Becoming a Monster

Chapter 456: Chapter 456: The Troll’s Boogeyman

The troll’s body continued to writhe in flames. Its body tumbled and flailed from the assault.

And although the flames were doing their job, the trolls’ constant flailing prevented anyone from finishing it off.

"Paul, are you able to finish it off?" Raven asked Paul, who had already backed off.

Paul didn’t answer immediately. His eyes shifted first, to Ishii. Then back to the burning troll.

He could see that the beast’s legs were already beginning to set in place. Although they had been informed of their regeneration, he didn’t fully understand what it entailed until he saw it in person.

Slowly, he shook his head to Raven’s question. Defeating the troll was easy, but killing it was a different matter altogether. If he could reach its head, there was a chance to completely pulverize it. Even that could only be done within certain conditions.

His blow from earlier had met those conditions. Absorbing the force through his body and redistributing it into one attack.

Without it, he doubted he could deceive the force necessary to finish it.

Raven didn’t think too far into it.

Her eyes shifted to the troll. They would just continue with the plan. Although that plan would require them to use up most of Riley’s arrows, so be it.

"Wait, let me try."

She was about to give Riley the go-ahead until Bailey stepped forward. The girl’s shoulders were tight, jaw set, but there was a flicker of doubt behind her eyes.

Out of everyone, she felt the most useless. Even now, the plans they made didn’t involve her at all. At this rate, she would never improve, especially when she needed to grow stronger to free Paul from Noah.

Her indecisiveness stemmed from being rejected, and Raven could see it; everyone could see it.

Paul searched her face for recklessness. He didn’t find it. What he saw instead was resolve.

"...Ok."

Paul accepted without further questioning. Denying her now would only bring about more harm than good. And if she were successful, that would be another element they could adapt into their strategy to complete the mission.

"Come with me," he said, as he looked past her, towards one of the adventurers in their party. They were one of the only two who weren’t a part of Raven’s entourage.

The other adventurers were busy looking over the man dragged by the woman from earlier. One of the few members left that were able to heal after Isabelle left.

Paul turned and moved, not toward the burning troll, but toward Ishii. Even if Bailey failed, the plan wouldn’t be affected.

———

On Ishii’s side, the battle was reaching its climax. Ishii never focused on lethal strikes; his attacks were quick and aimed purely to inflict as many wounds as he could.

The troll howled and slammed its fists down in wide, crushing arcs, uprooting dirt and forming cracks in the ground. Ishii slipped through the gaps by instinct alone, feet barely touching the ground as he redirected momentum again and again. To an outside eye, it looked reckless.

Yet each time the troll came close, Ishii’s speed would suddenly become quicker. Quick successive bursts of speed allowed him to move in circles around his opponent.

The skill he used drained excessive amounts of stamina when used consecutively. But because of the exorbitant amount of stamina he had taken from the troll, the cost barely registered.

Each burst followed a wound deeper than before. The wounds healed seconds later. At least, they did in the beginning of the fight. Now, the troll’s body was riddled with scars.

None of the wounds were life threatening. The wounds still healed at a visible rate, but the rate at which they regenerated was growing slower and slower over time.

It was noticeable now. The drag in the troll’s movements, the loud, strained breaths for air.

If given time, Ishii was sure that he could defeat a C-Rank monster on his own.

The concept made him even more proud because that C-Rank monster was a troll. Despite it being C-Rank, the rank might as well become B or even A rank if its regeneration couldn’t be accounted for.

His speed quickened at the thought. At this moment, he truly wanted to put himself up against a chieftain to see where he actually stood.

During one of his swings, he glanced over. Paul was closing the distance.

That alone told him that they were successful in taking down their troll.

He backed away after avoiding another attack. His grip on his sword shifted in his hands, and his stance lowered once again.

There was no reason to play it safe anymore.

With Paul joining, he would focus on draining the trolls’ strength and constitution. Its regeneration was already slow. Even if it retained its mana, there should barely be any left. And he doubted that the mana could sustain the damage they were about to inflict.

His stance lowered, but then.

The forest roared.

Ishii froze mid-breath. And so did everyone else.

The forest shook, and the ground underneath their feet trembled heavier than ever. For a split second, they thought the forest itself was rising.

Then, massive silhouettes burst out of the forest edge. Six giant trolls came sprinting towards them, each more berserk than the other.

The moment Raven felt that they were in danger, she was already preparing to move.

Her Amazonians stood ready behind her. Their bodies tense, waiting for the signal to transform alongside her.

If they transformed now, they could hold the front. They could resist the charge. Given time, they might even win.

But Paul didn’t see it that way. These trolls wouldn’t be as easy to deal with as the others.

At a glance, they looked like the same mindless brutes they had just fought. But he could perceive their threat level. Two of them were different. They felt more dangerous than the others, making their presence impossible to ignore.

He briefly wondered if they were chieftains. That doubt vanished quickly. With his skill, he could sense that they were dangerous, but only dangerous enough to barely breach B-rank.

Even so, that margin was enough to tip the balance. He could already see the outcome if they chose to stand their ground. Victory was possible, but it would not be clean. Too many would be injured. Some might not walk away at all.

And Raven’s power, once used, could not be used again without her paying a cost.

This was not the battle to risk their lives. Especially when no one was certain that, behind these trolls, what if there might be more? What if, after they survive, the chieftain they were dreading came after?

"Fall back."

The order was immediate, leaving no room for debate. They had discussed this scenario before. Everyone moved at the command that was given.

Ishii disengaged without hesitation. Riley took off her quiver. Magically, it disappeared. On her finger was a ring that could hold inventory, the same as Noah’s. However, hers was much smaller.

The next second, another quiver emerged, one whose arrows were a variety of green hues.

They were costly. Crafted from paralytic toxins that everyone had contributed towards. Riley hadn’t been certain they would work on trolls. But time was all they needed, and this was the best way she knew how to buy it.

She drew and released in one fluid motion. Each shot was stronger than before, each arrow layered with denser mana.

One leg per troll was targeted. If the poison took hold, even briefly, it would slow them.

Riley didn’t wait to see the result. The moment the last arrow left her string, she turned and ran, trusting the plan and the people behind her to make those seconds count.

Only Bailey didn’t move. She stood frozen in place, fists clenched. Just moments ago, she had been given a chance to prove herself, to prove she wasn’t useless.

And now, just as that moment arrived, it was being taken away.

"Bailey!"

Paul saw her hesitation instantly. One of the rare times, he shouted.

The sound snapped her out of it. She grit her teeth, anger and frustration twisting in her chest, but her body obeyed before her pride could.

She was about to turn and run. The ground only shook harder. The distance was closing fast.

And then, when Paul believed that even retreat wasn’t possible. That they would have to stand their ground and let those who couldn’t protect themselves run away. Another roar escaped the forest.

This time, even the trolls stopped.

It wasn’t just the ones approaching. Even the burning troll seemed to ignore its wounds when they heard the roar.

"Here! It’s here!"

If Paul and the others thought they misheard it, they surely heard it when the other trolls repeated the same sentence.

The trolls were literally mortified. They were only rooted in place after the first roar. But when they heard it again, they all fled back into the forest to regroup with the rest of their tribe.

How could they not know what it was? Four days ago, it started. The beast would alert them every time before it hunted them down.

They didn’t understand why the beast targeted them. Every day, it would kill one of them before taking it away. And every day it would come back again for another.

Even as they fled, they weren’t fleeing back to their group to fight back. They were running, so it wasn’t them that would be targeted next.