Noah’s decision to immediately head to the mall was swift. His sudden reaction took the others off guard.
Mark and the others have been waiting for him all this time to finish what he was doing before they even thought of approaching him. Not just out of respect, but also from the fear of his power.
At least if they waited for him, they hoped for Noah to consider their actions when they finally addressed him and what he planned to do. And unlike the others, Mark wanted Noah for something else.
But that all changed when they noticed Noah’s aura turn into something dangerous. Not just him, but his creatures were moving towards their base as if they were on a mission. Not once did Noah look their way to show that he was going to address them or even acknowledge that they were waiting patiently and respectfully for him all this time.
It wasn’t hard to tell that Noah was in a hurry, that whatever must’ve happened put Noah in a bad mood. And it was because of this that made them hesitate to proceed with their plans to confront him.
"Noah, wait!" Mark gritted his teeth as he worked up the courage to speak out. He couldn’t let Noah enter the base unattended.
Mark could already foresee the people that hoarded the shop’s wares standing in Noah’s way. He didn’t care for those certain individuals, not anymore, but there were still innocent people within that didn’t deserve to die.
As he called out, Mark selfishly rushed out to intercept them. His closest friends followed behind them.
This time, Noah didn’t continue to ignore their presence, but his pace didn’t stop either. It was until they began to get too close and his creatures’ bodies tensed up, ready to attack, that he finally stopped.
"Mark..." Noah finally stopped, his hand raised to signal for his creatures to stop as he impatiently addressed the person who just couldn’t understand that they didn’t want to speak to them. Follow current novels on novel-fire.ɴet
"I hope you don’t have any funny ideas that we are allies. There’s nothing I have that you need to discuss with me or Le about. We are only here for the shop. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. My patience isn’t the best right now."
Mark immediately halted in place. His mind in disarray as he struggled to put together a series of words. Noah had squashed almost anyway to build up to asking for Noahs’ mercy when it came to the innocent civilians. Noah denied the option for small talk, and he already stated the reason he was there. Mark didn’t believe that he could suddenly just tell Noah not to kill innocent people. He didn’t believe that Noah would take his words kindly, not when it sounded as an order.
Mark looked back to the others who followed them, he didn’t want to risk their lives, not after they were able to survive such a battle where surviving was nothing short of a miracle.
His eyes finally settled on Jasmine. Locking eyes with her, he steeled himself.
"Let me at least take you there. If I lead the way, I can at least help you to avoid the hassle like last time. Especially since you are in a hurry."
His words caused a string of commotion behind him.
Noah’s eyes squinted while the mumblings didn’t escape his ears. He could hear them telling Mark that he was crazy to follow him alone, that he couldn’t be trusted, and how dangerous he was now.
The chaotic murmurs were no less than insults, ones that pricked at Noah’s nerves, especially since he thought he would never have to experience something again.
"Mark, you should have at least asked him how he was doing. We haven’t seen him for nearly two days. And Ailetta too, I already felt terrible when we left without saying anything."
But then there was someone who spoke that made him realize that not everyone was as annoying.
Noah took the time to actually look towards that one speaker among many.
He saw a more mature Ishii. He was still sincere, and his honesty never changed, but Noah could tell that his naivety was long gone.
Noah had to remind himself that not all humans were self-centered parasites. However, as he listened to the bickering and hushed murmurs of the rest, he lost interest in maintaining a harmonious relationship with people.
In Noah’s eyes, there were four types of humans: those like Mark, who were selfless in nature, but only when the situation was centered around their ideals. Then there were the vile and narcissistic humans like the humans who sent the others to fight to benefit from their sacrifices with no remorse for their deaths.
Then there were the pathetic ones, the worst version of parasites among them, those that didn’t have a hint of self- preservation within them and could only live and think due to someone else’s efforts.
And finally, there were the rare few like Ishii. Someone who remained true, even when the people around him, no...even when the world demanded otherwise.
Noah didn’t hate humans, but he was certain now, he hated at least 99% of them.
He simply inhaled deeply, and without another word he turned his back to them.
If they feared him, so be it. If they resented him, even better.
Because Noah had no intentions of ever lowering himself to reach for their acceptance again.
Mark quickly noticed Noah walking briskly ahead. He gave up trying to reason with the others as he dashed towards them. This time, he wasn’t trying to stop them, as long as he was able to follow them to the shop, he believed that he could prevent a scenario where innocents would have to die.
His plan was sound, but it didn’t go the way he planned.
Kratos, in particular, didn’t find someone approaching them kindly. Just his glare alone was enough to warn Mark that he shouldn’t get any closer without Noah’s permission.
Mark’s fist clenched, his bones cracked enough the pressure to keep himself in check.
Mark wasn’t nearly as stupid as before. Despite his urgent desire to follow Noah, he wasn’t naive enough to test his patience, let alone his new creature who was far stronger after what Noah had done to it.
Never once did Noah look back. Mark truly felt defeated, anxiety gripped him far more than when his life was at risk. Even he wasn’t aware that his panicking was abnormal in this situation.
But suddenly he noticed that Noah’s group stopped. Standing by Noah’s side was Ailetta who had just finished speaking to him.
Noah only spared him a brief glance before he cleared up the confusion.
"Well? Lead the way," Noah said, as if he was waiting for Mark all this time. "However, you want to get me there is up to you. Once I get what I came for then I’ll be gone. However, much bloodshed that can be avoided will be entirely up to you."
Mark stood there dumbfounded for only a moment, yet his brain was processing everything.
This time he understood that Noah was much more dangerous than before. He just couldn’t understand if it was because Noah was being influenced from becoming a monster.
But he wasn’t spared the time to process his thoughts, Noah was on the move again, but he was at least walking slower than before to allow Mark to make his decision.
There wasn’t a decision to be made. Mark was ready. However, he looked towards the others first who stared towards him with mixed emotions.
"Well? You heard him. If you want to follow me then you can, but I’m going either way."
He wanted to wait to see who would join him, but he didn’t have the time to spare. Before he sped towards Noah, his gaze only slightly lingered on his sister. He had assumed that she would be overstricken with depression from being ignored by Ailetta again; he wouldn’t blame her if she decided not to follow.
But when his eyes met hers, he saw something he didn’t expect, determination.
She didn’t say anything, she simply began to run towards him to follow silently by his side.
Her action triggered those around her. Ishii was the next to follow, and then Isabelle. Soon, the entire gang of college students were back together again.
Seeing the people leave that everyone viewed as their leaders racing behind Noah, they too mustered the will to follow along. Many of them wanted to follow for different reasons. Some out of temporary loyalty, others respect, many, fear.
However, all of them had one thing in common, they all wanted someone to lead them, to think for them, to allow themselves to not have to carry their own burdens.
But something happened the moment they all decided to blindly follow. A wall of flames intercepted their advance.
Their confusion was amplified by their fear.
It was only when Levi stepped between them and the walls of flames that they began to calm down.
"No one else will follow them. If you want to be useful, then help by retrieving the rest of the chest. Don’t forget, zombies aren’t our only enemies. If we can, we also need to burn all of the bodies here or an even greater disaster would come." Levi’s eyes glimmered as the memories of the swarms of insects vividly entered his memories.