Becoming a Monster

Chapter 266: Chapter 266: Mysterious Liquid

The change in Noah’s behavior was immediate. At first his creatures were surprised by the turn of events. One moment Noah was tending to them, and the next he suddenly knelt on the ground, eyeing the chest in front of him as if they no longer existed.

Ailetta, Arachne and Fenrir were the only ones who weren’t surprised. Arachne and Fenrir could never fully understand Noah’s fascination with chests, but they at least came to terms with Noah’s obsession over them. They made no attempt to bother him while he was in the midst of his ritual. To them, it was simply part of who Noah was now.

But the little zombie was different. She couldn’t resist, her curiosity bubbling over as she toddled towards the chest. Her small hands reached out eagerly, hoping this time would be the time she could finally open it herself. ”The box! I can open it this time, right?” she chirped.

Noah was quick to stop her little hands that were reaching out towards the chest. His grip was instinctively firm, but within a second he realized what he did. His hand relaxed just as quickly, a relieved breath escaping him as he remembered he made a promise to the little zombie.

”Come here,” Noah gestured, a warm smile tugging at his lips as he motioned for Eve to stand in front of him. Her beady eyes lit up with an eager, childlike excitement, making Noah smile even wider. However, her joy quickly turned into suspicion when her gaze flicked behind her, eyeing the spot where she had carelessly set her book down. For a brief moment, indecision clouded her, but it didn’t last long. With a quick decision, she darted into position in front of Noah, not wanting to lose the opportunity.

Eve didn’t care about what was inside the chest. Her attention was solely on the fact that she was the first Noah had ever allowed to open it. The pride she felt over that would surely be a source of teasing for Ailetta when she had the chance.

”Woah, woah!” But just as she reached out, Noah’s hand shot out to stop her, halting her tiny hands mere inches from the chest. Eve froze in confusion, her beady eyes blinking up at him in utter bewilderment.

”But... you said I could!” she protested, her tiny hands frozen in the air, just inches from the chest.

Noah let out an amused sigh. ”I did say that, but take your time. Opening a chest isn’t just about grabbing the loot inside, it’s about savoring the moment.” He gestured dramatically, as if unveiling a great secret of the universe.

Eve tilted her head, utterly unconvinced and even more confused that she had forgotten to play along.

”Sigh...” Noah helplessly breathed out again, he already accepted that no one will ever understand.

Ailetta, sensing his inner turmoil, smirked. ”You do realize you’re trying to explain this to a zombie, right?”

Noah rolled his eyes. ”Eve’s different from all of the others, besides, it’s never too late to learn.”

Eve, still only interested in the act of opening the chest, wiggled her fingers eagerly. ”So, can I open it now?”

”...Yeah, yeah. Go ahead.” Noah waved a hand in surrender.

Without hesitation, her tiny hands moved with surprising strength as she opened the chest.

A subtle knot built up with Noah’s chest as he watched. His expectations for the loot were now at an all-time low now that the ritual was destroyed. But still, his body moved on its own, his head now inches away from Eve’s as the two looked down into the space extended chest.

”I guess that ritual doesn’t mean anything after all...” Ailetta commented on the side, her eyes glued to Noah’s bulging eyes and his shocked expression. She didn’t need to see what was inside to understand that the contents were good, at least on the surface the quality of the loot must be exceptional.

Out of the loot, there was only one item amongst the rest that he was familiar with, yet that one item couldn’t compare with the sheer aura radiating from the others.

Eve looked proudly towards Noah, just opening the chest alone was a big achievement to her, but his silence confused her. Her eyes shifted back towards the chest as she wondered if she didn’t open it properly. Her hands reached towards the chest lid, attempting to close the chest and try it again.

Before she could shut the chest, Noah suddenly placed his hand over hers, stopping her movement. His eyes were still locked onto the contents, his expression unreadable.

Eve wanted to say something, she wanted to let Noah know that she could do better, but his eyes gave her the impression that he was no longer there with them. She gazed one last time towards the chest, still under the impression that she could’ve done better. Her eyes quickly skimmed over the glowing objects. The attraction of their supposed allure was meaningless to her. Whatever beauty they held was hollow, dulled by her instincts, which cared only for whether something could be consumed, expediting her evolution.

And as he skimmed through the items, a sudden shift occurred. Suspiciously, everyone noticed that Eve had suddenly paused, imitating the same state as Noah. Out of the chest, there was something within that was calling to her. No....Calling out to her was an understatement, her instincts were screaming for the item. Her eyes glowed with such an intensity that anyone would believe that she had gone mad.

The little zombie was quick, her entire body suddenly jolted as she dove headfirst into the chest to grab it, only to be yanked out just as quickly.

Without the item in sight, Eve stared into space in a daze, wondering what happened. Her eyes shifted to Noah who already was pulling out an item, the very same item that she wanted.

Noah, however, wasn’t quick to make any judgments. His initial impulse had been to simply grab whatever was closest and move on, but the odd behavior Eve had displayed made him reconsider. Something wasn’t right.

His brows furrowed as he closely examined the small crimson vial. The mix of glass and bone so thin that it was almost translucent, gave it a strangely ghostly appearance. It pulsed with a soft, almost hypnotic glow, but what really caught his attention was the ichor inside. It wasn’t liquid, at least, not in the way he expected. It was thick, dark, and moved with a life of its own, swirling inside the vial like a sentient substance.

As he rotated the vial in his hands, the intricate engravings on its surface became clearer. The carvings depicted a holy zealot, someone cloaked in priestly attire, but the figure was no saint. Instead, they were praying to a sky that rained blood, a picture that was no better than just slapping a huge skull as a warning label.

Eve, meanwhile, was practically vibrating in place, her fingers twitching as if she were resisting the urge to snatch it from his grasp.

Aietta was quick to act. Her body moved, creating tentacles to tie Eve down. She wasn’t worried for Noah’s safety, but she was worried about what Arachne would do.

”Arachne, only Noah has the right to punish us.”

Arachne’s sharp eyes flicked from Ailetta to Eve, finally centering themselves on Noah. Her expression was blank, one would be confused as to why Ailetta would say such a thing. But the dangerous aura radiating from the newly evolved spider was unmistakable.

She remained silent for a moment, waiting for just one order from Noah. She didn’t care who it was, no matter if they were a danger to Noah or not, anyone who held any thoughts of harming Noah should die.

Noah should’ve spoken up sooner, but the more he inspected it, he realized the reason behind the zombie’s actions. Out of all of the items in the chest, this one in particular had the most potent aura than all of the others combined. And that aua was the cause of it all. He couldn’t tell before, but as he observed it with his Nexus Eye, he noticed that the aura was bending, moving in a certain direction. That direction just happened to be centered around Eve and no one else. Something about it resonated with Eve’s very essence.

Noah’s thoughts were more centered around why that was, rather than any possible dangerous outcomes. He didn’t believe that the mysterious figure would give him something with evil intention, or rather, the thought never even crossed his mind.

”It’s okay, Le, let her go.”

His command was both for Ailetta and Arachne, the spider’s eyes were quick to flicker in acknowledgment. But her hands were still squeezing into her palms at the sight of Eve lunging towards Noah at the first opportunity.

Eve’s seemingly frail body was incredibly fast, and her growls were more intense and ravenous than Noah had ever heard from her before.

There was a part of him that felt hurt, the way she looked at him was vastly different from the attention seeking little zombie he was used to. However, he understood that it wasn’t her fault. His eyes released a subtle glow the moment she reached near him, prompting her to instantly freeze in place. Her eyes looked towards Noah; a sense of awareness finally settled within after Noah forcibly suppressed her zombie instincts by forming a barrier that prevented the ominous aura from affecting her anymore.

The little zombie stood before him, her trembling hands still reaching toward the object, but no longer in the frantic, uncontrollable way she had before. She seemed to be lost, not understanding why she wanted the object anymore, every inch her arm moving forward proved to be a challenge.

Seeing Eve struggling against the vial’s allure managed to put a smile on Noah’s face, allowing him to quickly make his decision as he uncorked the vial. The mana contained with the small sample exploded. A dark current of energy was suddenly released throughout the air that caused everyone’s hair and fur to stand on end.

The dark energy began to ooze out of the vial, a heavy mist began to take shape within the air around them and yet the contents itself was unable to escape.

Eve’s eyes widened as the mist fully surged towards her. Her eyes instantly turned crazed within an instant as her desires transcended the need for reason.

She no longer was fully cautious of what she was doing, prepared to do anything to get the vial from Noah’s hands, but Noah was faster.

Just as Eve lunged forward, her body suddenly froze. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she realized that the vial was already in her mouth. Her consciousness lagged behind, unable to process what was happening, but her hands were already moving on instinct, attempting to shove the entire vial down her throat.

”Of course you’d want to eat the entire thing,” Noah muttered in exasperation, his voice rising above the high-pitched growls that echoed from Eve. With a swift motion, tendrils of slime erupted from his arm, wrapping around her hands to stop her from pushing the vial further. At the same time, the tendrils gently tilted her head back, ensuring she swallowed the contents.

Noah was expecting for Eve to react even more strongly the moment she ingested the liquid. Instead, he was met with the complete opposite. Eve’s body completely shut down. Her eyes firmly snapped closed, her growls vanished, and her entire form went limp in his arms.

She was only standing because of Noah’s tendrils holding her up. Noah’s worries spiked, but just for a moment. He was still prepared for such a reaction, and yet his familial bond still made his heart ache with concern.

He gently lowered her onto the ground, stepping away from her as he watched the auras in her body spiking out of control, it was a complete contrast to her serene, slumbering appearance.

Ailetta was just as emotionally tied to Eve as Noah. All this time she didn’t say anything, yet seeing Noah step away, she had to know if something was wrong.

Whoosh!*

The sudden eruption of energy startled everyone, the temperature around them growing dangerously cold. But it wasn’t the temperature itself that was growing cold, it was the energy essence that was interacting with their souls that made them feel cold.

The energy became tangible, tangible enough to where everyone could see it. A tornado of energy began to swirl around Eve, the thick, dark mist clouding her body, only briefing unveiling her within small gaps.

All this time Diablo had yet to move, but the moment the energy became visible, his eyes glowed. The gems within grew bigger, while the miasma that normally only surrounded his sword was now beginning to fester around his entire body as he made his way into the tornado with her.

”Noah?!” Ailetta couldn’t take it anymore as he yelled towards Noah over the whispering wind of energy.

”Do you know what’s going on?!”

Noah didn’t respond, his ey-His Nexus eye was glued to what was happening within the turbulent energy. He could clearly see how the two separate energies were not only merging, but stablazing. The ”zombie” energy that he could pick up was Eve’s, was becoming something....more.

Now Noah should be worried, but he couldn’t stop himself from being excited. Whatever was in that vial was causing her to evolve.