Omen (2)
An orbital bombardment of the 'Holy Lands' — the planets designated by the priests and prophets of the Cult.
Not impossible, but hardly something that was ever done. No, to be precise, it was an extremely rare occurrence. And understandably so, because the Holy Lands were planets chosen only after the prophets spent ages interpreting passages mentioned in Providence — the scripture the Cult held sacred.
Providence was a canon encompassing the Cult's past, present, and future — part scripture, part law. That was why the Holy Lands mentioned within it could never be touched carelessly. Not even if they posed a potential threat to the Empire itself.
That was how it was supposed to be, at least.
Even the most devout believer inevitably faces moments when faith and reality must strike a bargain. The Cult was no exception. In exceedingly rare cases, extraordinary measures were taken against a Holy Land — and one such case was when a contaminant eroded the entire planet.
That was precisely the angle Jason had worked, pressuring the Cult's Council and the Senate to push the Purification mission through. Cynthia, a member of the Prophet Assembly — the gathering of prophets — had lent supporting fire as well, arguing that the established interpretation of Providence contained an error.
Only because the three great powers of the Cult Empire — the Council, the Senate, and the Prophet Assembly — had all moved was the Purification order, a violation of Providence itself, ever carried out.
Had the Purification succeeded, none of this would be a problem now. The contaminant the Cult Empire feared most had been eliminated, leaving Jason's opposition with no grounds for criticism.
But the Purification had failed, and the Imperial Mothership along with its escort flotilla had been annihilated.
The Empire had suffered catastrophic losses, and that put Jason and Cynthia — who had pushed through a mission that broke Providence itself to achieve it — in an impossible position.
Even in the best-case scenario, Jason reclaiming his former power was all but impossible. The Cult's long lifespans made the species overwhelmingly conservative by nature, and such people never forgot a blunder like Jason's.
And the real problem is something else entirely.
Cynthia had said Jason was lying low to evade a summons from the Council, but Chloe could easily guess what he was actually doing.
'Lying low,' my ass. He's preparing to run.
Anyone who had played Space Survival for any length of time knew it. Sending an Imperial Mothership to a Holy Land was not the act of a Cultist — it was the act of a player.
There was a high probability that the Rank 5 Amorph player already knew, or would soon find out, exactly who had attacked him.
In other words, Jason had made himself the target of that infamous Morph-fucker.
If it's him, he'd chase you to the edge of the universe and still consider it a short trip.
Chloe knew from bitter experience. She had interfered with his evolution once, not knowing he was Rank 5, and his retaliation had very nearly forced her to quit the game for good.
As far as she knew, Jason had been through something similar. The man had once posted a public apology on the community forums — by that measure, he'd been hit far harder than she ever was.
...Should I be running too?
Chloe was still lost in thought when one of the gravestones that had remained silent finally began to glow.
It was Jubaka's monument.
｢If the fleet was annihilated, what became of the related records?｣
｢What records do you mean, exactly?｣
｢Annihilation does not necessarily mean every last soul perished.｣
"What's that supposed to mean?"
｢In military terms, 'annihilation' refers to a force that has lost its combat capability to the point it can no longer carry out its mission. Even if the escort flotilla was wiped out entirely, that doesn't mean there were no escapees whatsoever.｣
Of everyone present, Jubaka was the only one with a military background. He was the Great Leader of Star Union and, concurrently, the supreme commander of its machine fleets. That was why he grasped exactly what Cynthia's words implied.
Cynthia answered his question.
｢Of the escort flotilla, one ship in fifty returned — and even that one was half-destroyed, with eighty percent of its crew dead, coming back on automatic pilot. The captain of the Imperial Mothership Judge of Damos 08 fell in battle, and only twenty survivors made it onto the escape craft.｣
｢What caused the half-destruction?｣
｢The investigation concluded that an unidentified energy projectile caused the dark matter in the Cosmic Bolt to reverse course and detonate.｣
"What did the surviving crew have to say?"
｢....｣
At Chloe's question, Cynthia abruptly fell silent. She, who had answered every query without hesitation, faltered for the first time.
"What did they say?"
｢...They spoke of a three-headed demon that wielded lightning.｣
"Wha... no. It can't be."
｢Пиздец! Goddammit!｣
The Three-Headed Demon. Chloe knew exactly what that epithet meant.
"He's already evolved into an Adult?"
｢If he has indeed reached adulthood, then the annihilation of the escort flotilla becomes quite understandable.｣
Amorphs, being a race built for the long game, only grew stronger as the endgame approached. An Adult Amorph was a creature that could be subdued only by fighting it with elite armies and elite fleets.
And given that it had annihilated an Imperial Mothership and its entire flotilla, it might already possess a full arsenal of unique-tier traits.
｢An Adult Amorph means we're all in danger as well. You understand that, I trust?｣
"Tch. I'll contact the Old Man myself."
｢And Cynthia — the footage of the creature. Can you bring it up now?｣
｢The resolution is poor.｣
｢I hardly think the resolution is the concern at this juncture.｣
｢Understood. One moment, p... hm?｣
"What is it... huh?"
Mid-conversation, one of the gravestones lying flat on the floor rose into the air.
A moment later the stone began to shine, and an elderly man's voice resonated through the dark chamber.
｢It has been a long time.｣
Just as the saying goes — speak of the tiger and he shall appear. The new participant was the very person Chloe always called the Old Man.
｢It is an honor to see you again. I trust you have been well, Akira Yujin.｣
The CEO of Megacorp and the ancient king of Earth — Akira Yujin himself.
Now I'm finally getting back to normal.
Two days had passed since I repelled the Imperial Mothership's orbital strike, and I had at last recovered enough to move the way I used to.
That first day, I hadn't moved an inch — I did nothing but sleep. Whenever I stirred awake midway, I sated my hunger with the food No. 26, Adhai, and Mother of the Sky had brought me, then dropped back into slumber.
Thanks to resting like a fever-ridden flu patient, utterly out of commission, I could finally raise my body at last. And the moment No. 26 and Adhai confirmed I was back to normal, the two who had nursed me so devotedly all day long collapsed where they stood.
For No. 26, it was simple exhaustion. For Adhai, it was genuinely critical — her ribs and wing had been broken in that Horned Gigant attack, and she had kept flying food to me anyway.
I hastily attached symbiote spores to the two of them and moved them down into the underground nest. More than eighty percent of the nest had collapsed in my battle with the Imperial Mothership, but there was still room left for No. 26 and Adhai to lie down. I made sure food was stocked so they could fill their bellies the moment they woke, and then I set out. Right now, Mother of the Sky and I were on our way to search for one of the crashed ships.
｢The one over this way is closest.｣
"Looks like it."
She was right. From beyond the forest drifted the faint, unmistakable scent of heat-scorched alloy plating.
Most of the fallen ships had crashed into the sea or onto other continents, but a portion of them had come down on Saintopia 02 — the very continent where we stood.
This is a chance to experiment.
To find out whether even a heavily damaged ship could fall under my Domination. If domination proved possible, I intended to make the wrecked vessels targets of my erosion.
Originally, I'd planned to leave aboard the deep-sea research station.
But the research station was built from blacksilver, and it was enormous besides. Size meant a larger target profile — if a fleet battle ever broke out, the drawbacks would far outweigh the benefits. The blacksilver itself was a double-edged sword, too. I had no idea what effect it might have when I used my Psychic Breath.
A Cult warship, on the other hand, is far better suited to combat.
I had already learned that firsthand when I hijacked the Spacedog vessel. While fending off the Metallic Gremlin raid, I had put the ship's armaments to aggressive use — and that ship hadn't even been a warship, merely a trade vessel. If I could dominate an actual Cult warship, I would be considerably more formidable.
Not that I know yet whether erosion will even work on one.
"Can you see the ship from here?"
｢It plowed into the ground when it fell, so I can only make out a little. Judging from the part above the surface, the damage doesn't look too severe.｣
"Good news, then."
Mother of the Sky, whose eyesight outstripped even mine, filled me in on the ship's condition. I glanced at her as she scanned the wreck.
Golden fur like a field of ripened barley. Sleek, lustrous, and beautiful now — but I remembered. I remembered her tending to me, covered head to tail in soot.
Just like No. 26 and Adhai, she had given everything she had to keep me alive.
...I'll have to repay her properly, one of these days.
Her actions had been born of the contract she had made with me. That didn't erase the debt I owed. When the opportunity arose, I intended to offer an appropriate reward.
Come to think of it, I still haven't even apologized to her.
I had tried to devour her over my failure to protect Adhai — and it had all been a misunderstanding. Adhai, feeling left behind by No. 26 and Mother of the Sky, had acted on impulse; Mother of the Sky had done nothing wrong.
I had meant to apologize, but one disaster after another had kept erupting, and the words had never made it out of my mouth.
｢There's a ship in the clearing up ahead. Judging by the traces, there are survivors.｣
"Hold on. Before that, there's something I need to say."
｢Something to say?｣
I stopped my rapidly moving legs and planted myself where I stood. She quit running and halted as well. The elegant eagle-headed beastwoman tilted her head, and I looked into those bright amber eyes and spoke.
"About what happened with Adhai."
｢Yeah?｣
"I misunderstood you. So I want to apologize."
｢Huh? Wha...?｣
At my apology, she blinked. As if she couldn't quite process what she'd heard, she asked me to repeat it.
｢What did you just say? Say it again.｣
"I'm sorry I didn't trust you."
At my second apology, Mother of the Sky's beak fell wide open.
"I judged you rashly. It won't happen again."
｢Honestly, I still don't believe you right now. Say it one more time.｣
"...I'm sorry. I'll be more careful."
Whether she finally understood I was being sincere or not, she stopped mocking me. Her eyes turned serious as they met mine.
｢Fine. I don't know that I'm the one in a position to accept an apology — I did fail to protect Adhai, that much is true. So I'll apologize too.｣
"Understood."
｢Then that settles it.｣
"Good."
When I nodded, she let out a long breath.
｢Wow. Never thought I'd live to hear a Morph-fucker apologize — and in person, no less. You couldn't pay me to believe this.｣
She shook her head, muttering something that could have been admiration or mockery — impossible to tell which. I almost pointed out that I'd never done anything in the game worth apologizing for, but I let it go.
Tch. Fair enough. I was in the wrong.
I was still mulling that over when my auxiliary organs caught a movement of some kind. Footsteps falling in steady rhythm. Heartbeats pulsing with tension. A distinctive scent of sweat mingled with metal. Piecing it together, identifying the enemy was no difficult task.
[Zzzzzzt (Enemies.)]
｢That's right.｣
Mother of the Sky turned her gaze as well, aiming it through the gaps between the trees.
｢Cult survivors. Their number is...｣
[Zzzt (Six.)]
｢Aside from the Purple Sprayguns, nothing worth mentioning for weapons.｣
[Zzzzt zzzzt (Shouldn't be difficult.)]
A fitting opponent for stretching muscles that had rested a full day.