Becoming a Monster
Chapter 135: Faction Leaders Unique Abilities Displayed

Chapter 135: Chapter 135: Faction Leaders Unique Abilities Displayed

Peterson firmly held his newly acquired weapon, a mobile minigun, and began to unleash its fury. The barrage of bullets tore through advancing insects; the caliber of bullets were much more destructive than the assault rifles used prior. During the use of the weapon, a strange sight took place. For such a barbaric weapon, chaotic in nature, the weapon’s haphazard spread held uncanny accuracy. Barely did a bullet sway away from a target, every bullet landing successfully on the nearest insect in sight with unrelenting efficiency.

The scene was unnatural, a level of accuracy that seemed beyond human capability. Peterson’s eyes, locked on the battlefield, revealed a striking change: his irises had lost their normal pupils and now resembled a gun’s targeting screen. A red dot sat at the center of his eye, surrounded by multiple concentric black rings, each pulsing faintly.

This strange development did not go unnoticed. As Peterson continued to fire, the minigun’s accuracy seemed to synchronize with the peculiar changes in his eyes. But more bizarre was the precision of every individual wearing the police uniform.

Mark and the others observed with growing astonishment. The police officers, previously seen as ordinary combatants relying solely on their weapons, now demonstrated an almost supernatural marksmanship. It was as if they had become extensions of Peterson’s minigun, their shooting synchronized in a way that defied human coordination.

Raven, along with the other survivors aware of Peterson’s unique ability, wasn’t surprised by the display. All three faction leaders possessed unique skills outside of their awakened classes, it was because of their special traits that allowed them to speedily achieve their status over the others.

Peterson’s ability, a unique skill called ’Target Lock Vison,’ was an ability that granted him to have auto aim assist, allowing him to mentally dictate his targets. Through his awakening, his new class ’Gunslinger Marksman,’ an evolution of his base skill archer, had obtained the potential to mark potential allies, bestowing them with his enhanced vision but at the cost of a high amount of mana.

Since Peterson, just like Levi, achieved most of his kills with weapons, his attributes were meager compared to someone who received attribute orbs from chests and advanced classes reflecting their efforts. Because of this, Peterson had to be very selective when using his skill.

Wave after wave of bullets continued to find their mark. To the untrained eye, Peterson’s minigun and the officers appeared to be pushing back the horde. The insects seemingly were falling in droves as their ranks continued to thin.

But the moment of hope was fleeting, giving only the illusion of success. Despite the group’s efforts to thwart the insects’ advance, Peterson’s officers could not deter the armored, more resilient creatures; his own weapon could only do so much. The smallest centipedes were shredded under his volleys, the ants quickly minced down after successive focused fire, and even the smallest of beetles couldn’t survive under Peterson’s display.

However, the armored insects took the gunfire in stride, their exoskeletons only cracking under the bullet’s intensity. Peterson would need considerable time to focus fire on one individual if he hoped to put it down, but time was his enemy.

By the time they realized their efforts were futile, the insects had finally breached the wall.

The massive beetles bulldozed into the station’s gated wall. One beetle couldn’t break it down without consecutive charges, but with multiple creatures powering through the wall’s structure, the obstacle crumbled under their force. Debris flew as the gate collapsed, and the insects poured into the compound.

With the monstrous beetles leading the charge, everyone faltered to stand in their way.

"Peterson!" A loud shriek echoed before a surprising display took shape. When the first wave of insects seemed to breach the wall, suddenly, the majority of the insects were thrown back, large indents forming on their shells while those less fortunate died under the brute force.

On the other side of the wall stood a familiar presence, though her appearance had drastically changed. Raven’s figure had transformed into a massive titan, a golden aura illuminating her figure. Her towering presence dwarfed the average human, standing taller than the largest beetle there. Her clothing had also transformed, taking on a graceful change, her apparel materializing into an Amazonian-themed armor. Her spear took on the appearance of both a mythical spear, and a heroic looking shield accompanied it. She embodied the essence and grace of an Amazonian warrior.

Raven had finally been forced to display her unique skill, Amazonian Titan. This ability transforms her into a towering, powerful titian imbued with the strength of the legendary Amazon warriors. All of her body stats received a massive increase, with her strength and constitution nearly doubling as well. Her original armor’s defense doubled as well, enhanced by the golden shine around her body that would mitigate incoming damage. The stat increase was followed up by her regeneration also being increased by a factor of three.

Her skill was to be feared by any opposing adversary, a skill that would make her a one person army. However, like any skill, it was not without its faults. There were three drastic limitations.

Firstly, the transformation was temporary, with its duration based on her stamina and the intensity of her injuries. The longer she fought and the more wounds healed under her intensified titian regeneration, the quicker her energy would deplete. Secondly, there was a cooldown period in which the skill couldn’t be used again. The strain on her body from experiencing such a massive growth that defied her human limitations wouldn’t allow her to use the skill consecutively.

The first two limitations were still manageable. In Raven’s perspective, the two "limitations" could barely qualify as such when the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. The third limitation, one in which she was unsure to be true, was that her mitigating defenses didn’t mean she was impervious to wounds. It was because of this glaring flaw that she would never use the ability in the presence of zombies, fearing she would neglect even the tiniest scratch, have it heal and become infected without realizing it. There was nothing in her abilities’ description that would disprove her concern, and because of the possible risk, her skill was barely seen in action.

Despite being pushed back, the insects weren’t affected by fear, "something" seemed to inspire them to relentlessly push forward. The insects began to converge on Raven. The first beetle that dared to challenge her was met with a powerful bash from her shield, while another was pierced through with her spear. The ants and centipedes followed, giving Raven no respite as she powerfully kicked at a small group of ants while pounding her shield into two approaching centipedes.

"Peterson!" Once again, her voice bellowed, but more powerfully than before. Though initially taken aback by her unearthly transformation, which he had only witnessed once before, Peterson had an instinctive understanding of what she wanted.

"Continue to fire! Forget the ones that made it to the building; don’t let the rest interfere!" he commanded, his voice being a wake up call to the others. With Raven’s overpowering display, everyone rose up in arms with a higher morale than ever.

While the people continued to untie together to ward off the insects, another group was also preparing. Unlike the others, this group wasn’t intimidated by the approaching numbers, nor were they impressed with the bigger creature’s size.

"Dummy Fenrir....you get big ones," Arachne annoyingly requested. Despite wanting to take out the largest targets there, she was reminded of her last encounter with the armored titan. Recalling the effort needed to bring it down, she knew that Fenrir was better suited for the role, although she didn’t want to admit it.

Fenrir growled in acknowledgment, unbothered by the title Arachne labeled him with. His attention was focused on the prey that was sent to quench his boredom. But before he set off to attack, he growled towards the abomination.

"Eat them all!"

Hearing the order, the abomination responded with a low growl of its own, full of menace and anticipation, as it dashed ahead on only its hind legs, an instinctive pose from what it once was.

As if it was a compulsory ritual, Fenrir howled into the sky. His active skill ’Predatory Roar,’ sent chills down everyone inside a half a mile radius; even the people inside the building weren’t spared.

Momentarily, the insects stopped in their tracks, the weaker bugs paralyzed with fear while the stronger insects looked towards Fenrir as if they were reassessing Fenrir’s threat level.

Meanwhile, the humans were equally affected. Fenrir’s skill didn’t just incite fear, it amplified their fear, causing those weaker in willpower to lose their will to fight. For the people who were already hesitant to engage in fighting the insects, their reluctance grew, making many unwilling to join Raven in her battle.

Even Peterson’s men were affected, their gun support briefly halting as they tried to gain their bearings.

Besides the ant generals, it was impossible to decipher whether the other insects were awakened or just mutations based on their appearances. But thanks to the debilitating effects of Fenrir’s roar, Raven and Peterson were easily able to recognize the strongest figures there. The three ant generals only looked back towards Fenrir before their antennae drifted back towards the settlement, their arms uplifted as they pointed in the same direction.

As if by magic, all of the following ants that were frozen in place quickly began to march again.

"Snap out of it! They’re coming!" Seeing the ants approaching while only her and Peterson were able to function, Raven yelled to everyone behind her with barely little affect.

There was only one person who moved, an individual whose body began to become encompassed by a blue aura. Mark stepped forward, his eyes blazing with determination.

"Everyone! Don’t let fear control you. Stick together, fight together, we will win!" Mark’s voice cut deep within the hearts of everyone who could hear him.

The blue aura surrounding Mark intensified, spreading outwards to touch the others, infusing them with a renewed sense of courage. His hero’s aura gained another function, a feature Noah would gladly point out as a protagonist cheat. Using his aura, Mark resonated with everyone around him, sharing his own determination with those affected.

Seeing the shift in everyone’s demeanor, Raven was skeptical of what Mark had actually accomplished, but witnessing the group filled with newfound vigor, indistinguishable from before, she could only nod in acknowledgment to Mark’s support. She turned her attention back to the approaching ants. "We hold the line here! Do not let them breach further!"