Becoming a Monster

Chapter 276: Chapter 276: Becoming the Hero Humanity Needs

Raven and her band of women warriors fought fiercely as they made their way back. Meanwhile, Peterson, Levy, and a small entourage of civilians still following Mark’s group battled through waves of zombies of their own. The policemen and convicts under Peterson and Levy had shifted allegiances the day they arrived at the base.

The policemen were drawn to the army, enticed by its power and benefits, while the convicts aligned themselves with corrupt politicians. Peterson, too, was tempted to join the army, his unwavering loyalty to the government made it an appealing choice, and his bitterness toward Mark’s group for stripping him of leadership only fueled that temptation. However, witnessing firsthand the army’s mistreatment of civilians, the very people they had sworn to protect, kept him from making that choice. Instead, he remained with the only group that still seemed to care.

It was both surprising and conflicting for Peterson to see young kids and random civilians show more humanity than those whose career and life was supposed to be dedicated to protecting the very people they now exploited.

The group Mark put together had become the symbol of hope that he wanted to protect. Slowly, Peterson had come to respect them, even if it meant putting himself at odds with his former comrades.

At the same time, Levi didn’t have any grand views or gravitating feelings towards them. What Levi aspired to change hasn’t changed at all. In fact, his ambition to dethrone the government had only grown stronger; Mark’s group was just a tool to make sure it happened. The system was always corrupted, the people too. As long as Levi could witness the downfall of humanity as a whole, Levi didn’t care about what happened next. However, he couldn’t just rely on others to make it happen.

The time he spent wasn’t wasted, his intelligence was undeniable, and his relentless dedication to achieving his goal was already yielding results. He joined every possible outing for food and gold, not just for the loot but for the experience. Each mission gave him the chance to experiment with his abilities in ways he had never tried before, having previously relied solely on firearms.

Despite his progress, the fear of infection constantly lingered in the back of his mind. But that monstrous figure, the one that had burned itself into his memory, pushed him to risk everything in pursuit of his desires.

”Raven! You broke formation. Next time, confirm your decisions with us before putting our people in danger,” Peterson barked the moment she arrived. His voice was sharp, his expression stern, but his focus never wavered. Even as he spoke, he kept firing in controlled bursts, each shot hitting its mark without fail.

Firearms might have hindered their long-term growth, but Peterson had already accepted his limitations. Until the day he was truly useless, he would make the most of his skills.

Raven’s eyes sharply flickered with irritation, however she knew better than to argue in the middle of a battlefield. ”Noted,” she replied curtly. The grip on her weapon tightened as she scanned the surroundings to assess the situation.

Peterson didn’t press further. His frustration stemmed from Raven’s reckless actions. Although he was grateful she saved a life, her decision to save one life could’ve put even more in jeopardy.

Meanwhile, Levi was doing his best to take down as many creatures as he could. Creatures that would normally take all three of the leaders to take down, Levi was now able to take down one zombie on his own. He came to understand the true value of his class, as long as he had mana and abilities for any situation, his limits were boundless.

Three Levi’s stood together, facing a zombie engulfed in flames. His main body’s hand was on the backs of the other two after using an ability to increase the potency of their magic spells. And with the passive of his skill; wizard, not only were his spells on high levels, but his passive to increase the effectiveness of his support skill caused his ability to increase his own magic power even further.

The other two Levi’s had just brought their staffs down after using a new ability he had obtained from a chest, his most prized ability besides his clone, the ability combination magic. With one of the Levi’s casting a fireball, the other Levi used the move air bullet while both Levi’s simultaneously used their combination magic to almost flawlessly merge the two together.

The fusion spell struck the creature head-on. The fireball didn’t just burn, it exploded upon impact. The force of the wind-enhanced flames tore through the creature’s tough hide while the impact sent the zombie onto the ground. The zombie was at the mercy of the flames, its molten heated embers burning the entirety of its flesh.

By now everyone had grown used to Levi’s showcase of powers, having him go from the weakest of the three once de facto leaders to now being the strongest of the three. Even Raven was hesitant to challenge him, his arsenal of abilities, though seemingly weak in nature, were now powers that she didn’t want to be caught on the receiving end of; and that was not accounting for the abilities he most prided himself on, illusions.

Levi fought away from the others to avoid accidental casualties from his magic. Unlike video games, he wasn’t able to point out friends from foe when he began to cast his AOE magic.

Another zombie was already approaching him, one that was unbelievably fast. The creature was running on its arms and legs. Its legs were bent inverted at its shins, while its hands were twice as large as its legs, allowing it to propel itself with powerful bursts of speed.

Between its sets of hands and feet rested a pair of arms shorter than its primary limbs, devoid of fingers but instead consisted of two deadly and abnormally large claws.

Levi’s eyes narrowed as he analyzed the creature without fear, a creature faster than him was something he could handle as long as it was a mindless beast.

The three Levis raised their staffs once more, the tips glowing in synchronized pulses, each radiating a different hue. As they channeled their abilities, another Levi suddenly materialized in front of the approaching zombie, poised to intercept it.

All three had cast Greater Illusion in unison, layering intricate details into the mirage, making it indistinguishable from reality. The zombie took the bait without hesitation, lunging forward and tackling the illusion to the ground. Its claws tore into what felt like solid flesh. The illusion screamed in agony, and blood sprayed into the air.

Yet the zombie remained oblivious to one crucial detail, despite the sight of blood, the air carried no scent of iron.

This was the moment the three Levi’s were waiting for. It would be close to impossible to land a spell on a target they couldn’t keep up with, but now that the zombie was in one place, the three spells they channeled had all focused at one point, combining before a three curse-like energies flowed into the zombies’ body.

The moment the cursed energies seeped into the zombie, its body hunched over. Not from pain, but from the lack of strength to barely hold itself up.

Each Levi used a disability and ability to lower its agility, strength and constitution, all for the moment when they replayed the scene from earlier. A fireball was already being formed, one amplified by the other doubles.

The zombie’s instincts were still in effect as it attempted to move out of the way, but its speed was massively reduced, its strength as well, preventing it from propelling itself in any direction. Another solid hit was made onto their new target.

Yet, despite taking down two evolved zombies in quick succession, there was no sense of pride, only heightened vigilance and deepening concern. His unease grew as his gaze fixed on a towering figure in the distance, a monstrous zombie nearly ten meters tall. It was a foe he knew he couldn’t contend with, he was clearly aware of his limits.

With the hundreds of zombies that had the strength of the ones he just faced or even stronger, he wasn’t sure that they could handle it all even with Mark’s help.

”!”

As he thought of their young leader, a radiant aura was suddenly instilled into them, warmth spread through their limbs, even their worries felt lightened. At the same time, the zombies around them began to burn, a scene similar to vampires being exposed to the sun.

”Isabelle, save your mana, focus on those who were infected for too long, remember, evolved zombie infections work much quicker on those with low spirit so your field might not have healed them all. Paul! The enemies there seem to be the most troubling to deal with, stall them until we can support you. Jas, try to save those who are too far away for us to reach! Riley! I only want you to focus on the fast ones.”

Mark’s expression was one of frustration as he witnessed the hell the people supposed to protect them had put them in. The odds were against them, but without hope, without someone to unite them all together, then they would surely die here.

He exhaled sharply, forcing his anger to die down. It wouldn’t help him now. What they needed was a miracle, and as a hero, Mark had already deemed himself to be the one to make one.