Becoming a Monster
Chapter 216: Deadly Hallucinations

Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Deadly Hallucinations

The intertwining white and violet energy flickered like flames, giving shape to a jagged scythe that seemed to pulse with life, or rather, death. The handle, wrapped in shifting tendrils of violet energy, seemed to writhe as though alive, exuding an aura of despair.

The scythe’s presence only enhanced the ominous pressure around her, her aura flared, triggering both hers and Diablo’s eyes to flare. Both their gazes centered onto the ant, whose body was working against it.

Eve tilted her head as she gazed at the muscled ant, no one else in the vicinity mattered in her eyes. Instead of the hatred that she should have towards the ant, her vile smile was ever more daunting than any outward anger.

Eve’s eerie smile wasn’t malicious either, nor did her expression contain excitement for whatever she was about to do. Her expression was simply, passionate. A sadistic sense of passion as if her next action was her only sense of fulfillment in life.

The fear the ant was subjected to filled it with a sense of dread that spurred itself to fight for its life. Its body, despite feeling heavy from the subjected fear, rose up, tensing its weaponized body so it could defend itself.

With her transformation complete, Eve took a step towards her target, but during her first step, a series of webs began to envelope around her waist, making its way down towards her ankles.

Her gaze slowly looked down towards the web like threads circling around her before she looked towards the source, seeing Noah’s outstretched hand, still shooting out webs. Her glowing eyes narrowed slightly, not in anger but in mild confusion, as though trying to comprehend why he would hold her back.

The scythe in her hands flickered momentarily, the violent energy coursing through it dimming as her focus centered on Noah’s eyes. Her head tilted again, despite her physical growth, her childlike mentality was still there, although it was now being influenced by the instinctive desires from her merging.

"I want it..." She voiced, her childlike tone lingered despite her growth. However, her voice now held two layers within it; the first was her sweet, naive child influence, while the other was a malevolent voice that lagged behind the other, making it seem as if two different people were talking simultaneously.

Noah was surprised by the under layered voice, a voice that had the subtle effect of Diablo’s debilitating ability.

"I want it!" She repeated again, her tone was more of a tantrum than being assertive as she talked about the ant as a mere pet.

Noah continued as he were, his hand still outstretched weaving his web. His gaze glanced towards the others once more before flickering back to her.

"No one is stopping you, but you at least need to cover up first."

Now that she was part skeleton, Eve’s body no longer held the same physical traits of a woman, however Noah still viewed the once little girl as walking around in the nude.

His words struck her, Eve’s eyes looked down, properly looking at the webs for the first time. The webs weren’t like his usual spider silk, but more like fine woven linen. A long thin black, violet skirt covered her waist to her ankles.

Looking up at Noah, Eve smiled, a smile that was full of happiness, seeing how much Noah pampered her still.

However, their moment was disturbed by the heavy vibrations approaching rapidly. The ant believed it could use the lack of her vigilance as a chance to take her down.

Its sneak attack appeared as if it worked, but the moment Eve’s head turned towards it, a dense black fog expanded from every gap of her bones, emitting from the mana-like flesh that quickly expanded.

The ant’s momentum faltered as soon as the fog touched it. Its claws, mid-swing, froze in place. A bone-chilling cold sank into its exoskeleton, bypassing its physical resilience entirely. The sensation was unlike anything it had ever experienced, a cold so profound it felt like its very life force was being leeched away.

Noah, too, was engulfed by the fog. Though he was bonded to Eve, he wasn’t able to negate the effects of her abilities. However, his body was oblivious to the frigid feelings brought about by the fog, his body was only exposed to being uncomfortable.

But that wasn’t all, sparks of violet energy surged through the fog as if it was electricity itself. The fog caused the ant to falter in its approach, but the moment the whips of energy began to circulate within, both the ant and Noah who were within the fog witnessed the mass of endlessly flowing fog began to tunnel itself upwards, creating a form of energy that was in the appearance of something...human.

It wasn’t just one figure, three outlines formed in front of both Noah and the ant. The outlines grew to identical heights. The faces of the figures were at first faceless, save for two burning crimson orbs that stood out of place, peering towards them with malice intent.

The moment those very eyes locked onto their target, the figures’ appearances began to gather details created from the energy it was made from. Its features remained as forms of energy, but now Noah was able to make out what they were. Each being was made out to be a complete replica of Diablo.

The skeletal replicas each reached out behind their heads, pulling a piece of themselves that turned into a sword.

The ant couldn’t understand what was happening. However, if it was able to handle one Diablo with effortless ease, then three should only strive as a bit of a challenge. If this was all Eve’s transformation amounted to then it should still be able to kill them.

The ant’s mandibles clicked in frustration as it fought against the sluggishness weighing down its body. Despite its efforts to muster its full strength, its movements were delayed, an unprocessed fear that it couldn’t understand continued to torment it. It couldn’t process why it was so afraid when it knew that it was superior.

The skeletal replicas soon moved, each one moving in complete unison. The ant shrieked in protest of its body that wasn’t reacting to its thoughts, rushing towards the skeletons to put an end to them as fast as it could.

Its arms swung forward, attacking towards the skeleton in the middle. The skeleton’s head snapped back upon impact, dislodging its skull from the rest of its body. The ants’ mandibles snapped with satisfactory pride, believing that its fear truly was unwarranted.

But it’s triumph was short-lived.

Before the ant could take another step, the skull on the ground emitted an eerie glow, its crimson orbs flaring to life as the rest of the head dissolved into the surrounding fog. Tendrils of black and violet energy began to swirl and condense at the stump of the headless skeleton’s neck, reshaping into a familiar yet haunting visage. The same crimson eyes burned brightly from the newly formed head, locking onto the ant with unrelenting malice.

As the skeletal head reformed, the other two replicas, standing at either side, raised their violet energy swords in perfect synchronization. The headless Diablo joined them as they all swung their swords down onto the ant.

The ant went to block the attacks the same way it did with the original, aiming to grab their wrist with its three other arms. With its strength and reflexes, the feat should’ve been achievable, its claws were mere inches away from seizing their limbs when something unexpected occurred.

The skeletons’ wrists slipped through its grasp as though they were illusions, their forms distorting like smoke at the moment of contact. Before the ant could process what was happening, the swords followed suit, phasing through its hardened exoskeleton without resistance and plunging into its body.

The ant’s triumphant shriek twisted into a high-pitched wail of agony. It stumbled backward, its mandibles snapping wildly in confusion as the torment consumed it. Its physical form remained untouched, its exoskeleton unbroken, yet a searing pain surged within, a deep, primal agony that felt as though something vital inside it had been severed.

On Noah’s side, he too was facing the same encounter. His expression was more thoughtful towards the skeletal figures that were just mere steps away from skewering him. Their swords raised, eventually stab into his body without being intercepted, even Noah’s spider appendages which interjects at any form of danger remained still.

Unlike the ant, Noah didn’t experience pain, in fact, he felt nothing at all besides the uncomfortableness of the fog. Without his attempt of intervening, the skeletons continued to swing their swords, piercing into his body, the blades even phasing through his face without a change.

"Noah? What’s happening?" Behind him, Noah looked away to see Ailetta standing outside of the fog’s range, her figure tempted to step into the fog to understand what was happening. Although nothing was happening to Noah, she noticed that his attention was elsewhere. She linked with his Nexus eye, wanting to understand what he was seeing but nothing pertaining to what was going on entered her vision.

"Don’t step into the fog," Noah quickly reprimanded her when he saw her edging forward.

"The fog creates hallucinations..." His eyes slowly gazed towards the ant that was struggling for its life against seemingly nothing attacking it. From his Nexus eye he could see its mana becoming unbalanced, diminishing with each powerful jolt of its body, indicating when it was cut.

"Deadly Hallucinations..."