Becoming a Monster

Chapter 660: Chapter 659: Most Hated Enemy

Noah continued looking at Umbra with complicated eyes.

As one of Arachne’s guardians, there was little reason for her not to have a place in the coming battle. Despite only being born earlier that day, she was already considerably stronger than any of the dogs and cats outside of Dobby and Dog, and after emerging from her cocoon, that difference had only grown larger.

If strength was the only thing Noah needed to consider, then there wouldn’t have been much of a decision to make.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

Umbra might’ve grown considerably stronger inside her cocoon, but that didn’t change how immature she still was. Her appearance had changed far more than her actual size, with her body only gaining another inch or so in height despite everything else that had happened to it.

And after his conversation with Arachne, Noah found himself paying considerably more attention to that fact than he probably would’ve before.

It was one thing to send one of Arachne’s guardians into battle when they were strong enough to protect themselves. A considerable portion of Arachne’s strength now revolved around her guardians, so Noah couldn’t exactly expect Umbra to remain outside of battles forever.

However, it was another matter when Noah couldn’t ignore the possibility that Umbra was his child.

Perhaps it was hypocritical, or perhaps Noah wouldn’t be nearly as apprehensive about letting her fight if she had at least reached full maturity. He had felt something similar with Eve when he didn’t believe she could properly protect herself, but once that changed, Noah made sure she had opportunities to gain real fighting experience.

He had never intended to shelter those around him simply because he cared about them. If anything, Noah understood how dangerous that could eventually become. There was no telling what kind of enemies they would face in the future, and keeping Umbra away from every dangerous situation would only leave her less prepared when she eventually encountered one without him there to protect her.

But there was a considerable difference between refusing to let her fight at all and deciding that the same day she was born was probably too early to start.

The worst part was that Umbra herself was determined to fight no matter what.

Noah found himself in a position that he’d never been in before. Eventually, he relented.

Continuing to worry that something would happen to her only meant he feared his strength was inadequate. It also meant he didn’t trust Arachne to even take care of herself.

In the end, they were all monsters here.

‘On the bright side, I wonder if this would increase her potential.’

Noah began to ponder. Umbra’s body hadn’t reached maturity yet, which meant there was still a considerable amount of growth ahead of her. If experience could influence how a creature developed, then allowing her to fight before that growth was finished might actually prove beneficial.

Of course, Noah had no idea whether growth actually worked that way.

But considering how badly Arachne wanted Umbra to participate in this fight, even when Noah could sense the considerable affection his Queen already held for the newborn, he could only assume that some part of her spider-like maternal instincts was influencing the decision.

Whether those instincts actually knew something Noah didn’t was another matter entirely, but for now, he was willing to trust them.

His gaze remained on Umbra for another moment before eventually shifting toward the guardian standing beside her.

If Noah had to describe Atlas’s new appearance, then an armored warrior was probably the most fitting.

Unlike Umbra, there hadn’t been many completely new additions to his body. Most of the changes instead seemed to build upon what Atlas already possessed, particularly the exoskeleton that had once covered only portions of his humanoid half.

Now, there was hardly any part of his torso or arms left exposed.

The biggest difference was how much denser the exoskeleton had become. What had once followed closely against his body had thickened into overlapping layers, with the change becoming especially noticeable around his shoulders and forearms. Several of the plates even extended outward into sharp points, making the armor appear considerably heavier without looking like it interfered with his movement.

However, the changes to his humanoid half were nothing compared to what had happened below it.

Nearly the entirety of Atlas’s spider body was now protected with the same dense armor. Thick plates overlapped across his abdomen, while additional layers covered his legs and became especially pronounced around their joints. Even the legs themselves had grown thicker, giving the lower half of his body a much more fortified appearance than before.

Looking at him now, Noah found it interesting how differently Atlas and Umbra had developed despite undergoing the same process. Umbra’s transformation had further strengthened the traits that made her suited for assassination and information gathering, while Atlas seemed to have taken the qualities of Arachne’s shield he already possessed and pushed them considerably further.

Considering that Atlas’s role was to take on all of Arachne’s burdens, he now looked even better suited to endure everything for his Queen.

With those two fighting alongside Arachne, Noah didn’t believe a simple S-ranker could fight the three of them evenly.

But when it came to the battle ahead, the humans themselves were no longer what concerned him most.

Morvyr had already told him that he could fight evenly with someone like Malachi, or at the very least, that he wouldn’t lose to him. After being capable of completely seeing through Morvyr’s strength for himself, Noah had no reason to believe that someone on Malachi’s level could pose much of a threat to him anymore.

It was arrogant, and Noah knew that. Still, acknowledging his own strength didn’t mean he’d let it blind him. No matter how strong he became, there would always be something stronger.

And right now, the greatest uncertainty came from his arch-enemies.

The angels.

Noah had already encountered two of them since coming to this world, and neither had arrived under the same circumstances. The seraphim had been brought into the world using his weak, pathetic parents, while the Archon had been summoned by someone who was supposedly only an A-ranker.

That was what he had to be the most wary of.

If an A-ranker was capable of summoning something as powerful as the Archon, then what would happen if someone considerably stronger performed the summoning?

Or worse, what if the strength of the sacrifice mattered as well?

His parents had been worse than pathetic, yet they had still been enough to bring a seraphim into this world, one that nearly killed him if it wasn’t for Eve and Ava finishing off the angel who summoned it.

Even now, Noah still hadn’t fully uncovered why the seraphim summoned through his parents had been so strong. He only understood that his connection to them had played a significant part, while their sins supposedly played another.

But that second part was all according to the blabbering of an angel who had openly sacrificed humans regardless of whether they were willing.

Noah wasn’t about to take the words of such a hypocrite to heart.

What he did care about was what would happen if the Church sacrificed someone vastly stronger to summon a seraphim instead.

If that were to happen, then he would have to use everything, and even when using everything, it probably wouldn’t be enough.

‘I truly hate you, God,’ Noah muttered, hoping that this God could somehow hear him.

Holy energy was obnoxiously hateful.

Without it, Noah wasn’t even sure he would be this concerned about facing another seraphim.

The problem was that holy energy didn’t seem to care how much stronger he had become. As a “tainted” being, it was naturally effective against him, turning opponents he might otherwise be capable of overpowering into considerably greater threats.

And the stronger the holy being, the worse that problem became.

What was worse was that every creature he turned into a Fallen naturally obtained that same weakness.

The thought of eventually growing strong enough to purge every being that used holy energy from the world entered his mind more than once.

Whether that would ever be possible was something Noah could worry about in the future.

For now, there were considerably more immediate problems approaching his home.

Noah’s attention shifted when the strange luster within Arachne’s eyes suddenly changed. They had remained slightly unfocused for some time now, but the moment her expression sharpened, Noah knew that something had changed with the spiders watching the humans.

“They’ve gotten closer?” Noah asked.

Arachne nodded.

Noah listened as she began explaining what she could see. There were enough humans that Arachne couldn’t immediately give him an exact number, but luckily Moryvr had already alerted them that there would be an army.

They were now nearly halfway towards them. Nearly all of them followed behind a small group of humans leading the front.

Noah doubted Arachne could sense their strengths through the spider’s vision, so he didn’t ask anything else. However, when he was about to speak to the others, he noticed Arachne’s expression change again, and her aura slightly spiked with anger.

Someone noticed the spiders and began picking them off, but she didn’t care about that.

She had noticed the familiar face among them.