Becoming a Monster

Chapter 293: Chapter 293: The Battle Ended, But the War Changed

The once life and death struggle between man and zombie was now meagre compared to what the people were experiencing now.

When seeing hundreds of Evolved zombies aiming to consume them all, the people were able to mount up together, gathering the courage to defend themselves and those who lacked the strength to.

But now, witnessing those zombies being reanimated by a single monster, watching two monstrous creatures kill off the remaining zombies that would’ve taken countless sacrifices to subdue. What should’ve been hope was now shaped into utter helplessness.

How could they find hope when all they could see were their deaths as they witnessed the horrifying display of the monsters before them?

What was worse, was that as the people’s gaze all pandered to the one person they still put their faith in, the one person who continued to shine as their beacon of hope, their savior; he too was as horrified as them.

In fact, he seemed to be more troubled by what they were seeing than anyone else.

Before everyone could fully comprehend their own fears, chests began to materialize everywhere, the battle was finally over.

Seeing the chests brought about different emotions from the group.

Some were filled with nonsensical disbelief that the fight they believed they wouldn’t survive was finally over.

The others were confused, fully understanding the implications of the appearance of chests symbolizing that there weren’t any more enemies that could endanger them. Their expressions were filled with skepticism as their eyes roamed over the monsters that were clearly still alive.

And then there were those who knew Noah, those people couldn’t see the chests as the battle being over. To them, the chests were merely the marker for the next phase. Now they needed to understand why he was here, and they hoped that he wasn’t under the same mindset of the crazed monster he showed everyone that made them flee, despite being their savior.

Everyone stood patiently, waiting for Noah to address them, but after a while, everyone noticed that he wasn’t concerned with them at all.

Mark found his earlier resolve faltering, his stoic expression wincing from embarrassment when realizing his first mistake. His first mistake was believing that they were more important than the chest in Noah’s perspective, and then the next mistake was believing that he would even address them in the first place. If Noah’s intention was the shop like Mark believed, then he would simply waltz in like he did at the station. At least, that’s what most of them believed.

The fearful stillness began to be filled with quiet murmurings that gradually became louder as the people began to find their voices after noticing that Noah paid their presence no mind.

It took only one person to go towards a chest that they believed to be theirs before others scurried behind in their footsteps. There were many people there who understood the government’s evil deeds. For the first time, they were going to take the loot for themselves. Many weren’t aware of Mark’s plan to dethrone the government, but they were already thinking of finding ways to encourage their hero to lead them in rebellion.

Under the rainbow of chest, few chests that shined brighter than all of the others. These chests consisted of both Platinum and Diamond chests. Chests that dropped for those like Mark, Raven and the others who had fought against creatures of similar strength and whose battles were a constant mistake away from death.

But just like them, there was also another Diamond chest that dropped. One that dropped for Noah despite having killed a multitude of insanely strong zombies on his ”own”. The results of the chest didn’t affect him as much as it normally would have, obtaining Kratos already was enough of a prize for him, and the chest was just an added bonus.

The problem lay with the chest location. The chest wasn’t close to Noah at all. In fact, the chest appeared at the last zombie that was killed by Kratos; a zombie that was much closer to the humans than Noah and his creatures.

Maybe it was greed, or maybe it was downright stupidity, but the moment someone laid eyes on the chest, others noticed it in the same instant.

Fear of avoiding death, and the hesitation from Noah’s presence ceased to exist as the people began to fight to reach the chest.

Seeing people fight over ownership of the chest wasn’t uncommon at all. Mark had seen it many times and had grown numb to trying to mediate the outcome. But this time, something felt off.

The source of the outburst was in the same direction that Noah was going.

And the sudden pressure that tingled at his skin....Mark’s expression grew pale. Abruptly he turned towards the source of noise, but in that same instance, he already picked up on the silence that followed.

When looking towards the reason for their silence, Mark saw Fenrir once again baring his fangs. The wolf stood over the chest on all fours, his intimidating appearance causing the group of people to stand frozen mid-motion.

Fear disrupted their thought process, unable to understand why Fenrir was there.

Fenrir was prepared to kill everyone to prevent them from touching what belonged to Noah. Since his selfish behavior the day before, Fenrir made sure that no one bothered Noah when opening the chest and he promised himself to never beg for any of its contents ever again. His thought process was the same even now.

With his earlier contest with Kratos, Fenrir already knew he lost, but his pride never wavered because in the end he knew about the chest when Kratos didn’t. Kratos had earned Noah’s favor momentarily, but Fenrir knew that Noah had a passion when it came to the boxes that appeared after a battle.

He didn’t need to win the fight; he only needed to protect the one thing that Noah always valued.

The crowd remained motionless, Fenrir’s aggressive presence keeping their instincts locked in Fear. Fenrir was alone, but no one there hadn’t seen Fenrir in action, they all knew what the beast was capable of, and they all knew that Fenrir wasn’t alone.

Mark found his soul briefly leaving his body, the sense of relief as he saw the people steadily retreating made him glad to know that at least these people were worth saving. But it wasn’t over yet.

He quickly began to instruct the people to gather all of the loot in another direction. Only when Noah was done would they be allowed to gather the loot on the other side, as long as Noah didn’t decide to take the other chest for himself. With that thought, Mark wasn’t sure if he should even stop him.

On the other hand, Noah’s scowl began to recede when noticing the people retreating from his chest.

He had to hold back the urge to order his creatures to kill all of the ones who coveted what was his.

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All of those who were eager to obtain the loot in the area found themselves unable to hold that same interest when Noah and his group of monsters drew near.

The very air felt suffocating from their combined presence alone. They couldn’t help staring at each individual, making sure not to make direct contact. But it was hard to do when two figures in particular were staring towards them but more intensely.

Eve’s eyes glowed more dangerously than before. Her instinct to feed was heightened with her desire to consume blood. If not for the potent residual holy energy on them, even she would find herself unable to hold back. But just as she was salivating towards the others, Diablo was even more vigilant towards those who dared to meet Eve’s gaze. His bloodlust was stronger than most, a bloodlust that can trigger fear that was on the borderline of true despair.

Those who took the brunt of his gaze felt they were going to die. Screams and cries startled those who were smart enough not to look.

But then there was the distinct creature that mindlessly followed them, the creature that had even more eyes enveloping it than Ailetta.

Those whose spirits were too weak to look upon it found themselves regurgitating everything that was left in their stomachs. Their bodies couldn’t properly react to the sudden fear thrusted upon them. Those eyes disrupted their flight or fight instincts, giving rise to an anxiety that was far extreme than normal.

The retching sounds were horrid, and to Noah, it was annoying. He glanced over to the people, confused about their circumstances before he looked back towards the creature looking in their direction before he gave Ailetta a look.

Just that one gesture was enough for Ailetta to understand.

”Babies,” Her creepy motherly tone directed towards the creature, and in that one moment, every eye besides the one focused on her suddenly closed in unity.

The pressure the creature exhorted disappeared, but the damage was already done, anyone who was on the receiving end of that stare was unable to gather the strength to look up anymore. In some ways, they believed that creature was even stronger than all the others.

In the end, the people looked towards the person who seemed to be the leader of them all. A human? No, a monster that no one could precisely pinpoint what it was.

Now all they could do was wait.