Becoming a Monster

Chapter 499: Chapter 498: Demon Core

Ethaniel didn’t have the luxury of thinking about it any further. The moment Noah appeared in front of him, everything else lost its importance. Whatever had happened back there no longer needed confirmation.

With Noah appearing here now, and with the overwhelming difference in the aura he released compared to before, there was only one conclusion that made sense.

They were already dead.

"Wai—wait, wait! I surrender!"

The words forced their way out of him with difficulty, his mind racing as he tried to piece everything together within the brief moment he had left.

From the moment the drake found him, it hadn’t immediately burned the entire area to nothing, despite clearly knowing where he was, and instead had tried to capture him in its jaws.

It was no different than what he believed happened with Gwen.

Now, even their leader itself had appeared instead of letting one of the monsters finish him off, and the more Ethaniel thought about it, the less it felt like they were simply trying to kill him.

His thoughts moved quickly, clinging to the one explanation that seemed to connect everything together.

He hadn’t forgotten what that demonic creature had said before the battle began, how it had spoken about needing a messenger, and how it had gone as far as ordering that one of them be left alive.

At the time, it hadn’t meant much.

Now it meant everything.

It might have been a stretch, and he knew it, but he couldn’t see all of this as anything else. The drake holding back, the attempt to capture him, and Noah appearing in person all pointed toward the same possibility.

They still needed someone alive.

If that were the case, there would be no reason to fight.

If he didn’t resist, if he made his intentions clear from the start, then there would be no reason for them to treat him as anything other than what they needed.

Maybe that was why Noah had come himself, because the others hadn’t left anyone alive after being met with resistance.

Ethaniel held onto that thought, forcing himself to believe it, because it was the only thing that made the situation bearable.

But the moment he met Noah’s gaze, that belief began to fall apart.

There was nothing in his eyes that suggested restraint, no sign that he intended to keep him alive, and no reaction at all to the words Ethaniel had just spoken.

Noah didn’t slow down.

He didn’t acknowledge him either.

He simply continued forward with the same velocity, the same cold intent, as if Ethaniel’s surrender had never happened.

And in that instant, Ethaniel understood that everything he had convinced himself of had been nothing more than wishful thinking.

"...You’re forcing me to do this..."

His voice came out strained as he gritted his teeth, his body reacting before he could allow himself to hesitate any further.

Just as Noah closed the remaining distance between them, Ethaniel’s mana surged outward in response.

The barrier formed instantly.

A layer of compressed wind that wrapped around him, reinforced not only by his own mana but by the ambient mana within the world itself, allowing it to stabilize far beyond what he should’ve been capable of in his current state.

It was one of the few spells he could still rely on.

And the only spell that could buy him time for what he had to do next.

As the spell was being cast, his hand went back into his pouch to retrieve another item. His expression this time was even colder than Noah’s.

He didn’t want to do this, and by all means, he had never planned that it would ever come to this.

What he pulled out was a core. A core different than any core anyone would find within their world. Not undead, elves, humans, beastkin... no matter where you look, there would never be a core like it.

Except in the demon’s lands.

Darkness bled from its surface, swallowing the faint traces of crimson that churned within it, yet that crimson didn’t fade. It pulsed with a steady rhythm, like something that was still alive, pressing faintly against the darkness that tried to suppress it.

The moment it settled in his hand, that rhythm shifted slightly, tightening just enough for him to notice, and with it came a faint pressure that spread into his palm and up his arm, as if the core itself had become aware of being held.

Because, unlike every other living creature, where both a heart and a core were required for life and the loss of either meant death, a demon needed only its core to survive.

Even now, separated from its body, the core remained alive, and the crimson light that surged within it was not just energy, but the lingering presence of the demon itself.

Its soul had never faded, and neither had its power.

Just carrying it around as he had was already dangerous, because this particular core was from that of a wounded general.

It was a core handed down to him by his late mentor. One that he accepted, not for power, but because Ethaniel sought to use it for research.

It was a means to understand how a demon truly functioned so that they could be fought without relying on the church’s methods or its control. Everything he had learned, everything he had risked, had been for that purpose alone.

Their group had been built on that decision, on the belief that the foundation used to justify the scrutiny and persecution of the other races was flawed, and that if they could expose it, they could break it.

The moment that stance became clear, the church made certain none of its followers would ever stand with them, cutting off any who might have tried before they could ever join.

Because after what had been done to them, after everything the church had justified in the name of order, there had been no other choice but to seek answers elsewhere, even if it meant turning toward something no one should ever touch.

But standing there now, with the core tightening in his grasp as if it could feel his intent, he knew this was never meant to be used like this.

And yet, he didn’t let go.

—

Noah was almost upon him.

And just like Ethaniel thought, Noah had no intention of sparing him, because even if he was the only one left alive, it didn’t matter.

The human had barged into their home and harmed one of their own, and while Bolas might have handled it eventually, Noah had taken the attack personally.

He was already thinking about how he would make Ethaniel regret his actions up to the last moment of his existence.

Therefore, when he saw Ethaniel pull the core from his waist, and his senses picked up on the dangerous amount of energy contained within it, he acted immediately.

He couldn’t afford another situation like the archon.

Five tendrils shot out from his body before the human even finished conjuring the barrier.

Even without infusing mana into his eye to understand what the core was, his Eye was always able to see the aura of mana. The sudden spike in the flow of mana around Ethaniel had already told Noah that he was preparing a spell.

Each tendril drove forward and converged in front of him, merging into a single point that was reinforced with as much mana as each one could sustain.

The barrier that had proven successful time and time again met Noah’s attack head-on.

But instead of repelling his appendages, the collision barely lasted half a second before it gave way under the oppressive force and haunting miasma that ate right through it.

At the same time, a thick strand of silkish slime shot from Noah’s hand, aimed directly at Ethaniel.

The entire exchange unfolded faster than Ethaniel had prepared for. He hesitated for a single breath longer than he could afford, because forcing himself to swallow the core required more resolve than even facing death.

What he was attempting was to consume the core of a being that was leagues stronger than himself, and even as he brought it closer to his mouth, he understood exactly what that meant.

Eating the core would no doubt turn him into a demon, but it would also grant him the power he needed to overcome this.

And with the core belonging to a demon general, there was even a possibility that he could gain enough strength to defeat Noah.

However, it was never that simple.

Turning into a demon to kill his enemy was a price he was willing to pay if it meant avenging his comrades and surviving, but the cost of consuming a demon’s core went far beyond that.

In order to do so, he would first have to resist the soul contained within it and maintain control over his own body. Failing to do so would mean losing himself entirely, leaving nothing behind but a vessel for the soul bound within the core.

And for Ethaniel, who was willing to attempt this with the core of a demon general, the odds of resisting that soul were no different than zero.

Even he understood what that meant, because having his soul devoured was worse than death.

And yet, despite knowing all of that, he still raised the core to his mouth and began to swallow—

Only for the web of slime to strike across his face and seal his mouth shut before he could.