Chapter 340
There were a total of two imperial carrier ships firing at the ‘Ring of Agony’.
One is probably Alshath’s mothership, ‘Defender of Berzan 02’, and the other is believed to be an imperial mothership that protects other planets in the Aur star system.
Originally, when an imperial carrier moved, a carrier battle group was always mobilized, but now there were only a very small number of destroyers. This is because when fighting in Berzan 02, Alshas included a carrier battle group in the Observatory’s elite fleet.
It may have been done with the intention of adding strength to the attack on me, but in the end it ended up being a handshake. Not only the elite fleet but also the carrier group was destroyed by the Black Devourer cannons. Several additional imperial carriers that had been deployed along with it also disappeared.
Since his strategy has failed, the two imperial carriers are the last resort. If those ships are destroyed, the Aur star system will literally become Muju Gongsan.
‘So far, it’s still as planned.’
While the Imperial Carrier was biding its time against Vortex One, I checked on my evolved body.
This is not the first time he has used the symbol of hunting since becoming an adult.
It was written several times when Aadhai’s compatriots visited the Dragon’s Nest where they had previously migrated. At the time, the symbol of hunting was actively used to transfer characteristics to the mini screamers created by PS-111.
‘However, this is my first time using it when fighting a strong enemy.’
Moreover, it has been a long time since I transformed to use it directly in battle. I used the symbol of hunting to obtain fixed characteristics every time.
‘So, I need to check my physical condition.’
First, if you look at the head, the eyes have disappeared as before and the power of the auxiliary organ under the chin has increased. The head in the center, like the right and left heads, had a carapace covering where the eyes were, and sharp horns grew on top of it.
The auxiliary organ under the chin is no longer in the form of a thin tentacle, but is now a structure protected by sharp, blade-like bones like tusks on both sides of the mouth.
In addition, the size of the carapace and horns on the back of the head have also grown to an extent that is difficult to compare with before. The sense felt through the auxiliary organs was that the carapace and horns were mixed together and had a sharply raised shape. Would you say it feels like you’re wearing a throne made of swords from a classic fantasy novel?
The heads on both sides, which were simpler than the center head, also became more flashy and vicious.
Another big difference is that the head shape and oral structure of all three heads have changed. The jaw, which was shaped like a snake or a crocodile, changed to resemble the mouth of a subadult.
Of course, it wasn’t completely the same. This is because another chin was created inside the lower jaw.
「Grrr」
When the mouth was opened, the second jaw, the pharyngeal jaw, located between the jaw and throat, protruded. As the ‘Reaper’s Jaw’ trait was acquired, the new tentacle-shaped tongue was replaced with a jaw.
Would you say that not only the motif was copied, but the appearance also got closer to a true X-X-X-X?
‘It’s closer to a moray eel than an x-one, though.’
Next, if you look at the body, it has become larger overall, just like the head. My body length without any strengthening effect is only 60m, but now it easily exceeds 100m. I guess it’s probably around 120m.
Aside from the growing body and disappearing eyes, there is still one more trademark of hunting.
Bone sickle arms that form right on the back.
Previously, in humans, bone sickle arms appeared near the wing bones. Thanks to this, it was easy to attack when biting the enemy in the mouth or during a power struggle.
But is it because the body structure changes as it becomes an adult? The part where the bone sickle arm appears has changed.
Bone scythe arms protruded from near the waist, below the fighting arms, rather than from the back. The length also became very long, almost similar to ‘normal wing arms’.
The reason why I said it was a normal wing arm is because the wings became bigger as it became a symbol of hunting.
Wings so gigantic that I thought they were part of my body were shaking on the black sea. A bright red wave pattern stood out on the inner membrane of the wing, reminiscent of a constellation shining in the night sky.
As his head, arms, and the rest of his body became bigger overall, his muscles also increased tremendously.
Even though the length increased by about twice its normal size, the body itself became so thick thanks to the muscles that there was no significant difference in proportions. No, it actually felt like I had gained weight.
As muscle mass increased explosively, weight also increased significantly. If you were inside the surveillance office building, the floor would have collapsed just by standing still.
‘Overflowing power, I like it.’
Since we had been fighting non-stop since Berzan 02, a lot of our stamina was used up. In addition, the injuries sustained while attempting to activate the Tylantroid and the energy consumed by the Black Devourer Cannon have not yet fully recovered.
However, as my body was temporarily upgraded through the symbol of hunting, I felt as if some of my lost strength had returned.
「Big adult」「Horns」「A lot」「Very」「Big」「As expected」「Cool」 「
Big babies are cute.」
This was the first time they saw the two transform from an adult to a symbol of hunting. In the Dragon’s Lair, Aadhai was busy performing his role as leader, and Number 26 was busy taking care of Gallagon Hatchling.
「Negative」「Cool thing」「Cute thing」「Different」
「Cool and cute!」
「That’」「Acknowledge」
As always, Aadhai made an evaluation based on Gallagon’s instincts. On the other hand, No. 26 gave a surprising evaluation.
‘It’s cute. Is it because of the shape of this mouth?’
My guess is that it was evaluated that way because of its snout that resembles a moray eel. If you go down to the deep sea, you can meet creatures with an oral structure similar to mine. He may have said it was cute because he saw my changed hair and thought of the animals he saw in his hometown.
‘Well, that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with my body.’
After completing a short inspection, I raised my head.
Now is the time to hunt down the demon in front of you.
I vigorously waved my wide-open wings. The energy emitted by the wings helped my body move easily even in the weightless space of space.
My body moves as fast as a battleship moving with all its might. Aadhai and No. 26 follow closely behind me.
Even while I was evolving, the Ring of Anguish and the Imperial Mothership were in full swing. The relatively poorly armed destroyers were completely destroyed long ago, and only the imperial carriers remained and were fighting hard.
Meanwhile, when we appeared, an imperial carrier turned some of the muzzles of the ship’s secondary armament, the ‘Black Cannon’, towards me. The other imperial carriers followed suit and prepared to attack me.
The Black Cannon, which only has 8 batteries installed per Imperial Carrier, is a very powerful weapon even compared to the Cosmic Bolt.
The Black Cannon has two modes: it fires a black heat ray when fighting small numbers of enemies, and it fires a sphere that forms an artificial black hole when fighting a fleet.
Although the forms are different, both use dark matter, the same energy source as the Cosmic Bolt, so their power itself cannot be compared to that of a regular battleship. In fact, when the cult fleet and the Star Union fleet fought before, the imperial carrier fired black hole bullets from the black cannon, causing enormous damage.
Soon, four anti-ship naval guns, black cannons, spewed fire. Heat rays so black that they remind me of a black hole are flying towards me to burn me.
‘Of course, it’s useless if it doesn’t fit.’
I folded my wings at the right time during flight. Four black heat rays flew in as if to surround me, passing over my body just in the nick of time.
Adhai, who was following behind, also freely changed his trajectory and skillfully avoided the heat rays.
Meanwhile, the other Black Cannons were pouring fire on the Ring of Anguish.
「-」
Arms burning with heat rays clap silently.
Its firepower is more than twice as strong when it is twisted into an 8 shape than when it is in a regular ring shape. This is the same even now that only half of the original body has been summoned.
As the power to manipulate gravity is unleashed, outer space flutters like paper swaying in the wind. The power that distorts the physical laws of reality spreads and reaches Berzan 02’s defender.
Then, the imperial carrier began to twist like a twist from the tip. Completely ignoring the thick armor and shield created by the mother ship.
The other imperial carriers saw this and stopped shooting at me, focusing all their black cannons on Vortex One. Cracks appeared on the outer wall of the ship, which was as smooth as a cut diamond, and the corners opened. The battery that came out of it fired black spheres, black hole bullets.
「-」
The ring of agony applauds again.
Then the black sphere stopped in the middle of space, as if blocked by an invisible wall. The space around the sphere was distorted and all the light was sucked in.
Why are you shooting a black hole bullet at Vortex One, who can manipulate gravity? It was an unwise decision.
Black hole bullets that create small black holes are impossible to identify as enemies. The unknown imperial carrier who set out to rescue his comrades was caught up in the weapon he fired. The huge ship shrank rapidly and soon disappeared into the abyss of space.
Meanwhile, I approached the ring of agony and slashed at its body with my fighting arm and bone scythe arm.
Its body size is smaller than when it became a bone beast, but its strength has become stronger. A bone scythe as cold as starlight in space tore apart the arms that covered the ring. And it bit the creature mercilessly with its three double-chinned heads.
Flesh created by fusing organic matter and energy seeps into my body. Aimorph’s excellent digestive system absorbed Vortex One’s body and converted it into nutrients.
He also realized that I was stronger than before and immediately began to respond. As the arms on the surface crossed in an X shape, numerous energy bullets hit my body.
‘It’s an energy bullet.’
The damage would have been less if they had created a counter-resilience and pushed me away. He chose the wrong option.
My body quickly became tattered after being hit by the rain of death at close range, but my strength actually grew stronger.
Additionally, body size.
My head and arms, which I had inserted into his body, grew rapidly due to the Tyrantroid effect. From his perspective, it would be no different from stuffing dozens of hemostasis sponges into the wound.
This pain must have been on a completely different level, so he stopped moving for a moment. I shook the heads embedded in Gori’s body and pierced the enemy’s body.
There’s work to be done while he can’t move.
‘Where is the core?’
Vortex One, a being that transcends ordinary living things, has no limbs or even digestive organs such as intestines.
However, there are conceptual organs such as the heart and brain that are necessary for maintaining and operating the body. It is an organ called ‘Avisual Core’, and if it is destroyed, the summoned Vortex One dies.
If Amorph wants to steal Vortex One’s genetic essence, he must feast on this Avital Core.
「–」
It must have realized that I was eating its meat and searching for its core, so it reacted immediately. My arms joined together, and an overwhelming rebound force occurred, attacking my body. My body was thrown backwards, but I wasn’t pushed back as helplessly as before.
Now my arms and heads are stuck in its body, acting as anchors. It may have been on the surface of the body, but it was able to withstand it because the semi-elastic force did not apply to the inside.
“Pain reduction activated!”
“Pain reduction activated!”
Of course, it can only withstand it, but it does not cancel out the shock caused by the semi-elasticity. The wounds inflicted by the energy bullet were wide open, and the thick carapace was completely broken.
After the carapace was broken, it was time for the muscles and bones. Due to the semi-elastic force created by Vortex One, exposed muscles were torn and bones were broken. The fountain of blood spurting from my body filled the weightless space.
‘…strong!’
Even though it is simply a self-protection ability, it has tremendous power. If the ability to manipulate gravity is revealed here, even I won’t be safe.
‘It’s about time…’
He must have been thinking the same thing as me, so he put his hands together to clap.
At that moment, the guy’s body shook slightly. The defenders of Berzan 02, who were not completely destroyed, attacked it.
「—-」
The guy’s arms crossed in the shape of an X rather than applauding. The intention is probably to clean up the relatively less troublesome enemy, the Imperial Mothership, first and then kill me.
After the arms changed position, I felt a strong but short wave. After that, the movement of the imperial carrier was no longer felt.
「-」
The guy who sank the imperial carrier with an energy bomb is trying to change his stance. The moment those countless palms touch each other, my body will be completely crushed.
But it’s not just me and the Imperial Mothership here.
The guy’s body suddenly trembles. This is because Adhai, carrying No. 26 on his back, flew in and pierced him.
The arms move to destroy the pesky enemy that clings to them.
‘Is that really possible?’
No. 26, who creates a shield that blocks anything, and Aadhai, who can protect himself with red armor. No matter how Vortex One it is, it is impossible to kill them both easily.
And my auxiliary organs finally detected something foreign. A large clump of organic matter measuring 10 meters is nearby.
‘Avial Core!’
After confirming the location of the core, I pulled out the erosion tentacles from its back. Then, the surface of the ring where the core was was torn off with tentacles.
「—–」
Realizing that Core was discovered, the guy took a new stance. All arms were stretched out in front with clenched fists.
Then, the figure-8 shaped body was cut in half into small pieces. The parts where my head and arms were stuck were separated, like a lizard cutting off its tail when in danger.
‘I knew it.’
The area where the core is hidden is far away, but this was also planned.
The ring of agony returns to its half-shaped figure 8 as the split ring parts come back together again. Because of me, part of its body was removed, so its size has shrunk compared to before.
I put my head down on the owner’s body and immediately prepared the next card.
The one who joined forces far away from me is moving to finish me off.
Just before he started clapping, a wave of light came from somewhere and touched the tip of my monster’s tentacles.
“and! The new house is coming!」
「Not yet」「It hasn’t arrived」
‘It’s finally here!’
The new house that No. 26 talks about.
There is only one thing that can be called a new home for him.
A cloud of blue light is concentrated in the middle of an empty universe. A structure with enormous mass appeared, tearing through the light.
This is Megacorp’s super weapon with a diameter of 2km, Gigacracker.
I asked for this while sending away the Mother of Heaven in Berzan 02.
Once the dangers in the Aur star system have been sorted out, bring Gigacracker in.
Now that the imperial carriers have been destroyed, a super weapon carrying the Heavenly Mother, PS-111, and Isabelle has appeared here.
A word from the author (author’s afterword) At the beginning, the symbol of hunting was described as if it were written for the first time in the adult state, but that part has been corrected. This is because in Chapter 297, Rest (4), the symbol of hunting in the adult state was used several times.
Instead, I decided that the main character should check his physical condition before facing a strong enemy, so I modified it to describe his appearance. In relation to this, we have also revised the evaluations made by No. 26 and Aadhai based on the symbolism of hunting.
「Perfect organism: Your body is optimized for slaughter and evolution. Strengthens the effect of the type you have. It is intimidating to all kinds of intelligent beings. It can evolve into ‘Hunting Symbol’ once a day.
*’Symbol of the Hunt’: When applied, the probability of the predation effect increases significantly. The effects of all possessed characteristics are strengthened. Resistant to all types of attacks. Lasts 20 minutes.
*P.S.: There is no end to evolution. “Watch next episode”