Becoming a Monster

Chapter 432: Chapter 432: Demands Before Payment

Outside in the real world, the drake’s impatience was at an all-time high. It still couldn’t speak.

It didn’t understand what had happened. One minute, the Devil was checking on the creature he had helped evolve; the next, the atmosphere became tense once again. Noah’s creatures suddenly panicked, their vigilance heightened as if there was danger nearby.

All of it happened the moment the Devil suddenly stopped moving.

Then, the drake felt it too. Its gaze snapped to the source, and that source led it to Noah.

The Devil stood unmoving, eyes unfocused, as if staring through the world itself.

The drake swallowed nervously. It resisted the urge to take a step back, to create distance from whatever that feeling was just now.

It didn’t believe even for once that the danger it sensed was the Devil. The feeling was too strong; its sense of danger was triggered far beyond what any other creature had made it feel before. If the Devil truly had the power to make it feel this way, then what was the point of everything? Did the Devil get a kick out of toying with it?

No, the drake was already under the assumption that the danger was from something else, something inside Noah. The feeling was similar to that of a human who took on the form of a deity. Something deep lurked inside him.

But the drake couldn’t say with certainty if that was the case. The situation could also be similar to the stories that it had heard about the elves. The elf chosen to be their species protector would become the host of the previous defenders, becoming an avatar of sorts of their ancestors.

Noah had too many mysteries behind him, and the drake understood that it didn’t have the privilege to learn those secrets.

However, that didn’t sway its decision. As it looked at the evolved creature, stone plating encasing its limbs, the chilling switch in the way it carried itself, the drake felt something shift inside its chest. Its entire existence took on a qualitative change.

At the moment, the drake’s mind was entirely made up. As long as it could still retain its will, giving its soul would be worth it. It was a better future than what it would have left of its life. It didn’t want to live out the rest of its life wondering what if.

”You look like you’ve made up your mind.” The drake was taken out of its thoughts to welcome the sight of Noah paying attention to it again. The words weren’t challenging. They weren’t mocking either. Noah said to them the same way one might comment on the weather.

The drake’s jaw tightened. It had...that much was undeniable.

Temptation burned hotter than it cared to admit. Not just because of what Noah had shown, but because of what he hadn’t. Every display of power only made it clearer that what it wanted wasn’t even the full picture.

And that was the most dangerous part.

”I know better than to rush,” the drake said slowly. ”And yet... I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted.”

Its gaze drifted, not to Noah, but to his creatures. Each resembled a species that already existed in this world, but in the end, they each felt wrong in their own way. As if the same rules no longer bound them, everything else was forced to obey.

”There are too many things about you that warrant caution,” the drake continued. ”Each more concerning than the last.”

Noah didn’t respond.

The drake’s eyes narrowed slightly. ”And whatever that presence was earlier... I won’t ask.”

That earned a reaction.

Not from Noah’s face, but from the shift in the air around him. Then another presence, more hostile than all the others, finally calmed. The drake noticed the slime creature who was closest to the Devil was very sensitive towards the being inside him. It was relieved that it was smart enough not to ask.

”If I already have to offer something for the power you’re promising,” the drake said, ”then I can only imagine the price of knowing who, or what, that belonged to.”

Noah studied the drake more carefully now. He hadn’t expected that restraint. Earning recognition that overshadowed the problems he had with the drake before.

”You’ll have to wait,” Noah said at last.

The drake stiffened.

”The power I plan to give you isn’t the same as what I gave that one,” Noah continued, his gaze briefly shifting toward Baka. ”And I won’t give it to you yet.”

Frustration flared immediately.

The drake didn’t bother hiding it. Flames flickered under its jaw, an instinctive reaction. But it didn’t attack. It didn’t roar. It just stared at Noah, as if weighing whether to beg or threaten him.

It was eager. Too eager. Afraid, perhaps, that if it waited too long, the chance would vanish, or be given to someone else.

What the drake didn’t know, and what Noah wasn’t going to tell it, was that he couldn’t give the drake what it wanted, even if he wanted to. He couldn’t form a pact with it. At least not yet.

”What do you want from me, then?”

This time, Noah answered without hesitation.

”Proof.”

The drake’s eyes narrowed. ”Of what?”

”That you can be loyal.”

This was the moment the drake was anticipating. Noah spoke of loyalty, but what the drake understood was to offer its soul. Its muscles tightened before eventually giving in. There was no going back when it already made the decision.

”Fine, if giving my soul will make you see my loyalty, then take it. But know that a dragon’s soul isn’t something you can simply contain. If you’re thinking about tricking me, I’ll find a way to curse you until karma eventually takes you.”

Its head lifted, eyes closed, bracing itself for the moment it was expecting.

Its eyes quivered; too much time had passed, yet nothing happened. Was it painless? No, it didn’t sense the Devil move. It finally opened its eyes, Noah hadn’t moved. Quickly, the look of pure ridicule was plastered on his gaze. It felt as if it was being tricked again!

”First,” Noah interrupted any future tantrum. ”You’re not a dragon, so even if a dragon could curse me, at least I wouldn’t have about it being you. Second, who said anything about needing your soul?”

”Wha-what?” The drake stammered embarrassingly. Its mouth moved as if it would come up with an answer on its own. Its eyes eventually landed on Baka.

”But that’s what Devils are known for...You even ate all those souls just moments before... No! you’re just tricking me again; you used a creature’s soul to transform that

one! Devil, why do you partroni-”
”Shut up for a moment.” Noah pressed, a hand was held on his head, he couldn’t continue letting the drake jabber anything even more ridiculous. Its logic was concrete, so much that if it continued down this road, it may eventually truly believe that it was right.

”I told you that the power I’m giving you will be different than what I gave that one. Listen for once, will you?”

Noah’s words stung at the drake’s pride, but nonetheless, he still was able to get through to it. But this time, Noah wasn’t willing to trust the drake’s intellect.

”You just need to behave, treat me and my family with respect, like you’re one of us. Don’t betray us, support us. If you can do that, and I sense your loyalty, then you’ll get what you want.

The term family lingered longer than Noah intended.

The drake didn’t respond immediately. Its jaw tightened slightly, not in anger, but confusion. A Devil speaking of loyalty was already difficult enough to reconcile, but a Devil speaking of family felt fundamentally wrong. They didn’t nurture. They certainly didn’t bind themselves emotionally to those beneath them.

Yet, the scene in front of it refused to align with what it believed.

Noah’s creatures weren’t afraid of him. They watched him with a familiarity that went beyond obedience. Even now, there was no tension in their posture, no wariness that suggested they feared being discarded once they outlived their usefulness.

Deep down, the drake suspected it was being toyed with again.

But it didn’t voice that thought. Instead, it listened.

”I’m not asking you to kneel,” Noah continued, his tone steady, unforced. ”And I’m not asking for blind devotion. Show me you can coexist without lashing out every time your pride gets scratched. If you can do that, then when the time comes, you’ll get what you’re looking for.”

The drake’s claws scratched against the hard soil. It hated waiting. Waiting was what it had done for a century already. Yet, as much as it hated to admit it, Noah wasn’t asking for much. And it knew its past actions weren’t exactly pleasant.

”And until then?” the drake asked.

”Until then, I will treat you like everyone else. You’ll even receive those cores everyday, just like the rest.”

That answer surprised it.

Not because of the cores themselves, but because of the implication. Noah wasn’t withholding everything as leverage. He wasn’t starving it to force submission. Even without the promised transformation, he was willing to share the same resources he gave his own creatures.

The drake didn’t comment on it, but the shift was noticeable. For the first time since meeting Noah, its posture eased slightly.

The tension that followed the battle finally began to fade.

That was when a strained, desperate cry sounded.