Chapter 174
Chapter 174
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: Ep. 174
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‘Phew.’
I let out a sigh as I gazed down at the Ice Horror collapsed on the ground.
I’d managed to take down one APEX, but my mind wasn’t at ease.
‘This is definitely tough.’
Even in the game, hunting APEXes was no easy feat. The creatures classified as APEX were all heavy hitters like Gallerons and Sea Demons.
But that was just a game. Space Survival’s death penalty was harsh, but nothing compared to dying in reality.
Fighting for your life tooth and nail wasn’t as simple as it sounded.
‘I’d have been in real trouble without them.’
Adhai, who had helped me in this battle, landed beside me. No. 26, riding on its back, and the Mother of the Sky dismounted and approached me as well.
All three had been a huge help in taking down the Ice Horror.
「Big Baby, does it hurt? You got hurt bad, Big Baby.」
[Zzzt zzzt zzzt zzzt (It’ll be fine soon enough)]
No. 26, back to its small size, fretted over me first, as always.
「Strong foe」「Hunt」「Success」
「…To think we took this thing down.」
Adhai hopped around excitedly on the corpse, while the Mother of the Sky stared at it in disbelief.
[Zzt zzt zzzt zzzt zzzt zzzt (Everyone, eat up quick. We don’t have much time)]
The underground cavern we were in was barely holding together. With the rampage the Ice Horror and I had caused, it could collapse any moment.
‘If this gives way, it’ll affect the surface too.’
If it collapsed here, the ice plains above would crumble too, forming a massive sinkhole. Seeing a pristine ice sheet suddenly cave in would definitely raise suspicions among the Gallerons.
And I didn’t have much time left myself.
Hunt’s Manifestation lasted 20 minutes. Fighting the beast had burned through most of it, leaving only about 5 minutes.
The Mother of the Sky nodded after glancing at the cracked walls.
「You’re right. These walls won’t hold much longer.」
[Zzzt zzzt zzzt (You start with the heart)]
「Got it.」
I picked up the high priest’s golden spear from the pool of blood and tossed it to her. She caught it effortlessly and stepped into the wound I’d carved open.
「Middle Baby, I’ll help you.」
「…Thanks.」
While No. 26 and the Mother of the Sky delved into its belly, I prepared to devour the Ice Horror’s head.
‘Its carapace is too tough to eat like this.’
I pried open its jaws and crawled inside. Past the razor-sharp teeth and hard protrusions, into its throat, soft flesh welcomed me.
All the meat surrounding me was edible. I lay flat and tore into the flesh everywhere.
‘Hmm.’
I’d figured its meat would be tough since its shell was so hard, but surprisingly, it wasn’t. Even with half my teeth broken, the flesh slid down my throat without resistance.
However…
‘It’s spicy.’
The Ice Horror’s meat had the fieriest burn of any prey I’d tasted yet. If Aimorphs had tear glands, my eyes would’ve watered.
‘Because of the poison?’
The venom it spewed was far more potent than my own neurotoxin. Curious if other parts were the same, I sampled some deeper flesh.
‘Less so here.’
It seemed only the areas near the venom glands in the throat and esophagus were like this; the rest should be fine. None of us here lacked poison resistance.
Still, better safe than sorry—I’d warn the others.
[Zzzt zzzt zzt zzzt zzzt zzzt (Watch out, the meat’s poisoned)]
「No wonder it’s so spicy. The poison, huh.」
The Mother of the Sky was munching on the Ice Horror’s harvested heart. My auxiliary organs showed her in gryphon form. She must’ve tasted it in humanoid mode, detected the poison, and switched to her poison-resistant gryphon shape.
None of us lacked poison resistance now. No. 26 and I had the highest, but the other two could handle it as long as they avoided the venom glands.
That said, the spiciness still hit them hard—their brainwaves and thought waves flooded out chaotically.
「Spicy! Hurts! But it hurts so good!」
「Tingling」「Novel」
No. 26 kept eating despite the pain, while Adhai seemed thrilled by the new sensation.
‘Glad they’re enjoying it.’
I’d have loved to see No. 26 chowing down on spicy food, but I still had work to do.
I had to finish the head before Hunt’s Manifestation ended.
‘Wonder what I’ll get this time.’
Its head was over 20 meters across, given its hundreds-of-meters-long body. I devoured massive chunks—half my body weight—in a frenzy.
Working my way up from the throat toward the brain, the Mother of the Sky called out.
「Come out once you’re done eating.」
[Zzzt zzzt (What is it?)]
「Found a Screamer in its guts.」
[Zzt (What?)]
I froze for a second.
「Don’t worry. Just the remains of a deactivated Screamer.」
I relaxed a bit at her follow-up, but not completely.
[Zzzt zzzt zzzt zzzt zzzt zzzt (Think there are more around?)]
「Nah. The corrosion shows it’s been a while. About three weeks.」
[Zzt zzt zzzt zzzt zzzt (Three weeks in its stomach?)]
「The leftover metal frame looks like the one we saw earlier.」
From what she said, modified new-model Screamers had ventured down here once before and gotten wiped out by the Ice Horror.
‘Was the one in the surface forest a survivor from here?’
Thinking back, it hadn’t looked great when we met. I’d chalked it up to fighting Winter Walkers, but maybe it had fled from this thing.
‘Curious, but…’
Eating came first. I signaled okay and resumed devouring.
Ramping up the pace, I polished off the entire head with exactly 10 seconds to spare.
And then.
Bone Beast: Inherits and enhances the existing Colossal Creature trait. Once per week, you can transform into a very powerful ‘Bone Beast.’ Transformation lasts 60 minutes.
*Note: Cannot be used with ‘Hunt’s Manifestation.’
*P.S.: Exoskeletons aren’t exclusive to certain species.
The famous ‘Bone Beast’ trait—beloved by all Aimorph players—had fallen into my hands, right alongside the new message alert.
-
Jason of the Ashure Tribe.
He was a Cult with many titles.
The empire’s revered ‘High Priest,’ guardian of tradition as the ‘Leader of the Providence Sect,’ and ‘Hero of National Salvation’ for defending the capital from Outspacer attacks.
Titles befitting his rank 10 position.
But lately, his kin prefixed those titles with one word: ‘Former.’
A recent blunder had toppled him from idol to villain who shook the empire’s foundations.
He could’ve endured that much. Body of a Cult, mind of a human—he knew humans made mistakes.
What truly drove him mad was the very being behind his downfall.
Rank 5 Morphbak.
The one he hated most, in reality or this world.
Their grudge ran deep. In reality, he’d rerolled characters countless times because of that bastard.
Even here, his fervent campaign to wipe out Aimorphs stemmed from repeated losses to Morphbak—quest be damned.
Yet the bastard survived. No, he didn’t just survive—he royally screwed Jason over.
The day he heard the Imperial Conspiracy and Conspiracy Flyers were annihilated, it hit him.
He’d never sleep easy without stuffing and mounting Morphbak’s head above his bed.
Unlike his comrades, he decided to act personally.
Unique-grade gear from late-game quests, loyal minions, even a personal warship. Prepared enough to fell an Adult Aimorph with ease.
And not just that—Akiira Yujin supplied a quasi-boss, the Black Galleron. Unless he deliberately held back, defeat was unthinkable.
When he first set foot on this frozen hellworld, confidence brimmed: he’d finally kill Morphbak.
That shattered upon meeting the Black Galleron Akiira introduced: the Great Od Grad.
“Damn it! When the hell are you stepping up? That thing ain’t something a regular Galleron can handle!”
Clad in dragonscale armor forged from Galleron parts, Jason bellowed in the vast cavern.
He wasn’t losing his mind solo. A colossal presence lay before him.
A black Galleron lounging on glittering minerals—the king of this planet’s dragons, the Great Od Grad.
「Od Grad」「I have spoken」「Great undertaking」「Is at hand」
Od Grad replied leisurely, munching prey young Gallerons fetched. Jason swallowed his rage at the lazy display.
‘Stupid lizard brat! You could crush that White Galleron yourself easy!’
When Jason arrived, Od Grad’s pack was in turmoil.
Gallerons gain the right to challenge the leader upon reaching Adult—Black Galleron—stage.
Od Grad had been the sole Black Galleron for ages, but trouble brewed.
The rank 2 White Galleron female eyed his throne. Normally, they challenged after turning Black, but none had since Od Grad took over.
“Just step in and it’s over. What’re you dawdling for?”
「Od Grad」「I declare」「Rebels」「Gathering」「I await」
Some questioned why no other Adults emerged. They suspected Od Grad’s foul play and rebelled.
Like he told Jason, Od Grad planned to purge dissenters now, holing up to lure them out.
Galleron politics. To Jason, aware of the unprecedented threat of rank 5 Aimorph inbound, it was pathetic scheming.
‘Once that Aimorph grows, you’re all done! You idiot skink!’
As Jason inwardly cursed Od Grad, a Galleron flew into the cavern.
The white-scaled one folded its wings and bowed before Od Grad.
「I」「Great Od Grad」「What you commanded」「Report」
“What’s that mean?”
「Od Grad」「I declare」「Lowly one」「Desires」「Young one」「Found」
“What? For real?”
Stung by ‘lowly one,’ Jason ignored it. Catching the Aimorph mattered more.
「Od Grad」「Great undertaking」「In preparation」「Instead」「Lowly one」「Follow young one」
“…Not stepping up till the end, huh?”
With that, Od Grad waved a forelimb—dismissal.
Like a king beckoning servants. Jason ground his teeth. Akiira’s pet acting so arrogant grated, but he was powerless.
He could kill Od Grad, but then he’d face the whole pack. Massive losses.
‘Then Morphbak picks us off one by one!’
Even in-game, that bastard wrecked clan alliances. No desire to relive it here. He left without another word.
Once rebels were ousted, that obnoxious Black Galleron would have to help—Akiira’s orders bound it.
But waiting meant no time. If Morphbak was here, they were in dire straits.
“Hey, guide us to the spot you just told that lizard brat about.”
「Understood」
So he’d act first, alone if needed.
Jason headed to camp with the White Galleron.
-
Lying in the nest, focused on recovery, I opened my eyes.
‘Can’t sleep well lately.’
Not nightmares or worries. It was the message from devouring the Ice Horror earlier.
Unlocking Transcendence Stage 2 revealed ‘Trait Enhancement,’ a new system. Inactive then, but today it activated.
‘Never guessed it was like this… Huh?’
As I checked the Trait Enhancement system, my auxiliary organs detected movement.
No other creatures in the nest. I linked with it to identify the source.
‘No. 26?’
The one who’d burned energy today and turned in early.
Maybe its schedule was off from early bed, but its actions were odd.
No. 26 left the nest and vanished down the passage.
‘What’s going on?’
It rarely acted alone. Unless combat, it always told me its plans.
Sneaking out at night? Suspicious.
I rose quietly and tailed it. Too absorbed, it didn’t notice me.
Far from the nest, it stopped abruptly and pulled something from its body.
「Eat this.」
“PS-111. Expressing deep gratitude for the devotion of the newly registered main controller.”
The voice before No. 26—I couldn’t hide anymore. I rushed over.
「Huh? Big Baby?」
[Zzt zzt (What’s that?)]
「Uh, this is, um.」
No. 26 stammered unusually, but I couldn’t focus on that.
The small object before it resembled something I’d seen recently.
“PS-111. Unknown organism detected.”
A human woman’s face fused with mechanical parts and tubes.
A new-model Screamer’s severed head.