Becoming a Monster

Chapter 363: Chapter 363: When Are you Leaving?

The forest was more chaotic than ever. Monsters who lived within the forest for decades were frantically avoiding the creatures that suddenly emerged, and those creatures were doing the same.

The animals of modern Earth, warped by mutation and forced evolution, felt something instinctual stir within them. A deep, unsettling insecurity triggered by the world’s unnatural cleanliness. The purity of this world’s mana clashed violently with the corrupted essence they had been born into. Their cores reacted instinctively, painfully, to the imbalance.

So they fled.

Fled from the safety of the unknown monsters, fled from the pressure emanating from Noah’s and the drake’s battle, and the strong fled to find a place to adapt.

Driven by instinct, these creatures knew survival meant change. And change meant power. So long as they lived, they could evolve. They could grow stronger.

And some creatures of Earth understood that better than the others.

Still, despite the upheaval happening in the forest, the origin of the chaos was mysteriously quiet.

The large, intimidating drake was lying almost defensively on the ground in front of its den. Its posture was awkward, with most of its weight on its uninjured half that avoided putting any pressure on its injury.

Despite its magical capabilities, and its bodily healing that was enhanced by its ancient dragon properties, its wound still could not heal, and it had still yet to calm the raging mana that sought to devour it.

Across from it, Noah stood not too far away, unbinding himself from Fenrir. His creatures all gathered behind him, standing vigilantly as the drake’s aura made them unable to sit still. Even Eve still remained merged with Diablo, unwilling to lower her guard, while Ava stood not too far away.

Kratos stood farther back, eyes centered on the drake, scrutinizing the monster’s face where his attack had landed.

’Weak!’ His thoughts nearly screamed at himself, his claws curled into fists, trembling with rage directed at himself.

He didn’t like this world. This world that turned his greatest weapon into a toy. He was supposed to be Noah’s greatest soldier. And now, his greatest effort turned into an act of shame.

His name, Noah’s lingering words of the mighty being that he would live up to and surpass. A god that would enforce Noah’s will and exert his dominance to all that crossed his path.

’Weak, weak, weak, weak...’ Kratos’s thoughts were those of a madman. His inner voice was deranged and yet besides his tensed muscles, the rest of his body remained relatively normal. But something inside his body was starting to slightly change. His core flickered, and his aura showed signs of changing. Not growing in strength, but the way it channeled within himself changed. For a moment, his mana seemed as if it was being absorbed within his body. Instead of flowing through his body to be used, it was enriching his muscles, his bones, his skin.

But in that same moment it returned to normal.

Kratos felt the change. There was a hint of nostalgia in the energy within his body that distracted his rage. His brother, the only one he still had memories of: distant, instinctual memories. He could feel that the way his aura was channeling was uniquely similar to him.

Kratos’s eyes flickered. His gaze was clear now.

_______________

The drake meanwhile, looked extremely uncomfortable when he faced Noah. Its eyes tried to lock onto Noah. Yet, its gaze again and again drifted towards Ailetta. Not her particularly, but the lurking shadow at her feet.

It was only after everything transpired that it saw an ominous ghastly figure remove itself from its claw. The instant the nightmarish creature left its body, the drake’s thoughts cleared.

It realized that it was that creature that led to its loss. It had lived for hundreds of years, been through countless battles, and yet it reacted poorly when it really mattered.

The drake’s pride was in tatters. It hadn’t lost the fight, it had been robbed of it. If it had known that creature existed, it would’ve also coated its body with its mana to prevent such a thing from happening.

On the other hand, out of all of Noah’s creatures, one was missing. Pandora’s ghostly image was nowhere to be found, not even her roots surfaced.

"You still haven’t answered me."

The drake’s gaze instantly refocused, torn from its thoughts. It hadn’t really taken Noah’s earlier question seriously.

"You ask, why didn’t I speak earlier..." The drake’s eyes changed, its voice deepened, almost growling as a danger radiated from its body. Just thinking about the question made him angry.

"Would you seek to speak to someone first when they invaded your home? Hmp-"

The drake tried to snort instinctively, but its pain induced an intense coughing fit instead. Noah’s expression didn’t change, only his brows furrowed in thought.

Noah waited until the beast was done coughing before he spoke.

He sensed an oddity from what the creature said, more like an inconsistency.

"Your home? Did you not sense the world trembling earlier? The forest changing? Us, suddenly appearing here? How can a dragon be so obliv-"

"I’m no dragon!!"

The drake’s outburst was more exaggerated than the actual battle. It wasn’t pride that made it shout. They all could sense it. Its tone, its eyes... it was afraid.

Noah’s eyes widened slightly, surprised and more curious than confused.

"How are you not?"

The drake didn’t answer immediately. It looked conflicted, as if it didn’t want to explain. Normally, it would be easier to just kill the person instead of explaining, but now, it had to relent to avoid the interaction again.

"Sigh...Dragons are gods amongst gods." It said with a bitter tone. "I... am a drake. Not even worthy of bearing a dragon’s name." The drake’s eyes slowly shifted towards its surroundings, taking it all in.

Noah felt that the drake was going to indulge more. But instead, it went quiet. When it spoke again, it skipped back to Noah’s earlier comments.

"The world did change...but why..." Its gaze landed on the large structure of Noah’s home that it had not noticed before.

"You say you... appeared here...Where did you appear from, and why do you speak as if this doesn’t surprise you?"

Again, Noah felt as if something wasn’t adding up.

"So you never heard the voice?"

The drake looked long and hard towards Noah.

"The voice? Demon, stop speaking in riddles, what voice?"

Noah exhaled sharply, more tired than irritated. At this rate, none of their questions were going to be answered.

Instead, Noah summarized what happened in their world. He spoke of the voice that was able to reach everyone on Earth, how they first experienced mana and how humans were also turned into undead at the same time they received power.

He then spoke about how even the animals of their world evolved into what the drake would know as monsters.

The entire time, he had never mentioned his own trials or ordeals, but he could tell by the drake’s skeptical gaze that it didn’t truly believe everything he said. It was only when he finally reached the point of how their world shifted and that they arrived here that the drake voiced its skepticism.

"You’re lying."

That was its initial reaction, a response that Noah wasn’t truly prepared for.

"That would mean you’re human. Demon, don’t lie to me!" The drake reacted with hostility. To the drake, Noah being human was impossible. An insult to its understanding of the world.

And yet, the longer it stared at him, the less certain it became. There was no deceit in Noah’s stance, no hesitation in his recounting of events. And when the drake thought about it, Noah had no reason to lie.

But then again, demons never needed a reason to do evil things.

However, it saw Noah change. The darkness that made up his face revealed a face that was a direct resemblance to the humans of its world. All except his eyes changed.

The drake’s breath caught as the truth settled in. It could no longer deny it outright.

But it still didn’t make sense! How could a human’s energy become more potent than the demons that it encountered?

The next question hung on its lips. Questions it knew were too personal to ask, and ones it already knew wouldn’t be answered.

It felt aggravated; it was left with so many questions. It was regretful that it would never satiate its curiosity. But it also understood that understanding wasn’t a requirement for peace.

Its pride still ached from being forced into submission, but In the end, it had to admit what it gained was still beneficial. The two weren’t enemies. Its home wasn’t invaded. Noah didn’t choose to enter its territory, he was brought here against his will.

At the very least, the drake could acknowledge that. Its hostile aura diminished almost entirely with that thought as it looked over to the demon’s weird looking den before it looked back to Noah.

The air between them was no longer tense. Only a slight, awkward silence remained. Noah was still waiting for the drake’s response.

"Demon... I won’t say I trust you. But I at least believe most of what you told me."

It said in a somewhat resigned tone as it struggled to lift itself up.

"Hopefully we won’t have to see each other again. When will you leave? If you ne-"

"I’m not leaving."

Again, another awkward silence ensued between the two. This time much longer than before.