Becoming a Monster

Chapter 612: Chapter 611: The Chair Incident

The atmosphere had changed considerably by the time their conversation resumed.

Noah and Morvyr were still facing one another in the same clearing, surrounded by the same groups as before. Yet the scene now resembled something closer to a formal meeting than the tense confrontation it started as.

Several chairs had been created for them to be seated on.

They were simple in appearance, formed from the same dark material Noah could freely produce and absorb back into his body once they were no longer needed. Creating enough for everyone would have taken little more than a thought.

In the end, he only created five.

Noah sat at the center, while Ailetta and Arachne occupied the seats on either side of him. Eve had settled beside Ailetta, leaving Morvyr seated across from them.

Arachne appeared considerably less comfortable with the arrangement than everyone else.

She had initially refused alongside most of Noah’s creatures.

Sitting would make it marginally harder for her to react if Noah’s life was at risk, and she preferred remaining in a position where she could move the instant anything happened.

Ailetta understood Arachne’s personality, but she had also reminded Arachne many times that everything she did was a reflection of Noah, even more so now that she was his woman.

If Noah was their king, then they were his queens.

There would be moments when that title needed to take precedence over their personal interest and dislikes, and sitting beside him during a meeting with another ruler was one of them.

Arachne remained unconvinced until Ailetta calmly accepted the seat on Noah’s other side.

Only then did she reconsider.

Her chair required more adjustment than the others. Noah widened the seat and adjusted its lower frame so her body and limbs could rest naturally without restriction.

It remained simple, but it was unmistakably made for her.

A nervous pressure immediately began radiating from Noah’s side once Arachne settled into it.

Only after taking her place beside Noah did Arachne realize the significance of where Ailetta had seated her.

Before Noah could return his attention to Morvyr, another strange pressure appeared from his opposite side.

Ailetta sat comfortably within her chair without saying anything, yet her attention repeatedly drifted toward Arachne’s specially made seat.

She had been the one to convince Arachne that they should sit beside him as his queens. Naturally, she had no intention of being the only one seated in an ordinary chair.

Noah understood the issue without any need for a hint.

With a quiet sigh, he altered hers as well, shaping it into something smoother and more elegant, with a rounded back that resembled the flowing curves of her slime body.

Ailetta’s satisfaction was fully visible in her uplifted eyes alone, a small pleased smile on her face as she made the effort to proceed to cross one leg over the other.

That should have settled the matter.

Instead, one chair now stood out more than all the others.

Eve sat beside Ailetta in the same plain seat Noah had originally created for everyone else.

The vampire made no complaint. Her posture remained composed, and her expression revealed almost nothing.

However, the longer she looked between Ailetta’s chair and Arachne’s, the colder her gaze became.

Noah endured it for several moments before altering hers as well. The back rose slightly higher, while a few subtle curves gave it a more refined appearance suited to her.

Eve’s expression softened almost immediately. And as if she were Ailetta’s biological child, she imitated Ailetta’s position as she struggled to get her leg exactly like hers.

Noah chose not to comment on either of them.

Otherwise, he feared the hateful stare she had been suppressing might eventually be redirected toward Morvyr.

—

Across from them, Morvyr’s elves remained standing behind their leader.

Their refusal carried a considerably different meaning.

Noah had offered to create seats for every one of them. The gesture had been extended without reluctance, and no one among Morvyr’s group could reasonably interpret the seating arrangement as an attempt to place them beneath anyone else.

The elves had simply been too proud to accept.

Each remained standing with their posture straight and their expressions composed, as though sitting on furniture created by Noah would somehow diminish them.

Their decision left the goblin chieftain in an awkward position.

He had looked toward the empty space beside Morvyr more than once after Noah made the offer. Sitting would have clearly been preferable, especially when he was so used to sitting on his own throne.

However, accepting after the elves refused would have drawn far more attention than he was willing to endure.

So the goblin remained on his feet as well.

—

Morvyr’s gaze gradually moved across the three women seated beside Noah.

The interaction involving the chairs had seemed insignificant at first. Noah could create and absorb them with little effort, so altering their shapes hardly required any sacrifice on his part.

Yet Morvyr still found himself dwelling upon it.

Noah had understood each of them without forcing them to explain themselves, then accommodated their preferences with more patience than Morvyr would have expected from someone possessing his authority and strength.

The first two women were clearly more than ordinary subordinates.

Everything from their proximity to Noah to the ease with which they expressed themselves around him suggested that both shared an intimate relationship with the devil. Even so, that alone could not entirely explain what Morvyr had witnessed.

The Demon King had women who held his favor.

Generals often kept spouses, lovers, or trusted companions close to them as well. Some of those relationships undoubtedly contained genuine affection, but the difference in authority always remained visible between them.

Normally, those under a ruler learned their preferences and adjusted themselves accordingly. They measured their words, restrained their desires, and ensured that their presence never became an inconvenience.

Noah appeared to expect none of that from the women beside him.

Ailetta had openly displayed her dissatisfaction until her chair was changed. Arachne had initially rejected the arrangement altogether. Eve had allowed her displeasure to seep into the atmosphere over something as trivial as the appearance of a seat.

Any other ruler Morvyr knew would have expected them to accept what they were given.

There was no reprimand, no reminder of their position, and no visible concern that indulging them might diminish his authority. If anything, the ease with which he accommodated them made it clear that he never believed his authority could be threatened by such a minor gesture.

Morvyr’s crimson eyes shined as his eyes narrowed.

Was a devil supposed to be this considerate?

The question felt almost absurd after everything else he had learned about Noah. This was a being who had not only killed an angel, but was considered to be at war with the beings who were supposed to be the personification of “good” and “virtue.” Not to mention he was a master of manipulation.

Yet the same devil had taken the time to ensure that he catered to these women’s insecurities so they were comfortable.

Morvyr could understand rewarding loyalty.

He could understand favoring lovers or preserving the usefulness of trusted subordinates.

What he found more difficult to understand was the complete absence of distance between them.

They treated him as their ruler when the situation demanded it, but their behavior carried none of the caution normally inspired by that same ruler.

And from the looks of it, Noah seemed to prefer it that way.

Noah could see that Morvyr was confused, but exactly by what, he could only infer that it had something to do with the three at his sides.

But he wasn’t willing to entertain him in this regard.

Instead, Noah rested one arm against the side of his chair before grabbing Morvyr’s attention.

“You said you had information about the people preparing to attack.”

Morvyr’s attention was completely focused on Noah. There was no need to worry about Noah’s private life.

Now it was his turn to provide something worthwhile.

—

By the time Morvyr finished, the murky sky had darkened considerably.

Noah remained seated as he silently contemplated everything he had learned, his attention drifting so deeply inward that the conversations and restless movements around him gradually faded into the background.

He had already decided to confront the humans, expecting the battle to be difficult. That was why he intended to fight entirely within the dungeon core’s reach.

If revealing the core and the inner workings of his territory gave his companions a greater chance of surviving, then there was no decision to make.

Yet even with every advantage the territory provided, victory now seemed like a stretch.

Strangely enough, the two individuals Morvyr feared most concerned Noah the least.

Morvyr believed he could confront the Guildmaster and barely maintain an even fight. Against Malachi, however, he expected to lose almost completely if the man were given enough time to call upon one of his God’s strongest warriors.

Noah still felt confident against either of them.

The human Malachi was no doubt strong. Morvyr openly admitted he couldn’t take him on. But he also understood that most of this stemmed from more than just the summon envoy, but had everything to do with the purity of the envoy’s holy mana.

Once fused with Bolas, his physical strength and mana would rise far beyond anything he had shown before. Combined with the dungeon core’s influence, he believed his chances of overcoming either man remained high.

The true problem came from two people Morvyr considered weaker than both.