Becoming a Monster

Chapter 330: Chapter 330: The New Abominations

The calling of Noah’s name was frantic, desperate for his help. It was a tone that he had never believed anyone would use when pertaining to him, especially when it wasn’t any of his creatures.

Although he found the cries bizarre, Noah still was able to identify the voices belonging to them. It was the voices that belonged to Mark, Bailey, and surprisingly Isabelle.

He turned away from the chest, his first thought believing that they had come upon a creature much stronger than them and needed their help to combat it. However, their pleading cries didn’t match that of fear. At least not in the case of fearing for their own lives.

Despite sensing that they were in trouble, Noah didn’t rush to their aid. He merely stood next to the chest, his eyes scrutinizing them as they were almost to the destroyed barricade that functioned as a door.

Everyone was there, at least as far as he could remember, so at least no one was killed.

And yet it was during his observation of their numbers that he noticed that their pace was somewhat slow compared to their urgency. He didn’t notice before because of his massive size, but Mark was carrying Paul behind him. At that moment Noah understood the situation.

Paul’s expression was twisted in agony, one which clashed with his usual stoicism. Noah had seen the man brave through unimaginable painful acts before, only releasing blunt grunts in response.

But this time was different.

Paul was barely holding on. His jaw was tense, breath ragged, his eyes unfocused. Noah just needed to glance at the rest of his body to understand.

Paul’s already burly arm was mutating...literally. His arm was grotesquely squirmy, growing into a much larger form. His fist was mostly bones and muscles as his skin was being ripped apart in its growth. Fur was growing in small amounts on his exposed body.

It made sense now. The unfocused gaze was turning into that of a mindless beast. Paul was infected; and not just any infection, it was from Fenrir’s mutation.

Noah suddenly recalled the savage roar the moment they had separated earlier, remembering the injured person that Fenrir left. But this had him wondering...

’How could they not handle a simple abomination?’

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Flashback

After Mark and the others left with Noah, Ishii, Alicia, Paul, and Isabelle stayed behind to aid those attacked by the roar they heard.

It was just one beast. With Ishii and Paul fighting together, a creature born from Fenrir’s infection should still be manageable. The two were much stronger than when they had first witnessed the abominations Fenrir could create.

But they didn’t let their newfound strength stroke their egos. The risk of exposure to the infection was still high, and someone else could become infected. That’s why they needed Isabelle. They had to be quick if someone was exposed, but they were confident Isabelle could cure them in time.

However, when they approached the scattering of panicked people and soldiers, they quickly noticed an anomaly. In the chaos of screams and magic, there were only two abominations. Three should be manageable. They had seen the strength of someone turning into an abomination before. That strength didn’t increase much. As before, they figured the abomination’s greatest threat was its regeneration and infectious nature.

But they were wrong.

The aura radiating from the two beasts were close to their own, their forms weren’t just simply werewolves as they were led to believe. One werewolf was as burly as Paul, its body was built like a truck, its veins massively bulging from its overgrown muscles.

Just a grip from his claws alone secured the death of whoever it grabbed a hold of. And when it bit into its prey, its jaws must’ve contained the force of giants as almost nothing was left in the location that its fangs grabbed, not flesh, muscle, or even bone.

And then there was the other one, its appearance was that of a nightmare, one that didn’t resemble that of abomination that Fenrir should be able to create. The Werewolf, or the abomination in question, assumed the appearance of its bipedal creation, but the blue ghastly flames emanating from its exposed chest, fur, and even its eyes; it made the creature resemble more of a lich than an actual Werewolf.

When it inflicted injury with its claws, the same blue flames festered at the wounds, and even more eerily was when a victim was subjected to its fangs. There wasn’t a tongue in sight, its entire mouth was engulfed with light that was identical to its flames.

The group couldn’t understand. ’Were these the same abominations that they had seen before?’

The answer, though unbelievable, was that they were the same. The abomination they had finished off before, it was merely a half-finished product. Only when the abomination fully accomplished its transformation was when it would fully incorporate one of the main traits of its host. Even the aura of the previous abomination wasn’t fully released since it had yet to finish its transformation.

Not only were none of them aware of this, but even Noah was also still clueless about the new abomination’s strength.

Despite the unexpected powers the abominations showed, the trio couldn’t sit by and watch people being killed before them. It wasn’t just out of the kindness of their hearts, but also out of selfishness. They couldn’t allow anymore abominations to be created.

Paul quickly took the lead, taunting the two creatures while his entire body hardened. He was mentally ready for the pain he was about to receive. But out of all of them, he knew that it was his burden, and only his burden to carry.

The two creatures responded with surprising ease, as if they were just looking for a reason to attack him.

With their earlier splurge of chest, Isabelle’s mana was almost full after receiving a potion, allowing her to be able to erect a purifying aura in the attempt to diminish the creature’s momentum and bolster her teammates’ own. But there was only one. Alicia was still recovering, practically useless without mana as she helplessly watched the others fight.

Meanwhile, Ishii had already entered his unique stance. His target was the lich-flamed werewolf. With their team history, he had complete faith in Paul’s physical defense, but the werewolf’s flames were an unknown variable, and an enemy he believed needed to be put down first.

The beast slowed significantly, and yet nothing else seemed to change from its appearance. But with this chance, Ishii quickly appeared at its side while it was still tunneled onto Paul’s figure. His blade struck true, piercing its sides behind its forelegs.

The blade slipped through its fur and hide with surprising ease. The beast faltered, thrown to the ground from its earlier momentum, its heart pierced cleanly through.

Ishii’s actions were all carefully thought out. He not only stole the creature’s agility, but also its constitution. Not in order to weaken the creature’s body, but because he needed to weaken its regeneration.

And seeing the creature fumble across the floor, he believed his gamble paid off. However, the beast flames didn’t die. It spasmed, curling and twisting as if enraged. The ground beneath it blackened, not from heat, but from a necrotic decay.

This led Ishii to rush to the beast side to strike again, intending to cut off its head.

The wind around his sword stilled. He only needed one clean cut. His sword came down, but the moment his blade cut its flesh. Flames burst forth like a living tide. The blue flames didn’t just retaliate against the blade; the flames raced towards his hand.

Despite its retaliation, Ishii still pushed through. If he was going to be injured, he was going to ensure that he won in the exchange.

His face winced from the sensation to his hands, every inch of his hands that were exposed to the flames were blackening, and that sensation was creeping up even further like a deadly parasite.

Who knows what would happen if the corrupted skin fully was exposed to his entire body. Yet at the same time his body was breached by the tainted flames, Isabelle’s purifying energy was frantically fighting back, preventing the decaying matter to encroach any further.

But that was all she was able to do, if they were to fully rid Ishii of the corruption, then she would have to physically touch him to improve the potency.

Ishii didn’t panic, but his expression wasn’t good. His grip on his sword didn’t lessen in the slightest, because...The creature was still alive.

The beast flames were still raging, and its head was barely hanging on by a thread after being cleaved. The only sign that was preventing it from being severed was the flames itself.

He thought about attacking once more, trying one last time to finish the creature off. This time he hesitated; he felt that physical attacks wouldn’t help him this time. But he remembered that Isabelle had a skill that could help.

Around the same time, he had the thought, he heard an impact so loud, just the vibrations of the force caused his ears to rumble. Still, Ishii didn’t worry, clashes like earlier happened often when Paul was in the equation.

However, when he heard Isabelle cry out Paul’s name, he understood that Paul’s opponent was probably just as perverse as his own.