Becoming a Monster

Chapter 589: Chapter 588: Behind Enemy Lines

The atmosphere within the Adventurers’ Guild had only grown heavier since Thalric personally announced his decision.

The request to subjugate the demon had already been posted across every board within the guild.

The reward was generous enough to tempt even seasoned adventurers. Enough gold to live comfortably for several months, along with extended discounts on weapons, armor repairs, alchemical supplies, and every other guild service for months afterward.

Ordinarily, a request carrying rewards of that magnitude would’ve drawn a crowd before the ink had finished drying.

Instead, most adventurers only stood at a distance, quietly discussing it amongst themselves before eventually turning away.

The recent reports surrounding the A-Rank party had spread far faster than the Guild ever anticipated.

With each retelling, the demon became less like a monster and more like the second coming of the Demon King.

Very few believed the reward was worth wagering their lives against such an existence.

Even fewer believed they would survive long enough to spend it.

Even if the Guild increased the reward further, Thalric doubted much would change.

Fortunately...

That had been his intention from the very beginning.

When he announced the expedition, he had every intention of allowing anyone to volunteer.

But he had no desire to watch inexperienced adventurers throw away their lives chasing a reward they would never have the chance to spend.

Only those who truly understood what awaited them had any business accepting that request.

Thalric quietly stood upon the balcony overlooking the guild’s main hall while Elowen remained beside him.

Neither spoke for some time.

Their attention quietly wandered across the adventurers below.

Some still stopped before the request boards, reading every line before silently moving on.

Others had already begun packing their belongings, choosing to prepare for the approaching storm instead.

Many remained where they were, discussing everything they had heard since Thalric’s announcement.

Only after several moments did Thalric break the silence.

"...How many?"

"Including Soren and Arden, the church and nobles are sending five potential S-rankers. Two from the Church and three from the nobles, two of whom are from House Ignavar.

Elowen recited the information without the slightest hesitation.

Since she wouldn’t be accompanying Thalric into the forest, she had made certain every report worth knowing had already been committed to memory.

Hearing the two specific names, Thalric’s eyes narrowed in heavy contemplation.

The two names belonged to two of his own trusted companions, adventurers who had stood beside him through more battles than he cared to remember.

If he could choose, he would rather none of them went into this unfavorable battle with him.

"The fact that you are bringing Soren..." Elowen tried to keep her expression composed, yet the concern she had managed to suppress until now slowly found its way onto her face.

"Do you anticipate losing that much?"

Thalric didn’t question why she would arrive at that conclusion. They both understood Soren’s importance to the Guild.

And they understood the significance of his presence.

"It’s not that I expect to lose. Elowen, you should know me well enough to know that I won’t throw my life away needlessly."

He looked down below, taking heed of adventurers all striving together to support one another in the city’s time of need.

"This is simply insurance in case we fail. I don’t need to die for this expedition to fail."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"If that happens... then I want our failure to mean something."

"I want every mistake we make... every ability we uncover... every weakness we discover... to become the reason we succeed the next time."

"At least if Soren is there... our failure won’t mean the end."

Elowen remained quiet for a long moment. She understood his reasoning. Yet, there was still one thing she couldn’t reconcile.

"...Is this because of what they reported yesterday?"

Thalric looked as though he was going to struggle to answer, but she continued before he had a chance.

"Is that alone enough to make you believe five S-Rankers, including you, could fail?"

Her eyes slowly drifted toward the guild hall below. Toward a group of adventurers who were less responsive than everyone else. Their mood was heavy, and they constantly spoke in hushed whispers, while one of them would subtly look in their direction.

"They’re extraordinary children. Their potential alone is enough to leave anyone speechless. In time, they could become the backbone of our city."

She paused, choosing her next words carefully.

"But they’re still children. Their understanding of strength can’t possibly be the same as ours-"

"I know."

Thalric slowly shook his head.

"I know that better than anyone."

His gaze, just like hers, turned towards the group of suspicious adventurers.

"I don’t believe they misunderstood Noah because they’re inexperienced."

"In fact, what they told us is probably not even close to what they actually know."

"Every instance they spoke of, the demon’s growth was incomparably stronger than what it was before."

"And comparing when they last saw it, and Varkesh’s report... My gut is telling me that this demon... this... Noah... He’s stronger than those children ever realized."

The two didn’t speak for a while after that. On the one hand, Elowen wanted to show that, despite everything, she still supported his judgment and believed in his strength.

And on the other hand, Thalric was mentally envisioning what would happen.

The "kids" had told him enough information that he tried to imagine how he would react to some of the abilities the demon had. But even then, he had quickly realized that they barely knew anything about what the demon could do.

It only made him trust his instincts on the matter even more.

—

Meanwhile, their gaze was eventually drawn to a stir among adventurers, all making way for a person they instantly recognized.

The murmurs didn’t stop, and the gazes focused on the individual from the time they went to the mission board and then to the receptionist.

The mission they took was obvious; the rise in pitch in the adventurers’ gossip made it easy to understand what mission they had taken.

"You don’t seem surprised?" Elowen noted as they both watched Varkesh take the mission and sit off to the side.

"That’s because he had the eyes of someone who had already decided to sacrifice everything. After what he’s been through, wanting to decide everything back in that forest is the only thing keeping him going."

"The Church won’t like this one bit. They already had tried to imprison him despite their exorcism coming up empty."

"Hmph, let them complain. They’ve already judged him guilty regardless of the results."

Elowen watched Varkesh from above, studying him closely. She couldn’t understand what Varkesh was trying to achieve by going on this excursion. If the beastkin was unable to make a difference before, what could he achieve this time?

The beastkin hadn’t spoken to a single adventurer since entering the guild. He simply sat alone, his eyes never straying far from the request board.

"The beastkin that walked out of that forest wasn’t the same one who entered it."

Thalric seemed to sense the question lingering in Elowen’s mind before she ever voiced it.

"Some people spend the rest of their lives trying to forget a day like that."

"...Others spend the rest of their lives trying to reclaim what they lost."

"I believe Varkesh is the latter."

"Then why let him go?"

"Because even without us, he would still enter that forest."

"At least with us... he’ll have a chance to find the answer he’s looking for."

—

More than half the day had already passed.

Unlike Ashenveil, where preparations for the approaching storm had been forced to share priority with the coming expedition...

Noah’s territory had devoted itself entirely to the storm. And what they accomplished thus far couldn’t be overlooked.

When monsters with the strength of S-rank set their mind to something, anything was possible. And that possibility became reality when Noah got involved.

With their dungeon core left with little reserves, Noah took the opportunity to merge with Pandora. Working as one, the two quickly began reshaping the territory until it was almost unrecognizable.

Noah’s attention first turned toward the outermost layer of the forest.

Rather than strengthening individual trees, he and Pandora strengthened the forest itself.

Thick roots spread deeper through the earth before intertwining with countless others until entire sections of the trees within their territory became connected.

Those same roots gradually ensnared massive boulders hidden beneath the earth, then pulled them deeper into the ground, anchoring entire sections of the forest together.

If the coming storm attempted to uproot one tree, the countless others surrounding it would bear part of that burden.

That alone wasn’t enough.

Heavy rain would quickly flood the lower portions of the territory if left unchecked.

And that was where the others came in. Fenrir led his pack around the inner walls’ border. Their job was to dig as much as possible to create a giant moat around the area.

The dogs took up another area, doing the same thing. And even the notable lazy drake had abandoned his cave without a single complaint.

There wasn’t a single creature within Noah’s territory that remained idle.