Becoming a Monster

Chapter 196: Chapter 196: Bitter Regret

Attackers POV

Did it just.....swallow my attack? What the fuck did we just mess with? I wanted to ask the others, but I couldn’t build up the courage to speak. My body and mind were frozen in both shock and fear as I continued to stand within the door frame, my hand still pointing my shaking staff towards that....thing?

I thought I already saw it all, I thought I was ready to fight and take on creatures of this magnitude. We did it before with the zombies. With our team, we were able to take down zombies that have changed into those freakish monstrosities. We have yet to meet a zombie nor mutated animal that could take my attack without walking out with significant injuries. That was no mere fireball; that was an ability evoked and empowered by both my new class and my special ability.

So how? WHAT THE ’FUCK’ DID IT JUST DO??

Gasp!*

My body was unable to respond all this time, but the moment those eyes looked towards me, I finally broke free from my paralysis as I scrambled to slam the door. My body cowering onto the floor the moment I was no longer the target of those eyes. I didn’t feel my damaged knees from my abrupt fall; my heart was racing, my breaths coming in ragged bursts, I felt that the very oxygen in the air was becoming difficult to breathe in.

I’m going to die; I’m going to die!

”Mary? Are you ok?” Someone called out, they sounded so familiar, but also so far away. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t register who it was. All I saw, all I felt, was the presence of that monster.

All this time not once was I able to think to myself why it was only ’that’ monster in particular that filled me with so much dread. Why couldn’t I have felt this way before I decided to attack it?

”Mary!” The voice sounded much closer to this time, but before I found the source of the voice, that ’monster’ had grabbed hold of me. I knew I was going to die! Please someone help! I began to scream frantically, my mana spiraling out of control, I needed to unleash an even bigger attack to relinquish its hold from me.

Smack!*

A fierce force impacted my face, snapping my head sideways. The slap was hard enough to send me staggering closer to the cold floor. My cheek stung, burning from the impact, but somehow, that pain grounded me. It snapped me out of the terror spiraling in my head, pulling me back to reality. I’m still alive. That monster... it’s not here.

A hand gripped my arm again, and I jerked instinctively, but this time I didn’t scream or panic. I blinked hard, my vision clearing enough to make out Jonah’s face. The one who had kept us alive through so many horrors. His expression was grim, carved in stone, but now that I could see clearly, I noticed the tightness in his eyes. He was afraid, just like me.

”I-I...” My voice came out raw, shaky. ”I used my best....my strongest spell... Jonah, we can’t fight this thing! We need to run! Now! As far as we can!”

He glanced back toward the door, his breaths heavy, almost labored. I could see the gears turning in his head, feel the weight of the decision pressing down on him. Then his jaw clenched, the muscles in his neck tensing. ”We stand our ground.” His words came out hard, spoken between clenched teeth.

I stared at him, disbelief washing over me. Did he not hear me? My heart hammered in my chest. I thought for sure I’d heard wrong; no one in their right mind would choose to stay. But Jonah turned, his back to me now, speaking to the others who were huddled in the room and those stationed in the hall.

I followed his gaze, seeing the faces of our team: Leah, Sam, Mark...all of them tense, eyes darting between Jonah and the door, they were unable to hold back their fear. They were waiting, trusting him to lead us. My pulse quickened as Jonah’s resolve hardened the air around us.

”We can’t outrun them,” he said, his voice firmer than before. ”If we leave, those monsters will only continue to follow us. We could even run into other monsters on the way. We make our stand here. We have the numbers; I won’t stand here and believe that all we accomplished will end us. Us humans will not fall to these creatures. We have to find a way to kill them. We ’will’ kill them, just like the others.”

I opened my mouth to protest, to tell them that their chances of survival were still higher if they left than to stay here. They weren’t on the receiving end of those eyes. I needed to warn them; maybe if I could make them understand then maybe we still could use this chance to escape.

”Wha-what’s that noise?” The clamor quickly stopped when someone pointed out the high-pitched hum filling the background noise around us. Now that everyone quieted, we could all hear it, the sound of strong winds, blowing through the cracks of the windows and door.

The hum mixed with a vibrating whine, growing louder by the second. Jonah’s eyes narrowed, his grip tightening on his weapon. ”That’s not the wind.”

I strained to listen, my heart hammering in my chest. It was more than just the noise we heard, I could feel it, the rumbling. The air felt thick, buzzing with a strange energy. My breath hitched as the realization hit me.

”That’s...mana.” The words left my mouth before I could stop them. ”How could that possibly be mana?”

Panic flashed across Leah’s face. ”What does that mean?”

I took a shaky step toward the door, my blood running cold as the aura of the mana began to prick at my skin. ”It’s building something...something big.” The image of those eerie, endless eyes flashed in my mind, and I knew without a doubt what it was doing. ”It’s going to take us all out in one hit.”

Jonah swore under his breath, his face pale. ”We need to move, now!”

But as we scrambled to ready ourselves, the sound outside shifted. A deep, ominous hum replaced by a booming roar that seemed to shake the very ground beneath us. Through the cracks in the window, I caught sight of it.

A massive ball of mana, swirling with raw, violent energy, hovered just outside the door, pulsating with power. It was like a miniature star, crackling with violet arcs of energy, growing larger every second as it grew closer. The sheer force of it made the air around us buzz and warp, distorting reality itself.

”Please go-”

____________________

Regular POV

An explosion more resounding than Noah ever created before took shape in front of him. The ripples of the aftereffects pushed back into the others, threatening to lift them in its path. Noah’s firm hold on Eve was the only thing preventing her from flying away. It was just the building that was affected, the structures on its side began to crumble after its foundation was fractured by the blast.

Leftover debris from the obliterated building shot out with considerable force; enough force to potentially kill even an awakened human. However, among the flung objects, any human remains, or blood, was excluded, their bodies and all of its constants instantly vaporized.

Moments passed as Noah and his companions just watched the show of his destruction. Besides Eve, no one else there was in danger of being injured from the blasts’ residual effects, but Diablo was dutifully taking care of preventing anything from touching her.

They should be used to it by now, but Arachne and Ailetta found them marveling at Noah’s power. For the two who most desperately didn’t want to be left too far behind, they understood that they still had a lot of work to do.

Fenrir, on the other hand, howled towards the sky. His mood was destroyed at the fact that not only did he fail to sniff out a potential threat, now he wasn’t able to make up for his mistake.

Noah, however, was calm, indifferent even. The destruction didn’t faze him, nor did the quiet admiration or frustrations of his companions. His mind was already elsewhere, scanning the area for any remaining threats with a detached focus. He didn’t mind if animals and zombies were the ones who attacked them. However, he took an attack from humans personally. The idea of humans wanting to kill those close to him for experience or even potential loot simmered within his raging heart. He wanted to make sure there weren’t any potential survivors before moving on..

No one spoke until the aftermath settled, leaving strewn rubbles and random pieces of wood and other miscellaneous debris now littered the streets and destroyed nearby property. His search was thorough, using his nexus eye to make sure there weren’t any traces of nearby auras in the area. Using his peculiar vision, he noticed traces of mana in a few nearby buildings, but their mana wasn’t on the same level to be considered a threat. Despite this, his twisted thoughts urged him to still kill them off just to be sure.

”Let’s move on.” His companions didn’t argue or question him. They simply fell into step behind him.