Becoming a Monster

Chapter 517: Chapter 516: There Was Never a Choice

Gwen was having a hard time not comparing Noah to the human evil deity.

The more she began to believe, the heavier his presence felt.

Her breathing grew uneven before her mana reacted on its own, spreading through her body as she instinctively tried to calm herself, grounding her senses by directing nature’s energy into her.

But that only made it worse.

The mana was so pure that it was overwhelming. The purity managed to calm her, but it also proceeded to make her think more clearly than ever.

Everything about this place reinforced the same thought: from a dryad she had never heard of before, the core no different from their nation’s sacred possession, and the cohabitation of monsters just as unique as Pandora.

None of this should’ve been possible for a single individual to bring about.

The fact that none of it had existed before only made that thought harder to ignore.

It had all appeared at once, alongside the world’s shift, with the emergence of the undead, the shelters, and the arrival of creatures and humans that did not belong to this world.

All of it added to Noah’s image as the Devil.

There was no certainty of his identity, but Gwen didn’t want to risk it either.

She could only take a deep breath, reflecting on his question, not just to answer it, but to understand why he was giving her the choice. What was he trying to gain by making her choose?

’Is he trying to tempt me?’

Gwen thought of the fabled tales she had heard in passing from members of the Church, stories of a being that offered choices in exchange for one’s soul.

Yet she had never cared enough to listen beyond that or understand why those choices were always framed as ultimatums.

It was in times like these that she regretted allowing her bias to lead her to dismiss their teachings.

Even so, she gradually steadied herself. His existence may have shaken her, but now that she had accepted what he was, the answer did not feel difficult.

"I will not take back what I said. You can have my life. The only thing I ask from you is to be used as nourishment for the dryad."

Noah may not have known the exact thoughts that led her to that answer, but from what he could sense, she was fully prepared to die without hesitation.

He didn’t know how he felt about that. It wasn’t that he wanted to test her resolve, but if she was going to serve a purpose greater than simply dying, then that kind of conviction was misplaced.

If she acted only out of sacrifice, then she would never become what he needed.

And if her decision was rooted in loyalty to the tigerkin, then even if she accepted what came next, there was a high chance she would resist it in the future.

He had nothing concrete to base that on, but his instincts had yet to fail him.

This line of thought wasn’t leading anywhere, so he decided to be direct.

"I can respect your resolve, but let me explain myself better to get rid of the misunderstanding you’re under."

Gwen’s expression faltered slightly, but she didn’t interrupt.

"I didn’t ask that question to offer you a choice. I asked because I wanted to understand your desire to live."

Her brows tightened at that, but before she could respond, he continued.

"The choice you think you’re making hasn’t been given yet."

There was a brief pause before his gaze shifted toward Pandora’s main body.

"My tree... my dryad... my companion... needs something more than protection from me," he said, speaking his feelings without hesitation or a care for how this could look on his image.

"I won’t always be there, and when I’m not, she needs someone who can stand beside her. She needs other companions by her side so she’d never feel lonely."

Gwen’s heart stirred slightly at this. She couldn’t stop herself from sympathizing with the dryad, but she remained silent as Noah continued.

"The person’s existence will be tied to hers for the rest of their life."

It was then that Gwen’s face nearly paled.

"Pandora." At his call, her illusory form emerged once more beside him.

"You’ve seen the tiger creature outside," he continued without caring to look at Gwen’s reaction. "If you had to choose, who would you want to have as your second Ophis?"

Pandora didn’t hesitate.

"...her."

Her awareness had already taken in both Gwen and Varkesh. The moment the question was asked, her answer had already been decided.

A tendril rose from the ground and pointed directly at Gwen, as if the answer needed to be reinforced.

Gwen had made an impact on her. The choice had already been made long before the question was asked.

Meanwhile, Gwen didn’t understand what the name meant, but she understood enough.

And this time, she couldn’t keep her calm. Her decision to die was no longer that simple.

If she refused, then Varkesh would be the one to take her place. And knowing Varkesh, he would choose to sacrifice himself for her without hesitation.

But if she accepted...

Her thoughts began to spiral, but she forced herself to stop.

She had already overlooked something important.

Noah needed a messenger. There was no other reason why Noah would bring him in unless he was truly demonic enough to bring him here to drive her into despair for some twisted satisfaction.

If she was right, the two still had a role to play, which meant Varkesh could still live.

And if that was the case...

Then her answer had already been decided the moment Noah asked the question.

—

When Gwen accepted, Noah received her answer without any change in expression.

Whether she agreed or not would not have altered the outcome, because Pandora had already chosen her, and he had no intention of going against that.

If she had refused, he would have forced the process anyway.

And if she proved to be unusable afterward, he would just kill her and take her soul and try again when the opportunity arose.

But this was simpler.

It saved him time, and more importantly, it saved him from having to let down Pandora after she found something that she took an interest in.

Under Gwen’s questioning stare, he walked over to the core.

Just as he was about to place his hand on it-

"I-I agreed... i-if you have what you need now, then will you let Varkesh go?"

Noah paused, glancing back at her.

"He will be let free," Noah answered. His tone was direct, and though there was still distance in it, the indifference from before had lessened now that she was about to become one of them.

"But no one will go anywhere until this is finished."

His eyes narrowed slightly in quiet amusement. "You think I would let him go just to have you change your mind after?"

Gwen wasn’t able to come up with a response. What was she supposed to say? That he can trust her?

She could only accept it. However, the question now was: how was she supposed to complete the deal?

When she was struggling to decide to ask another question, Noah’s next action left her silent.

The moment he placed his hands around the core, the atmosphere grew immensely heavier than before.

The aura coming from the core was immense. Gwen’s senses recoiled instinctively, forcing her to shut herself off from the surrounding mana before it drowned her perception entirely.

"Pandora," Noah said without looking back. "Take what you need. You shouldn’t be far from finishing your fruit."

Gwen’s brow furrowed at his words.

Instinctively, she turned back toward the tree, realizing too late that she had been so focused on everything else that she had overlooked something so important.

At first, she saw nothing. Her eyes continued to focus on the brightly colored energy.

Then she looked closer. Along one of the branches was a small fruit that didn’t carry a glow at all like the rest of Pandora’s body.

It blended in too easily.

By the time Gwen noticed it, Pandora’s roots had already extended, connecting to the core.

In that moment, the flow of mana shifted again as she began to draw it in.

It didn’t seem physically possible to retain so much mana, and yet Pandora was able to absorb so much without faltering.

But Noah knew the truth. Pandora’s body naturally couldn’t store so much mana. It was only because the excess was being stored somewhere else that she was able to retain it all.

In this case, the fruit was receiving every last bit of it.

Noah was willing to set back the improvements of his territory for this. So he let Pandora use everything. Days’ worth of collecting mana gone within minutes.

During that time, as Gwen was unsure what Noah was initially trying to achieve, she noticed the fruit growing at a rapid pace.

By the time it started to glow, a sweet, irresistible allure hit her senses. It stirred the mana within her body, and it was then that it hit her.

The mana was far different from what she knew. But she understood now it was only because Pandora was different from the other dryads.

But as she linked the fruit to their ancestral dryad back at her nation. She realized what it was.

"It’s... it’s a sage fruit..."