Becoming a Monster

Chapter 629: Chapter 628: A Little Provocation

Fenrir had already made up his mind.

Noah had given Kratos something while he was away.

The changes to the Kaiju alone were enough for Fenrir to reach that conclusion, but once his attention moved toward the others, whatever doubts remained easily disappeared.

Diablo, Ava, and even Eve had undergone major changes from the time he was gone.

Noah had definitely given them something.

Instead of immediately approaching him, however, Fenrir’s gaze began searching through everyone gathered nearby.

He was looking for someone.

His gaze passed over everyone, then again, before eventually settling on Ailetta.

Fenrir approached her instead of Noah.

He slowed once he was close, taking a moment to examine the Queen after noticing something strange about her.

At first, he couldn’t tell whether anything about her had changed. The few new traces of gold across her body meant little to Fenrir. A change in appearance didn’t necessarily mean she had become stronger.

The eye within her chest was closed as well, preventing him from experiencing the difference Noah had discovered earlier.

Yet, something about her unsettled him, causing the beast to rudely examine her a bit longer. It was only then that he finally recognized what the subtle presence was.

Holy energy.

Fenrir’s undead nature made the adverse energy particularly easy for him to notice.

Even she grew stronger.

By now, his suspicions were becoming increasingly difficult to deny.

Fenrir straightened when Ailetta’s main eyes eventually focused on him.

“Where is she?”

His voice naturally came out harsher than the question warranted, but Ailetta thought nothing of it. Fenrir still wasn’t accustomed to speaking, especially while remaining in his beast form.

Besides, with all the eyes covering her body, Ailetta had witnessed his entire exchange with Kratos.

She knew exactly who he was looking for.

“She’s in there.” Ailetta pointed toward the building behind her.

Fenrir’s gaze followed her finger.

Of course she was.

He had gone hunting for a short while, only to return and discover that Noah had apparently given everyone something that made them stronger. If Arachne had been here for it, Fenrir knew there was no possibility she would’ve allowed herself to be left out.

If anything, knowing her, she probably would’ve made sure she was first.

He stared at the building for several seconds before looking back at Ailetta.

“Did Noah give her something too?”

Ailetta’s lips gradually curved into a smile.

“If you’re asking whether she received the same thing the others and I did, then yes.”

That was all Fenrir needed to hear.

Before he could turn toward the building, however, the sound of hurried footsteps approached from nearby.

Eve had apparently overheard enough of their conversation to understand what they were talking about. She quickly ran over, but it was the expression on Ailetta’s face that caused her own eyes to brighten with mischief.

Eve knew that look.

More importantly, she recognized one of the rare opportunities to be bad without necessarily being the one blamed for starting it.

“Noah said not to disturb her,” Eve quickly added. “She’s still changing.”

Fenrir’s attention immediately returned to the building.

That alone would’ve been enough to bother him, but Eve wasn’t finished.

“She’s going to be really strong when she comes out.” Eve’s eyes moved over Fenrir before she innocently tilted her head. “Probably stronger than you now.”

She immediately looked up at Ailetta. “Right?”

The expectation in her eyes couldn’t have been more obvious.

Unfortunately for Eve, Ailetta understood her mischievous tendencies better than Eve probably understood them herself.

Ailetta wasn’t about to say anything that could somehow be repeated to Noah later and traced back to her.

“Who knows?” Her smile widened slightly. “Arachne hasn’t finished changing yet.”

She hadn’t agreed with Eve. But she certainly hadn’t denied it either.

Fenrir’s attention slowly moved between the two of them.

Something was wrong.

They were obviously trying to provoke him. Ailetta’s lack of attempt to hide her amused smile made that clear enough, but Eve was the main reason Fenrir refused to immediately believe what they were implying.

He had already learned what kind of creature the little vampire was.

Eve behaved herself whenever Noah was around, but the moment he wasn’t paying attention, she became a source of trouble for practically anyone who competed with her for his attention.

Even worse, she was almost impossible to do anything about.

Fenrir couldn’t retaliate against her the same way he could Kratos or Arachne, and Eve knew it.

Yet strangely enough, Eve was also the reason Fenrir couldn’t completely dismiss what she said.

The vampire didn’t need to lie to cause trouble.

Sometimes the truth stung far more than any fabricated story meant to mislead him, and Fenrir didn’t doubt for a second that Eve would happily use it if she knew it would bother him more.

His gaze returned to the building.

Everyone else had already finished, yet Noah had specifically told them not to disturb her because her transformation was still ongoing.

If Arachne was still changing, wouldn’t that mean whatever was happening to her was more significant?

And if it was more significant, wouldn’t she become even stronger once it was finished?

Fenrir didn’t want to believe either of them; he had finally overcome them all, he couldn’t take losing his position as the strongest so fast. Yet the longer he thought about it, the more he found himself unintentionally strengthening their argument for them.

He didn’t understand.

He had left for one hunt.

How had so much happened without him?

Fenrir stared toward the building again, his earlier desire to see Arachne now mixed with an irritation that made his claws press harder against the ground.

Eve watched him for several seconds before the smile she had been fighting finally began to show.

Ailetta’s attention shifted toward her.

Only a short while ago, Eve had been crying. Seeing the little vampire already causing trouble again was at least enough to show Ailetta how much she had recovered from what happened earlier.

Her smile softened.

Before Eve could react, Ailetta reached down and pinched both of her cheeks.

“Alright, silly girl. Let’s behave for now.”

Eve’s amusement immediately disappeared as she glared up at her.

Ailetta ignored the look entirely before returning her attention to Fenrir.

“And don’t think about it too much. Noah already told Bolas to gather everyone.” She released Eve’s cheeks. “You’ll get your chance soon, just like we did.”

—

Fenrir didn’t need to hear more to understand, but now his problem was that he had to wait.

Fortunately, his patience didn’t have to be tested for long. There was someone even more impatient than he was, and that person had made sure to gather everyone as quickly as possible.

What was about to happen was supposed to be a good thing, and yet some of the creatures being gathered looked nearly scared out of their wits.

Bolas was practically out of his mind.

If anyone hesitated for even a second after being called, the drake’s attention immediately locked onto them. His aura would follow soon afterward, carrying enough undisguised anger and faint killing intent to make it abundantly clear that standing around wasn’t an option.

And if that somehow wasn’t enough, Bolas used his flames.

He never released them quickly enough to actually catch anyone. The miasmic flames approached slowly, giving even the weaker creatures plenty of time to realize what was happening and move out of the way.

That didn’t make the experience any less terrifying.

The moment those flames appeared, an overwhelming sense of dread followed. Whatever hesitation the creatures possessed disappeared immediately as they rushed toward the gathering area. Some used their skills to ensure they arrived faster than the others.

The flames would eventually reach the ground behind them, where they continued burning without any sign of naturally extinguishing. Left alone, the miasmic fire would’ve continued consuming whatever it could use as fuel until nothing remained.

Thankfully, Bolas hadn’t completely lost his mind.

His newly changed ability allowed him to absorb the flames back into himself, and he made sure to do exactly that before they could cause any actual damage.

He might’ve been desperate enough to terrorize everyone into moving faster, but he wasn’t desperate enough to destroy Noah’s territory in the process.

More importantly, he wasn’t about to do anything that might upset the one person currently offering him a chance to regain his wings.

If Noah told Bolas to gather everyone, then everyone was going to be gathered.

Preferably five minutes ago.

–

Within minutes, all of Noah’s creatures were there.

Almost everyone.

They had to wait a little longer after Bolas realized that, in his rush, he had completely forgotten about Ophis.

For Morvyr, this was the first time he was able to properly see the entirety of the devil’s forces gathered in one place.

There weren’t many of them.

Compared to the armies under Her Majesty, the number of creatures surrounding Noah could barely be considered a force at all.

But their numbers weren’t what caught Morvyr’s attention.

It was how different they all were.

Wolves, spiders, undead, trolls, goblins, a dryad, a Kaiju, and several other creatures Morvyr couldn’t easily classify were all gathered together under one individual.

Such a sight was unusual to see from Morvyr’s perspective, even amongst demons.

Each general under the Demon Lords controlled what could essentially be considered their own city, and the majority of those cities were populated by demons belonging to the same race as the general who ruled them.

That didn’t mean their forces consisted exclusively of their own kind. Branch forces could be considerably more diverse, especially after conquering or absorbing other populations. Her Majesty was an obvious example. Despite being an elf, demonic trolls and goblins also existed beneath her rule.

But those races still formed their own groups.

In fact, as far as Morvyr could tell, there wasn’t a single other creature here that was actually the same race as Noah.

Did that mean that Noah was the only devil in his other world? Or perhaps Devils act independently from each other?

There was still far too much that Morvyr didn’t know when it came to devils. Perhaps if they had more evidence that devils existed, like how the humans could speak to their angels, perhaps they would’ve tried hard to uncover more information.

For now, Morvyr didn’t plan to think about it. He was far more interested in witnessing what the devil was about to do.

Morvyr’s gaze slowly passed over them all. And then he noticed the goblins off to the side, away from the others.