Becoming a Monster

Chapter 339: Chapter 339: Balance Over Salvation

”Isabelle? Mark? What are you doing?”

Mark paused, his eyes fluttering as if he was waking up from a dream. He hesitated in his response.

It was only after being asked that he realized his body was moving on his own.

’What am I doing?’ He too asked himself. His mind spinning, backtracking to what led him here. That led his vigilant gaze forward, taking in the sight of the golden background.

Once he laid his sight on scene, he felt it. His mana was reacting strongly to the holy energy. His own mana generated a craving within himself that led him to approach it in the first place.

Now that he was aware of this, he quickly grew skeptical, but as he saw the person standing before the field of energy suddenly began to kneel. He understood that he wasn’t the only one who had the same reaction.

Before he ran to Isabelle, Mark quickly took note of the others, scrutinizing their expressions just in case they were also being manipulated by the energy. But in the end he discovered that it was only he and Isabelle who were affected.

Mark rushed toward her, shouting. ”Isabelle! Snap out of it!”

But she didn’t flinch. Her hand was already pressed down and immersed into the mist of energy. The energy threatened to absorb itself into her body, tampering and ”purifying” everything not associated with its divine properties.

By this time, Noah was watching it all happen. He didn’t seek to help them, on the contrary he was using this chance to learn more about the energies traits for future reference. He was already under the assumption that the meeting he survived through wouldn’t be his last, and after killing an Angel, he was sure that there would never be reconciliation between them.

He studied the light as it tried to force itself into Isabelle’s body, noting how it clashed with Isabelle’s own energy as if it saw Isabelle’s mana as either a threat or an impurity that needed to be cleansed.

Each time the energies clashed, he witnessed the layer that clashed would flare throughout Isabelle’s body. Her body would jolt from a pain that wasn’t physical, but in turn, the mana where the two opposing energies clashed had begun to build a separate energy that was a combination of the two energies.

Mark didn’t share Noah’s detachment. He was already within arm’s reach of Isabelle. He was tempted to reach out to her, his hands stopping inches away when he felt her aura growing stronger.

Although he noted her painful expression, he thought back to Ailetta’s transformation. Part of the energy in Ailetta’s transformation was of the same energy that bathed the latter half of the room, the same energy that was now in Isabelle. ’Maybe...maybe she’ll grow stronger from this.’

The thought should have reassured him. But it didn’t.

Mark’s breath hitched as the glow intensified. Isabelle’s back arched slightly, her fingers twitching as the golden mist surged through her entire body like wildfire. Cracks of light splintered across her skin. Those cracks didn’t expose flesh, or blood, it was a stone-like texture that confused Mark even more.

Moments before her skin broke, the power balance of the two energies was beginning to tilt. The invading energy was beginning to consume and overpower Isabelles’.

The moment Noah saw the marbles forming under Isabelle’s skin, the image of the Seraph’s physical traits came to mind.

”If you want to save her, you need to share her burden.” Noah spoke out to Mark.

His voice was neither high nor low, but when he spoke, no one dared not to listen to every word. Even Mark, as he frantically was coming up with possible ways to help Isabelle, froze at Noah’s voice.

”Share her burden?” Mark stressfully muttered to himself, glancing back at Noah over his shoulder. ”What the hell does that mean?”

Noah began to make his way to the field of holy energy, but he wasn’t walking towards Mark, his gaze was settled on something else. ”Just get her away from there and don’t let go of her.”

Mark felt his common sense slipping away. It didn’t explain anything. However, as he bit down hard on his lip, he hurried in his actions, embracing her while attempting to lift her away.

The moment he touched her, he was quickly made aware of what Noah meant. He didn’t have time to be angry that Noah didn’t explain even though he was now certain that Noah knew exactly what was going on.

The energy within Isabelle’s body acted as if Mark’s own mana had attractively pulled it into its own. The energy quickly divided itself as if it had found a second host.

Mark’s eyes widened as the holy current surged into him. It wasn’t as violent as it had been with Isabelle. Subconsciously, as the foreign mana clashed into his, his heroic aura radiated forth. Instead of the volatile clash between the two energies, a strange resonance formed.

For a moment, Mark felt his mind slipping, a bliss that he had never felt before began to cloud his mind.

It was the same feeling the others felt before they were suddenly turned into the beings left to divine damnation forever.

The energy acted as if it was going to do the same to him, and the same to Isabelle.

But as time passed, and the energies continued to meld with one another, creating a denser form of their combined potent and unique energy. Both Mark and Isabelle felt as if they were being bestowed with a secular directive in life.

For Mark, his nee-desire to be a hero, began to shift towards a different path, a deeper reasoning than before. When he had finally come to terms with what a hero was, a leader who was willing to brave through danger for those he was responsible for, one who was not just stern and unyielding in their beliefs, but was also flexible to be able to admit when he was wrong.

And most importantly, to be the savior for humanity.

But now, his beliefs are changing, he felt as if he was truly understanding why he was granted this power. Humanity was still important... yet it was no longer absolute. It was about life and death, evil and good. Saving people was a bonus, but preserving balance was the true essence of a hero.

His gaze, despite the changes, flickered towards Isabelle. She clung onto him, her breathing less labored than before, the cracks were finally fading away, becoming permanent scars that not even the most divine healer could fix.

She too was changing. Mark couldn’t tell from her hidden face, but his intuition told him that she was experiencing a change no different from his own.

Meanwhile, Noah was still looking towards the top of the staircase. Not just one, he detected multiple aura signatures up there, and every one matched the same energy that was beginning to form within Isabelle’s body, but much more potent.

Whatever they were, he realized that the reason they were only coming down now must be because they were triggered by someone breaching the golden territory.

And when those figures finally emerged, Noah intuitively activated his Nexus Eye when he saw the marbled creatures that resembled the serah from before.

”Depravity, salvation, and redemption...” Noah sensed the traits of mana surrounding the creatures. Unlike before, this would be the first time he was able to sense more than just two intentions of a creatures or item’s mana signature.

However, he misjudged the creatures. It wasn’t that he was able to sense three different intentions from all of them, there was only one in particular out of the rest whose aura radiated depravity.

Her form was completely different than before, her aura was more intimidating than the others. Not of power, but it felt the most... wrong. The others flanking the creature were rigid, but their marbled ”skin” was almost perfection compared to the one giving off the haunting aura.

All of the other hollowed seraphs were completely covered in marble from head to toe, but this one... Cracks were splintered across its body, and part of its mask was broken off. Every inch of space that was devoid of the marbled skin revealed a darkness that was no different than the seraph he had fought before.

Noah’s vigilance shot up. Not because he believed that particular creature was powerful, but because he believed it had the capacity to become as powerful as the seraphim from before.

This led him to focus more on the creature than before. Gradually, his wariness turned to skepticism, then confusion, and finally an unsettling comfort.

Something about the hollows had already made him question their identities. One, he understood that these creatures couldn’t have been summoned, otherwise they would have disappeared at the same time as the seraphim.

And two, these creatures came from the same location as the few people who hid on that floor. Their aura’s weren’t strong enough to kill off the others without a fight.

His eyes glanced back towards Isabelle, focusing on the marble that was once forming under her skin. It was then he was struck with clarity.

”Heh, karma really does exist.” He couldn’t resist an evil smirk, his gaze centered on that one unique creature.

He could see it now. These were people who were turned into these holy abominations. Though their appearances were no longer identifiable, Noah was certain that the depraved creature could only be one person.