Becoming a Monster

Chapter 670: Chapter 669: How Strong Is Your Faith?

Noah’s attention finally shifted away from the summoned beings.

Thalric had noticed the eye embedded in the center of his chest glowing while Noah studied them, but it wasn’t until that eye turned toward the rest of them that he understood just how different it was from the analysis skills he was familiar with.

The moment its gaze passed over him, Thalric had the absurd feeling that it was seeing directly through him.

He had never experienced anything quite like it before.

Analysis skills varied considerably depending on the person using them. For most, accurately gauging an opponent’s general strength was already useful enough. A smaller number could go further, gaining a rough understanding of where that strength came from and where an opponent might be weakest.

Thalric’s own analysis fell within that group.

Rarer still were those capable of uncovering pieces of what someone could actually do. The information was rarely specific. They might discover that a warrior could use magic, or that an undead possessed both magical and martial abilities. It was even possible to judge what type of magic they wielded. Then some could even determine the general effects of equipment someone carried without touching it.

Finding someone capable of all that was rare, but Thalric knew it was possible.

What he felt from Noah made him question whether analysis truly ended there.

Thalric had no way to know exactly what the eye could see, but the sensation of its gaze moving across him felt completely different from every analysis skill he had experienced before.

For one absurd moment, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Noah wasn’t merely judging his strength, abilities, or equipment.

It felt as though that eye saw through it all.

And judging from the reactions around him, Thalric wasn’t the only one who felt that difference.

The weaker members of their forces might not have understood what was happening, but those with enough experience using or being subjected to analysis skills quickly became more guarded once that eye focused on them.

None of them could know what he was learning. But the possibility that Noah could see more than their strength or abilities was enough to make that uncertainty dangerous.

What if he could see their weaknesses? The limitations of their abilities? The conditions they needed to meet before some of them could even be used?

An opponent normally had to discover those things during a fight. If Noah could learn them simply by looking, then he could know what to exploit before the battle even began.

The longer they stayed there, the more it worked against them. It was becoming clear that Noah was gaining far more from the opportunity than they were.

There was no reason to continue giving him the time to do so.

Malachi had another reason for wanting the silence to end.

Thalric had noticed his missing smile earlier, but another change in the man was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The color was slowly draining from his face.

Some unease would’ve been understandable after understanding what they were about to face. Malachi had come here confident in the strength they had gathered, yet after a brief encounter, he was already hesitating.

For someone like Malachi, that kind of doubt was rare.

Not only because Malachi always wore a smile, no matter the situation, but also because showing hesitation in front of a demon was no different from doubting his faith.

However, what anyone could see on the surface didn’t come close to what Malachi was experiencing.

Something else was affecting Malachi that no one standing around him could’ve known about.

For years, a voice within him had guided Malachi. It was the same voice that had granted a blind man the ability to see the world around him and guided him toward understanding the true role God’s faithful were meant to serve.

Malachi had placed his complete faith in that guidance long ago, leaving him no reason to question what the voice had been telling him since he laid eyes on Noah.

He could care less that Noah could somehow peer through him.

Colluding with the demon Morvyr no longer left the same impact.

Because, from what the voice was telling him, what they were about to face was supposed to be “equal” to their beloved angels.

A devil… a true devil.

If Noah were an ordinary demon, Malachi still had the courage to overcome it. With God supporting him by allowing him to summon His servants, no demon could overcome them.