Becoming a Monster

Chapter 303: Chapter 303: The Decision Isn’t Ours to Make

The three stood there like living statues.

Then, the man with the blessed sword whimpered, his weapon clinking weakly as it tapped the ground. The other two couldn’t even look away, his eyes held them down like anchors.

It wasn’t fear of death; it was the realization that death had already been decided for them.

Noah tilted his head slightly, and those simple movements made one of them fall to his knees, gasping for air like he’d been drowning the entire time.

The people behind those three weren’t aware of their comrades’ circumstances. There were others who were charging abilities, ready to unleash them after the three people were successful in their attack.

But when they saw the three fall to the ground without the slightest sign that the monsters did anything to them, even their courage faltered.

Boom!

Their bodies jolted as their attention was drawn to the screams and explosions in the other direction.

The moment they looked over, they witnessed an entire area completely barren. In fact, the space didn’t resemble the inside of the mall at all. It was as if someone unleashed a handful of grenades all at once within a small space.

One thought surfaced to the minds of those who didn’t understand.

’Who would be dumb enough to use explosives inside of a building?’

But then they saw it, a creature whose entire body was glowing, its mouth releasing a mass collection of unstable energy that was quickly compressing into a burning core of destruction.

They watched, their minds going numb as the ball traveled into a group of people, detonating the moment it collided in the face of a woman who couldn’t react fast enough. And the explosion enveloped everyone within a seven-meter circumference.

Those who were caught in the center of the blast were completely eviscerated from the raging temperature, while those who were less lucky experienced their bodies being torn apart from the sheer force of the blast.

Entire limbs flew like broken branches caught in a storm.

The people who watched with paralyzing realization finally understood that those ”explosives” weren’t weapons at all.

And if that wasn’t enough, the moment Fenrir took action, no one in his vicinity dared to focus their attention on anyone else but him. The air around him was a series of fireworks all created from the barrage of bullets that did nothing against his hide.

Facing Kratos, one would be met with horror at the aspect that the creature could wipe off leagues of them with one attack. But facing Fenrir, one was met with despair when the beast would shrug off any attack before eating you whole.

This so-called battle was quickly realized as what it truly was, a massacre.

____________________

Noah stood within the screams and explosions as if it was merely background noise. His gaze rested on the three individuals who had foolishly approached him.

They were pathetic, not worth his time at all. But he would kill them all the same.

Seeing Noah raised his arm should have triggered their instincts to flee. Their self-preservation should have screamed at them to run, to beg, or to drop their weapons in surrender.

Instead, two of the three fainted, the other looked at the two on his side, his face becoming a ugly mess from tears and snot. But he didn’t let out a sound, fear gripped not only his body, but also his voice.

Slime seeped from Noah’s hand, intending to give them a quick death, more than they deserved.

”Noah, wait!”

_____________

Flashback

Mark and the others knew the possibility of this happening, but witnessing it firsthand, they couldn’t bear to continue watching so many people die.

They hated those who left them out there to fight the zombies on their own. But they didn’t believe they deserved death. That feeling was only reserved for the handful of people manipulating everyone from behind the safety of the deaths of those who fought to serve and protect themselves and the remaining fragments of humanity.

They wanted those who reigned at the top, causing the rift between everyone, to perish.

But now, they were watching both the guilty and the misguided die and they couldn’t do anything.

At Mark’s side, Jasmine’s body was fidgeting stronger than ever before. It wasn’t just her, but the others were trying hard not to jump in to prevent Noah’s creatures from killing any more.

The cries of torment, the scream just before the moment of someone’s death. Her eyes brimmed with tears not just of grief, but of helplessness.

The kind of helplessness that gnawed through guilt.

’What would’ve happened if she actually had been there to support Ailetta all those times? What if she could have prevented her brother and the others from alienating Noah, maybe, just maybe he wouldn’t have turned out how he was now, and all of this wouldn’t be happening.’

These people, being brutally killed, in the end she believed that all of this was their fault. They were the ones who made Noah into what he is, ’they’ created the monster.

”This isn’t right....this isn’t right! We have to do something!” Alicia was the first to voice what the others were thinking.

Her words triggered a reaction of deeper emotions, but no one moved.

”What did we expect when we came here?” A voice, strained, yet oddly calm despite witnessing so many people dying, drew their gazes, and.....their resentment.

Isabelle, all the while, maintained the same cold bearing she had always shown. The cold, somewhat detached expression was a direct contrast to her saintly title, yet it was also this cold exterior that added to her fame.

”This was inevitable. Don’t pretend we didn’t know that.”

”So what, we just watch? We let them all die because it was bound to happen?”

”No,” Isabelle answered to the flustered Alicia, finally turning her head toward them. ”I’m saying...” Isabelle hesitated, her voice softening just slightly, her words almost stumbling over each other as she forced herself to get the words out. ”If we’re going to act, we would have to confront Noah directly, possibly....as an enemy.”

The moment those words left Isabelle’s lips, a silence fell over the group.

The screams, the quakes, the fire and bellowing roars all faded beneath the weight of what she had said.

”To confront Noah....” Ishii repeated, he was more surprised than the rest. And as he looked at the others, he noticed that they were seriously pondering it.

”If...everyone dies...what about next time?”

When Ishii wanted to reason with them, Paul spoke for the first time, his towering presence was already slowly advancing forward.

”How many....people...will we have left...next time...the monsters come? We...can’t let him kill them all..”

The words struck them in their very core, destroying any sense of denial the group held onto.

”No...I won’t fight against Ailetta, not ever.” Bailey’s voice cracked with raw emotion. Ever since she witnessed Blake die right in front of her eyes, she was never the same. Her passion has never been the same, and her voice within the group was growing smaller and smaller.

But now, this one time she was unable to get herself to follow under their lead. She didn’t want to lose another friend. And despite what Ailetta had become, Bailey still saw her as someone dear to her.

At Ailetta’s name, Jasmine’s breath hitched. ”Ailetta...” The idea pained her more than ever before. She felt as if she was going to betray her once best friend once again, this time destroying whatever they had for good.

Mark’s fists trembled. He knew Paul was right, but that didn’t mean what they were about to do was right either. Before they could even question Noah’s morality, they still had to ask themselves...can they even win?

Mark understood the distance between their group and Noah’s the most. He knew that if Noah wanted to, he could kill them all. Mark hated this feeling; it was only when it was with Noah when he felt truly hopeless.

But he couldn’t stand there.

Ishii’s face twisted with a different range of emotions; his eyes were filled with turmoil. But in the end, he too was ready to make a choice.

”I won’t fight against Noah.”

”We won’t fight him.”

Almost at the same time, both Ishii and Mark spoke in tandem.

Ishii was prepared for the backlash, but his eyes were now widened in shock when hearing Mark made the same decision as him.

Mark didn’t look at any of them. His eyes were fixed at Noah, who had just mysteriously caused three people to cower from their attacks.

”I won’t fight him, because I don’t believe that we can. And I also believe that we shouldn’t. We are only able to think about confronting him because we are banking on the fact that he is still the same Noah...”

”....Are you saying that we should let everyone die? ”Alicia couldn’t believe that Mark of all people was going to allow Noah to kill everyone.

Maybe she thought he was angry, but the moment Mark’s face snapped towards her, she faltered, not from fear, but from the intense emotion behind his eyes.

”I’m saying...that we should try to reason with him. But.....If he still decides to kill them all. Then....we should do better to make sure he doesn’t kill anyone else.”

End Flashback