Becoming a Monster

Chapter 292: Chapter 292: Kratos’ Pride

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three successive strikes struck within a second as the zombie stabbed without proper vision to its victim now that its head was gone.

Its barbaric swings may have lacked precision, but the danger was still there. However, Kratos barely took notice of a threat. His long winded tail lively moved between him and the creature’s blades. Sparks were emitted from the powerful clashes, yet, not a scratch was made on Kratos’ tail. The zombie on the other hand fared worse, its bladed arms were cracking just from the initial impacts.

Even then, the creature appeared oblivious to its circumstances, its arms still raised, preparing to continue its frenzied behavior.

As its identity as a zombie, Kratos should have been aware that if destroying the head doesn’t work, then the next best action would be destroying the core.

But Kratos didn’t care. Exploiting an opponent’s weakness was only fit for those whose strength was comparable to that of their enemies. Kratos firmly believed that as long as he wanted something to die, then it would die.

He firmly watched the zombie’s arms stabbing towards him once more, but before they could land, Kratos moved.

His body quickly stepped forward just inches from the zombie’s body.

Another show of sparks flared from a blade slicing into his side, but the other two sword sounds never registered.

Splat!

Flesh being fiercely torn with no remorse sounded, and then again. Within that one moment, Kratos was able to rip apart two of the zombie’s arms from its body, but that wasn’t enough.

______________

Ishii found himself further away from the scene from where he initially started. As a warrior, he believed that he was mentally prepared for the worse, but the current scene was too chilling, even for him.

Kratos’ way of fighting was...brutal.

Just tearing off its two arms were enough, after ripping out its last arm, Ishii watched as the Kaiju then proceeded to slam the zombie into the ground where it completely mangled the body. Guts were being ripped to shreds, its legs completely broken and torn apart from its main body. And Kratos continued to destroy the creature further.

And still, Kratos didn’t stop.

It was difficult to tell if Kratos was intentionally avoiding destroying the core as it continued to allow the zombie to regenerate itself.

If Noah wasn’t in tune with his creatures’ emotions, he would be left to believe that he had created a sadist.

Perhaps, it was true.

But there wasn’t a hint of sadistic pleasure emanating from the creature, what Noah did feel from him was annoyance, and determination.

Kratos believed that he could destroy the creature without resorting to using effort to give the impression that the zombie was even close as its equal. It wanted these creatures to be helpless in the face of its strength the same way it felt when he was in Noah’s presence.

His inefficiency led him to make a decision; he couldn’t let this creature taint his image.

The energy running through his veins began to churn, pulsing as it glowed stronger with each pulse. The energy being generated gathered within its mouth even faster than what it was able to do before Noah had tamed it.

Boom!

As Kratos stood over the zombie’s healing remains, he shot a destructive ball of energy point blank at the creature. The explosion instantaneously engulfed both him and the zombie in a blinding light that was soon replaced by smoke and debris generated from the destruction of the environment around it.

Ishii had to quickly shield his face from the debris, his vigilance saving him from being taken out as collateral damage as he leaped out of range.

His ears were still ringing, but that didn’t matter. The mental image of being on the other end of that blast refused to leave him. Fear crept into his heart as he pondered the options on what he would do to avoid it.

The tenseness of his heightened state was so drastic that he startled himself from swallowing his own spit. The sound of his own gulp sounded louder than the explosion just now. His throat was dry, his breaths short. He tried to calm himself as his eyes were locked onto the area hampering his vision from being able to see the results.

And as the smoke began to clear, and the silhouette emerged through the haze, he saw the Kratos standing there, unscathed.

Ishii let out a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. He couldn’t hold it in anymore; his eyes slowly glanced over towards the person that made a dangerous creature into what it was now.

The person who used to worship Noah was now even more fearful of him than anyone else. Because he was the one who respected Noah’s character the most. That reverence made the shift all the more jarring.

”No! He’s still the same.” Ishii clenched his sword, trying to ground himself. Despite the terrifying presence and prowess displayed by his creatures, Ishii observed that it was only the zombies that Noah’s creatures targeted. Even now, after the Kaiju confirmed that the zombie’s remains were completely obliterated, it simply moved onto another zombie, continuing to ignore him and the humans nearby.

”Ishii!” His body jolted to the sound of Alicia screaming his name from afar. Both her and Bailey were aiding Paul to whittle down the creatures that were provoked by his skill.

They too had just experienced the bewildering scene of Kratos swooping in, dispatching the enemies before moving on again.

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At this point, everyone who no longer was entangled with zombies were beginning to gather in mass. Some were stealthy fleeing into the shelter of the mall while the others all were gathering around Mark’s team.

The speed at which Kratos was killing off the zombies was already fast. By himself he could defeat the remaining zombies. But Fenrir wouldn’t allow Kratos to take all of the limelight as he raced through the parking lot to outdo the new recruit.

The two together wouldn’t need any time at all to clear out the area of all the zombies. However, Kratos didn’t take too kindly to Fenrir’s interference. It wasn’t clear if Kratos was stronger than Fenrir, but he was certainly much faster.

If Fenrir wasn’t a fan of Eve, he most certainly quickly put Kratos as the one he most despised. Every time Fenrir would attempt to kill something, Kratos would appear moments before he could deliver the killing blow, stealing his prey before disappearing. And each time, Kratos would leave while giving Fenrir a lingering cold stare as if to say, ”Know your place, I’m better.”

After the third time it happened, Fenrir felt something snap. He couldn’t take it anymore. His pupils already were in the midst of dilating, preparing to use his wrathful fury to duke it out with Kratos to teach him his place, and Kratos responded in kind. Kratos was already charging up his energy blast when the two felt a pressure bearing down on them.

It wasn’t a pressure that affected them physically, but the weight of it was oppressively suffocating.

Both Kratos and Fenrir halted instantly, their eyes snapping in the same direction. Noah hadn’t moved. He hadn’t spoken, but he was watching. That was all it took to cause two aggressively violent creatures to reach an unspoken agreement.

The two took to separate directions, this time Kratos didn’t interfere with Fenrir anymore, but the speed at which it used before, became much faster.

And while the two were bent on killing them all, a nightmarish scene took over the areas that they once were.

Ailetta sent out an army of her slimes to gather all of the dead, while also forming four abyssal slimes who emerged and split from her body. Two followed Kratos. Two followed Fenrir.

The battlefield became a morbid assembly line. The slimes controlling the numerous corpses continued to rise and advance towards their stronger versions, melding into them, making them stronger.

Before, Mark and the others had witnessed such a thing in passing during the battle of the Ant Queen. But now, with the danger gone, they were seeing Ailetta’s horrifying ability in action with new eyes.

”Ailetta.....”

Though, not everyone looked on at the ghastly image with the same fear.

Two people in particular looked past the aberrations, towards the one responsible.

Bailey found herself relieved that Ailetta was still alive and....well?

While Jasmine was full of conflict. Since their separation, she tried to find other things to distract her from all that’s happened and despite her efforts she would always be reminded of her best friend.

But she also would relieve their last interaction. Those cold aloof eyes, her tone that talked to them as if they were mere strangers, and the detachment Ailetta carried even as Jasmine cried her heart out for Ailettas’ safety.

Relieving that bitter scene, Jasmine wished she could just forget about her friendship, she tried convincing herself that the Ailetta she befriended and cared for had also died that day, replaced by the monster that was present now.

And yet, even after seeing that monster again, the one who took away her friend, Jasmine was filled with hope that maybe, just maybe her friend was still there.