Becoming a Monster

Chapter 558 - 557: Atlas

The matter of the names took far longer to settle than Noah expected.

Mostly because Eve refused to let it go until she got a proper answer.

The vampire somehow managed to recruit the others to her side as well, even those like Ailetta and Arachne who had nothing to do with the conversation.

By the time the discussion ended, Noah found himself promising the three monsters that he would explain the origins behind their names after they dealt with the goblins.

Only then did the accusations finally stop.

Well... Mostly.

Eve still looked suspicious that he was planning to forget.

Noah chose to ignore her. For now, there were more immediate matters to handle.

—

His attention turned to Arachne.

The spider was initially prepared to leave and gather them personally. However, after taking a single step, she suddenly paused.

Remembering her newly obtained ability, Arachne instead attempted to contact them directly.

The experience was far smoother than she expected.

One by one, the familiar presences responded to her call until, eventually, six separate minds answered her almost immediately.

It was then that Arachne discovered a problem.

Including her royal guard, there were supposed to be seven spiders.

For a brief moment, Arachne believed something had happened, but her royal guard quickly explained that the final spider was still patrolling.

The discovery that her ability had a shorter range than she initially thought was mildly disappointing.

Fortunately, the issue was easily resolved. The royal guard relayed her summons, and before long, the final member of her brood arrived alongside the others.

Noah quietly observed the process from beginning to end.

Just from the subtle pride hidden within Arachne’s expression, he could already tell she was beginning to appreciate her ability far more than before.

And from their restless movements alone, Noah could already infer that Arachne had informed them exactly what was about to happen.

For all their obedience, they were still monsters.

And monsters naturally desired strength, especially when there was a chance of evolution.

The anticipation was practically radiating from them.

By the time the final spider arrived, Noah’s tendrils were already beginning to spread.

The process itself shouldn’t have taken long.

Or at least... That was what Noah expected.

Because just as he was about to begin, he noticed Arachne lingering beside him.

The spider had glanced towards him several times already. Each time it looked as though she wanted to say something, only for her to stop herself before speaking.

After the fourth time, Noah finally sighed.

”You do realize that I’ll never know what you’re thinking if you don’t actually say it.”

That was enough to cause the spider to freeze.

For a moment, Noah thought she would deny that anything was bothering her at all.

Instead, her gaze drifted towards the others. More specifically, towards the three who convinced Noah to tell them about their names.

The hesitation lasted several more seconds before she finally forced herself to speak.

”I want...” Arachne paused briefly before looking towards the massive spider standing ahead of the other soldiers. ”I want a name for him.”

Noah followed her gaze towards the royal guard.

Truthfully, he felt slightly sorry for the rest of the brood.

Arachne had undoubtedly become attached to all of them over time. Yet compared to the royal guard, the others still occupied a very different place in her mind.

The royal guard wasn’t merely one of her soldiers anymore. He was the one she relied upon the most.

That much had become obvious long ago.

Still, Noah found the timing strange.

If she wanted a name for him, why now?

The look he gave her was enough to communicate the question.

Arachne immediately understood what he was asking, though judging from the way she hesitated afterward, finding the right words proved much harder.

”Because I don’t know how to help him grow.”

Arachne thought back to the day she met Noah and was given her name.

From that moment onward, she had strived to become worthy of it. To become the queen of all spiders.

Deep down, she believed that dream had shaped the path that led to her evolution.

”If he has a name... maybe it can help him, just like it helped me.”

Noah slowly nodded in understanding.

However, just because he understood didn’t mean he held the same mindset.

He could tell that they all were of the belief that it was the name itself that directed their evolution.

If this had been brought up a day before, Noah would’ve regarded it as nonsense. If he would’ve given Arachne another name instead, then she would’ve still become what she is now.

At least that was what he used to think.

Now he wasn’t so sure.

Instinctively, he wanted to say that it was all circumstantial that both Arachne and Fenrir evolutions were similar to the mythological creatures they were named after.

That would’ve been the case before. However, Noah had already come to believe that coincidences were never what they seemed.

’What actually dictated a creature’s evolution?’

The more evolutions he witnessed, the more convinced he became that a creature’s evolution was fueled mainly by its existential path, which laid out its foundation, and then by what the creature needed most.

Yet that explanation still felt incomplete.

Noah genuinely began to consider what Arachne was implying.

What if the names he gave truly mattered? What if they influenced their evolutionary growth just as much as his blood did?

Entertaining the possibility felt strangely unsettling.

Accepting it would imply that he was capable of deciding what another creature would become simply by naming it.

Noah disliked the idea immediately.

If he possessed an ability like that, surely he would’ve known about it by now.

...Right?

His thoughts lingered briefly before another possibility surfaced.

’What if it isn’t a skill? And what if it doesn’t matter who gives the name?’

The idea only complicated the question further.

Noah’s gaze eventually drifted across the gathered creatures before stopping on two particular figures.

Dummy.

And Baka.

Noah stared at the pair for several moments, then slowly shook his head.

’Let’s hope it just has to be me who names them.’

The thought alone was enough to make him abandon the line of reasoning for now.

Whether Arachne was right or not didn’t actually change the immediate situation.

The spider was still waiting for an answer.

Noah looked back toward her, then toward the royal guard.

”...Fine.” Noah agreed before shifting his attention toward the rest. ”But what about them?”

Arachne’s posture became straighter than before. Her eyes betrayed her excitement that he agreed.

However, the moment his attention shifted toward the rest of her brood, her demeanor changed just as quickly.

Her gaze swept across them.

”They have to earn theirs.”

The sharpness behind her voice elicited an immediate reaction.

Every spider in the brood straightened even further than before.

Several of them even shifted forward slightly as if trying to appear more impressive.

Noah didn’t know how to react to such a scene.

Arachne’s words were undeniably harsh.

Yet somehow, they seemed far more motivating than encouraging.

Arachne either failed to notice their reactions entirely or simply considered them the natural response.

The spider remained completely unapologetic.

Noah found himself suppressing a sigh.

At some point, Arachne had become surprisingly good at acting like a queen.

Unfortunately, that also meant her soldiers were beginning to act exactly how a queen’s subjects should.

Still...

A promise was a promise.

Noah’s gaze shifted back toward the royal guard.

Normally, he would’ve simply chosen something that sounded fitting and moved on.

That was how most of the names were given.

But after everything that happened earlier, Noah found himself approaching the task differently.

If names truly mattered as much as they believed they did, then simply picking something that sounded impressive suddenly felt irresponsible.

His thoughts wandered through the fragments of mythology and stories he still remembered from his old life.

Truthfully, his options were fairly limited.

Most of what he knew came from scattered memories, movies, games, and stories he consumed long before the world changed.

At first, Noah expected to struggle.

Yet the moment he actually started thinking about the royal guard, a name surfaced almost immediately.

Or rather... An image did.

A figure standing beneath an impossible burden. A being whose existence was defined by carrying something far greater than himself.

Noah’s eyes settled on the massive spider.

The royal guard had never sought glory or attention. Everything he did revolved around a singular purpose.

Serving Arachne.

The name felt so obvious that Noah almost laughed.

”Atlas.”

Just as he uttered the name, the royal guard felt a jolt deep down.

Noah remained thoughtful for a moment before continuing.

”Atlas was a being whose punishment was to carry the world upon his shoulders.”

The spiders obviously had no context for what that meant.

But unlike before, Noah found himself understanding that the origin mattered just as much as the name itself.

If you were to ask Eve, perhaps even more.

”It was a task that many couldn’t do; even the strongest of beings couldn’t replace him. But in your case, your world isn’t the planet we walk on.”

”It’s her.”

Noah glanced toward Arachne.

”I expect you to carry every one of her burdens, hopes, and dreams. And I expect you to be able to perform that duty better than anyone else.”