Becoming a Monster

Chapter 360: Chapter 360: Your Power Ups Mean Nothing

The earth continued to tremble with the monster’s steps, the air became impossible to breathe without inhaling its burnt, toxic fumes. A gust of stale, heated wind carried from the cavern’s entrance, carrying with it the scent of sulfur. The creature stood exposed beneath the bright sky, a sky that was more clear, more beautiful than ever before.

From its exposure, a crucial detail was spotted. The "dragon" was wingless.

This was no dragon. But its furious appearance didn’t deny a dragon’s heritage.

Its gaze swept across the intruders who dared step into its territory.

Normally it would be quick to attack. Too many intruders had attempted to claim its life, seeking the resources within its cave, or simply seeking its body, a treasure of its own.

But as its gaze scrutinized the enemies, the normal species that would recklessly charge into its territory were not what it saw now.

These were not mercenaries or reckless adventurers, nor were they corrupted beasts seeking conquest.

Drake’s eyes narrowed sharply, suspiciously. Almost every individual was a species it was aware of, but that in itself caused it to become ever vigilant, because these creatures were never seen together.

But it was wary of Ailetta, and especially Noah.

Ailetta’s and Noah’s familiar abyssal energies reminded it of the demons that plagued the land. However, their scent was... wrong. Demons were disgusting creatures, their energies didn’t have a revolting scent, but they gave a feeling of repulsion. But the two creatures in front of it were different, it was familiar and unfamiliar all at once. They reeked of unnatural evolution, evolution that was both divine and profane woven together.

It couldn’t have known that what it was sensing from the two were the direct Abyssalith connection to Ailetta from the entity that made her what she was, and Noah’s energy that stemmed from both the entity inside of him and from being an original Fallen.

But it felt something from Noah, and that feeling made it cautious towards Noah the most.

Promise.

A quiet, undeniable call lingered in Noah’s presence. Not a sound, not a smell, but an instinct. To a creature like the drake, instincts were never ignored. And in Noah, it sensed the promise of evolution.

For most creatures, that call would’ve eased hostility, inspired curiosity or even become obsessed to the point that they would do anything to devour Noah to achieve evolution directly. Noah’s existence carried the faint resonance of a being that could help creatures transcend their existential limits.

But not for the drake.

That promise made it more wary than ever. Because that instinct originated from a creature like Noah whose smell was that of a creature that shouldn’t exist. And drakes, like their higher transcended ancestry, were still attuned to the primal laws of the world.

While Noah went against that balance.

Against these intruders, the drake had to assess their strength, it could sense that despite their daunting identities, it was still superior in every factor.

At least, that was until it witnessed Noah and the vampire merging with another creature.

Both of their powers spiked, Noah’s even more so. It could sense Noah’s life essence growing nearly comparable to its own. The only saving grace was that its aura was still superior.

The drake prepared itself for a hard-fought battle, one in which it would still emerge victorious. However it was also prepared to suffer, especially after the opponents’ transformations.

Noah’s body was reformed.

What stood in his place was a harrowing creature, a beast whose presence was the embodiment of untamed malevolence.

He was covered in fur darker than shadow. Fur that was integrated with armor that pulsed with molten red veins. The outline of his armor was layered with violet seams.

His eyes were pits of smoldering hatred, negative energy condensed into pupils that glowed intensely with a crimson-purple, while on his forehead, two thin slanted slits rested above his eyes, two pupils nearly identical to Noah’s own.

They didn’t blink, the two slits were full of predatory vigilance watching everything.

A mane traveled down his spine that glowed intensely with violet energy, smoke constantly seeping from the tips of its fur, which shined the brightest, slightly flickering as if they were flames of the hottest temperatures.

All of this was further accentuated with the Nexus eye centered within his chest. It was only part of his body that remained unchanged, as if its existence were separate from everything else he had become.

Behind him, Eve and Diablo stood.

And their transformation was not overshadowed.

If Ava had dominated their previous fusion, becoming revenge incarnate, then Diablo was the firm, dependable knight... resembling death itself.

His armor, forged of ashen iron, fully covered the rest of his body. It was devoid of luster, drinking in the light without reflecting a single glint. Broad pauldrons jutted out, the edges scorched, etched with deep golden runes that pulsed in rhythm with a mysterious slow, deliberate breathing. His chest plate was carved like interlocked ribs shielding a hollow heart. The gauntlets, sharp at the fingertips, looked capable of rending steel with a gesture.

Something about Diablo’s new form was both mysterious and ominous. A skeletal warrior that slowly was coming alive, and that life gave him ample strength.

His face was the visage of a skeleton reborn in flesh. Lean, sunken skin stretched over sharp cheekbones, with just enough substance to hint at a man who might once have been handsome. That missing fullness only made the dangerous, resolute luster in his eyes more pronounced. His gaze was unwavering, like a sentinel who had faced oblivion and still held true to his beliefs.

Etched into the center of his forehead was a symbol of an inverted cross, embedded directly above his brows. The cross was larger and more intricate than Eve’s own, but in the middle of it rested Eve’s eye. It radiated beyond both of Diablo’s own.

Diablo’s transformation wasn’t done yet, he needed one last step. His hand reached out to the sword embedded in the ground, a sword that looked significantly smaller compared to his taller form. Even still, Diablo reached for the grip with two hands, his hands clenched tightly around the handles as the sword’s miasma completely enshrouded itself.

When the energy dissipated, Diablo’s posture had changed. His hands were higher than before. The sword’s grip rose past its head while his grip now was positioned across from his chest. On both sides of the blade was an inverted cross with the silhouette of a blurred man.

It wasn’t certain, but Diablo seemed to carry a burden that no man must bear. And he carried that burden with the same silent responsibility as he did with watching over Eve.

It wasn’t just the drake that understood its aura was superior to them even after their merger; Noah was also aware of their weakness. Suddenly, Noah’s fur expanded explosively, shooting out in five massive tendrils, each stretching outward to attach to his creatures. They radiated rainbows of four different colors of light that enhanced their strength, speed, constitution and magic.

Even as the creature’s strengths flourished under the surge, the act drained Noah far deeper than ever before. His skill levels were still unrefined. Using those external power, which would’ve normally consumed a tenth of his mana, now pushed him to using nearly a third of his reserves faster than before.

Seeing the intruder’s powers surging to a point that they could now be considered a danger to it, the drake didn’t panic. In fact, it merely snorted in disdain before its own aura surge even further.

Noah’s Nexus eye saw it all. Its mana that constantly leaked from it spiked as the drake responded in kind. Heat began to roll off the creature’s body in suffocating waves. Its eye radiated a dangerous crimson glint. And for the first time, as it breathed, faint glimpses of flames would slip from its jaws, mixing with the sulfuric smoke.

For the drake, creatures of its level all had the ability to eternally enhance their bodies. That was the foundation of any being that stood at its level and separated the weak from the strong.

It didn’t matter how wild or sudden Noah’s growth was. To the drake, it was still immature. Noah’s aura, along with his companions’, was unstable.

And that alone was enough to make the drake certain of its victory.

The drake lowered its head ever so slightly, its nostrils flared, and then it breathed.

Noah, Ailetta and Arachne all sensed the attack before the dragon could even prepare it.

Arachne acted the fastest, jumping out of the way, already advancing towards the drake. Ailetta nearly moved just far enough to where she didn’t have to exert herself while still maintaining a good distance to assess the situation. From her body, she released tens of her slimes, not to attack, but to verify that the drake was truly their only opponent. Only then would she feel safe enough to use her trump card without any worries.

However, her "shadow" was no longer with her, it separated from her as it moved towards the dragon unnoticed.

Then there was Noah. He moved directly forward as if he wasn’t aware of the danger. But he knew of the approaching flames all too well.

He was willing to risk the danger. He was certain he could survive the flames, but if they were to win, he needed to be able to do more than just survive. And there was only one way to test it.