Becoming a Monster-Chapter 43: A Foreboding Boss Fight

The question caused many of them to waver under the pressure. The few who actually fought and earned their gold and equipment felt uneasy under the scrutinizing stares. The weight of their guilt began to slowly sink in, growing heavier by the second.

Crash!*

The sound of glass breaking alarmed everyone, including Noah. They turned to witness one of the windows beside the door being shattered. Fortunately, the window was high enough from the ground that it only reached the chest area of the average zombie.

But that was still enough to break the silence.

"Just give him the money already, damn it!"

"Our lives matter too!"

Soon, the majority of the group began to pressure the rest, putting them in a difficult position. Those opposing Noah’s demand all looked towards Lucas for an answer, yet they remembered that he was stuck and would probably stay that way without Noah’s aid.

Amidst the chaos, one figure stood out from the crowd and approached Noah with determination. It was LeRoy, Lucas’s closest friend, whose past hostility towards Noah was well-known.

Meanwhile, Grim, poised to intervene, hesitated at Noah’s silent warning, a signal to hold back and observe.

"It’s okay, Grim. You just continue to watch our backs, okay? If anything gets in, then you know what to do." Noah’s assurance calmed the mantis as he turned his attention back to LeRoy, curious as to what the man was going to do. However, Noah was stunned when LeRoy dropped his weapons and sank to his knees.

"Please, help Lucas. I’ll give you everything I have..." He cried, his voice trembling with desperation as he remained on his knees, his gaze then shifting from Noah to the rest of the group.

"You all should just do as he says. Can any of you fight off all the zombies out there? Lucas is the reason most of you are alive right now. Is this how you repay your debts?"

The weight of his words began to sink in, their resolve wavered from the heavy guilt. One by one, they started to heed LeRoy’s plea, moving towards Noah in reluctant agreement. However Noah couldn’t let this happen, he didn’t want to interact with all of them.

"Hold up!" He signaled for them to stop. The group grew extremely worried as they froze in place, uncertainty flickering in their eyes, believing he was going to change his mind.

As the relentless pounding from outside continued, their anxiety intensified, but it was overshadowed by the conflicting emotions stirred by Noah’s next words. They held their breath, waiting for his decision, unsure of what to expect next.

"Give it to one person first and then have them give it to me. I don’t need you all swarming me; I already have the zombies for that." Noah’s indifferent tone, combined with his words, caused many to frown and some to bite their lips in frustration. However, they all still agreed to entrust their gold to LeRoy. With the zombies breaking through and Lucas unable to clear a path, they were trapped unless they complied with Noah’s demands, no matter how infuriating he was to them. But a problem arose.

"H-how are we supposed to exchange it?" One of the women asked, voicing the confusion shared by the group. They all looked towards one another, yet none of them had a clue, so they turned to the one who requested it in the first place.

"Sigh." Noah held back the urge to palm his face, not because they didn’t know, but because now that required him to talk to them further. "Just make contact with the person, any contact will do. Then just imagine the amount of money you want to give, then it just happens on its own. Now chop chop! We don’t have all day!"

With every step LeRoy made towards Noah, the anger and hopelessness in his heart grew. ’This is the only way, the only way...’ He tried to remind himself so he wouldn’t do anything stupid as he approached.

But it was difficult, especially when he finally reached him, Noah reached out his hand in a gesture for his, but all the while he had a smug smile written all over his face.

"I swear if you don’t do as you sa-"

"Blah blah blah, I know what I need to do, it’s not like I enjoy your company." Noah impatiently jerked his hand, signaling for LeRoy to hurry up.

Boom!*

But before LeRoy could accept the gesture, his attention was yanked away by the jarring sound of the door being breached. The zombies had broken through! Despite the doors being made of metal, they proved no match for the relentless force of the running zombies.

Panic erupted in the room, but there was nowhere for them to escape. Yet, none felt the weight of impending doom as heavily as Lucas; at least the others had the means to fight back, while he was literally a free meal.

"Get me out of here! You’re stuck in here too, you bastard! Do you not see them getting through? Ugh! I can’t die like this! Hey, did you not hea-"

Lucas’ desperate cries continued to wail in the background. His remark caused LeRoy to second guess giving Noah the gold. After all, Lucas had a point, he was stuck in here with them too. Would he really leave everyone here including himself for money?

Buzzz!

The enclosed space amplified the buzzing noise of Grim’s wings, ringing in everyone’s ears. Some of the more sensitive people tightly covered their pained ears, unable to bear the piercing sound.

All eyes turned to the source of noise, where Grim seemingly vanished from Noah’s side only to instantaneously appear at the broken doors. There Grim stood amidst the barricade and the advancing zombies, who collectively forced their way into the doorway. As they watched, a zombie suddenly lost its head before falling over. Soon, it seemed as if it was just natural for zombies to lose their heads whenever one approached the frightening mantis, leaving them to wonder if their heads were ever truly attached to their bodies to begin with.

Coughs*

LeRoy glanced back at Noah with a bewildered expression. Noah was still holding out his hand, however this time he didn’t appear to be in a good mood.

"This is the last time, give me the gold or I’ll start letting them in and the webs stay up." Noah’s stern tone left no room for negotiation.

With the mantis’s display matching Lucas’s transformation in intensity, and the uncertainty surrounding the spider and Noah’s capabilities, LeRoy found himself with no reason to hesitate. In a panic, he grabbed Noah’s hand with both of his, in hopes it would complete the transaction faster.

Player: Noah

Race:Human Chimera

Class: monster tamer

Gold: 748->1740

Noah’s eyes lit up with greed when he saw the total amount of gold he now possessed, causing LeRoy to quickly shrink back a few steps. It felt more than uncomfortable to be stared at by four pupils that appeared excited and lifeless at the same time.

"Arachne," Noah called out to his spider companion. He didn’t need to say anything else to her; she knew what needed to be done and was more than happy to do it. ’Finally!’ he "heard" her rejoice as she swiftly made her way to the webs.

No one dared to obstruct her path as they instinctively shifted back. Their wide eyes and tense postures spoke volumes, revealing their fear of provoking her.

"Urrggghhh! What’s the meaning of this! Bastard, you got the money and that’s not enough? Hey! Are you gonna sit there and do nothing? St-stay back! Get baccccckkk! ...Huh...?"

Lucas’s heart was pounding strongly as he was forced to watch Arachne approach him. Since he was caught in the webs, it made it appear as though Arachne’s target was him. His mind wasn’t in the right place, his helplessness inspired his drastic assumptions. He had momentarily forgotten that it would make sense for a spider to deal with the webs.

However, his realization struck when she approached, ignoring him entirely and focusing solely on the webs. Blankly, he watched her begin consuming the webs, starting the process from the ground up. He stood and watched, his voice now caught in his throat, becoming embarrassed over his more than disturbing emotional display.

Meanwhile, Noah made his way to his bag, not without drawing the attention of the rest of the group. They watched, alternating between observing Noah and keeping an eye on Grim, who continued to dispatch the zombies. Their illusion of safety made them oblivious to the haunting truth happening in front of them.

"H-hey, HEY! They’re getting through!" Finally noticing this glaring fact, LeRoy instictivily went to bring this to Noah’s attention. Subconsciously LeRoy, as well as the others, began to rely on Noah for their safety.

Yet, Noah calmly proceeded to retrieve his axes, his calm demeanor contradictory from the threats around them. His gaze brushed past the doors, prioritizing Grims safety before he turned towards the others.

"I said I would take the webs down, I didn’t say I would protect you. Did you think I was going to protect you all? You all were apparently doing just fine before you met me. Did you forget how to defend yourselves?"

His remark triggered a drastic change, transforming their unease into outright hysteria. The group had never been confronted with the expectation of fighting; they had always relied on Lucas and his small band of fighters to protect them. The dreaded realization left them with the desperate urge to run away.

Noah keenly observed the selfish glances cast in Arachne’s direction by some of the group members. They could only hope and pray for Arachne to swiftly clear a path, even a narrow one, to escape. Yet amidst the fear, a few individuals, including LeRoy and his companions, stepped forward,

Ignoring the frantic murmurs of the others, Noah refocused his attention on the door, observing Grim’s struggles. The mantis was being pushed back, a predicament Noah knew would eventually happen. With all of the humans in the rear, it would only risk Grim being the only target. He couldn’t allow that; the people needed to play their part as well, even if it was only to be bait.

"Grim, come back now!" He decisively ordered, and just as quickly as he gave the command, Grim responded like how a proper soldier would. With a leap backward, he used his wings to create distance before settling by Noah’s side.

"Ggrrr!"

As Grim retreated, a flood of zombies surged forward like a breached dam, spilling into the room with menacing speed.

"Nooo!"

"You all made us come here; you have to fight them!"

Panic rippled through the non-combatants, while even the four who prepared themselves for battle were showing signs of doubt. But at least one of them had enough sense to resist letting their fear cloud their judgment. Ironically, it happened to be the very person who wasn’t capable of fighting at the time.

"Joe! Focus! use your spell on the entrance!! LeRoy, Tristan, focus on defense; don’t let anything pass you! And Zoe, focus on the fast ones!"

Noah didn’t know when, but Lucas finally regained his bearings from before and began to direct his group in the heat of the moment. Apparently, seeing that he would soon be freed awakened him from his earlier inner turmoil. However, Noah happened to realize that not only did he not direct anyone else, but he didn’t mention Regina either. Noah thought it was extremely stupid for anyone to solely rely on others when they were given the opportunity to develop their own strength. Yet, perhaps that was the reason the deity created that earlier achievement, to separate the ones willing to fight for their survival from the leeches.

Nonetheless, Noah was so preoccupied with his appreciation at Lucas’s group taking charge and demonstrating their determination to seize control of their life that he failed to register the earlier command given to Joe until it was too late.

Rumble!*

Suddenly, a miniature golem made of stone materialized around the one named Joe, followed by an earthquake that erupted in the room. The walls trembled, the floors cracked, and the fissures began to snake their way toward the entrance.

Noah couldn’t understand what Joe was trying to accomplish, but as he witnessed the ceiling above the door crumbling down, he finally realized Joe’s task was to block the entrance.

"No!" He cried, his voice muffled over the sound of the jarring upheaval caused by the quake. If he wanted to block the door then he could’ve used his webs! How could he farm the zombies if they couldn’t get through?

He gazed around the room, estimating that around fifty zombies were still able to get through. If he couldn’t fight them all, then he couldn’t allow the others to steal his experience.

"Let’s go, Grim!" With his axes in hand, he charged towards the zombies, eager to commence his next farming session, oblivious to the looming threat on the other side of the barricade.

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