Breaking Away (1)

"Kgh!"

I drove the bone blades mounted on my back-arms toward Jason, aiming to tear him apart.

But the Harmonizer activated, and my strike dissolved into nothing but foam.

The High Priest's Golden Spear in his hand plunged down with a dull thud, embedding itself where my eye had been.

I had already anticipated that he would use the Harmonizer. The blade-bones wrapping my auxiliary organ worked busily, tilting into position.

Having predicted the direction from which Jason would appear, I charged toward it without a moment's hesitation.

"The Revenant Organ... kgh!"

Reconstituted dozens of meters away, Jason was mid-shout when he saw me closing in fast—and shut his mouth.

The golden figure on his back hurriedly tried to reshape its arms into blades.

Just as I thought. The Harmonizer is a terrible fit for him.

From everything I'd observed, after every teleportation he was always locked into that human-like form. Which meant every single teleport he performed laid the golden figure's weakness completely bare.

Specifically: whenever the figure changed its shape, there was a fixed delay.

Before the golden figure could finish turning its arms into blades, my combat arms raked across him.

"Gyaaaaagh!"

My claws split his face and he screamed, blood welling up from the eye that had been cleaved in half.

The golden figure, standing guard so steadfastly at his back, shuddered violently—then vanished outright. The figure depends deeply on its controller's sight. With his vision temporarily destroyed, the figure had no choice but to disappear.

"You filthy...!"

He swung Purification and activated Reflection in the same breath. But I had already retreated; his swing cut through empty air.

"You rat bastard! One hit and it'd all be over—!"

From a forehead streaming blood from both ruined eyes, a new eye sprouted.

That eye was called the Third Eye—a technique granting the Cultist an effect similar to my own auxiliary organ.

It was an excellent detection skill, capable of sensing unseen enemies and movements. But there was one thing he didn't know.

While the kids kept him occupied, I had prepared Clever Underdog and the Avatar of the Hunt simultaneously.

Using the shattered carapace from my expired King of Monsters state as cover, I had been reborn as a five-meter miniaturized monster.

With all four of my combat arms shifted down toward my lower body, my frame resembled less a serpent than a centaur. Over my carapace and scales grew tufts of fur possessed of a powerful protective effect.

And that wasn't all—my body bristled with lethal weaponry. Two arms bearing bone scythes were newly affixed beneath the fur covering my back, and beneath my jaw, the blade-bone-shrouded auxiliary organ waited on standby.

Clever Underdog, which trades in agility—and the Avatar of the Hunt, which maximizes combat power to the extreme.

These were the final cards I had prepared to close out this duel.

Under normal circumstances, the Clever Underdog transformation would have been impossible—I'd already used King of Monsters, and Organic Evolution imposes a month-long cooldown with every use.

But the Revenant Organ nullifies that restriction.

For as long as the small organ attached to my heart remains awake, I can use every trait I possess without limitation.

As for why I chose to shrink rather than enlarge again—the answer was twofold.

First, my remaining energy was nearly gone. If I used something like King of Monsters to grow massive, it wouldn't last more than a few seconds.

Second, a giant body is simply harder-pressed to dodge an enemy's attacks. Even now blood was streaming from my neck, soaking into my pelt. Taking any more damage than this would be unwise.

In exchange—I end this fast.

As long as this shaggy pelt covered my body, he had no way of sensing me. Not until he saw me with his own two eyes.

With my centaur-like frame, I sprinted across the snow on all four legs.

Tracking my position by sound, he bombarded me with psychic techniques like Pain Spear. I slipped through his attacks by a hair's breadth and closed in again.

Even with his vision still unrecovered, he read my strike and cast Reflection on reflex. The instant my arms were stopped dead mid-air by the formless energy barrier, a knowing smile spread across his face.

What a joke.

Perhaps it was because his sight hadn't returned yet. If he had been looking at me directly, he would never have managed to smile like that.

Because the five Human-Faced Beasts mounted on my cranial carapace were glaring at him through tears of blood.

"-----!" "-----!" "-----!" "-----!" "-----!"

The Human-Faced Beasts under my control sang out in unison. The demon's melody shredded his semicircular canals, paralyzing his every movement.

While his body stood rigid and frozen, the bone blades on my jaw moved fast.

The paralysis of the Human-Faced Beasts varies in potency depending on the strength of the target. Against Jason, it lasted barely an instant.

Literally—the blades were right in front of his face when he twisted his neck just barely in time. Instead of severing his throat, my blade sank deep into his collarbone.

"Gyaaaaahk!"

Not quite the neck, but the collarbone is still one of the body's vital points. With that area shattered to pieces, the pain had to be immense.

I twisted the bone blade to finish it—but felt nothing at the tip.

Unable to endure the agony, he had used the Harmonizer to escape.

That makes four.

The Harmonizer had one use remaining. Jason reappeared dozens of meters away, his body immaculate.

He was utterly unmarked, while I was bleeding freely from the neck—but the momentum had completely reversed.

His eyes were wide, fixed on me. But the emotion swimming in them was not rage.

Fear.

He was afraid of me.

"...Tch."

Instead of attacking, he wrapped himself in the golden figure. Its appearance resembled the streaks of light he'd used for movement and offense—but with one crucial difference.

Blue light?

As he rose into the sky wreathed in a blend of gold and blue, a drill of rock and ice came flying from somewhere and slammed into him.

"You can't go!"

"You damned jellyfish bastard...!"

It was No. 26, a third of her body split apart. She had struck Jason with Demon Crush—the same technique she'd used to shatter the Ice Horror's carapace.

The blow had landed hard enough that the golden light enshrouding Jason flickered and wavered. The streak-shaped figure reverted to its humanoid form and turned both arms entirely into shields.

Even through all of this, the blue particles kept expanding their domain across his body. What had begun at his fingertips and toes now blanketed his arms and legs.

I've definitely seen that form somewhere before.

Whatever it was, one thing was certain: he was preparing his trump card. It had to be—he wasn't using Reflection or any of his other techniques at all, devoting himself entirely to defense behind the golden figure.

What can pierce that defense of his... Ah.

I raced over to PS-111, who lay sprawled across the ground, her whole body blown apart.

"Are you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠okay?"

"Damage, extremely severe. Destruction rate, ninety-two percent."

Her words were no exaggeration—her body was little better than a rag. Both legs were gone entirely, and the skin on her face had peeled away to expose the muscle beneath.

"...Sorry, but I need a favor."

"Apologies, unnecessary. Rather, I request. Help me protect the main controller."

I nodded and looked down at her tail section.

"Can you still fire it?"

"Possible, if energy is supplied."

At that, I immediately extended my arm and pressed it to her mouth. Reading my intent in a single glance, she bit down without hesitation.

In an instant, strength drained from my whole body. With my condition deteriorating, blood poured fresh from the wound in my neck.

If this had still been a game, my health bar would be sitting at about five percent.

Even so, my hand did not waver.

One wrong call here and we all die.

No—death would be the merciful outcome. If Jason took us prisoner, there was no telling what he'd do to us.

"Sufficient energy secured for use of the Demolisher against hostile lifeform."

I wasn't the only one thinking this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way. Everyone here was pouring every ounce of themselves into one single goal.

Surviving. Together.

Replenished, PS-111 managed to aim her tail at Jason. From what I could see of his shield-guarded body, the blue light had already climbed past his chest.

Leaving PS-111 behind, I charged at him.

The distance between us was barely fifty meters. As my four legs kicked up the snow, my auxiliary organ caught another movement.

Something was plummeting fast from high in the sky. A being descending like a bolt of lightning in a straight line—it was Adhai. Broken wings and all, she paid the pain no mind.

All of us were spending our very last strength to win this fight.

Jason sensed Adhai incoming and moved to adjust the angle of his shields.

And in that instant, when his attention was pulled elsewhere—

PS-111's tail fired the Demolisher's disintegration round. The indigo mass of energy flew through unbroken and shattered the golden shield.

I could see Jason's face, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the blue light climbing to his shoulders.

He looked somewhat startled by the attack, but hardly shaken. In fact, a faint smile lingered at the corners of his mouth.

Seeing that, I knew exactly what he was thinking. Whatever we tried, it was already over—or so he believed.

Bullshit.

Nothing is over until I say it's over.

Before the shattered shield could regenerate, Adhai collided with the golden figure's guard. The momentum sent Jason and the figure lurching violently.

"You." "What you did." "Return it."

The impact shattered Adhai's wings and forelegs completely—but astonishingly, her assault didn't end there.

Mounted on her back was the Mother of the Sky.

Beak broken, she swung the High Priest's Golden Spear with both hands in a fierce arc. Seeing the spear slip through the gap, Jason's eyes flew wide open.

With nothing left above his neck but his head, he jerked it aside in a panic. The spear crushed one of the stag horns jutting from his temple and carved wounds across his forehead and ear.

Relief flickered in his eyes.

But that was his final mistake.

His attention divided among No. 26, PS-111, Adhai, and the Mother of the Sky, he had forgotten the most dangerous enemy of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all.

The arm on my back, already within arm's reach of him, moved.

Through a tiny gap left among the regenerating golden particles, the bone scythe at the tip of my arm bored in. The sharpest weapon on Amorph's body cut out its target with perfect precision.

The moment the sensations at the scythe's tip told me I'd severed exactly what I wanted—

The golden figure before me vanished along with Jason's body. The instant he disappeared, my auxiliary organ caught one small sound.

It was the sound of something dropping onto the snow.

To put it more precisely—the sound resembled something roughly the size of a human head hitting the ground.

I picked it up.

That's a success.

A warm liquid soaking into my palm, and rising from it a scent both familiar and faintly sweet.

It was Jason's head.

He had never imagined it would end like this—the faint smile still frozen on his face.

A fitting end for a man who had been careless from beginning to end.

What an idiot.

Without hesitation, I popped the spoils the fool had left behind into my mouth.