Becoming a Monster

Chapter 626: Chapter 625: Evil Devil

What exactly was a devil?

Morvyr couldn’t exactly answer that.

Everything he knew came from ancient records, many of which contained little more than fragmented descriptions of beings that supposedly originated from a realm separate from their own.

Even the demons had once known surprisingly little about them.

Much of what they now understood had come from records taken from humans, whose ancestors apparently possessed far more knowledge about devils and the realm they originated from.

It was only after combining those records with their own that demons gradually formed a clearer understanding of what devils were supposed to be.

That accumulated knowledge was also what allowed Morvyr to accept the possibility that Noah truly was one.

Physically, there were inconsistencies.

Noah didn’t possess every characteristic described in the ancient records as associated with devils. Everything else, however, fit the fabled descriptions far too well, which allowed Morvyr to gradually accept it.

But as Morvyr stared at Kratos, the creature looked frighteningly similar to the ancient descriptions.

Two massive horns curved upward from his head, while an enormous pair of wings had emerged from his back. His already dark body had become nearly pitch-black, with glowing violet lines spreading between his scales.

Dark green markings covered his forearms, glowing brightly against the black scales, while several sharp protrusions extended from them.

Looking at the creature, Morvyr struggled to understand.

Kratos hadn’t looked anything like this when Morvyr first saw him. Somehow, during the short time the creature had been away, the devil was able to make another devil…

“Just…”

Morvyr’s voice trailed off.

He couldn’t find the words to describe what he was feeling anymore.

Morvyr had been standing outside the entire time. Not once did he see Noah step out, and somehow he was able to accomplish all of this?

If the devil told him that he could make creatures stronger with just a thought, Morvyr had half a mind to believe it.

His curiosity toward Noah had already been difficult to suppress before any of this happened.

Now, Morvyr couldn’t suppress it any longer.

He might not be welcomed inside the devil’s lair, but that didn’t mean there was no one else he could question.

His attention returned to Gwen. Moryvr didn’t expect to learn everything from her. From their earlier discussion, she gave the impression that she didn’t want to discuss the devil’s affairs.

Moryvr couldn’t be upset about that; every gold underling should have that much loyalty. As long as he could gain any bit of information, it was fine with him.

Gwen wasn’t oblivious to Morvyr’s intentions when she felt his piercing stare. Inwardly, she sighed; she could already feel another headache coming on.

She wasn’t in the mood to talk, especially when her own mind was in chaos. Her soul was directly connected to Pandora’s; she could clearly feel Pandora’s growth. And knowing exactly what was happening didn’t make her feel any better.

It was still hard for her to digest experiencing a dryad somehow bypassing centuries of years of growth in minutes. It would be different if this was just an ordinary tree. But this was a dryad, a creature whose ability and power were tied directly to its age.

If Pandora’s growth stayed on the same pace as she experienced so far, wouldn’t she become as powerful as her kingdom’s ancient dryad within Gwen’s lifetime?

Morvyr was oblivious to Gwen’s thoughts. He was more focused on getting his questions answered; even if he knew that she didn’t want to talk, he would’ve questioned her anyway.

However, he had barely taken his first few steps toward her when a furious roar suddenly erupted nearby.

“Little devil! You’re finally out! What have you done with my wi-“

Bolas’s voice was loud enough to draw everyone’s attention. Even those who were supposed to be working paused what they were doing.

Yet the outburst ended just as abruptly as it began.

For some reason, the drake had stopped mid-sentence.

The sudden change would’ve normally drawn Morvyr’s attention. A moment ago, the drake had sounded furious enough that Morvyr expected a confrontation to break out.

But the elf was more concerned about who the drake was yelling at. There could only be one person referred to as ‘little devil’.

Morvyr was far too interested in Noah to pay much attention to the drake’s suspicious silence.

His gaze snapped toward the entrance. He was ready to approach and inquire about what happened. As long as he focused on addressing Noah’s well-being, he was sure that the devil would reveal something.

Moryvr’s feet had already begun to carry him toward Noah before his mind finally caught on that something was wrong.

It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t notice Noah’s change quickly enough. At first glance, Noah didn’t appear that different from before.

Before leaving, slime had already spread over every part of his body, covering most of the changes underneath and recreating the appearance Morvyr had grown accustomed to seeing.

With Noah’s new bloodline becoming even stronger than his Abyssalith genes, his body was no longer primarily composed of slime. Flesh, blood, and organs once again made up the majority of his physical body.

However, that didn’t mean he had lost what made his slime body so useful.

The slime had instead become something closer to a second body that existed alongside his physical one. Noah could spread it across himself until every inch of flesh was hidden underneath, reshape that outer layer however he wanted, or draw it deeper into his body whenever the need arose.

Even losing part of his physical body wouldn’t necessarily mean losing it permanently.

If an organ was destroyed, slime could temporarily take its place. The same applied to a severed limb or other missing portions of his body. Given enough time, Noah could gradually convert the slime filling that absence into actual flesh, effectively rebuilding what he had lost.

Doing so came with a price. Any slime permanently converted into his physical body would take its mana with it, reducing the amount Noah could normally dedicate toward his slime.

But even that loss wasn’t necessarily permanent.

As long as Noah eventually replenished what had been consumed, his slime could return to its previous amount.

In a strange way, this new change had only made Noah even stronger. If he fought a foe focused on physical attacks, or mana abilities that relied on physical force, he could switch to his slime body to fight.

And now, when he fought enemies who focused on pure elemental attacks or, most recently, holy power, he could switch to his flesh body, reducing their effectiveness against him.

That flexibility had uses outside of battle as well.

It was precisely why Morvyr hadn’t noticed anything strange about Noah at first.

The slime covering his body had hidden nearly every change Noah had no intention of revealing. Noah wanted to trust Morvyr enough to consider him an ally, but their relationship hadn’t reached the point where he was comfortable revealing too much information.

This was especially the case when Morvyr still had to prove himself as an ally. The information wasn’t enough, because even now, Noah had not obtained any information about them that could be used against them.

But Morvyr’s understanding of the limits of his strength could prove detrimental to their home. Only if he could witness Morvyr risking his life in the upcoming fight could Noah decide to risk not hiding so much.

Unfortunately, there were a few things he couldn’t reasonably conceal.

His horns, tail, and wings were permanent parts of himself that he couldn’t get rid of.

And as Morvyr continued approaching, his steps gradually slowed when he finally noticed the new details.

Bolas, however, had noticed the moment Noah had stepped into view.

No, that wasn’t right. Bolas hadn’t even noticed the horns or the tail. In fact, the drake was even unconcerned with Noah’s even more powerful presence.

Like every creature among the five directly connected to him, Bolas should’ve easily sensed Noah’s growth. After all, a portion of that strength was shared with him.

Yet Bolas was blinded to it all. Instead, his eyes were hyperfocused on Noah’s wings.

At first, he looked betrayed. It didn’t take long for that betrayal to turn into jealousy, and from there, into an almost deranged indignation.

“Yo- you… you…”

Bolas couldn’t get out what he wanted to say.

You stole my wings?

That was genuinely what it felt like.

As ridiculous as the thought was, Bolas couldn’t stop himself from reaching that conclusion. He had lost his wings, suffered the pain of once again feeling like a lesser drake, and now Noah suddenly walked out of his lair with a pair of authentic draconic wings.

Yet just as the accusation was about to leave his mouth, enough reason returned for Bolas to realize how ridiculous it would sound.

Noah obviously hadn’t stolen his wings.

But the timing was simply too cruel. And he knew that Noah had a hand in it.

Without knowing exactly how he could place blame on Noah only made it worse.

“Little Devil! No…” Bolas’s expression twisted as his voice rose even louder. “You evil devil! How could you do this to me? Give them back! Give me back my wings!”

Noah barely made it outside before being accused of something he had no clue about.

His confused gaze shifted from Bolas’s face to his back before realization dawned on him.

“Oh…”