Becoming a Monster-Chapter 52: I’m not your Nanny

Utter silence enveloped the room as the once-complaining onlookers beheld the blood demon in the form of Noah, accompanied by the hungry stare of the giant beast behind him. In that moment, their voices faltered, their presence shrinking in the face of such an overwhelming presence. They silently thanked their luck for being stopped in time, realizing that otherwise, they might have found themselves devoured by the beast’s jaws.

"I know, I know...I’m still upset about Grims death too," Noah’s voice broke through the heavy atmosphere. "We won’t forget him, but we both have to become stronger so no one else dies right? How can you become a queen if you let your underlings die?"

The tension eased slightly as the onlookers watched Noah, still drenched in blood, comforting his spider companion. Arachne danced around him, seemingly recounting the events with vivid gestures.

If anyone observed closely, they would notice a small smile gracing Noah’s lips as he interacted with Arachne. No matter if he ate the dead, killed hundreds or if he was vulnerable, he felt that Arachne would not treat him any different. At this moment, even though he lost a companion and he himself almost died, he still felt more at peace than he ever has.

"!"

No one in the group was particularly close to Noah, leaving him with no one to discuss the recent events. The only person even remotely familiar to him was Ailetta, but she still hadn’t awakened.

When Noah turned his gaze towards the group, his eyes scanning over each individual left in the area, a sense of unease settled over most, if not all of them. However, they noticed his stare lingered a few seconds longer on Bailey, specifically on Ailetta cradled in her arms.

He witnessed her last attempt, realizing that people like her were more heroic than those who claimed to be heroes themselves. Noah wasn’t sure how he would feel if Ailetta were to die, perhaps similar to the grief he experienced after Grim’s death?

Contemplating this reinforced his belief that he had made the right decision to go on his own. If he spent his time trying to keep people he supposedly cared about alive, his path to becoming stronger would only be prolonged. What would happen if he had to fight these monstrous creatures with even just a little less strength than he had now, all because he had spent his time babysitting Ailetta?

There was still a bit of indecisiveness in his eyes, but that’s what it means to be human. Often, the heart doesn’t coincide with what the mind believes is right, leading to internal conflict.

But then his gaze returned to Bailey, and he noticed the care with which she held Ailetta in her arms. Memories flooded back of the time he saw her about to rush to Ailetta’s aid, despite the fact that she could’ve died.

Internally, Noah nodded, feeling more at ease with leaving Ailetta in Bailey’s care as he turned to walk away and gather his belongings. His eyes flickered with a hint of temptation as he spotted a few chests along the way.

’It’s not worth it...If I steal others’ loot then I shouldn’t get mad when people do the same to me.’ Noah reminded himself silently as he threw his bag over his shoulders, approaching the chest containing the sword that would likely become his primary weapon for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, the werewolf continued to mindlessly trail behind him, its presence a constant reminder of the new power in Noah’s possession. Seizing the opportunity, Arachne stealthily made her way towards the King’s remains.

Whispers filled the air:

"What do we do now...?"

"How should I know? I thought we were waiting for him...do we follow him?" The murmurs persisted, but Noah paid them no heed as he focused on examining his new sword.

The sword was massive compared to what he was used to, just like the King, the sword was the same height as himself. Its handle comprised a significant portion of its length, clearly designed for wielding with both hands, although if he was strong enough he would be capable of wielding it with one. But given his current strength, Noah knew he would need to wield it with both hands just to barely be able to carry it.

As Noah gripped the sword, his aura seemed to grow more imposing to the onlookers, deterring any thoughts of approaching him.

"Wa-Wait!" A voice called out from the crowd, everyone was so lost in thought that they didn’t realize that Noah was already on his way to leave the building.

The sudden plea directed towards Noah caused him to a halt, but he anticipated what she wanted to say.

"My answer is still no, I won’t tag along in your groups." Noah stated firmly, his gaze shifting to the people behind her before the depths of his eyes turned cold.

"Look at the people you are willing to protect. Did they try to help when your friend was dying? Do you think they will ever help you if you were in trouble? I don’t want to be used when joining you will only benefit your group." Without waiting for her to respond he turned to walk away with his creatures in tow. The werewolf, having to get on all fours to crawl out the door, was the last to leave through the door.

Moments passed in silence until Mark, who had also been deeply affected by Noah’s presence, finally spoke up.

"Ha....haha! This is what you get for expecting anything from someone like him! The only person he cares about is himself, but who needs him? As long as we stick together then we can al-"

Boom!

The doors Noah had departed from swung open abruptly, revealing his bloodied figure once more. Mark felt his soul almost escape his body, while the people around him subtly retreated a few steps away. They all shared the same thought: Noah had heard Mark talking about him and had returned to finish him off.

Confusion spread among them as they watched Noah proceed to close the door and lower his head, seemingly lost in thought.

"Wha-"

Bang bang bang!

Before anyone could ask, they heard the heavy pounding coming from the other side of the door. Their eyes widened in terror at the thought that they would have to relieve the traumatizing scene again. Would there be another zombie on the level of the Zombie King? The only person who seemed to hold the answers to their questions was Noah himself.

Jasmine hesitated to approach him, feeling she had no right to speak, not only because of Mark’s actions but also because she hadn’t lifted a finger when Ailetta was in danger. She had her reasons, but they would only sound like excuses if she tried to explain.

Bailey, still standing relatively close to the door when Noah returned, couldn’t resist the urge to ask in everyone’s stead.

"Is...Is it another monster like that one?" Noah didn’t need to know what she was referring to when he could see her gaze set on his new creature.

Part of Noah wanted to know how she would react if he said it was. He thought back to what he saw out there, after a moment’s reflection, he shook his head, eliciting sighs of relief from everyone present.

"There might only be a few hundred zombies out there." He said nonchalantly, he’s killed enough of both the walking and running zombies by now that he was almost numb to it. The information, however, was already enough to fill the people there with dread.

But Noah wasn’t finished. "And it seems some of the animals returned, I couldn’t be sure but I guess you will find out soon enough." He announced while he made his way to one of the nearby seats, setting his bag down before stretching out and closing his eyes.

The last fight had drained Noah significantly, including the penalty he received from Grim’s death. His stamina was almost at rock bottom, if it wasn’t for his skill and consuming parts of the Zombie King, he might have already succumbed to exhaustion or even fainted.

Noah’s apparent lack of awareness and concern about the monsters outside baffled the onlookers. Even more so when noise from beyond the door showed no sign of diminishing; if anything, it grew louder.

"Are you not going to fight them??" A random voice screamed out, everyone else had the same question, but was too afraid to ask. Now that someone was brave enough to voice the question, they all looked expectantly in Noah’s direction awaiting his response.

"No, I’m tired." Noah replied without opening up his eyes. However, the onlookers interpreted his shaking head as a sign of contempt towards them, unaware that he was doing it towards Arachne when he felt an emotion of satisfaction rising from her through their bond. He didn’t have to guess what was the cause, he knew she went right back to finish the body of the king. He didn’t want to deny her from feeding when it would benefit her so he didn’t stop her, but that didn’t stop him from feeling the disbelief of how much she prioritizes her stomach.

The sight of him shaking his head and his indifferent attitude further infuriated Mark. "You just think you’re that much better than us now huh? Tired my ass! What about that monster by your side, you’re not going to say it’s tired too are you??"

In response to this question, Noah actually opened his eyes to look towards them before he closed them again.

"Well if you knew that then why are you asking? Of course he’s tired, look at him." Their eyes turned towards the beast that sat next to Noah, its eyes closed in comfort as it licked its many wounds.

’What part of that looks tired??’ They all wondered silently, before another question formed on their lips. However, before they could voice it, they saw Noah sit up from his seat. His furrowed brow and intense gaze hinted at the seriousness of what he was about to say next.

"Why don’t you all try protecting yourselves for once? If no one is there to save you, will you all just give up and die? That’s why you are all so weak now. Now leave me alone already. If you all can’t even handle a few small fries then just give up and die. It’s like that voice said in the beginning, ’prove to yourself that you deserve to live or die without your life having any meaning’."

He waited for their reaction, but all he received was silence. Nodding to himself, he believed that he had effectively conveyed his message. As he laid back down, he attempted once again to relax, while the group gathered to discuss among themselves, their expressions reflecting the weight of Noah’s words.

"So what do you think we should do? Stay and fight or should we try to run?" Blake, the more talkative one of the group spoke first. No one could respond instantly as they struggled to register his words. Many of them had given in to despair a long time ago that the idea of fleeing hadn’t even crossed their minds until now. Fear gnawed at them, making it difficult to think clearly.

"This isn’t a fight we can win...I don’t believe him when he said it was only those regular zombies. If it was then why did he run away? Obviously there’s something else and he’s gonna use us to finish it off for himself. I say we leave!" Mark’s words sounded convincing to the mass majority, who also were in the same opinion. At this point they would agree with anything that involved avoiding a fight.

"I say we stay!" Bailey’s voice determinedly cut through the dispute, surprising those who had been leaning towards leaving.

"Who’s to say that the building isn’t surrounded? And what if the monsters like the one before are in the direction we are going towards? We should use this chance to grow stronger, just like Noah said. Besides...if something comes up that we can’t handle then at least we have the option of maybe getting his help. But we don’t get that option if we leave now.

As Bailey articulated her reasoning, Mark’s brows furrowed, his dissatisfaction evident as his idea was once again being rejected.

"I’m with Bailey"

"Me too!"

"Uh m-me as well."

Starting with Blake, one by one, the people in the group accepted Bailey’s idea, leaving just Jasmin and Ailetta who haven’t decided. Jasmine looked towards Mark, hesitating with her words before steeling her resolve.

"Mark, I also think we should stay. Forget about Noah, but if he was telling the truth about the zombies not being the abnormal ones, then this is our chance to get stronger like you’ve been wanting..."

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