Becoming a Monster
Chapter 136: The Hidden threat

Chapter 136: Chapter 136: The Hidden threat

The battle quickly reached a balance, with neither party truly holding the upper hand. Peterson’s brigade continued to focus on the creatures still susceptible to bullets, while the others rallied behind Raven as their pillar.

On the other side, Fenrir and his team overpowered any creature that dared to approach. Despite the insects’ numbers and size, any non-awakened creature could only be considered fertilizer for their growth. The only individual who truly struggled against the insects was the newly appointed abomination, but even then, it was due to the sheer number of enemies that it faced that caused it struggle.

Because of Fenrir’s skill "Alpha’s inheritance," the abomination received a unique ability inspired by Fenrir’s bloodline, a skill that went almost unnoticed but was fully showcased during the current battle.

The abomination wasn’t sentient enough to consider avoiding attacks, taking attacks head on while dishing out strikes of its own. Whether facing ants,beetles, or centipedes, the abomination suffered severe injuries; wounds that would even take Fenrir some time to recover from. However, a startling scene unfolded repeatedly: the abomination’s injuries healed at least as fast as what Fenrir could achieve.

Even as an eager ant’s pincers began to dig into the abomination’s arm, its skin began to heal around the invading pincer.

The regenerative ability granted by Fenrir was almost supernatural. Coupled with its relentless assault; unaware of fear or its own pain. The abomination was a war machine on the battlefield, despite not being an evolved creature.

Its roars, stimulated by the attacks it received, were ignored by both Fenrir and Arachne. They knew that the abomination was supposedly a part of their team; Fenrir understood this even more due to the familial bond that they shared. However, they both recognized that their "ally" had once been someone that Noah despised, meaning for them that the new creature needed to earn its place to be able to follow Noah.

Ignoring whatever turmoil it might be experiencing, Fenrir and Arachne continued to focus on their own objectives. Fenrir instinctively knew that his toys weren’t going to be so easy to break. To avoid disappointing Noah and to prevent being mocked by Arachne again, he activated his ability, increasing his size to gain the power he needed to make a fool of himself.

His muscles bulged, and his fur bristled as he grew larger, his eyes restricting to the smallest they could go as his gaze locked onto his first target. He didn’t waste time after completing his transformation, launching himself at the nearest and largest beetle in sight. With his increased size, Fenrir was now at least five feet taller than the opposing beetle.

The beetle attempted to contend with the empowered beast, its pincers widened to snap through Fenrir’s face as he led the attack. But Fenrir’s maw gaped wide in the attempt to quickly end its first victim. The beetle’s massive head was just the right size to fit in between the insect’s pincers as Fenrir bit down, crushing the beetle’s shell and face entirely.

At the same time Fenrir’s jaws snapped down, the beetle’s pincers clamped tightly onto the sides of Fenrir’s face in a futile attempt to rip his face to shreds. Even without theabomination’s regeneration ability, Fenrir’s constitution was overwhelmingly higher. The beetle managed to penetrate his fur and flesh, but its efforts were thwarted when it attempted to crush his facial bones.

Fenrir retaliated against the pain with a powerful grunt, channeling his anger into a more forceful bite as he snapped down stronger than before. His razor-sharp teeth sank deeper through the insect’s exoskeleton, eliciting an agonizing shriek from the beetle With a final, powerful snap of his jaws, Fenrir crushed the beetle’s head, silencing its cries and ending its struggle.

As the lifeless body of the beetle slumped to the ground, Fenrir turned his gaze to the next target, his tongue cleaning off the insect’s remains.

Arachne, always mindful of her surroundings, kept a watchful eye on Fenrir’s progress. Seeing his ferocity, she instinctively felt the need to double her efforts. Her vigilant gaze continued to scan the battlefield, while her incredulous legs continued to stab through the stampede of creatures she encountered. Each strike was lethal against the ants and smaller centipedes, her spear like legs strategically puncturing their heads.

Despite her miraculous display of skill, Arachne still felt a heavy sense of danger, though she couldn’t pinpoint its source. Her eyes glinted as she glanced towards the biggest threats; the ants that were similar to her. They seemed the most likely cause of her heightened senses. However, she didn’t feel the same level of danger when she looked in their direction.

She didn’t like how things were going; the pace at which they were killing the small fries weren’t fast enough for her. As she continued to heavily ponder her next move, she stuck to the current plan, running through the creatures while killing as many as she could.

Then her eyes snapped to a certain location at the sound of a door opening; the same door that Noah had disappeared through earlier.

She knew it was him without needing to see his figure; their bond had become much stronger since Noah’s transformation, making him more like her or so Arachne imagined. What she didn’t realize was that it was a hormonal attraction that allowed her to always pinpoint Noah’s location. The pheromones he naturally released acted as a permanent beacon, enabling her to detect his presence despite the multitude of other scents in the air.

The moment she sensed him, she quickly retreated to his side, emerging in front of him before he had a chance to grasp what was happening. Just before she appeared, Noah had glanced to his side; where a small action that went unnoticed by everyone else until Arachne suddenly materialized there.

Noah barely had time to react before Arachne spoke, her voice carrying a sense of urgency that immediately grabbed his attention. "Noah, there’s danger..."

Noah’s eyes widened as he processed her words. It wasn’t than just the meaning of what she said, but the fact that she was the one saying it that heightened his sense of vigilance. "What kind of danger?" he asked, closely watching Arachne as her gaze swept over the battlefield, a trace of confusion flickering in her eyes as she scrutinized the scene.

"I don’t know...but there’s something stronger...more dangerous out there," she reflected, her vigilance increasing now that the insects were encroaching on their location due to her absence.

Needing more information and eager to identify the perceived threat, Noah opened up his second pair of eyes. The sheer amount of visual information he received in just a few seconds would be enough to give him headaches if not for his high spirit.

With just a glance, he could tell that something was off. The insects were working together as if they were one species. Although he expected the insects to become smarter, he hadn’t anticipated this level of coordination, especially since the ants seemed to be the only species exhibiting actual intelligence.

His thoughts raced as he recalled Arachne’s warning. He assumed she was referring to the humanoid-ish ants, but obviously, she wouldn’t have overlooked three such conspicuous creatures. So, he can only assume that the reason that the insects managed to team up was due to higher power hidden beyond what they could see, or perhaps...multiple stronger beings.

There was more that he wanted to understand, but the insects weren’t going to give them time to figure things out. What they needed to do now was to draw out the figures behind the horde, and Noah could only do what he knew best.

"Le," Noah called out to her, bringing her into the conversation. His sudden voice startled her, and she looked towards him but her gaze was vacant as she noticed the state of the puppet Noah made for her.

Without anyone controlling it, the abomination had been left alone, a sitting target for the insects to feast on and enjoy one of the best meals they ever had. Without the regeneration ability it had lost when Noah removed its mana core, the abomination was quickly overrun and consumed by the swarm of insects.

Without a strong corpse to control, Ailetta reverted to the ordinaryperson she once was. She stood there, vulnerable and uncertain, as the reality of the situation sank in. The insects were closing in, and she realized that she would only be holding Noah back if he was forced to protect her.

"Le!" he called again, more sternly than before, his voice bringing life back into her eyes. "Now isn’t the time to doubt yourself. Just find another opportunity to use your powers. Stay back for now while Arachne and I go out, I’ll be back soon." He commanded, leaving Ailetta without room to protest.

Noah and Arachne quickly left,with Arachne lagging slightly behind to observe what Noah wanted to show her.

As Noah left, another presence took his place, Levi watched him go without even acknowledging his presence.

"Are you really fine with staying back while Noah fights them all?" Levi asked in a tone that didn’t suit the situation. Ailetta vacantly looked in Levi’s direction before her gaze returned to Noah’s retreating figure. Her mind was no longer grounded in reality, ignoring Levi in the process.

Seeing her despondent demeanor, Levi sighed to himself. Deep down, he wanted Ailetta to put herself in harm’s way. How else could he see the real Noah if she remained as his anchor? But, he knew he couldn’t be the one to trigger Noah’s wrath. If he acted too soon, who knew what the monster within Noah would do to him?

Without a reason to stick around, Levi led his group along the wall towards Raven. Peterson continued to rain down gunfire from the rooftop. Noticing that the bullets never strayed towards Ravens group, Levi realized they must have devised a plan to defend their position.

Now left alone, Ailetta’s figure grew abnormally pale. Tears slowly welled up in her eyes as she allowed herself to express the emotions she had been holding back for Noah’s sake.

She looked up one last time, watching Noah tether his webs to the ground before darting around the insects, forming small circles as he attempted to bind them together. Her gaze lingered on him as she finally let go of her suppressed sorrow.

As her thoughts churned, her gaze finally hardened, summoning the strength to carry out what she planned all along. However, the severe shaking of her hands betrayed her fear of what she was about to do.

"I’m sorry Noah...."