Becoming a Monster

Chapter 632: Chapter 631: The Humblest Dragon

The disruptive laughter rumbled through everyone’s ears.

The power contained within Bolas’s voice was great enough to cause most of Morvyr’s troops to quiver, while nearly every creature that wasn’t Fallen could feel the oppressiveness carried within it.

Noah didn’t have to look to know who it was.

There was only one creature here who could possibly sound that obnoxiously happy right now.

Even before Noah turned toward him, he already had a good idea of what had happened.

His gaze eventually landed on Bolas.

The drake’s transformation had already ended, and unlike everyone else, he wasn’t paying the slightest attention to what had changed about the rest of his body.

His attention was entirely focused behind him.

Two wings had emerged from his back.

They were considerably different from the ones Bolas had possessed before. Those wings had been created through the ability he shared with Noah, making them more of a manifestation than an actual part of his body.

These were real.

Flesh, bone, blood, and scales made up every part of them.

“HAHAHA!”

Bolas spread them even farther before giving his two powerful wings a single flap.

The movement sent a powerful gust across the surroundings, but the drake didn’t seem to notice the creatures forced to brace themselves against it.

His eyes were glued to his wings.

Noah watched him move one wing, then the other, seemingly fascinated that each responded exactly as he wanted.

Noah couldn’t fault Bolas for his behavior. He had despaired not too long ago when he first lost hope of ever having wings.

Although he could’ve done without the laughter.

Flapping his wings wasn’t good enough. This time Bolas flapped them even harder; his enormous body lifted several feet from the ground. But the same was true for a lot of the other creatures nearby.

Many of them were blown off their feet.

The strength behind the drake’s wings was powerful, and that also had something to do with more than just Bolas gaining wings; his body was getting closer to that of a dragon. Maybe not a true dragon, but he could barely be considered a lesser dragon now.

His size barely changed, yet his presence became almost tangible.

The dragon’s scales became darker, jagged and dense, while the energy visible inside him became more lustrous than before. The contrast sharpened his monstrous look, making him even more frightening.

And underneath all that, which would’ve been negligible to anyone else but Noah, were the small seams of green energy. They weren’t the same green runes that the others had, but Noah would be ignorant to believe that it had nothing to do with them.

“Magnificent!”

Bolas’s voice boomed again as he finally landed.

“No… Perfect! Look at them, Evi- ahem! Little Devil. Have you ever seen wings this magnificent?”

The dragon rebounded rather fast. He feared Noah would find a way to take his wings back if he still labeled him as evil.

Even then, Bolas didn’t wait for Noah to respond.

“Of course you haven’t! How could you? Look at their size! Look at their scales! Even a true dragon would have to acknowledge me as a dragon worthy of their blood with wings like these!”

Bolas stretched them to their full width, turning his body slightly as he attempted to admire both at once.

“HAHAHA! I knew it! There was no possible way someone as handsome and powerful as me was meant to remain wingless forever. The world itself must’ve realized its mistake!”

Noah’s lips twitched behind his veil. If he had known that the drak-no, the dragon would behave like this, he would’ve preferred to save Bolas for last; that way he wouldn’t have an audience to show off to.

But now that it’s come to this, there was nothing he could do. And somehow, Bolas still wasn’t finished.

“Strongest wings in existence! Most magnificent wings in existence! Mos-“

Bolas paused, his eyes suddenly shifted toward Noah.

Or more specifically, toward Noah’s wings.

The excitement in the dragon’s expression immediately gained a hint of smugness.

“Little Devil…”

Noah already didn’t like where this was going.

Bolas proudly lifted his head as his wings stretched even wider behind him.

“I suppose I should thank you. If I hadn’t lost my old wings, I might’ve never obtained something this magnificent.”

“Although now that I have the genuine article, yours are looking rather…”

Bolas’s voice trailed off while his pupils shifted to the side.

It wasn’t because he had reconsidered insulting Noah’s wings. He had finally noticed what was happening around him.

Several creatures were struggling back onto their feet, while some of the smaller ones had been blown much farther away. One of Arachne’s spiders was still clinging tightly to a strand of web after nearly being sent flying.

Bolas’s boast died before he could finish it.

He didn’t pay much attention to the state he had left Morvyr’s subordinates in, but Noah’s creatures were a different matter.

He had to care about them.

Especially now, after realizing what he had done, the look Noah was giving him suddenly felt a lot less harmless than it had moments ago.

The dragon’s wings gradually folded against his back as he pretended that he hadn’t been seconds away from flapping them again.

“…rather adequate.”

Bolas tried to put on a harmless smile, but with a mouth filled with enormous teeth, the expression only made him look more suspicious.

When Noah continued staring at him without saying anything, Bolas became increasingly uncomfortable with the silence.

“For someone of your size,” the dragon quickly added when Noah continued staring at him.

Apparently, even when trying to get himself out of trouble, Bolas’s pride refused to allow him to simply admit that Noah’s wings looked good.

Noah could easily sense Bolas’s feelings; the dragon wished for him to say something, anything. And because of that, Noah chose the best way to deal with him: he ignored him, switching his attention to someone else.

The dragon’s aura frazzled as Bolas watched Noah turn away. He couldn’t stop an audible, surprised gasp from leaking, one that made Noah smile internally while his back was turned.

Ignoring the dragon, Noah checked on the other Fallens’ changes.

He went to the weakest of them all.

Genghis had barely changed. His figure only grew a bit taller and a bit leaner. Noah could tell that the variant goblin would never become a good fighter.

But that didn’t matter.

His potential to create an army of stronger variant goblins had increased further than it was before. It was now guaranteed that any goblin created from him would be a variant.

If only the female goblins were stronger too. The babies would probably come out ready to fight. Atleast that’s how Noah envisioned it to be in the future.

But as for now, that would have to wait. With the goblins, he had to make sure that they earned their power. Only if he could get them to have a sense of loyalty to him, or at least to their new home, could he trust them enough not to run off or to become complacent after making them stronger.

There were only two Fallens left as he turned his attention to the other.

Baka was similar to Ailetta; the beast transformation skill turned into a semi-permanent state. A higher amount of stone was layered around his limbs. His forearms and shins were even denser, while a thick layer of stone now encompassed the rest of his body.

If the beast would go berserk after going through its improved transformation, Noah would have to worry about the headache that he would give to Fenrir if they ever trained again.

That then led his attention to the last Fallen.

If the fight against Otuk forced Fenrir’s body to supersede his strength from before. Then now, it was as if Noah’s blood brought out even the potential that was built up from that.

The pressure coming from the beast was as strong as Bolas before his own change. Physically, Noah believed Fenrir could’ve contended with Bolas, which was saying a lot considering the difference in their size.

But his increased strength wasn’t what caught Noah’s attention the most.

During his previous transformation, much of his fur had become thicker and considerably tougher. It had acted almost like another layer of protection across his body, growing across all the uncovered areas originally protected by his exoskeleton.

Now, most of it was gone.

Large portions of Fenrir’s body had been stripped almost completely bare, exposing the dark layered exoskeleton underneath.

Fenrir’s body had become so hot that most of his fur could no longer grow from it.

Noah gradually realized that this wasn’t just another improvement. Fenrir had experienced a slight mutation. One that finally allowed the seed of flames he consumed to fully mix with his bloodline.

And the greatest evidence of that mutation was his flames.

The unusually vibrant crimson Noah had grown accustomed to seeing was still there, but another color had appeared within it.

Black.

It wasn’t the same black Noah associated with miasma. He couldn’t sense that same corrupted nature.

Yet they felt every bit as dangerous.

Black and crimson flickered together around the joints of Fenrir’s arms and legs, growing denser around his wrists, ankles, and shoulders.

A massive mane of black and crimson flames now stretched from his neck, across his shoulders, and down most of his back.

Looking at the beast just now, Noah had a moment where the actual Fenrir overlapped with his own.