Becoming a Monster

Chapter 368: Chapter 368: Evolution Skipped a Step

The trolls had encountered countless prey before. Oftentimes, even worthy opponents. They were oblivious to the nature of creatures evolving their bloodlines. They had seen it, yes, and even experienced it themselves. All powerful creatures had.

Evolution and transformation were two different things entirely.

Evolution was gradual strength obtained through bloodshed and the nourishment of powerful adversaries. The more powerful the bloodline, the more potent the nourishment, the more extreme the evolution would be. It was for this reason their tribe and the tribes of other species normally held one leader.

Humans, dwarves, elves, and demons were no different.

Yet, witnessing three consecutive transformations that bypassed the need for evolution felt as if these creatures were breaking the rules.

Frustration filtered through the trolls’ unease, and behind that frustration, the blue troll’s anticipation rose. Its instincts told it this wasn’t normal. Whatever made these creatures capable of transformation had to be linked to that sensation from earlier.

More and more, it felt compelled to obtain that source. Not for the others, but for itself. It craved to transform just like the creatures before it. It was certain that it would benefit from the source more than the current creatures had.

Its eyes narrowed on the two creatures it deemed the strongest. Despite wanting glory and power for itself, it still understood that if it were to win, it would have to take on the strongest enemy to ensure that none of the others would fall, leaving it to fight all of them alone.

It still had to worry about the drake.

All this time, the troll neglected to acknowledge that it didn’t have to confront them. Their goal was just to find out what was happening. If they could take advantage of the situation then they could do so. If not, there was no reason to risk needless losses.

Yet if their chieftain learned of a source more desirable than even the drake’s core, it would demand the scouting party to immediately alert the tribe. Not out of logic, but because no power was allowed to exist outside its grasp.

The chieftain did not tolerate challengers. Blood, flesh, treasures, cores; all belonged to it alone to distribute. To grow strong without the chieftain’s sanction was to be branded as betrayal before the tribe.

The trolls knew this well. Still, as the blue troll’s eyes narrowed on the prey before them, that threat twisted into ambition.

Its focus heightened, from the group it quickly grasped that out of them all, the slime creature was the most dangerous. That would be its opponent.

Its grunts ordered the others to determine who their opponents were as well. Their sheer size didn’t allow for swarming skirmishes, so each troll was already weighing out which enemy it would clash against.

On the other end, Ailetta and the orders were planning out their own strategy for battle.

Before they could even finish their transformation, one lone creature broke the standoff.

Dummy couldn’t wait anymore. It hadn’t fed in hours. And the trolls’ lifeforce was greater than almost anything it has ever consumed. The stench released from their bodies acted as seasoning to their allure.

The instant Dummy moved, the battle had officially begun. The trolls roared, the ground rumbling in response to all eight giants lunging to confront their prey. Noah’s creatures all responded in kind.

With Dummy split from the group, the trolls moved to exploit the mistake. Eight against seven already favored them, but the blue troll was sharper than its brutish frame suggested. It bellowed a command, sending two trolls to intercept Dummy. The blue troll wasn’t about to let a lone fool get away with such a reckless mistake.

The thought of already about to take down one of their numbers inadvertently caused an ugly grin to lurk on the troll’s face. Its earlier unease washed away with the thought of an easy victory.

The gap shortened quickly.

But before the clash could erupt, Ailetta moved.

Her blackened slime rippled unnaturally, golden energy flashing as bubbles swelled across her body. Grotesque pockets of slime pulsed, growing larger until they tore themselves free.

Each bubble quickly drifted upward. One by one, they began to change, swelling, hardening, reshaping, until eyes rolled into being. Teeth gnashing within the sludge as the orbs solidified into floating horrors. They didn’t shriek. They didn’t roar. Instead, ominous chatter spilled out from their grinding teeth, an awful attempt of independent speech.

Tens became dozens in a matter of seconds. A tide of black orbs hung in the air, blotting out the sky above the trolls. These weren’t the regular slimes Ailetta used to infest corpses.

The slimes were all the advanced slimes, making their appearance larger than the others. Each eye glared with a pupil caged inside a ring of gold. Within their open mouths, slime oozed between their teeth, threaded with a dense golden liquid that radiated the most unholiness of energy.

The others weren’t surprised by such a scene; all of Noah’s creatures were used to the disturbing creatures.

However, for the trolls, they had yet to witness such abominations. The trolls faltered. Even their leader’s grip tightened as the unease wormed into its chest.

Then, as if that terror wasn’t enough, the ground convulsed beneath Noah’s family. Black roots burst through the earth. They lashed around each of Noah’s creatures, connecting into them.

The roots pulsed once with intense violet and dark energy, while the creature’s body briefly glowed with a myriad of different colors. Twice, power roared through them.

Noah’s creatures shuddered as their auras erupted outward. The power enhancements they received this time were stronger than anything before. Merging with Pandora increased his magic reserves by a mile, but more importantly, her spirit was nearly just as strong or even stronger than Ailetta’s. Together, their merger granted him the strength to empower all of his abilities more than he had ever done before.

Each of his creatures were blazing with new strength, a suffocating weight that crushed into the trolls’ senses.

The blue troll’s grin split into a snarl. The easy victory it had tasted a moment ago now turned to ash on its tongue.

The forest was alive, it was aiding their enemies.

Its hesitation ran rampant through its body. The forest aid was more of a blow than the dozen slimes. Yet, it was also the forest that soon shattered that hesitation. It sensed it, so did the other trolls. Subtle, yet undeniable. The roots carried the resonance as the presence that lured them here, the maddening scent that promised ascension.

This was the proof the troll needed, drowning out its fear. The source was guarded by these monsters.

Although the trolls first hesitated, Dummy never faltered. He reached one of the trolls before they picked up momentum again.

Dummy’s size wasn’t that far off from their own, but the trolls had absolute pride in their strength.

The troll in question was close second in terms of strength between them all. But it was also the smelliest, and the prime reason it became Dummy’s target. A dirty, green creature with patches of bark for skin, most of its body covered in tainted moss. It didn’t have a weapon, but its long crude fingers that were no different than wooden daggers, just as deadly.

The two creatures almost met when the troll witnessed for the first time how Dummy...fought.

A giant maw opened from its torso as if its entire frame was nothing more than a trap waiting to snap shut. Its mouth separated, making it nearly impossible to attack its face without the threat of having its arm being devoured whole.

The troll snarled in agitation, not knowing where to attack. But it realized that Dummy resembled a dumb beast as it didn’t seem to do anything else but charge with its arm outstretched.

Its tall frame moved in a way that contradicted its size. It swung its claws, splitting along its arm that was almost no different than its own. Bark broke off, as Dummy’s own bark skin was penetrated, black viscous blood splattered onto the ground. The troll’s other hand hung back, waiting, anticipating the moment its enemy would flinch, the instant of hesitation that always came with pain.

There was no hesitation. No retreat. No instinct to preserve itself. The troll realized this too late, its instincts causing it to move before it was too late as it hurriedly retreated. It almost got away.

A grip like iron clamped around its wrist, halting its retreat. The troll’s bark-like skin cracked under the pressure, veins bulging as it strained to tear free.

The troll quickly retaliated, aiming to shear through Dummy’s wrist and rip its entire hand off.

That’s when the troll howled, its howl of pain alerted the approaching troll. Blood gushed where its wrist was grabbed.

The troll’s scream had barely left its throat before a shadow loomed. The second troll, a mountain of pale brown flesh, rocks sticking out of its body like spikes, came crashing forward, its massive club approaching with the force to destroy a boulder.

Dummy didn’t move in time, tunnel-visioned in hunger was oblivious to the giant approaching. The club smashed into its side, sending Dummy spiraling feet away into the ground.

A deep imprint was on Dummy’s side, his ribcage sunken into his chest. His breaths came out ragged, but his eyes were filled with hunger as his hands crunched down on the strip of flesh he had torn away. The troll’s blood was entirely better than anything else it has ever eaten.