Becoming a Monster

Chapter 414: Chapter 414: Royal Dreadguard Genesis

While the drake and Pandora were fighting the lizardmen, the other group was soon about to face off against the trolls.

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Their heavy steps shook the ground the closer they approached. The moment Noah’s creatures came into view, they snarled, beating their chest and slamming their clubs against the earth.

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They outnumbered Noah’s forces sixteen to eleven. But something was wrong, and the trolls would never understand what it was.

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All of Noah’s creatures were there. Fenrir and his two abominations, Dummy and Baka, planted at the front. Kratos moved beside them, refusing to let Fenrir claim the entire front line for himself. And the rest stood behind them.

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It looked as if he had abandoned fending off the goblins’ attack entirely, because even he was there. And he was different yet again, not just his appearance, his essence was no longer the same, and the person who rarely left his side was missing...

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He and Ailetta had merged the moment he had decided to fight with everything, making sure nothing went wrong.

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Noah’s new form barely resembled solid material. The clean, defined armor plates he once had were almost entirely gone, replaced by a shifting blend of fluid slime and necrotic mana. Violet mist drifted from his body nonstop, dissolving into the air like vapor.

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His wings were gone, not because he lost them, but because they were unnecessary in this battle. Instead, thick tentacles extended along his spine, swaying behind him like draconic tails, each one humming with miasma. His horns had grown into a crown-like shape, giving him a silhouette that did not belong to any creature the trolls had ever seen.

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If the drake were here, it would’ve been disgusted by Noah’s new form. It would’ve believed the demon thought its dragon heritage was inferior to whatever he was now. That the pride of a dragon’s wings was belittled into something that could easily be replaced.

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While they approached the trolls, Noah had stood a ways away from everyone else. His aura wouldn’t interfere with them, but he was still unsure about the miasma that he couldn’t stop releasing from his body in this form. Merely existing was dangerous to anyone whose body couldn’t resist the miasma’s nature.

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Yet there were a few of his creatures who enjoyed his new presence.

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Eve and her two undead felt at home much more than they ever did. The aura seemed to invigorate their bodies beyond normal, so much so that they preferred it over the potent mana emitted from the dungeon. His mere presence felt like a sanctuary.

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Then there was Arachne, a creature that shouldn’t be compatible with such an energy. And one that should not have been standing near him at all. But just like Noah, she was no longer the creature she used to be.

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A cold violet aura surrounded her, drifting from her body like necrotic smoke that looked uniquely similar to Noah’s. Her exoskeleton had become a layered armor of hardened slime and draconic scales. Six spider-like legs arched from her back. The longest pair extended well beyond the others, each splitting into a secondary spear-tip at their midpoint. These tips moved as flexibly as the rest, and it seemed that all four points were capable of releasing webs.

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Her queen’s thorax rested behind her; it was large, yet proportional to her body. The egg-laying appendix was covered in the same armor as the rest of her body, yet it appeared to be denser than any other area as it pulsed with dim violet veins. And beneath it, a long, thin draconic tail swept the ground in silent rhythm.

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Jagged horns crowned her head, and her face was hidden behind a smooth, predatory mask.

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Nothing about her resembled a simple spider queen anymore. She looked like a necrotic sovereign born from shadow, venom, and death.

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And right now, she was dissatisfied, not because of her power, nor the trolls, but because of Noah.

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She didn’t say anything, but the tightness in her stance said enough. She wanted to stand with Noah, fight beside him. With the power she now held, she believed no one was more fitting. Yet she was denied every time.

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Why be upset when she stood right beside him?

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Because the Noah beside her wasn’t his true body.

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He had decided to fight the goblins all on his own. No... he was merged with Ailetta, so he wasn’t alone. And that was the reason she was upset. With her current power, she felt that there was no one better than her who could fight with him. But his point left her without an argument.

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He was still able to be present here because he had been merged with Ailetta. Something that he couldn’t do if he merged with her instead.

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If he merged with Arachne instead... the ones left to fight here would be at a disadvantage. She, along with the others, was already aware of Noah’s presence in this fight. He was here merely to enhance them. His counterpart was given just enough mana to achieve this purpose. The rest was on them to complete.

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In the end, it was her responsibility to ensure they won on this side and to prevent anyone from dying.

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Even if it was someone like Dummy...

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That was the reason she accepted his decision, even if reluctantly.

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This was her chance to prove to Noah that she could be depended on. And after being granted such power by Noah, the power-up wasn’t the only boon she obtained.

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Most of her skills had changed. Nearly every skill that involved her poison and her webs was now affected by the dark mana. Her mana ate away the enemy’s life essence and their mana. Maybe not as strong as Diablo’s, but the potential in the ways her abilities could be applied made it that more dangerous.

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And it wasn’t just those abilities. Arachne obtained two new skills. One was standing right before her.

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Her elite spider was giving off a bad feeling the moment it stood up. Newly born, its presence was already close to Dummy’s, who had been transformed into a Fallen. That alone showed what Arachne’s new ability was capable of.

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It didn’t look like the same creature, not even a little. The upper body that used to be pale had darkened, the skin turning into tough, corrupted plates with thin streaks of crimson and violet running underneath. Silver hair drifted over its shoulders, shifting with the miasma leaking from its body.

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The cracks that used to spill raw mana now pulsed with its breathing, glowing brighter whenever its muscles tensed. Its armor was heavier, rougher, and lined with new ridges that looked almost draconic.

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And its presence...

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It was wrong for something newly born to radiate this much power.

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Wrong that its aura nearly matched Dummy’s own fallen body.

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Wrong that, for a moment, even Fenrir felt jealous that Arachne’s subordinate seemed to be better than his own.

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This was not a soldier.

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This was Arachne’s first Royal Dreadguard.

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Her other new ability wasn’t meant for direct combat, yet it was the one she looked forward to the most. The thought of showing Noah her full potential, of watching his reaction when he saw what she had become... that thrill drove her even now. Her gaze snapped to both of the spiders who travelled behind her. In an instant, the two spiders shot upwards towards the trees in opposite directions.

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They weren’t like her Dreadguard; their growth was still too short to handle a fight like this. But where their strengths lay was their webs.

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Now, Noah’s creatures braced themselves as the trolls stomped closer.

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The siege on the second front was about to begin.

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The trolls halted only a short distance away. They began to shout, roars that shook the branches near their heads.

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The others could sense that they were being insulted, but they didn’t understand a word of it. But Noah did.

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His understanding wasn’t perfect, but it was enough.

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”Small things...break easy...”

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”Meat... Eat weak first...”

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Their voices overlapped, all of them arrogant in their own way.

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Though not all of them were as rowdy. Their strongest one, their chieftain, was one who showed the most calm. But not because it was confident. Its instincts were better than the others; it could sense that the enemies were strong. But what it sensed from Noah and Arachne made it hesitate to rush into battle.

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The chieftain’s eyes scanned everyone. It then surveyed the area around it, reflecting on the mana in the area. It was making the decision whether this territory was worth fighting over.

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Its gaze flicked to Arachne again, long enough to show it recognized a threat. From its point of view, she was the most dangerous.

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It grunted, then, much to everyone’s surprise, spoke.

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”Leave. Now. Forest ours. You... go.”

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It didn’t really want to fight. Not like this. It would rather return to its own territory and come back with everyone to take this place without risking anything. From what it sensed, the enemy had sent all of its strongest here, besides the drake.

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But that only reinforced its belief.

The trolls were the strongest faction.

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It actually thought its warning was working... until Noah suddenly erupted with tentacles in every direction.

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The chieftain’s confusion was unmistakable. It didn’t know what Noah planned to do.

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Yet, when it sensed every creature’s aura spike at once, it realized the enemy wasn’t backing down.

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And that the territory didn’t look as appeasing as before.