Becoming a Monster

Chapter 282: Chapter 282: A Savior, or A Worse Monster?

The smaller Kaiju Mark was facing was now missing half its arm. Its wound was instantly cauterized by the burning holy energy that no blood was spilled. However, the energy seeped within its wounds, burning it from within.

The energy alone was enough to almost decapitate it. Smoke was escaping from the veins of energy running through its body. At this rate, it was going to die.

That was when its veins began to dangerously glow, its glow growing brighter as if it had gained a pulse, a pulsating rhythm that was growing stronger within seconds, a pulse that matched eerily with its twin.

In its eyes, there was a brief flicker of subconscious grief, an emotion stemming from deep within it. Yet its body acted opposite of its emotions.

Mark felt uneasy about the change, knowing that he needed to kill the creature before it could finish whatever process it started.

He vanished, leaving a stream of his golden energy that trailed behind him, reappearing behind the Kaiju with his sword slashing down once again. With his early success, he believed that he could end this farce before whatever was happening grew outside what he could control.

His blade struck with enough force to cut through any resistance the Kaiju would attempt, but something was wrong. The Kaiju moved, its speed was fast, but not fast enough to avoid Mark’s blade. The problem was, the creature never attempted to evade his attack.

Mark’s sword dug inches into its back. A deep gash was created from the base of its neck that traveled all the way down to its tail.

The creature released another blaring roar, but despite the threat to its life, it never attempted to fight back.

Within seconds, it was already climbing up its brother’s massive frame, scaling its way to its shoulders.

The giant Kaiju’s veins were no longer flickering in their intensity. Instead, starting from its fingertips and feet, its energy veins began to converge. The energy in its body receded rapidly, all drawing toward its center. The pressure of the energy condensing into one point caused its aura to grow stronger than even Mark’s. It was a pressure so immense that it nearly forced both humans and zombies alike to stand down.

When the energy within its chest finally settled, the rest of the Kaiju’s body resembled a husk of what it once was. Its eyes almost vacant, only holding just a ember of life within that maintained eye contact with its brother.

It released one last roar, a roar symbolized its last goodbye. And in that last moment of its life, the light in its eyes went completely dark.

Meanwhile, the light concentrated in its chest began to rise. As it neared the dead Kaiju’s mouth, it burst free, shooting out of its orifices like a lighthouse beacon, illuminating the entire battlefield in shifting hues of red.

Time seemed to stop as the light reached the end of its mouth, a shiny star was emerging that was too bright to tell exactly what it was.

The Kaiju on the other hand was quick to snatch the glowing star, swallowing the energy whole as a giant bulge was witnessed going down its throat.

And then, doubt manifested within every human there. Fear recoiled from the depths of their hearts. Witnessing Mark’s explosive aura allowed them to see the future, but the feelings they were feeling now were far from hopeful.

The Kaiju’s energy didn’t erupt as what one would assume, its power was noticeably less grand as Mark’s ascension of power has been. So why were they so afraid?

The energy that once coursed through its veins was now closing at an alarming rate. It’s once scorched white scales turning as dark as night. Its body grew straighter, taller, while its physique grew noticeably thinner than before.

It didn’t make sense. Why would absorbing the essence of such a massive creature fail to amplify its aura but instead diminish it?

Almost everyone there had a similar thought. However, there were those that could feel it. It wasn’t that the creature grew weaker. Its strength just became so overwhelmingly powerful that the prey’s instincts were no longer able to ascertain the danger they were in. The rabbits merely became worms, unable to see the bird foreshadowing their death.

But Mark was different. He never felt a presence as terrifying as this one. Even against the Queen Ant, he had believed there was still hope. But now? His thoughts were consumed by how many people he could save if they fled before it was too late. He could perform miracles, but even he couldn’t defy the laws of reality.

He was afraid, yet his body was already moving. Fear was an emotion that he had experienced a lot before, and his responsibility as the hero allowed him to make rational decisions despite it.

”Everyone, we have to run awa-”

Mark’s voice faltered as he looked around himself. He should’ve noticed it before. Everything around him was noticeably quieter than before. He could hear the sound of isolating fighting, but that didn’t make sense, there were zombies everywhere.

His eyes frantically swiveled around himself and he noticed the numerous zombies that had stopped in their place. The only zombies that continued to assault the others were those that he believed to be either very powerful zombies or the more unique ones. Something about this was odd, and he couldn’t help linking the event to the mutating Kaiju.

”Ma-Mark!” Mark’s face snapped towards the sound of his sister who cried his name, not out of fear, but out of sheer emotion.

Staring at her, anxiously wanting to know what was wrong, he noticed that not once did she acknowledge him as she looked off in one direction.

The fear in his heart was only growing stronger as he turned to where she was staring, and before his mind actually was able to process what he was feeling, the knot of fear in his heart was undone immediately.

”Noah?”

Even after Noah’s physical changes, there was no mistaking him for anyone else. His demeanor was something that Mark would never forget.

And the creatures by his side only confirmed his suspicions. There were more creatures in his group than before, and the creatures that he had met before had transitioned into versions of themselves that were more fierce than before, but he would never be able to forget them either.

Noah walked with even steps, uncaring for the stares directed his way. Not once did he acknowledge any of them. His gaze was centered to the sky, specifically towards the Kaiju in the midst of its transformation on the standing corpse’s shoulder.

All this time he had still yet to find his second vessel. He had thought about using the ability and simply killing off the creature once he found a better replacement.

However, the bonds he established with these creatures made him realize the error in his thinking. Killing off creatures that were bonded to him would hurt him more than any physical pain he could surfer. He could still remember the grieving he had to overcome with Grims death, a creature that he had for less than a day had impacted him in ways he hadn’t fully understood at the time.

Noah’s gaze remained locked on the creature before him. What he valued in his creatures wasn’t just their strength or power, it was their aesthetics as well. This creature, in every sense, met all of his criteria.

If not for wanting the creature, he may have waited just a little bit longer to intervene. Not because he wanted to see humans suffer, but merely because he firmly believed in not stealing someone else’s kill.

He couldn’t allow anyone else to take it. It didn’t even occur to him that the creature had grown so powerful that it was now beyond anyone’s reach, no one could take it down, not anymore.

As Noah looked towards the creature, each one of his companions were becoming anxious, eager. They could all sense the creature’s power, they wanted to fight, but more importantly, their competitive spirit was higher than ever for a different reason.

”Noa-”

”Stupid, you had your turn.” Arachne interrupted Fenrir before he could beg.

Noah glanced their way, his eyes contemplating before he looked back towards the creature.

”Arachne, I’ll need your help this time.”

Arachne’s eyes flickered with a hint of pride as she arrogantly smiled towards Fenrir. ”I’ll show you that I’m better.”

Fenrir’s lips snarled in response but surprisingly he held back his words. He had learned that Arachne’s short jabs weren’t something he could argue with. No matter what he says, she would always touch a sore spot.

Noah’s demeanor wasn’t in the state of mind to appreciate their banter, he was already thinking about the upcoming battle. His hand merely reached out towards Arachne while his eyes swiftly took in everything around him.

”Everyone else can do whatever you want”. As he gave out his order, his aura became colder than before. The moment his companions noticed the change, their focus snapped back to the present scene; each of them sharpening their attention to hear Noah’s final verdict.

”Kill whatever stands in your way. And if a human attacks you, well.....you can kill them too.”

He spoke without the intention of trying to hide his voice. It was loud enough for any person with decent stats to hear it. And now that relief Mark had felt had transformed into horror.