The Legacy (2)

Until now, I had mostly used Hunter's Avatar as a means of acquiring traits.

After all, it dramatically boosted my chances of a successful predation whenever I fed on the corpses of prey I had killed myself.

Even when eating genetic samples or carcasses I hadn't personally slain, I could only extract partial 0.5 traits rather than complete ones — but that was still better than nothing, since they could serve as materials for Transcendence.

By my guess, however, the true primary purpose of Hunter's Avatar had never been about predation probability at all.

No — it was hunting and slaughter, pure and simple. Its purpose was to specialize me in cornering enemies, smashing them apart, and killing them.

The description of Perfect Organism contained a line about it: my body was optimized for slaughter and evolution.

In truth, my current form differed subtly from the Young Adult stage in the game. The six combat arms, the legless lifestyle of dragging myself along with my lower body and tail, the blunt claws studding my body here and there — all of it matched the game exactly.

Only, my size and cranial carapace were considerably larger than in the game, and my combat arms ran longer as well. Broadly speaking, my body had shifted toward being far better suited for combat than its game counterpart.

So what would happen if hunting and predation capabilities were enhanced on top of all that?

Even if only temporarily, my transformed body as a superior being had changed enormously.

First, sheer size.

Compared to before the transformation, my length seemed to have nearly doubled. My shifted line of sight was the proof.

Ever since becoming a Young Adult, I'd moved by dragging my lower body and tail across the ground, so my eye level hadn't changed much — roughly seven to ten meters, give or take.

Now, though, it felt like I was looking down from a height of more than fifteen meters. Mother of the Sky, standing before me, was nearly swallowed by my shadow.

'Judging by my body length, I'm about the size of the Pale Mask now.'

The change in size was the most striking, but there were plenty of subtler changes too.

Starting with the head: my formerly split jaws had grown far thicker and sturdier. A gap of flexible space had opened between jaw and neck, letting me unhinge my mouth wide like a serpent. At this size, I could swallow a human whole in a single gulp.

And since the jaws themselves had been reinforced, my teeth had hardened as well — I could probably chew through thick-hided enemies like a Sea Demon with ease now.

Then there was one other major change: the auxiliary organs beneath my jaws were now shielded by carapace.

If I had to name the most vulnerable part of my body, it would be those jaw-mounted auxiliary organs. The delicate sensory apparatus responsible for detection had never been protected by hide or carapace before.

'It was a major weak point in the game, too.'

What wrapped around the organs now appeared to be made of the same material as the bone scythes at the tips of my back-mounted arms, and their shape echoed the scythes as well.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

In other words: astonishingly sharp.

With four blades mounted beneath my jaw, the image that came to mind was of Ultrasaurus — the land-monster from that classic sci-fi strategy game.

The blade carapaces covering my auxiliary organs could each move freely at my will. Turning my head, I could swing the blades to harvest an enemy's neck; against a large opponent, I could bite down and carve into it with the blades at the same time.

Thus the auxiliary organs had become a brand-new weapon — yet their detection capabilities hadn't diminished in the slightest. The reason lay in the fine, hair-thin pores punched across every blade.

Far from being simple holes, they had sharpened my already exceptional perception into something keener still. By reading the humidity in the air, I could even sense when rain was about to fall.

My eyes remained hidden within the cranial carapace as before, but the auxiliary organs had improved enough to more than compensate. No problem there.

'The cranial carapace has changed a lot too.'

Before my Young Adult stage, the back of my skull had fanned out into a crown-like shape — a flamboyant flourish. The broad, fanned silhouette remained, but now it was studded with long spines and jagged bony plates jutting out from the layered carapace beneath.

The carapace covering my head was at least three layers deep, sending my defense soaring. Better still, the new spines and plates maximized the destructive power of what you might call my charge tactics — the old approach of skewering enemies with my horns.

'Overall, my look's gotten a lot meaner, hasn't it?'

I no longer carried the regal presence of Queen Lionheart, but from a pure efficiency standpoint, I wasn't complaining.

If the changes to my head were a catastrophe in the literal sense, what of my body?

The back had evolved much like the head, carapace stacked in double layers with bony plates and spines sprouting between them.

Should enemies ever try the Pale Mask's strategy — crushing me under sheer body weight — they would impale themselves on my plates and spines and end up half-dead for their trouble.

And as I'd anticipated long ago, new arms bearing bone scythes now grew from my back. Of the eight holes once covered by spiral membranes, two had never produced erosion tentacles — those were the sockets where the scythe arms emerged.

The overall shape of the protruding scythe arms closely resembled their previous form.

Where a normal arm has a single joint between the humerus and radius, these were long enough for an extra joint in the middle, and they moved with complete freedom.

The difference from before, aside from their increased size, was that each bone scythe at the tip had split into two. Like a pincer, twin bone blades rose above and below, moving at my whim. The upper and lower blades alone exceeded three meters in length — the intimidation factor was overwhelming. Their sharpness and hardness had improved beyond all comparison as well.

The changes to my scythe arms were fascinating enough, but personally, the greatest transformation in my body was my lower half.

Upon becoming a Young Adult, I'd developed claws all over my body for crawling, digging, and burrowing underground or through water.

Those claws had turned monstrous.

Would this be what a centipede looked like if you grew it to fifty meters? The stubby, misshapen claws of before had become short, articulated legs. Thanks to the countless new limbs, my lower body and tail now hovered just above the ground.

'At this rate, my movement speed should improve dramatically too.'

What's more, the gliding membrane that used to exist only between my arms now stretched between the small legs as well — I might even be able to float on the water's surface in this form.

Finally, the upper body.

Unlike the radically altered head, back, and lower half, nothing about my torso was especially remarkable.

The combat arms were unchanged except for being thicker and longer. The membrane hidden between them had grown to match, but that was about it.

As I moved this way and that, running through my checklist of new mutations, Mother of the Sky flinched in front of me.

｢Not… a full Adult, I'd say. What in the world is that ability?｣

[Zzzu zuzzuzzu zuzzuzu zuzzuzu (It's my trump card, so I can't tell you)]

｢A trump card, huh. Could it be a perk? If it's a perk, that almost makes sense, but getting this strong on top of it…｣

She reasoned her way to an answer without me saying a word.

Right now she was thoroughly cowed by my imposing new appearance.

Her neatly groomed fur stood on end, stiff with tension, and her eyes trembled faintly. Through my auxiliary organs, I could feel her heart pounding hard.

The same woman who had never once lost her composure — not when we first met, not in her battle against Muriel — was afraid of me.

Just then, No. 26 and Adhai came sidling up beside us.

｢Big Baby got even bigger?｣

[Zuzu zuzzuzu (Only for a little while)]

｢Big Baby can change his body too, just like me.｣

No. 26 delighted in the discovery of a new thing we had in common.

Adhai, meanwhile, simply stared at me in a daze.

｢Me｣｢Elder｣｢Question｣

[Zzzu (What is it?)]

｢Me｣｢Elder｣｢Tail｣｢Female｣｢Judgment｣

[Zz (Huh?)]

The little Gallagon pointed her wingtip behind me — at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my enormous tail.

Then she swung her wing to indicate my horns.

｢Me｣｢Judgment｣｢Error｣｢Elder｣｢Horns｣｢Many｣｢Cool｣｢Me｣｢Doubt｣｢Elder｣｢Male?｣｢Female?｣

'Hm.'

Gallagons were a sexually dimorphic species — males and females looked distinctly different. Males grew thick, long horns, while females sported plump tails instead.

My tail had changed more than anything else when I became a Young Adult. By Gallagon standards, it went far beyond what anyone would call magnificent.

'Ah — now that I think about it?'

Back when I'd gone to rescue No. 26, Adhai had once hesitantly tried to say something to me. At the time I'd assumed it was guilt nagging at her.

'Looking at it now, that wasn't it at all.'

She'd probably been trying to ask whether I was male or female.

After activating Hunter's Avatar, my horns had grown considerably — nearly two meters long now. At that size, I outranked even a Black Gallagon. Among the kin Adhai had ever seen, I'd rank near the very top.

In other words, by Gallagon standards my appearance was deeply strange — massive horns *and* a thick tail.

I was still puzzling over how to answer such an absurd question when Mother of the Sky beat me to it.

｢This guy is a man, through and through. There's no way this trans… ahem, no way this fellow is a woman.｣

｢Man?｣

｢Male, I said.｣

[Zz zuzzuzu (I'm male)]

At the combined testimony of Mother of the Sky and me, Adhai tilted her head. She stared at my horns for a moment, then sent a thought-wave confirming she understood.

｢Me｣｢Understand｣｢Elder｣｢Male｣｢Certain｣

[Zuzu (Good)]

｢Elder｣｢Most｣｢Cool｣｢Pack｣｢Leader｣｢Possible｣

[Zuzzuzu (Thank you)]

｢…Ha.｣

I offered my thanks for Adhai's tribute — while pointedly ignoring Mother of the Sky's dry little laugh.

That seemed to wrap up explanations for the others, so I finished the rest of my inspection.

Now was the time to do what I'd intended all along.

Predation of the Pale Mask.

'Tch. Wasting something this good on a single predation is such a shame.'

I knew full well that Hunter's Avatar was my ace in the hole, but it was hard to shake the feeling that every activation was a waste. If not for the limits — twenty minutes of duration, a one-week cooldown — I'd have deployed it aggressively in every fight.

'Maybe it'll get better once I enter Transcendence Stage 2.'

The condition for Transcendence Stage 2 was five fusion traits, each tied to a different Type.

Thanks to the traits I'd gathered circling the Great Swamplands, I'd already cleared that requirement. The catch was that one of them, the nest-type fusion trait Symbiote Spores, had to be used as a material — so I was waiting until I acquired a new nest-related fusion trait to replace it.

'I'll grab a new nest fusion trait before leaving this planet.'

The ship was ready, battered as it was, and both No. 26 and Adhai had rejoined me. Until Nightmare Horizon became usable again, acquiring a new nest fusion trait would be my goal.

'That's a problem for later.'

Right now was the time to savor a feast. Together with No. 26, I approached the corpse.

'Here we go.'

I unhinged my jaws wide and clamped down on the Pale Mask's head. My mouth, gaping like a great white shark's or a boa constrictor's, tore off an enormous mouthful of the creature's flesh.

'Mm.'

Was it the reinforced jaw, or the hardened teeth? When I'd fought the thing, its flesh had felt stubbornly tough — but now it practically melted in my mouth.

'Now this is an interesting flavor.'

I'd eaten two kinds of marine life here so far: Fishrian and Sea Demon.

Both had boasted distinctive flavors, but at the end of the day neither strayed outside the seafood category.

This male Pale Mask's meat, though… how to put it. It carried an entirely different savor from seafood.

'It's actually closer to lamb, isn't it?'

Maybe it was all that cranial oil mixed through the meat, but it had the richest, fattiest texture of anything I'd ever eaten. On that alone it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠should have felt greasy, yet the intensity of the creature's own meaty aroma kept any cloyingness at bay.

'And the flavor comes in stages, too.'

The first bite burst with fat and juices, a powerful meaty aroma seizing my whole mouth. The more I chewed, the more that initial punch mellowed, blending with the oil into something smooth. And at the last, it turned faintly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sweet — like ice cream melting on the tongue — before sliding down my throat.

Where Sea Demon meat had been unique and strangely natural, Pale Mask meat was direct and unmistakable. Call it the difference between a high-end seafood buffet and an American steakhouse.

'Good thing it tastes this great, after all the trouble it took to catch.'

And so No. 26 and I feasted on Pale Mask to our hearts' content.

Devouring its entire head took roughly ten minutes.

The moment I lapped up the very last drop of its brain, the text box I'd been hoping for appeared.

The trait I had acquired was Human-Faced Beast.

The very trait that spawned those pale, human-faced parasites — the closest thing the Pale Mask had to a mascot.

Unlike the Pale Mask itself, which wielded hypnotic and shock waves, the Human-Faced Beast applied to Amorph worked differently. I'd made good use of it back in the day, so I felt a flicker of gladness — but the disappointment was just as strong.

'I was banking on Giant Organism.'

The Giant Organism trait was shared by all creatures whose bodies exceeded fifty meters. Acquiring it unlocked Gigantification. If I stacked Gigantification on top of Hunter's Avatar, my physical capabilities would be nothing short of invincible.

It might sound childish, but I'd wanted to see it at least once: myself, Gigantified while wearing Hunter's Avatar.

Still, I had to hunt APEX-class creatures to evolve anyway, and most APEX creatures were enormous — there would be plenty more chances at Giant Organism down the road.

I shook off the regret and applied the Pale Mask's legacy: the Human-Faced Beast trait.

Space — a sea of infinite darkness.

In that void where only stars scattered dozens, hundreds of light-years apart gave off any light at all, a colossal structure drifted in silence.

Its shape resembled a cut diamond. Three kilometers in diameter, its ivory hull adorned with gold and exotic metals, the structure was, remarkably, a starship.

Its identity: the Imperial Carrier — a mass-produced weapon embodying the pinnacle of ancient Cult Imperial technology.

Until a mere few thousand years ago, Imperial Carriers had been active warships, coursing through countless battlefields.

Defending Providence — the bedrock of Cult civilization — and enlightening innumerable planets and their native peoples: the carriers had known no rest.

Of course, by now all of that was ancient history. For over a thousand years, the Cult Empire had been wracked by civil strife. Even at this very moment, in the Imperial Assembly, faction after faction droned through pointless exchanges of rhetoric in pursuit of their own political gain.

In other words, the wars against the outside had ended, and the struggles within had begun.

The times had changed; there was no longer a place for such powerful instruments of war. Some carriers had been decommissioned; others had been exiled to the Empire's frontiers to perform defensive duty.

The Imperial Carrier moored here, the Judge of Damos 08, was one of those — a ship that had escaped decommissioning only to be banished to the fringe.

A frontier beyond all frontiers: no visitors ever came, and not even monsters like Metallic Gremlins or Outspacers troubled these coordinates. There, the carrier's captain repeated his meaningless navigation calculations day after day.

Had a Cult adjutant not come sprinting up to him, breathless, it would have been a day like any other.

"Captain! A transmission from the Assembly!"

"If it's another faction recruitment pitch, tell them I already gave my standing answer: decline."

"It's not that, sir! A Purification Order has just passed in the Assembly, and it's under deliberation in the Council of Elders now. Within a week at the latest — possibly within days — the order will come down."

At the adjutant's words, the yak-horned Cultist spun around.

"A Purification Order? Don't tell me it's the Outspacers. When did they breach our territory? Which world is under attack? Is the situation grave enough that a mothership must be mobilized?"

"Ah — that is — it doesn't appear to be, sir. Our intelligence division, while monitoring Star Union, obtained information that a holy world has been contaminated. The species responsible has not yet been identified."

"A holy world?"

"Saint Saigil 08, sir."

"Saigil…."

The captain took an interest in intelligence work and information gathering, and did not shy away from intercourse with so-called inferior sentients. That was precisely why he knew perfectly well that humans and cyborgs called Saigil 08 by another name: PH-101.

"A holy world gets contaminated, and the machine bastards learn of it before we do? The Assembly has rotted through and through."

The captain was hardly alone in this. Among the Cult leadership, anyone with a functioning mind understood how deep the corruption ran among those strutting through the Assembly halls.

And that some of them lined their pockets with piracy and smuggling besides.

"…Something stinks to high heaven."

"What are your orders, Captain?"

He shrugged at the adjutant's question.

"What is there to decide? We are warriors. Sacred warriors who follow Providence and swear loyalty not to factions, but to the Cult itself. If the Assembly commands, we obey."

"Captain…."

"Inform the entire crew. Tell them to be ready."

"Understood."

Once the adjutant departed, the captain returned to his calculations. Before him, a universe rendered in psionic power bloomed into view once more.

Only this time, its shape had shifted slightly. The cosmos floating before the captain now bore a striking resemblance to the star system to which the planet PH-101 belonged.