Becoming a Monster

Chapter 687: Chapter 686: A Blasphemous Halo

With Noah and the Seraphim beginning their battle above the forest, the fighting below should’ve started with them. And it almost did.

The remaining celestial beings had already begun to move, showing no intention of allowing whatever Ailetta planned to interfere with the task they had been summoned to complete. Her sudden increase in power might’ve warranted more caution, but it wasn’t enough to deter God’s warriors from attacking.

At least, it shouldn’t have.

Their movements slowed almost simultaneously, before coming to a complete stop.

The celestial beings couldn’t speak, but the same question seemed to occupy every one of them.

Why did she have a halo?

The question barely had time to register before Ailetta’s transformation finished. The slime that had covered much of her body receded from her face, revealing a serene expression that contrasted sharply with the power surrounding her.

Two pairs of wings extended from her back, their appearance shifting between magnificent angelic feathers and malevolent black wings.

“A fallen angel…?”

The words came from somewhere among the Church members, quickly followed by murmurs as others arrived at the same conclusion. What had seemed impossible only moments ago suddenly had an explanation they were all too willing to accept.

Ailetta had once been an angel.

Somehow, she had fallen so far that she let herself be transformed into a monster, eventually becoming a demon’s subordinate. It was difficult for any of them to imagine a greater disgrace for one of God’s former servants, yet everything they saw seemed to support it.

Her wings alone would’ve been enough to convince most of them, and the almost unnatural serenity on her now uncovered face erased what little doubt remained.

But one thing still didn’t fit… Her halo.

Every member of the Church knew what happened when an angel fell. Regardless of their position or strength, the result was the same. Their fall severed them from the divine glory they once carried, and the halo that represented their holiness and closeness to the Heavenly Father was lost with it.

There were no exceptions.

Yet one floated above Ailetta now.

That contradiction appeared to trouble even God’s servants. Their hesitation lasted only a few moments, but it was long enough for the halo to undergo the final change of Ailetta’s transformation.

The holy hue within it steadily faded as her demonic energy flowed through the ring, neither rejecting nor being rejected by what remained of its divine power. The two blended together with an ease that made the sight even more unnatural, until three enormous eyes formed from the surrounding energy and opened around the halo on all three sides.

Whatever uncertainty remained among the Church vanished with them.

A symbol meant to represent holiness and divine glory had been twisted into something they could only view as an abomination. Even calling it blasphemy felt inadequate. Blasphemy was an insult directed toward the divine.

What stood before them was far worse, and no one could find the words to show how deeply it aggrieved them.

—

Just as the Church members could hardly bear what Ailetta’s existence seemed to signify, every celestial being shared their disgust. The six warriors resumed their advance almost simultaneously.

Could Ailetta fight six of God’s warriors on her own?

No one watching believed she could. Even after the enormous power boost from her transformation, none of them mistook her for something comparable to the monster currently fighting above them.

And they were right.

Ailetta had never intended to fight them alone. In fact, defeating God’s warriors wasn’t why she stepped forward alone. Her role in this battle wasn’t to support everyone else or see how many enemies she could kill. She had only one thing to accomplish, and doing so required getting as close to the humans as possible.

She needed to take away the one advantage they still had.

Dozens of tiny slimes suddenly burst from Ailetta’s body, scattering through the air before another wave quickly followed them. Each was so small they seemed negligible compared to everything else on the battlefield, and that impression only grew stronger when the first of God’s warriors passed straight through their ranks without a single slime attempting to stop them.

Rather than following, the little creatures spread farther apart before stopping just outside the Holy Field. Some hovered only a few feet above the ground while others climbed higher, gradually positioning themselves along the edge of the field, supporting the humans without ever crossing into it.

To everyone watching, their purpose was impossible to understand. Only Ailetta knew how important those special children of hers were.

She remained where she was as all six attackers approached, showing no intention of retreating even as they spread apart to come at her from different directions. This time their approach was slower than before.

The Potentates were a lot stronger, and their blows would be more devastating than the Archons’. But the Archons battle instincts were still superior, and they weren’t willing to make the same mistake as last time.

Meanwhile, the serenity that had accompanied the completion of Ailetta’s transformation left her expression, replaced by something considerably darker as she raised her head toward the sky.

Her eyes shifted rapidly, flickering from the bright radiance of energy being created. Noah was impossible to see from where she stood, yet the crazed desire that gradually entered her gaze made it obvious she didn’t need to see him to know exactly who she was looking for.

Ailetta stared for only a moment before lowering her gaze toward the six beings coming to kill her.

“After this, I can finally have what I want…”

The shadow at her feet expanded before the last word completely left her mouth. Darkness flooded across the wet ground until two enormous shapes began rising from within it, and the transformation that had changed Ailetta had clearly affected her two shadow guardians.

Nightmare emerged as an enormous demonic beast, its body caught between a living shadow and something divine. Blackness formed most of its massive frame, while pale, almost holy structures stretched across it in twisted patterns, surrounding the numerous golden eyes embedded throughout its body.

And then there was her Ice troll, Hubris, who rose beside it. The creature towered over its original form by at least two meters, and the ice covering its body had become darker and far more imposing, spreading across him in jagged layers.

Pale frost and traces of divine light ran through the frozen armor alongside the abyssal energy, making the giant look like something holy trapped inside an abyssal glacier and forced to become part of it.

Ailetta stood behind the two guardians as they finished emerging from her shadow. She didn’t believe these two alone could help her defeat them, but that wasn’t her role.

—

Before any of the celestial beings could reach Ailetta, a shadow raced across the battlefield and arrived at her side.

Arachne came to a stop beside her, while Atlas followed close behind, still untransformed so he could fight directly at his Queen’s side. Umbra approached shortly after, maintaining the same distance behind Atlas as she had throughout their advance.

Neither woman rushed forward to intercept the celestial beings.

They could both feel the enormous accumulation of energy approaching from behind them, moving nearly as fast as Arachne had.

A second later, the source came into view.

A chaotic sphere of mana nearly three meters in radius tore across the battlefield toward the two Archons advancing along the ground. There was too much power packed inside for either celestial being to risk taking the attack directly, while its sheer size and sudden arrival left them with little room to evade it.

Both Archons raised their swords in front of themselves. Holy light immediately gathered around their bodies, but their own defenses were joined by something far larger when the familiar cross-shaped shield appeared directly in the path of the incoming sphere.

The collision drowned the area in light.

Chaotic mana erupted across the surface of the enormous cross before the sphere finally detonated against it, forcing the shield backward as cracks of energy spread through the surrounding air. Most of the attack scattered at the point of impact, while what broke past the cross crashed into the layers of holy light protecting the Archons themselves.

Their defenses flickered violently under the remaining force, but neither Archon was moved from where they stood.

When the last traces of unstable mana dispersed, both Archons remained completely unharmed.

Ailetta showed no disappointment. Neither did Arachne. If an attack like that had been enough to kill one of God’s warriors outright, then there would’ve been little reason for Noah to leave them to handle the battle in the first place.

The one responsible for the attack didn’t share their indifference.

After unleashing the attack, dark energy practically steamed from Kratos’s body out of pure anger. His attention fixed on the two Archons that had survived his attack without so much as a wound.

For someone who had already decided that he would live up to the name bestowed upon by eventually slaying gods, killing one of their servants should’ve been the smallest possible step toward proving that ambition wasn’t beyond him.

The failure only made the giant rage. Kratos spread his enormous wings, then drove them downward in a single violent flap, exploding from the ground with enough force to shatter the earth where he had been standing. His massive body tore toward the two Archons, determined to destroy them for daring to block his attack.

I want to try weekly reader challenges and see how it goes, with chances to unlock extra chapters!

For the first challenge: What’s your favorite anime, and who’s your favorite villain from that anime? Feel free to share why you picked them!