Becoming a Monster-Chapter 58: Beware of the dog

"Everyone, stand down, he’s not a monster, he’s...." Neal strode towards the ledge, looking down towards Noah as he said with a smile. "An old friend of ours..."

Hearing that, everyone instantly became relaxed as if Neal’s words were gospel. Noah observed how effortlessly Neal commanded their trust, it was just like before. The way the others hung on his every word, ready to obey his command without question; If Neal gave the word, he was sure everyone would give up their lives to attack him.

’This would be a good time to play along,’ Noah thought, but he couldn’t afford to waste time. He was well aware that Neal would likely attempt to test him. Yet, would Neal dare to challenge him after he summoned Fenrir? As the thought crossed his mind, he made the decision to bring out Fenrir. Fear is a powerful tool to negotiate with. If Neal wants to play mind games then Noah would rather change the playing field to who had the bigger dog?

"No-Noah! What’s the meaning of this?" Neal’s voice quivered with panic, his attempts at composure failing as the towering werewolf materialized out of thin air. Not many people have yet to tame a creature and even if they had, there was no way they would feel confident enough to store the creature within themselves when danger lurked at every turn.

More importantly they would never expect anyone to tame a monster of Fenrir’s proportions. The towering, snarling werewolf emerged, its fur as dark as midnight and eyes ablaze with primal fury. The people hiding in the back began to cry, they had just finished going through an ordeal with the horde and the monster in front of them appeared more horrifying than having to fight hundreds of walking zombies.

Once again, the group with weapons brandished them toward Noah. One would believe the group to be experienced hunters considering how vigilant they were to the first sign of danger. However, a closer listen betrayed their true feelings, the faint clicking of metal betraying their trembling hands, gripped by fear at the thought of confronting the beast.

Fenrir needed no further display to showcase Noah’s prowess; his appearance was a demonstration in itself.

Meanwhile, Arachne seethed with resentment at the attention thrown upon Fenrir, her own fearsome presence seemingly overlooked. Their lack of vigilance towards her presence made her feel that her position as Noah’s strongest creature was at risk, she was scary too!

Before turning his gaze towards Neal, Noah took note of the archers wielding their bows with the arrows nocked. He made sure to get a little bit closer to Fenrir, mindful of their potential threat to himself before addressing Neal. If it was prior to the penalty, he wouldn’t need to be mindful against such attacks from people who bore inferior stats than his own. However as he was now he knew his weakness, he wouldn’t allow his pride to put him in danger.

"I don’t know what you mean." Noah retorted flatly, unafraid of the weapons aimed in his direction. His lack of tension spoke volumes of the trust he held in his companions.

"If I want to summon my dog, then I will do so without your permission. After all, I’m not the one pointing weapons." Noah declared, arousing an eye wince from Neal.

"Now tell me ’friend’." Noah spreads out his arms, sweeping his gaze around the room dramatically.

"What is the meaning of this?"

The power move stumped Neal, who usually always had a response, while the people in the surrounding were also lost for words. ’You know damn well why we are pointing our weapons at you!’ they all had the same line on the tip of their tongues.

Neal took this short respite to formulate his next thought into words when he felt a tug on his clothes. Regina’s voice trembled as she grasped Neal’s arm, her eyes wide as she became aware of Fenrir’s old shell. "Ne-Neal... that’s Lucas!" She couldn’t forget the man she spent most of this hell hole with. Especially since he always took the opportunity to transform in front of them. Even with the changes Lucas went through after being mutated, something told her that he was the same person.

Ignoring everyone else and turning towards her, Neal spoke in shock. "Lucas? Are you sure? But he was just summoned, it shouldn’t be possible."

Regina initially faltered under Neal’s questioning gaze, but she held firm. "It’s him! I’m sure of it. I don’t know how he did it, but I think Noah is controlling him somehow.."

Neal’s mind raced as he processed Regina’s words. If Lucas was indeed among them, it presented both a threat and an opportunity. He felt that he could use this information to his advantage. Besides, after what they’ve been through, taking down one creature shouldn’t be hard. And if they had to, they could eliminate the person controlling the werewolf, if that person was truly Lucas.

Neal cleared his throat, fakingly attempting to diffuse the escalating tension. "Well let’s not point fingers at one another. We were in the wrong. But your wolf friend is scaring everyone else. Do you mind putting him away?"

Noah’s expression darkened, not caring to show face despite Neal’s seemingly sincere tone. "No, I feel more comfortable with him around since this is now the second time you pointed your weapons at me. Just let me see the shop and then I’ll leave." Noah was quick to respond, even then his face showed a very annoyed expression. During the exchange the onlookers couldn’t help but become antsy as the exchange unfolded. Neal sighed, putting his head down before shaking it in disappointment.

"I’m sorry you can’t trust us, but we also can’t trust you with that thing around to let you stay here. Unless....I was told that the wolf is actually someone we also know. If that’s the case, then how about you let our dear friend Lucas speak for himself? That way, I can convince them that the wolf is harmless...There’s no point in denying it; Regina here can vouch that he is indeed Lucas that she was with not too long ago. So, what will you do?"

Neal finally revealed his shady smile, a smug satisfaction glinting in his eyes. Neal believed he had trapped Noah in a precarious position, with no favorable outcome in sight. If he unsummoned the werewolf, then he could still convince everyone that he was controlling Lucas, leading to a righteous cause that would justify killing Noah where he stood. And if he admitted to controlling Lucas, they could still try to eliminate him to "save" Lucas from Noah’s control.

To Neal, it didn’t matter if Lucas was the wolf or not, all that matters was getting rid of the ant pretending to be a lion. They also had a tamer within their group who has yet to tame anything. If they played their cards right then they could get a valuable weapon.

The spectators were shocked upon hearing Neal’s accusation. The fervor in their eyes intensified as their hands twitched around their weapons to attack. They would not lay still while their saint and savior’s friend was being controlled, no less by the culprit that arrogantly stood before them.

Noah, however, remained unfazed by the turn of events. He wasn’t surprised that they had deduced Fenrir’s true identity as Lucas; after all, he hadn’t made any effort to conceal it. Neal may have thought he had outsmarted him, but Noah had no intention of playing along with his manipulative game.

"I don’t think you are understanding ’Neal’..."

"Aaawwhooo!"

As if on cue, Fenrir roared oppressively, spreading fear into those who heard it. Arachne could sense from Noah that a battle was gonna break out. It would be her job to protect her master while Fenrir went rampant, she was aware that her underling could kill a lot faster than herself, with wounds barely affecting him. She wanted to prove her worth too, she was reluctant to stay behind, but someone had to fulfill her role. To her surprise, she was able to contribute more than Fenrir before the fight even began.

Whoosh!*

Out of fear, an arrow slipped from one of the peoples fingers before being released, slicing through the air towards Noah. Everything happened in a moment. After the first arrow soared, they all watched in horror while some in suspense. Neal, hoping for Noah’s demise, watched with bated breath as the arrow sped towards its mark.

Many expected for the scene of Noah being impaled by the arrow. But before disaster could strike, Arachne sprang into action, intercepting the arrow with lightning speed. With her keen sensory hairs and the perk to anticipate object movements, she deftly swatted the projectile aside, shocking those who witnessed her uncanny reaction. The arrow harmlessly clattered to the ground, leaving Noah unscathed and the onlookers stunned by Arachne’s unexpected intervention.

Noah looked towards the person who shot the arrow, obviously the guy didn’t mean to shoot it, Noah could tell from regret etched on the man’s face. However Noah still made a mental note of his appearance, if he regretted it, then he shouldn’t have pointed the arrow at him to begin with.

He then redirected his gaze to Neal, whose grip on the horrified Regina tightened visibly. The duo stood motionless as Noah advanced, his steps measured, with Fenrir and Arachne as his silent sentinels, never once breaking his intense focus as he stared the two down.

"Everyone always assumes that I’m asking for their permission. If it was your possession, then I can understand, but you don’t own what’s behind those doors." Speaking up till here, he motioned for Fenrir to remain at the bottom of the steps. Even if he somehow reached the top floor, Noah was sure Fenrir wouldn’t be able to move around as much as he wanted. Noah would prefer if Fenrir was left to cause chaos on the bottom floor.

"Don’t come any closer, or we’ll be forced to attack! You weren’t here when the monsters attacked. We protected this area with OUR lives. We have everyone right to claim the shop as ours! I swear, Noah, one more step and you’ll regret it. We aren’t people who you can push around."

As Neal twisted the narrative, portraying Noah as the aggressor, the atmosphere shifted dramatically. The once-reluctant group behind Neal, initially hesitant to confront Noah and his companions, now were riled up from Neal’s threats as they prepared to go all out. They were just waiting for Neal to give the order.

This unexpected turn of events elicited a sinister smile from Noah. ’Maybe I can use this chance to check their hearts...’ He tried to hold in his excitement, but when he thought of such a scam as a way to increase his skills, he just couldn’t contain himself. His barely contained enthusiasm was giving off bad vibes to the people opposing him. With an appearance that was already more unsettling than the very zombies they faced, Noah’s manic grin didn’t make it any better.

"Go ahead, make your move," Noah taunted, taking another step forward, yet met with only hesitation. Then he took another step and surprisingly, the opposing group began to retreat.

"Why aren’t you attacking already!" Noah spitefully questioned, his patience wearing thin. At this rate he wouldn’t have a reason to "inspect" their cores.

"If you don’t want to fight then just stay out of my way then." At this point his disappointment was turning to frustration. He felt that everything that had happened and was said up till now was worthless. He was ready for a fight, he wanted to see blood. He was missing the smell of fresh blood in the air as he wore it like a cologne.

Whoosh!

Noah’s very presence, coupled with his mounting frustration, seemed to agitate one of the archers yet again. In an unfortunate twist of fate, the same individual who had loosed an arrow before, now released another, seemingly unable to control his nerves.

This one clearly soared for Noah’s face, once again being struck down by Arachne’s interference, accompanied by an aggressive hiss, hinting at her own annoyance. Despite her intervention, Noah’s gaze narrowed on the man with the intent to kill. He was already considering killing the guy the first time, but now it was personal. He was clearly behind Arachne and yet the arrow perfectly shot in his direction? Again? There was no question. The man’s actions had sealed his fate.

"Bring him with us." Noah ordered in a chilling tone. Arachne knew exactly who her master was referring to, she also wanted that person dead. Now that she was given the order, her actions were swift, the anticipation to kill the food that didn’t understand their place spurred her to complete the task without fail.

"Noo Ron! Quick! Save him!" A woman from below screamed amidst the panicked screams elicited by Aracene’s sudden attack. In her state of desperation for Ron’s safety, the woman ignored Fenrir as she tried to race up the stairs; brandishing a sword in her frantic attempt to prevent the giant spider from taking Ron away.

Her irrational concern blinded her to the impending danger, sealing her fate without her even realizing it. Fenrir’s imposing presence was impossible to brush over, yet his idleness while remaining near the stairs somehow made the inconceivable possible in the woman’s eyes; convincing the woman that he didn’t pose a threat.

Crunch!*

However before she made it up the first step, Fenrir, who was sitting on his back legs, suddenly bent over, engulfing her in his massive jaws before biting through her waist with a sickening crunch. Her lower body remained standing for a moment, one leg pressed against the step while the other remained planted on the floor, before collapsing in a pool of blood.

The events unfolding on the bottom floor sparked hysteria among the people above, who had been focused on Noah until then. The shocking sight of Fenrir devouring someone from their group caused them to forget about Noah entirely,

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The chaos intensified as arrows after arrows descended on Fenrir, who continued to chew apart the body in its jaws without a care of the arrows flooding its surroundings.

It was then that the people shooting the arrows noticed that only a handful of the arrows managed to penetrate the werewolves’ thick fur and skin, with no apparent effect on the beast at all.

Below, the melee group prepared to rush Fenrir, but hesitated as they observed the ineffectiveness of the arrows. The realization dawned on them: if arrows couldn’t harm the creature, what hope did their melee weapons have?

Meanwhile, Neal and his group were prepared to defend the man being targeted by Arachne. Their eyes were glued to their target until they heard the screams descending from below. In that split moment of distraction, Arachne seized the opportunity to strike.

"HE-HELP MEEEEE! NEA-URRRGHG OLIV-sobs*

Aranchne sprung into the group of archers, snatching hold of her target before leaping back with the assistance of her tethered web. By the time Arachne returned with the man in her grip, the man tried to escape, desperate to make it back towards his group. However, before he could take more than a few steps, Arachne’s spear-like legs impaled both his legs, immobilizing him.

In that same motion, Arachne pinned him down and began to spin him around, swiftly enveloping him in layers of her sticky webs.

His desperate screams heighted the others’ awareness to his situation, drawing the attention of the others as he was gradually enveloped in the sticky webbing.

"Yo-you....youuu..." Neal couldn’t believe what was happening, everything was so sudden. He didn’t believe Noah would try to contest all of them. He even went so far as to kill one of their own and was planning to kill another, it was beyond anything Neal had anticipated.

Neal’s eyes couldn’t leave Noah’s figure, his voice faltering as he attempted to form coherent words. His mind raced with the sudden turn of events, struggling to find a way to address the situation.

They could only watch in stunned silence as Noah strode into the room where the mysterious shopkeeper awaited, with Arachne trailing behind. The man, now ensnared in the spider’s webbing, cried out in pain and distress as he was dragged along, It was an unbearable sight to see.

The sound of crying was muffled as they entered through the doors. Their discomfort and worries visible in their expressions as Ron’s distressed cries foreshadowed his unjust death. While they all wanted to act on their desires to bring about justice, Noah’s re-emergence at the door awakened their self perseveration. His mischievous glance, in their eyes made, instilled in them the impression of a devil, edging them on to enter his lair.

"BOO!"

Noah exclaimed, sporting his creepy smile from before, eliciting startled jumps from everyone present. But despite the initial shock, none dared to move as he slammed the door shut, leaving behind only the muffled echoes of Ron’s cries.

As soon as the doors were shut, Noah’s attention was entirely focused on the crying sack on the floor. He was going to use the man as a test subject, to determine if the mysterious pearls’ effects extended to humans and he didn’t want to be bothered.

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