Becoming a Monster

Chapter 469: Chapter 468: A-Rank Hunters

Dog’s transformation was more intense than any creature Fenrir had ever turned before.

The venom spreading through his body was almost the complete opposite of Dog’s inherited nature.

Fenrir’s energy carried a savage, predatory nature. It sought to dominate, to overwrite what was already there and reshape the host into something aligned with its own power. As it surged through Dog’s veins, it threatened to consume his mana essence entirely while simultaneously altering the very structure of his body.

For a brief moment, it seemed as though Dog’s original nature would be erased.

But as the transformation continued, something unexpected began to happen.

The longer Dog’s body endured the process, the stronger it became. And the foundation that had been built through Noah’s blood allowed his inherent nature to withstand far more than anticipated.

At first, the resistance was weak. But as Dog’s body continued to evolve and his genetics adapted to the transformation, that resistance steadily grew stronger.

Eventually, instead of one consuming the other, the two forces began to merge in a way allowing both to exist within the same body.

The moment that balance was achieved, Dog’s trembling body suddenly went still. And the process was finally over.

Noah had not looked away for a single moment during the transformation. His eyes remained fixed on Dog’s body.

But while he watched, something stirred quietly within him. A deep sense of satisfaction filled his soul.

It was subtle, but impossible to ignore. The feeling did not come from pride or excitement. Instead, it carried the strange certainty that the path he had chosen was correct.

Giving in to his inhibitions was helping him, and it seemed that the more effort he put in when these instincts were brought out, the more the satisfaction grew within himself.

However, the feeling only raised more questions.

Was this satisfaction simply instinct, or was it something deeper? Would following this path eventually cause him to evolve again? And if it did... What exactly was required for that to happen?

Was there a specific threshold he needed to reach?

There were always too many unknowns.

Before he could dwell on those questions any further, Noah’s expression suddenly changed.

His attention snapped toward a distant section of the forest, just beyond the edge of his domain.

It was a sudden surge of mana. There wasn’t just one, and each one was as powerful as a chieftain.

And he wasn’t the only one who felt it. Everyone amongst Noah’s strongest creatures looked in the same direction.

Normally, Noah wouldn’t know who that energy belonged to. But after Fenrir’s last encounter with Paul and his group, he was always preparing for something like this to happen.

Humans were being nosy again.

—

Inside the forest, almost a kilometer outside the walls of their territory.

The smell of blood lingered heavily in the air as the bodies of several wolves lay scattered across the ground. The pack had been cut down quickly, their corpses still fresh where they had fallen.

Ten humans stood among them.

Seven were men, and three were women, and each of them carried themselves with the confidence that was built from years of experience.

And what each of these adventurers had in common was that they were all A-Ranks.

Ordinarily, such a number of A-Rank adventurers would never operate together on the same mission. At that level, most parties preferred to work independently. Their strength alone allowed them to handle most threats, and combining forces often led to complications rather than efficiency.

But this time was different.

Three separate parties had joined together. Two of the groups consisted of three members, while the third contained four.

What stood out most among them was not their equipment or their numbers. Two of the parties had at least one member of the church among them.

Even among adventurers, the church held considerable influence within human society. Although everyone had the potential to be able to heal, members of the church excelled more than most.

And their presence ensured that when matters involving corruption, demons, or unknown threats arose, the authority of the church would be present alongside the guild.

One of the men stepped forward and nudged the corpse of a wolf with the tip of his boot before wiping the blood from his blade.

"That’s the last of them."

His voice was calm, though his eyes continued to sweep across the trees surrounding them.

Another adventurer crouched beside one of the wolves, examining the wound that had ended the creature’s life.

"This still doesn’t make sense," he said after a moment.

"Wolves like these aren’t supposed to roam this part of the forest."

A woman standing nearby rested the shaft of her spear against the ground as she looked ahead.

"They aren’t the only creatures behaving strangely," she replied. "The deeper we go, the more the forest feels... off."

Several of the adventurers exchanged glances. They had all noticed it.

Too many creatures were appearing outside their natural territories. Predator groups moved into areas where they would normally never hunt. And creatures appeared that they had never seen before.

Something inside Ashenveil Forest had begun to disturb the natural order.

One of the men rolled his shoulder as he sheathed his weapon.

"Still better than what we ran into earlier."

That remark immediately caught the attention of the others.

"You mean the trolls?"

"What else?" A man with fiery red hair scoffed.

The reaction from the other two parties was almost identical. A few of them exchanged brief looks, while others simply ignored the comment entirely. The arrogance in the man’s voice was not unfamiliar.

It wasn’t unheard of for an adventurer who reached A-Rank to often carry themselves that way, especially when they had the strength to back it up.

One of the women from the four-person party brushed a strand of pale silver hair behind her ear before speaking. Her long ears marked her clearly as an elf, and the faint glow in her eyes suggested a strong affinity for mana.

"That’s the reason we are here, aren’t we? But I still find it surprising that the reports all turned out to be true so far."

Standing a few steps beside her was a tall beastkin whose presence was difficult to ignore. His build was lean but powerful, and dark stripes ran across his exposed arms and face.

The beastkin’s features resembled those of a tiger, with sharp golden eyes. Two unusually long daggers rested in his hands

Unlike the others, he had not spoken since the fight ended. His gaze remained fixed on the path ahead of him as he barely made out the wall of roots rising between the trees.

"We shouldn’t let our guard down. If the reports are true, then the same can be said about our objective."

"Ha!" The arrogant adventurer laughed haughtily.

"Of course, a beastkin would be the first to chicken out. Even if the famed fire drake came at us, it wouldn’t matter. That giant lizard is only alive because it serves a purpose. It’s merely a leash to keep the other monsters in check. Otherwise, we could’ve taken it out a long time ago."

The words earned a few quiet looks from the others, but none immediately refuted him. The logic behind his statement was not entirely wrong, and the lack of opposition only seemed to embolden him further.

"So even if another monster appears, what does it matter? We’ll cut it down all the same."

"Roy..." This time, an older man with thick armor spoke next to him. The man carried himself more as an experienced mentor rather than an adventurer.

He was also a member of Roy’s own party.

"Don’t let your ego blind you. If you plan to become an S-Rank adventurer, then you must be capable of placing the mission above your feelings."

He looked over at the other adventurers around him before he too looked towards the wall.

"The orders were to confirm the monster’s intentions."

Surprisingly, Roy did not react with anger after being corrected. Instead, his expression turned thoughtful as he considered the words carefully.

"So you’re trying to tell me that we can kill it if we prove that it’s a threat?"

For a moment, no one spoke.

Several of the adventurers exchanged brief glances for what felt like the fifth time today, clearly unsure how Roy had arrived at that conclusion.

The older man closed his eyes and let out a slow breath.

"Yes... that’s right," he said in a helpless, monotone voice that made it clear this was far from the first time he had dealt with Roy’s way of thinking.

Roy did not care for the man’s tone. A wide grin had already formed across his face as he prepared to say something else.

Before he could speak, however, the mood around the group shifted. The tiger beastkin had suddenly stiffened.

The subtle change in his posture immediately drew the attention of the others. His grip on the long daggers tightened slightly as his gaze remained fixed on the wall of roots ahead of them.

The others couldn’t feel it, but he could. His kind was acute to their beastly nature. Their instincts to danger were sharper than those of any other species from the four nations.

And right now, those instincts alerted him to something powerful.

"If you all haven’t noticed..." the beastkin said slowly.

"...the monster you’re talking about is already aware of us."