Becoming a Monster

Chapter 607: Chapter 606: The Legends Fell Short

There was a moment where Morvyr wasn’t entirely certain what to do.

The sudden change in the devil’s presence had been far greater than anything he expected from that single hesitation.

Yet he could understand why.

Noah wasn’t angry because Morvyr had refused to answer. If anything, the devil had already proven that he understood why Morvyr couldn’t speak for his Queen.

What had triggered this reaction was the possibility behind that hesitation.

The possibility that despite everything Morvyr revealed, the Queen could still decide that manipulating Noah remained the better option.

And judging by the devils’ pressuring aura, he had taken that possibility far more personally than Morvyr anticipated.

Morvyr’s attention briefly shifted toward those standing behind him.

His elves were still managing to hold themselves upright, while the goblin chieftain remained braced heavily against his staff. But he could tell that their bodies wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.

Morvyr himself wasn’t unaffected.

The moment Noah’s aura erupted, mana had already gathered around his body on instinct, forming a thin protective layer between himself and the pressure surrounding him.

At first, he believed that would be enough… Until Noah’s aura pressed against it.

It was then that Morvyr felt the difference.

In sheer volume, Noah’s mana was already frighteningly close to his own. The longer their power remained pressed against one another, the more apparent it became that Noah’s aura was even slightly stronger than his own.

But that wasn’t what unsettled him. Something within Noah’s aura was bypassing the mana itself.

No! His mana was being influenced by something else, and the influence was using his mana to affect his soul.

His expression became nearly distraught.

He knew the old accounts surrounding devils.

Devils were not only believed to surpass ordinary demons in nearly every aspect, but their negative energy, which was the polar opposite of holy energy, was what made their existence especially dangerous.

Remaining within a devil’s presence for too long could gradually distort the desires of those around them, feeding their impulses; it became almost impossible to restrain them.

And when a devil deliberately exerted that presence, the influence could reach far deeper.

Directly into the soul.

Morvyr didn’t know what Noah’s aura would eventually do to him if he remained exposed.

That uncertainty alone was enough to disturb his state of mind. He would rather Noah lash out physically instead of whatever this was.

He could already feel something changing with his perception. Noah appeared more threatening than he had only moments earlier.

Despite knowing that his mind, or rather his soul, was being influenced, it still didn’t stop the irrational fear from forming.

That was what made it worse.

His thoughts were still his own, yet something was subtly influencing the way those thoughts were being interpreted.

And the longer Morvyr remained under Noah’s aura, the more horrifying he appeared and the more inferior Morvyr became.

If Noah already appeared this terrifying to someone capable of recognizing the manipulation, then Morvyr could only imagine what was happening to those behind him.

He acted the moment he realized this by first focusing on expanding his mana senses to the ground.

Morvyr attempted to seize control of the surrounding plant life to make use of one of his skills.

However, nothing responded to him, despite his ability to feel the plant life underneath him.

His eyes furrowed before he tried again. For the briefest moment, Morvyr stared at the ground in disbelief before he quickly understood.

The “life” that he was trying to control was the dryad. It would be impossible for him to control the life of a plant that has its own consciousness, especially one that was as strong as this one.

The moment he understood that, he didn’t waste time fighting for control.

Morvyr reached into his clothing and withdrew another seed. Instead of implanting it into someone like before, he dropped it directly at the feet of his subordinates.

The seed split apart the instant it touched the ground.

Vines saturated with dense negative energy erupted from within, wrapping around the legs of every elf and the goblin chieftain before embedding themselves into their bodies.

Mana flooded through them at nearly twice the intensity they possessed only moments before, reinforcing their bodies enough that the pressure threatening to force them down became far more manageable.

Morvyr expanded the field of mana surrounding himself at the same time, forcing it farther outward until it clashed directly against Noah’s aura, trying to prevent as much of its influence as possible.

Even then, he could still feel traces of it.

Mana could oppose mana. But whatever Noah’s soul was doing through his aura didn’t obey those same limitations.

Morvyr finally looked back towards Noah. His figure right now truly was…domineering.

Even at a time like this, Morvyr couldn’t help thinking that the old stories about devils weren’t exaggerated in the slightest.

If anything, they suddenly felt frustratingly incomplete.

“Noah!” Morvyr shouted as though the aura itself would drown out his voice, making it impossible for Noah to hear him.

“It’s not that I don’t want the plan to change. You should already know that by now.”

His mana continued straining against Noah’s aura, but even with the field surrounding him, Morvyr could feel that unnatural influence gradually working its way deeper.

“But I cannot answer for My Queen.”

“All I can tell you is that I intend to uphold our agreement. What happens next after I report back to Her Majesty would depend on her orders. That’s the most that I can do.”

Morvyr was becoming increasingly desperate for Noah to understand.

Not because he feared that Noah would attack him at any moment.

At least, not entirely.

The longer he remained beneath that aura, the more difficult it became to separate what he genuinely felt from what Noah’s presence was gradually provoking within him.

He knew the devil had every right to be angry.

He knew that from Noah’s perspective, they had intended to gamble with his life and the lives of everyone around him while waiting to see which outcome benefited them most.

And Morvyr even understood how much worse that realization must have become after learning what Noah might truly be.

They had unknowingly attempted to manipulate a devil.

Yet despite understanding all of that, Morvyr knew there was only so long he could remain passive while Noah’s aura continued pressing against his soul.

The only reason he had restrained himself this much was that his respect for Noah’s strength had grown nearly as much as his reverence for what the devil might represent.

Noah’s pressure remained; however, the part of his aura that was interfering with the others’ souls had waned.

What Moryvr said wasn’t different at all from what he already knew. Everything he said was rather reasonable, but knowing it was reasonable did little to calm him immediately.

Understanding why someone had intended to use him didn’t mean he had to be comfortable with it.

Especially when the lives being gambled weren’t only his own.

But Moryvr was instantly relieved when he felt that feeling on his soul disappear.

“I only told you this because I would rather risk our corporation than make us enemies. My decision has already gone against my Queen. And even though I will have to face the consequences for that, I am still willing to bear it to show you my goodwill.”

“Just give me the chance to show that I mean everything that I’ve said.”

The time after his speech seemed to drag on for hours. Only when the aura finally receded altogether did Morvyr finally realize just how much pressure he was under.

Sweat covered his face and nearly drenched his hair, while his breathing was slightly heavier than normal.

And across from him was the devil who didn’t look as if he had put in barely any effort at all.

However, it was due to their collision of auras that Moryvr finally understood what was happening. He didn’t understand it while watching Otuk fight, but now he realized the other reason the devil had so much confidence in himself.

This entire domain was fueling his mana. And not just his.

When he thought about Fenrir’s flames, how they had continued burning at full intensity throughout the entire fight without showing any meaningful signs of exhaustion, the answer became difficult to ignore.

This territory was sustaining them.

Morvyr didn’t understand the exact mechanism behind it, nor did he intend to ask about something Noah had deliberately kept hidden.

The important part was what it meant.

Noah and the creatures tied to him were not fighting here under ordinary conditions.

As long as they remained inside this territory, their endurance, their mana, and perhaps even the strength behind their abilities were being supported by the dungeon core in their possession.

That changed Morvyr’s assessment considerably.

If the advantage Morvyr had just experienced extended across the rest of Noah’s forces, then there was a high chance that Noah could endure the attack long enough for the Queen’s plans to succeed.

More importantly, he believed Noah could survive afterward.

And if he supported Noah in this defense and they managed to come out on top, then Morvyr could return to Her Majesty with enough merit to justify why he had gone against her original intentions instead of returning with nothing but an excuse for his disobedience.