Becoming a Monster

Chapter 670: Chapter 669: How Strong Is Your Faith?

Noah’s attention finally shifted away from the summoned beings.

Thalric had noticed the eye embedded in the center of his chest glowing while Noah studied them, but it wasn’t until that eye turned toward the rest of them that he understood just how different it was from the analysis skills he was familiar with.

The moment its gaze passed over him, Thalric had the absurd feeling that it was seeing directly through him.

He had never experienced anything quite like it before.

Analysis skills varied considerably depending on the person using them. For most, accurately gauging an opponent’s general strength was already useful enough. A smaller number could go further, gaining a rough understanding of where that strength came from and where an opponent might be weakest.

Thalric’s own analysis fell within that group.

Rarer still were those capable of uncovering pieces of what someone could actually do. The information was rarely specific. They might discover that a warrior could use magic, or that an undead possessed both magical and martial abilities. It was even possible to judge what type of magic they wielded. Then some could even determine the general effects of equipment someone carried without touching it.

Finding someone capable of all that was rare, but Thalric knew it was possible.

What he felt from Noah made him question whether analysis truly ended there.

Thalric had no way to know exactly what the eye could see, but the sensation of its gaze moving across him felt completely different from every analysis skill he had experienced before.

For one absurd moment, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Noah wasn’t merely judging his strength, abilities, or equipment.

It felt as though that eye saw through it all.

And judging from the reactions around him, Thalric wasn’t the only one who felt that difference.

The weaker members of their forces might not have understood what was happening, but those with enough experience using or being subjected to analysis skills quickly became more guarded once that eye focused on them.

None of them could know what he was learning. But the possibility that Noah could see more than their strength or abilities was enough to make that uncertainty dangerous.

What if he could see their weaknesses? The limitations of their abilities? The conditions they needed to meet before some of them could even be used?

An opponent normally had to discover those things during a fight. If Noah could learn them simply by looking, then he could know what to exploit before the battle even began.

The longer they stayed there, the more it worked against them. It was becoming clear that Noah was gaining far more from the opportunity than they were.

There was no reason to continue giving him the time to do so.

Malachi had another reason for wanting the silence to end.

Thalric had noticed his missing smile earlier, but another change in the man was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The color was slowly draining from his face.

Some unease would’ve been understandable after understanding what they were about to face. Malachi had come here confident in the strength they had gathered, yet after a brief encounter, he was already hesitating.

For someone like Malachi, that kind of doubt was rare.

Not only because Malachi always wore a smile, no matter the situation, but also because showing hesitation in front of a demon was no different from doubting his faith.

However, what anyone could see on the surface didn’t come close to what Malachi was experiencing.

Something else was affecting Malachi that no one standing around him could’ve known about.

For years, a voice within him had guided Malachi. It was the same voice that had granted a blind man the ability to see the world around him and guided him toward understanding the true role God’s faithful were meant to serve.

Malachi had placed his complete faith in that guidance long ago, leaving him no reason to question what the voice had been telling him since he laid eyes on Noah.

He could care less that Noah could somehow peer through him.

Colluding with the demon Morvyr no longer left the same impact.

Because, from what the voice was telling him, what they were about to face was supposed to be “equal” to their beloved angels.

A devil… a true devil.

If Noah were an ordinary demon, Malachi still had the courage to overcome it. With God supporting him by allowing him to summon His servants, no demon could overcome them.

And Malachi’s faith in those servants wasn’t baseless.

Humanity had delayed the demons’ conquest of their world for generations, and God’s servants were one of the main reasons they managed it. Even the Demon King had seemingly accepted that pushing humanity too far risked provoking a response from God and His angels, which only gave Malachi more reason to trust in the beings they worshipped.

Right now shouldn’t have been any different.

According to the voice, Noah was still vulnerable to God’s energy. The problem was that his status now matched the very beings Malachi and the rest of the Church worshipped.

If they wanted to defeat something equal to an angel, then they needed an angel of their own.

That thought alone didn’t frighten Malachi. He had enough faith to believe that a sincere prayer would be answered, especially when the one they were asking for aid against was a devil.

Prayer, however, wasn’t the only requirement.

For an angel to descend, someone needed to serve as the sacrifice. A living sacrifice.

It couldn’t be just anyone. They needed one of God’s faithful, someone whose devotion and holy energy were pure and strong enough to support an angel’s descent.

And Malachi already knew there was one willing to answer his call.

He could feel them tempting him to let them descend, eager to take his place and fulfill one of the duties they had been created for. Defeating a devil was a responsibility no angel would neglect, and allowing one of God’s servants to enter their world for that purpose should’ve been a privilege for any true believer.

Especially for someone like Malachi.

He had spent most of his life claiming he’d give anything in service to God. He had accepted the title of God’s Right Hand and devoted his life to carrying out what he believed was His will.

By everything Malachi believed, there shouldn’t have been any reason to hesitate now.

Yet for the first time, God didn’t require someone else’s life.

This was only the second time in Malachi’s life that his faith had truly been challenged.

The first had come years ago, when he hadn’t only lost his eyes. He had lost everything else with them. His family, his home, and all the happy memories he had created with them.

Yet even then, what he was being asked to do now forced him to confront his faith in a way that was harder to accept.

He didn’t resort to arguing with the voice, at least not yet. Instead, Malachi looked for a way to avoid the situation a little longer.

If he had known what Noah was before coming here, he would’ve prepared a better contingency. He could’ve brought someone whose faith and holy energy were strong enough to serve as a worthy sacrifice for an angel.

The thought only made him regret his earlier decisions more.

Even if Malachi had considered the possibility beforehand, he knew he wouldn’t have done it. Anyone capable of supporting an angel’s descent would’ve needed enough standing and power within the Church to place them close to his own status. Bringing someone like that would’ve meant admitting that God’s Right Hand wasn’t confident he could handle this without their help.

Worse, if they succeeded in killing the demon, the achievement would no longer belong solely to him.

At the time, Malachi hadn’t wanted to share that glory with anyone.

He was God’s Right Hand.

Now, he regretted that decision more than anything.

There was still some hope. From what the voice had told him, the devil before them was nowhere near what it would’ve been if it had descended in its true body. If so, perhaps the forces Malachi had already gathered would still be enough.

He still had two sacrifices capable of calling upon two of God’s strongest servants, and Malachi was certain one of them could deal a significant blow to the devil.

For now, he wanted to avoid finding out whether that would be enough.

The longer they stayed here, however, the harder it would be to justify refusing what the voice urged him to do. Malachi needed another reason to delay the battle, preferably one that wouldn’t make it appear as though God’s Right Hand had lost his nerve after finally standing before the enemy he had come all this way to destroy.

Noah’s strange gaze gave him that opportunity.

After watching that glowing eye move across their forces, leaving even some of the strongest among them disturbed by how thoroughly it seemed able to see through them, Malachi finally spoke.

“I knew all along that this was part of the demons’ schemes.” His attention shifted toward Morvyr. “If you’re here, does that mean you’re prepared for the consequences this will bring?”

Malachi made sure his voice left no doubt. If he was going to delay what came next, then he would do it while making Morvyr believe they were the ones with something to fear.

And he hoped to do so while avoiding speaking to the devil.