Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: The Cult Lord's Third Privilege
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Ep. 183
The player group Jason belonged to was one that saw every other being in this world as nothing more than NPCs.
It was similar in mindset to those who aimed to clear the game, but there was one crucial difference.
They had little interest in leaving this world. Unlike the real world, here they were kings—mythical beings in the flesh.
Jason had lived a decent, upstanding life back in reality, but that didn't mean he was any more satisfied with it than with his existence here. The others in his group were in much the same boat.
In that sense, they resembled the players who had chosen to assimilate into the Space Survival world and live as part of it.
Of course, what Jason's group truly sought wasn't assimilation—it was domination.
And Jason had gotten an exceptionally good start within the group. Thanks to luckily becoming a Stag Antler Cult—one of the aristocratic classes in Cult society—he adapted to this world remarkably smoothly.
Not only that, but he also possessed a perk that synergized brilliantly with the Cult.
The people around him worshipped him, and his own power surpassed the limits of a Cult. It was only natural that his ego swelled beyond all reason.
Once he learned this was the world of Space Survival, he lived like the protagonist straight out of a comic or novel.
He collected useful NPCs like unique characters in a game, and he eliminated anything that stood in his way.
Whenever he took a liking to a woman, he'd slap her with a mind-control technique like "Ultra Control." Thanks to that, he had over twenty "girlfriends" scattered across the empire. The slaves who didn't even qualify as girlfriends were too numerous to count.
To him, this world was a playground in a game. Everyone except his groupmates was just a toy. When he grew bored of a toy, he'd hand it off to Chloe or Jubaka to serve as their experimental material.
A tyrant who viewed even his own kind not as equals, but as slaves. That was Jason's true nature.
In truth, this kind of life only proved how profoundly lonely he was despite seeming to have it all—but he was oblivious to that fact.
Perhaps because he'd lived so long without any real hardships, Jason was deeply dissatisfied with the painful reality now crashing down on him.
And the one who had instigated this mess was a morph he despised above all else.
He'd killed his seventeenth girlfriend with his own hands, and the temple guardians he'd cherished and raised were about to be buried alive.
As he frantically held up the crumbling ceiling, the creature's form was changing. Gray bones and carapace were sprouting across its jet-black body, and it was growing at a rapid pace.
That trait was called "Bone Beast"—one of the combat traits morphs favored in the game.
Having fought it multiple times before, he knew full well how dangerous it was.
'This won't do.'
If he let the morph keep dragging this out, it might become too much to handle. He resolved to use his "third perk."
Four years ago, there had been an incident in Cult society known publicly as the Vortex One Heresy Squad purge operation. In reality, it was a war between players.
Jason, Chloe, and Cynthia had teamed up and successfully hunted a Coldblood ranker. In the process, Jason acquired a new perk.
'It's a bit early, but...'
Blocking falling rocks and ice with Reflection, Jason activated his third perk.
A translucent golden shadow-like figure materialized behind his back.
Antler-like protrusions sprouted chaotically from the golden figure's head, resembling a lavish crown. Golden energy particles swirled around its arms like flowing robes. There was no lower body—only a connection to Jason's spine.
The figure's head, glowing entirely in gold, featured a single purple eye embedded in it. When that eye turned toward the mind-controlled temple guardians, something bizarre happened.
The Cults' bodies dissolved into golden particles and fused with the golden figure.
Having absorbed all eleven Cults, the golden figure's color became far more vivid than before. As Jason raised his arms, the figure mirrored him exactly.
And with a blinding flash of light, their bodies shot upward.
'What was that just now?'
Even as my body transformed, my auxiliary organ detected an anomaly.
It was a type of energy I'd never sensed since arriving in this world. It felt akin to psychic power, but far more concentrated.
The enemy player used that power to punch straight through the collapsing cavern. He rocketed upward through the ceiling, leaving me alone underground.
'I can't sense the other Cults' movements anymore.'
Before the player departed, that mysterious energy had sucked up every bit of psychic power in the vicinity. Given the absence of Cult-specific energy signatures, it wasn't hard to guess their fate.
'An energy absorption ability?'
Such creatures existed, but it wasn't something Cults could do. He must have used some method I wasn't aware of.
'No unfamiliar equipment in sight.'
The gear the player wore was the Dragon Slayer set, obtainable as a quest reward. Nothing else registered.
'I'll have to go out and see for myself.'
Fighting recklessly without intel on the enemy was dangerous—especially against a formidable foe.
Despite his thuggish demeanor, the player wielded psychic techniques with expert skill. And that player-only perk seemed incredibly powerful too.
'...Still, I can't avoid this fight.'
He'd chased me all the way to this remote planet. Even if I fled, he'd track me down somehow.
'Better to end it here.'
With my transformation complete, I began smashing through the piled-up ice masses with my now overwhelmingly larger arms.
What had seemed endlessly massive before activating Bone Beast now felt like snowballs clutched in a child's fist. Even the Ice Horror's bones—which had once dwarfed me—lost their intimidating presence.
It was only natural. My body length now approached nearly 100 meters. And it wasn't just length; the thickness of the carapace covering my body, the size of the densely packed synthetic scales—all had massively enlarged.
On top of that, a layer of bone-like carapace in gray exoskeleton form now sheathed my body doubly, protecting the black carapace beneath.
Sickle-shaped bone spines studded the gray exoskeleton densely, giving off a seriously threatening vibe even to my eyes.
To sum up my current appearance simply: it was like the original Aimorph had donned an exoskeleton armor made of an animal's bones.
'And now with this size...'
It was the very picture of a colossal monster. I'd seen Bone Beasts countless times in the game, but experiencing it firsthand was a whole new sensation.
'I'd love to examine it more closely, but...'
A battle with a powerful enemy loomed ahead.
I ascended, shattering ice and rock. The blunt bone spines protruding from my body acted like pickaxes or shovels, making it easy to excavate the ice.
I emerged onto the ice plain far faster than I'd descended.
Outside, the sky was choked with gray clouds. The snowfield where I'd planted my feet was no longer fit to be called a plain—its center had caved in deeply, leaving severe undulations.
A landscape of jagged snow and ice heaps under a darkened sky. And there, amid it all, stood my foe.
The player, with that bizarre golden figure strapped to his back like a backpack. He was waiting for me.
'So that's it.'
What drew my attention more than the player himself was the strange entity on his back.
Composed of golden particles, it seemed like a shadow without substance, yet somehow felt three-dimensional. Thanks to the Aimorph's keenly developed senses, I could tell it was energy condensed to the extreme, forming a tangible entity.
The golden figure roughly mimicked the player's humanoid shape, but antlers sprouted from its temples in a tangled crown like a laurel wreath.
Its face bore nothing but a vividly glowing purple eye. Particles around its arms undulated like heat haze, resembling draped silk.
'Some kind of summoning technique.'
In Space Survival, "summoning skills" weren't literal—they were closer to possession or descent by higher-dimensional beings. Coldbloods on the Vortex One Heresy Squad route, or heretic Cults, could draw on Vortex One's power.
'To materialize it to that degree... the cost must be enormous.'
Summons were extreme high-risk, high-reward techniques, hard to use casually. The enemy player glared at me with murderous intent, but he didn't look like he was paying some massive price to call it forth.
'Equipment effect? Or...'
Maybe a special ability.
Either way, it didn't look ordinary.
'...So he had an ace up his sleeve after all.'
Even when I'd used God's Whip, he'd seemed unfazed. He must have felt confident.
'Typically, summons fused with the user can't move independently.'
Probably specialized for supporting Cult combat, or ranged attacks. Or both.
But that wasn't the only issue.
The golden figure drew my focus with its otherworldliness, but the Dragon Slayer set he wielded was a tricky arsenal too.
For instance, that black armor protecting his body. Made from Black Galleron scales and hide, it boasted exceptional defense.
It ranked a step below Ice Horror carapace, but comparing favorably to something with such extreme defenses was impressive in itself.
'Right now, I have no means to shatter that armor in one hit.'
Not unless I used Manifest of the Hunt, Bone Beast, or King of Beasts to amp my body further.
And the Dragon Slayer set wasn't just armor.
The player, still glaring at me, drew a silver rod from his belt. The golden figure mimicked him, pulling something similar from its waist.
Gripping the rod, he pressed his thumb firmly on it. Black flames erupted from the tip, blazing fiercely before tapering into a slender black blade.
That torch-like weapon was "Purification," a weapon part from the Dragon Slayer set. Modeled after a space weapon from a famous space opera movie before my time.
If only it ended there—but no such luck.
The golden figure's arm behind him transformed into a similar weapon form.
The player swung his sword diagonally toward me. The figure copied him perfectly. The blade in the figure's hand stretched out long, flying to cleave me.
'Tch!'
I twisted my body urgently to dodge. The golden particle blade grazed the upper arm of my combat arm from above.
Even with the double-layered carapace from Bone Beast, it sliced clean through. The slash didn't stop after hitting me—it flew far into the distance behind.
Having evaded the first strike, I charged at him.
Each time my combat arm slammed the ground, snow and ice shards flew upward. A tsunami of snow and ice from the 100-meter behemoth's movement crashed toward the player alongside me.
'How will you handle this?'
Reflection? Another psychic technique?
But the Cult player responded in a way I hadn't anticipated.
Or more precisely, it was the golden figure behind him.
'Guh?!'
Sensing a chill from the monster's tentacles at the back of my head, I immediately ducked forward. A whip-like golden arm slashed over my head.
From that prone ducked position, I spewed acidic spores toward where he stood.
The green spores, mixed with flying snow and ice, were blocked by a brilliantly shining golden shield.
Beyond the scattering blizzard, I saw the golden figure shielding the player with sword and shield in hand. The Cult player, protected by his summon, smirked at me.
'...Impressive.'
This fight with him won't be easy.