Chapter 188
‘Ah.’
The moment I put Jason’s head into my mouth, I realized I had made a grave mistake. The crimson fluid of life flowing into my mouth was astonishingly addictive. It was enough to make me forget the pain of the hole in my throat.
Jason’s blood was akin to maple syrup but far more flavorful. His flesh would undoubtedly be as enticing as I could imagine.
If there’s a problem, it’s that all I have now is the bastard’s head. The torso beneath the neck has vanished into the blue.
‘I guess I should consider it lucky to have salvaged the head.’
Thanks to the jaw effect of the Essence Harvester, I can obtain the genetic essence of my opponent through just the head.
I exerted force on my jaw and bit into Jason’s head.
Flesh, muscle, blood, bone, brain, and even the remaining horn. Every element constituting his head was absorbed by me.
Then, translucent text boxes appeared before my eyes in succession.
[Predation effect triggered! Successful plunder of ‘Jason (Jason Turningham)’ special bonus!]
[There are no compatible traits among the ones you currently possess. They will be transferred to the voucher storage facility.]
[Predation effect triggered! Successful plunder of ‘Jason (Jason Turningham)’ special bonus!]
[The possessed traits ‘Cosmic Bacteria’ and ‘Flames of Hallucination’ are mergeable. Please select a trait. The selection outcome will be influenced by the traits used as materials.]
[Addendum: You stand at a crucial crossroad. Please choose carefully.]
[Time remaining until trait selection: 24:00:00]
[You are the target of the trait enhancement system. Would you like to use the system?]
[Predation effect triggered! Successful plunder of ‘Jason (Jason Turningham)’ special bonus!]
[There are no compatible traits among the ones you currently possess. They will be transferred to the voucher storage facility.]
‘Why are there so many?’
I thought it would be similar to when I encountered Muriel, but there were more text boxes displayed than I expected.
‘Are these bonuses obtained by plundering other players?’
It seems the guy had a total of three bonuses. Two of them are currently unusable due to certain conditions, and only one can be combined with my traits for use.
‘Well, back with the irregular dodecahedron of the looter, I used metal absorption as material.’
I immediately checked the mergeable bonuses.
It’s written that one of the infection-related traits, Cosmic Bacteria, and one of the psychic-related traits, Flames of Hallucination, can be used to merge bonuses.
These two traits are completely different in nature. Depending on which one I choose to use, the results will be entirely different.
Moreover, for reasons unknown, they’ve given me a full 24 hours to make the choice.
‘This is unprecedented.’
It’s an unusual situation, but it’s unsettling. There must be no reason for them to give me such benefits for no apparent reason.
‘At a crucial crossroad…’
There’s still 24 hours left, so there’s no need to make a decision right away. There are other things that need to be done first.
The high-quality energy obtained from consuming Jason’s head has been used to heal all the wounds in my throat. As the penetrating injuries inside begin to heal, the gushing blood also stops.
With the lethal wounds healed, the Revenant mechanism has also completed its mission and returned to a dormant state. The tiny mechanism attached to the heart will fall into a long slumber for the next six months.
So, it might be difficult to use the Revenant mechanism when fighting the Black Gallagorn.
‘There’s no chance of winning in this condition.’
With the rampage I caused underground, along with the activation of my Brain Shroud, I don’t know when the Gallagons will strike.
Not only me, but everyone here is not in normal condition. Number 26 has suffered significant injuries, Adhai’s legs and wings were both broken, and PS-111 is in such bad shape that finding an intact part was difficult.
Fortunately, the Mother of the Sky only suffered a broken beak, so she was relatively unscathed.
She approached me.
｢We need to get out of here quickly.｣
She, too, was aware that this situation was far from ideal.
[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (let’s go to the mountains.)]
｢…Will it be safe for the children if we leave like this?｣
As she said, the mountains weren’t safe, but there was no other choice. The underground space beneath where we stood had completely collapsed.
Even if we were lucky enough to find an area that hadn’t collapsed, there was a high chance we’d run into the Gallagons who came here.
‘And there’s also the problem of food supply.’
The last card I played to kill Jason was a collaboration between “Intelligent Weakling” and “Symbol of Hunt.” It was a decision made thinking it would be useful in killing the enemy, but there was another reason.
Intelligent Weakling specializes in agility, stealth, and special states. It also has the effect of efficiently distributing consumed energy, minimizing the side effects of the Symbol of the Hunt.
There’s a low chance the kids will find out about this like before.
‘Right now, it’s the kids who are worrying more than me.’
To heal the seriously injured ones, there are only two ways: feeding them or laying a nest and attaching the “Symbiotic organ Pods.”
‘Either way, a large amount of food is needed.’
And there’s no food around here. When the underground collapsed, the food was buried in the ice.
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ (there’s no other way right now.)]
｢Got it.｣
Nodding, Mother of the Sky transformed into a Gallagon and hoisted the damaged PS-111 onto her back.
[Excuse me middle child.]
｢…Can’t you call me the Mother of the Sky?｣
[Unauthorized command.]
“……”
In the meantime, I carefully picked up Number 26. The one with significant injuries seemed to have reduced its size to minimize energy loss.
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ (are you okay?)]
｢I’m fine! You should instead worry about yourself first.?｣
Looking at the pale guy, I could feel how much pain it was in. Yet, seeing it worrying about me first felt strange.
[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ (you’ll be okay soon.)]
｢Yes!｣
[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ (just hold on a little longer.)]
I carefully held Number 26 to prevent further pain, and placed it on my head. I also checked Adhai’s condition to see whether she was fine or not.
She wasn’t doing well. Besides the broken legs and wings, hypothermia was the biggest problem.
I hugged her tightly with my combat arms to warm her up a bit, I covered her in my fur to raise her temperature.
｢Warmth.｣
Feeling the guy in my arms nuzzling against me, I looked at Mother of the Sky. Ready, she nodded at me.
We dashed towards the direction where the dark mountain range was located.
Me, with the centaur body, diligently moving my four legs, and Mother of the Sky, bounding with the body resembling a lion.
Our traces were soon obscured by the pouring white ice flowers.
While running, we heard the sound of beasts roaring from the darkened sky. It was a sign of an approaching blizzard.
The snowfall intensified, and the temperature dropped rapidly. If we delayed even a little here, Adhai and Mother of the Sky, who were weak to cold, would freeze or wither.
Knowing this fact, Mother of the Sky was doing her best while running.
After about ten minutes of running, we reached the edge of the mountain range. It was a different place from where we fought the screamer yesterday, but the scenery was similar.
The ground was thin, but the higher we went, the more the trees spread out like spider webs. They evolved like that to survive the frequent gales and blizzards.
Thanks to the trees acting as a barrier, the forest was less cold than elsewhere.
Of course, we only managed to avoid freezing to death for the moment; it certainly wasn’t warm.
I set down Number 26 and Adhai and began to dig the ground vigorously. After digging out the soil, I made a large pit and covered it with nearby branches.
[Shh, it’ll be better if you go in here.]
I’d like to start a fire, but the smoke would give away our position to the Gallagons. Unfortunately, this is the best option.
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (Hey, everyone, stick together. It’ll be less cold that way.)]
｢Yeah.｣
｢Cold｣ ｢Cold｣ ｢Cold!｣
｢The heat dissipation function is currently inactive. It can be activated with an additional energy supply.｣
The four species tried their best to survive. This bought us more time.
‘Now all that’s left is the energy needed for recovery.’
PS-111 was right. We need energy. If Number 26 recovers, it can inflate its body to protect the kids from the cold.
‘And I can give psychic power to PS-111.’
For my own recovery, I need something to eat right away. I left the kids with Mother of the Sky and went into the forest.
The hunt’s almost over. Just a few minutes left. It’s to prepare for any potential side effects.
‘I need to find something.’
Any creature that can be converted into energy will do. If I don’t put something in my mouth right away, who knows what might happen.
I moved with all my strength to find a living creature that could be converted into energy.
The auxiliary organ, diligently searching the surroundings. Soon, some movement was detected nearby.
The sound of footsteps.
I ran towards the direction of the sound.
There were the perpetrators making the noise when I reached there.
‘…Oh no.’
Unfortunately, they were far from what I was hoping for.
[Hostile creatures confirmed. 30% match with set target. Main controller ‘Pyra Eleven’ command delayed.]
[Transmitting the information to PS-250 intermediate terminal. Transmission complete.]
The owner of the footsteps was three new-model screamers. Behind them lay a beast with green scales.
With a body easily exceeding 10m when including the tail, and wings as huge as its body, the creature was none other than a Green Gallagon.
The body was covered with wounds, but there was no smell of blood. Someone had clearly sucked up every drop of blood from the body.
‘I don’t know what happened, but….’
We need that Gallagon’s body right away to replenish energy.
[No decision authority for the intermediate terminal has been confirmed. Autonomous judgment required.]
[Energy replenishment complete. Biological characteristics of the Gallagon applied.]
[Initiating target suppression.]
With that, the screamers rushed towards me at incredible speed. It looked similar to when Adhai used super acceleration.
One of the screamers, covering the air, swung spider-like metal legs towards me.
In my state as ‘Intelligent Weakling,’ I used my four legs to push off the ground and dodged aside.
I swung my tail towards the narrowly passing guy’s rear. The pincers at the end of my tail precisely struck the back of his head.
Crunch!
The screamer, emitting a grotesque groan, crashed to the ground. Meanwhile, another screamer had already approached right in front of me.
Two front legs with sharp claws flew towards my head. I grabbed the screamer’s two legs with my combat arms.
The body of the screamer, whose front legs were caught, twisted grotesquely, and then the legs behind aimed for my side. With a total of eight legs, it was a possible attack method.
‘Then I’ll do the same to this side.’
When the ‘Symbol of hunt’ is activated, I have more arms and legs than normal. I swung the arms with bone sickles attached on my back in a cross motion.
Following the eerie sound, the body of the one trying to stab me lost its strength. I cleanly threw the decapitated screamer’s corpse into the air.
A screamer, perched on a tree, observing for an opportunity to attack, hastily jumped down upon seeing its comrade flying towards itself.
I dashed towards the point where it was going to land. The creature twisted its body in mid-air to dodge my attack.
‘Where!’
The human-faced ones on top of my carapace opened their mouths wide, emitting powerful sound waves towards the creature. Struck by the intangible waves inducing paralysis, the creature’s body stiffened.
And the six horns on my head pierced through the screamer’s body.
[B-burn, f-freeze….]
Before the creature could self-destruct, I grabbed its head with my combat arms. With a strong pull, I tore it off.
[B-b-burn….]
With its spine pulled out completely, the creature couldn’t hold on any longer and stopped functioning. After carelessly tossing the disgusting screamer’s head to the ground, I tore off the remaining parts attached to the horns with my hands.
As the battle with the screamer ended, energy drained from my body.
The effect of the ‘Symbol of Hunt’ had ended.
In the place where energy had drained, a fierce hunger, like being starved for days, came in to fill the void. The thick carapace that had enveloped my body collapsed like a sandcastle.
The bone sickle arm on my back shrunk and detached, falling to the ground. The arms, armored with strong muscles and carapace, now looked like a newly excavated relic.
Apart from the shedding of the carapace, there was hardly any change in the size of my body.
No matter how much I grew, as an Intelligent Weakling, I couldn’t exceed 5m. Even with the ‘Symbol of Hunt’, the length only changed in appearance, not in reality.
As the ‘Symbol of Hunt’ ended and the transformation of my body was complete, I heard someone’s voice.
[Hostile creature. Transmitting combat situation information to PS-250 intermediate terminal.]
It was the screamer who had hit me on the back of my head with my tail. The guy whose two-thirds of the head were crushed was still alive.
‘Since self-destruction is annoying.’
Despite the pressure of tremendous hunger and lethargy, I moved my steps to deal with him.
Just as I approached him to finish him off.
｢Big guy!｣
‘Adhai?’
Suddenly, Adhai’s telepathy was heard. When I turned my head, I saw the figure of the kid flying through the trees.
Struggling with his immature wings, she was barely flying.
｢Trouble!｣ ｢Kin｣ ｢Spotted!｣
‘What?’
Understanding the meaning of the telepathy shot by him, I immediately sensed something from above.
‘Flapping wings?’
As soon as I realized this fact, I quickly stepped back. Just after I retreated, a huge white creature fell onto the screamer.
The creature, pulverizing the screamer cleanly, looked down at me with eyes resembling amethysts.
‘…Insane.’
Multiple horns on the head, a gigantic body resembling reptiles with huge wings, and tentacles instead of a mouth.
A creature known as the Dragon of the Universe, second only to the Black Gallagon in strength.
At this moment, the White Gallagon, which I had never wanted to encounter, was in front of me.
