Chapter 145
Chapter 145
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Beast King's Fury
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The drug in the ampule I was holding was called Psionium.
It granted the user enhancement effects with each use, but the duration shortened randomly every time.
I'd used it once before, back when I fought Sihyun Yujin, the gene-modified human from the Yujin Family.
At the time, as a Juvenile, I'd consumed Psionium to temporarily gain the power of a Subadult and battle her.
Anyway, I'd already used it once. Normally, that meant the duration should decrease.
'But this is the improved version Muriel used.'
She'd enjoyed the enhancement far longer than with standard Psionium. So I had no idea how long this one would last.
'Whatever the case, it won't be that long.'
I had to assume a minimum of 5 minutes, maybe 8 or 9 at most.
In other words, the Psionium effect would wear off before the maximum duration of "Beast King." Logically, I should activate Beast King first, but there was a problem to consider beforehand.
'It deactivates once energy is fully depleted.'
The description for the "Organic Evolution" trait stated that transforming into Beast King consumed an enormous amount of energy.
'God's Scourge probably guzzles energy too.'
Both Beast King and God's Scourge drew from the bioenergy stored in my body.
'Total energy reserves shouldn't be an issue.'
Before entering Transcendence Stage 2, I'd devoured the Swamp King and swamp creatures until I was stuffed. And just moments ago, I'd swallowed the Hond Giant whole.
Both were apex predators dominating the Saintopia 02 continent. Plus, Aimorphs were incredibly energy-efficient, so I doubted I'd run short on energy.
'Of course, I can't be 100% sure.'
Both traits were divine-grade ones that never appeared in the game. Naturally, I'd never tested them myself.
That said, I'd faced similar crises in the game a few times. I'd once massacred Outsiders during a massive assault, and intercepted Mega Corp's planet-destroying weapon "Nova" by flying into the atmosphere.
If anything, I had more cards to play now than back then, so the situation was better.
'With Aimorph's superior senses and my instincts...'
Just like always, I could overcome this trial too.
'All that's left is figuring out when the Cosmic Bolt will drop.'
There was no way for me to know right now, except for one method.
My Predator Sense, which warned me of danger. The moment fragmented visions of the future flashed before my eyes would be my chance to strike.
Decision made, I pulled the Psionium ampule from Muriel's kit.
I slipped it into my mouth for safekeeping. With my massive bulk, fumbling to grip the tiny thing would be a hassle.
'It'll be hard to swallow once I'm in Beast King form.'
Preparations complete, but Predator Sense remained silent. I activated the Organic Evolution trait and selected Beast King.
And then.
'Huh?'
No transformation occurred.
'Not here?'
There were plenty of trees around, but this spot was flat open ground. The trait description only mentioned a 100m radius requirement, nothing else.
'Maybe obstacles are the issue... Ah. Wait, no way?'
Distance from allies.
Specimen 26, Adhai, and Mother of the Sky were right in front of me.
[Zuz zuzuzu zuzu (Wait here for a moment)]
After telling the kids, I left the area.
I headed straight for the riverbank. No trees or obstacles there. And it put distance between me and them.
Not knowing when the orbital strike would begin, I sprinted at full speed. Six combat arms, tail, blunt claws—all my limbs pushed my body forward to its muscular limits.
Reaching the river, I reactivated the trait.
The same unsuitable message popped up.
I scanned the surroundings. The riverbank was at the forest's edge, with trees sparsely scattered.
No mention of allies, just the location—so the Beast King description must have omitted obstacles.
I plunged into the river. Only upon reaching the center did the message confirm transformation was possible.
'This has to be well over 100 meters, right?'
The river wasn't narrow. From center to bank was easily over 100m.
The moment I wondered just how huge it would get.
Something flashed across my vision.
'It's here!'
The black inferno tearing through the atmosphere, devouring all matter and life—Cosmic Bolt descending. Recognizing the scene, I instantly transformed into Beast King.
'Gahhh?!'
Unlike previous evolutions, excruciating pain surged through me. It was agony beyond anything I'd endured.
Even with Pain Mitigation active, it was this bad. Without memories of full-body burns from childhood, I'd have blacked out instantly.
And it wasn't just pain. Energy drained at an insane rate mid-transformation—like firing Psychic Breath three times in a row. Exhaustion beyond imagination.
'Grk... I... need to take it... now...!'
Clinging to consciousness, I crunched the ampule in my mouth. It shattered, flooding my throat with Psionium.
"Grraaah... GRRAAAAAH... ■■■■■■■■■■!"
I couldn't endure the torment any longer and bellowed.
The river water evaporated, riverside trees uprooted, and a fierce energy wave blinded my vision.
-
"Cosmic Bolt launch preparation complete."
"Energy output at 500% charge. Dark matter regulator operational. Commencing purification."
"Coordinates locked."
"Projected damage assessed. Cross-referencing with purification mission."
In the situation room bustling with Cosmic Bolt preparations, the captain bit his lip in secret.
His subordinates still hadn't returned before launch. He had no idea if they'd survived or what happened on Saigil 08.
'Probably never will.'
Thinking of his fallen crew, the captain squeezed his eyes shut. The countdown ticked relentlessly.
"Whoa! Captain! Massive energy wave detected!"
A Cult crewman monitoring planetary energy flows shouted. The captain's eyes snapped open.
"Energy wave? Magnetic storm?"
"Unknown! Th-this...?! It's not planet-wide—concentrated at a specific point!"
"What?"
The crewman projected an image via psychic power. An entire continent was engulfed in a colossal energy storm. The situation room Cults gasped in shock.
"M-My god!"
"Never seen energy flows like that!"
Magnetic storms spanned the planet; they didn't concentrate artificially like this. That wave was deliberately generated by something.
'Is that the contamination source?'
The "Judger of Damus 08" orders were to purify contaminated Saigil 08. That abnormal storm had to be the culprits' doing.
'Damn! That's why everyone got wiped out!'
This continent housed the Wolf natives. The warrior squad must've gone to capture them and unluckily encountered the source.
An entity wielding continent-scale influence. No matter how elite the warriors, surviving that monstrosity was impossible.
"Can ship cameras observe the contamination source?"
"Th-the energy flows are too intense... But we'll try!"
Cults manipulated computers with psychic tech. Seconds later, a ground image appeared above the situation room center.
Spotting the source, the Cults screamed in unison.
The captain didn't reprimand them. He'd nearly screamed himself.
Image quality was poor for unknown reasons, but everyone easily discerned its form.
Because it was enormous. Comparing to nearby trees, its length exceeded 200m easily.
The contamination source had three heads. Excluding the center, the other two matched in appearance.
The left and right heads resembled Saigil 08's native "Manuk Arma"—pointed-jawed carnivorous dragons without visible eyes. Horns grew there instead.
Long, thin tentacles under the jaws seemed to serve as sensors; they twitched ceaselessly in the image.
The center head bore six massive horns, a broad rear carapace evoking a crown. Unlike the others, it had eyes—scanning slyly like a serpent's.
Horns, crown-like carapace, eyes. The captain pegged it as the dominant head.
The necks supporting the heads were long and thick, snake-like. At head-neck junctions, hair-like tentacle bundles dangled limply.
Hideous enough already, but the body was worse.
Jet-black carapace like Cult dark matter sheathed its back, with eight vortex pits. Pipes like tubes ran from pit centers to the tail.
Unknown gases spewed endlessly upward. Likely degrading camera quality.
Beneath the back carapace: six legs. More precisely, four forward ones like arms, and larger rears.
Maybe it crouched, making arms look like legs.
Legs encased in back-like carapace, with extra joints versus normal creatures. Spider-like insectile limbs evoked instinctive revulsion.
Folds of flesh between legs looked ugly. Whatever their purpose, they succeeded in repulsing viewers.
Finally, the tail. Three heads meant multiple tails. Occupying a third of body length, it split in two from mid-torso.
Right tail ended in massive pincers; left in scorpion-stinger.
"Th-three-headed demon..."
Someone muttered at the screen. The captain agreed—it fit perfectly.
The abomination was straight from Cult myths: the evil dragon.
The "three-headed demon" threatening Cult Empire security. The contamination source.
The captain bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Incinerate that blasphemous thing immediately!"
"Yes sir! Adjusting coordinates!"
Cosmic Bolt's maw targeted the profane entity.
Soon, it would be gone. As always.
Or so it should be.
-
I'd gained a new body but couldn't inspect the changes.
Assuming energy reserves weren't an issue was a total miscalculation. Vast amounts drained in real-time.
Inevitable. Post-Beast King, auxiliary organ detection range expanded massively—covering a third of Saintopia 02 continent.
Amid energy drain and info overload, I barely maintained sanity. Filtered useless data, focused solely on Cosmic Bolt breaching the atmosphere.
Finally, I messaged them via monster tentacles.
[Zuz zuzuzu zuzu (Everyone, get clear on your own!)]
Mother of the Sky would understand. She had to.
Sorry, kids, but any distraction and I'd collapse. No spare focus.
And the moment arrived.
Time slowed; Cosmic Bolt descended leisurely. Sky split, air quaked, earth trembled beneath me.
In frozen spacetime, I lifted my heads skyward.
'God's Scourge!'
Jet-black back pipes glowed golden in sequence. Golden wave climbed my long necks.
Light passed through monster tentacles into my throats.
Through me, a god swung the scourge of judgment.
Lightning-like, or myriad thin heat rays converged.
Key: three beams fired simultaneously.
Black flames descending to scorch earth clashed with radiant golden lightning.
That instant.
The sky tore.
Not metaphor—planet's atmosphere ripped. Three-headed lightning versus Cosmic Bolt birthed massive shockwave.
Clouds vanished; warped magnetic fields birthed auroras. Weather anomalies spawned dozens of fire vortices from sky to ground.
Earth quaked like an earthquake; river water boiled away rapidly. Trees for kilometers around ignited.
'Ngh!'
Adult form, Beast King, God's Scourge infused with thunder god power.
I'd thought it'd suffice—but no. Mid-beam, I gauged remaining energy.
'Three minutes tops!'
Psionium held, but Beast King and God's Scourge wouldn't. Energy depletion meant instant cancel.
'Just a bit more!'
Gradually, lightning pushed back the black flames, Cosmic Bolt. A bit more, and Empire Mothership overload would force shutdown.
Just hold—then dozens of heat rays poured from the sky.
'Mothership Squadron!'
Focused on Cosmic Bolt, I'd missed Cult warships arriving. Knowing the clash, squadron ships came for support.
'Splitting focus here is tough!'
Beast King effect blunted their rays—no lethal hits. Painful, but survivable.
Still, constant barrages disrupted concentration.
'Need a way... Ah!'
A idea struck; I calculated remaining energy.
'Doable!'
While firing God's Scourge, I could swat those pesky flies. Drawback: slightly shortens Beast King duration.
Monster tentacles obeyed my will. Three heads meant three tentacle clusters at crowns/necks.
'So Psychic Breath in three directions.'
I'd never controlled Psychic Breath direction before. No need.
Only constraint was focus; direction should be adjustable.
Sole issue: untested.
Gambling again irked me, but no choice.
Loss here meant annihilation. Time for the all-in.
Pipes lately golden now flashed purple. Like God's Scourge, purple light raced from tail upward.
Meanwhile, I aimed monster tentacles at targets. Coordinating three heads' tentacles was no joke.
Aimorph senses saved me; else instant failure. Blood streamed from eyes/mouth unnoticed.
Brain-burning pain assaulted, but success. Tentacles obeyed, locked on enemy ships.
'Got it!'
Purple psychic power fully absorbed, tentacles waved like conductor's baton.
Purple orbs formed before dragon heads.
Previously large, now scaled to my 200m+ body—immense.
Sensing the essence, ships scrambled to retreat.
'Where to?'
Dragon breath struck fleeing tails. Purple rays stretching kilometers left massive explosions.
Escaped ships fled atmosphere; others rained as molten alloy.
'Maybe 2 minutes? No, 1 left?'
Ships routed, I poured all into God's Scourge.
Energy near zero blurred vision. Sturdy limbs trembled weak.
Only sub-jaw auxiliaries, ever with me through life/death, reported drain rates.
'Please!'
"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!"
In final scream-roar, I unleashed lightning.
Did it work?
Descending to annihilate all, Cosmic Bolt.
Hundreds-of-meters black ray flickered like faulty bulb, then vanished.
Like earthworm ascending to dragon, my lightning soared unhindered skyward.
Then, a second sun rose high above.
Confirming it as Empire Mothership's death throes from God's Scourge, I blacked out.