Becoming a Monster

Chapter 380: Chapter 380: A New Enemy and an Unsuspected Aid

The room’s remnants of hopeful energy were quickly chambered by the sudden tension.

As the one on the receiving end of the challenge, Thalric still hadn’t drawn his weapons, nor did his hands hover to them. But to any veteran or instinctual warrior, his posture was airtight, leaving no openings.

His vigilance was subtle.

He didn’t flare his aura, didn’t bare his teeth like a rookie eager to prove himself. Instead, he stood steady, his restraint carrying off the experience of one who had ample, yet unforgettable experiences in politics. For someone like him, a GuildMaster, his authority was undeniable. But here, before the personal guard of the divine priestess, his rank was, on paper, lesser. And that mattered.

He knew that if he showed even a hint of hostility, the soldiers at her back would take it as heresy against the priestess herself. Yet, if a duel was forced, if he accepted a challenge, or if he was pressed into self-defense, then the lines of context shifted.

"Enough, Nora." The soft voice of the priestess quickly snuffed her bodyguard’s hostility. Nora, the guard in question, quickly changed her stance, turning towards Seraphina before sharply kneeling in one transition. Her head bowed as if admitting to wrongdoing.

Seraphina’s gaze flickered unnoticeably towards her guard. The weight of it was unreadable to others, but within, conflict stirred. She could not allow personal feelings to soften her station, not here, not now.

"This concerns the two chosen and guided by the Lord’s faithful. Turning this opportunity into a place of trials is undermining his will. Do not let your devotion become misguided by pride. Remember this well, devotion twisted by arrogance is no devotion at all."

The knight’s frame shuddered, one couldn’t see beyond her hidden features, but her aura reeked of shame. Not just her, behind her, the platoon of soldiers and the attending clerics lowered their heads, their own zeal quelled into silence.

Only then did the priestess turn to Thalric. "Your passion and duty are commendable, and I do not doubt the strength you have earned. But even you must know... you do not have the authority to shape the destiny of the hero. Nor the capability to shoulder the weight of the Lord’s chosen."

The words should’ve bitten into Thalric’s pride, an insult to his lifelong duty to humanity. But he didn’t react that way. He exhaled slowly, his jaw slightly tightened as he calmed any emotional response. His silence was neither consent nor defiance, but of someone who was reminded why he had denounced his faith that fateful day.

When those who acknowledge themselves as divine treat those who do not share the same faith as something less than human.

His stance stirred something within Seraphina’s gaze once more. The same noticeable guilt as before. The eyes of someone who was aware of the other’s troubled history, enough to regret her current actions.

Her staff lowered slightly, and her eyes moved away from Thalric to rest first on the so-called hero, then Isabelle, and finally on the companions that stood with them. She sought to rectify the damage her guard had dealt, and as she looked over the others, her eyes widened slightly in enlightenment.

"GuildMaster, no... Thalric Ironheart." At the mentioning of his full name, Thalric gathered his bearings, listening intently to what the priestess had to say. Because to announce his name instead of his title was supposed to be a sign of respect, especially when coming from someone whose title was above his.

"I will not retract what I said, but I will clarify them. I respect all that you have done for the human race and your achievements alone give your voice weight despite not being able to hear the Lord’s call. And for that... I declare this now."

Her staff struck the floor, her eyes embodying the golden hue as her body exuded divine grace.

"By the Covenant’s authority, as Divine Priestess, I name Thalric Ironheart the sole one responsible for guiding and training those who travel with the prophesied savior. Let there be no doubt. This is not a stripping of your authority, or a smear on your role as one of humanity’s pillars, but an affirmation of it."

The room shifted, relief for some, conflict for others. Thalric’s men looked proud, while Seraphina’s guard hands tightened. Then there was Mark and the others. None of them knew what this all meant for them, but deep down, as they looked towards one another, they felt that their journey together was coming to an end.

Even Jasmine, as she looked to Mark, hoping to see him stand against the decision. She saw her brother with a calm resolve to see it through.

She wanted him to fight it, to object. To prove that he still had desires of his own. But the way he stood there told her that side of him was long gone.

_____________

As the others gathered and discussed their next plans. Thalric’s posture stood more rigid than before. What turned from a threat of an invader shifted into a boon for both his city and humanity.

He couldn’t claim the hero for himself, not with the priestess’ decree. But the wolf-blooded warrior among the strangers was another matter. Brimming with potential, the youth was a treasure he would personally shape.

The others who followed the hero were no less worthy. Each one carried scars, instincts, and the resilience of survivors. If molded correctly, they could become the kind of force his city had lacked for generations. No longer would they remain a second-rate guild compared to the more prominent powers.

However, proud as he was. A doubt continued to gnaw at him, especially after confirming the stories of the others. Stories of the true creatures that they fought. Undead, and creatures he had never heard of.

And it was the undead that disturbed him most. His world was not ignorant of what the undead were. What he heard of their otherworlders’ undead was the stuff of nightmares. Monsters that grew and evolved simply by eating. Creatures whose hunger was not just a curse but a ladder, every meal making them stronger, faster, and harder to kill. Their evolution followed no natural law, no limit but their appetite.

Worse still, these same creatures had the capacity to turn others into them as well. Not just into mindless undead like the zombies of their records of history, but undead who retained the strength of their victims, even going as far as revolutionizing their victims’ strengths.

His nerves were taut, his thoughts foreboding. Because if those creatures were also sent to their world, then he feared that the world had gained another enemy. An enemy, if not contained fast enough, has the potential to be even more dangerous than the demons themselves.

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Far across the world, beyond the hills, forest, and mountains that separated the nations. The races had already encountered the undead.

The main settlements of the races held strong. However, they were all witnesses to the undead’s special traits. The race’s allies turned on their own when infected. They were not just turned into zombies, their bodies mutated into unrecognizable creatures, their strength soared past what their original limits could muster. And that alone had sent a dangerous dread through all the nations.

But their defenses were only strong when it came to the most fortified cities, towns, and strongholds.

Small villages, isolated towns, and homes were almost all met with a perilous ending. The undead from the modern world had practically all gone through an evolution; a normal, unevolved zombie was a rare sight.

Where no seasoned warriors stood, entire communities were consumed. Families were torn apart in hours, settlements erased in nights. Scouts returned only with silence and smoldering ruins, or not at all.

But it was in the world’s worst moment that they also received hope. Not every village was destroyed. And it wasn’t just the undead that appeared in these towns.

Humans from all across the globe had made their appearance. Those who resided from different continents suddenly found themselves in a battle for their lives.

In the mountain regions, where the dwarves, similar to Vikings settled, those from European nations appeared. Farther East lay Asia. Sharing the same territory as the dwarves who relied more on their technology than their brute strength.

Africa lay just below them, a smaller territory governed by the beastkin. Since the territory was closer to bodies of water, it was home to dangerous creatures. Only the beastkin’s animalistic nature allowed them to survive and thrive in such a place, despite the land’s beauty.

However, Africa was also divided, sharing a similar plot of land with Australia whose people were sent to the land of the elves. It was land that was just as dangerous as it was serene. Despite the four nations being part of an alliance, the elves were the less favorable of the four.

To the left of the world, North America lay between the human settlements.

But of all the people carried into this world, South America’s fate was the cruelest. Some were fortunate, deposited near the edges of human territory. But the vast majority were cast into the lands of demons themselves.

Wherever they landed, they fought for survival. Many fell immediately, but those who clung to desperation carved out unlikely victories. And it was through these victories that, on the first day of the realm’s merger, the humans of the first realm had made a connection with every race in this new world.