Becoming a Monster

Chapter 639: Chapter 638: A Different Kind of Jealousy

The next process was something the others were eager to help with.

It was always Noah giving to them, helping them grow.

To be given a chance to return the favor was something none of them needed to think twice about.

Bolas naturally did his best to make his willingness appear more reluctant than it actually was.

“Are we going to begin or not?” The dragon grumbled as Ailetta approached him. “Surely you didn’t gather someone as important as myself just to have me stand around all night.”

Ailetta didn’t take the dragon seriously at all, not after everything Noah had already told her.

Instead, she extended one of her tendrils as it shifted into a small bowl.

Her intentions were clear, and Bolas didn’t shy away from using one of his claws to cut into his flesh, allowing a steady stream of blood to fall directly into the bowl.

Ailetta only needed a relatively small amount, and it didn’t take long before she had collected enough. Her tendril began to withdraw, only for Bolas to move his arm along with it and continue letting his blood fall into the bowl.

Ailetta frowned as she tried moving it farther away.

“Would you stop moving?” he complained, shifting his arm once again to keep it over the bowl. “I’m trying to finish this quickly.”

The woman stared at him strangely before looking down at the blood she had already collected. There was considerably more than Noah had asked for, yet Bolas continued until another generous amount had joined it before finally allowing his wound to close.

“There. Now we don’t have to waste time coming back to me when you inevitably realize you didn’t take enough.”

Ailetta’s expression was priceless. One could tell that she was struggling to understand how the dragon’s mind worked, but after several seconds of staring at him, she was no closer to finding an answer.

Unsuccessful, she eventually turned toward Noah as though hoping he could make more sense of Bolas’s behavior.

Noah was just as stumped as she was.

But it didn’t take him nearly as long to get over it. At this point, the dragon’s extreme personality should’ve been taken into account whenever Bolas did something that didn’t make much sense.

That didn’t stop Noah from looking toward him with a knowing smirk behind his veil.

Bolas noticed the look almost immediately, and despite Noah not saying a single word, the dragon became increasingly uncomfortable beneath it.

“What?” Bolas finally asked.

“Nothing. I should be happy with your contribution.”

Noah’s smirk only widened, making it obvious that nothing was the exact opposite of what he was thinking.

Bolas released an annoyed huff before looking away, refusing to give Noah the satisfaction of acknowledging whatever ridiculous conclusion the devil had clearly reached.

Ailetta didn’t linger either. With Bolas finally finished, she moved on to Fenrir, who was already extending his arm by the time she approached.

Fenrir was much more casual when it came to giving his blood. In fact, while the beast drew his own blood, he glanced at Bolas, a smug, almost arrogant snarl gradually pulled at his muzzle.

Noah found this even more amusing than what Bolas did, especially considering that Fenrir had done the exact same thing the first time he had asked the beast for his blood.

When Fenrir noticed Noah’s gaze, his proud behavior was quickly subdued before he caused Noah to bring up such an embarrassing past.

The beast focused more on his blood pouring into the bowl with an odd eagerness in his eyes.

This time it was not just about Noah; it was personal.

His attention shifted toward Arachne, and the scent that had been frustrating him earlier immediately returned to the forefront of his thoughts.

Fenrir couldn’t do much about the difference in their strength right now, but the other problem seemed far easier to fix.

If Noah incorporated his bloodline again, then Fenrir’s genes had a greater chance of becoming stronger than all the others. Whether that would actually make the scent they shared any stronger was something Fenrir couldn’t know for certain, but he saw no reason why it wouldn’t.

More of his blood should mean more of his scent.

At least, that was what Fenrir chose to believe.

Ailetta herself was just as willing to contribute. Even before it came time to provide her own genes, she had happily taken responsibility for collecting everyone else’s blood.

At first, she had been careful to keep each sample separate within the bowls she formed from her slime. It seemed like the most sensible way to handle several different bloodlines, but Noah eventually told her there was no need.

His body was capable of taking and assimilating them all at once.

With that assurance, Ailetta brought the bowls together, letting the different blood samples mix before enveloping them in her slime.

There was no need for Ailetta to provide blood of her own. The slime itself was part of her body and contained the genes Noah needed from her.

By the time she finished, the combined blood had been completely enveloped within a condensed ball of her slime, giving Noah everything he needed to incorporate all of their genes at the same time.

Seeing the finished product filled them all with anticipation.

Arachne was the exception.

The glowing pride she had worn only moments ago had gradually darkened after realizing Ailetta wasn’t going to collect anything from her.

It wasn’t as though Noah had forgotten. He had been clear when calling out the names of those whose genes he needed, and Arachne hadn’t been among them.

She understood why.

Or at least, she understood the explanation Noah would probably give because they had already experienced something similar before.

Noah had explained in the past that simply becoming stronger didn’t necessarily mean their bloodlines had changed. If the bloodline itself remained the same, then taking their genes again wouldn’t give him anything he didn’t already possess.

By that reasoning, skipping Arachne made sense.

Unfortunately, knowing that did very little to improve her mood.

Even now, my blood isn’t good enough to help him?

Arachne couldn’t bring herself to accept that so easily.

Her strength had risen tremendously, and after assimilating Noah’s blood, she felt like a different being altogether. Perhaps his blood hadn’t changed the original genes Noah could obtain from her, but there was no denying that her existence had undergone a fundamental change.

Surely there had to be something.

The more Arachne thought about it, the more her previous pride gave way to an almost unreasonable sense of offense.

She wanted to help him too.

Noah had expected some envy from those he left out. It was only natural that when everyone gathered there, they had their own desire to contribute, but he hadn’t expected the strongest reaction to come from Arachne.

If anything, he thought Eve would take it the hardest.

The little vampire had already shown clear jealousy over her own circumstances, yet even she wasn’t looking at the ball of slime with the same increasingly dark expression Arachne wore.

Noah considered saying something to her, but ultimately decided against it.

This wasn’t the moment to placate her simply because she was upset. Doing so whenever one of his creatures reacted poorly would only encourage them to expect the same treatment in the future.

At the same time, Noah wasn’t going to admonish Arachne in front of everyone else.

That left him with little choice but to let the matter go for now and hope that, given enough time, Arachne would reflect on her reaction herself.

One step at a time… Everything can be worked on when all of this is over.

Noah found himself thinking that more often lately.

Tonight had to be treated as though it were their last opportunity to prepare before the inevitable battle. There were still too many things that could go wrong for him to divide his attention between every problem he noticed, especially when some of those problems could afford to wait.

If they made it through what was coming, then perhaps they would finally be given a respite long enough for Noah to worry about something other than keeping everyone alive.

There were things among his creatures that strength alone wouldn’t fix.

All of them had spent nearly every day focusing on surviving in one way or another. Because of that constant stress, it was natural for them to develop habits and behaviors that weren’t necessarily healthy.

But now, they had the possibility to get that peace; Noah wanted to work on it.

Maybe then they could learn how to enjoy what they had built instead of constantly preparing for whatever might try to take it away.

That thought sat with Noah as he accepted the ball of slime from Ailetta.

As he absorbed their genes, whatever lingering distractions remained had disappeared.

All they could do was wait.

—

Outside the cave, Morvyr had no intention of sleeping until the devil emerged.

He had no way of knowing how long whatever was happening inside would take. Yet every time he considered closing his eyes, all of his thoughts became overwhelmed with trying to predict what was going on.

Eventually, he gave up the idea of resting.

Morvyr remained seated in the chair Noah had left for him, allowing the surrounding mana to enter his body while his thoughts wandered through everything that had happened since arriving within the devil’s territory.

There was certainly enough to occupy him.

His thoughts gradually moved beyond the immediate situation.

Ashenveil was only one city.

The conflict surrounding it felt enormous while they were trapped within it, but Morvyr had lived long enough to understand how insignificant a single victory could become when viewed against decades or centuries.

What would the devil become in ten years?

Twenty?

A hundred?

Morvyr frowned as possibilities continued forming in his mind, each one becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss after everything he had already witnessed.

The greatest uncertainty wasn’t even Noah’s potential strength.

It was everything that could happen around him.

The elf was almost convinced that the devil was the true messiah for the demons to conquer this world. Or at the very least, the devil was the one who would end this back-and-forth war with the humans’ angels.

The thought should’ve excited him.

In some ways, it did.

In others, it left Morvyr staring silently toward the sealed cave while wondering whether the future he imagined would prove beneficial to demonkind or become something none of them were prepared to face.

Time continued passing without providing him an answer.

The moon had shifted considerably by the time Morvyr finally sensed movement.

Across from him, the roots sealing Bolas’s cave began to move.

Morvyr straightened in his chair as the tightly woven barrier slowly separated, revealing the darkness.