Becoming a Monster

Chapter 252: Chapter 252: Do We Kill It?

Stab*Stab*Stab*

Ailetta’s attacks continued to rain down on the zombie. Each time the attack came, the zombie would subtly attempt to avoid it but failed each time. Its futile attempts didn’t escape Ailetta’s attention. She didn’t have the same analyzing eyes as Noah, but her ability allowed her to perceive her opponent’s moves, almost two seconds ahead allowed her to notice something she wouldn’t have noticed before.

” Interesting...What else are you hiding?” She muttered, upping the tempo, making sure that what she saw wasn’t her imagination. The zombie’s attempts to dodge weren’t reactive, each move was made with anticipation. The moment her legs twitched; the zombie seemed to already start to adjust itself for the attack. The zombie’s eyes roamed around its sockets with an unnatural speed that seemed to be analyzing and predicting her every movement.

If Jayden was still alive to see that he had not only given up his life, causing the creature to kill even more innocents than before, but also played a significant boost to the zombie’s strength, he would regret making such a reckless, emotional decision.

Ailetta could tell that without her ability to read its movements, her suppression with her attacks wouldn’t be possible.

Despite her unrelenting barrage of attacks, she still had to plan ahead. Its bone structure was too strong for her to penetrate, but that didn’t mean that its bones would be able to maintain its fortified state, with enough attacks, eventually its defense would crack. She just had to make sure to keep the pressure on long enough for that to happen.

’If your bones are so strong, what about those eyes?’ Ailetta grinned menacingly to herself. She couldn’t keep up the ability of her eyes too long, the massive drain on her mana was even more extravagant than all of her other abilities. Worse, with each strike, she noticed the zombie adapting more and more. If she couldn’t put the zombie down before she canceled her ability, then she was going to make sure that the creature also wouldn’t be able to use its ability either.

But the creature wasn’t just going to lie down and keep letting the attacks continue. A surge of electricity enveloped its body again. If it couldn’t avoid the attacks, then it would at least make sure that it returned the favor.

Splurt!*

Despite its electricity, Ailetta didn’t spare the ability any mind. Her attacks were too fast. Even if the electricity were to interact with her legs, by the time her attack landed, she would have already retracted it before the current could travel to her main body.

Soon after, blood shot out from the newly inflicted wound, and the zombie’s anguished yet maddening roar should’ve brought a satisfying smile about her face. However, something went wrong. The air around the zombie shifted once again, but this time, it was different. Within a small area around the zombie, her legs suddenly felt heavier than before, a change that interfered with the speed of her attacks, making her legs move noticeably slower than before.

Her eyes widened, knowing what was about to come. She had already foreseen it, alas, she was unable to prevent it from happening. The zombie dug through the pain, grabbing the leg that penetrated its eye before releasing a surge of electricity through the leg as a desperate counterattack.

The current surged quickly, racing through her body and causing her to convulse. The many mouths on her body shrieked from the pain, showcasing Ailetta’s vulnerability to magic attacks. Despite the trauma, Ailetta fought to maintain focus. The surplus mana within her body continued to flow strongly through her.

”Arachne!”

Almost as if the two were in complete synchronization, Arachne quickly appeared in front of the zombie from its blind spot. One of her spider appendages stabbed directly towards its last remaining eye. With the zombie converging most of its electricity into Ailetta, that left the rest of its body unprotected. Even though Arachne ambushed the creature, its remaining eye quickly snapped onto her.

The pressure within its vicinity was still impeding on anything that got close to it, forcing Arachne’s actions to appear slower than normal. And the fact that her speed wasn’t comparable to the speed at which Ailetta’s legs moved, the zombie was able to intercept the attack despite the last second effort. Its head slightly curved out of the way of her scythe-like leg, its empty hand raising to block the other leg that was aiming towards the direction that its face was curving towards.

It simply ignored the actions of Arachne’s other two appendages that approached its body. By this point, it didn’t consider their attacks towards its body to be threatening in the slightest. Arachne was able to discern all of this within the brief second of her attack, and yet she continued to advance. Among her spider appendages, her human-like hand stabbed forward, risking her body in the process.

Faced with attacks from so many angles, the zombie finally made the decision to release the leg in its hold. But not without burning off the majority of the slime that encompassed it, leaving a disintegrating spider-leg that could no longer exert the same speed and power as the others.

Its arm was the first to meet one of Arachne’s legs. Its head was safely out of the way of any attack. Two legs pierced through its body, once again being stopped by its sturdy skeleton. Its eyes glinted dangerously towards Arachne, its instincts to absorb her led it to make a grabbing motion with its other hand.

Splurt!*

Suddenly, it found itself whirling in pain yet again. It had lost its other eye! If it still retained the full consciousness of its human self, the pain would leave it unable to react.

The zombie let out a powerful roar that mixed with its cries, its body glowed before the intensity of the gravity around it increased. Arachne bared her teeth from the increased pressure, the gravity not only affected her but also the zombie. However, unlike her, the zombie’s strength allowed it to move almost unhindered. Arachne’s spidery hairs sensed a powerful movement rising from her side, danger filled her mind, making her pull back immediately.

A powerful gush of air swept past, generated by the wild swing of the zombie. Its frenzy led it to lash out unpredictably, unleashing a torrent of electricity around itself that prohibited anything from closing in.

Noah observed the entire transaction. His stern gaze wasn’t that of someone who was proud of his creature’s inevitable victory. He knew his creatures’ abilities the best, and as he racked his mind, he just couldn’t see a way for them to bypass the creature’s defenses. It was now blind, yes, but could they get past its electric field? or what about its gravity abilities? In the end, even if they could bypass its defensive skills, he didn’t see a surefire way for them to deal lethal damage unless, Arachne’s poison was able to severely weaken it to activate her strongest ability.

’But that’s no longer an option either...’ His eyes narrowed. ’The poison within her attacks is being dissolved by that electricity.’

As he was thinking, movement stemmed from ahead of them. A beast, just as big as Fenrir, approached the zombie to attack. Dummy wasn’t smart enough to understand when an opponent was out of its lead. The zombie’s powerful aura, which should’ve acted as a clear warning, only proved to entice the creatures’ unsatiated hunger to dangerous levels. The electricity around the zombie continued to surge as Dummy lunged forward. The gravity field forced it to falter, its knees awkwardly buckling over. Despite this, Dummy continued to hungrily reach towards the zombie, hoping to at least to get a taste of the zombie with the mouths on its hands.

An empowered roar sounded behind it, its ears perking up at the sound of its pack leader rejoining the battle. Its muscles bulged in its increased effort to secure its goal before he arrived. Its hands inevitably met the electricity that enveloped the zombie. A painful roar resonated from all four of its mouths. Burnt fur and skin wafted through the streets. Its singed fur held wisps of flames, and yet Dummy stretched as if it was reaching for its last dying wish.

”!” With its weird resolve, its large palm landed on the zombie’s arm, a palm that could easily grip around the zombie’s bicep.

__________

Noah awkwardly stared as an enormous beast was sent flying through a building, much further than Fenrir had.

”Eve?” As his eyes roamed past, he noticed Eve’s odd behavior. The little zombie wasn’t as energetic to fight as before, her eyes were somewhat glazed over, her face scrunched up as if her processing her thoughts were causing her severe anguish.

”What’s wrong?” He grimly asked, it was then that he noticed that even Diablo and her two lackeys had never moved. Whatever was bothering her even prevented her from having her creatures engage in the fight.

Without a change in her expression, Eve didn’t turn away from the zombie before speaking. ”I don’t know...” Her face scrunched up even more. Her beady eyes gazed down towards the book within her hands before eventually she cracked her neck, looking in Noah’s eyes.

”It’ll get stronger if we kill it...” The question reflected in her eyes, overfilled with doubt. Her head eventually tilted somewhat as she finally asked the question that was antagonizing her so much.

”So....Do we kill it?”