Becoming a Monster

Chapter 685: Chapter 684: A Seraphim’s Pride

Malachi had finally accomplished what he brought Bailey here to do.

It had taken longer than he would’ve liked, and the circumstances were far different from anything he could’ve anticipated when they left the city. But in the end, all that mattered was that Bailey had agreed. Better yet, he couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to guide her through what came next.

Thalric and Soren wouldve been determined to stop Malachi the moment they understood what he was going to do. Malachi didn’t doubt that Thalric perhaps already had a faint idea why he brought her here.

Yet neither man was paying attention to them. Their focus remained on the battlefield and the strange phenomenon that was nearly restored. It was difficult to pay attention to anything else, because everyone knew that once the space was restored, the battle would resume again.

Malachi intended to take full advantage of that distraction while it lasted.

On the other side, Noah had no problem waiting for lightning to accomplish its purpose.

He watched as the remaining grey continued to disappear until one final bolt descended from the clouds, leaving the forest completely restored once it was gone.

At a glance, it was almost impossible to tell anything had happened there. The trees and vegetation had returned exactly as they were before, without any of the destruction one would’ve expected after everything that occurred within those hundred yards.

And the moment the grey space vanished, lightning never struck there again. It really was as though the world was acting on its own.

But even though the space returned, it wasn’t exactly what it once was.

The density and purity had increased considerably, reaching a point where that small portion of the forest was richer than the mana within his territory.

Considering the absurd amount of mana the space had absorbed from the lightning, perhaps that shouldn’t have surprised him. What did interest Noah was what such a sudden change would eventually do to everything living there.

His own territory had already shown him how heavily an environment could influence the creatures and plants inhabiting it.

The answer wouldn’t come anytime soon. Whatever changes resulted from it would take time to reveal themselves.

For now, his attention shifted back toward the beings waiting across from him.

The interruption was over. Nothing remained to keep the two sides from continuing where they left off, and Noah doubted the servants of God had suddenly lost their desire to kill him.

That left Noah with a difficult decision of his own.

His wings began to glow, lifting him silently from the ground as he hovered a few feet above it.

“Le, from here on out, you’re in charge. The plan hasn’t really changed. But just in case, don’t bother trying to keep anything alive for me.”

“Everyone, I’m only leaving this to you because I trust you. So don’t do anything stupid and protect each other, especially you Bolas.”

The dragon was paying close attention to Noah, taking this moment more seriously than he had ever before. He was already prepared to set aside his personal vendetta to protect the life he now had.

He could only gawk in sheer surprise when Noah addressed him; this time he wasn’t being selfish at all, and he was still attacked.

Despite feeling wrong, he couldn’t say anything when he, in fact, was the one who told Noah that he wanted to kill Thalric with his own hands.

—

Noah was ready to move on when Morvyr hurriedly called out to him, causing him to glance back at the demon. The urgency in Morvyr’s voice made it seem as though he was almost begging for something he could contribute once the fighting started again, unwilling to remain on the sidelines while everyone else was given a role.

“What do you need me to do?” Morvyr asked.

“Nothing has changed for you. Focus on your target, and no matter what happens after this, make sure you get him.”

Morvyr hesitated, seemingly surprised that Noah still wanted him focused on the same person after everything that happened. What he didn’t know was that Noah’s Nexus Eye had already found the human he was looking for among the army, allowing him to finally see the man whose ability had interested him from the moment Morvyr first explained what it could do.

Soren’s ability was valuable enough that Noah was willing to risk losing the souls of every celestial being on the battlefield if that was what it took to acquire it.

An ability capable of analyzing a being’s existence down to the smallest margins had far too much potential once combined with everything Noah already possessed, making Soren one of the few resources he had no intention of letting escape.

If Morvyr understood how important his task actually was, he might’ve questioned why Noah was entrusting it to him at all. Noah would’ve preferred sending one of his own creatures after Soren, but doing that would leave one less of them available to deal with God’s other warriors.

They would already have enough to handle while Noah’s attention was occupied elsewhere, leaving Morvyr to prove whether the trust he wanted from Noah was actually deserved.

Once he was sure Morvyr understood, Noah turned his attention back toward the battlefield. His wings folded slightly before carrying him forward at an almost leisurely pace, moving through the heavy rain without any urgency despite every celestial being ahead immediately noticing his approach.

Their response was far less relaxed. Weapons were raised as heavenly energy began gathering around them, and by the time Noah approached the center of the battlefield, all of God’s servants appeared ready to attack the moment he gave them a reason. Noah made no attempt to prepare an attack of his own.

He continued forward at the same unhurried pace until reaching the distance he wanted, acting less like someone approaching several powerful enemies and more like he was deciding when the battle was allowed to begin.

His gaze moved across the celestial beings before eventually settling on the Seraphim, and the sight of all of them preparing to fight beside it only made the contempt in Noah’s expression more apparent.

“I wonder if a mindless slave like you can understand words.” Noah folded his arms across his chest as he looked directly at the Seraphim. “You’re supposed to be one of God’s strongest warriors, aren’t you? Then tell the rest of them to stay out of this and fight me yourself.”

The Seraphim gave no immediate response, although Noah had already learned that its lack of expression didn’t necessarily mean his words had no effect.

The last time Noah perfectly imitated one of its attacks, something about the exchange had clearly become personal to a being that supposedly existed only to carry out God’s will. He was curious whether its pride could be provoked just as easily now.

“Or is that title only worth something when you have the rest of God’s slaves standing behind you?” Noah’s eyes briefly passed over the others before returning to the Seraphim.

“You supposedly have the strength to fight me as an equal, yet you’re still too afraid to do it alone. At that point, calling you a slave to such a powerful figure might be giving you more respect than you deserve.”

Several of the other celestial beings appeared ready to move the moment Noah finished speaking, but the Seraphim raised one hand before any of them could act. Whatever command passed between them needed no words.

The heavenly energy gathering around the others gradually settled as they remained where they were, leaving the Seraphim standing alone in front of them.

Noah couldn’t stop the slight smile that formed as he watched it step forward. He had already seen an angel break once, and now even a seraphim couldn’t remain free of a sin such as pride.

Without missing a beat, Noah began to rise in the air, passing through the trees.

“Then let’s finish this.” He left the words behind as his appearance disappeared.

Not even a moment later, the seraphim already began to ascend.

The shout came from among the nobles, loud enough to draw the attention of several people nearby. One of the men had stepped forward with disbelief written across his face as he watched the Seraphim follow Noah into the sky.

“Why are you listening to that Demon? You’re supposed to be protecting us! If he wants to fight alone, then let the others go with you and kill him together!”

His protest quickly encouraged others who had been too afraid to say anything themselves. More voices joined his from among the weaker humans, some demanding that the Seraphim return while others called for God’s remaining servants to follow it.

They had barely recovered from watching how the demon evenly matched what was supposed to be their strongest support, creating a realm from the collision of their powers alone.

The Seraphim ignored every one of them. It continued upward without so much as looking back, causing the protests to grow increasingly frantic until Thalric finally turned toward the crowd.

He remained silent as his gaze passed over them, and one by one, the voices began to die until only the rain could be heard around them.

“Do none of you understand how much better our situation just became?”

The confusion he saw was enough of an answer.

“That Devil was the greatest threat on this battlefield. None of us could’ve done anything meaningful while the Seraphim fought him, and keeping that battle here would’ve only put everyone else in danger. Now the one being capable of fighting him has taken him away from us.”

Thalric turned toward Noah’s creatures. “Which means we can finally focus on enemies we actually have a chance of defeating.”

The humans gradually followed his gaze. Noah’s creatures were still dangerous, and several had already proven that defeating them would be anything but easy. But with Noah gone, the battle in front of them no longer seemed quite as impossible as it had moments before.

“So stop worrying about the Seraphim and prepare yourselves. We deal with what’s in front of us, and we stay alive long enough to finish it.” Thalric’s eyes briefly lifted toward the sky. “All we can do after that is hope the Seraphim kills the Devil before we’re done.”