Becoming a Monster

Chapter 525: Chapter 524: Like A True Family

Ailetta immediately understood that something was wrong.

Noah’s emotional state had already spread through their bond before she even arrived. The others felt it too. That was why none of them had followed after him despite noticing where he went.

Maybe it was because of what happened earlier, or maybe it was because the pressure coming from him now felt far worse, but none of them were willing to approach him.

None except he and Arachne. Arachne only managed to gain the resolve to approach because Ailetta didn’t hesitate to go; even then, she stood behind Ailetta, using her like an emotional buffer from Noah’s aura.

Their gaze lingered on Bolas for a moment longer, instinctively assuming that Bolas was the cause of Noah’s extreme reaction.

Bolas returned their gaze. His expression was practically pleading for them to intervene, his eyes shifting between them and Noah until they finally understood what he was trying to say.

Ailetta’s expression tightened.

The fact that Bolas of all people looked unsettled only made the situation feel worse.

Her attention shifted back toward Noah.

"Noah...?" she called again.

Noah’s gaze shifted toward her, but the change was delayed enough to make her heart tighten.

For a brief moment, it felt like he was looking through her instead of at her.

That feeling disappeared just as quickly.

"...What is it?" he asked. His tone sounded normal, as if nothing had happened, but neither of them relaxed.

Ailetta studied him for another moment before her eyes narrowed slightly.

"What happened?"

Bolas remained silent. Even he didn’t seem eager to speak about what happened just moments ago.

"I’m fine," he said.

The answer came too quickly. Ailetta didn’t believe him for a second.

"I came to apologize to Bolas about how I acted. I wasn’t in the best state of mind back then. I think our talk went rather well, though, right?"

He turned back to the drake, who hurriedly shifted himself before Noah could catch on to his earlier expression.

"...Y-yeah," Bolas replied, forcing his posture to straighten. "It went fine."

Inwardly, however, he nearly wanted to roar at him.

’Back then? Your state of mind is worse than before.’

The Noah from earlier still lingered in his mind. If Ailetta hadn’t shown up when she did, Bolas wasn’t sure how much further Noah would’ve spiraled.

But none of that came out.

Bolas used every bit of his sanity to circulate his mana to calm himself, forcing whatever bit of haphazard emotion or thoughts down so Noah couldn’t sense it through their connection.

Unfortunately, Noah still noticed the disconnect between Bolas’ reaction and the words coming out of his mouth. He could tell the drake was unsettled, but he didn’t comment on it.

He already knew that he had unintentionally allowed his emotions to take control of him again.

The memories he spoke about had affected him more than he wanted to admit. Even now, he could still feel the lingering agitation left behind after dragging those thoughts back to the surface.

If Bolas was willing to play along, he’d rather that they moved on from this little mishap.

"See?"

Ailetta’s gaze moved between the two of them, clearly unconvinced, yet at the same time, she breathed out a sigh of relief.

She was well aware that Noah had changed again after merging that being into his soul. What happened here could’ve been much worse.

"...Fine." She didn’t push further.

Her eyes lingered on Noah for a moment longer before finally easing.

Arachne, however, still hadn’t moved from behind her.

The spider’s eyes remained fixed on Noah, her body tense as if she still expected something to happen.

Noah noticed it immediately.

"...Why are you hiding behind her?" he asked.

Arachne stiffened. "I-I’m not hiding," she replied almost bashfully, though the way she shifted further behind Ailetta completely ruined the argument.

She didn’t realize why she was hiding. The atmosphere was completely different than before, and the way Noah held himself was as if everything before this was an illusion.

Bolas snorted loudly at the sight. At least he wasn’t that scared.

Even Noah stared at her for a moment longer before the corner of his mouth twitched faintly.

That small change alone made the atmosphere ease further.

Ailetta noticed it immediately.

"...You really worried everyone," she muttered.

Noah didn’t deny it this time.

His gaze shifted briefly toward the cave walls before returning to them.

"...I know."

—

Bolas watched the three as they were about to leave his domicile. A wave of relief enveloped him. He had never relished the silence as much as he did now.

"Tch, crazy fool..."

Bolas muttered the words under his breath as he watched them almost disappear from the cave.

The silence that followed felt drastically different. There was a mental and emotional exhaustion from everything that had just happened.

His thoughts in that moment remained on Noah.

Noah was insane.

There was no other way to describe someone like him. Bolas had met violent creatures before, prideful creatures, even monsters driven purely by instinct, but Noah was different from all of them.

The Noah from earlier still lingered in his mind. The suffocating pressure, the lifeless gaze, and the way he spoke about not losing his family as if it were the only thing keeping him together.

Someone like that should’ve terrified him.

And yet...

Bolas couldn’t stop the faint smile that formed on his face.

For all of Noah’s madness, he came to understand afterward that none of it had been directed at him.

That twisted possessiveness Noah carried had included him, too.

Family.

He wasn’t ignorant of the term. Drakes had families, too; however, a drake’s family pool was completely different from Noah’s.

Family was just another way to prolong and strengthen their bloodline. If your bloodline was weak, you might as well not exist.

But if there really was someone willing to care about him to such an unreasonable extent, then Bolas didn’t find that as unpleasant as he thought he would.

"...Tch." He found himself clicking his tongue an awful lot.

"...I really got dragged into something ridiculous."

With the stimulation he just went through, he was eager to rest. However, as his eyes were closed, his senses picked up on someone just on the border of his cave again.

"What do you want now?" he didn’t open his eyes to verify who it was.

"Hey, didn’t we just have a bonding moment not too long ago? Don’t be like that." Noah spoke lightheartedly.

It was then that Bolas opened his eyes. He couldn’t help scrutinizing the psychotic monster in front of him. This was the Noah that he remembered, the one that he felt most familiar with.

"I’m starting to really think something is wrong with your head if you consider that bonding," Bolas muttered loud enough for Noah to hear.

Noah shrugged lightly; he wasn’t going to deny it.

"There’s no getting out of this now, you should’ve read the fine print before you accepted to join our family."

"..." Bolas’ jaws opened slightly, preparing to say something, but then nothing came out. Instead, he let out a defeated sigh.

"Just tell me what you want so I can have some peace and quiet."

Noah’s expression shifted slightly at that.

"I forgot to tell you something earlier," he said.

Bolas’ eyes narrowed immediately.

"That sentence never leads to anything good."

"It’s not that serious."

"That’s exactly what someone says before it becomes serious."

Noah ignored the comment as he continued.

"What we talked about before is going to happen. I don’t know when, but... the people that will come this time will undoubtedly be stronger than the ones we just took care of."

Bolas’ expression twitched slightly. He still didn’t fully understand why Noah would allow someone to live just to be attacked again.

"So what now? Are you here to make sure I don’t mess up again?" Although he had already made up his mind earlier, it was still difficult to let go.

"No," Noah helplessly shook his head. "I came to tell you because I’ll need your help when the time comes."

"If they force their way into our home, I want them to experience the power that we have when we fight as one. I can only count on you for this one, so that both of us can protect our family together."

Bolas’ expression changed again.

The earlier irritation lingering on his face weakened almost instantly, replaced with something far more complicated as Noah’s words settled in his mind.

His tail slowly swept against the stone behind him as he looked away for a moment, trying to hide the reaction that still betrayed him too easily.

"...Tch. You really know how to say things that make it hard to stay annoyed at you," he muttered.

A faint rumble escaped his throat as his mana stirred slightly through the cave.

"I’ll help."

Despite the words, Bolas still looked irritated.

"...So if we end up dying because of your insane plan, I’m haunting your soul forever."

That only caused Noah to smile.

"I’ll take that as you couldn’t bear leaving me even after death. Like a true family."

Bolas clicked his tongue again.

"...Crazy fool. Why do I even bother?"

With such a heavy discussion, Noah came out feeling happier than before as he turned to leave.

"You missed out on the other events. But if you want, you can always come out to watch what I’m going to do next."