Becoming a Monster

Chapter 544 - 543: Equivalent Exchange

The overwhelming joy flooding through her in that moment couldn’t properly be described.

Then, suddenly, pain violently shot through her mind hard enough that her body nearly collapsed.

A strangled hiss escaped her instinctively as several of the glowing slits immediately shut themselves across her body.

Because directly in front of her, Noah’s mana was unbearable to look at. It completely drowned out everything else within her vision.

Even after instinctively shutting down most of her new senses, the lingering afterimage of Noah’s mana still remained burned into her mind.

But Ophis wasn’t afraid. She had accepted that Noah was simply beyond her. Beyond nearly every existence she had encountered since arriving here.

Several of the glowing violet slits slowly reopened across her body once more, though this time she instinctively avoided directing them toward Noah entirely.

Instead, her attention shifted toward the space around her. Towards the mana that was everywhere.

Ophis instinctively concealed parts of herself within the shadows again while simultaneously drawing surrounding mana toward her body.

The shadows around her immediately distorted afterward. Her own presence rapidly became difficult to perceive.

The more mana she gathered around herself, the more her existence seemed to blur together with the darkness surrounding her.

Even her own presence became difficult for her to perceive clearly.

The advantage of this change was nearly as great as regaining her vision.

Because if she struggled to perceive herself properly... Then most creatures likely wouldn’t be capable of sensing her at all anymore.

If she possessed this ability back then...

There was a genuine chance she could have escaped without suffering such devastating injuries in the first place.

—

Meanwhile, Noah remained completely absorbed in analyzing the changes happening throughout Ophis’ body.

Truthfully, her increase in strength barely interested him. Even the new skill itself wasn’t what captured most of his attention.

Although the ability itself was absurdly powerful.

Not only did it grant her direct mana perception similar to his Nexus Eye, but it also allowed her to almost obscure herself from mana detection entirely.

At this point, Noah was fairly certain that if Ophis concealed herself properly within shadows, his Nexus Eye would likely become the only reliable method left to find her.

Yet despite that...

His focus remained elsewhere entirely. What intrigued him more was the result of his blood itself.

His blood didn’t solely focus on improving a being’s bloodline. It sought to perfect imperfections that even originated from injuries.

It didn’t heal the injury as he had already expected. Instead, her body evolved around the loss itself, compensating for the flaw by developing something far more suitable for her existence.

That understanding caused Noah’s thoughts to deepen considerably.

Because this also explained why Dobby’s eyesight never recovered.

Dobby’s blindness was not viewed as a flaw by his evolved body.

His existence adapted around it.

The implications behind those distinctions were enormous.

Noah was already contemplating countless other possibilities where his blood could affect creatures in similar ways.

For instance...

What would happen if a creature lost its heart?

Would his blood force the body to evolve around that loss in order to survive without one entirely?

Or would it instead reshape the remaining organs to compensate for the missing function?

And if it did...

Then, where exactly did the limits of those adaptations end?

Noah’s thoughts deepened further afterward. He shouldn’t be happy about this until he understands it more.

Although his blood was forcing creatures toward what it perceived as an optimal evolution. His blood itself seemed to also be deciding what "optimal" meant.

’Is it my blood that’s deciding the evolution... Or is the creature’s existence itself using my blood as a catalyst to pursue the form it desires most?’

Truthfully, Noah hoped it was the latter.

The thought of his blood itself possessing some form of will was not something he found comforting in the slightest.

’Next time... I wonder if I focus on my own interpretation of what a creature should become while it is changing, would the result change?’

His thoughts only paused once Ophis’ transformation finally settled completely.

"Ophis."

Noah’s voice caused the serpent’s body to shift slightly toward him.

"Are you still regretting not having your eyes now?"

Ophis remained silent for several moments.

Even now, she still avoided directing her new vision toward Noah himself. Not until she learned how to properly perceive him without becoming overwhelmed by the sheer density of his mana.

Truthfully, part of her still believed having both her old sight and this new vision together would have been better than losing one for the other.

But despite that... she didn’t regret it.

To continue dwelling on those thoughts now would only feel ungrateful toward the one who granted her another path forward in the first place.

"...I don’t regret it. I only regret my past actions."

Noah quietly nodded to himself afterward. Because what he planned to do next still wasn’t guaranteed to succeed.

If he failed, at least it wouldn’t demoralize her.

"Le."

Ailetta immediately looked toward him.

"I need you to fuse with me so I can do that."

His words were as vague as they were sudden. Yet Ailetta immediately understood what Noah intended.

And because she understood, she also immediately rejected it. Instead of moving toward him, Ailetta simply walked past Noah entirely.

"I’ll do it myself. You’ve already done enough for everyone."

Noah’s surprise was clear to see.

"You don’t have to-"

"I don’t care."

Ailetta cut him off before he could even begin to try to convince her otherwise. For once, her voice carried none of its usual playfulness.

"You believe it’s your job to sacrifice for everyone else. Then you’d better remember that it’s my job to sacrifice for you."

"Le."

"No."

Ailetta turned around to look at him directly.

"I won’t let you take that away from me."

A faint frustration appeared within Ailetta’s eyes afterward.

"So let me do this much."

The words caused Noah to pause. He had just told himself before that he needed to rely on others more.

And he realized that if the positions had been reversed, he would have done exactly what she was doing now.

For several moments, the two simply stared at one another.

Then finally, Noah gave a small nod.

The tense atmosphere completely dissipated afterward.

Ailetta immediately smiled triumphantly before turning back toward Ophis again as though she had already expected Noah to give in eventually.

Behind them, Gwen instantly looked away while muttering quietly to herself.

"...That sounded way more romantic than it should’ve."

Arachne’s eyes immediately narrowed toward Gwen afterward. Gwen looked away even faster, pretending she hadn’t said anything at all.

Meanwhile, Pandora paid none of them any attention.

Her focus remained entirely on Ophis and Ailetta, her gaze quietly fixed on the serpent, with faint concern hidden beneath her usual expressionless stare.

Ophis herself looked visibly confused by the interaction.

Truthfully, she still wasn’t entirely accustomed to the strange atmosphere surrounding Noah’s group sometimes.

One moment, they were discussing sacrificing themselves for one another.

The next, they were arguing over something called "romantic."

The sudden shift left her uncertain whether she was supposed to feel tense or embarrassed instead.

Meanwhile, Ailetta casually placed her hand onto Ophis’ face.

The serpent instinctively stiffened slightly beneath the contact.

"I’m going to try to give you back your eyes, so don’t resist."

Ophis’ body visibly froze afterward.

But before she could even process what she heard, Ailetta’s body suddenly dissolved into slime and spread across Ophis’ head entirely.

——

A tingling sensation began spreading through the empty sockets where Ophis’ eyes once existed.

The sensation quickly deepened afterward.

At first, it merely felt uncomfortable, then she felt an unbearable pain. Ophis’ body instinctively tensed beneath the sensation.

"Don’t move." Yet before she could resist, Ailetta’s strained voice reached her.

The pain only intensified afterward.

Deep within the slime itself, Ailetta’s own body had already begun changing.

Her eyes were deteriorating.

The process of restoration required equivalence.

To heal damaged eyes, Ailetta herself needed to experience that same damage in return.

And because of that, her own vision was gradually being destroyed alongside Ophis’ recovery.

Ailetta already understood that before she even started. Which was exactly why she refused to let Noah do it himself.

Her eyes burned at first before they were ruptured to the point that they gradually began to dissolve entirely.

If she could’ve used her slime to substitute for her main eyes instead, then she would’ve. However, their eyes existed as separate organs from her own.

Even if she replaced their eyes with hers, she still would have needed to experience the damage itself.

Despite the agony coursing through her, Ailetta never once stopped.

Her body trembled faintly several times throughout the process.

But compared to everything Noah constantly endured for them... This pain felt insignificant.

Meanwhile, Ophis’ experience was completely different.

The pain she initially felt wasn’t truly from the healing itself.

The nerves inside the empty sockets were regrowing. At first, the sensation merely felt irritating. An unbearable itch was spreading deeper and deeper into her skull.

Then flesh began forming around those nerves. Then her blood vessels and tissue...

The more complete the restoration became, the more her body was able to actually feel the process.

That was when the true pain began.

Yet despite the pain, she didn’t continue to resist.

Because beneath the agony, she realized that being able to feel pain in that area in the first place meant her eyes were truly being healed.