Becoming a Monster

Their discussion should've ended there.

Noah had already begun thinking about what he needed to do next when Morvyr spoke again.

"Devil, I hope I can earn enough of your trust after all of this is over. Enough that perhaps you would even be willing to oblige a request that would mean everything to me."

Noah's attention returned to the elf.

There was an unusual seriousness to Morvyr's expression that immediately separated his words from everything else he had asked of Noah since arriving.

"What kind of request?" Noah had assumed it would be more questions, especially regarding how he was making his creatures so strong within such a short amount of time.

Although that was his initial belief, he didn't think that was right. Morvyr was surprisingly more somber when mentioning it. It felt as though this request was more personal than the usual information-gathering.

Morvyr remained silent for a moment.

"One that I don't believe I have the right to ask of you yet."

His feelings were clearly in conflict. That only further confirmed Noah's thoughts that whatever Morvyr wanted was outside of his orders.

And when considering what Noah could actually give him, or at least what Morvyr believed Noah could give him, Noah managed to narrow it down to two possibilities.

Either he wanted something from Pandora, since Noah had learned from Gwen that elves practically fantasized about dryads on a religious level, or it had something to do with making him stronger.

In other words, his blood.

In either case, Noah was glad that the elf understood that there should be boundaries for these kinds of things when trust was fully established. Not only that, Noah hoped that Moryvr understood that trust wouldn't be enough with either request unless he was willing to give something that proved valuable enough.

Believing the conversation was over, Noah was about to go check on the situation with the creatures when he noticed Morvyr following alongside him.

Just like last time, the elf had that pensive expression that screamed he had something else to ask.

Noah continued walking for several more steps, giving him every opportunity to speak on his own. When Morvyr remained silent, seemingly more interested in figuring out how to phrase whatever was on his mind, Noah eventually grew tired of waiting.

"If you have something to say, then say it."

Instead of taking the blunt address personally, Morvyr received Noah's tone as natural. The strong should always be this way. There was no reason for someone with power to waste time dancing around their words for the sake of appearing polite.

And Noah's strength was exactly what Morvyr wanted to discuss.

"Just… how strong are you now, really?" he asked, hoping that this time his question wouldn't be brushed off or answered vaguely.

His curiosity was certainly part of the reason he wanted to know. It was difficult for Morvyr not to wonder when Noah was capable of advancing his strength on multiple occasions without reason. The growth in strength wasn't the only surprising factor, the devils form, as well as his other creatures continued to change alongside that growth.

Moryvr wasn't ignorant enough to dismiss Noah's attempt to hide these changes. Physical changes like theirs were clear signs of evolution amongst creatures and demons alike.

With the amount of times he's witnessed their appearance changed, he was confident that they were stronger.

But that wasn't the only reason he was asking.

They had just decided that they would willingly give up the advantage Noah's dungeon core provided and meet the humans outside his territory. Morvyr had already agreed that it was the better choice, but that didn't make him any less aware of what they were preparing to face.

There were potential S-rankers among the humans coming for them.

Knowing Noah was strong wasn't enough anymore.

Morvyr wanted some idea of how much of that strength Noah could actually handle himself. Whether the devil could comfortably deal with one of those S-rankers if they appeared, or if everyone else would need to account for the possibility of supporting him while dealing with their own opponents.

More than anything, Morvyr wanted to know what their chances actually looked like now that the battle was approaching.

When Noah heard the question, he stopped walking, Morvyr stopping just a step behind him.

It wasn't a difficult question, nor was it one Noah minded answering. However, he found himself having a surprisingly difficult time coming up with an answer.

He was strong, certainly.

Deep down, Noah felt as though he was easily twice as strong as he had been before.

But what did that actually mean?

Noah could only define his strength by comparing himself to those he had already fought.

He could tell Morvyr that he believed he was strong enough to defeat fifty A-rankers, but was that supposed to tell the elf how strong he actually was?

Fifty A-rankers could mean fifty people whose abilities were completely useless against him, or it could mean fifty people possessing abilities that happened to counter his own. Even among people occupying the same rank, the difference between what they were capable of could be ridiculous.

And the moment S-rankers became part of the comparison, Noah had even less to work with.

Could he confidently say he would easily defeat the humans coming for him when he hadn't fought any of them yet?

He knew some of what they were capable of, but knowing someone's abilities and experiencing them firsthand were two different things.

Even comparing himself directly to Morvyr wouldn't answer the question properly.

Noah could tell the elf that he was now incomparably stronger than him, but what would that actually explain?

Twice as strong?

Five times?

Enough to kill him before Morvyr could react?

The word stronger became increasingly useless the longer Noah thought about it.

Strength wasn't always a reliable measurement in this world to begin with. Someone could possess attributes far below his own and still have an ability capable of summoning some ridiculously powerful holy entity to fight in their place. Another person could have an ability dangerous enough that their attributes barely mattered at all.

There were too many variables.

Noah remained silent for several seconds before realizing he was overcomplicating the entire thing.

Morvyr hadn't asked for his attributes.

He wanted to know how strong Noah was.

Why did he have to be the one to describe it?

The elf was more than capable of judging that himself.

Noah turned until he was facing Morvyr completely. Then, without giving him any warning, he stopped restraining his aura and directed all of it toward the elf.

Morvyr wasn't prepared for what followed.

One moment he was standing there waiting for an answer, and the next, the pressure surrounding Noah crashed into him with enough force that his body reacted before his mind could fully comprehend what had happened.

His legs immediately gave out beneath him, sending both knees slamming painfully against the ground. The rest of his body nearly followed as the pressure continued bearing down on him, forcing Morvyr to throw both hands forward before he could faceplant into the dirt.

His palms struck the ground hard enough to sting.

Morvyr gritted his teeth as his arms strained to keep the rest of his body from being pressed down with them. And when he attempted to push himself back onto his feet, his body barely moved.

Instinctively, Morvyr began using his own mana to push back.

He didn't have time to think about why the devil had suddenly attacked him. All he could focus on was preventing his body from being forced any farther toward the ground.

Again, the elf was forced to realize just how peculiar Noah's aura was.

For an aura alone to do this to a being as strong as himself was nearly unheard of.

Even a demon general couldn't force him into this position so easily.

But that didn't mean Noah was now stronger than a general. Morvyr was certain of that much as he continued experiencing the devil's aura firsthand.

The Demon King's generals were still a tier above him.

What was different was the nature of the pressure.

A sufficiently powerful being could use their aura to accomplish something similar to what Noah was doing now, pressing down on another person's body until it felt as though gravity itself had increased beyond what they were capable of withstanding.

Noah's aura was doing more than that.

Morvyr had felt traces of it before, but with Noah becoming so much stronger, the peculiarities in his aura was impossible to ignore.

His body was certainly being crushed under the weight of Noah's presence, but the greatest pressure wasn't being placed on his body at all.

It was being placed on his soul.

For a moment, Morvyr appeared afraid of what was about to happen. The lingering impression of his earlier confrontation with Noah had yet to go away. He couldn't forget how his mind and his soul had been tainted, slowly changing while he remained conscious of it all.

But as he continued to resist, he gradually noticed that this experience was different from before.

Nothing was trying to change him.

His thoughts remained his own, and he couldn't feel anything seeping into his soul or attempting to corrupt what was already there. The pressure was doing something much simpler, although Morvyr wasn't certain that made it any less disturbing.

It wanted him to submit.

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