Becoming a Monster

Chapter 531 - 530: The Fate of Their Kind

To Noah’s summons, Dog responded without hesitation.

The large canine immediately rose to his feet and started forward, his tail held high behind him and his steps steady.

He did not pause to wonder why Noah had called him. He did not glance toward the others for reassurance, nor did he look back at the pack to see what they thought.

To Dog, the matter was simple.

If Noah wanted him, then there was a reason.

Alexandria, however, froze the moment Arachne relayed the message.

Her ears rose sharply while countless thoughts immediately began moving through her mind. It wasn’t fear exactly, but the worries she had been trying to suppress earlier were quickly growing into doubt.

Why would Noah suddenly call for both of them specifically?

Her thoughts instinctively drifted toward the atmosphere that had settled among the cats and dogs after Dog explained what happened. The unease. The insecurity. The quiet fear that perhaps Noah truly viewed them differently from the others.

The longer Alexandria stood there, the heavier those thoughts became.

Had Noah finally grown dissatisfied with them?

The felines had not contributed nearly as much as Dog and his group. The dogs hunted more aggressively. They patrolled more willingly. They threw themselves into danger with less hesitation.

Meanwhile, the felines were still cautious and independent by nature.

Those were useful traits under normal circumstances, but what if Noah no longer wanted normal? What if caution looked like weakness now? What if independence looked like reluctance to obey?

Before Alexandria could sink any deeper into those thoughts, Dog had already begun walking away without her.

Alexandria blinked. Then she forced herself to inhale slowly.

’Calm down.’

Her gaze instinctively shifted toward Arachne, who still stood silently on the side.

The spider queen still hadn’t moved, simply watched, waiting for both of them to go.

That detached stare alone made Alexandria’s chest tighten slightly. Arachne’s gaze did not feel curious. It did not feel impatient either.

It felt like something colder than both, as if she were silently measuring how long Alexandria would take before deciding whether that hesitation meant something.

Alexandria’s claws lightly pressed against the ground before she quickly moved in place.

Only after both she and Dog began walking did Arachne disappear again, returning to her original position near Noah as though she had never left.

The instant Arachne’s presence vanished from nearby, a subtle wave of relief spread through the gathered beasts.

Neither the dogs nor the felines fully relaxed around her.

To them, Arachne was a cold queen.

It was not merely because of her expressionless face or the way her voice rarely carried warmth. It was the way her eyes seemed to fixate on every tiny movement around her.

Anyone standing before her felt as if she were watching for the smallest flaw, the faintest sign of disobedience, the slightest proof that they were not worth keeping.

That feeling had only worsened after they learned what she had done to one of her own.

None of them had seen it personally, but they had heard enough.

The dogs remained silent afterward, but eventually, one of the felines could no longer contain his worry.

The thick-furred Maine Coon lowered his ears slightly as he watched Alexandria’s retreating figure.

"What do you think Noah wants with them?" he asked quietly.

His voice was directed toward everyone and no one at the same time.

Then his gaze tightened further.

"Will Alexandria the Third be alright?"

Even outside her presence, the felines still used her full name.

Some of it came from habit. Some of it came from pride. But beneath that pride was respect, and beneath that respect was fear that the one holding them together might be walking toward something none of them could stop.

The question left the dogs quiet as well.

Some of them looked toward Dog with confidence. Others looked toward Alexandria with uncertainty. A few other ones glanced between the two groups, unsure whether this was supposed to be a good thing.

Eventually, all eyes shifted toward Dobby.

The blind cat remained seated where he was, his half-closed cloudy eyes fixed on Dog and Alexandria as they moved toward Noah. His expression was unusually somber, though not afraid.

For several seconds, he said nothing. The silence stretched long enough for the Maine Coon’s tail to twitch anxiously.

Then Dobby’s head lightly tilted up towards the sky.

"The forest does not fear the coming storm. It fears the branches too weak to survive it." Dobby murmured softly.

Several beasts tilted their heads in confusion. Dobby stopped looking up, staring ahead toward Alexandria and Dog.

"But surviving the storm is how weak branches grow stronger." His blurred eyes glistened with a golden light before returning to normal.

"Noah is not calling them there to discard them. This is the chance we have been waiting for. It is now that we will see if we can live up to the expectations."

The silence that followed felt different from the silence before.

It did not erase their fear, but it gave that fear shape. It made the unknown feel less like punishment and more like a test that had been waiting for them.

Some of the felines straightened slightly. Others lowered their heads in thought.

The dogs remained quiet, but even then, many of their tails were wagging in anticipation, faring much better than the cats.

Meanwhile, Alexandria’s anxiety continued to worsen the closer she came to Noah.

His calm, unreadable gaze remained fixed on both of them. For some reason, the more she looked at him, the more she felt that whatever he wanted would be something that would cost them dearly.

Every step felt heavier than the last.

Beside her, Dog walked naturally. That alone bothered her more than she wanted to admit.

Dog looked like he belonged here now. After receiving Noah’s blood, his confidence deepened. Even the pack behind him seemed to move with more pride because of his radiant confidence.

The dogs were no longer looking at themselves as creatures merely surviving beneath stronger monsters. They were starting to believe they could become part of something greater.

The felines had noticed that. Alexandria had noticed that.

None of them spoke about it openly, but she constantly caught the way her followers looked toward the dogs.

It was not resentment. It was worse than resentment.

It was defeat.

They used to look down on the dogs for being too simple, too loyal, too eager to throw themselves at danger. They had held their heads high because they were clever, independent, and proud.

Were they arrogant before?

Absolutely. But at least they believed in themselves.

Now that belief was fading. And Alexandria hated it. She hated it because she knew exactly where the problem started.

With her.

She was weak.

If she had been stronger, her followers would not have looked at the dogs that way. If she had already received Noah’s blood, if she had already proven that the felines had a path forward, then they would not be questioning their worth now.

Their leader had failed to give them confidence.

That needed to change.

No matter what Noah asked of her today, Alexandria needed to prove she was worthy. Not only for herself, but for every feline watching her back from afar.

Eventually, Dog and Alexandria stopped several feet away from Noah.

Noah had not told them to stop; however, his presence alone made them instinctively avoid coming closer.

Dog sat down calmly as if he had experienced this feeling many times before.

Alexandria lowered her head slightly, though she kept her eyes lifted enough to watch him.

Noah silently observed them both.

He noticed Alexandria’s tension almost immediately. Her fur remained subtly rigid, and her breathing was controlled in a way that made it obvious she was trying too hard to appear calm.

Consciously, Noah lowered his presence more than usual.

Noah had not forgotten that both Ailetta and Eve had become surprisingly fond of Alexandria. They had already talked about eventually finding a suitable soul for her.

But after everything that happened to his body, he was starting to believe there might be another way to strengthen her sooner.

That was also what made this dangerous.

Too many things had changed him that Noah no longer fully understood what his blood had become.

Even the changes within his own soul made him uncertain where his body ended, and those influences began.

If his blood had affected the others before, then what would it do now?

Would it simply strengthen them? Would it mutate them? Would it awaken something buried in them?

Or would it destroy the very instincts that made them themselves?

That uncertainty was exactly why he wanted Dog and Alexandria here.

He could not decide this for them.

Sensing Alexandria’s anxiety rising further, Noah decided there was no point softening the beginning.

"I called the two of you here so you can decide the fate of your kind."

The words were sincere.

However, Dog and Alexandria interpreted them very differently.

Dog’s posture straightened immediately. His tail stopped moving, and he didn’t panic, but his expression became far more serious.

Alexandria, however, felt her chest tighten. Her earlier fears rushed back instantly.

The fate of their kind?

Was Noah finally losing patience with them?