Becoming a Monster-Chapter 46: From Bad to Worse

"We are... all too weak... if we don’t become... stronger... we will... die..."

Paul’s ominous words rang through the room, casting a shadow of fear over the group. The vagueness of his response only heightened the tension, leaving Mark feeling unsatisfied and even more anxious about their predicament.

"That’s exactly why I need to get healed, Jackass! When I get stronger, then there will be nothing out there that could challenge me!"

"Yo-you..."

"Bailey... just give them the gold, we don’t need it right now... Remember, you told me Noah is heading there right? He can definitely help us more than what we can buy here... arguing with them isn’t worth it..." Suddenly, a small yet exhausted voice interrupted the group. Everyone turned to the fourth member of Bailey’s group. Her clothes were dirty, but her face and hair appeared slightly cleaner than before.

"Isabelle? Yes... you’re right. Even Paul thought so!" Wiping away her tears, she started to regain her confidence again.

"Jas, how much do you need?"

Yet, instead of responding, Jas and the others remained silent. How could they pretend that they didn’t catch the familiar name being said?

"Noah is with you guys? How is he? How did you get him to join you? Can I come?" Ailetta, who has been quiet since the beginning of the conversation, couldn’t help herself. Ever since learning about Mark’s attempt of murdering Noah, she could never rid herself of the constant unease when interacting with the group. It didn’t help when he not only endangered the people fighting with him, but he also didn’t seem to care about the deaths of anyone following his lead.

"Ailetta??" The group was taken aback by Ailetta’s sudden announcement of wanting to leave, which also left Jasmine feeling slightly offended. After all, Jasmine had been her friend for so many years, and she was her only friend. It was natural for Jasmine to feel a sense of betrayal. However, upon reflecting on their last outing together, Jasmine could understand Ailetta’s desire to leave to some extent.

"Huh? I think you’re confused..." Bailey quickly interjected, taking the time to explain to them how they encountered Noah and learned of his destination. Ailetta felt disheartened upon learning that Noah had chosen to remain alone. As they continued listening, Bailey eventually recounted their encounter with the nightmarish creature near the gate’s entrance.

Although they witnessed it firsthand, no one was able to get a good grasp of the monster’s description. All they could recall was the onslaught of tentacles attacking in every direction that brutally killed the police. Their fear relapsed as they remembered the creature’s massacre, despite the police being fully equipped with guns.

Upon hearing that even guns were unable to stop the monster, it was a daunting wake-up call for the others. Jasmine couldn’t fully grasp what the others witnessed, but it sounded far worse than their own experience when they were attacked by the mantis, and by a landslide. Her eyes reflected conflicting emotions as she thought about the lone figure that was able to not only take them on but also tame one. She could slightly understand why Isabelle had so much faith in him.

Hearing about a threat more deadly than anything they had encountered before, the rest of Mark’s group felt compelled out of fear to chip in what little gold they had. However, Mark’s stubbornness left them with little, as they couldn’t retrieve their loot from the previous battle. They barely scraped together 700 gold. Luckily, Bailey’s group had a little over 900, enough to get what they needed.

"Urgh... are you sure this isn’t poison?" Mark grumbled as he eyed the murky green vial, supposed to be the cure.

Jasmine shot him an irritated look. "Nobody knows at this point, but it’s our only hope... quit complaining already and drink it!" She irritably admonished him.

Uncorking the vial, Mark first took a sniff of the potion before grimacing at the pungent aroma. He knew that he couldn’t back down, not after the heated argument they had with Bailey’s group over the gold. Closing his eyes, he pinched his nose shut whilst simultaneously tilting his head back, swallowing the contents in one swift gulp.

Moments later, Mark was seen doubled over, wracked by a fit of coughing. Saliva dribbled from his mouth, snot streamed from his nose, and tears welled in his eyes from the horrible taste. They had noticed while in the shop that there were also syringes being sold, which were probably a better alternative rather than going through what Mark was experiencing. However, the price for that option was an extra thousand gold.

"Sigh! I hope I never have to drink that again..."

"And that’s exactly why we still need to find Noah. We don’t have the gold to buy a potion every time someone gets infected. Bailey? Can we rest for a bit so we can go wit-"

Suddenly, a loud commotion erupted in the lobby outside the door, cutting off Jasmine before she could finish her request. Out of curiosity, the group headed out to see what was going on.

"The gym! At the gym! There’s an army of zombies attacking! It’s over!"

Amidst the yells, there was one in particular that stood out from the rest. Bailey’s ears pricked up at the mention of ’gym’ and ’zombies’. Her eyes widened like saucers before she bolted down the stairs.

"Bailey!" Her close friends called out before they took off running after her, leaving Jasmine and her group behind.

"Mark, what do you think?"

"What do I think? Of course, we should just leave them. You told me before that you won’t be able to use your skills for a while after what happened. And they have ’Noah~’. So why worry about them?" Mark’s tone dripped with sarcasm, displaying his dissatisfaction.

If it were any other time, Jasmine would try to convince him otherwise, but deep down, she knew he had a point. There’s little that she can do in her current state. It would be hypocritical of her to urge others to fight when she wasn’t. She didn’t notice that someone was clearly dissatisfied with her and Mark’s discussion until she saw movement on the stairs.

"Ailetta?" Jasmine called out, her voice tinged with surprise; Ailetta stopped and turned towards Jas.

"Are you really leaving? Why? He already left you before..."

When Jasmine met Ailetta’s gaz, she noticed a stark difference in her demeanor. Gone was the usually oblivious and bubbly girl; in her place stood someone displaying when she insulted Noah’s character, thinking that it would help Ailetta move on from him.

"It’s not just about Noah..." Ailetta’s voice trembled in frustration, her stare decreasing in warmth as she spoke. "Can you really stand there with a clear conscience knowing other people you know could die? And if they die then what about us? Can we even survive what Noah couldn’t?" Her eyes then shifted to Mark, she was angry before, her anger intensifying into a hostile glare.

"And you! Even if you disagree, you are alive because of Bailey, and now when they could possibly die, you throw a tantrum because someone’s better than you? I’m sorry, Jasmine, but I can’t continue to follow you anymore like this..." Ailetta’s voice cracked with emotion, tears welling up in her eyes. Before she could cry any further, she turned and hurried down the steps, not bothering to look back.

Jasmine felt a pang of despair as she watched her friend leave. Ailetta’s words resonated with her, hinting at her deepest fears. She glanced at her brother, who met her gaze with understanding. He hated seeing his sister this way, he was prideful and stubborn, but he wasn’t ungrateful to the person who was always there for him.

"Sigh... Don’t give me that look Jas, I’ll go... It’s the price I must pay since I’m the hero." He declared with such certainty and cringe; words brought a flicker of relief to Jasmine’s heart, almost causing her to break character and smile. ’At least he’s not as lost as I thought he was...’

—————

"Everyone! We have to fight together! We can win if we come together."

"Don’t tell us what to do! You’re the one who brought those things here!"

No matter where you looked, there were students either engaged in combat with zombies or fleeing in terror.

It would be considered a miracle to see so many people banding together on their own initiative in such a terrifying situation. However, any hope of such a miracle was quickly dashed as almost everyone was forced to fight for their lives, disregarding any sense of cooperation. Noah couldn’t fathom the extent of the carnage unleashed by the Zombie King and his army, but he knew it had to be a large number when he saw how many runners were among their ranks.

And that wasn’t even the worst of it. In the center of the court, where the more intense action was taking place, four almost completely identical zombies stood out. They bore a striking resemblance to the king, lacking only his distinctive apparel and bone sword. They did, however, share his towering height and fierce battle instincts. Utilizing their instincts, they scavenged weapons from the accumulating fallen bodies strewn across the battleground.

The average student stood little chance against these new adversaries until unexpected battle-hardened groups joined the fray. Comprising four to five individuals each, these groups engaged in fierce combat with the king’s subordinates, while less experienced students attempted to hold, if not kill the regular zombies.

At the edge of the ongoing battle stood Noah, accompanied by Arachne and, surprisingly, Lucas in his werewolf form. Concerned for Grim’s safety, Noah assigned him to deal with the regular zombies. Despite the king’s overwhelming prowess, he reasoned that having Grim contribute elsewhere on the battlefields would be better, even if it meant one less fight on his side.

That’s where Lucas came in, but even with someone to fill Grim’s place, his presence didn’t bring much help to the fight.

The battle against the king intensified as the monarch became more vigilant against Noah’s webs, rendering his latest attempt ineffective. The king zombie was on high alert against Noah’s webs in particular, wielding its giant sword defensively, blocking Noah’s attacks rather than ignoring them as before.

Whoosh!

Noah was seen skillfully ducking another swing from the king’s sword before preemptively sidestepping its attempted kick. It growled in annoyance. For the past few minutes, Noah was constantly weaving through the zombies’ attacks. Despite his agility and his spiders’ trait passive, the constant barrage of painfully accurate attacks kept him on his toes. While Noah maintained the king’s attention, Arachne focused on targeting the king’s legs, any attacking aiming higher than that would be asking for death when it came to the King’s heightened battle senses. Noah couldn’t afford to lose another ally, especially not Arachne.

However, after dodging the latest barrage of attacks, he glanced over his surroundings. He thought he was imagining it, but now he was certain, Lucas wasn’t there to follow up, ’AGAIN’. Noah couldn’t help but growl in rage.

"DO SOMETHING ALREADY OR JUST LEAVE! Is this what I was supposed to regret? ’You’ watching me like an abandoned puppy??"

Whoosh!

Even while distracted, Noah was able to pick up on the subtle differences in the air to evade backward just in time from another blow.

Meanwhile, Lucas was unable to retort to Noah’s criticism since he was in his transformation, but he felt attacked! He was seething with anger, angry towards Noah, angry towards the zombie king, and most of all, angry towards himself. Whenever he lunged forward to follow up on an opening, he felt an instinctual fear of death approaching him as he entered the King’s proximity.

’Fuck fuck fuck!!!!’ Lucas’ mind roared with frustration. ’Attacking without getting hurt seemed impossible, and if he did as Noah suggested and leaves, wouldn’t that just mean acknowledging that he was useless?’ He gritted his teeth, not wanting to admit his inadequacy.

’No!’ He roared, his fist clenching hard enough to draw blood as he watched Noah dodged another incoming strike. ’I’m clearly faster than him, if he’s able to dodge his attacks so easily, then there’s no way I should get hit. I can do this!’

During the moment Lucas pondered his predicament, he witnessed Noah deftly dodging a strike from above. Evading toward the King, Noah swiftly ensnared its leading foot with his webs, anchoring it to the floor.

Simultaneously, Arachne poised herself for another strike. Since the first few venomous injections into the King’s legs, it had barely budged from its position. However, its lack of movement didn’t diminish the threat posed by its formidable swordsmanship. However, moving wasn’t needed when its sword skills were more than enough.

Lucas felt that now was the perfect time to redeem himself. Assuming a crouched stance, he dug his back paws into the ground, preparing himself for a decisive leap. His muscles constantly spasmed as they flexed past their limits.

"Awwwhhooo!" Lucas couldn’t suppress the urge to howl before he lunged toward the Zombie King with unparalleled speed. In his time fighting alongside others, he had come to understand that experience was gained through significant contributions during the battle. So far, he knew he amounted to very little of it, but he couldn’t allow Noah to continue to pull ahead of him in terms of power. He needed to do something big and he was determined to change that.

With the king’s legs rendered nearly useless, they presented the most vulnerable target. If he could tear off one of the king’s legs, then surely he would’ve contributed substantially more than what Noah and his creatures did over this entire amount of time, right?

But he messed up...The best way to make a surprise attack is for it to be a surprise. When he howled from his eagerness to strike, he only unwittingly alerted the king to his presence who was in the middle of forcing Arachne to retreat again.

As Lucas closed in on the king, his eyes glinted with anticipation and a hunger for glory. But his moment of triumph was shattered when he saw the glint of a sword descending toward him. With no escape route in sight, he resorted to digging his claws deep into the court, hoping to stop his momentum.

Just as it seemed he would be cleaved in two, his desperate maneuver spared him from the gory scene, but at what cost?

"ARRRR ARRR ARRR!"

Lucas collapsed backward, whimpering in pain; the stress and pain in his voice were unbearable for some to hear and distracting for those who recognized the familiar cries. The distraction almost proved fatal to his best friend LeRoy if not for Tristan’s tragic attempt to intervene.

The zombie subordinate they were pinned against used a flail with spikes covering the metal ball. When it whipped the spiked ball toward LeRoy’s head, Tristan misjudged the trajectory of the swing. Lunging to push LeRoy out of harm’s way, Tristan was caught off guard as the flail struck him directly in the face. As he fell opposite of the spikes, his head was cleanly severed from his shoulders, the impact embedding them deep into his skull as his head stuck the zombie’s weapon.

Quickly, everything was turning from bad to worse. Lucas could be seen struggling to crawl himself away. A deep gash from his thigh to his shoulders left a trail of blood as he made his way away from the fight. Despite his werewolf regeneration abilities, the wound showed no signs of healing. Instead, it festered and emitted a greenish toxin, causing excruciating pain as it burned through his insides.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel