Chapter 713 - 712: Nothing Was Going According to Plan

Chapter 713: Chapter 712: Nothing Was Going According to Plan

The healing energy surrounding Alicia suddenly began to weaken.

And the reason for that was Jasmine.

She hadn’t realized it herself, but ever since hearing that familiar voice, her attention had been completely drawn toward the face protruding from Ailetta’s body.

How could she possibly forget that voice?

For so long, she’d convinced herself that the friend she’d once known was dead. That whatever remained of her had been devoured by the monster now carrying her name.

And although accepting that reality had been painful, Jasmine had eventually forced herself to come to terms with it.

But now?

Now that she’d seen her friend’s face and heard her voice again, how was she supposed to continue believing that?

Ailetta was still alive.

Somehow, the monster hadn’t managed to completely devour her, and judging by the desperation in her warning, she was still struggling against whatever had imprisoned her.

The realization brought with it a mixture of emotions that Jasmine could barely contain.

Relief at discovering that her friend might still be alive, anger toward the creature responsible for her suffering, and above all else, an overwhelming desire to free her.

In that regard, perhaps Jasmine wasn’t so different from Bailey after all.

She’d never stopped hating the monster that had taken Ailetta away from them. The only difference was that she’d accepted her inability to do anything about it.

If she’d possessed the strength to kill that creature, she would’ve done so long ago.

And now that she knew her friend might still be saved, that desire had only become stronger.

So much so that she’d completely forgotten about Alicia.

The person whose life she’d been struggling to preserve was still lying before her, her condition far too severe for the healing to be interrupted.

Yet Jasmine could think of little else besides freeing her friend.

Even Ailetta’s warning seemed to have lost its importance.

After all, how could she possibly abandon her now that she knew there might still be a chance to save her?

And Jasmine wasn’t the only one struggling with the implications of what they’d witnessed.

But before anyone could act upon their own thoughts, the monster’s expression began to change.

Ailetta was frowning, her frustration clearly written across her face.

The troublesome remnant of the human soul she’d been trying to devour had somehow gained enough strength to resist. Enough to the point that it could now take control of parts of her body.

This wasn’t what she wanted at all.

Ailetta needed to become stronger. Strong enough to shoulder Noah’s burdens and become the one he relied upon above everyone else.

Yet her human self was still holding her back. And this time, with how things were going, she would either have to concede to the soul and let the humans go, or risk damaging her own soul as the two consciousnesses clashed for control.

Everything was going wrong, even her plan with Ishii.

Why did he take so long to decide to take in Noah’s aura? If he did, he wouldve been able to complete the transformation and would’ve been a proper monster.

Would the humans let him live among them if that happened?

Even if he retained his sanity, there was little reason to believe that they would trust him after becoming a monster due to Noah’s power.

Which meant that Ishii would have very few places left to go.

And considering his relationship with Noah, surely joining him would be among his most reasonable options.

It was an outcome Ailetta would’ve welcomed, especially since she wouldn’t have to convince Ishii to make that decision herself.

All of this was in preparation for what she wanted to do.

As long as Ishii and Paul survived, would Noah really care if she killed everyone else?

She had hoped preserving their lives would be enough to keep him satisfied. Unfortunately, Malachi had ruined that opportunity before she could take advantage of it.

She hoped that even after saving him, Ishii would still feel that same desire to continue the transformation, but looking at him, his gaze no longer held that desperate hunger. His body only retained partial, unfinished markings.

There was still time to fix this. Ailetta only needed to hold control long enough to kill one of them that was important to her human side. But for now she had to deal with the monster Noah’s aura had created.

At the very least, she had to stop its advance.

The shadow was particularly difficult to deal with. That would be even more so for anyone who didn’t have magical abilities like her and Arachne.

But Ailetta wasn’t too concerned. For now...

Thanks to all of the energy she absorbed from the holy field, she still had ample time to resume her transformation. And because of that, her two shadow guardians were still in their transformed state.

Both had returned to her shadow as her own shadow advanced toward Malachi.

Interestingly enough, the entity lurking within Malachi’s shadow seemed to recognize the danger approaching it.

Despite how terrifying it had been to Ishii and the others, it was now the one retreating, withdrawing toward Malachi as though it had no intention of confronting whatever was hiding within Ailetta’s shadow.

And almost as soon as it did, every eye scattered across Malachi’s body suddenly turned toward her.

It was as though he had only just recognized her existence as a threat.

Of course, it wasn’t Ailetta’s strength alone that made her so dangerous.

There was also the extraordinary amount of holy energy she possessed.

And judging by the feral growls beginning to escape Malachi’s enormous maw, that particular detail had managed to provoke an entirely different reaction from him.

Unlike the creature within his shadow, Malachi showed no intention of retreating.

If anything, the hatred he felt toward the angel who had abandoned him seemed to have overwhelmed what little rationality he had remaining.

It didn’t matter that the holy energy belonged to someone else.

As far as Malachi was concerned, anyone possessing that familiar power was deserving of his revenge.

And so, without paying Ishii the slightest bit of attention, he prepared to rush toward Ailetta instead.

However, he never managed to take more than a step.

Several piercing pains suddenly erupted across his body, forcing his attention toward the direction they had originated from.

Yet by the time his eyes settled upon the source, there was little more than a fleeting silhouette moving away from him.

And before he could properly determine what had happened, that same silhouette suddenly moved again.

This time, Malachi wasn’t completely unprepared.

An enormous mouth emerged from the side of his body, opening wide as it attempted to intercept the approaching figure.

Even the entity within his shadow seemed to recognize what was happening, extending itself toward the position where it anticipated the figure would step.

But neither of their attempts accomplished anything.

Several more wounds appeared across Malachi’s body, each considerably deeper than those inflicted during the initial attack.

And once again, the figure responsible disappeared before either of them could retaliate.

Only this time, it didn’t remain hidden for very long.

Almost immediately afterward, the mysterious figure appeared directly above Malachi, bringing its appendages down upon his head with enough force to smash his enormous body into the ground.

It was only then that the others finally caught a glimpse of the individual responsible.

Arachne.

And considering her relationship with Ailetta, it wasn’t particularly difficult to understand why she’d chosen to intervene.

As someone who shared her place at Noah’s side, Arachne was well aware of what Ailetta wanted to accomplish.

And if taking care of Malachi would allow her to concentrate on those matters, then Arachne was more than willing to handle the troublesome creature herself.

Fortunately, that task didn’t appear to be particularly difficult for her.

Even after Malachi’s latest transformation, she seemed capable of overwhelming him without exerting much effort.

But that didn’t mean she could afford to be careless.

Almost immediately after forcing Malachi into the ground, Arachne launched herself into the air, narrowly avoiding an enormous mouth that suddenly erupted from under her.

Its jaws closed around the position she’d occupied only moments earlier. Yet despite having avoided the attack, Arachne seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

After all, even with the amount of damage she’d inflicted, Malachi was already beginning to rise.

It almost appeared as though her physical attacks hadn’t accomplished much.

However, that impression didn’t last.

As Malachi struggled to his feet, several agonized cries erupted from all of his mouths.

The wounds Arachne had inflicted were considerably larger than they had initially appeared, particularly those created by the serrated edges of her appendages.

But their size was hardly what caused his suffering.

It was the poison she’d left behind.

Already, the flesh surrounding those injuries had begun to deteriorate, bubbling uncontrollably as portions of Malachi’s body gradually melted away and fell to the ground.

Even the mouths scattered across his flesh seemed unwilling to approach the affected areas.

His aura intensified in an attempt to push the venom out, or at the very least, stop it from spreading. He didn’t realize until it was too late that the venom fed on his mana, increasing the rate at which it spread through him.

The damage it was doing was accumulating. He couldn’t risk letting Arachne attack him again. It would only be a matter of time before his body would fail.

Naturally, seeing him in pain pleased Arachne.

Although there wasn’t much satisfaction to be gained from defeating a creature weaker than herself, she couldn’t help feeling unusually proud of what she’d accomplished.

After all, it had been quite some time since she’d encountered an opponent against whom her poison could demonstrate its full effectiveness.

Arachne was going to continue her attack. Noah didn’t order them to keep any of their enemies alive. She preferred to keep everything simple.

Malachi didn’t understand how much danger he was in. But his shadow did.

And it was at this time that the shadow finally decided to reveal itself. Just not in the way anyone would expect.

All they saw was the shadow widen until it was wider, centered entirely under Malachi, and then a mouth larger than his entire body came out to eat him whole without warning.