Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: The Night Hunt Begins
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Muriel sat in the commander's camp within the defensive position, glaring coldly at the monitor.
The vital signs graph, which had been wildly fluctuating just moments ago, now drew a straight line without a hint of movement.
What did this mean?
"Boss, there's a massive pool of blood here."
In the footage sent by her subordinates, a puddle of blood was visible. Genetic analysis confirmed it was all from the Mother of the Sky.
Having lost that much blood, with no trace of the chip's signal... it wasn't hard to guess what had happened to the Mother of the Sky.
Aimorphs don't create companions. By now, she was probably chopped to pieces, swimming around in the Aimorph's stomach.
"Tch. What a pain."
The reason Muriel had kept the Mother of the Sky alive was that one of her companions who shared her ideals wanted a female wolf slave.
The Mother of the Sky fit her companion's picky tastes perfectly. Muriel had planned to train her a bit and send her over, but things had gone awry.
'That damn bastard!'
If that infamous Morph bastard had eaten the Mother of the Sky and gained her traits, it would be a real headache.
She knew the odds of an Aimorph acquiring traits were low.
But you never know with the world.
'I don't think I'd lose, but...'
Muriel opened the safe in the camp.
Inside were an old communicator and a diamond-shaped kit.
Among her weapons, the one with the greatest destructive power was 'Thunder God'.
But Thunder God was merely a tool to gain an advantage in battle.
The weapon she used most 'effectively' was what lay inside this kit.
She tucked the communicator into her pocket and carefully lifted the kit with both hands, sitting down at the computer.
"Tch, I'll have to restock after this fight."
Tongue clicking, she slowly opened the kit as if handling a priceless treasure. Inside were various drugs and small mechanical devices.
Psionium to elevate the user's potential by one level, Ultra Controller to greatly enhance the precision of psychic power techniques, Nano Spartan Module to make the skin extremely tough while boosting recovery, and more.
Each one was incredibly powerful, but the side effects were no joke. If not for her 'perk' giving her a body different from a normal person's, she would have hesitated to use them.
After meticulously inspecting the items, she closed the kit and called out to a subordinate outside.
"You called?"
"Brother, an attack's coming soon. Gather all the captured slaves in the central square."
"The slaves? Got it."
She had planned to use the wolf slaves as materials for single-use spears.
It stung a bit to discard all her carefully collected toys, but she shook her head.
Consumables like that could be replaced anytime.
Far more valuable were the cruiser, the hard-won Mother of the Sky, and her precious drugs and enhancement modules.
The damage the Aimorph had inflicted on her was no small matter.
'Morph bastard, don't think you'll die easy.'
Muriel had never let anyone who caused her loss walk away unscathed.
The Rank 5 Aimorph would repay the debt with her own blood.
'It's complete.'
Confirming the tenth nest expanding on its own, I severed the link.
Cute Podlings spewed mucus and toxic mist everywhere, while the black waves carpeting the ground advanced relentlessly.
Until now, I'd wandered around Muriel's camp, planting nests in an encirclement formation. Five on the surface, five underground—a total of ten nests. Nine of them had already merged into one.
In ten minutes, the tenth would join them too.
Then my aerial assault on the enemy's lair would begin.
'But first, something to check.'
I headed to the sixth nest I'd planted, via the tunnel I'd dug in advance.
The underground world once filled with dirt, rocks, and tree roots was gone. Now it brimmed with sticky mucus, malignant tumors, pustules spewing foul slime, and spores constantly polluting the air.
Others might find it repulsive, but to me, it was familiar territory.
Traversing the long tunnel, I reached the underground cavern I'd excavated—the sixth nest welcomed me.
Lying atop the nest was a wolf in a half-human, half-beast form.
She had an eagle's head, long hair like a lion's mane, and a body blending lion and human. Her hands and upper body were those of a fur-covered woman, her lower half a lion's—but no tail.
'Close to a beast, so her deification stage must be high.'
If she weren't so badly injured, she might have been a tough opponent.
Thanks to the symbiotic spore effect, she was recovering quickly, but full healing would take a few more days.
I lay down in the center of the nest and called to her.
"You're... a-wake... so... get... up."
"......"
I'd known she was awake since entering the nest. Her heartbeat was different from when she was out.
The Gryphon Wolf quietly opened her eyes.
"Unexpected. You're not killing me?"
"No."
"Huh?"
"Your... body... will... be... useful... later."
Not killing the Gryphon Wolf now didn't mean I'd keep her alive forever.
I crawled closer, dipped a finger in the pooled blood on the floor, and put it in my mouth. Even with honey instead of blood in my veins, it tasted that sweet.
'Shame I can't eat her right away.'
Keeping the Gryphon Wolf alive was advantageous in several ways.
Short-term, she could provide useful info—from what I needed to fight Muriel to details on Players.
One might think extract the battle info and kill her, but no.
Even if I captured Muriel later and pried Player info from her, without cross-verification, truth from lies would be hard.
'And the Gryphon Wolf hates Muriel.'
Her skills were solid, even by my standards. She'd make good firepower against Muriel.
With the parasite implanted while she was unconscious, betrayal was impossible. The infection-enhanced type ramped up the pain, so any treachery meant instant death.
Unless I ordered the parasite to withdraw, her escape options were limited.
Beyond short-term gains, she had long-term utility too.
'She'll help fulfill ascension evolution conditions later.'
Post-Near-Adult, evolution conditions got much tougher. It wasn't just eating a few intelligent beings or grabbing types.
'Instead, hunt specific creatures or acquire unique traits.'
I pulled up the updated evolution conditions.
To evolve from Near-Adult to Adult, I needed to hunt 30 rare creatures classified as apex predators and secure 10 of their unique traits.
The difference from before: success in the hunt alone counted toward conditions, without needing to consume. That was due to traits like Essence Harvester's jaw affecting gene essence absorption.
'Not that it makes it easy.'
Apex included powerful psychics like Gallerons, Skywhales, and their superiors like Arcane Orcas—immensely strong and exceedingly rare.
'Contracting with Adhai was for passing Near-Adult too.'
Gallerons were prime apex examples. With Adhai's guidance to the dragon's nest, I could fulfill conditions easily.
'Or actively use the Transcendence system...'
I had two unique traits, both from Transcendence.
One might think no need for apex hunts, but issues remained.
'Unknown effects and restrictions on other trait use.'
These were Transcendence's big drawbacks.
Transcendence unique traits were entirely new, absent from the game.
Hard to judge immediate utility, and restrictions unknown until acquired.
'Balance apex hunts and Transcendence.'
Anyway, sparing the Gryphon Wolf was like the Adhai contract.
Ascension from Adult demanded incomparably harsher conditions. She might prove necessary later.
"Ha, same as ever."
She seemed to vaguely grasp why I spared her.
Yet no anger or disgust toward me.
'No real options even if she wanted to oppose.'
Her injuries were severe. Symbionts granted healing and nest pollution immunity.
Remove symbionts, she dies—even without parasite.
She's a Player who knows me well. She'd know resisting here is foolish.
"Fine. As long as you keep your promise."
"Mu·ri·el... will... suf·fer... be·fore... dy·ing."
"Good. I, the Mother of the Sky, will follow you."
As expected.
The one calling herself Mother of the Sky made the wise choice.
The reclining Gryphon Wolf forced herself up and bowed to me.
"...I'll recover as fast as possible to be of help."
"Does·n't... mat·ter. Use... as... need·ed."
Truth was, her immobility wasn't solely Muriel's damage.
'Half my fault, but no need to mention.'
Deciding to spare her, I'd used Ghost Claw to remove the vital chip from her occiput.
Without Sleight of Hand, it was tricky; massive bleeding and aftereffects inevitable.
'But she'll heal fast.'
A normal wolf would've died on extraction, but not her.
High 'deification' stage meant inheriting Gryphon mode abilities even untransformed.
With Gryphon recovery plus symbiotic spores, she'd be battle-ready by my strike on Muriel.
More pressingly, I needed info.
"Mu·ri·el's... weak·ness·es. Speak."
Before nests complete, learn her gear, strengths/weaknesses, combat habits.
Sky Mother details and Player info after dealing with Muriel.
Even at midnight, the defensive position and surrounding forest blazed like daylight.
Tall watchtowers' floodlights ceaselessly scanned barriers and beyond; inside, hundreds of pirates stood vigilant against assault.
Not a hint of slacking—their discipline rivaled soldiers'. Muriel ensured that.
She'd personally speared every wolf slave in the square.
Slaughtering them like livestock.
Humanity Cartel pirates knew crossing their rage-maddened boss meant doom. Discipline was ironclad.
Plus, lost contact with search parties heightened tension.
"Tower 1, all clear."
"Tower 2, all clear."
"Tower 3, fog rolling in suddenly."
"Tower 4 here, same as 3—fog visible."
"Tower 5, fog? No rain, why... Ah, here too."
As ominous radio chatter crackled from towers, three pirates hauled wolf corpses to the warehouse.
"Boss seemed seriously pissed."
"Damn, hope we survive the night."
"Hey, got a lucky charm for sale?"
Halfway done, thick fog blanketed the position.
Fog at night in hot, humid jungle wasn't rare, but dense without rain? Unusual.
And it reeked—familiar to Space Dogs.
Smell of death. Like crows over rot.
"Cough!"
"Gah, rotting corpse stench...?"
"Ugh, hurry and finish."
Clearing pirates dry-heaved, rushing to warehouse.
They dumped cartloads in corner. Dozens of wolf corpses pyramided there; dirt floor soaked in blood, guts.
All stared wide-eyed, as if vowing not to forget sins even in death.
The eerie sight made one shudder.
"Fuck, top three shittiest scenes I've seen."
"Quit whining, help."
"Tch, fine. Ptoo!"
Spitting, he moved to help with spilled bodies.
"Huh?"
But before looking away, he glimpsed a corpse twitch.
"What was that?"
Rubbing eyes, he stared.
Proving him right, bottom corpses sank into black soil, 'absorbed'.
He opened mouth to alert others—
A long, massive hand burst from ground. No scream; dragged under.
"Hey! Help... Huh? Where'd he go?"
"Wha? He was right there."
Warehouse lit by ceiling lamps—not dim. Yet companion vanished.
"Shit, asshole! No jokes!"
"Not funny! Come out!"
Did he hear? Corpse pile collapsed rumbling.
Pirates hoped prank—but rising from bodies wasn't their mate.
A snake with six sharp appendages.
It bit pirate's head bullet-fast.
Head gone; blood fountained from neck.
"Huh?"
Bathed in blood, the last snapped to. Realized two mates dead.
"A-Argh!"
Screaming, he fell back—dodging snake barely.
Seeing it stab between legs, he scrambled out horrified.
Outside, he blew alarm horn loud. Raptor screech echoed position-wide.
"Enemy attack!"
"Where?"
"Warehouse!"
Shouts everywhere; he struggled up to flee.
Behind: roar. Reinforcing bars snapping, roof crumbling.
Running, he saw warehouse debris flying skyward.
Then, redwood-thick object crashed on his head.
Crunch.
No scream; crushed. Thus, never knew it was a creature's 'tail'.
"■-------!"
The 'thing' that pulped a pirate with tail roared massively.
As if declaring night hunt begun in this fortress.