Becoming a Monster

Chapter 253: Chapter 253: Champions Resurrection

”How do yo-” Noah naturally wanted to ask Eve how she knew this, but he stopped himself; his gaze quickly snapped towards the ominous book in her hands. His first instinct was to grab the book to find out for himself. He didn’t doubt his little zombie’s words, but her warning was too vague to allow himself to make a decision.

Boom!*

The battlefield was shifting too quickly. An explosion erupted from the ground where Fenrir had once stood, leaving a massive crater in his wake. His arms bulged, his chest heaving as though it were about to burst.

While Arachne and Ailetta kept the zombie occupied, Fenrir had been preparing. He had activated a skill that, until now, had seen little use—but with the support of his allies buying him time, he was about to unleash its full potential.

Storing Strength (Level 2).

A skill that allowed him to increase his strength by up to 150%, provided he remained stationary long enough to push his limits. Now, with his power fully charged, he was ready.

With a thunderous roar, he unleashed it, every fiber of his being focused on a single, overwhelming desire: to crush his enemy through sheer, unstoppable force.

The zombie, still blind and crackling with uncontrolled electricity, twitched its head in Fenrir’s direction. Even without eyes, it could feel the thunderous steps coming towards it, a pressure that made even itself feel threatened.

Faces quickly emerged throughout its torso, contorting in the direction of the threat, while one sole soulless face rose towards the surface. The zombie’s face bulged as the face swelled unnaturally, as if something inside was trying to force its way out.

Within one of its empty sockets, white began to take root. But before the zombie could proceed with its efforts, a gigantic shadow fully loomed over him. The electromagnetic field still crackled on full blast, an effort that didn’t phase Fenrir’s advance. His fur sizzled under the cracking of the electricity before being flattened by burdening gravity, but none of it stopped him.

His monstrous form bulldozed through the resistances, meeting the zombie head on as the zombie extended its arms to confront him. Fenrir’s momentous charge knocked the zombie to the ground, a powerful fist raining down the moment they connected to the ground. Fenrir’s fist covered the zombie’s face, blocking any amount of moonlight in the sky before raining down with the aid of the gravity pulling down.

BOOM!*

An even bigger crater was formed under the overbearing attack. A reflective sheen coated Fenrir’s exoskeleton from the attack, a coating that seemingly even absorbed some of the electricity that persistently surged through his body.

Noah’s eyes slowly blinked as he watched Fenrir, ’if they keep this up then they can win...’

But just as the thought crossed his mind, that fleeting sense of dread re-emerged. All this time, he felt that his creatures were out of their league the moment he glimpsed that monumental energy from the zombie. Now he realized that the zombie in front of him wasn’t the true source of that staggering energy, but the source inside it after its death that Eve warned him of.

”Eve,” The little zombie questionably looked up to him. ”Show me that creature in your book.”

______________

Eve blankly blinked her eyes to his request, her fingers subconsciously uplifting her arms to bring up her book. She understood his request, but she wondered why he would need to see it when she already told him what she thought he should know.

Still, she obliged, flipping through the ancient pages with such speed, one would think she had no idea what she was doing. However, the pages soon stopped, the depicted picture showing an exact illustration of the zombie they were facing. Noah’s eyes instantly roamed the page and locked on to: Holy Magic, Mind-based attacks and Necrotic energy being its only weaknesses.

His eyes were moving quickly, hovering past the words while not missing a detail. He then moved towards the creature’s abilities. Its main ability to absorb others was the first skill stated, after which it was abilities that Noah believed were its abilities when the zombie was first human. Moves like Gravitational Pull/Repulse, Magic Amplification, Fireball, and Mana Regeneration. From the first few skills alone, Noah was able to discern that this person was a magic user prior to this. Looking down further, he began to notice skills different from his class, skills that resembled unique skills rather than skills you could just pick up from the shop.

Noah’s attention zeroed in on these skills in particular, focusing on the skill that resembled the one Eve warned him about.

Champions Resurrection- Upon activation, you are revived with full health and gain a massive boost for 5 minutes. During this time, your damage is doubled, you move 50% faster, and you take 40% less damage. You are also immune to all negative status effects (stun, poison, etc.). Every attack perceived will give you a better knowledge of the opponent’s attack patterns. After the duration ends, you will enter a state of weakness, temporarily reducing all stats by 80%.

”Damn,” Noah muttered under his breath, realizing just how difficult the situation really was. He couldn’t understand how someone with such a broken skill allowed themselves to be absorbed?

But instead of helplessness, Noah felt a sense of envy. A skill like the one he just read was exactly the kind of skill he desired. His gaze flickered back to the battlefield, the zombie’s hands glowed just like the time it had sent Fenrir crashing down the street. Yet, the moment it unleashed the repulsive force, its own body rose into the air alongside Fenrir’s. Fenrir’s two lower arms were determined to not let go.

Both Fenrir and the zombie’s bodies rose meters into the air, possibly further if not for the gravity still bearing down on them, coupled with the combined weight of the two that quickly brought them crashing back down.

’The moment that thing truly revives, it’ll probably be a race against time.’ Seeing their battle, Noah couldn’t help imaging how strong the zombie would become after its transformation. Just thinking about the damage the zombie’s electricity would put out, alongside its physical capabilities sent a shiver down his spine.

”Noah?” A certain voice spoke out to him, a voice that left him momentarily confused. He thought he was hearing things, but when he looked up he saw Ailetta, the version before she had undertaken her spider mutation standing in front of him. It took him a second to understand what was going on, his eyes impulsively looking past her, instantly seeing that Ailetta was still in her spider form. His confusion deepened for a moment, but his instincts quickly pieced things together. This was still Ailetta, but she was using her ability that allowed herself to split forms.

”You’re smiling, you know that?”

Noah took second to register what she said. His hand slowly reached up to his lips that had indeed curved into a small, almost imperceptible smile. Noah wasn’t aware of his own inner thoughts. From the time that he had ”awakened” and killed the Ant Queen, he had never been able to fight without restraint. But now, he could.

Deep within his soul, he was craving for a battle of this magnitude. He was craving to let the beast within him to let loose.

The realization struck him as swiftly as it had come. His smile faded, wiped away as if it had never been there. But as he stood there, his fingers brushed against his lips, his eyes were somewhat distinct. Then, with quiet certainty, he spoke.

”This fight is far from over.”

Ailetta’s gaze sharpened, her silent inquiry was clear. She was waiting for him to explain.

________

”That just means I need to proceed to the next step.” Ailetta’s tone was serious, but there was a hint of calculation in her voice as she considered the situation.

”I’ll need the other core, Noah.”

Her hand stretched out. The intensity in her gaze left no room for hesitation. She knew exactly what she needed to accomplish her task, and the core would be the key to amplifying her abilities to the level required to be able to fight by Noah’s side when the time came. Even she was aware that she would only become a hindrance after the zombies skill activated.

Without a word, Noah reached into his pouch. The space opened up, and he retrieved the second core. He could already tell what Ailetta’s intentions were as he handed her the core. But just before he placed the core in her hand, his hand hovered over hers showing a bit of hesitation, his gaze pandering over towards the two slime aberrations that stood motionless on the side.

”Le, we’ll have to hold off on your original plan for those two. I need a core strong enough for what I’m about to do.”

Ailetta, who was about to place the core within her faltered. Her various eyes calculated exactly what Noah was thinking of doing. A gleam filled with anticipation reflected within her gaze as she chuckled to herself.

Without warning, the aberrations stirred. The slime mouths began to stretch and contort, growing to horrifying scales as they turned on each other, each bite making changes to themselves as they devoured what remained of their counterpart. In the end only one would be left standing, a stronger version of themselves, and core that would meet Noah’s standards.