I Became a Monster in a Novel

Chapter 171




The wolf stepped back as the ooze from the broken abscess flowed endlessly. Even if the ground melted, it didn’t matter because he could create footholds, but getting close was tricky with the green gas slowly rising.

Moving carelessly would melt the footholds. In an instant, the Plague swung its tail, sending ooze flying, causing the wolf to summon the Void and fend off the onslaught.

The searing black flames flowed like lava as the ooze touched it. Fear Incarnate had gained the upper hand—for a moment. But the overwhelming quantity of ooze extinguished Fear Incarnate once again.

While the broken skin of the abscess lay in disarray, the spreading ooze continued to melt deeper into the ground. The wolf gritted its teeth and retreated.

The Plague lay in hiding among the ooze. It wasn’t trying to escape; it had too much pride to easily slip out of the wolf’s influence. Instead, it was regenerating from the depths of the pit.

It was relentless. The deep yellow glare in its eyes was filled with raw bloodlust. It was determined to kill the wolf.

The determined beast, wounded yet resilient, was tough to take down. If there was any exception to the corrupting nature of the deified plague, it was the Plague itself. As it regained the arm it had lost among the ooze, the wolf was too busy fighting off the throng to prevent it.

Even as the endless waves came rushing forth, it couldn’t let its guard down.

Dealing with the ooze was a headache enough without also having to handle the countless waves coming at him. It would be a nightmare just imagining it.

He torched the first wave of rats and began to shred through the group in a storm of smoke.

The incoming hordes concealed themselves beneath shadows and in boiling black fog, never to be seen again.

Glancing down the pit, the wolf noticed most of the Plague’s wounds had healed. It wouldn’t take long for the Plague to stir again.

[Experience…] As the level rose while devouring the hordes, the Plague crawled out from the pit and revealed itself. When it surveyed the area, it found itself engulfed in roaring black flames.

To the Plague, their hordes were both its army and an insurance policy. The swarms infused with the curse acted as a cache built over an extensive period. Therefore, they could not let them make contact. As long as Fear Incarnate surrounded them, the ooze wouldn’t be able to slip away easily. Conversely, no matter how many hordes came, they could not surpass Fear Incarnate.

While the Plague healed, the wolf didn’t just sit and watch.

Now it had nowhere to retreat to and no further ground to gain.

“―――!”

The melted ground. On the blackened earth, the two beasts charged towards their end, howling.

***

Even as the morning dawned, the pitch-black flames blazed, summoning forth night. The ominous flames, chilling parts of the heart, seemed to swallow even the light.

Hundreds of meters above, even from the highest floating islands, no one could tell what was happening within the black blaze.

Even the magic couldn’t sense beyond the black flames.

An unseen struggle pushed forward toward an inevitable end.

“……”

It was impossible to intervene directly. But perhaps, indirect assistance could be feasible. The sheer number of hordes was not just limited to Tehran, but could swarm all over eastern Iran.

But as they began to converge on the collapsed Tehran, the mages couldn’t help but tremble. Even for those who had long fought against the Plague, they’d never encountered anything like this.

A seemingly insignificant horde realized the crisis of their lord, and an unfathomable number began to converge.

This was irrefutable evidence that Marang was pressing the Plague.

“……”

The Square Masters readied for the approaching end, preparing spells they could cast at any moment. Their maximum magic—Great Magic.

If the Plague appeared from the retreating black flames, they would unleash their magic without hesitation. And as for Marang…

…the fight wasn’t over yet. In even the bleakest circumstances, Marang was still battling, just as the White Deer had said.

Would Marang consume the disaster, or would Marang be swallowed by the disaster?

The end of the battle was drawing near.

To that end, if healing their wounds could bring even a tiny bit of aid. Naturally, their gazes turned toward the White Deer.

Whether it sensed the mages’ focus, the White Deer casually gazed down below, maintaining its unbothered demeanor.

Yet there was a hint of concern in its eyes.

Didn’t it try to warn? Despite the warning, the wolf didn’t listen. As always, it refused to stop, continuing to press forward.

That whispered plea was something it had little desire to utter itself. No answer came in return. But the White Deer understood this stubbornness.

As if it hadn’t heard, it held onto the young dragon that was trying to swoop down and continued.

“Just because you shed once doesn’t mean everything will change dramatically. You can’t get involved in that fight.”

Neither the Plague nor the wolf could allow for any interference in their confrontation here. Besides, regardless of whether it could or not, the wolf wouldn’t want that. Especially not for someone as precious as this young dragon.

Noticing the young dragon’s somewhat dejected, sulky whimper, the White Deer turned its deep gaze to a spot not far away.

“Instead, we can do what we can.”

Yeah. They couldn’t get involved in the fight between the wolf and the Plague.

But stopping the horde was within the realm of possibility. Just as the mages directed their focus toward the summoned beasts, the White Deer’s gaze mirrored theirs, shifting toward the mages.

***

In this situation, the only girl who could see beyond Fear Incarnate was entranced by the struggle.

She never imagined they would come this far. She thought the wolf wouldn’t be able to bring it down. It seemed like a challenge too great to face.

There had been a significant gap between the wolf and the Plague when they faced the Butterfly of Covenant.

Indeed, there was still a monumental gap between the wolf and the Plague.

But was that how it really was? The wolf’s fangs were making contact with the Plague.

With the mages’ help, it had wounded and fatigued the beast, managing to bring forth creatures from the fantasy world.

They had come this far only by asking for help with the impossible task.

Yet even that aid, the very assistance that brought them to this point, was all results crafted by the wolf itself. Thanks to that, the wolf’s fangs were indeed making contact with the Plague.

There had been countless near-death experiences reaching this stage.

Battling the Butterfly of Covenant, nearly being devoured by Disease, and even facing the Plague to this day. But what truly mattered was that they were still alive.

Having danced along the fine line between life and death, her eyes contained no trace of hesitation.

She proceeded down a path where she risked her life without retreating.

Her ephemeral flames appeared utterly beautiful to the girl.

Long ago, there had been a time she too shone brightly.

She watched, entranced, as the hopes of the lost burned brightly like candlelight, illuminating themselves.

And so, the end slowly approaches.

***

While battling the Plague, the wolf felt it was challenging.

Their fangs were sharp enough to pierce each other. But to kill the Plague, one strike wouldn’t suffice. Even if it sank its teeth into the Void or burned it with Fear Incarnate, it wouldn’t die easily. Particularly not now, with the ooze draped over it.

Conversely, all it needed was a single opportunity. A fleeting moment to capture and crush. If the ooze touched it properly, there was no way it would survive. Not to mention, the Plague’s speed still far surpassed the wolf’s.

If it didn’t anticipate in advance, it wouldn’t be able to react. But conversely, if it had seen it coming, it meant it could fight too.

The gap had shrunk that much. Even though injuries could heal, lost stamina wouldn’t return so easily.

As the wolf weaved through the storm, driving away steam and soaring in a cage-like swirl of Fear Incarnate, it began to read the Plague’s movements.

The rapidly approaching tail of the Plague hurled ooze, and the moment it dodged, the wall of flames from Fear Incarnate ignited, scorching everything in an instant. The flames burned everything without leaving behind even steam, and the wolf immediately shot spines at it.

The hardened spines. Just like how the ooze consumed the flames from Fear Incarnate, the spines failed to penetrate the ooze and disintegrated.

Feeling a chill as the Plague crept closely behind, the wolf invoked the Void. The extending tentacles were swiftly devoured and charged towards the Plague.

Within that haze, the unseen wolf gruesomely tore at the Plague, but ended up dissolved into the ooze.

If the Void consumed the ooze, then the Deified Plague could similarly dissolve the Void.

However, the wolf still had its fangs. In the gaps of the ooze consumed by the Void, black flames roared to life, blazing fiercely in response to the wolf’s intent.

Screaming in agony, the long tail tried to swat the wolf away, but the wolf had already anticipated it and dodged as it destroyed the footholds, plunging downwards.

The ooze endlessly melted the ground, carving deep grooves. As the wolf fell into the bottomless pit, a treacherous gleam lit up in the Plague’s eyes.

Thinking it had made a tactical blunder trying to dodge the tail, the Plague concluded that falling below meant inevitable death. It jumped after the falling wolf, erasing even the last remnants of earth below.

Now it was a complete cliff with no place to stand.

The wolf’s shadow flickered upon the ground laden with ooze, but a much larger shadow loomed above.

The monster of catastrophe. The Plague was chasing after the falling wolf, intent on not letting it escape.

At that moment, the wolf fervently wished.

Even as it plunged down, it wished with all its might, still yearning as steams rose from the chasm below.

In no time, green gas had permeated the air. Within Fear Incarnate, only green gas flowed instead of air. The Plague sensed victory.

As the concentration of the gas thickened, the wind binding the wolf began to weaken. Just as it was about to extinguish, the chasm of ooze loomed ever closer, and the Plague felt an uncomfortable heat.

“―――?!”

The broad encirclement of Fear Incarnate began to shrink, adjusting to the wolf’s will, rather than vanishing…!

The pit was being shrouded by black flames. If Fear Incarnate had extinguished due to the amount of ooze, it would surge back with a greater fire. The flames surrounding the horde and the Plague had not merely aimed to separate them. The flames transformed into a raging inferno, closing in to incinerate everything under the weight of their steam.

It didn’t matter. The wolf would drop into the pit first. Within a place suffused with green gas, it couldn’t create any footholds with magic. If the wolf died, the black flames would go with it.

In that moment, the wolf began to melt slowly.

It wasn’t that it had fallen into the pit. It had relinquished the Void that had enveloped it, abandoning the winds that had sustained it. As the Void vanished, the green gas began to dissolve the wolf slowly.

To the Plague, it seemed the wolf had given up. It perceived it had no way to flee. It construed it as having resigned to death.

Just as that thought crossed its mind, something brushed the Plague’s cheek—air. But how? Here, where even breathing was a challenge, there was wind. A turbulent storm raged.

In a place devoid of atmosphere, the wind burst forth in green. Instead of air, green gas swirled everywhere.

The wolf’s entire body began to melt at an alarming rate. Neither Hardening nor Softening could protect it within the steam. Conversely, the steam inflicted no damage upon the Plague either. Logical results. The steam originated from the Deified Plague itself. Thus, the Plague assumed the wolf had succumbed.

At that moment, the wind exploded.

“――――――?!”

The Plague, wide-eyed, couldn’t believe it as the wolf surfaced just before plummeting into the void. The wolf, bursting through the green steam, realized it was already significantly eroded.

But that didn’t matter. No, it had to be this way…!

As the rising wolf and the falling Plague locked eyes at the same height, the Plague swung its tail and reached out its hand.

Quick and precise. Even though it was battered and fatigued by now, the dreadful beast was still alarmingly powerful. The moment it launched forth, its long tail narrowly missed the wolf, yet its remaining paw was still poised.

The Plague believed this was truly the end without a doubt.

It thought the wolf had no means of evading its claw. Yet what glimmered in the wolf’s eye was not resignation, but determination. A desperate resolve was etched in its fierce red gaze.

—Why?

The Plague’s hand never touched the wolf.

Because it simply didn’t exist.

The Plague just failed to realize that the Void had consumed it from the very start. As it descended, the wolf willingly melted into the steam to clear the way for that one outcome. —That was the only path to victory.

As it opened its jaw wide to devour the wolf, the Plague found only green steam brushing against its teeth.

The tortured and molted wolf vanished beyond the black flames, while the Plague plummeted into the depths of ooze that surged back up, soon smothered beneath a massive inferno.

 

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