Becoming a Monster

Chapter 350: Chapter 350: Prey meets Predation

Dummy’s body mutated with a speed that made his change feel unreal. Like a chameleon changing its colors, his body transformed within seconds.

The fur that remained became vibrant shades of yellow, while his skin glistened against any source of light that reflected across his new exoskeleton, one that was more elastic, and denser than before.

However, what truly changed was the definition and size of his muscles. His frame expanded, shoulders becoming broader, his figure taller, and his muscle mass was close to resembling the generals’ own.

In a low, almost affectionate growl. Dummy’s voice sounded for the first time, forming words with difficulty, yet the tone was filled with a savage delight that didn’t fit his appearance.

”Gimme...More!” Dummy roared, his eyes glistening with newly devolved hexagonal multi surface texture flickered with a frenzied ecstasy, consumed by the urge to devour his prey.

Just a taste was all it took. It wasn’t just the delicacy of its meal that sent him into a frenzy but the growth to his power that made Dummy’s desire to fully consume its prey explode.

Unlike its predecessor of the skill holder before him, Dummy could take on the essence of anything he consumed.

However, the power that he gains becomes only a partial of what he devoured. The power that he gained was a passive skill that increased his strength and constitution by 5%. The increase was negligible, but the promise of that power was enormous. Dummy’s instincts craved it, his instincts drove him to fulfil his purpose.

His body shot up, lunging towards the general. Despite his initial retreat, the general’s body moved on instinct as it delivered a heavy haymaker towards Dummy’s face.

Again, Dummy’s mouth expanded, this time each side contained one giant lethal mandible. The curved prongs were intending to latch onto the general’s arm, the dangerous glint at their tips gave the inclination that they were capable of piercing through its armor with ease.

Knowing that the beast it was going against didn’t fight conventionally, the general sought to end the fight immediately, even if that meant giving the beast exactly what it wanted.

Its fist continued to propel forward, crashing straight into the depths of Dummy’s jaws, its other hand sought out to grab the hand that was once again attempting to grab at its sides.

A thud resembling that of a cannon blast shot out. Dummy’s head was snapped away. His teeth shattered against the steel like fist, his face scrunched inward as it threatened to encase itself.

If not for its robust figure, his entire body would have completely spiraled from the blow. Even so, his body was about to slam into the ground with such force that bones would definitely break from the impact.

With the feeling behind its fist, the general knew that its attack certified its victory. A blow that would’ve incapacitated its foes, even straight out killed them.

But that certainly lasted only for a second.

Because for a second was when Dummy didn’t move.

But then, its mangled neck twisted, cracking back into place. The sound was disgusting as the snapping of bones was so loud that it even sounded over the fighting happening right around them.

Despite its dismantled figure, Dummy didn’t cry in pain. In fact, another sound mixed in with the reconstruction of his body. His broken jaws and shattered teeth were chewing rigorously, not caring about the pain to do so. And his other hand was making a sound just as daunting.

The general’s mandible clicked in agitation. It looked towards its arm, two long gashes were stripped of its hide. Unlike Dummy’s teeth, its mandibles manage to breach its armor and take some of it with it.

And as it watched, it noticed the luster of Dummy’s exoskeleton growing stronger, antennas starting to form alongside its head. The creature was continuing to grow stronger.

It was then that its own antennae twitched. The order to retreat was given.

That alone was confusing. The battle had only just started. Their mission supposedly took precedence over their own life, so what would cause the Queen to recall them?

Unlike the original general, the hybrid didn’t respond as orderly as one would normally do. What the Queen didn’t account for, was that in order to create a warrior who can function independently, they also had to give it its own individuality.

That autonomy, the very trait that made the hybrid general so effective, now warred against the Queen’s command.

But that autonomy wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Even now, the general didn’t want to obey the order, not just because it felt unsatisfactory to end the fight so suddenly, especially when it was winning. It was because it could perceive Dummy’s threat to their hive, to their Queen’s existence.

It only needed a few more moments, nothing more, and then it could finish off the beast that could potentially threaten their hive.

The moment it made its decision, it was then that it noticed the situation around it. Its soldiers, soldiers who were birthed for war. They were losing.

Two creatures lay battered on the ground, their bodies utterly destroyed. Limbs separated, carcassess chewed through.

The two bodies belonged to Eve’s servants. The muscular ant who once led a team of its own couldn’t hold a candle to the new hybrid foot soldiers. The hybrids destroyed their two opponents within the same amount of time it took for their leader to fall.

But the same situation was occurring with their other opponents.

Noah’s golems were perhaps not strong enough to defeat a general, but the hybrid soldiers? It was barely a contest.

The golem, bulky in nature, with tar slime falling along its body. It hung over the body of a soldier, the soldier clawed at the golem’s body with desperation. Slime flickered in every direction. In some moments, it seemed that it would soon breach what was underneath.

Yet as time passed, it never broke through. The tar substance continued to overtake the hybrid’s claws.

However, something was wrong.

The fervor in the soldiers’ desperate struggle was waning. Its clawed swipes faltered halfway through each swing. Instead, it firmly placed its large claws onto the golem’s body to push away. Its body jerked at awkward intervals, crying and trembling as if in a silent panic and yet no sound ever escaped its mouth.

The beast’s entire head was enveloped inside of the golem.

All the time the golem didn’t fight back, didn’t attempt to stop its struggle. It showed no aggression to its attacker at all. It simply pressed down, letting gravity strengthen its grip it had around the beast’s neck as it enveloped its head within its tar substance.

The tar didn’t just envelop it, it seeped into the beast’s eyes, ears, and mouth. Any opening that was there to enter was forcibly breached. A normal creature of the hybrid soldier’s size could hold its breath for a profound amount of time. Yet within seconds of being suffocated by the golem, a nauseating crack released in the air.

The hybrid’s body went limp, its spine twisted unnaturally to the side, dislocating from the sudden drop.

At its death, the golem reached to pick up its body. Normally, this would’ve been the moment that it consumed its prey, enriching the tar flowing through it. But Noah’s directive told it to do something different.

Without the corpse being able to resist, the golem flung its body at Dummy who had yet to recover. And it was at that moment, the second soldier arrived.

Meanwhile, the second golem finished its first fight faster than its partner. The golem’s appearance was a clear indication of what core was used for its creation. A humanoid figure, its skin formed from slime and scales. Its head was that of a demonic snake, its neck flaring open like a cobra’s.

Unlike a normal snake, its two fangs were followed by another set of sharp teeth.

Its hands possessed two retractable fang-like claws that were much more vicious and deadly than its fangs. The bone-like blades pierced through the back of its hands, black venom leaking from its tips. And when that venom touched the ground, a violet mist rose from it.

A tail that was three times the length of its body fluidly moved on the ground behind it as it watched its surroundings.

On the ground in front of it, a beast was clawing at its face, literally ripping its flesh apart until almost nothing remained.

It shrieked in pain, and yet it wasn’t from pain it had inflicted on itself.

It wasn’t aware that when it lunged towards its opponent, the humanoid serpent would spit a massive glob filled with venom into its face. Venom that was infused with its slime substance that was too elastic to remove with its bare hands.

The moment the venom interacted with its eyes, seeped under its skin and entered its bloodstream, the battle was lost.

There were only two soldiers left within the same time the general had made its decision. Now, it really had to act on what it decided on.

It shouldn’t take long. The creature it was fighting was still in the midst of recovering. It believed that as long as it could rip off the creature’s head then it would have nothing to regenerate.

But then it heard it, that obnoxious chewing, this time much louder than before.

Even as he was recovering, Dummy found the strength to feed.