Becoming a Monster

Chapter 413: Chapter 413: Come On, Cross the Line

Pandora’s hatred was being reflected from every tree, every blade of grass that was connected to her. It didn’t matter if it was the goblins or the trolls, every creature that Pandora labeled as an enemy was subjected to her malice.

The two lizardmen still standing over the soil within her reach suffered the worst of it.

Their senses faltered first, disrupted by the sudden flood of emotion.

When their minds caught up to their bodies, one lizard felt a series of sharp pains striking through it. The pain led to it reacting immediately, but a flaring sense of pain made it hesitate. Across its body, smaller roots that no longer shined like the ones before had penetrated the first layer of its scales. They shouldn’t have been enough to slow it... yet beneath each shallow entry point, it felt as if its flesh would tear free if it dared to move.

That same sensation dug into nearly eight different parts of its body.

The pain would be agonizing but it was still better than dying. Yet when the lizardmen gained the resolve to go through with it, its focus on the roots made it unable to recognize a much larger root reinforced by dozens of others, raining down on it.

Boom!

The ground ruptured, dirt blasting outward where the lizard had stood a heartbeat before. The impact cracked the earth.

The other lizard nearly fared better. It too was caught by the roots that latched inside of its skin, but flames were already spewing out of its mouth, causing the roots to wither back into the ground.

It didn’t have time to think before a colossal root slammed toward it. It dodged, barely, but the moment its feet touched the ground, another root surged from the front, and another from the side. Its only option was up.

It gathered its strength and leapt toward the larger root, intending to use it as a platform to escape the two-pronged attack.

What should have been a decision that led to saving its life turned into despair.

Its body was already rising when its pupils blew wide. Above it, a forest of thick roots converged from every direction, sealing off the sky and crushing whatever hope it had left.

The sight wasn’t missed by the others still in the safety of the trees. Their eyes were filled with disbelief. Not only towards the plethora of roots, but it was because of the scenes denied logic.

None of those roots were connected to the ground at all.

And if one looked closely at the lizardman’s widening eyes... Those roots weren’t reflected in them either.

Their distraction was only for a moment.

Because the drake had made its move.

The three lizardmen were mid-charge, each of them shaped for a different purpose. The two in front were the largest of their group. Their arms were thicker than their torsos, swollen with muscle and dense metal-like bone. They weren’t built to kill the drake; they were built to delay it.

The drake swung its arm, a blow heavy enough to tear smaller monsters in half. But the two lizardmen moved together, planting their feet, bracing shoulder to shoulder. They caught the strike with both arms raised.

The impact boomed through the clearing.

Instead of being sent flying across the forest, the pair only skidded backward, carving a deep trench into the dirt with their heels. They grunted, their muscles groaning under the strain, but they held.

Together, they were strong enough to block it.

The third lizardman didn’t waste the opening. Its body blurred as it accelerated, slipping under the drake’s outstretched arm. Its scales were darker than the rest, slick enough to reflect nothing. Blue lines pulsed along its body, electricity crackling louder the faster it moved.

The drake prepared another strike, ready to smash the two large ones before they regained momentum. This time the force behind its arm would have crushed even their coordinated defense.

But its attack was thwarted from a pain it wasn’t expecting. An attack that would’ve barely fazed it had now caused it to lock up in pain.

The drake snarled, flames leaking between its teeth, but the pain dug deeper before it could react. Electricity spread through its injured flesh, numbing the muscle beneath.

Before the shock could fully root itself, the drake forced its body to move. With a violent twist, it swept its tail through the surrounding area, creating space before the three could overwhelm it.

The lightning lizard reacted to the attack before it landed, retreating back to regroup. It was ready to press the attack, but not after what had just happened to the flankers.

The two giant lizardmen couldn’t avoid the strike, the two still braced together for the impact, yet they were forced to endure the full weight of the tail.

They planted their feet, their bodies giving off an earthly sheen, but the force was beyond what they could absorb. Their massive bodies were sent skidding across the forest grounds until they smashed into the trunks of nearby trees.

They weren’t dead, far from it. Their bodies were built for punishment. But the hit rattled more than they endured, taking them longer than expected to get up.

The drake could’ve finished them right then. It could’ve lunged, pinned them, crushed them. But it didn’t. Its eyes glared at the two bulky creatures before spreading its awareness to the others.

A sharp tremor rolled down its body. Electricity still clung to its flesh, pulsing faintly around the wound in its chest. The jolt burned deeper than before. It snorted harshly, much to the lizards’ shock, and stepped back.

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After Pandora crushed the two flanking lizards, she didn’t pursue any further, the leader finally understood.

The forest only attacked with those violent roots when a target left the cover of the trees.

Inside the treeline, the lizards were safe. Outside it... they were vulnerable to attacks from all angles.

It immediately let out an order.

The remaining soldiers halted their advance and began spreading along the edge of the trees in a wide formation. They stood there, dauntingly, their presence hoping to provoke the ever so proud giant to attack them while leaving the protection of the forest.

The drake noticed it too. It understood that the inferior creatures were more afraid of its helper than it was of itself. It wouldn’t approach them, maybe if it was fully healed, but not as it was now. That was when Noah’s vague warning echoed in its head.

"Just don’t wander off too far."

It hated that the demon’s voice resurfaced now.

It hated that the demon had known this would happen.

It hated even more that the demon was right.

Why fight desperately? Why throw itself into a nest of enemies?

It just had to stand here and let the forest kill them for it.

The drake felt... amused. Yet it couldn’t laugh like before, because it too was curious about the true owner behind those roots. It didn’t make sense. If it was truly the forest behind it, then why would it serve the demon? And why only in this confined space?

__________

Minutes passed.

The lizard leader kept watching, waiting for the drake to lunge again.

Yet their nemesis didn’t move at all, not even a step. Its breathing was steady, and its eyes were halfway open as if it was bored. There was no pressure emanating from it at all, just annoyance and a provocative posture that suggested:

"Come closer if you dare."

The leader’s irritation grew. It couldn’t just leave without obtaining anything worth of value. What could it say to its ruler when it returned? There was no information gained either besides that the forest allying with the enemy was real. What was even worse was that the drake was also allied with it.

Then there was the mana’s purity. It was almost as pure as the mana concentrated next to the forest of the elves.

Wait! The lizard had a moment of clarity. Maybe it had indeed already obtained enough intel to give up this standoff and return to its leader.

But thinking of its leader’s terrifying aura, the situation they were currently facing. It knew that their leader wouldn’t be satisfied. Its orders were still the same.

So what could it do?

Maybe it should reinforce the other factions. That way they could fight against the drake together while giving the forest more targets to distract it.

It thought about burning the forest all together. However, that was out of the question the moment the thought surfaced. If the fire spread, the forest’s inhabitants would blame them. The drake was already their enemy, but even the trolls... the goblins, they’d all become enemies of the lizard tribe if they were to find out who did it.

Its position left it with one option, the one it avoided until now:

Attack. Charge with everything they had, even if they couldn’t win, no matter how many soldiers they lost in the process. They didn’t need victory. They just needed to tear off enough of the drake to bring back to their ruler.

It was ready to give the order, but when it felt the order pressing rising in its throat, it stopped. The cry of the troll chieftain even reached here. It had forgotten something so obvious. They were the ones fighting the strongest of the forest. As long as they waited it out, the trolls and the goblins should be able to make it here.