Becoming a Monster

Chapter 472: Chapter 471: Display of Strength Before Negotiations

The moment Roy’s sword erupted in flames became the spark that nearly ignited the very conflict the adventurers had hoped to avoid.

Several of them drew their weapons at once, while those able to had shifted into casting stances.

None of them attacked, yet the hesitation in their movements didn’t diminish the seriousness of their response. They couldn’t afford to take risks, not when the creatures beside Noah reacted to Roy’s aggression almost immediately.

Until that moment, the monsters had only carried the quiet pressure of powerful monsters.

Now that the restraint has disappeared.

The presence they emitted pressed down on the adventurers from all sides as their killing intent pressed down on them. A weaker adventurer might have buckled under that pressure.

Even the seasoned adventurers felt their muscles tighten as instinct screamed at them to remain on guard.

It forced them to confront a truth they hadn’t fully accepted until now.

These creatures couldn’t be judged by the standards they normally used when facing monsters.

And yet Noah himself didn’t move.

His eyes remained on Roy without a hint of vigilance, as though the sudden burst of hostility hadn’t surprised him at all. To Noah, this kind of behavior was simply normal for humans.

After a moment, his gaze drifted past Roy.

He looked toward the wolves’ bodies lying behind the adventurers.

Then he asked calmly, ”Did you also introduce yourselves before you killed them?”

The question caused several of the adventurers to glance back instinctively.

The corpses of the wolves were still scattered across the forest floor where they had fallen only moments earlier.

The older man immediately understood the implication.

For a brief moment, a troubling thought crossed his mind. If those wolves had belonged to this creature, then they may have already committed a grave mistake before this encounter had even begun.

He opened his mouth, hoping to calm the situation before it worsened.

”If those wolves were under your protection, then we were unaware of it,” he said carefully. ”We encountered them while advancing through the forest and assumed they were ordin-”

Unfortunately, Roy didn’t give him the chance to finish.

”Why would we?” Roy snapped, his voice rising as his emotions surged ahead of his judgment. ”They’re only monsters.”

The words left his mouth with the same conviction most humans had always believed.

Yet at that moment, no one present resented Roy more than the people standing beside him.

The older man nearly shouted.

”Roy! Shut up! Think about our situation!”

Roy stiffened, though the flames along his sword still burned fiercely. The old man had always been something between a mentor and a guard to him. Rarely in his life had Roy heard him raise his voice unless the situation had already turned dire.

For the first time since the monsters appeared, Roy truly looked at him.

What he saw surprised him. For a fleeting moment, Roy could have sworn the old man was afraid.

The thought confused him. How could that be possible?

Among the A-Rank adventurers he knew, including himself, the old man was undoubtedly the strongest one present.

Roy turned his gaze back toward the creatures standing across from them.

Were they truly that strong?

What Roy could not perceive, and what the others also failed to understand, was that they had already made a critical mistake.

They were judging the creatures before them as if they were simply powerful monsters.

The old man knew better.

No... he only knew better because he had experienced something similar once before, the first time he had confronted a vampire lord.

Human arrogance often stemmed from the belief that status and power were interchangeable, yet monsters didn’t operate by the same logic, because among them, power alone determined everything.

That was precisely why the creature standing before them unsettled him so deeply, since it had already analyzed each of them and still remained completely calm, without showing even the slightest hint of caution.

There were only two explanations for that behavior.

Either the creature possessed the same arrogant confidence humans often displayed, or it was stronger than they could currently perceive.

The older man strongly suspected the latter, which meant that starting a fight here would be reckless, especially with the forces they had brought.

The guild had been wrong from the very beginning, because this situation couldn’t reasonably be classified as an A-Rank mission.

At the very least, it warranted being raised to an S-Rank investigation. If the danger proved to be as severe as he feared, then Ashenveil Forest might even need to be classified as an A-Rank dungeon raid.

Before the older man could speak again, Noah slowly nodded.

The gesture caught several of the adventurers off guard.

”I agree with you,” Noah said calmly, directing the words toward Roy.

Roy blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting that response.

”Why should humans have to introduce themselves to monsters?” Noah continued, his voice steady and almost conversational. ”You view yourselves as superior, and in that belief, the strong should never have to lower themselves for the weak.”

For a brief moment, it sounded as though Noah had sided with him.

Then the atmosphere changed.

A violent surge of power erupted from Noah’s body as his aura expanded outward in every direction.

It wasn’t merely mana.

The force pouring from him carried something deeper, something heavier than raw magical energy. His spirit surged alongside it, amplifying the pressure until the air itself seemed to tremble beneath its weight.

The presence pushed violently through the forest as a tangible force. The grass and leaves rustled as though a powerful wind was blowing. And the light that breached past the trees gave the illusion that it was being absorbed.

The adventurers immediately felt the difference.

The earlier killing intent of the surrounding creatures had been oppressive, but this was something else entirely. It felt as if they had entered a domain.

A suffocating dread seeped into their minds as instinct screamed that something far more dangerous than an ordinary monster stood before them. Their hearts began to pound faster, and even their breathing grew uneven as the aura wrapped around them

Every one of them reacted instinctively.

Mana surged through their bodies as they reinforced their senses and steadied their minds against the invasive pressure. The energy formed subtle layers around them, dulling the creeping dread that threatened to cloud their judgment.

Even with that preparation, the pressure was nearly overwhelming.

Several of them were forced to brace their feet against the ground as the invisible force pressed down on their bodies.

The difference in experience quickly became apparent.

The cleric endured it with surprising composure as faint holy light naturally gathered around his body, the radiance acting as a stabilizing force that repelled the darker presence. The priest beside him fared just as well, her own faith reinforcing her spirit against the suffocating aura.

The older man didn’t rely on any visible technique at all. His expression was grave but steady as he forced his mind to remain clear through sheer discipline.

The source of that overwhelming presence came from the spirit within Noah, an attribute that had grown to the brink of an S-Rank creature ever since his contract with Bolas.

In that moment, the difference between them became painfully clear.

If strength determined worth in this forest... Then Noah stood at the very top.

And yet Noah hadn’t finished speaking.

His gaze swept calmly across the group, not perturbed for a second by the fact that his display was unable to clearly affect them all before settling on Roy.

”So I will change the question... Did you come here to discuss something...”

As he spoke, the pressure bearing down on the adventurers suddenly began to lift.

Several of them drew in sharp breaths as the dreadful sensation vanished from their bodies.

Roy, however, didn’t share that relief. Sweat poured down his face as his body trembled violently.

Instead of dispersing his aura, Noah had concentrated it entirely on him.

”...or did you come here to fight?” The invisible force surrounding Roy intensified.

He struggled to remain standing as the pressure crushed against him from every direction. His teeth ground together as he forced his body to resist, yet blood slowly began to seep from the corners of his mouth.

His arms trembled as he fought to keep his flaming sword raised.

Anyone present could see the outcome approaching.

It wouldn’t be long before Roy collapsed beneath the overwhelming pressure.

The older man reacted immediately. Without speaking, he motioned sharply toward their cleric.

The cleric understood at once.

He gripped the cross hanging from his neck and muttered a quiet prayer beneath his breath. The radiant light that enveloped him began to expand outward, enveloping the adventurers. If not for wanting his actions to be taken as an attack on the dark creature, he would’ve done this sooner.

The glow acted as a barrier that began to push against Noah’s crushing aura.

The light struggled at first, particularly around Roy, where the pressure remained the strongest, yet the holy energy gradually forced the suffocating weight back.

After several seconds, Noah withdrew it, allowing the pressure to fade.

The brief exchange had already told him everything he needed to know.

The cleric’s holy energy was nearly as strong as the seraphim’s power had been before their fusion.

If what he had just witnessed represented the limit of that energy, then it wasn’t something he needed to fear.

Instead, Noah simply wanted to learn their intentions before he decided his next actions.