Becoming a Monster

Chapter 577: Chapter 576: A Worthy Leader

Noah looked between the two women for a moment. Both were waiting for him to continue.

Even the hobgoblin had unconsciously lifted its head. Though it still trembled, its attention had long since shifted away from the ground.

Seeing the expectant looks on their faces, he gestured toward the largest hut.

"After all this time..."

"Has anyone seen their leader?"

The hobgoblin turned its attention toward the hut first. Only after Noah pointed it out did something feel wrong.

Where... where ’was’ the chieftain?

The Oni has already reached the camp’s center. So many goblins had already died. Their tribe had fallen into complete chaos.

Yet, the chieftain had never once shown itself. Even now, as the demon was speaking, why had the chieftain still not appeared?

The hobgoblin searched through its memories.

Since becoming their leader, what had the chieftain actually done for the tribe?

It ate without helping them hunt. Slept during the night despite the eyes appearing persistently in the night.

And now, when the tribe needed it the most, it was huddling inside its hut. It has been some time since the screams had died down, and still nothing.

The hobgoblin’s hands slowly clenched.

Was it truly willing to let every goblin die?

Both women instinctively glanced toward the hut around the same time.

However, neither tried to answer. They understood that Noah took enjoyment in asking questions just to get them to think for themselves.

Eventually, he would explain his own thoughts before asking for theirs.

"When you think of a leader, what do you think a leader’s role is supposed to be?"

"That is something even civilized beings struggle to understand... let alone monsters."

"Those with the strength to rule often begin believing strength is all they need."

"They forget that the moment they place themselves above others..."

"...they also become responsible for them."

"Their successes."

"Their failures."

"Their lives."

"If someone can’t shoulder that responsibility..."

"...then why should anyone respect them in return?"

His voice remained calm, without the slightest hint of mockery.

He wasn’t saying that because he believed himself to be a better ruler than others.

If anything, Noah believed he would struggle just as much if he were placed in their position.

The circumstances surrounding his own home were simply too different.

The creatures who chose to follow him had already experienced what he could offer them.

They had experienced evolutions they never thought possible, strength beyond what their species should have been capable of, and a future that continued expanding every time they grew stronger.

How many creatures, after experiencing all of that, would willingly choose to walk away?

That wasn’t something another leader could simply replicate.

So comparing himself to other leaders wouldn’t have been fair from the very beginning.

However, that didn’t change what Noah believed a leader should strive to become.

A leader wasn’t simply someone who took from those beneath them. They also had to become someone worthy of being followed.

Unfortunately...

"In that regard, monsters are even worse. They value strength above almost everything else."

"So if a monster lacks responsibility and doesn’t possess overwhelming strength... What reason does the rest of the tribe have to follow them?"

Noah became quiet for a moment.

"In the end, everyone is selfish at their roots. As long as you have your own feelings and desires, you will want what’s best for you.

"...We’re no different."

Arachne’s brows furrowed.

She didn’t like hearing that. It was hard for her not to reject it immediately.

How could she possibly be anything like those goblins? She would never abandon Noah. She would never abandon her home.

To compare her to creatures who willingly left one another behind, the thought alone irritated her beyond her control.

Beside her, Ailetta simply nodded. Unlike Arachne, she found nothing to disagree with.

She knew herself better than anyone. If it meant obtaining the future she desired...

If it meant remaining by Noah’s side...

There was very little she wouldn’t do.

Noah continued before either of them could speak.

"That selfishness creates the scenario, for when a ruler never shows they care about those beneath them, then those beneath them will never care about the tribe."

"They’ll only care about themselves."

"So when the two of you begin leading them... don’t be too quick to judge them based only on what you see."

"They’re acting according to everything they’ve experienced."

"If every leader they’ve ever known only took from them... then eventually they’ll begin believing that’s simply what a leader is supposed to do."

"A tribe reflects the one leading it."

"So before you judge the tribe... first ask yourselves what kind of leader they were given."

Noah didn’t feel the need to explain anything further. The two women were more than intelligent enough to think about the rest on their own.

Instead, his attention shifted back toward the largest hut.

Just as Noah was about to tell Ailetta and Arachne to drag the chieftain out themselves, movement finally appeared at the entrance.

A frightened face cautiously peeked outside.

The moment the chieftain noticed every gaze turning toward it, it immediately shrank back inside the hut.

Several long moments passed before it finally gathered enough courage to step outside again.

This time, it wasn’t alone.

The remaining goblins slowly poured out behind it, clustering together so tightly that they almost seemed to merge into a single mass.

Not one of them stepped ahead of their leader.

Instead, they remained behind it, silently waiting to see what would happen next.

The chieftain nearly stumbled over its own feet as it slowly approached.

Unlike what the surviving goblins expected... There wasn’t the slightest intention of resisting.

Its eyes nervously swept across the two women standing before it before eventually settling on a suspicious figure quietly standing beside Ailetta.

It was a hobgoblin.

No...

The chieftain’s heart nearly stopped functioning when it saw it.

That creature was unmistakably stronger than any hobgoblin it had ever seen.

Its body was broader, its frame taller, and even standing still, it carried a pressure no ordinary hobgoblin should have possessed.

It reminded the chieftain of the creatures the Oni created that day. However, the lack of demonic armor was nowhere to be seen.

Even still, seeing that goblin gave rise to a horrifying panic as its chaotic thoughts went wild.

It wondered if the Oni decided to use them all to create even more goblin warriors like before.

Its eyes instinctively searched the surrounding area, trying to find the others.

Yet, after a quick search, there was only that one.

Confusion briefly surfaced within its heart. It couldn’t understand where the rest had gone.

But that confusion became meaningless the instant its gaze drifted past the hobgoblin and landed on the Oni.

The chieftain’s body immediately froze. It had never forgotten that image.

If anything... The demon standing before it now felt even more terrifying than the one burned into its memories.

Its legs buckled beneath it before it even realized what was happening.

It collapsed onto both knees.

Then, moving with the frantic haste of a frightened child, it quickly shifted onto one knee and lowered its head in complete submission before the Oni.

The surviving goblins stared at the scene in stunned silence.

They had followed their chieftain outside, believing it would stand between them and the demon.

Although they lacked respect for their leader in name only, they instinctively looked towards the one being who was supposed to help lead them in these dire times.

Instead, it surrendered the very moment it laid eyes upon the Oni.

Under normal circumstances, such cowardice would’ve immediately earned the chieftain their contempt.

Yet not a single goblin dared voice that thought.

Every one of them only needed to look toward the creatures standing before them to understand why.

The monstrous female monsters and the creatures that had devoured their tribe, suspended in the air around them, smiling as if daring them to try to run.

Then, most frighteningly, the Oni who had led these monsters.

The many goblins who had never laid eyes on Noah didn’t have to ask who the Oni was. Noah’s overwhelming aura alone filled them with enough dread to answer the question.

Powerful wasn’t the right word to describe it. Its presence denied them any thought of retaliating.

And those who met the Oni’s gaze directly fell to their knees just the same without realizing it.

Against enemies capable of ending their lives as effortlessly as breathing, blaming their chieftain suddenly felt meaningless.

Their gazes instinctively wandered elsewhere.

More than a few found themselves staring at the unusually powerful-looking hobgoblin standing beside the slime monster.

Those who had witnessed the massacre immediately recognized what it truly was.

The sight led some of the most timid to squeamishly continue to look up at the eyes staring down at them, fearing that at any moment they would finish what they started.

Yet that wasn’t what drew the most attention.

More and more goblins found their eyes drifting toward the lone hobgoblin quietly standing behind the Oni himself.

Unlike the version of them made by the eye monsters, this one hadn’t been devoured at all.

They felt as if their eyes were deceiving them. Unlike Ailetta and the others, goblins could easily tell the difference between each other, and many seemed to recognize that particular goblin.

The sight confused them far more than it reassured them.

Because the hobgoblin stood behind the Oni like it had sided with it over its own kind.