Becoming a Monster

Chapter 249: Chapter 249: Silent Foreboding

Before they pressed forward, Noah was seen standing near Ailetta, two orbs were in his palm after retrieving them from his ring.

”Why would you even want to use this one?” Noah gazes towards the core they took from the giant spider. The core radiated a strong power, similar to the same core that was created by Ailetta after creating her serpent abomination. Despite the cores being nearly similar in power, Noah didn’t want to risk Ailetta using a power that wasn’t tested, especially when fighting against a potential strong foe.

”With any experiment, it’s better to use it in an environment where I can push the test to its extremes to get a better understanding of its limits,” Her eyes fixed on the swirling core in Noah’s palm. ”This is the perfect environment to test it.”

Noah’s lips pressed into a thin line. He understood her logic, but he also understood that her logic was often irrational. When she found something that piqued her interest, that interest became a dangerous obsession, even causing her to willingly sacrifice safety for the sake of her discoveries.

”Don’t worry,” Ailetta, aware of her selfish words, slowly grabbed for the core within his hand, her eyes locked onto his. ”Our family comes first before any of my experiments. I have a backup plan, and what’s more, we have you, right?”

Noah’s gaze remained fixed on Ailetta, his eyes flickered briefly before he then turned to his companion next to him.

”Arachne, take this,” Noah handed her a bracelet, the very same bracelet that he once gave to Eve that had adorned her in armor. As he was about to hand it to her, he noticed the subtle hint of confusion in her eyes; understanding what it was but not knowing exactly how the accessory worked. Instead, he held her arm, placing the bracelet over her wrist. Instantly, he watched the bracelet turn into a full set of armor that fully covered her torso and lower body. The armor was very thorough as even her spider appendages were covered in the crimson metal.

”That was mine...” He heard Eve grumble, crossing her arms. Her pouting face unfitting of the current scene of a powerful creature descending upon them. Not once had she thought about the armor since she had lost it during her transformation. Even now, she wouldn’t have even thought about the gear if Noah wasn’t the one who gave it to Arachne.

”Not now Eve,” Noah sharply reprimanded. It wasn’t his tone, but his eyes that landed upon hers made her quickly deter any thoughts of acting up. Noah wasn’t in the mood for playing games, and he wasn’t in the mood to allow his creatures to slack off either. Now that the creature was no longer in the building, he could ”see” the creature for what it really was. If Noah’s existence was one that went against natural order, then this creature went against life itself. The mana flowing around it was not only chaotic in nature, but it was negatively oppressive.

Through his Nexus vision, the interaction between the creature’s mana and the natural mana in the air was impossible to not see. The creature’s mana re-enacted a familiar interaction between oil and water. It didn’t matter that its mana may have once originated from the mana of the world. Now, the mana it had now was either so dense or so pervasive that the world’s mana was unable or refused to mix with it.

The sight created a sense of foreboding in his heart, a silent warning that this creature would be undeniably strong, strong enough that they would all have to put in their utmost to put it down, and so they all needed to stay focused.

A strong tremor pulled him from his thoughts. The streets quaked in the creature’s approach, its grunts creating echoes within the street that grew silent from its aura.

Noah slowly walked a bit ahead, planning to be the first to engage with the creature, but the moment he inched closer he found all of his creature’s eyes strongly looking towards him.

”Noah, let us fight it alone.” Ailetta became the voice for everyone else. Seeing that the others didn’t disagree, nor were they taken by surprise by her request, Noah realized that they all had the same mind. Deep down Noah was strongly leaning to firmly say no. The creature was something that he believed was outside of their lead. Not because they were weak, but because the creature was too strong, at least that was what he had determined if he had to go off of the creature’s mana alone.

Noah’s gaze swept over his creatures, each one staring at him an urging expectation that wanted him to believe in them. He felt the weight of their unspoken resolve pressing against him. They weren’t just asking for his permission; they were demanding his trust.

He clenched his fists; a sign of his own inner conflict being shown to his companions. ”We need to do this, Noah. If we can’t face something like this now, how can we get you to depend on us more?”

The others remained silent, but their eyes told him they shared her sentiment. Even Eve, normally eager to rely on him, stood firm, her expression surprisingly resolute.

Ailetta’s words lingered in his mind, words that made him remember the lesson he recently learned after interacting with Pandora.

He exhaled slowly, his jaw tightening as he coldly stared off towards the creature that finally came into the vision of his second pair of eyes. He had to come to terms with himself, individually, his companions may not stand a chance, but together, they could perhaps overcome an opponent that was way out of their league.

The only opponent they had ever faced that was similar to what they were about to challenge now was the Ant Queen; an enemy that had nearly cost them their lives. Now, they were stronger than before, yet this creature’s presence still gave Noah the impression that the disparity of their strengths was still comparable from back then.

In the end, Noah found himself stepping back. His desire to trust his companions was continuously battling against the warning signs in his heart. Though no words were parted, Ailetta and the others took his retreat as the signal they were waiting for.

Fenrir had already begun to take on his transformation, his exoskeleton almost fully enveloping his body. A deep, guttural growl escaped him as he planted himself firmly at the front, his claws flexing in anticipation. His job was clear: keep the enemy’s focus solely on him, buying time for the others to execute their roles.

Beside him, Dummy stood restlessly, its giant mouth opening and closing as if it was already anticipating taking a bite out of the creature. While Eve had both of her newly-added ants alongside them. Arachne silently positioned herself slightly away from everyone else, unlike the others, her demeanor was the most serious.

And lastly Ailetta, who unhesitatingly placed the core atop her chest, slowly allowing the core to sink into slime essence where the heart should be. A powerful aura exploded from her, followed by the sudden contortion of her body. Ten humongous spider-like legs burst forth, jolting her body in a different direction each time. The spider appendages were twice the length and size of Arachne’s, immediately uplifting Ailetta into the air. Each leg was adorned with sharp, jagged barbed spikes that lacked the qualities of her supposed slime component. Although every aspect of her was of slime material, the legs themselves were the only parts that remained a hardened texture.

The ever-serious Arachne grew a bit distracted of Ailetta’s surprising transformation. Her eyes narrowed towards Ailetta’s legs before she glanced towards her own. A fiery jealousy roused within her heart, constantly she kept subconsciously comparing herself to Ailetta since the spider battle. Ailetta’s display of strength left a lasting impression on her and a warning, a warning for her spot as Noah’s Queen. Since then, Arachne’s desire for strength grew even more strongly, so much so that she even began to look to Ailetta as a source to develop her strength.

She could never forget the fragile and weak food who Ailetta once was. And now, that food has turned into competition. She racked her head over, trying to understand why Ailetta was so strong and why she seemed to continue to grow stronger. And as she discovered Noah consulting with Ailetta about developing his skills outside their main usage, it struck her, and it struck hard.

It reminded her of what Noah spoke to her about a long time ago, how strength wasn’t the definitive aspect in a battle. She needed to push herself past her own limits; she needed to be creative. A feat that was hard to do with her straight lace demeanor.

Her eyes flickered as she turned her focus back to the impending threat. If she could change, so can I. Arachne thought to herself, unwilling to continue to allow herself to be overshadowed.

Now that Noah had made the decision to stand by, his expression became stern, his thoughts quickly deterred from thinking what could happen and focusing on what he could do instead. Now that he saw the creature, he became astute to the origins of the creature’s identity, a zombie, he held a distinct advantage over.