Becoming a Monster

Chapter 623: Chapter 622 : A Dangerous Inheritance

The possibility of damaging Ailetta’s soul worried Noah far more than the thought of what she intended to do.

If killing the people her human self still cared about truly allowed her to sever those lingering attachments, then Noah wasn’t entirely against it. His view toward humans had changed far too much for him to immediately reject the idea simply because some of them might not deserve to die.

But that didn’t mean he was willing to let Ailetta blindly gamble with her soul.

Especially when neither of them knew what would happen afterward.

Ailetta seemed to understand that much from the way Noah continued staring at her.

The confidence she had shown only moments ago gradually faded as she reconsidered her idea from a perspective she hadn’t thought about before. Her brows slowly furrowed, and the faint smile she had worn disappeared as her gaze wandered away from Noah.

She had been so focused on what remained of her human self that she never stopped to consider what killing those people might actually do to it.

What if Noah was right?

What if severing those attachments didn’t free her soul, but instead damaged what remained of it even further?

Her fingers unconsciously curled.

“I didn’t think about that.”

“I’ll take that into consideration. If there’s another way to deal with my soul, then I’ll try to find it first.”

Noah continued watching her after she finished talking.

He wasn’t looking for a promise that she would abandon the idea entirely. Even he couldn’t say with certainty that what she suggested wouldn’t work. He only wanted her to understand that killing everyone her human self remained attached to could create another problem neither of them knew how to fix.

Seeing that she genuinely understood his concern was enough.

The tension gradually disappeared from Noah’s expression as he finally allowed the matter to rest.

Besides, what he had discovered about Ailetta wasn’t entirely bad.

“That was at least the bad news…”

Ailetta’s expression immediately changed.

Her earlier thoughts were temporarily forgotten as her attention returned completely to Noah. From the slight narrowing of her eyes, it was obvious she hadn’t expected there to be anything more after everything he had already told her.

“Your evolution might be restricted, but your growth isn’t.”

“You remember what you told me about the being that turned you into an Abyssalith?”

She nodded.

Of course she did. That creature had been imprisoned precisely because of what it was capable of.

It devoured.

Anything that could provide what it needed could become part of its growth.

Its growth was only as limited as the things surrounding it. And according to Noah’s instincts, Ailetta had inherited that same potential.

“You don’t need to evolve to keep growing stronger. But if you wanted to exploit what you are, then you would need to consume much more than you have already.”

That should’ve been nothing but good news.

Yet even as he explained what he understood, Noah’s expression gradually became more troubled.

He couldn’t forget why the being responsible for Ailetta’s transformation had been imprisoned in the first place.

It didn’t have a limit to how much it devoured.

And if Ailetta’s growth worked the same way, then Noah couldn’t help wondering how much she would eventually need to consume.

Right now, there was no shortage of monsters capable of strengthening her. But what about later?

As Ailetta became stronger, the amount she needed would inevitably increase.

Would there eventually come a point where hundreds of monsters were no longer enough?

Thousands?

And if monsters weren’t enough, then other beings and even nature would be targeted next.

How much would she eventually have to consume just to experience a meaningful increase in strength?

More importantly, what happened if she actually followed that path far enough?

Would the same beings responsible for imprisoning her creator eventually turn their attention toward her?

“Darling.”

Ailetta’s voice interrupted his increasingly troublesome thoughts.

She had apparently been watching him long enough to understand exactly where his mind had gone. The concern he was trying to hide hadn’t escaped her, and the look in her eyes softened as she moved closer.

“That will be the last path I take in order to grow stronger.”

Ailetta continued looking directly into his eyes.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to enjoy this world with you.” Her expression softened even further. “So I won’t devour everything just because I can.”

Her hand reached for his.

“And if I can solve the issue with my soul, then I wouldn’t have to.”

Ailetta gave his hand a gentle squeeze. In her own way, she was trying to comfort him.

Noah just couldn’t decide whether her words should actually make him feel better or leave him even more worried than before.

Because she hadn’t said that she would never do it.

She had said it would be her last option.

And Noah knew Ailetta well enough to understand what could drive her toward that option.

If something threatened their lives and she believed devouring everything around her was the only way to become strong enough to protect them, Noah doubted she would hesitate for very long.

His gaze remained on her for several moments before his hand slowly tightened around hers.

Then there was only one thing he could do.

He had to continue getting stronger.

Strong enough that no enemy could ever force Ailetta to consider something so extreme in the first place.

If there was nothing left capable of threatening them, then there would be no reason for her to ever walk the same path as the being that created her.

‘No, that line of thinking isn’t the only way. Everyone has to be strong enough to continue to fight by my side. Even if I become strong enough, Le would feel that she would need to devour everything to fight alongside me.’

—

In the end, Noah most desired to awaken his Evolutionary Guardian instincts even further.

If he continued developing alongside his Evolutionary Guardian class, then there might eventually come a point where Noah would even be able to uncover a way to help in situations like Ailetta’s.

But for now he could only focus on what he could control.

His attention was about to return to Pandora since he figured Arachne’s transformation would take some time.

Instead, he stopped, returning his gaze to the other two.

“Would you two want to help me? I still need to understand what changed about my blood before deciding to give it to everyone else again.”

“If it’s to help you, there’s no need to ask.”

“I can help as many times as you need!”

Both Ailetta and Eve responded respectively.

This time, Noah was able to reveal a smile.

Mana gathered around his hand before he did anything else, completely masking it before slime emerged from his palm and sliced across two of his fingers. After what happened only moments ago, Noah wasn’t going to allow even the slightest trace of his blood’s scent to escape again.

Once he was certain the mana had completely contained it, he extended a hand toward each of them.

Ailetta accepted his blood without any hesitation. Eve was even faster, latching onto his other finger with enough enthusiasm that Noah briefly wondered if allowing her to participate had been a mistake.

Fortunately, she remembered why he was doing this and restrained herself after taking enough.

Noah immediately focused his Nexus Eye on the two of them.

He had intentionally given them his blood at the same time. Since both had already consumed his blood numerous times before, comparing them would give him a much better idea of how his latest changes affected different bloodlines.

There were several things he wanted to observe, but more importantly, he wanted to see whether his newly awakened Evolutionary Guardian lineage and his Draconic Dreadbeast bloodline had changed the effect his blood had on them.

He didn’t forget that the original reason his blood could turn anyone was his original revenant blood.

—

The first one to show signs of change was Ailetta. Her aura showed signs of abrupt fluctuations, while the violet mana inside her churned throughout her body at irregular speeds.

Her mana spiked out of control once, but only at the height of her change, and it was also that moment when Noah could “see” what was changing.

Ailetta’s body was showing small physical changes that were only there during her transformation.

Small, almost faint clusters of golden light began to form within her body. Most of her gelatinous body became more of her violet energy, while the darker parts were nearly a void that denied light.

Parts of her hair turned into small strands of gold.

Finally, the eye within her chest began to form a golden halo around its pupil.

Noah accidentally made eye contact with it, and immediately felt its effect.

That eye would fester any doubt, fear, or other negative emotion the target had, preventing those feelings from fading until they gradually consumed the victim’s thoughts.

Because of his abnormal spirit, Noah was never at risk of the ability affecting him.

This time, however, the feeling was considerably more invasive to the point that he had to actively guard against it.

From this alone, he could sense that Ailetta’s body was being influenced by her transformation, while the transformation itself had grown stronger.

Because of his awakened instincts, Noah had a faint understanding of what was happening. His blood was strengthening her strongest trait.