Becoming a Monster

Chapter 501: Chapter 500: Explain Yourself

The tigerkin watched in silence as Noah returned. Ethaniel’s body was tossed to the ground like it weighed nothing at all. The sound of his body hitting the earth felt far heavier than it should have.

There was no care at all, not a bit of respect for his opponents.

For a brief moment, something flashed within the tigerkin’s eyes.

Anger.

It came and went just as quickly, swallowed almost instantly by the fear that followed in its wake. Because no matter what he felt, no matter what he wanted to do, the reality of the situation didn’t change.

There was nothing he could do.

That same helplessness settled over him again, pressing down on him until whatever resistance he had left faded.

Even still, he glanced over to the others. They were all busy watching Noah. His gaze searched for the one monster that he had to tread carefully with the most.

Kratos.

Since they told him what he must do, they didn’t hold him captive as a hostage would. This should’ve been a relief, a way that said that his value was needed.

But the tigerkin thought of it differently. He didn’t believe these monsters trusted him. Nor did they truly need him. Even without bondage, he was still a hostage, one that they would still kill if given a chance.

Kratos gave him the impression that it would use any excuse to put him out of his misery. It was because of Kratos that he never moved, even when he was allowed.

But now, with no one paying close attention to him, he urged his body to move despite his fear as he approached Ethaniel.

Slowly, cautiously, he reached out and pulled Ethaniel closer, supporting his unconscious body as he checked over him as best as he could. His condition was bad, but not fatal, and that alone brought a small, conflicted sense of relief.

At the same time, his thoughts couldn’t help but wander.

Just what had happened to him?

Ethaniel had gotten away long before their battle had escalated, yet he had still been caught and brought back like this.

Did he save Gwen?

Did he even try? Did he use the fact that she was taken away as a farce to escape by himself?

’Damnit...’

The curse remained trapped within his thoughts as his grip tightened slightly. The fact that Noah had returned with only Ethaniel, not Gwen, made his chest tighten.

No matter how he looked at it, there was only one conclusion that continued to surface.

Ethaniel had left her behind.

The thought didn’t sit well with him, but before he could dwell on it any further, his attention was pulled away.

Noah was about to do something.

The tigerkin’s gaze shifted as he watched him approach the bodies of the fallen adventurers, and what followed made it impossible to look away, no matter how much he wanted to.

Noah began removing their cores.

There was no ceremony to it, no acknowledgment that they had loved ones or cared for their deathly expressions etched on their face at the moment of their death. It was disturbingly familiar.

Because it was no different from what they had done.

The tigerkin had seen it countless times before, and he had taken part in it himself. They hunted monsters, took their useful parts, and whatever remained was discarded or repurposed, depending on its value. Nothing was wasted if it could be used.

Now, he was watching that same process being done to them.

No, almost.

His eyes shifted as he noticed something that didn’t align with the rest.

Noah had left Roy and Samuel, the knight, untouched.

Even then, the sight in front of him was enough to unsettle him, because the way Noah handled the bodies made it clear that they weren’t going to be discarded either.

—

Meanwhile, Noah still hadn’t spoken.

While deciding what to do with the bodies, his thoughts extended beyond them, shifting toward Ethaniel and what could be done with him in a way that would satisfy him without wasting his soul’s potential.

It was only after he decided what he was going to do with the two untouched bodies that he smiled inside.

He had found the perfect solution.

His creatures picked up on it almost immediately. Their focus narrowed onto him as they watched his every movement, trying to understand what he had decided.

But Noah didn’t give them anything yet.

Reaching down, he picked up the bearkin’s core and turned it slightly in his hand. Out of all of them, its soul carried the least impact, lacking the same presence the others had shown even in death.

If it had been a human, he would have chosen this one for Diablo’s resurrection over the old man without hesitation.

Its ability was called Ursine Regression.

Even the name reflected its nature.

Noah couldn’t see the full structure of the skill, but the intent behind it was clear enough from what he sensed and observed during the fight.

The closer the user was pushed toward death, the more the ability shifted its focus from offense to survivability, reinforcing the body in ways that prioritized endurance while lowering combat power.

It was similar to Fenrir’s innate trait that strengthened his exoskeleton the more damage he took.

He could have used the soul to create another Fallen.

There were still dogs within their territory that would have been compatible with such a trait, and then there was Kratos, who had yet to receive anything at all despite everything he had done for him.

Under normal circumstances, that would have been enough to decide its use.

But things were no longer normal.

After this encounter, it was only a matter of time before they faced opponents that were both stronger and greater in number, and with that in mind, Noah could no longer afford to spread his resources evenly.

His strongest had to become stronger.

And even then, they would only receive what aligned with them.

He no longer forced himself to weigh every option the way he once had, because something had changed even more after his spirit and soul became stronger.

Now, when he held a skill in mind and considered where it should go, the answer came to him naturally, without hesitation or doubt.

As if his soul itself understood what would lead each of them toward their best possible form, even when he couldn’t fully explain why.

There was no logic in trusting something like that blindly.

But rejecting it felt worse. It felt like denying something fundamental to what he was.

So he didn’t question it.

He crystallized the core with his blood.

The moment his blood touched it, the forest itself seemed to stir. The scent that spread outward carried far beyond what he had ever experienced before.

Creatures in the distance cried out, their calls overlapping until no one could hear their own thoughts.

Even his own creatures reacted differently. They shifted where they stood. There was hesitation, but beneath it was something far more dangerous.

Temptation.

The strongest reaction came from Arachne’s spawn.

They were creatures born into obedience, bound by instinct and hierarchy, yet even that wasn’t enough to suppress what they were feeling now.

One by one, they edged closer, their movements twitching as if they were trying to restrain themselves and failing all the same.

One of them let the temptation completely take over.

It lunged towards the core in Noah’s hand.

Arachne moved before anyone could even react.

She had the strength to restrain it and drag it back into place, yet that wasn’t what happened. Her limbs blurred as she appeared in front of it.

The spawn’s head was pierced clean through before it could even register what had happened.

The motion didn’t stop there, because in the same instant, she severed it completely, the body collapsing before she followed through and destroyed the heart within its thorax.

There was no hesitation in her actions.

She, too, was enchanted by Noah’s blood, enough to the point that she had lost herself in the moment.

But there was no confusion in what the spawn had attempted.

Punishment by death was the only mercy it deserved.

And if it had aimed for Noah instead of the core, she wouldn’t have stopped at one. She would have torn through the rest without hesitation to ensure that nothing else could repeat the same offense and start all over again.

—

Noah wasn’t prepared for any of the events that happened next.

He set aside what he was doing immediately, his attention shifting fully to what was happening around him as he took in each of their reactions.

None of them was unaffected. Not even the strongest among them.

”Ailetta... what’s going on?”

He directed the question to the one person who would understand it best, but even as he spoke, he could see that her focus wasn’t entirely on him. Her eyes were unfocused for moments after his question before settling again.

It was then that she focused on his face instead of his hand.

”...Darling...”

She didn’t answer right away. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

From Noah’s perspective, it was the look of someone who was tired of dealing with something that should have been obvious.

”How about you explain what happened to your blood?”