Becoming a Monster

Chapter 715: Chapter 714: This Was Never A Battle

“Ailetta! Don’t listen to her!”

Jasmine couldn’t remain silent after hearing the monster’s words.

“It’s not like that at all! We’re not here to hurt you! Please, come back to us! We can protect you! We can find a way to make you human again!”

She continued calling out to her friend, hoping that the human consciousness trapped within the creature could still hear her.

But despite how much the others wanted to help, no one joined her.

Alicia was barely conscious, while Ishii had exhausted himself to such an extent that he could hardly remain standing.

And then there was Paul.

He wanted to say something. After everything he’d witnessed, how could he possibly remain silent when there was a chance that the Ailetta he’d once known could still be saved?

Unfortunately, his circumstances were different from Jasmine’s.

His life belonged to Noah, and regardless of what Ailetta was, Noah still considered her the same person he’d always known.

To suggest otherwise would undoubtedly risk provoking his ire.

And if Noah still considered the monster to be Ailetta, wouldn’t speaking against her be much the same as opposing him?

Paul wasn’t certain.

But considering how much he owed Noah, he wasn’t willing to take that risk.

The apostle, meanwhile, was beginning to understand what might have happened.

Judging by Jasmine’s pleas and the unusual face he’d witnessed emerging from the creature, it appeared that the monster had somehow taken control of a human while leaving her original consciousness trapped within.

It was an unfortunate situation, and one that wasn’t entirely unheard of.

Depending on the circumstances, there were even methods of saving individuals who had suffered similar fates.

But considering the strength of the monster, he doubted there was much he could accomplish in that regard.

He pitied them.

Losing someone they cared about was difficult enough, but discovering that the person might still be alive while being unable to help them?

He could hardly imagine what that must feel like.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t allow their feelings to interfere with his mission. And fortunately, the monster hadn’t made any attempt to attack him.

That gave him an opportunity to accomplish something far more important.

After all, he hadn’t come here expecting to defeat the devil or his creatures. His objective was to salvage whatever remained of the forces that had been sent here.

And judging by the devastation surrounding him, there wasn’t much time left to do so.

Especially when he considered the creature he’d sent flying earlier.

Arachne was already returning, moving at a speed that made it clear she wouldn’t remain out of the confrontation for much longer.

Once she arrived, he doubted he’d be able to spare much attention for anything besides defending himself.

Which meant that if he intended to rescue the remaining survivors, he needed to act now.

The apostle suddenly brought his hands together.

The moment his palms met, pale gold energy surged around them in an amount considerably greater than what he’d generated by snapping his fingers earlier.

He then knelt and pressed both hands against the ground, allowing the accumulated energy to flow into the earth.

Strangely enough, nothing seemed to happen. At least, not anywhere near their position.

Ailetta immediately became suspicious.

She’d already witnessed the man’s ability to manipulate the terrain, and she doubted he’d gone through all that trouble for nothing.

Several portions of her slime began searching her surroundings, attempting to locate whatever changes he might have caused.

An enemy this strong couldn’t be allowed to interfere freely with the rest of the battle. The number of Noah’s creatures that could easily be killed by him was far greater than she was willing to risk.

And when she finally discovered what was happening, her expression darkened.

Far from their position, small stones were beginning to emerge from the ground.

Their surfaces gradually became smooth and polished, taking on an appearance so refined that they could easily have been mistaken for pieces of metal. The fact that these things were made from mud was almost like an illusion.

Intricate insignias formed across them, bearing the same designs that decorated the apostle’s clothing.

And each of them had appeared beside someone.

Some materialized beside soldiers who were still struggling to survive, while others appeared near the wounded lying across the battlefield.

Even those who were barely clinging to life hadn’t been overlooked. What had to be noted was that not one human was left out.

Unfortunately, there weren’t nearly as many survivors as the apostle would’ve hoped.

The Church members responsible for summoning the celestial beings were already dead.

Once their protective shields disappeared, Eve and Diablo had made certain that none of them survived.

And the celestial beings themselves were beginning to return through the portals from which they’d emerged.

Ailetta had noticed their gradual disappearance, but she’d already considered the possibility that Noah wouldn’t be able to claim their souls from such a distance.

Although his aura was capable of absorbing souls, she doubted it could overcome the pull of the portals leading directly to Heaven, especially when he wasn’t physically present to interfere.

Whatever the reason, the remaining celestial beings were being drawn back into their portals without anyone interfering.

But the strange stones were a more immediate concern.

Ailetta wasn’t entirely certain what the strange constructs were meant to accomplish.

However, considering that the apostle had made no attempt to attack her and had prioritized rescuing the others upon his arrival, she was beginning to understand his intentions.

He was trying to rescue the remaining humans.

And considering what she needed to accomplish, she had no intention of simply allowing him to do what he wanted. Especially when they still needed to finish their objective.

Her two shadow guardians immediately departed, moving toward the areas where the constructs had appeared.

Meanwhile, the survivors were beginning to hear a voice coming from the stones hovering nearby.

“I am Aurelian Voss, one of the Church’s four apostles, acting under the authority of Heaven’s Legate.”

For those who recognized the name, the announcement was almost difficult to believe.

After all, Aurelian Voss was hardly an ordinary member of the Church. His reputation as the Alchemist Apostle was known far and wide, and few would’ve expected someone of his standing to personally intervene in their battle.

However, that disbelief didn’t last particularly long.

Apostles weren’t ordinarily dispatched to deal with conflicts between humans and monsters or even demons.

Their involvement was generally reserved for situations where humanity as a whole was threatened, or when a demon of at least General rank had appeared.

And considering everything they’d witnessed, wasn’t that precisely the kind of situation they were facing?

Their thoughts instinctively turned toward the sky, where the demon responsible for all this destruction was still fighting.

Suddenly, the apostle’s arrival didn’t seem nearly as surprising.

If anything, it made them question something else entirely.

Why had they been sent here in the first place?

“I have come to evacuate you. Do not resist the transmutation surrounding your bodies. Remain where you are, and you will be brought to safety.”

For many of the survivors, hearing those words was enough to restore some of the hope they’d begun to lose. At the very least, it brought some relief.

However, that didn’t mean the fighting had come to an end.

For Thalric and the four other S-rankers fighting with him, their situation was too dire to be relieved.

With the celestial beings disappearing back through their portals, two more of Noah’s creatures had joined the confrontation.

Fenrir and Kratos.

Truthfully, even without their involvement, the five S-rankers had been struggling to survive.

Bolas alone possessed enough strength to overwhelm them, and if it hadn’t been for Thalric’s sword intent, which was capable of cutting through the dragon’s miasmic flames, and Arden’s ability to withstand its physical attacks, they would’ve died several times over already.

However, surviving and actually fighting back were two entirely different matters.

That was where Soren had proven invaluable.

Although they’d initially struggled to keep up with Bolas’s attacks, his ability to predict the dragon’s movements had finally given them opportunities to retaliate.

With enough warning, Thalric could adjust his attacks to take advantage of the openings Soren identified, while Arden ensured that the others remained protected whenever Bolas attempted to overwhelm them.

Their cooperation had allowed them to hold their ground against an opponent they had little hope of defeating through strength alone.

But now that Fenrir and Kratos had joined the battle, even that advantage was beginning to disappear.

Gregory Ignivar was already regretting his decision.

He should’ve been the one to confront Morvyr and allowed his son to remain here instead.

After all, what was he supposed to accomplish against these creatures?

While Gregory tried to face off against Kratos, Fenrir caused their first casualty.

Thalric and Arden were forced to remain focused on Bolas, leaving Gregory and the other member of his house to deal with the newcomers while Soren attempted to support both sides. They didn’t believe that those monsters could be as powerful as the dragon.

Unfortunately, one of the Ignivar nobles made the mistake of believing that Fenrir’s flames would be different from those wielded by Bolas.

As members of House Ignivar, manipulating fire came as naturally to them as breathing. And although Bolas’s miasmic flames had proven impossible to control, there was no reason to believe that the same would be true for Fenrir.

At least, that was what the man believed when the infernal beast unleashed a torrent of black and crimson flames in his direction.

Rather than immediately retreating, he attempted to seize control of the approaching flames, only to discover that they wouldn’t respond to him.

Realizing his mistake, he hurriedly summoned his own flames, forming a barrier between himself and the approaching attack.

But he had no intention of remaining there.

The moment his barrier came into contact with Fenrir’s flames, the man began retreating, using his control over fire to reinforce his defenses while attempting to redirect the infernal flames away from his body.

And for a brief moment, his efforts seemed to be working.

Although Fenrir’s flames were steadily eating away at his barrier, he was managing to hold them back long enough to gain some distance.

Unfortunately, that was when he noticed something strange.

Despite his attempts to redirect them, the black and crimson flames were beginning to spread around his barrier, gradually cutting off the very direction he was trying to escape.

He immediately changed course, unleashing another torrent of his own flames in an attempt to force open a path.

But Fenrir’s flames had already begun surrounding him.

With each passing moment, the barrier protecting him grew weaker.

The man poured even more mana into his defenses, desperately attempting to prevent the flames from reaching him.

However, no matter how much energy he supplied, the destruction was occurring faster than he could repair it.

By the time he realized that escape was no longer possible, the flames had already surrounded him completely.

His barrier finally collapsed, allowing the infernal flames to engulf his body.

And when those flames eventually dissipated, all that remained of the S-ranker was a collection of charred bones.

Gregory had heard the man’s brief screams, but he hadn’t been able to spare him any attention.

He was too occupied with the enormous undead creature approaching him.

Much like his son, Gregory possessed the ability to manifest a giant made entirely of flames.

However, his creation was considerably more imposing, with armor-like features covering its body and an enormous sword burning within its grasp.

It was one of his strongest abilities, although he’d barely been able to make use of it throughout the confrontation.

He’d attempted to summon it against Bolas earlier, only for the dragon’s miasmic flames to devour his creation before it could accomplish anything.

But now that he was facing a different opponent, Gregory finally had an opportunity to demonstrate its strength.

And the moment Kratos came within range, the giant swung its enormous sword.

Rather than attempting to evade the attack, Kratos braced himself and continued forward.

The flaming blade cleaved into his shoulder, cutting deep into his enormous body and tearing through flesh and bone before finally coming to a stop.

Flames spread throughout the wound, burning away much of the surrounding flesh and leaving portions of the creature’s skeleton exposed.

Gregory was surprised by how much damage he’d managed to inflict.

Considering how much trouble they’d been having against Bolas, perhaps this creature was the weakest of the three.

However, that thought quickly disappeared when he realized something.

Despite the severity of its injuries, Kratos hadn’t stopped advancing.

It hadn’t even attempted to retaliate against the giant responsible for wounding it.

Instead, its attention remained fixed on someone else.

Soren.