Becoming a Monster

A/N: Sorry everyone, I'm sick so the quality may not be the best. I will go over it again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll feel better soon.

....

'Does that mean he succeeded?'

Utter silence, when the people who complained before saw the blood demon in the form of Noah accompanied by the hungry stare of the giant beast behind him. They felt their presence become meek. Now they were just happy that they were stopped in time or their view would be inside the beast's mouth instead.

Whoosh*

"I know, I know…I'm still upset about Grims death too, we won't forget him, but we both have to become stronger so no one else dies right? How can you become a queen if you let your underlings die?"

The dreadful atmosphere was somewhat relieved when they saw Noah still fully covered in blood, comforting his spider while it was jumping left and right as if it was vividly telling him everything that happened.

If anyone looked close enough, there was a small smile on Noah's face while he interacted with Arachne. No matter if he ate the dead, killed hundreds or if he was vulnerable, he felt that Arachne would not treat him any different. At this moment, even though he lost a companion and he himself almost died, he still felt more at peace than he ever has.

"!"

There was no one in the group that was left who could be considered close to Noah to discuss about what happened. The only one who was even a bit familiar to him was Ailetta but she still hasn't awakened.

So when they saw Noah turn towards them, his gaze seemingly roaming over every individual left in the area. Most if not all felt a sense of uncomfortableness, but then they saw his stare last a few seconds longer on Bailey, more specifically, Ailetta that was being held in her arms.

He witnessed her last attempt, people like her were more of a hero then the very person who claims to be a hero. He wasn't sure how he would feel if she were to die, maybe the same way he felt after Grim was killed?

Thinking about it made him more sure of himself that he made the right decision to go on his own. If he spent the time trying to keep people he supposedly cared about alive then his path to become stronger would only become longer. What would've happened if he spent the time babysitting her and he had to fight these monstrous creatures with even just a little less strength than he had now?

There was still a bit of indecisiveness in his eyes, but that's what it means to be human, most of the time the heart doesn't coincide with what the mind believes is right.

But then he looked back to Bailey, and noticed the care in which she held her and remembered back to the time where he saw her about to rush to her aid even though she could've died.

He nodded inwardly now that he could at least feel more at ease with leaving her as he started to walk away to gather his things. His eyes twitched when he saw a few chests along the way.

'It's not worth it…If I steal others' loot then I shouldn't get mad when people do the same to me.'

Throwing his bag over his shoulders, he advanced to the chest that held the sword that he would most likely be using long into the foreseeable future.

The werewolf continued to mindlessly follow him but Arachne took this opportunity to sneak her way to the King's remains.

Whispers*

"What do we do now…?"

"How should I know? I thought we were waiting for him…do we follow him?"

The murmurs continued, but Noah ignored the sounds as he observed his new sword. The sword was massive compared to what he was used to, just like the King, the sword was the same height as him. The handle made up a fourth of its height with the intention of being held with both hands. With his strength, he could only use two hands for now.

With the sword in his hands, his presence to the spectators became more unapproachable.

"Wa-Wait!" The people watching were so much in a daze that they didn't realize that Noah was already on his way to leave the building.

Bailey called after him, causing him to stop, but he knew what she wanted to say.

"My answer is still no, I won't tag along in your groups." His eyes then wandered to the people behind her.

"Look at the people you are willing to protect, did they try to help when your friend was dying? Do you think they will ever help you if you were in trouble? I don't want to be used when joining you will only benefit your group." Without waiting for her to respond he turned to walk away with his creatures in tow. The werewolf having to get on all fours to crawl out the door.

Moments went by without anyone speaking, Mark, who was also affected by Noahs presence finally spoke up.

"Ha….haha! This is what you get for expecting anything from someone like him! The only person he cares about is himself, but who needs him? As long as we stick together than we can al-"

Boom!

The doors that Noah departed from swung open, revealing his bloodied figured yet again.

Mark felt his soul almost escaping his body while the people around him subtly retreated a few steps away. They all had the same idea, they believed Noah heard Mark talking about him and came to finish him off.

However they grew confused when they saw Noah closed the door and held his head down seemingly in thought.

"Wha-"

Bang bang bang!

Before anyone could ask, they heard the heavy pounding coming from the other side of the door. Their eyes widened in terror at the thought that they would have to relieve the traumatizing scene again. Would there be another zombie on the level of the Zombie King? The only person who seemed to have the answers to their questions was Noah himself.

Jasmine didn't feel as though she had the right to talk to him, not just because of Mark's actions but she also didn't lift a finger when Ailetta was in danger. She had her reasons, but it would only sound like excuses if she tried to explain herself.

Bailey was still relatively close to the door when Noah came back, she couldn't help but ask.

"Is…Is it another monster like that one?" Noah didn't need to know what she was referring to when he could see her gaze set on his new creature.

Part of him wanted to know how she would react if he said it was. He thought back to what he saw out there before shaking his head. Causing not only Bailey but everyone else there to sigh in relief.

"There might only be a few hundred zombies out there." He said nonchalantly, he's killed enough of both the walking and running zombies that he was almost numb to it. But that information was already enough to fill the people there with dread. However they noticed that he still wasn't done.

"And it seems some of the animals returned, I couldn't be sure but I guess you will find out soon enough." He announced while he made his way to one of the seats before setting his bag back down and laid on a row of adjacent seats before resting his eyes.

The last fight took a lot out of him, including the penalty he received from Grim dying, his stamina was almost at rock bottom. If it wasn't for his skill and consuming parts of the Zombie King, he probably would've already fallen asleep if not directly fainted.

The lack of awareness and worry he showed regarding the monsters outside confused the onlookers. The sound on the other side of the door didn't diminish at all. If anything the sound became louder.

"Are you not going to fight them??" A random voice screamed out, everyone else had the same question, but was too afraid to ask. Now that someone was brave enough to voice the question, they all looked expectantly in Noah's direction.

"No, I'm tired." He replied without opening up his eyes. However they could all see him shaking his head which they thought he did in contempt towards them. When really he was doing it towards Arachne when he felt an emotion of satisfaction rising from her through their bond. He didn't have to guess what was the cause, he knew she went right back to finish the body of the king. He didn't want to deny her from feeding when it would benefit her so he didn't stop her, but that didn't stop him from feeling the disbelief of how much she prioritizes her stomach.

Yet the action of him shaking his head, along with his indifferent attitude, yet again ticked a nerve from Mark.

"You just think you're that much better than us now huh? Tired my ass! What about that monster by your side, you're not going to say it's too tired too are you??"

To this question, Noah actually opened his eyes to look towards them, before he closed them again.

"Well if you knew that then why are you asking? Of course he's tired, look at him." Their eyes turned towards the beast that sat next to Noah while licking its many wounds.

'What part of that looks tired??'

Everyone thought to themselves, before they asked another question, they saw Noah sit up from his seat to look towards them. His expression said that what he was going to say was serious.

"Why don't you all try protecting yourselves for once? If no one is there to save you will you all just give up and die? That's why you are all so weak now. Now leave me alone already. If you all can't even handle a few small fries then just give up and die. It's like that voice said in the beginning, prove to yourself that you deserve to live or die without your life having any meaning."

He waited for their reaction, but all he received was silence. He nodded to himself, believing that he got his point across. Laying back down, he once again tried to relax while everyone got together to discuss among themselves.

"So what do you think we should do? Stay and fight or should we try to run?" Blake, the more talkative one of the group spoke first. No one could respond instantly, many of them had forgotten that they could run away due to their fear.

"This isn't a fight we can win…I don't believe him when he said it was only those regular zombies. If it was then why did he run away? Obviously there's something else and he's gonna use us to finish it off for himself. I say we leave!" Mark's words sounded convincing to the mass majority who also were in the same opinion. At this point they would agree with anything that involved not fighting.

"I say we stay!" Bailey said with determination, surprising the people who were for leaving.

"Who's to say that the building is surrounded and what if the monsters like the one before are in the direction we are going towards? We should use this chance to grow stronger like he said and if something comes up that we can't handle then at least we have the option of maybe getting his help. But we don't get that option if we leave now.

Her words of reason slowly overturned Marks, who now was displaying a frown after his idea being rejected once again.

"I agree with Bailey"

"Me too!"

"Uh m-me as well."

Starting with Blake, one by one the people in the group accepted her idea, leaving just Jasmin and Ailetta who haven't decided. Jasmine looked towards Mark and hesitated with what she wanted to say before she steeled her resolve.

"Mark, I also think we should stay. Forget about Noah, but if what he said about the zombies not being the abnormal ones then this is our chance to get stronger like you've been wanting. Well now's the time…"