The Beast of Side Road 08 (2)

'It took a while, but with this, I've met every condition.'

I had caught two more Swamp Kings, yet the trait I wanted never came. In the end, I'd had no choice but to roam the Great Swamplands hunting whatever crossed my path, gathering materials for the nest-related fusion trait.

'And that's exactly why it took me fourteen hours.'

Still, I would have to take comfort in the fact that I'd gained a fine trait like Pincer out of it.

｢Big Baby, is it really okay if it's just us eating?｣

[Zzz zzz zzzzz zzzzzz zzzz (I ate plenty, so it's fine)]

I gave a nod to Number 26, who had asked so carefully.

My preparations for entering Transcendence Stage 2 were complete, and I had returned to the nest carrying the carcasses of three Swamp Kings.

'It would be a waste to let food this delicious pass by them entirely.'

Even while we were apart, I had wanted them to taste this Swamp King meat at least once.

｢Swamp King, huh. Been a while since I had this.｣

｢Me｣ ｢Curious｣ ｢This｣ ｢Tasty?｣

｢Suits my tastes well enough.｣

Apparently, Mother of the Sky had preyed on a Swamp King before. As far as I knew, at her stage there was no way for her to withstand the poison of the Great Swamplands.

Unless someone had helped her, that is.

'Sounds like there's a story there.'

The griffin was staring at the carcass with bitter eyes.

Seeing her like that, I could roughly guess what had happened. If I had to speculate, she had once shared the prey her husband, the Father of the Earth, had hunted.

'It's a shame, but…'

She had to eat this. The flesh of the Swamp King was necessary to push a Volf's apotheosis to greater heights.

Mother of the Sky was cooperating with me now, but at its root, ours was a contractual relationship. In exchange for her vengeance, she had promised to give me everything she had.

And I needed a Volf whose apotheosis had reached its peak. Not right this moment — but it might serve as insurance after I reached adulthood.

I plucked a handful of flesh from inside the hard carapace and handed it to her.

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

Mother of the Sky glanced at me once, then took the meat into her mouth.

'A relief.'

When I had treated her before, I had planted a parasite in her head. After killing Muriel, I had judged the odds of Mother of the Sky's betrayal to be very low. So I had lowered the parasite's interference to the barest minimum, letting her act of her own will.

Even so, the fact remained that the parasite was in her head. With a single command, at any time, she could be made to submit to me.

But doing that would drive our relationship straight to the very worst. She was a fairly capable combatant — leaving her unused would be the real waste.

Until I reached adulthood — no, at the very least until Adhai grew into a White Gallagon — her cooperation was necessary.

｢Tasty?｣

｢Well, it's all right. Stop asking and try some yourself.｣

｢Affirmative｣

Whether she understood my meaning or not, she quietly chewed and swallowed the meat.

Was she remembering the family she had lost? Her amber eyes were filled with an emotion I couldn't name.

And yet there was no resentment toward me in them.

Starting with Mother of the Sky, Adhai and Number 26 each seized a carcass and began to eat.

｢Tasty!｣

｢Yeah!｣

Adhai used the tentacles in her mouth like straws, slurping up the blood, while Number 26 tore off chunks of flesh with her tentacles and fins and packed them into her body. Watching them both devour the meal with such ferocity, it seemed Swamp King meat was to their liking.

'Good to hear it suits their palates.'

To them, just starting their meal, I delivered an important fact.

That from this moment on, I would be entering Transcendence Stage 2. That they needed to guard me.

'Whether Stage 2 will also require a cocoon, I don't know.'

Applying the unique traits gained through the Transcendence System — Perfect Organism and Nightmare Horizon — had taken nearly as long as my growth phases. Stage 2 would most likely take just as long.

｢Big Baby growing again?｣

｢Me｣ ｢Envy｣ ｢Adult｣ ｢Growth｣ ｢Fast｣

[Zuuuuh zzz zzzzz zzz zzzz (If you eat a lot too, Adhai, you'll grow fast)]

｢Affirmative｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Lots｣ ｢Eat｣ ｢Eat｣

Number 26 and Adhai already knew what happened when I used the Transcendence System, so they asked nothing more.

｢You're evolving already? You shouldn't have met all the adult conditions yet.｣

Mother of the Sky, on the other hand, had never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seen me use the Transcendence System.

'Now that I think of it, I never told her.'

The Transcendence System didn't exist in the game. Even a ranker like her wouldn't be strange for not knowing.

I gave her a brief explanation of the Transcendence System.

A new ability that fused multiple traits together into a single one.

Having heard me out, she nodded.

｢I see. Come to think of it, I did hear people complaining now and then that Amorphs and Outspacers end up with way too many traits to manage.｣

[Zzz (Right)]

｢Maybe that's your privilege, then.｣

[Zzzzz (Could be)]

Every player who had crossed over into this world had received a privilege of their own. Muriel's privilege was currently in my possession, seized from her. Mother of the Sky had one too, and I knew what hers was because I'd heard it from her directly.

'It's a fairly useful privilege for a Volf, I suppose.'

Unfortunately, the privilege she held didn't synergize well with me. Call it a downgraded version of the Amorph, if you will.

Of course, as with Muriel, there was a chance it would reshape itself to fit me if I consumed it. Honestly, I was curious what would happen if I ate hers — but as I said, keeping her alive for now was the greater benefit.

In any case, she seemed to have taken the Transcendence System to be an Amorph-exclusive privilege. Half of me was convinced of that too.

'It's not like I received anything else from the system in the first place.'

Predator Sense and Monster's Tentacles were perhaps the only things that came close to privilege-level performance.

'Though the odds are high that they're not.'

Impressive as their performance was, they had come through the Predation Effect, which made their status ambiguous at best. According to Muriel and Mother of the Sky, anything to do with privileges arrived in the form of a message.

[Zz zzzzz zzz zzzzzz zzzz zzzz (When I use this system, I enter a cocoon)]

｢Like when you evolve? Then your weakness will be about the same.｣

[Zz (Yes)]

｢…So that's why you keep a Sea Demon and a Gallagon around.｣

The griffin gave a faint, wry smile. She had been a ranker too, so she knew better than anyone when an Amorph faced its greatest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crisis.

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

Honestly speaking, I couldn't claim that had never been my intent.

Rescuing Number 26 in the first place had been pure goodwill — but as the possibility that she was a Sea Demon grew, my thinking had shifted a little. It was an undeniable fact that I had decided to raise her and put her to use for my own survival.

In Adhai's case, I had brought her along because I judged her an obvious asset.

'That's no longer true, though.'

Crossing life-and-death lines together had bred a deep affection. If you asked me whether I could throw away their lives to save my own, I would honestly find it hard to decide on the spot.

But I didn't tell her that.

It was too embarrassing to say with my own mouth — and besides, she seemed to have already guessed what I was thinking.

After that, I patted each of their heads once and slipped into the burrow I had dug at the center of the nest.

The first thing I had done after returning from the island to the continent was build a safe haven.

I found ground suitable for a nest, dug beneath it, and hollowed out an enormous cavern. I carved it out so generously that even I could fit inside with room to spare — the excavated earth piled up into a small hill of its own nearby.

Once the digging was done, I lined the nest to keep it from collapsing. Thanks to the hardened mucus, it could withstand anything short of a truly severe shock.

A nest prepared for Transcendence Stage 2.

I lay down atop it and activated the translucent textbox.

'Good.'

As the description made clear, Stage 2 required fusion traits each tied to a different Type. The traits to be consumed as materials could be chosen freely from among the ones I possessed.

'For the physical traits, I'll use Bloodsucking Tentacles.'

Since gaining Nightmare Horizon, I had used Bloodsucking Tentacles far less often. For mid-range harassment, the Erosion Tentacles were far longer and sturdier. Which made it perfect fodder.

'Ghost Claws are a shame to give up, but its competition is just too stacked.'

Ghost Claws' rivals were Predator Sense, Monster's Tentacles, Gaze of Horror, and Psychic Reflection Carapace. All of them useful traits that had rendered great service in battle — so, regrettably, Ghost Claws would have to be the material.

Likewise, every infection-related trait was useful, but I chose Rot Fungi Organ as the one with the least versatility.

'Rot fungi only work on organic enemies, after all.'

Camouflage, the special-defense trait, was only usable in limited situations, so I decided to spend it as a material too.

And then the last material: the Mutation-Accelerating Virus.

As the name suggested, the Mutation-Accelerating Virus forcibly induced mutation in a specific organism.

If an organism lingered too long in a nest where this fusion trait was active, one of its traits would be permanently altered.

'Bluntly put, it's a random box for traits.'

It sounded decent at a glance, but in practice it was a trait every bit as negative as Dwarfism.

Because the trait that changed was completely random — and because I, the trait's owner, would be affected too. With bad luck, Predator Sense or Monster's Tentacles could vanish and be replaced by something like Tough Vitality or Dwarfism.

'It'd be so nice if I could designate the target of the mutation.'

Unfortunately, choosing which trait changed was impossible. There had been a time in the past when, ignorant of that fact, I'd had to raise an entirely new character from scratch.

Because of that, in the game I had only used the Mutation-Accelerating Virus when fighting players stronger than me — Outspacer rankers in particular. It could seal away one of an enemy's core or useful traits entirely.

Of course, I had to be prepared to make a mortal enemy of any player hit by it.

'Better to burn it off as a material, fast.'

Having finished reviewing my traits, I looked over the materials one last time.

'Confirm unlock.'

The moment I answered the textbox's question, I lost consciousness.

Two hours had passed since Morph-fucker entered his evolution. Unlike the Amorph, who needed to take in nutrition as quickly as possible, none of the creatures present were in any particular hurry.

So the three of them enjoyed their meal at leisure over a long stretch of time.

｢Middle Baby, not eating more?｣

｢I've gotten everything there was to get. I'm fine.｣

｢?｣

｢It means I'm full.｣

｢Ugly friend｣ ｢Eats less｣ ｢Growth｣ ｢Delayed｣ ｢Problem｣ ｢Ugliness｣ ｢Worsens｣ ｢A pity｣

｢…….｣

Mother of the Sky barely suppressed the urge to smack the lizard that kept needling her. It was because Number 26 was right there.

She had no idea what had happened on the ocean floor, but that little Sea Demon had come back absurdly powerful. If she fought the creature one-on-one, she'd have to accept serious bloodshed — that was how strong it had gotten.

So she had kept her head down — until Number 26 whipped out a tentacle and smacked Adhai across the head.

｢Don't tease Middle Baby.｣

｢Me｣ ｢Facts｣ ｢Stating｣ ｢Ugliness｣ ｢Truth｣

When Adhai, having taken one to the head, talked back, Number 26 swung the tentacle again.

This time the target wasn't Adhai, but a redwood standing nearby. When the tree — several meters across — took the strike, it split apart as easily as a lopped-off head.

As Mother of the Sky and Adhai gaped at the ancient giant, centuries old, toppling to a single blow from that tiny tentacle, Number 26 said one thing.

｢Quiet.｣

｢Acknowledge｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Was wrong｣ ｢Silence｣

｢…….｣

Faced with Number 26's terrifying power, Adhai went meek at once.

Mother of the Sky mentally revised Number 26's threat rating upward once more. Not an opponent who'd cost her heavy bleeding — an opponent who'd cost her fatal injury.

'I thought she was tame, for a Sea Demon.'

The reason Sea Demons, despite their high intelligence, were treated as quasi-boss-tier creatures was their savagery. They never stopped — not until every living thing that entered their domain was dead. Marked by one, you'd have to worry about Sea Demon attacks every single time you set foot in the sea.

Number 26 was as good as an angel compared to an ordinary Sea Demon — but she wasn't purely docile either. When it came to hierarchy, at least, she seemed remarkably strict.

Mother of the Sky was lost in thought when Number 26 suddenly called to her.

｢Middle Baby. Got a question.｣

｢Hmm?｣

｢Has Middle Baby ever been a mom?｣

At the Sea Demon's question, the griffin with the raptor's head tilted it, puzzled.

Her name had been chosen to match the name of the husband she had now sent off in death.

The Wolfs of this continent had called them the Father of the Earth and the Mother of the Sky — together, the Parents of All Creation.

'But how am I supposed to answer that?'

The two of them had married and built a home, yet she had never once given birth. For reasons no one could explain, no child had ever come.

So Mother of the Sky had raised the native Wolfs as her own children. Their calling her Mother, and her calling them her children, had both grown from that.

｢…It's embarrassing to admit, but yes. I've played the role of a mother.｣

｢Wow! Middle Baby is amazing!｣

At her words, Number 26's body shimmered and glowed. Faced with such a pure reaction, Mother of the Sky awkwardly looked away.

And Number 26's next question made her far more awkward still.

｢I'm curious about something!｣

｢What is it?｣

｢How are babies made?｣

｢What?｣

For an instant, Mother of the Sky thought the pink slime in front of her was joking. True, Number 26's reaction looked dead serious — far too serious for a joke.

She was so flustered that her mouth simply hung open, and then Adhai butted in.

｢Me｣ ｢Curious｣ ｢Me｣ ｢Big Adult｣ ｢Want to｣ ｢Know｣

Because Adhai conversed through telepathic thought-bursts, her actual thoughts often came through alongside the words themselves.

And by what Mother of the Sky felt, Adhai's words were one hundred percent pure sincerity.

Number 26, beside her, dimmed her glow as Adhai cut in.

｢Little Baby needs an egg. That's why I'm asking.｣

For all that she said it, she looked unhappy — but Mother of the Sky was hardly versed enough in Sea Demon emotional expression to read it.

More than that, she was so flustered by the questions of these two little monsters that she had no room left to consider Number 26's mood.

'You're asking me to give sex ed to a Sea Demon and a Gallagon?'

As far as she knew, Sea Demons and Gallagons were creatures whose methods of reproduction had never been revealed in the game. She hadn't even known Sea Demons had juveniles until she laid eyes on Number 26.

'Adhai does seem to be female, but… no. Never mind that — Sea Demons can bear young too?'

｢Th-that's….｣

｢That's?｣

｢Me｣ ｢Curious｣ ｢Curious｣

Watching the two of them take reproduction so earnestly made Mother of the Sky feel her sanity slipping. Just as she was racking her brain for what on earth to say, something snagged her senses.

With her astonishingly sharp eyes, she bored straight through the depths of the dense forest. Her ears and nose — boasting detection abilities to match her eyes — kicked into high gear at their owner's will.

｢Hold on.｣

｢Hold on?｣

｢Damn it! Enemies!｣

Number 26 and Adhai, who had sensed her alert, reacted instantly. The two of them scattered swiftly, hiding their bodies behind the trees and rocks around them.

｢Enemies? The bad people came?｣

｢Me｣ ｢Can't see｣ ｢Enemies｣ ｢Where?｣

｢…They're a good distance from here, but they might head this way.｣

She could tell because she was the creature here — apart from the Amorph underground — with the sharpest detection ability.

Several kilometers away, fully armed Cult warriors were moving through the forest, combing it thoroughly as if searching for something.

｢You two can sense them too. Focus.｣

｢Got it. We'll try.｣

｢Focus｣

A potent psychic power flowed from the bodies of the Cults, inherent to their species. Sea Demons and Gallagons were the beings most sensitive to psychic power. No matter the distance, they could sense it clearly.

Just as she predicted, Number 26 and Adhai quickly picked up on the mysterious Cults.

｢Morph-fuc… ahem. Big Baby can't move yet. He's mid-evolution.｣

｢Right. Big Baby said no one may touch him while he grows.｣

｢Affirmative｣ ｢We｣ ｢Enemies｣ ｢Intrusion｣ ｢Defend｣

Mother of the Sky looked at Number 26 and Adhai with grave eyes.

｢That's right. We're the ones who have to stop them.｣

Her words were short, but the two little monsters understood their meaning at once.

That the being they loved most in all the world was in danger.

Purple flames blazed to life across Number 26's body and in Adhai's eyes.