Becoming a Monster

Chapter 361: Chapter 361: Regret Comes Too Late

The drake’s chest expanded, and what followed was a torrent of flames that threatened to engulf Noah and everything alongside him. The flames reached nearly a 10 meter spread, and given the velocity with which it was expelled, it was unlikely to be dodged if one were to move only after it was released.

And despite having the time to avoid it, Noah advanced headlong into it.

His body transitioned along the way. With Fenrir’s abilities in his arsenal, his body transitioned into his transcendent form. His shape took on the forms of all three of Fenrir’s base traits, the strength and regeneration of his werewolf genes, the constitution and defense of his beetle hide, and the nimbleness and paralyzing venom of the centipede.

Noah then took it a step further, tapping into his own version of Fenrir’s skill, amplifying the enhancement further, improving not only his dreadbeast traits, but also strengthening his dreadbeast skills while diminishing the effects of his other traits.

His silhouette contorted to become slightly larger mid-stride. His back arched, muscles tightening and swelling as jagged plates of hardened shell erupted along his spine and shoulders. His legs elongated further, bending more at the knee and his ankles, becoming nearly coiling springs, and finally, his fur grew wilder, his eyes more predatory as the werewolf blood inside of him was invigorated with life.

Still, this wasn’t enough. Noah could already sense the heat from where he stood, he wanted not only to withstand the flames, he needed to make sure that his creatures would not become the target of those flames either.

With his left arm outstretched, it contorted with ease using the least amount of effort, showing that despite its hardness and physical durability, in the end, his body was fully capable of utilizing his slime.

In the time, it took for the flames to reach him, his arm transformed into a shield that was half the size of his body, a shield that completely bare of any design besides the black abyssal material of his slime and the pulsation of both his violet energy and blazing flames of his own. The shield, regardless of whether it was in the form of a wall, a shield, or a dome, should have been able to perform the same achievement of absorbing the attack.

However, in Noah’s hands, the shield was the most optimal choice. Because he didn’t need to have an independent skill to utilize his long-forgotten skill, ’Rodeleros’, increasing the amount of damage any shield could withstand and mitigate.

The full force of the drake’s breath completely enveloped Noah, and at the same time, its momentum completely stomped his advance. Noah understood instantly that the dragon’s flames were just a weapon in its arsenal. It was better to say that it was an extension of itself.

The impact not only stopped Noah in his tracks, it also pushed him back a step from the sheer pressure. The air warped around him, any oxygen in the vicinity was devoured by the dragon’s flames, making it impossible to breathe. The ground beneath his feet was cleansed of any greenery while scorching the soil underneath.

Noah roared in pain. Not only his fur, but his flesh was constantly being seared. His slime could barely sustain itself.

But Noah predicted this would happen. He never relied on his slime traits to get him through this fight. At the same time, his flesh was being melted away, his regenerative powers were constantly healing his injuries.

It was an agonizing suffering that should have taken away his will to fight, but Noah’s will had been tempered through pain, allowing him to use that pain to push forward. However, he still had his limits, and that was why he had the shield. The shield stood sturdy against the rising flames, splitting the flood of heat apart as it protected his face. Not even Noah could have put up a brave front if his eyes were to be melted.

And as the flames attempted to devour him whole, his body grew sturdier with each passing second. It wasn’t his slime that was adapting. His flesh was simply growing stronger, and his exoskeleton even more so.

Noah could feel it... a little bit more and the flames would no longer pose a danger to his life, at least as long as his regeneration stood strong.

Thud!

While Noah was subjected under the raging fire, Arachne had used this moment to strike. The drake’s body was at least four times her, and every inch of the creature’s body was covered with seemingly impenetrable scales. Her eyes shined violet as it enveloped the drake, seeking to lower its stats, even if only a little. Simultaneously, she attacked what she viewed to be the most vulnerable part of the creature’s body.

One of her appendages struck true, landing squarely on the drake’s scarlet eyes.

She was filled with disbelief when she was met with the resistance of a material that was harder than most surfaces she experienced before. Despite her utter shock, she still was able to rationalize what happened, but that only further accentuated the danger she felt.

Her ability, the one, even if it failed, should at least effect her opponent, even if the effects were drastically reduced. Yet her ability was completely neutralized. She wasn’t sure if the drake’s power was just that much stronger than hers or maybe it had its own ability to neutralize effects that should otherwise take root. But the conclusion was the same. She couldn’t break through.

Her body shot back when she was met with the drakes’ contemptuous stare. The beast hadn’t so much as blinked at her strike, but Arachne’s sharp gaze caught something. A subtle shimmer across its eyes. For the briefest moment before and after the impact, she saw a translucent membrane-like layer, like a second eyelid, crossing its eye that slid beneath its brow.

A protective layer. That was what she had struck. Not the eye itself.

Her thoughts raced. She understood that her choice of attack was correct. But she was just too slow. She had to be faster.

Her thoughts were cut short as the drake’s tail made its way to her location. She learned something else at that moment. Its size didn’t hinder its speed.

The tail created a shrill whistle, displacing the wind before it even arrived. Arachne barely managed to hurl herself out of range, only being able to use the momentum she gained from the rebound of striking the creature.

If she had hesitated a second longer, her body would have been sent into the nearest tree.

The drake’s eyes lingered on the spider just briefly, disgruntled at the fact that it had missed. However, its focus diverted back to Noah. The fact that Noah was resisting its flames meant that Noah was a potential threat, greater than any other creature it had consumed thus far.

A flicker of surprise showed in its eyes when Noah took a step forward in its flames, and then another.

Noah felt himself getting stronger.

No... His body was just becoming more resistant, his strength remained the same. But now he ran into a problem. The pressure from the flames was still too strong to overcome. He could only resist, slowly advancing, fighting a battle of attrition with the dragon’s flames and his own regeneration.

He wasn’t winning, but he wasn’t losing either.

Noah gritted his teeth.

He would keep pushing. That was all he could do. One step at a time, one breath. He’d endure until the fire burned out, or his body did, because as long as the fire was focused on him, it wouldn’t attack anyone else.

But then he sensed another presence.

And the pressure vanished.

The weight that had been pressing down on his body was gone. Even the heat that seared his flesh and blurred his vision and faded to a tolerable warmth.

His eyes widened. And when he put down his shield, he looked forward, and there he was.

Diablo.

Walking through the inferno with far less effort than Noah had managed. His sword angled forward, plunging straight into the heart of the flames. The miasma that once only devoured mana, now spiraled around the blade.

The energy parted the fire. At first, it seemed as if the flames were avoiding the energy altogether. But that was far from the truth. The energy was devouring them. Each flame became fuel, feeding the miasma as it twisted into a funnel around the sword, stretching outward like an extension of the weapon itself.

The fire couldn’t touch him, but its pressure was still there, enough to slow even him.

And yet, step by step, the weight lessened. With every second, with every ounce of flame consumed, the phantom blade grew. And Diablo’s walk began to pick up speed.

Another step. Instead of a smoldering heat, the temperature around Diablo was almost nonexistent, replaced by an unsettling coldness that was more of a feeling than a sensation. It was the absence of life. The ground beneath, untouched by the flames, was blackened; not from ash, but from the miasma’s decay, stripped of all its life essence.

The phantom blade had now become something monstrous.

It was too late for the drake to understand what it had created. The energy Diablo wielded was not the same as the abyssal energy that it had witnessed before.

Seeing the life devouring attack fed with its mana, the drake hurriedly halted its flames.

"De- Demon! Demon! Wait! Wait!"