Becoming a Monster

Chapter 545 - 544: I Thought You Said You Were Ready

The restoration process lasted far longer than Ophis expected.

Then, finally, the slime covering her face slowly peeled away.

Ailetta separated herself from Ophis’ body before reforming beside her once more.

At the same time, Ophis’ restored eyes were finally revealed to everyone present.

For several moments, Ophis didn’t move.

She was incapable of blinking, yet the blankness in her stare made it obvious that even now, she still couldn’t fully process what she was seeing.

Because, although Ophis already knew her eyes were being restored...

Actually seeing the world again through those same eyes completely destroyed whatever lingering doubts remained inside her.

The trees, the moonlight, everything looked painfully vivid to her now.

If she could cry, she already would have.

Slowly, Ophis’ gaze shifted toward the two people responsible for making this possible.

Both of them had given her something far greater than strength.

They gave her purpose again.

But the moment Ophis looked fully upon Ailetta’s face, her body suddenly froze.

Ailetta’s face was completely devoid of eyes.

For a brief moment, Ophis couldn’t understand what she was looking at.

Then, slowly, her thoughts connected with the earlier conversation between Noah and Ailetta.

"Now, now, don’t go feeling sorry for me yet."

Despite her current condition, Ailetta’s voice returned to that carefree tone as before.

Alongside her body, the surrounding slimes continued observing everything through their own eyes.

Slowly, within the empty spaces where Ailetta’s eyes once existed, new eyes gradually began forming.

At first, they resembled the simplistic, eerie eyes normally carried by her slimes.

But as the restoration continued, they slowly reshaped themselves until they completely matched her original eyes.

"See? Like I sa-"

Ailetta’s voice abruptly froze. And in front of Ophis’ eyes, Ailetta’s body lost most of her humanoid form. Her arms and legs became one with her body. It was only her head that remained intact.

The sudden change immediately caused Ophis’ body to tense again.

For a split second, she genuinely believed something had gone wrong during the restoration process.

Even Noah’s gaze sharpened slightly afterward. But as his Nexus Eye was being used to observe everything, he no longer needed to worry.

That didn’t stop him from being surprised.

Ailetta slowly blinked while lost in Ophis’ eyes.

Slowly, she turned her gaze away. The moment she did, her body stretched out to reform her limbs.

She stopped to think for a moment. All the eyes across her body moved to look into Ophis’ eyes.

Nothing happened. At least that’s what the others perceived.

Ailetta, however, wasn’t able to separate any of the slimes that made eye contact from herself.

"What is this?" She asked loudly. She was intrigued by what was happening.

She turned around again, locking eyes with Ophis without a shred of hesitation. Her form once again lost its ability to hold its shape.

But at least this time, now that she was prepared, it was only her legs that lost their humanoid function.

"I can’t seem to fully control my mana... Noah, did you know about th-"

She turned to look back at Noah, then paused because Noah was staring at Ophis with the same level of confusion she felt moments ago.

Well...

Perhaps confusion wasn’t the right word anymore.

Ailetta could already recognize that look in his eyes by now.

The moment Noah’s Nexus Eye uncovered something new, his expression always sharpened slightly like this.

And whatever he discovered now, he clearly hadn’t expected it either.

Truthfully, Noah was still processing what he was seeing himself.

He was barely certain Ailetta could even fully restore Ophis’ eyes after so much time had already passed since they were destroyed.

Especially considering the condition they were originally in.

Yet not only did the restoration succeed...

Ophis’ eyes themselves had also undergone a mutation alongside the rest of her body.

Noah proceeded to lock eyes with Ophis himself. The moment direct eye contact was made, Noah sensed a disturbance spread through his mana.

At the same time, Noah sensed something else. The disturbance didn’t begin with his mana, but his soul.

He wondered if Ailetta felt it. But he doubted it.

His sensitivity towards spiritual interference was much higher than hers.

The disturbance vanished almost instantly beneath the overwhelming control he possessed over both his mana and soul.

’It seems resistance depends on either high mana control... or a sufficiently strong soul.’

Noah continued observing Ophis’ eyes afterward.

Ophis’ eyes reminded him of a Basilisk. The effects weren’t nearly as lethal as one, but it was still similar.

’And just because it’s not as threatening now, doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way forever.’

Meanwhile, Ophis herself still looked completely unaware of what her eyes were actually doing.

At least until Noah forcefully neutralized the effect spreading toward him.

The moment the connection between their gazes snapped apart, a violent backlash immediately struck Ophis directly through her eyes.

A strong hiss escaped her as pain surged through her vision.

And only then did Ophis finally realize what she had been doing this entire time unconsciously.

Before anyone else could react further, Pandora suddenly materialized directly in front of Ophis.

The serpent instinctively flinched from the sudden appearance before immediately recognizing who it was.

For several moments, neither of them spoke.

Pandora quietly stared into Ophis’ restored eyes before slowly raising her hand toward the serpent’s face.

It was a gesture that Pandora would never forget. Back when she had felt Noah’s touch for the first time.

However, her hand slipped directly past Ophis’ face.

The result caused Pandora to pause slightly. But strangely enough...

The attempt alone was already enough for Ophis.

Neither of them needed words to understand one another. Their bond already conveyed enough on its own.

And it was only then that Ophis finally realized something.

Pandora was the reason Noah came looking for her.

The realization alone caused guilt to twist inside her.

It wasn’t long ago when she received her name. And the first thing she sought was freedom for herself.

Not once did she think about repaying the one who gave her that strength in the first place.

Even now... After becoming blinded. After being reduced to a state where she believed herself to be useless.

Pandora still didn’t abandon her.

In that moment, Ophis’ goal of freedom became a selfless duty of protecting Pandora with everything she had.

—

Eventually, Noah and the others began returning toward their home once everything finally settled down.

Ailetta and Arachne walked beside Noah on both sides.

Meanwhile, Gwen remained further away from the group entirely.

Truthfully, she still didn’t fully understand where she was supposed to stand amongst them yet.

The others clearly didn’t see her as a true ally yet.

And after everything she witnessed tonight, Gwen understood even more clearly that she knew even less about what a monster truly was.

So instead of trying to insert herself into the atmosphere surrounding them, she quietly followed from a distance instead.

Behind them, Ophis stayed where she was, deeply pondering about something before she slowly circled throughout the territory alone.

Part of it was to grow accustomed to her new senses and the changes throughout her body.

But another part of it was much simpler.

It was the only way Ophis knew how to express her sincerity right now.

Protecting the territory, watching over Pandora. For now, that alone felt enough for her. And as she circled the territory unhindered, basking in the mana-rich energy that only this territory could produce, with the forest.

She felt a sense of freedom that she’d never realized she had all this time. Her body gradually picked up speed as she focused more on fulfilling her duty.

Meanwhile, Noah gradually shifted his focus elsewhere.

Truthfully, there was nothing immediately pressing left for him to do tonight anymore.

Which meant this was likely the best opportunity he would get to properly discuss several things that had remained buried for far too long.

Especially after everything that happened recently.

And now that Arachne was here as well...

Noah wanted to make sure that the two weren’t kept in the dark about anything.

One thing he absolutely didn’t want was for secrets to exist between them.

And more importantly, he wanted them to understand the full extent of what he was capable of.

Because he couldn’t risk either of them doing something reckless because of a misunderstanding about him or his abilities.

But it was then that Noah noticed Alexandria already waiting for him near the entrance of his home once they returned.

—

Alexandria once again stood across from Noah. Her demeanor was both embarrassed and lacked any sense of confidence.

Her thoughts continuously circled back to everything that had happened earlier.

Dobby’s transformation, the fear she felt, and the anger she directed toward Noah.

Yet despite all of that... Here she was again, standing in front of Noah willingly.

Ready to receive his blood another time.

Alexandria still didn’t believe everything would always turn out well.

But reality spoke for itself.

Dobby survived.

No... More than surviving, he became stronger than ever before. At this point, his presence already felt dangerously close to those directly beneath Noah.

Thinking of it now, it would appear as if she was only here because she didn’t want to get left behind even more.

Alexandria’s ears lowered slightly while embarrassment gradually replaced most of the turmoil she was feeling now.

Meanwhile, Noah quietly observed every change in her expression with growing impatience.

"I thought you said you were ready?"