Becoming a Monster

Chapter 139: Chapter 139: Battle On All Three Fronts

”Mana bolt!” Noah unleashed his magic skill towards the horde, concentrating directly on the ant generals. The skill mana bolt, much more direct and faster than its counterpart Mana Ball, was impossible for the ants to avoid. The lead ant braced itself for impact, and the resulting explosion obscured its form momentarily. The ant general absorbed most of the impact, the explosion only slightly affected those around it who continued to advance.

When the debris settled, the ant general revealed itself, withdrawing its arms to its sides. Dark cinder burns scorched its exoskeleton. Though injured, the ant was unfazed by its injuries, its antennae only moving back and forth.

”Avoid....attack, strong. Danger, high,” Noah deciphered, his eyes narrowing. Though he couldn’t hear the ants’ communication directly, his Linguist ability allowed him to intuit their intentions. The ants were more intelligent than he had initially assumed.

’I need to take out those three quickly. If I get the head, the others will be easier to handle without directions.’ Noah thought, driving his sword into the ground and circulating two more mana bolts within his hand.

As soon as the ants sensed Noah’s movements, their vigilance heightened, and their initial speed slowed as they attempted to anticipate the next move. Noah’s eyes flickered when saw this, his second pair of eyes reopening, intently scrutinizing their next action before releasing his ability.

His enhanced vision allowed him to perceive everything in his vision a tenth of a second faster. With his heightened observational awareness, Noah released the first mana bolt. The attack seemed to drift slightly off course, but what was peculiar was that the ant mysteriously dodged in that very direction.

Another mini explosion went off. This time, the targeted ant was knocked onto its side, its limbs twitching slightly, a clear sign that it could not properly guard the attack. Despite its appearance, just like before, its antennae continue to move, communicating to the others.

”Don’t dodge....can’t dodge...only defend.”

Noah smiled to himself upon ”hearing” their little discussion. Knowing they wouldn’t dodge was music to his ears. He no longer needed to use his enhanced vision. Unable to contain his fervor, he released the next manabolt from his palm while his other hand began to form the third wave of attack.

———

Fenrir quickly closed the distance to his prey. His eyes locked onto the massive beetle still lodged in the side of the rooftop. The beetle was using its giant pincers to fully climb atop the roof to reach Peterson.

As Fenrir’s muscles bulged, preparing to vault into the air and reach the rooftop. The loud churning of Peterson’s gun echoed again, this time followed up by a mechanical whirling, much faster and more powerful than before.

Peterson’s appearance was battered, his clothes torn from the broken building debris, yet his eyes were more determined than ever, resolved to use everything he had. His gun glowed with a vivid red energy that could be perceived as the source of the gun’s empowered noise.

”Don’t think I’ll die so easily!” Peterson roared, emboldened by power now that he had played his last trump card. With his new class, he obtained three sets of skills: Rapid Fire, Piercing Bullets

, and Critical Shot.
’Rapid Fire’ allowed him to increase the rate of fire of any gun in his arsenal, even transforming single-shot weapons into temporary fully automatic ones.

’Piercing Bullets’ was his most destructive ability, enhancing each shot with devastating force. Every bullet he fired was imbued with his mana, giving it the power to penetrate through even the toughest of armor. The downside, however, was that the skill demanded an enormous amount of mana, especially since each bullet had to be individually charged.

Lastly, ’Critical Shot’ was a precision skill that amplified the damage dealt when he struck a weak point on his target. This skill required both patience and accuracy, rewarding him with devastating damage whenever he could exploit a vulnerability.

Currently, Peterson was fully utilizing the Piercing bullets skill, pouring every ounce of his mana into each round as he unleashed a barrage of empowered shots. The cost was immense, draining him quickly, but the payoff was undeniable. His bullets drilled into the beetle’s armored hide, penetrating deep and creating a web of small cracks that spread across the surface of its body with each successive hit.

The beetle, once unthreatened by Peterson, shrieked in pain; a stark contrast to the ant generals. Its initial reaction was a frantic attempt to defend itself. It raised its massive pincers, positioning them in the front of its body to absorb the impact of the attack.

Although its pincers were sturdier than the rest of its body, they weren’t completely impervious as its appearance made it seem. The surface of the pincers chipped at various points where multiple bullets landed consecutively. The ricochet of the bullets’ empowered impacts forced the beetle to retreat, its body edging closer and closer to falling off the building’s ledge.

Peterson could see the desperation in the creature’s movements. It was no longer the same horror inducing force he had perceived it to be moments ago.

Sensing victory within his grasp, Peterson tightened his grip on his gun, ready to press the attack and finish the creature off once and for all.

But just as he prepared to fire another round, the glowing aura surrounding his gun abruptly vanished. The intense energy that had empowered his shots dissipated in an instant, leaving the weapon cold and inert in his hands. Panic surged through him as he realized what had happened, his mana was completely depleted.

The exhaustion hit him hard, his legs buckling under the sudden weight of mental fatigue. Peterson swayed, struggling to maintain balance as his vision blurred. He tried to take a step forward, but his body betrayed him, tilting over as his strength gave out entirely.

”No....not now...” he muttered through gritted teeth, cursing his own limitations. He could feel his consciousness slipping, his vision growing dim as his body threatened to shut down.

Without the suppressive gunfire, the beetle hesitated for a moment, as if trying to process the sudden change in its opponent. Its compound eyes fixated on Peterson, although it couldn’t be said to be knowledgeable of human traits, it was instinctive for any predator to be able to pinpoint its prey’s most vulnerable moments. The creature’s instinct for survival kicked in, it needed Peterson to die, oblivious to the fact that Peterson was unable to unleash the deadly attack again.

The beetle’s pincers ground into the concrete with a force that shook the building, securing its grip as it prepared to finish off the helpless human. The seconds stretched painfully as it pulled itself fully onto the roof, casting a looming shadow over Peterson. The sound of concrete cracking under its weight seemed to echo in slow motion, each scrape and drag of its armored limbs heightening the terror of its advance.

But then, a thunderous roar erupted, splitting the air with such ferocity that both Peterson and the beetle froze. The roar wasn’t distant or echoing from below, it was right there, on the rooftop with them. Peterson, struggling to keep his eyes open, couldn’t understand how the sound had gotten so close, his resignation only feared that another beast joined in the attack.

Through his dimming vision, Peterson caught a glimpse of movement, a massive blur that seemed to materialize from the very air above the beetle. His brain struggled to make sense of what he was seeing, but before he could fully grasp it, the blur took form. He recognized it as Noah’s giant wolf, appearing in mid-air behind the beetle, only its upper torso visible as it lunged forward.

The wolf’s eyes burned with a savage fury, and its jaws opened wide, revealing gleaming, razor-sharp fangs, saliva and a viscous liquid mixed together trailed along its fangs. Peterson could only watch in a daze as the wolf sank its teeth into the beetle’s already cracked and damaged exoskeleton, piercing through the chitinous armor with ease. The force of the bite was so powerful that it seemed to threaten breaking Fenrir’s teeth in the process. The beetle’s body jerked violently as it tried to free itself from the wolf’s iron grip.

The beetle let out a shriek of pain and desperation, its pincers flailing as it attempted to dislodge the wolf. But Fenrir held firm, its fangs burying deeper into the beetle’s back, securing its hold with terrifying strength. He used his claws to scrape and scratch at the beetle’s hide. The building groaned under the combined weight of the two monsters, cracks spider-webbing through the concrete beneath them.

The people still atop the roof with him feared that the roof would collapse beneath their feet. They began to flee towards the stairs, while two of Peterson’s closest aides rushed to his side to get him to safety.

The beetle struggled but quickly realized that it was nearly impossible to remove Fenrir. At this rate, it quickly realized that it could die without a fight if this continued. Its eyes darted over to the distance, its agonizing shrieks continued to echo atop the building, carrying a desperate plea for assistance. In response, the beetles that were the only insects completely under its tutelage responded to its calls. Every beetle halted in their tracks, the swarms seemed to surge with a frantic desperation of their own, compelled to rush to their leader’s aid.

As if it fully understood that help was on the way, the beetle made a desperate move. Its wings unfolded, revealing its more vulnerable body part, the only part of its body that wasn’t completely armored. Fenrir’s body lifted slightly due to the beetle’s wing spread. And when Fenrir was about to change the target of its claws, both the beetle and Fenrir were caught flying in the air.

In the beetle’s last desperate attempt, it exploded from the rooftop, using its wings to propel them both off the edge. Fenrir, momentarily caught off guard, only clung tighter to the beetle’s battered hide. His demeanor began to change, a giant red jewel entered his eyes; he fearlessly clamped down even harder, thinking that the beetle was trying to escape. The beetle’s shrieks sounded even stronger than before now that Fenrir finally decided to activate ’Rulers Fury,’ massively increasing his strength to the fullest.

—-----------

Chaos was everywhere, no matter where you looked, carnage and gore followed. Three parts of the battlefield were now entangled in fierce battle. Each battle was epic and as destructive as the other, but Arachne’s fight was the toughest yet.

Arachne faced the centipede with a mix of hatred and urgency, aware of the immense challenge before her. Out of the current creatures they each had to face, she understood that the centipede radiated the most danger out of them all, second only to the unknown presence lurking in the background.

The centipede was a massive, writhing mass of a hard exoskeleton and muscle, its body seemingly stretching in every direction. With such a large body, Arachne’s attacks seemed to have little effect. Its size was its greatest strength. Arachne could only rely on her agility, darting in and out of the creature’s range, delivering multiple strikes alongside the creature’s body. But each attack felt like a drop in the ocean. Normally, a puncture wound could create a gaping wound that could oftentimes be considered life-threatening, but to the centipede, her attacks were akin to toothpicks pricking at his hide.

To make matters worse, the centipede’s body was covered in a thick, armored exoskeleton that deflected most of Arachne’s strikes. Her spear-like legs only occasionally manage to pierce through to the flesh beneath.

Believing that the centipede’s greatest attribute must be its constitution, her eyes glowed with a purple aura, soon enveloping the centipede’s body. However, using the skill forced her expression to turn into a disappointed scowl as she received feedback of her skill failing.

Despite the overwhelming odds, Arachne refused to back down. Her instincts told her that this beast, more than the others, would become a threat to Noah. If she failed here, it could mean putting Noah in danger when he was already fighting his own battle. She knew she had to exploit the centipede’s size against it, to find more weak points in its armor to attempt to let her poison slowly weaken the beast so she could fight it on more even terms.

But she couldn’t do it alone. Her eyes narrowed toward Raven, who could only remain on the defensive, using her shield to keep the centipede from biting into her while barely having the chance to strike back with her spear. Raven could only prioritize keeping the centipede from coiling around her.

However, Arachne understood that Raven couldn’t do anything else. As soon as the centipede gets a chance to sink its fangs into Raven, it would actively wrap its entire body around her, stabbing all of its hundreds of legs into her body, making it impossible for Raven to remove it from herself.

As long as Raven was forced to fight defensively, Arachne wouldn’t have enough opportunities to weaken the creature as fast as she desired. Her eyes dangerously narrowed as she scrutinized the centipede’s eyes, her thoughts running rampant with what she should do before finally making a decision.

With an agile leap, Arachne centered her against the sides of the nearby building. Gradually, her legs began to bulge, increasing the flow of blood in each one. Her gaze remained intently focused on the Centipede’s face.

Seconds passed, each feeling like an eternity from Raven’s perspective. Within those few seconds she had to defend against the creature’s assault three times, her shield barely holding up against the creature’s crushing mandibles. The ground beneath Raven cracked under the sheer force of each blow, but she held her ground, gritting her teeth against the strain.

She could feel the pressure mounting, knowing that she couldn’t keep this forever, she could feel it, her transformation didn’t have much time left after having to drain so much of her stamina just to defend herself.

When she braced herself for another attack, she heard a mini explosion erupting from her side. A blur entered her vision, but that was all she saw before she heard a shrill pierce directly into her ears. It was the first sign of the centipede truly being injured.