Becoming a Monster

Chapter 652: Chapter 651: A Potential Feast for the Devil

Bailey’s presence had placed the one failsafe Thalric thought he had at risk.

She wasn’t merely participating in the expedition. She was walking with the very organization that had already decided Noah needed to die regardless of what anyone else believed about him.

That made it impossible for Thalric to use them as their last lifeline against the demon if things went sour.

But there was nothing Thalric could do about that now.

He could understand Bailey having her own reasons for coming. What he couldn’t understand was why those reasons had brought her here, why she hadn’t told the others, or why she had chosen to approach someone like Malachi.

Thalric was already fully aware of Paul’s situation. If Bailey was doing this because of him, there would’ve been other ways to help without joining the Church on their expedition and potentially risking Paul’s life.

Especially when the person she had chosen to approach was Malachi.

At this point, Thalric was more concerned about how much Bailey had disclosed to him than he was about her unexpected appearance.

Malachi wasn’t someone who tolerated connections with demons. As the Church’s Right Hand, he was the kind of person Thalric would’ve expected to become considerably more dangerous toward Bailey after learning that she had any connection to Noah.

Thalric couldn’t imagine Bailey willingly revealing something that dangerous without a reason, but whatever that reason was, Malachi’s behavior made it increasingly difficult to determine how much he actually knew.

Regardless of how much Bailey had told him, even knowing that she and the others had some connection to Noah should’ve been enough for the blind “saint” to consider them disposable.

That was why Thalric didn’t believe for a second that the concern Malachi had shown her throughout their journey came from goodwill. He also didn’t believe Malachi would’ve allowed Bailey to accompany him all this way because he genuinely wanted to help her.

That wasn’t the type of man Malachi was.

If anything, the effort he continued putting into gaining Bailey’s trust only made Thalric more suspicious of what he intended to do once he had it.

For Bailey’s sake, Thalric could only hope that this was one of the rare occasions where he had completely misjudged the man.

—

“Do you want me to go over and speak to her?” Slightly behind Thalric, a laid-back swordsman offered to the Guild Master.

Hearing Soren’s voice reminded Thalric that he still had one more failsafe, alleviating some of his stress. But he would rather not reach a point where the rest of their hopes had to be placed on this last resort.

Soren was his hope, but his ability still had its limits.

And Soren had been brought here in case Thalric himself not only failed, but died in the process.

If what Varkesh had told them was true, then the demon could use his corpse to grow even stronger.

There was also what Paul and the others had told him. Noah could use the things he killed to strengthen his creatures, giving Thalric even more reason to worry about what would happen if they failed here.

Soren could obtain all the information about the demon in the world, but information could do nothing against overwhelming power. Thalric knew that firsthand.

Tell a weak man when and where you would strike; would that man suddenly have a chance to stop you?

Of course not.

Knowing where the blade would come from meant nothing if his body wasn’t fast enough to avoid it. Knowing exactly how much strength was behind the attack wouldn’t give him the strength necessary to withstand it.

Soren’s ability was considerably more complicated than that, but the same limitation remained.

And there was no doubt in Thalric’s mind that the demon would become astronomically stronger if he were to use his body.

Not just his…

Thalric looked around again, a frown forming on his face as he roughly estimated their numbers for what felt like the hundredth time.

There were just too many people here.

What were they even here for?

His attention eventually settled on the soldiers making up nearly half of their expedition, causing his thoughts to turn toward the Baron who had ordered them to come.

That man still didn’t understand where he fit into all of this.

Having someone as insecure as the Baron governing a city was already troublesome enough. Having someone like that governing Ashenveil was considerably worse.

Their city was surrounded by one of the region’s largest forests. Whenever something dangerous came out of it, Ashenveil was usually the first place to deal with the consequences. That alone should’ve been enough for the Baron to understand why the city needed people like Thalric and the Guild.

Instead, their usefulness only seemed to make the man more insecure.

The stronger the Guild became, and the more the people depended on them for protection, the more the Baron seemed to worry that his own authority was becoming meaningless. The Church only made those concerns worse. Unlike the Guild, their influence wasn’t limited to Ashenveil, and there was very little the Baron could actually do if they decided to involve themselves in the city’s affairs.

Thalric had seen through his intentions the moment he learned how many soldiers were joining the expedition.

The Baron hadn’t sent them because he believed they needed the additional strength.

He sent them because he wanted Ashenveil’s own forces involved.

If they succeeded, then the Baron could say his soldiers had helped eliminate the threat. The Guild wouldn’t be able to take all the credit, and neither would the Church.

Normally, Thalric would’ve ignored it. If allowing the man to claim part of their accomplishments was enough to keep him satisfied, then there were worse things Thalric could tolerate.

But this time, his insecurity might’ve created an entirely different problem.

If Varkesh was right, then everyone marching toward the forest was more than another person who could potentially die.

They were something Noah could use afterward.

Thalric’s corpse alone could potentially make the demon considerably stronger, and he was only one person.

If they truly were to fail to kill this demon, they would undoubtedly strengthen the creature to the point that Ashenveil could possibly no longer contain the situation.

The thought only deepened Thalric’s frown as he continued staring at the soldiers.

“Should I take the silence as a no?”

Soren’s voice pulled Thalric away from his thoughts.

For a moment, Thalric had almost forgotten that the swordsman had asked him a question in the first place.

He glanced back at Soren before his attention returned to Bailey and Malachi.

“No. Leave her alone for now.”

“I thought you were worried about her?”

“I am.”

“Then wouldn’t speaking to her solve that?”

Thalric wished it were that simple.

Malachi wasn’t a man who would sit there and allow them to get their way. He would interfere without fail. And when he did, he would turn whatever concern they had for Bailey against them, while also giving the Church the opportunity to discredit them openly.

Thalric couldn’t risk ruining what little morale they already had. And he also wanted to keep the Guild’s reputation intact for the off chance that he was no longer here to take on that burden.

“She’s already made her decision by coming here. Going over there now won’t change that.”

Soren stared at him for a moment, clearly unconvinced that was the only reason.

Thalric didn’t bother explaining further.

“Just keep an eye on her.”

That was something Soren could do without interfering. He cared a lot for his juniors, and Bailey was no exception.

—

While the army drew closer to a forest that many would never walk away from, back in the city, Paul and the others were in somber spirits.

No one knew what to say at the moment. The right words were never right when it concerned everyone as a whole.

Ishii and Amara wanted to convince everyone not to attack Noah, to try communicating with him first.

The others didn’t care enough about the matter. Whether Noah had saved them more times than they deserved, that had nothing to do with them anymore.

And then there were those like Paul and Levi who weren’t worried for Noah; they were worried of Noah.

Out of everyone there, Paul was probably the least worried about Noah losing.

It wasn’t because he blindly believed Noah would win. As someone who was still part of Fenrir’s pack, Paul could feel their leader through the connection they shared, giving him a somewhat clear perception of the werebeast’s strength.

Before the last two days, Fenrir’s growth had always been gradual enough for Paul to follow. No matter how much stronger the werewolf became, the changes never happened quickly enough for Paul to lose track of how powerful their leader was becoming.

That was no longer the case.

The Fenrir he could sense now felt completely different from the one he remembered only two days ago. The difference was so extreme that if their connection wasn’t telling him otherwise, Paul would’ve struggled to believe he was sensing the same creature.

And from everything Paul understood about Noah, he had always been stronger than any of his creatures.

If that was still true, then Paul couldn’t begin to determine how strong Noah was anymore.

That was why the army being sent into the forest didn’t reassure him. There were powerful people among them, some considerably stronger than Paul himself, but he no longer knew how their strength compared to what was waiting for them.

As far as he was concerned, they were being sent to their deaths.

What Paul worried about was what would happen afterward.

They had experienced Noah’s wrath before indirectly, but this time would be different. The people marching toward the forest were deliberately entering his home with the intention of killing him and those he considered his own.

Would the next time they saw Noah end with him branding all of them as his enemies?

Even Paul didn’t feel confident that he would be excluded from that.

The atmosphere in the room only grew worse as the silence continued.

Eventually, Alicia’s attention began wandering around the room.

At first, there was nothing unusual about it. Her gaze passed over everyone there before moving elsewhere, only to return a moment later as though she was looking for someone in particular.

Her expression gradually changed.

“Does anyone know where Bailey went?”