Becoming a Monster-Chapter 302: Delusion

Grant nearly screamed at the top of his lungs. It was as if the louder he was the more he could convince himself of his own words.

What was worse than monsters? Worse than zombies that could eat you alive?

Grant or anyone would have another answer to that question if not for what they witnessed Noah had done to Neal.

And the worst part wasn’t just what Noah had done....It was the fact that no one could stop him.

Mark, for the last time, wanted to convince Grant, convince everyone here who was still worth saving, that they were making the wrong decision.

Suddenly, a loud commotion sounded behind them. Glass shattered, the sound of something metal and heavy crashed onto the floor that elicited an even greater effect of broken glass.

Everyone else was startled by the sudden noise, but Mark was different.

His head hung low, his thoughts were one of resignation and defeat. His entire body was filled with so much turmoil that his pursed lips were slowly drawing blood.

He knew he failed. Now he must decide if he should beg for Noah not to kill them all, or if he should stand by and do nothing and just hope that the next group he comes by will listen.

But deep down, he already knew, neither would change what was coming.

Mark felt his body growing heavy the moment he saw all the guns aiming behind him. His body moved on his own, and so did the others as they saw Fenrir coming towards them, making a clear space for the giant beast.

With a monster such as Fenrir entering the building, one would assume there would be instant firing. But no one attacked.

Maybe it was because they were confused why Mark’s group, made up of probably the strongest fighters of their base, were not surprised by the creature.

Mark saw everyones reactions, and in the end, he had to hold back another resigned breath. He didn’t expect anything less. These people were here because they were too afraid to fight.

The tightening of their grips on their weapons, their pale faces. Some of them were simply frozen from sheer terror.

But there was someone even more afraid. Mark looked over to Grant, at least where Grant was. His eyes squinted to peer through the bodies of guards as he spotted Grant running down the corridor to where the real enemies were.

Grant wasn’t even able to get a glimpse of Noah, seeing Fenrir was enough to make him realize that Mark wasn’t lying. He had to save himse- he needed to let everyone know who was here.

That was at least what he told himself while abandoning everyone.

Of course people saw him leave, and there were others that snuck off, following in his footsteps. All these people had the same thing in common, they all were aware who Noah was.

Fenrir grabbed everyone’s attention, but then the sound of glass crunching grew louder, the room felt quieter, colder. Then, finally Noah stepped into view, at his side was both Ailetta and Arachne.

The footsteps continued to increase as Eve was the next to follow in line with Diablo and Ava. Then finally Kratos maintained their rear alongside the strange abomination Ailetta was saving.

A space never felt so suffocating before.

Noah wasn’t surprised to see the warm welcome, his impassive gaze swept through everyone as if he assessed their threat level with a simple look before his gaze landed on Mark.

"No-Noah I-"

"Don’t bother," Noah immediately shut Mark down.

The weight of those two simple words crushed any attempt Mark might have made to salvage the situation. He swallowed hard, but his thoughts were uneasy, but he didn’t look away.

Before Noah advanced, he closed his eyes much longer than normal. When they opened again, his gaze ventured towards the same direction that Grant had fled, that’s where the shop was.

Without speaking, Noah pressed forward, his creatures following right behind him. This time, Fenrir was no longer leading the way. His teeth were now baring towards the people who now aimed their guns towards Noah.

"Do-don’t move! O-or we’ll shoot!" One of the guards loudly ordered, his voice cracked, the gun in his hands trembling so much that without the strap it would be almost impossible to hold.

Noah didn’t flinch, he didn’t even look in the person’s direction as he continued. The guards that were in his way, mixed with both civilians and armed militia alike, instinctively made way for him to pass. Their guns still pointing towards him

Only Fenrir responded, a simple warning, a growl that rumbled like thunder soon encased every corner of the room. A warning that made the people flinch and tighten the grips on their triggers. And those who were part of Grant’s entourage began to wield their own weapons. Most of them had gear that seemed off.

The gear was too high quality, a lot of them looked as if they didn’t earn that gear for themselves at all. But it was because of that very reason that the politician and the wealthy were able to become equals with the military.

Taxing the people for their gold and loot were then filtered out to those who willingly served under them. With enough gold, anything was possible. One would wonder why a being would even allow something like the shop to even exist.

Despite not having the same fighting experience, these people were much braver than the others after gaining strength they didn’t earn, a strength they had nothing to compare to. That kind of false confidence had a name, Noah had seen it before.

Delusion.

A series of lights began to surround groups of them as buffs were being applied.

Mark stood there, his heart hammering painfully against his ribs. He knew what was about to happen. He opened his mouth to shout, to get them to lower their weapons, but it was too late.

The first guard, either out of fear or stupidity, squeezed the trigger. The second the fire sounded, all of those whose fingers were dangerously trembling on the edge of their triggers also began to shoot.

Fenrir’s appearance should’ve made him the instant threat, and yet all the bullets went towards two particular people.

Noah didn’t care about the bullets aimed at him, but what he hated was the fact they had the nerve to try to kill Eve out of all of them.

He didn’t have any fear of Eve being endangered, as long as Diablo and Ava were alive he doubted that the attacks would even cause her pain. But the intention was all that mattered.

And there was someone else who was just as furious.

Tens of thin tendrils shot out from Ailetta’s body, piercing into the guts, hearts, eyes, each tendril pinpointed a vulnerable area. Just like that, over twenty people died in an instant. But their deaths brought about something else.

Each tendril that took a life detached itself from Ailetta’s body, submerging itself into the body of the life it took.

Those same bodies never fell to the ground, their skin began to ooze slime from every pore of their body until their bodies were completely made of slime. Each body took up their guns, turning towards their fellow comrades and began to shoot. It wasn’t enough for her to kill them herself, she wanted them to experience dying by the very people they considered to be their comrades.

Ailettas’ gaze was more dangerous than usual. Her plan wasn’t simply to kill the people that attacked them, she wasn’t going to stop there, she wanted "everyone" to die. She had forgotten the warning she had given Noah about preserving the bases’ numbers to prevent the shop from disappearing.

Her body was already beginning to release her slimes to raise the bodies of the dead to sweep the entire base when Noah stopped her.

"Le, leave the rest to Fenrir and Kratos, we have to go."

As he spoke, bullets ricocheted off of the various parts of his exoskeleton. Only when a bullet was about to penetrate one of his eyes did his spider appendages move in front of his vision, causing a spark to flicker in his face.

"I must make them pay, not until all of them ar-"

"Le...." Noah didn’t raise his voice, but the stillness of his voice deescalated whatever rage consumed her.

Ailetta remembered about their home. There was a hint of guilt in her posture, her eyes turning submissive under Noah’s gaze.

They spoke to each other as though they weren’t in the middle of a battle. And someone saw that as an opportunity.

Three people came forward with different weapons, their speed was fast enough to show that their stats weren’t particularly low. Two of their bodies were glowing with a holy energy while the others sword was blessed with light that was an upgraded version of the basic imbue weapon skill.

The three all aimed for Noah, believing him to be the leader, and also the strongest. The loot they believed such a monster would drop left them oblivious to considering Noah’s actual strength.

They grew even more excited when they assumed Noah still didn’t notice them. Crazed smiles were etched in their expressions as they finally saw Noah turned towards them. But the moment they met his gaze, every muscle in their bodies locked up as if they’d slammed headfirst into an invisible wall.

And just like that, all their courage collapsed.

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