Chapter 172
Chapter 172
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: Hunter's Exemplar
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The very first trait I acquired in this world—my one and only—was Perfect Organism. True to its name, it reshapes my physical abilities and form into whatever's best suited for survival.
And Perfect Organism comes with a special effect.
Hunter's Exemplar mode.
When Hunter's Exemplar activates, my body evolves into the ultimate biological weapon, optimized for combat. It lasts just 20 minutes with a 24-hour cooldown, but the overwhelming power more than makes up for those drawbacks.
Exactly like right now.
I've lost my eyes, but my senses have never been sharper.
This cavern where I stand, the passage buried under the Ice Horror—everything feels as vivid as if I'm seeing it with my own two eyes. Thanks to that, I'm fully aware of every change rippling through my body.
Bones, muscles, scales, carapace—my entire form twists and warps. It's optimizing itself to hunt stronger foes and more prey.
The carapace on my head surges forward, shifting my center of gravity slightly ahead. The six horns—perfect for battling tough opponents—grow even more vicious, tailored to their deadly purpose.
After the Organic Evolution trait took hold, my theropod-like elongated snout became even more extreme. The bifurcated lower jaw develops fully, giving the impression of a metal guard strapped beneath it.
Along with the jaw's transformation, the auxiliary organ underneath gets encased in bony plating, morphing into tusks like an elephant's. These curved blade-shaped bones are massive and heavy, but my enhanced jaw handles the motion effortlessly.
The auxiliary organ's original function is intact, too.
The changes around my head aren't limited to the auxiliary organ. The biggest shift is the five human-faced growths that used to cling to my back—they've migrated to my skull. Like ancient warriors adorning themselves with enemy skulls, five pale faces now dangle from the rear head carapace as trophies.
As my head grows heavier, my neck evolves to support it. Monster tentacles, now enlarged, drape over it like hair.
In my normal state, the neck wasn't particularly prominent, hidden behind the mane-like tentacles and rear carapace. Now, it's thick and elongated, like a crocodile or Komodo dragon's.
And the junction where my neck meets my back—what would be the wing roots on a human—throbs with pain. Moments later, two bone-blade arms—the signature of Hunter's Exemplar—burst from slits in the carapace.
These arms, tipped with organic scythes, are the sharpest and deadliest weapons I possess. They slice through battleship hulls or high-grade reinforced suits with ease.
Every other part of me warps into forms optimized for battle, too.
Especially my lower body and tail—the blunt claws there undergo a massive change. Joints sprout like on my arms, ending in razor-sharp talons. They resemble spider legs.
New appendages emerge like this, yet my overall weight drops. The last time I used Hunter's Exemplar, everything felt thicker and heavier, but now it's sleeker and lighter.
Don't mistake lightness for fragility. If anything, the densely interwoven scales boost my defense even higher.
And I'm more flexible, too.
I flex and extend my combat arms, now over twice as long as before. The scales ripple like flowing water with every motion of muscle and bone.
Separate from the lighter, more agile body, my total length has increased. Sensing with my auxiliary organs, I'd guess from tail tip to head is around 35 to 40 meters now. That's over 10 meters longer than my usual 28-meter frame.
Still small compared to that thing, though.
My opponent is a colossal beast easily topping 100 meters. I'm less than a third its size...
But size isn't everything.
Finishing my self-check, I twitch my four bone blades—no, my transformed auxiliary organs—and lift my head. Right on cue, the ice and rubble piled in the passage begin to tremble as I do.
The debris shakes harder, mirroring the crushed creature's rage beneath.
Moments later, rocks and ice shards explode outward as the Ice Horror reveals itself.
To sum up its appearance simply: it's like the monster from those classic kaiju flicks—the one from the BulX GazX series—had a centipede's body grafted onto its head.
Its head sports four jaws tough enough to rip apart a starship, packed with protrusions and teeth for grabbing and sucking in prey. Toward the back are vestigial eyes and two long, thin antennae.
Those chain-whip-like antennae are its detection organs. Unlike my vulnerable auxiliaries, these look—and are—sturdily built.
Below the head, its body segments like a centipede's, each with sharp clawed legs and white ventral plating. Unlike a regular centipede, that plating is incredibly tough.
Even without special defenses, it shrugs off most attacks.
Proof? It took my Psychic Breath head-on, and the ventral plate only got lightly scratched.
Furious at the surprise attack, it hisses viciously. Its antennae whip around like a cobra threatening prey.
This cavern is vast enough for two colossal monsters to fight comfortably. I chose it deliberately for the battle.
The Ice Horror's bulk might seem advantageous in tight spaces, but reality's the opposite. It burrows through earth and ice far better than I do. In confined areas, I'd be at a disadvantage.
After its threatening hiss, it turns its head toward me. The four jaws gape wide, firing a stream of transparent venom straight at me.
Take the neurotoxin I often use on organic foes, concentrate it intensely, mix in hallucinogens—that's Ice Horror venom. In short, it paralyzes victims or plunges them into hallucinations.
But I don't dodge. Instead, I charge straight at it while it's standing still to shoot.
Poison's useless against me.
Thanks to the Perfect Immunity trait from my Near-Adult perk, I'm completely immune to poisons and diseases. No matter how potent its venom, it won't touch me.
I barrel across the ice-covered floor, venom splattering over me.
First time facing something immune to its venom—it hesitates in confusion.
No wonder.
Around here, only a few species like Black Gallerons resist its poison.
While it falters, I slam into it with all my speed and mass, horns first. The frozen cavern shakes violently, shoving its massive bulk backward.
No one's ever survived a direct horn strike from me—except this time. The Ice Horror's defenses are monstrous. Despite my blow, its carapace only bears scrape marks from my horns.
Shoved back, it lets out a baleful hiss and counterattacks. Its body—several times longer than mine—writhes like a serpent, trying to coil around me.
I seize its trunk with all six combat arms. Then I whip my tail hard. The pincer at the tip swings like a massive flail, smashing into the ventral plating near its abdomen.
Its agonized screech mixes with a thunderous boom, echoing through the cavern. Where my tail struck, cracks spiderweb across the surface. It got hit hard enough to chip the plating—had to hurt.
Enraged, it spreads all four jaws and charges, aiming to swallow me whole. A spiral pattern on my back peels away, unleashing the hidden erosion tentacles within.
With auxiliary tendrils fully splayed, they latch onto its jaws.
Then the test of strength begins.
Two super-sized beasts tens, hundreds of meters long clash. The shockwaves rattle the surrounding ice walls. Icicles plummet from the ceiling, and the floor where I stood craters and splits.
Incredible power.
Even with Hunter's Exemplar, its strength is absurd. My six erosion tentacles grip its jaws tight, but they won't hold forever. It's leaning its weight to crush me.
But...
I anticipated this.
I ease up on the erosion tentacles just a bit. Its body, committed to pressing down, surges forward.
The moment its massive maw descends to devour me—
My back-mounted bone-blade arms flash like lightning, stabbing into its mouth.
The Ice Horror panics from the sudden agony. It thrashes wildly—its hundreds-of-meters bulk turns the whole underground into an earthquake.
It snaps its jaws shut around me, shakes its head violently, and hurls me away. I crash hard into the wall.
Ugh!
It's been a while since Pain Mitigation kicked in, but I don't have time to wallow. I wrench myself free from the wall and dodge sideways. Just in time—its head slams into the spot beside me.
I evade by a hair's breadth and rake the ventral plating near its abdomen with the four bone blades under my jaw.
These blades match the ones on my back arms in material—insanely tough and sharp.
With a sound like cracking walnuts, four gashes open on its plating.
Infuriated that I dodged and counterattacked, it twists its body to ram me. I raise my combat arms in defense, but it doesn't go well. Two arms shatter completely on impact with its ventral plate, and I'm slammed back into the wall.
Kuh!
Simple, brute force—but faster and stronger than me. Tough opponent.
It yanks its head free and charges again. As expected, I open my maw toward its eyes. The acidic gland in my throat's esophagus spews a vicious acid upward.
The green fluid hits; it pauses its assault. While it hesitates, I pull back and widen the distance.
It shakes its head irritably. Its diamond-hard plating shrugs off the acid effortlessly.
Shaking off the green slime, it growls at me. New abilities keep popping up—it's starting to get cautious.
While it eyes me warily, I inspect the spot I've been targeting. The ventral plating where I flailed with my pincer and jaw blades is heavily cracked.
Prep's done.
One thing left.
Wait.
Antennae locked on me, it tenses—then charges, sliding across the ice like a train on rails.
Just before collision, I tense my tail pincer and lower legs. My body springs upward like a coiled spring; my pincer grazes its jaws.
I barely evade the charge and land atop its back. Using my remaining combat arms and erosion tentacles, I cling tight like a cowboy on a rodeo bull, gripping its ventral plating.
Not thrilled about its rider, it bucks wildly. But I'm plastered to its body. I don't shake loose easily.
As it thrashes, I lash out with my jaw blades and back arms. Each whistling swing carves new wounds into its plating.
Finally at its limit, it bellows and leaps. Just like I did earlier, it tenses its lower body and legs to launch skyward.
One bound takes it to the cavern ceiling. Its back slams into the rock, squashing me between like a vice.
Urk!
Agonizing pain wracks my body; my strength falters. The rear head carapace shatters from the impact, and cracks spiderweb across my back and chest plating.
One more hit like that, and I'm done!
As it rebounds from the ceiling to the floor, I leap off its back. It snaps at my tail like where do you think you're going?
Its jaws clamp down; inner protrusions and teeth seize my body. It's going to swallow me now.
Instead of striking the jaws, I activate the barbed hair launchers inside my pincer. The claws part slightly, firing barbs down its throat.
Poison's useless against it, just like me—it weaponizes neurotoxin too. But no one likes fish bones in their throat.
The Ice Horror retches and spits me out. The tip of my tail, briefly inside it, is badly mangled.
Damn, it's strong.
True to its apex status, its combat prowess is insane. And it's on the weaker end of apexes—if this were a Black Galleron or Sea Demon, I'd already have two or three fatal wounds.
It roars briefly and scuttles toward me on rapid legs. This time, I don't dodge—I charge too.
Like bucks locking horns to sort dominance, we hurtle headlong at each other. On the ice arena, its jaws clash against my head carapace.
Immense pressure crushes my skull. My near-indestructible head carapace shatters; three of the six horns snap off.
Can't fall back here—it's over if I do.
I brace my lower legs and tail with everything I've got to hold ground.
The two titanic forces straining to overpower each other prove too much—the floor gives way.
Timing it perfectly, I duck my head low. With our heads locked, it has no choice but to follow.
Its jaws pulverize my rear head carapace and rake across my back plating. The impact snaps both back arms clean off.
A pain beyond words spears my brain. My skull feels flayed; I nearly black out, but Pain Mitigation lets me endure.
Now!
I whip my head left. The bone blades beneath my jaw angle upward.
The target: its abdomen flashing overhead. Two right-side blades slice deep into its gut as it surges past.
It broke... ugh!
No time to savor the hit—I tumble across the collapsing floor. Its enraged tail swings at me.
Damn it!
I try to rise, but its maw looms right there.
The four-pronged jaws splay open like a flower. If they close, my head and upper body are gone.
I curl up to minimize damage, but it freezes mid-motion. A split-second pause—enough for me to evade.
I pull my upper body back; its jaws snap shut on empty air. That's when I sense familiar presences in the half-collapsed passage beyond.
They're here!
Rocks and ice fragments float up, filling the passage. They hurl forward like cannonballs, pummeling the Ice Horror's ventral plating and tail.
Caught off-guard, it whips its head around.
From the shadowed passage, three figures emerge.
"...As expected. You held out well."
A Griffin beastman gripping the Shaman's Golden Spear.
A Green Galleron expressing awe at the sight of me and the Ice Horror.
"You naughty thing! I won't let you bully the big baby! I'm gonna punish you lots and lots!"
And a 10-meter Sea Demon waving its countless tentacles and fins threateningly.
The long wait ends. At last, reinforcements have arrived.