The Three-Headed Demon (2)
'And here I thought it couldn't get any worse.'
I'd worried something might have happened outside while I was sealed inside my cocoon—perhaps the Horned Giants, or a player, threatening the children.
So after finishing my evolution, I hadn't climbed back to the surface. Instead, I'd tunneled straight down and moved underground. If players really had come, roaming the open ground would have been suicide.
As I traveled, I realized my fears hadn't materialized. Among the scents of blood detected by my auxiliary organs, there was no trace of the children.
Still, just to be safe, I hadn't slowed my pace, following the blood's trail at full speed.
'And thanks to that, I wasn't too late.'
Midway through my journey, I felt Adhai's thought-waves. Her thought-waves, laced with pain. If I'd let my guard down and slowed down even a little, I would have missed them entirely.
I immediately changed course toward her.
And so I'd managed to save her at the very last possible moment.
"Grrrrrrrr…."
"G-Grrr…."
The Horned Giants rumbled low as they saw me. Hostility was unmistakable in their voices, but their bodies told a different story.
Trembling legs. Shifting eyes. These were two of the most powerful predators on this continent—and they were afraid of me.
'Of course they are.'
I hadn't had a chance to check the altered text box or the new messages that had arrived in my haste to get here. But even I couldn't miss the changes to my own body.
I had completed Transcendence Stage 2, yet my length hadn't grown as drastically as it had during my evolutions. I'd gained a bit more size, somewhere between 27 and 28 meters, but unlike before, I hadn't doubled.
My frame, however, had changed dramatically.
First, my head.
It had grown massively overall compared to before.
It wasn't just the carapace—the horns and jaws had enlarged along with it, so my head now made up a noticeably larger proportion of my body. The jaws in particular had taken on the same massive, heavy look they had when I used the Paragon of the Hunt, reshaping my face into something reminiscent of a large theropod.
'I can use this far more aggressively in combat now.'
With jaws this large, I could crush even harder enemies, and anything smaller than me would take serious damage just from a downward slam of my skull.
Then there were the horns. Their number had increased from two to six. Unlike the original pair, the four new ones ran in a single row from the center of my skull back to the rear carapace.
'Horn reinforcement, huh.'
Since I favored a goring tactic when fighting tough or oversized foes, this was a welcome development.
'And with the horns themselves bigger too, they'll be far deadlier.'
My head had grown heavy, and my neck had naturally transformed along with it—thicker and longer than before. As a result, the bundles of Monster's Tentacles that grew in long strands now coiled around my neck like a lion's mane.
After my head, the greatest changes had come to my arms.
The small arms near my chest had grown considerably longer, and thin carapace had sprouted over them. Together with the Monster's Tentacles and my auxiliary organs, they'd been among the weakest parts of my body—a weakness now corrected.
My combat arms, my weapons of choice, had grown thick and long like when I used the Paragon of the Hunt.
Like my transformed head, each had grown by well over two meters. Moreover, a thick outer shell of the same material as my head carapace now covered the combat arms. The days of constantly worrying about my arms being severed were largely behind me.
'They might even serve as weapons themselves.'
I had always used my hardened skull as a kind of ram. Beyond raking enemies with my claws, slamming them with the arms themselves would work beautifully.
Thanks to these changes, all three pairs of combat arms could now function as both arms and legs—much like when I'd moved on six legs back in my Hatchling days.
My current stance was similar to then as well, my body supported by six combat arms and my tail.
The difference was that back then I'd carried my tail upright like a scorpion's, whereas now I dragged my massive lower body and tail along the ground. Of course, if necessary, I could still raise my upper body and slide my lower half and tail flat against the earth, just as before.
'And finally, the tail.'
My Pincer, which should have been on my lowest pair of arms, had migrated to my tail.
The tail's tip, which once housed my spine-firing organ, was now split into two prongs, with a Pincer taller than an adult man taking its place.
Until now, when fighting enemies immune to paralysis or too thick-skinned for my spines to pierce, my tail had played little part—used only to constrict and pin foes, or to strike them down.
But now the tail had a Pincer. Its usefulness had grown immensely.
The spine-firing organ hadn't vanished, either. When the Pincer spread open, its interior revealed rows of spines packed tight as teeth. I could fire them at distant enemies, or seize a foe with the Pincer and then bury them in a full volley.
'Fascinating changes.'
Overall, this evolution had offset my weaknesses while reinforcing my strengths along the lines of my own fighting style. I wanted to check the text box and new messages right away, but now was not the time.
Because there were enemies in front of me.
｢Gruuuuuuuuh｣
A heavy, resonant cry poured from my throat, matched to my transformed body. Even to my own ears it radiated oppressive menace—imagine what it did to my enemies.
Both Horned Giants flinched and shuddered.
"G-Grr, grrrrr."
"Gruuuh, grrrrrrr!"
They seemed torn over whether to attack me or not. They exchanged glances, growling at each other.
"Grrrrrr!"
"Graaaah!"
Then, apparently having made up their minds to attack, they roared at me.
A twenty-meter theropod, nine meters tall at the hip, charged at me. The beast thundered across the ground, head and back held in a perfectly straight line.
That posture, evoking a bull at a bullfight, was the Horned Giant's basic combat stance. Charge in and pulverize the opponent with the two magnificent horns on its head.
The amusing thing was that I often used a similar tactic myself. I charged to meet it in kind, my six log-sized arms punching deep into the earth with each stride, my tail gouging furrows across the ground.
As the two beasts hurtled toward each other, heaven and earth shook. The instant the charging beast's head was about to collide with mine, I dropped low.
"Grung?"
Its horns scraped across my rear carapace and back, sparks flying. The beast's thick hind legs, smashed against my body, bent the wrong way.
"Graaaah!"
The Horned Giant's stance crumbled as its legs gave out. But it didn't give up, lunging to bite down on my back.
And then my true attack landed. The newly acquired Pincer tail.
My tail whipped up and over my back. The Pincer at its tip clamped down on the beast's throat just as it tried to savage me.
"!"
Its vital point seized, the beast couldn't even make a sound. It tried desperately to wrench its head free, but it was too late.
My Pincer was only slightly smaller than the Swamp King's claws. Its defenses and crushing power were nearly identical.
'A claw that slices through warship armor like paper—no way this thing holds out.'
I flexed the muscles at the tip of my tail. The Horned Giant's neck snapped like a dry branch. It died instantly, tongue lolling out.
"G-GraaaAAaah!"
Seeing this, the remaining Horned Giant let out a scream of a roar. Its skin flushed red and its muscles swelled.
Even if it went berserk, it couldn't beat me—a Young Adult who had reached Transcendence Stage 2. But Adhai lay unconscious here.
'I have to kill it before the berserk state completes.'
This moment, while it stood frozen mid-transformation, was my chance. I hurled the dead Horned Giant's carcass far away and lunged at the remaining one.
Unlike before, this time I flexed my tail mid-charge and reared my upper body upright. Then I crashed down on top of it.
"Graaaah!"
Even mid-berserk, the beast leapt backward, evading my body slam, and immediately tried to tear into my rear carapace with its jaws.
'Not a chance!'
I pressed down on my planted combat arms and flung myself sideways. The beast's massive jaws snapped shut in empty air with a menacing clack.
Seizing the opening, I grabbed its head with my combat arms. It tried to open its mouth again, but my arms clamped around its skull and held it shut.
In the brief exchange, the beast finished its berserk transformation and swung its tail in a great arc.
The berserked beast's tail was like a perfectly tempered master sword—sharp enough to fell even the thick redwoods around us.
Yet even knowing this, I didn't dodge the incoming tail. Instead, I opened my jaws wide and bit down on it.
"!"
The beast was stunned, never doubting that its tail would smash through my teeth and jaws. But my teeth and jaws were perfectly intact.
'Too early to panic.'
It hadn't seen anything yet. With its tail clamped in my mouth, I began swallowing it deep into my gullet.
My jaws had always split into two branches, letting me fit prey larger than my head into my mouth. Now the jaws themselves were reinforced, and my throat had transformed to swallow far larger prey with ease.
Like a serpent swallowing its meal whole, I engulfed the beast's tail without chewing. The moment it realized it was being taken alive into my stomach, it went berserk—but it was useless.
It tried to gore me with its head horns, but without any momentum behind them, the horns were nothing more than a somewhat solid club—nowhere near enough to break through the shell and carapace covering my body.
My jaws and throat worked without pause. First the tail, then its pelvis and hind legs. Bones cracked and muscles ruptured, but the beast couldn't even scream—my arms still had its mouth locked shut.
In the end, its lower half utterly crushed, the beast vomited up its own entrails and died. I knew it was dead, but I didn't stop swallowing.
By the time No. 26 and the Mother of the Sky emerged from behind the brush, I had swallowed everything down to its horns.
｢Big Baby! You're awake!｣
[Ze (Yes)]
｢Huh? Why is Little Baby sleeping?｣
No. 26 tilted her head at the sight of the injured, unconscious Adhai. The Mother of the Sky beside her had been staring blankly at me—until she saw Adhai's condition and flinched.
｢W-Wait a moment!｣
Brushing past No. 26, I advanced on the Mother of the Sky and seized her with my combat arms. She evaded the arms, but there was no escaping the Erosion Tentacles bursting from my back.
The Erosion Tentacles clamped down on the griffin's four legs and throat.
"Still have something to say?"
The voices of the survivors I had devoured at the research base flowed from my mouth. With the Morphing Organ's restriction lifted, I could mimic human speech perfectly again, just as before.
｢S-Stop! Th-This is…!｣
Even with her throat constricted, the Mother of the Sky tried desperately to explain herself. Watching her grovel only deepened my disappointment.
Before I went to sleep, I had entrusted the children to her. I hadn't trusted her completely, but I hadn't thought she had any reason to betray me.
Besides, she and Adhai had always gotten along well. I'd considered her the perfect partner to back up the still-green girl.
But I had been wrong.
If I'd arrived even a little later, Adhai would be dead.
She was the only lead to the Gallagon graveyard. If she died, I would suffer an enormous loss.
'…And that's not the only reason.'
Though not entirely because of that—there was no need to say the rest aloud.
Perhaps sensing that I intended to kill her, the Mother of the Sky squeezed her eyes shut.
Paying her no mind, I spread my jaws wide to swallow her whole.
｢Big Adult｣｢Wait｣｢Please｣
If Adhai's thought-waves hadn't reached me the instant my jaws were about to close, I would have done it.
｢Big Adult｣｢Friend｣｢Not｣｢Wrong｣
[Zezeze zeze zezeze ze zezeze zezezeze (No. She was supposed to protect you, and she failed)]
｢Denial｣｢Me｣｢Friend｣｢Words｣｢Ignore｣｢Me｣｢Mistake｣
Bleeding out, Adhai refused to stop broadcasting.
'A mistake?'
[Zeze (Mistake?)]
｢Me｣｢Merit｣｢Many｣｢Build｣｢Big Adult｣｢Attention｣｢Need｣｢Hunt｣｢Many｣｢Success｣｢Big Adult｣｢Joy｣｢Friend｣｢Careful｣｢Advice｣｢Me｣｢Ignore｣
I turned Adhai's thought-waves over in my mind.
'She wanted to earn merit?'
To piece it together: Adhai had been hunting the Cult members lurking in this forest, one after another, trying to win my attention.
'Oh no.'
Come to think of it, the time I'd spent with Adhai had dropped off sharply lately. Apart from when we'd gone together to rescue No. 26, we'd been apart almost constantly.
With No. 26 so capable on her own, I'd assumed that after spending so long with her, I could afford to pay Adhai less attention.
'I was wrong.'
I didn't know exactly how Adhai saw me, but one thing was certain—she regarded me as something akin to an adult Gallagon. And that adult kept leaving her behind to wander off on its own. Of course she'd felt lonely.
Thinking of it that way, the fury that had surged through me moments ago cooled and faded.
I quietly closed my gaping jaws and looked at the Mother of the Sky. Now that my reason had returned, one look in her eyes told me roughly what had happened.
Adhai had overextended herself to win my attention, and the Mother of the Sky had most likely been scrambling to chase after her. Griffins could fly, but they weren't as fast as Adhai.
There were ways she could have flown faster than the girl, but I'd heard those methods took considerable time to prepare.
'She did the best she could.'
I set the griffin back down. Freed from the grip on her throat, she coughed and wheezed.
Adhai, who had tried so hard to explain the situation to me, had lost consciousness again. I approached her and implanted the Symbiote Spores.
'I need to get her back to the Nest. Now.'
My auxiliary organs could feel the extent of her injuries. Her wings weren't just torn—her ribs were broken. Left alone, the wounds might only worsen. She needed treatment immediately.
Sensing the heavy mood, No. 26 lifted Adhai with her tentacles and set her gently on my back. Once she was sure Adhai was secure, she climbed up onto my head.
With both of them aboard, I started toward the Nest—and the Mother of the Sky followed.
'I suppose I should apologize to her.'
The moment I was about to say I was sorry, she called out to me first.
｢Hold on—wait!｣
"…What now?"
｢This is no time for this! There's something you need to see, right now!｣
"What?"
｢The Cult members we caught belong to the Imperial Carrier's crew! Muriel's people have sent an Imperial Carrier here!｣
At those words, I felt every tentacle along my neck stiffen and rise.
The Imperial Carrier—one of the Cult's most powerful weapons, ranking among the very top.
Its own armaments were formidable enough, but the carrier's deadliest weapon lay elsewhere.
The Cosmic Bolt built into the hull. One of the Cult's planet-cleansing superweapons.
"…Lead the way."
｢Follow me!｣
Adhai, I'm sorry—but this was more urgent.
If the Imperial Carrier launched an orbital bombardment on this planet, we would all die. No matter how deep I burrowed into the earth, escaping the Cosmic Bolt's reach would be impossible.
'At the very least, I need to know when they'll fire.'
I hurried after the Mother of the Sky.