Gem Wings (3)

That makes four APEX kills.

Thanks to pooling our strength with the kids, we had brought down the female Crystalwing without much trouble. It was a far faster pace than when I used to play the game.

Back then, I was operating alone.

If I had faced two Crystalwings simultaneously by myself, it wouldn't have been easy. That wasn't all, either — I would have had to keep an eye out for rival players hunting the same prey.

I probably would have burned weeks just taking down those two.

But today the circumstances had favored me. I had the kids helping me, and no competitors to worry about. Running into them after only two days was a stroke of luck as well.

And confirming No. 26's potential was an achievement in itself.

Just as I'd expected, she was only able to fine-tune attacks in projectile form.

The Gaze of Horror, empowered by the Color of the Abyss, and the Acidic Fungal Gland, the trait that launched clumps of matter-dissolving fungus — No. 26 could control those two without difficulty. Popping a flying sphere mid-flight to turn it into a spreading cluster bomb, adjusting its velocity, and so on.

On the other hand, she couldn't adjust the ordinary Psychic Breath fired as a heat ray. God's Whip, which worked on a similar principle, would presumably be beyond her control too.

We haven't tested the enhanced Psychic Breath yet, though.

I'd deliberately refrained from using it this time because we needed to keep the corpses intact. Since its attack form resembled the Gaze of Horror, I figured it would be manageable.

Besides No. 26, Mother of the Sky and PS-111 had fought about as well as I'd hoped.

Mother of the Sky, having unlocked the Wendigo transformation, was able to wield some of the Wendigo's signature traits.

One of them was the Ice Evil Spirit ability.

Just as the Wendigo of legend drives the humans it encounters into madness, the Wendigos of Space Survival could interfere with the minds of other living things.

A creature struck by the Ice Evil Spirit lost its reason and became obsessed with nothing but devouring other living beings. Techniques requiring concentration, traits that had to be consciously activated — all of them became unusable.

If I were hit by it, every ability I possessed would be sealed, and I'd be reduced to a cannibalistic monster mindlessly craving Genetic Essence.

The Wendigo is a PK-exclusive phantom beast.

It was an extremely powerful one-on-one debuff, but it carried equally heavy restrictions. Its duration varied wildly depending on the target, and while the Ice Evil Spirit was active, the user couldn't employ any other skills or abilities either.

So if you were physically weaker than your opponent, casting it actually worked against you.

In short, it was an ability that dragged the enemy into a forced brawl — pure melee combat, no tricks allowed.

Thanks to that effect, the female Crystalwing had been defeated without landing a single proper counterattack.

It would pair beautifully with the High Priest's Golden Spear.

I'd left all my equipment back at the nest today, but I figured I ought to bring it along on our next hunt.

｢I thought we'd gotten stronger, but this is something else. I had no idea a Sea Demon had abilities like that.｣

｢I'm amazing? Amazing?｣

"Psychic power proficiency, increased 42% from before. Congratulations."

｢I don't know what that means, but thank you!｣

The three of them reveled in front of the Crystalwing's corpse. I dragged the male's body over to them.

[ZZZZZZZ (Good work, everyone)]

"A fascinating transformation, as always. Requesting samples for genetic analysis."

[ZZZ (No)]

｢May I have the female's heart and some of her organs? To eat, I mean.｣

[ZZZZZZZ ZZZZZ (Because of the unlock conditions?)]

｢No. I need this to raise my Griffin deification stage.｣

Come to think of it, I remembered now. Just as Amorphs had growth stages, a Volf's deification had stages of its own. In the lore, the higher their deification stage climbed, the closer they drew to the gods of the Volf people.

The Griffin was a kind of hybrid creature, an eagle fused with a lion. It specialized in land combat, but it also possessed a limited capacity for gliding flight. That was why advancing its deification required the power of a mighty flying creature.

Her growth benefited my survival too. I nodded.

[ZZ (Go ahead)]

｢Thank you.｣

Well then — time to start eating.

While Mother of the Sky set about butchering her kill, I decided to begin with the male's corpse.

Its head was so massive that meters were the sensible unit of measurement. I started by tearing off the beak and crest attached to it, then popped the crest — muscle fibers and skin still clinging to it — into my mouth.

…….

My twin-split jaws worked busily, grinding the crest down. The distinctive texture — somewhere between bone and cartilage — was a delight in my mouth. With every chew, thick, viscous juice welled out and slicked down my throat, and before I knew it, I was in a genuinely good mood.

Tastes like oxtail soup.

It was close to the sensation of cartilage steeped in rich bone broth, dipped in tangy soy sauce. Saying the flavor and aroma were simply denser would be the most accurate comparison.

Where the Ice Horror had been memorable for its fierce, searing spice, this carried a deep, homey, almost rustic satisfaction.

Having demolished the crest in no time, I tried the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beak as well. Maybe it was because the previous bite had been so strongly flavored, but the beak didn't offer anything particularly notable.

The texture's nice, though — crisp and clean.

His beak crunched like biting into a perfectly ripe cucumber. As I chewed it, I tore the head free from the body in one piece. The moment I swallowed the last of the beak, I set about the head, which wobbled on my tongue.

Mmm. Good.

Based on the texture of the crest and beak, I'd expected the whole head to be extremely tough. It wasn't.

This is like poached meat.

Unlike the crest, with its intense aroma and savor, the head as a whole was mild and tender. Eaten together, without separating the two, it would have been far better.

The tongue's the highlight, though.

I'd heard before that pig and beef tongues each had their own distinctive taste. I'd never tried them myself, so I couldn't compare directly, but the Crystalwing's tongue was plenty distinctive in its own right — pleasantly springy, with a rich fattiness that came through loud and clear. A flavor made for drinking, honestly.

Having polished off the entire head, I waited for the Predation Effect to trigger.

Huh?

No matter how long I waited, the translucent text box stayed silent. Thinking I might have simply missed it, I opened the box myself, but everything was unchanged.

No way.

Suspecting I hadn't eaten enough, I devoured the Crystalwing's entire long neck as well, but the text box I'd hoped for never appeared.

Damn it!

After the Glacier Fiend, the Predation Effect had once again failed to trigger on a low-probability roll. I considered eating what remained of the body too, but I needed to save that for offsetting the aftereffects once the Paragon of the Hunt transformation ended.

…You've got to be kidding me.

I'd thought my luck was good. It wasn't. The goddess of fortune had betrayed me again at the worst possible moment. The happiness my delicious meal had brought came crashing down into the pit.

I turned my gaze to the female's corpse.

I've got one chance left.

The trait I wanted most was Space Flight. After that, the broadcast-based stealth and detection capability, or else the hyper-regeneration. Winning the former — Space Flight — was the best-case scenario, but the latter wouldn't be a bad consolation prize.

The problem was that among the rest of its traits there were duds too. Things like Robust Vitality or Enhanced Vision.

…I never even factored that in.

The fight itself had gone smoothly — I hadn't expected an unforeseen obstacle to be waiting for me afterward.

Just then, Mother of the Sky came toward me carrying something slathered in blood.

｢I just found something, so I was going to— huh? What's wrong?｣

[ZZZZZZZ ZZZZZ (It failed this time too)]

｢What?｣

When I told her I hadn't gained a trait, her eyes went round.

｢…Shouldn't you eat the whole corpse, then?｣

[ZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZ ZZZ (That won't make any difference)]

｢Still, you failed once, so the second one's bound to trigger.｣

Hearing that made me think of the gambler's fallacy, but I didn't bother pointing it out. She was only trying to comfort me, after all.

Tch. What's failed has failed. Nothing to be done about it.

I'd done everything I could. Sitting here despairing wouldn't change a thing. Preparing for what came next was more efficient than dwelling on the miss.

If this one doesn't pan out either, I'll start lining up other abilities.

Going after the Sharkbear's Reinforced Endocrine Glands first wouldn't be a bad call.

I tore into the female Crystalwing's head. Rather than separating the beak to eat it on its own, I crunched the whole thing down together.

It was just as tasty as the male's, but this time my tension outweighed the flavor. The hard beak shattered, the skull sheathing the brain cracked under my powerful jaws, and the contents streamed down my throat and into my stomach in a rush.

Come on!

All that remained was the section connecting to the neck. I swallowed it whole, without chewing.

And the instant I'd digested the entirety of its head—

｢Grrrrrr!｣

Yes!

The moment the text box appeared before my eyes, I roared out loud. When I raised both arms and growled, No. 26 beside me flinched ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in alarm.

｢Big Baby, what's wrong? Are you hurt?｣

｢I'm not hurt — I'm happy. That's why I did it.｣

｢Is it that delicious?｣

｢Right now you'd probably taste heaven in anything you ate.｣

A thread of laughter wove through the thought-wave Mother of the Sky cast my way, but I had no room in me to care.

Of all the things to put me through the wringer. Approve!

Staring at the trait I had wanted so desperately, I accepted the application.

I was born in the cargo hold of a starship, and for the first time, I had walked upon alloy plating.

Beneath a deep ocean on the Cult's holy planet, I had swum with my fins.

Land. Sea. And now the sky.

On this frozen world, I had gained a new power —

the power to travel that infinite world drenched in darkness.

"Ugh… is everyone all right?"

"W-we're fine, Captain!"

"Captain! Are you unharmed?"

"D-damn it! Damage report, now!"

"Heavy damage to the main battery! The aft hull plating has also been breached! Fortunately, engine damage is minimal!"

"Casualties?"

"…Five aircraft pilots and seven gunners missing, sir."

The Cult cruiser captain, who had briefly allowed himself relief at the light engine damage, immediately twisted his face into a scowl.

This cursed planet, I swear!

It had already been five days since Jason, the young priest they served, had vanished. On top of that, the ambush they'd just suffered. With troubles piling on troubles, the captain felt his head would burst.

A promising talent — one who had suffered a major failure some time ago and been confined to quarters — had come all this way to an unregistered planet, one that appeared on no navigational charts whatsoever, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠disappeared. It was an unprecedented scandal for the Empire.

Any other time, they would have continued holding position and awaiting the priest's contact, but this once they couldn't. The being who had permitted them to establish their camp had issued an eviction.

When days passed and Jason still didn't return, the venerable Black Galagon had driven them out at once, declaring that it had business of its own and no time to waste on insignificant creatures.

He didn't know what the others thought, but the captain was privately grateful to the Black Galagon. With each passing day, the Galagons' attitude toward them had grown noticeably worse.

If they had lingered even one more day, the starving Galagons would have drained every last one of them dry.

Leaving the nest had gone smoothly enough. The real trouble began afterward.

As they attempted to depart aboard the ship they'd parked outside the nest, some creature had attacked them.

"…Answer me one question. Do you honestly believe those Garan Minos will simply let us go?"

"Consider the nature of cowardly beasts. Having gotten what they wanted, they won't come after us."

Neither of them needed to say aloud what it was the creatures wanted — the twelve crewmen who had vanished.

Why, of all things, did it have to be Garan Minos…?

The Garan Mino — a colossal pterosaur whose name meant "wings of light" — was an exceedingly rare creature. Unless you served in the Temple Guard, which hunted nothing but monsters, or worked as a Cult smuggler, you could go your whole life without ever seeing one.

When two of the beasts, whose names he'd only ever heard spoken, had rammed his ship moments after liftoff, the captain thought he must be dreaming. He came back to his senses only after the hull had been breached and crewmen had been lost.

Only thanks to the twelve Temple Guardsmen remaining aboard had they managed to drive the Garan Minos off.

"Captain, forgive my bluntness, but we must reach the Council with word of this as quickly as possible."

"I'm well ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aware."

The Temple Guardsman charged with protecting the crew pressed him, and the captain felt his irritation flare — but he forced himself to answer calmly. Without that man, everyone aboard this ship would have ended up as one more meal for the savage pterosaurs.

"How long until the engines are repaired?"

"Hard to say until we begin, but it will likely take considerable time."

"Spare no support — get the engines fixed first. I'm sealing off the breach zone and isolating it; move all critical supplies to another section."

"Understood."

The one mercy was that the engines themselves were undamaged. This planet was a remote nowhere, absent from every navigational record. Should they end up stranded, a rescue team was little more than a fantasy.

Not that we'd all be dead long before any rescue arrived!

On this planet, crawling with Galagons, Garan Minos, and every manner of monster besides, surviving a single day was a trial. And that wasn't all. The climate was vicious beyond description — without a reinforced suit, a man couldn't last more than a few minutes in the open.

"We will handle external watch. Please have those repairs finished as soon as you possibly can."

"…You have my word."

The Temple Guardsmen all wore a special reinforced suit known as the Dragon Scale Suit. It was thanks to that ivory armor that they could endure this murderous cold.

Ordinary Cult crewmen like the captain himself, stepping outside? Nine times out of ten, they'd freeze to death.

O Providence! Let nothing else go wrong, I beg of you!

Watching his crew hurry back and forth across the deck above the situation room, the captain prayed in silence.