Becoming a Monster

Chapter 353: Chapter 353: The Potential to Birth Gods

Time passed.

Dummy had consumed the other beast long ago. The two golems had retrieved the cores that were from the carcasses of the creatures absorbed by Pandora.

And they had resumed their earlier duties of watching, waiting for intruders.

Dummy was restless, without understanding why, he ventured around the forest and Noah’s home without a goal. No prey stirred his hunger, no sound excited his instincts.

His unusualness was first noticed by Pandora, but the newly awakened tree had found the beast to always behave in ways that didn’t make sense. But what puzzled her wasn’t his wandering. It was that during this entire time, not once had the insatiable beast gone out to find something else to eat.

And all this time, Dummy was sensing something...He didn’t understand it, he just knew he couldn’t sit still.

The Queen was binding her time. Because she wasn’t ready.

While Dummy wandered, she watched. Through her imprint, she observed the layout of the new king’s domain. The growth of the sentient tree. The way the tree could create a form of itself, staring off towards the ceiling of its hive. She observed the movement of his allies, learning that the soldiers who had participated in the fight were the only ones protecting their domain.

She collected data with a scientist’s perspective and a mother’s hatred. Making sure that when she struck, she would be assured that she wouldn’t fail.

But as Dummy wandered, the Queen had seen Dummy come upon an item she had never seen before. And despite not being there physically, her desire for the item became paramount to anything else she ever wanted.

She saw the dungeon heart floating in the center of the King’s hive. A living, breathing heart that pulsated with an energy that contained the lifeforce of an entire forest. A lifeforce that could breathe life into an unlivable habitat. A lifeforce that could bring about a new era.

The core flooded her with a hunger deeper than anything she had ever known, and it drowned her previous rage beneath a tidal wave of

obsession.

She didn’t desire to take over the new king’s domain, she no longer desired to gain a foothold in the forest at all anymore. If she were able to obtain that core, devour it... she would have the power to not give birth to kings, or even conquerors... but to gods.

And she would be their origin, and through them, she too would transcend even further.

Her sights weren’t set on the forest anymore, it went beyond that.

She couldn’t wait any longer, she needed Dummy to act. But her impatience didn’t cloud her judgment. Despite the core resting in the middle of the room, it wasn’t without security.

The tree’s ”body” stood before it, still staring up into the opened ceiling. Always present, and always silent.

At first, it seemed blind to Dummy’s presence. It did not move, did not speak. But the moment Dummy drew near, whether out of curiosity or absent wandering, a cage of roots rose from the ground. Not violent, but the intent was unquestionable. She would not allow anyone else near, not even her own allies.

The Queen’s obsession had nearly detonated her careful plan at that moment. Her mind clawed at the thought that the tree knew. That somehow, it had sensed the imprint. That it had sensed her.

For a flicker of time, she nearly commanded Dummy to strike. To tear the tree apart, retrieve the core and then to bring it to her.

But she stopped. The ward of roots would always disappear the moment Dummy took a step back. The spring of roots had an invisible barrier and which the tree would respond to.

And more than that... the tree had not cast Dummy out. That detail, however small, was crucial.

Back at her hive, her army was mobilizing. It wasn’t just her two generals. Everyone was preparing to move. The core was more important than her children, more important than the colony. She had to get it before the absent king returned.

____________

Dummy stood at the edge of the perimeter of the opened area that led into the forest of trees. His body was fidgeting uncontrollably, his mouth salivating after having to go a few hours without having a meal, and yet he didn’t follow his impulse to hunt.

He stood waiting anxiously, waiting for something yet still unsure of what it was, but it was important.

It was then that his antennae stirred. His body went stiff, his eyes dilated, and within his eyes was a quiet rage that wasn’t his own.

His body, rooted to the one spot, suddenly turned to face the King’s den once more. His eyes gauged his surroundings with a resolve that conflicted with his usual simple-mindedness. And then he pressed forward.

Two creatures stood at the entrance of the den. The two golems Noah created. The two didn’t budge under Dummy’s approach. Their eyes merely drifted to the beast before resuming their scans around their surroundings.

One would assume that, being connected through Noah, the golems would have sensed Dummy’s shift.

But they didn’t. The golems were beings whose sentience only derived from the intent given to them upon the moment of their creation. As of now, until Noah stated otherwise, their only mission was to guard against enemies.

If Noah were to look through their vision, maybe he would’ve noticed the oddities surrounding Dummy. However, Noah was in a predicament of his own. He had finally overcome his battle against the seraphim, and he had just recently lost his system. His mind was too preoccupied to look through his shared connection with his golems.

Fate itself seemed to be in the Queen’s favor.

Dummy walked past them.

And the moment he brushed alongside them, he immediately turned.

Snap!

His stomach opened as he lurched to his side. His massive hands moved to scoop the target completely in his mouth as his maw engulfed the serpent golem almost completely whole.

The golem wasn’t able to respond in time. Despite its speed-oriented figure, both golems weren’t prepared for the ambush from their own ally. In one moment the entire top half of the golem was gone.

Its remaining half toppled over due to an imbalance of its tail that whipped like a dying animal. Without its core, its body eventually crumbled into a pool of slime.

Crunching followed as Dummy chewed the rest of the body with its mouth open.

But now the second golem was already responding. No matter if it were Pandora, Arachne or any of Noah’s direct companions, the moment Noah’s golems were attacked they would be seen as an enemy.

And this time, Noah too was aware of the connection of one of his connections being cut off.

Noah didn’t understand what was happening. He could only share the golems’ vision and not their senses. The only information he had was that Dummy attacked one of his golems. It didn’t matter if Dummy was being controlled or if he was simply hungry. In the end, he must still be put down.

The problem was... The Dummy he created was too strong for his golems.

Direct attacks wouldn’t work against the creature, unless the attack was intended to amputate or its origins were of magical orientation.

Across the den, Pandora stirred. She observed in confusion as Dummy and the tar-like golem fought. The two were now entangled with one another.

The golem’s tar gushed outward in a last- ditch attempt to swallow Dummy whole, but in turn, Dummy began to devour the tar.

And he didn’t just eat it.

His body was beginning to release its own.

Thick sludge gushed out of his own body, creating a protective coating against the golem’s wave that attempted to envelop him while still maintaining the essence of the hybrid from before.

This made the golem’s only advantage obsolete.

And although the golem’s tar could no longer hinder or incapacitate its opponent, it didn’t stop Dummy from continuing to devour the golem.

Pandora continued to watch as little by little Dummy eventually was only left with a puddle of oil at his feet.

Still, she hadn’t moved. Her connection to the golems were insignificant. Although Noah created them, he also in turn was responsible for Dummy’s creation, so seeing the two figures killing one another made it impossible for her to deem who the enemy was, or even if they were an

enemy.

At this moment, Dummy slowly turned toward her.

His body swelled. Thick cords of sludge dripped to the ground. His open jaws dripped a much denser saliva.

”Don’t come closer...” Pandora ordered with an emotionless tone. If Dummy left, she would not pursue the matter at all, but now, because she was unsure, she wouldn’t allow Dummy to take a step into their home.

Dummy snorted, and a glob of sludge shot out in return. His eyes looked at her with a dangerous instinct that stirred Pandora’s own, but she didn’t move. Noah hadn’t told her to protect the creatures he left with her. He only directed her to protect their home.

But then... something behind Dummy moved. Two wings unfolded, humming with a distorted frequency that caused the substance on his body to shoot out in every direction.

He hunched over ever so slightly, and when his wings generated enough power, he exploded forward.

From that moment, Pandora only saw him as an enemy.