centipede, the creature that was the biggest contributor for destroying her followers.

As the Queen was approaching, she was already in the midst of circulating her mana for another devastating attack. She was arrogant, but not foolish; she was extremely aware that the two ferocious slime creatures would be nearly impossible to destroy with just her physical abilities alone. She was prepared to not hold back in her attacks, her mana was like an ocean compared to Noah’s own. Even if she unleashed twenty or so mana spheres in rapid succession, she would still have more than enough power left to deal with Ailetta once the abominations were dealt with.

In the eyes of any non-awakener, the Queen appeared to instantly teleport in front of the centipede’s face, unleashing the massive wave of corrosive energy directly into it.

The energy’s corrosive properties were appalling, instantly beginning to tear into the centipede’s face upon contact; sizzling and gnawing away at the slimy exterior before eventually reaching its fleshy corpse within. The creature’s numerous mouths, which showed a lack of sentience besides its greedy appetite, now shrieking in pain and agony as the corrosive force worked its way through them.

Unlike the basic slimes before them, the more advanced slimes that were gifted the abnormal features contained a sentience of their own, although simplistic in nature. Even their lesser counterparts had basic understanding in their own right, otherwise it would be near impossible for Ailetta to manually control close to a hundred different undead creatures on her own. The advanced slimes could adapt and make simple decisions on their own as long as it followed the conscious order given to it. And it was because of its rudimentary sentience that it also was considered its own life form when it was separated from Ailetta, allowing it to feel and experience pain, and a primal urge for survival.

The centipede’s head was already showing signs of complete decomposition under the potent effects of the Queen’s mana. However, the resistance of the advanced slimes was much more formidable than its lesser counterparts. Despite its agonized shrieks, The creature’s body reacted in the opposite way, lunging towards the Queen with its mouths both wailing and snapping for a piece of her.

Despite the injury she was able to inflict, the Queen still respected the slime’s unknown capabilities, quickly creating distance from the creature as it lunged towards her. The damage she caused clearly showed that the centipede didn’t stand a chance against her, but she wasn’t satisfied with merely wounding the creature; her hand was already in motion to attack the centipede again.

—-

Ailetta’s eyes were entirely focused on the results of the Queen’s attacks. She had a basic understanding of what the Queen’s mana was capable of and also the potential of her two stages of slimes. The destruction of her creatures should have caused her concern about their inevitable downfall, and eventually her own, as she would be without corpses to control. But instead of worry, her expression was one of twisted delight, her lips curling into a creepy smile as she muttered to herself.

”Physical attacks still pose a challenge—almost negligible, but the slimes’ mana is being consumed at an alarming rate with every reconstruction. And yet, even a creature with such sharp senses hasn’t noticed this flaw. Fuufffuffu!”

Ailetta’s laughter was soft but it held an edge of madness. ”It’s almost amusing,” she continued, her gaze intensifying as she focused on the centipede’s injury. ”The only reason she has the ability to contend with my babies is because of Noah. And yet she doesn’t realize that she’s making the same mistake that he did.”

As she spoke, Ailetta observed the subtle changes in the battlefield. The slime that had once sizzled under the Queen’s corrosive mana was now slowly regressing in its deterioration. The agonized shrieks of the centipede’s mouths, which had once filled the air, were growing fainter. It seemed as though if the slime was able to survive the Queen’s assault then the tide of battle would be entirely in Ailetta’s favor. However, Aieltta had never once believed that the centipede stood a chance against the Queen, not after witnessing the Queen’s unique mana trait.

If the Queen couldn’t even survive against her first experiment, then not only would Aieltta feel deeply unsatisfied, but she would also lose out on what she wanted to do next.

”Marvelous, simply marvelous!” Ailetta exclaimed, her excitement barely contained. ”I think we are now ready for phase two. Ahem! I mean, experiment two.” Her gaze shifted to the beetle, which was still wreaking havoc among the swarm.

—-----

After unleashing her third attack on the centipede, the Queen, once confident in her swift victory, began to sense a growing unease. Her assured demeanor wavered as she realized something was amiss. The damage inflicted by her corrosive mana, once devastating, was now noticeably diminishing with each successive strike. What alarmed her most was the subtle but unmistakable lack of reaction from the centipede’s slime, a sign that something was fundamentally wrong.

”Is it merely resisting my power?” the Queen muttered, disbelief creeping into her voice. As she scrutinized the aftermath of her latest attack, she noticed with growing dread that the deterioration of the slime and flesh was a mere fraction, nearly a fourth, of what it had been during her initial assault. She observed that the residual effects of her corrosive mana were still at work, slowly being absorbed into the centipede’s slime. The amount of her mana being absorbed was minuscule, yet it wasn’t the mana itself that concerned her, it was the characteristic of her mana that the slime seemed to be assimilating.

The realization hit her hard. The centipede’s slime wasn’t simply growing resistant to her attacks; it was adapting, incorporating the very corrosive properties of her attacks into its own structure. The more she attacked, the more resistant it became. What was once her greatest strength was now being turned against her.

Her mana whizzed with her palms more chaotically than before, mirroring her desperate feelings. That’s when she remembered the attack that threatened her not once, but twice. If she couldn’t put the creature down with multiple attacks, then she would just use one that was significantly more destructive.

Instinctively, she was preparing to emulate Noah in every single way, from the poise, all the way down to merging the effects of two mana spheres simultaneously. However, the flaw in what she wanted to achieve presented itself when she realized she was lacking an extra arm.

”If he could do it with two, then of course that should mean that I can unleash the same attack with one arm. I just need more energy, more power....” The Queen arrogantly encouraged herself, her mana flaring, becoming a tangible substance that could even be seen with the naked eye.

But as she decided to take drastic action, the two insectoid slimes also proceeded to do something drastic themselves. Both of the two creatures snapped their many eyes towards the other before suddenly speeding towards the others’ direction.

The Queen didn’t think anything of the change in their behavior; in fact, she felt the need to thank the two creatures for converging to one spot. Instead, she believed this was an opportunity, she could potentially take out both headaches with only one use of her ability rather than exerting herself twice.

However, those positive thoughts of hers didn’t last long. As the two creatures closed the distance between them, their forms began to undergo a drastic transformation. The many mouths that once spread across their bodies started to shift, sliding towards a central point. The sight was unnerving as the mouths merged, fusing together until they formed a single, massive maw that spanned nearly the entirety of the creatures’ bodies.

The Queen felt a sense of unease, but the power coursing through her gave her the confidence that no matter what course the two entities take, overwhelming strength would destroy them.

The two creatures acted seemingly oblivious to the threat the Queen’s attack posed; they moved with an attraction towards each other, as if they couldn’t wait to devour one another. When the two finally reached one another, the mouths began to feed on the other. Each bite consumed a large portion of the other, and as their sizes receded, the remaining parts of their bodies integrated into the central maw. Despite this, with each bite, their aura spiked, growing stronger with each portion consumed.

Eventually, the centipede’s form was the only presence left. However, after the final bite, its body underwent a transformation that took the Queen by surprise, nearly causing her concentration with her spell to lapse, potentially going haywire and collapsing in on itself.

The remaining portion that was left of the centipede began to shift, its form gradually taking on the properties of both the centipede and the beetle altogether. And as the new presence was making its way into existence, an aura surged forth from its body, an aura that was almost on par with hers.