Chapter 696 - 695: Don’t You Want to Be Stronger?

Chapter 696: Chapter 695: Don’t You Want to Be Stronger?

A suffocating aura had spread across the battlefield.

The pressure it brought was enough to make many of the weaker creatures struggle to remain standing, but that alone wasn’t what had stopped them. There was something deeply twisted about the darkness within it, something that left even those capable of enduring its strength too afraid to remember to breathe.

And as they continued to endure its influence, they began to realize that their fear wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

Something was happening to their souls.

It was difficult to explain what they were experiencing. They weren’t necessarily in pain, nor could they identify anything physically touching them. Yet they could feel something interfering with their existence, and the longer they were exposed to the aura, the more uncomfortable the sensation became.

At first, it felt like an unusual pressure against their souls, but that gradually changed. It was as though something had managed to reach inside them and was attempting to twist parts of their existence that shouldn’t have been possible to interfere with.

Worse, they could somehow tell that whatever was happening wasn’t content to cause only discomfort.

Their souls seemed to instinctively resist the influence, but that only made them more aware of what was happening. Something was attempting to change them, and although they had no way of knowing what those changes would involve, their instincts warned them that allowing it would be far worse than dying.

For the humans, the sensation was particularly unbearable. Several of them didn’t even dare to breathe, almost as though they feared that inhaling whatever had spread through the air would only worsen what they were experiencing. Others gripped their weapons so tightly that their hands began to tremble, yet none of them could bring themselves to continue fighting.

They were too concerned with what was happening to their own bodies and souls to pay attention to anything else. Fortunately for them, the demons they had been fighting were experiencing much of the same thing, leaving neither side in any condition to resume their attacks.

Even the Holy Field was struggling to protect them.

Its influence had already been weakening throughout the battle, but Noah’s aura had made the difference far more apparent. The Holy Field was still resisting Noah’s aura, but the difference in strength was becoming increasingly apparent. Its protection was weakening much faster than it had before.

And the Virtue responsible for maintaining it was already struggling enough against Ailetta.

With the additional pressure brought by Noah’s aura, it could no longer afford to continue supporting the entire expedition.

Without the Holy Field protecting them to the same extent, the influence affecting their souls became considerably harder to resist. And what made it particularly disturbing was that, despite how much they feared what was happening to them, there was something about the sensation that they couldn’t help but find appealing.

It seemed to affect each of them differently, focusing on whatever weaknesses or insecurities they had carried throughout their lives.

For some, it was their lack of strength. Others had spent years struggling with fears they couldn’t overcome, painful memories they couldn’t forget, or regrets they had never been able to put behind them.

Whatever their shortcomings happened to be, the influence affecting their souls made them feel as though accepting the changes taking place within them would allow them to overcome those weaknesses.

And the stronger their desire to overcome those weaknesses, the more difficult it became to resist that feeling.

This was particularly dangerous for those who had already come close to dying during the battle. Many had witnessed their companions being killed, while others had barely survived encounters that left them questioning whether they would live to see another day.

Their fear of death was already greater than most, and with the aura taking advantage of that fear, the thought of accepting whatever was happening to them was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

For a few, that temptation had already become too much.

One of the warriors suddenly clutched his chest, his expression twisting as he felt something changing within him. He had nearly died several times since entering the forest, and the thought of having to experience that fear again was enough to make him desperate for anything that could prevent it.

And somehow, accepting the influence affecting his soul felt as though it would do exactly that.

He wasn’t the only one.

Another warrior had tightly closed his eyes, struggling against the desire to give in. Yet when he opened them again, his pupils had narrowed into predatory slits. Not far from him, a woman had fallen to her knees, her eyes becoming completely black as the changes to her soul began affecting her body.

Fortunately, such cases were still extremely rare. Of all the humans left, no more than five had begun experiencing visible changes.

But that was already enough to attract the attention of the nearby priests and priestesses.

They had been among the first to recognize that something was wrong with the affected warriors, and despite the Holy Field no longer providing the same protection, they still possessed enough holy energy to attempt to purify them individually.

The moment their holy energy entered the affected warriors, agonized screams rang out. Those five collapsed, thrashing as the holy energy tried to purge the foreign influence that had taken hold of their souls.

The sight was enough to frighten many of those watching. They had expected the priests and priestesses to relieve the affected warriors of their suffering, yet their intervention seemed to be causing them even greater pain.

Fortunately, the agony didn’t last.

As the purification continued, the influence affecting their souls gradually weakened, allowing the warriors to regain control of their thoughts. The overwhelming desire to accept the changes was no longer there, and although they could still feel Noah’s aura attempting to influence them, they were once again capable of recognizing how dangerous it was.

However, the purification hadn’t been able to undo everything.

The warrior whose pupils had narrowed into slits still possessed those same unnatural eyes. The woman’s eyes remained completely black, and the others who had begun experiencing physical changes were no different.

Their souls might’ve been saved from further corruption, but whatever changes had already taken place within their bodies appeared to be permanent.

And the humans weren’t the only ones experiencing such changes.

Among the creatures fighting for Noah, there were those who had become just as susceptible to his aura. The fact that they were his allies made little difference when the influence was capable of affecting anyone who wasn’t one of his Fallen.

Varkesh was one of them.

He knew exactly who the aura belonged to, but that knowledge did little to reassure him. His body had already begun trembling, and despite his attempts to steady himself, he couldn’t suppress the fear he felt toward whatever was interfering with his soul.

Worse, he could feel the same temptation affecting the humans.

He had spent much of his life struggling against circumstances beyond his control, and even now, there were still things he feared losing. The influence affecting his soul seemed to recognize those fears, making him feel as though accepting the changes would finally allow him to overcome them.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to trust that feeling. He had already experienced enough to know how dangerous Noah could be, and the thought of allowing something to change his very existence was enough to keep him resisting.

Unfortunately, not all of Noah’s allies shared that same hesitation.

Several of the goblins had already begun giving in to the influence, and unlike the humans, they showed little interest in resisting what was happening to them.

Their greatest weakness had always been their lack of strength. Even with the curses empowering them, it only made them more painfully aware of how weak they are. In the end, they were going to die. Whether it was by the humans or the curse.

And now, with Noah’s aura making them feel as though accepting its influence would allow them to live, they saw little reason to refuse it.

They wanted to become stronger.

The first goblin suddenly threw back its head and howled, its body beginning to swell as the changes to its soul took hold. Its muscles expanded at an unnatural rate, tearing through its skin as its bones began shifting to accommodate its increasing size.

Several others followed almost immediately.

Some developed additional limbs, while others grew grotesque protrusions from their bodies. Their transformations were far more extreme than anything the humans had experienced, and with the goblins willingly accepting the influence, the changes showed no signs of slowing.

But just as their bodies were beginning to lose any resemblance to what they had once been, their howls abruptly stopped.

Their eyes had gone blank.

For a moment, the goblins remained motionless, their partially mutated bodies trembling as the changes taking place within them gradually slowed.

And elsewhere on the battlefield, Dobby was watching them. Alongside his glowing tattoos, smaller areas of his body now glowed with green runes just as brightly.

The old cat didn’t fully understand what was happening. He recognized that the aura belonged to Noah, but why it was affecting the creatures fighting for him was another matter entirely.

What he did understand was that Noah wouldn’t want his allies suffering because of it. Because from what Dobby could sense from those who were being changed, their emotions were turning into something that went beyond what a sentient being could carry.