Becoming a Monster

Chapter 286: Chapter 286: Why is he Here?

The signs of the transformation were undeniable, the black veins bulging in the man’s arms that were threatening to burst, the fur sprouting from almost every visible part of his skin, and the claws that and snout forming. All of it was clear as day, and yet the witnesses weren’t able to get over the fact that Mark, their ”hero” had killed one of their own.

”Why...why did you-?!” One of the guards who was friends with the person that was put down stammered, panic rising in his voice.

The scene was awfully familiar, under the judgmental stares who were obvious from the circumstances. Mark finally understood the pressure Noah was under. The people Noah had to kill just to be misunderstood, the actions he had to take that no one else was willing to, and how, no matter how much he tried to explain his reasoning, his excuses would always fall on deaf ears.

Mark’s eyes darkened as his character shifted once again, his character undertaking a gradual change yet again as his aura flared, enhancing everyone’s attributes and boosting their will. He turned to face the rest of the group.

”No one could stop him from turning. We can’t save everyone, but I’ll make sure to do everything in my power to keep the rest of you alive. If you aren’t able to forgive me for what I’ve done, then you can make me pay for his death ’after’ we survive.”

Isabelle looked at Mark, seeing how much he had changed. The arrogant boy she once knew was now a man, transformed by the horrors they had endured. The hell they had faced had altered them all in ways they could never have imagined, herself included.

Her gaze pandered to the movement around her, the people stepping forward clothed in Mark’s aura, their expressions shifting from the once panic faces to those with the resolve to fight till the end.

Even though he was able to gain the people’s support, Mark’s mood didn’t lighten in the slightest. The pressure on their survival was still mounting. Doubt was nonexistent when it came to whether or not Noah would prevail. The memories of Noah’s monstrous and savage transformation was a vivid memory that would never escape him.

However, it was precisely because of that memory that Mark couldn’t say with certainty that he was glad Noah was here.

For one, the situation that happened with Fenrir could happen with any creature within Noah’s group. But if it was Arachne, or...Ailetta, Mark couldn’t say for sure if Noah himself would let it slide after he was done. It was still up in the air rather or not Noah could be reasoned with anymore after what happened at the station.

Then there was the lingering question of why he was here in the first place. No one knew where Noah went since they parted ways, but one thing was for certain. Noah made it clear that he didn’t want to have anything to do with them anymore.

With the little Mark understood about Noah, his mind raced as he tried to think of potential reasons for his presence, maybe if he knew then he could avoid a potential crisis that was even more life threatening than the army of zombies.

Thinking of the voice that had made Fenrir give up on his rampage, he thought Ailetta may be the reason. That somehow deep down, Ailetta wasn’t able to throw away her friendship and came to see Jasmine. But that theory was doubtful, her eyes back then held no amount of affection, nor did her tone have a hint of familiarity. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve believed that she had forgotten who they were.

That narrowed his thoughts to the last two most likely reasons.

With Noah’s fondness for experience, Mark gathered that it was the army of zombies that led him in. The only problem with that idea is the fact that would mean Noah was somewhere close to witness the horde advancing towards them, or maybe he was also led here by the sound of the alarm. The two situations were possible, but they were far less grounded than the reason he most suspected....

The shop.

With the beings’ words just a few hours prior about the shop disappearing after the day is over, seeing Noah here now completely made sense. The only problem was, he still remembered what happened at the station, all because of the shop.

Out of every scenario, Mark knew he had to prepare, his body moved with a desperation that was more hurried than ever before. He understood that Noah valued strength over all else, at least, that was what he believed. They couldn’t show weakness; they needed to at least prove to Noah that they are deserving to negotiate with him if things go out of hand.

Another loud explosion erupted behind him, but Mark continued to ignore it. His voice echoed to every listener in range to circle around him. It was time for their last stand.

___________________

Fenrir quickly arrived to where Ailetta and Eve were standing, the corpses that the two had effortlessly killed with the help of Diablo and Ava were nowhere to be found, however, the creature with a body full of disturbing eyes had grown noticeably powerful.

Fenrir only gave a curious glance towards the creature before his gaze went to the little vampire that irritated him, only to find Eve not giving him an ounce of attention. Both she and Ailetta were fully drawn to Noah’s battle. Diablo on the other hand was watching looking in the opposite direction, his role as Eve’s eternal guardian took precedence over all else.

As Fenrir took no need to hide his judging stare, his gaze pandered to a disturbing sensation, looking over to Eve’s side to find Ava staring directly into his eyes, non-reactive to the explosions behind her. Soulless, unblinking eyes that didn’t reflect a hint of emotion, but Fenrir still felt an unnatural sense of uncomfortableness.

Boom!

A clash even louder than before quickly drew his attention away from the stare down. The moment he finally got a glimpse of their battle he was filled with envy and bitterness. The scale of the battle was exhilarating, it should be him that was fighting with Noah!

The landscaped was already shaped in a cluster of craters, the center of each pit was filled with molten fire that was caused by an attack of energy with despairingly high temperatures.

And at the center of it all was Noah.

His appearance has changed, the slime armor became denser than before, becoming more of a iridescent material than its normal state.

His spider appendages looked sharper, deadlier even from a distance, while his face grew another pair of eyes near the bottom of his main pair of eyes.

It was unsure if Noah was losing or if he was still experimenting, but his appearance showed that he was taking the fight more seriously as he took on the transformation of his Dreadweaver form onto his merger with Arachne.

Their fight had come to a slight pause, maybe because after the series of explosive attacks, Noah’s state wasn’t disheveled in the slightest. But it only took a look at Noah’s opponent to understand the reason for the brief lapse of combat.

The Kaiju were no longer the same as before. With the breakdown of its scales that once resided across its torso, glowing red energy shined brightly that made it impossible to see through it. The energy flared and moved like the surface of the sun.

It was that source of energy that brought about the many explosions. The energy would build up inside the Kaiju’s’ mouth, being released in the form of a small bond that exploded upon impact, creating craters with a ten-meter radius.

The moment after its transformation, the creature nearly resorted to an entire combat style of nothing but shooting these destructive energy bombs towards Noah.

But now it had stopped, its body frantically grappling at its mouth, muffled roars hidden before the hands scratched at a sticky substance.

During the time Noah was avoiding the blasts that would even cause him to suffer significant damage, his hands never stopped slinging projectiles of his own. Small balls of webs shot out from his hands, while thin strings of webs were being intowen between his attacks with the webs shot out from the time longer appendages on his back.

The bullet webs were much faster than the other, but it was the strings that brought about the largest threat. Both the Kaiju and Noah were disappearing in destructive dance, Noah nearly avoiding the blast, while the Kaiju struggled to avoid the webs, shooting attacks of energy without much aim and more sporadically.

And unlike the cluster of webs that shot in a straight trajectory, the strings of webs maneuvered in the air, forcing the Kaiju to move exactly the way Noah wanted it too. It was after its last energy blast that Noah landed a web on its face, the web spreading across its mouth that grew more elastic and more resistant the more it struggled.

If it was Noah’s normal webs, then tearing the webs away was still a possibility, but the ability he gained from merging with Arachne made him capable of altering the webs even when it was connected to him.

The web quickly hardened, sealing the Kaijus mouth completely shut, shutting down its most destructive weapon. And now, Noah was done testing.