Becoming a Monster

Chapter 622: Chapter 621: Ailetta’s Simple Solution

Only after Arachne met his gaze and gave a firm nod did Noah extend his hand again.

Noah attempted to let his hand drift above her face. It was a subconscious action after doing it numerous times already with everyone else.

He was taken aback when the normally proud Queen quickly took hold of his hand, placing his entire finger within her mouth.

Arachne also wanted to be just as daring, just as open as Ailetta. That strong desire, further elevated by the blood stimulating her, led to her moving before she realized what she did.

But she didn’t have time to think about it.

The moment Noah’s blood made contact with her tongue, Arachne immediately focused her mind, following his instructions without allowing herself to become distracted by anything else.

Almost immediately, her body began to react.

Noah noticed her eyes nearly went blank before an enormous amount of mana suddenly erupted from Arachne without any warning, forcing her to release Noah’s hand as the energy continued pouring out of her.

Black and violet mana rapidly intertwined around her body, while faint but unrecognizable specks of green gradually emerged, rotating amongst them.

The others were already used to tying the green specks as energy, something that originated from Noah due to the green flame-like energy that made up his Nexus Eye.

Noah, however, noticed more than that. Those green specks were actual ruins. They were as small in number as they were in size. He didn’t understand why they were so much smaller than his own, but he wasn’t worried about what they might do.

His anticipation only heightened as he watched the two energies surge around Arachne like the flames of an uncontrolled fire, growing increasingly violent as more mana continued being released.

Noah watched closely as the mana continued to spread.

The intensity of the reaction surprised him, but it didn’t worry him.

If anything, a change this drastic made sense. Replacing something that outdated with his current genes was bound to cause a significant change.

Before long, the mana pouring from Arachne began to shift. The outermost streams of her mana began to curve back toward her. The rest followed until all of the mana surrounding her began revolving around her body.

The wild flame-like energy gradually compressed as it formed a circle around her, continuing to intertwine until the mana became so dense that Arachne’s body could barely be seen through it.

Layer after layer condensed around her, forming a massive cocoon that concealed every part of her from view.

That was what finally surprised Noah.

He had expected her body to undergo considerable changes. The amount of mana she released also made it obvious that whatever was happening would affect her mana just as heavily.

But forming a cocoon meant the changes were extensive enough that her body had instinctively isolated itself while the process took place.

And considering which bloodline she was replacing, Noah doubted the changes ended with her body and mana.

His original bloodline was that of a Fallen.

A Fallen’s bloodline, or atleast his bloodline, was intimately connected to the soul, far more than bloodlines that primarily influenced the physical body.

That meant her soul would inevitably be affected alongside everything else. And it would probably be changed more than the rest of her.

Noah continued observing the cocoon for a little bit longer.

At this point, he couldn’t even begin to guess what Arachne would look like when she emerged.

“Ahem!”

Off to the side, Ailetta cleared her throat. When Noah finally turned his attention toward her, she intentionally readjusted herself, standing a little straighter as though reminding him that there was still one person left waiting for her turn.

It was a cute gesture, one that normally would’ve brought a smile to Noah’s face. This time, however, he couldn’t find the same amusement in it.

There was a reason he had saved her for last.

Ailetta quickly picked up on that detail. Something unreadable briefly flashed through her eyes before her expression returned to normal.

“You don’t have to worry about how I’ll feel about it. Just tell me.”

Noah remained silent for a moment.

“Le, it’s not that your situation is necessarily bad. It’s just…” He paused, considering the best way to explain something that he was still trying to understand himself. “I was surprised by how similar your situation is to mine back then.”

Ailetta’s expression relaxed slightly at that, although the curiosity in her eyes only became stronger.

“This might come as a surprise, but Le… when I look at you, something is telling me that you never truly experienced an evolution.”

Ailetta stared at him in surprise, but the longer she considered his words, the more that surprise gradually turned into skepticism. She didn’t argue with him right away, but Noah could already tell from her expression that she was questioning everything he had just said.

He couldn’t blame her.

From anyone else’s perspective, Ailetta had clearly evolved. The woman standing before him was nothing like the human she once was.

However, Noah’s instincts told him that what had happened to her couldn’t truly be considered an evolution.

The being responsible for turning Ailetta into what she was today had nearly consumed everything that had made her human in the process. Her body, bloodline, and even portions of her soul had been forcibly changed until the creature left behind barely could be considered the same person.

Because of that, the evolution she should’ve experienced after reaching level ten, when they had the system, never happened.

She had been forcibly pushed past it.

Ailetta remained silent for quite some time after hearing his explanation. The more she thought about it, the more her expression kept changing.

If she understood Noah correctly, then there was a possibility that she couldn’t evolve naturally at all. Without Noah or some other outside influence forcing another change, her own growth might eventually reach a point where it could progress no further.

She wasn’t completely against relying on Noah. But she didn’t want that to be her only option.

Ailetta wanted to grow stronger through her own efforts as well. She wanted to prove herself, not only to herself, but to Noah. The thought that there might be a limit she could never overcome on her own clearly bothered her, and despite her attempts to hide it, that worry gradually became visible within her eyes.

Her thoughts desperately returned to everything Noah had told her, searching for something she might have misunderstood.

Then her eyes suddenly brightened.

“You said my situation was similar to yours.” Ailetta looked directly at him. “Does that mean…?”

Noah immediately understood what she was asking.

“That’s right. You can still evolve.”

The tension in Ailetta’s expression immediately eased.

“The problem is the human side of you… or at least whatever is left of it. That’s what’s holding you back.”

This time, Noah hesitated. His instincts had given him enough information to recognize the problem, but that didn’t mean they had conveniently provided him with the solution.

“The problem is that I don’t know exactly what you need to do to overcome it. Whatever remains of your human self is still deeply connected to your soul, and until you find some way to free yourself from it, or at least stop it from restricting the rest of you, I don’t think your evolution can happen.”

Noah watched her carefully after finishing. What he cared about more was how she would take this. The last thing he would want is to lead her to despair.

Surprisingly, Ailetta didn’t look nearly as troubled as he expected. If anything, the last remnants of worry gradually disappeared from her face.

“It’s fine then.”

Her relaxed response left Noah staring at her this time.

Ailetta had spent a fair deal of time agonizing over what she needed to do to evolve, to take that extra leap ever since Noah had evolved when he solved the issue with his own soul.

If that was truly the only thing preventing her from moving forward, then she already had a fairly good idea of what she needed to do.

“I think I already know what I need to do.”

Noah’s expression subtly changed.

Ailetta continued before he could ask.

“I just need to kill the ones that my stupid self still cares about.” Her voice remained surprisingly calm considering the words that just left her mouth. “After that, there shouldn’t be anything left for my naive human self to keep holding onto.”

Noah took a moment to process what she said. If this were before, he would be against it entirely since the others no longer had anything to do with them. He never believed in killing someone that didn’t deserve it.

But that moral mindset of his was no longer the same since his changes. If they could kill “innocent” creatures for food and for their skills, then why were humans any different?

He wasn’t necessarily against what she said if it could honestly help her past that step. The problem lay with some of the people that were involved, like Ishii, who only ever showed him goodwill despite everyone else.

Or Paul, who was now part of Fenrir’s pack.

How many of them would have to die?

And that question led to what concerned him most.

What if killing them drives her lingering soul to the point that it becomes impossible to reconcile?

You can probably guess where this is headed. If not, a subtle reminder is to remember Amara’s threads.