Chapter 206
Chapter 206
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 206
Chapter Title: Ep. 206
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Ham Ort was the third mate of Ord Grad and second in the pack's hierarchy. There were many of her kind with white scales just like hers, but none possessed power greater than her own.
Thanks to that strength, she could hunt the various creatures inhabiting this icy planet. Among those who met their end by her breath were beings worthy of the title "king."
However, the king of the skies was a particularly tricky foe from a Galleron's perspective.
It flew high above, devouring every bit of power her precious kin needed to survive.
Even when she was part of Ord Grad's pack, it had repeatedly stunted the growth of her young kin. She had possessed great power even as a juvenile and had joined her kin multiple times to slay the king.
But whenever time passed, a new king always appeared to cause trouble. They probably came from that space above the skies, where the stars dwelled.
As annoying as that king was, at some point it stopped coming after her kin. Instead, it lingered only around the mountains bordering the garden of stars.
Those mountains emitted a strange power that even her kind avoided. They had been fine when she bore green scales, but at some point, they had changed.
In any case, after molting into her white scales, she had once hunted the sky king alone. Now that she had grown even stronger since then, it should be no trouble at all.
There was one variable, however: Adhai. Her daughter, born with a weak body unlike her superior kin.
There were two reasons she brought her to this dangerous place to fight a formidable enemy.
The first was that moving the king's corpse would be difficult. Time was short, and her kin were exhausted. To raise the daughter of the meteor, it was better to bring her directly to the food.
And the second was...
After leaving the nest, the daughter of the meteor had already attempted to flee three times.
If she acted like this when they were alone together, what would happen if Ham Ort went off alone to hunt the sky king? She would undoubtedly escape the nest while Ham Ort was away.
Ham Ort clamped her forepaw tightly around the struggling Adhai. Until now, she had knocked her out every time she tried to flee, but this couldn't go on forever.
She had long known that the daughter of the meteor was hostile toward her and the other kin. She believed the pack had abandoned her.
But if she kept acting like this, it would be a problem. Even if they gained the power to defeat Ord Grad, it would be useless if the daughter of the meteor stayed passive.
Ham Ort infused her thought wave with intense emotion, and Adhai froze.
Adhai finally sent out a dejected thought wave. Ham Ort picked up the now obedient Adhai and resumed heading toward their destination.
She boasted the finest flight skills among the white-scaled kin. She moved so fast that sound couldn't keep up. Even amid this, she used her psionic power to cushion the shock for the daughter of the meteor.
As she cleaved through the air, a black mountain came into view.
A creepy energy flowed from the mountain. And mixed within it were alien energies.
Adhai, sensing the energy flow late, lifted her head. Then she suddenly began thrashing.
At Adhai's words, Ham Ort focused on the tendril at her mouth. One of the alien energies was unmistakably the sky king's wavelength. The other was something even she didn't recognize.
She realized what it meant that the two energies were intertwined.
The "big adult" the daughter of the meteor spoke of had beaten her to the punch.
Adhai's thought wave carried two emotions: pride and certainty.
The unknown energy resembled psionic power but was far more potent. It felt similar to when she had encountered Ord Grad. The claim that the "big adult" would win was no empty boast.
Ham Ort pondered briefly before activating her psionic power. Purple sparks danced from her tendril, and Adhai's body went limp.
Given her temperament, an encounter with the "big adult" might provoke unpredictable actions. It was better to knock her out.
Ham Ort halted her flight and landed on the ground, carefully setting Adhai down beside a tree.
She gazed down at the small being she had birthed.
Born frail and abandoned by her kin, she had somehow become their savior. For a fleeting moment, an emotion flickered in her purple eyes before vanishing.
Turning her gaze away, she spread her wings and took to the skies.
There was one thing Adhai didn't know.
Why she hadn't died and had been able to leave this planet.
But Ham Ort had no intention of telling her. Regardless, the fact remained that her daughter had been exiled.
There was certainly some responsibility on her part. She intended to atone for it.
Ham Ort hovered in the sky with her white wings fully spread. Keeping my eyes fixed on her, I focused on my auxiliary organ.
The Skywhale was a formidable opponent even Gallerons struggled against. Purely in terms of specs, it was comparable to a White Galleron, but its special abilities created the gap.
For Gallerons, whose strength lay in high-output psionic attacks, the energy-draining Skywhale was a natural predator. Unless it was a Black Galleron capable of one-shotting it, Gallerons typically hunted Skywhales in groups.
'Even during events, they showed up in nearly 5-to-1 ratios.'
So there had to be other Gallerons besides her.
As I scanned the surroundings with my auxiliary organ, Ham Ort charged at me. With a single flap of her wings, she closed the distance.
She swung her forepaw as she arrived right in front of me. Her claws, gleaming like refined diamond, aimed for my neck.
'Fast.'
Her speed was worthy of being called a white bolt of lightning. I was hovering midair with wingbeats and hastily pulled my neck back. Her claws missed my monster tendril by a paper's thickness.
As I dodged, I tensed the tail dangling toward the ground. Muscles in my lower body tightened, and the pincer at the tail's end shot upward.
Before the pincer could strike Ham Ort's hind leg, her form suddenly shrank. She had swiftly retreated upon missing her attack.
Purple energy gathered at her tendril. She was preparing to fire a psionic breath even as she fell back.
I hurriedly gathered my own energy as well. She finished charging first and unleashed her psionic breath.
A purple beam sliced through the dark sky. Maintaining my charge, I fully folded one wing. My body tilted sharply downward, and the beam grazed my head carapace.
My 'Psionic Reflection Armor' automatically activated, reflecting part of the beam back at her. The monster's tendril, having just completed its charge, fired its own purple beam.
Ham Ort, who had shown astonishing agility moments ago, effortlessly dodged the dual prongs of psionic power.
[Zzzt (Now's the time!)]
Hearing my thought wave, the Sky Mother riding on my back tried to use 'Ice Wraith'.
But Ham Ort, sensing we were up to something, quickly widened the distance, foiling her attack.
'Cunning one.'
As expected of a Galleron who had rebelled against a Black Galleron. In our brief clash, her judgment surpassed that of average players.
Deeming close combat unfavorable, she began spamming psionic breaths from afar.
With my 'Beast's Reinforced Wings', I could move quite nimbly—not quite matching a Galleron's 'Super Acceleration', but close enough. I pressed forward through the onslaught of purple storm.
Her aim was excellent, but I was seasoned at evasion. By adjusting my wing-arms' angle to shift flight direction, I dodged the beams with minimal movement.
Of course, evasion alone wouldn't win, so I interspersed counterattacks. Thanks to the 'Berserker Synapse' effect, I consumed far less energy. This applied not just to physical activity but also to high-energy traits.
In other words, I could wield 'God's Lash' more aggressively than before.
I spun my body with my wings to evade a beam and charged the thunder god's power. My black-scaled body took on a golden sheen, reflecting the sunset.
To her, who could sense energy flows, it would look like terrifying power concentrating in the body of her foe.
Sensing the danger, she fired another psionic breath. Thicker than mine, it was clearly at higher output.
'Doesn't matter if it doesn't hit.'
I whipped my glowing golden membrane to evade the incoming beam and launched myself upward.
Then something beyond my expectations happened.
The beam, which should have passed far below me, curved its trajectory toward me.
'What the...!'
She had relentlessly changed positions to target me before, but now she hovered motionless, wings beating steadily. Psionic power spread around her like a vast spiderweb.
'She's controlling the beam!'
She was forcibly manipulating an already-fired psionic breath, altering its path at will.
The beam, bending upward mid-flight, was about to slam into my abdomen. Too late to dodge. I hurriedly shielded my belly with my combat arms.
The instant before impact, the beam dispersed in midair.
'What?'
Where the beam had broken apart, dozens—hundreds—of psionic threads intertwined, much like Ham Ort's own.
I thought she had dispelled it, but no. She seemed as surprised as I was, visibly flustered.
Then No. 26 sent a thought wave from my back.
'No. 26!'
This miracle was undoubtedly her doing. She must have interfered with the psionic breath in a manner similar to Ham Ort.
But it wasn't easy; exhaustion seeped through her thought wave.
'Whatever—it's an opportunity!'
I didn't know how the two had used the same method, but this was my chance. Seizing the opening No. 26 created, I activated 'God's Lash'.
Golden light enveloped my body, climbing to my mouth. The thunder god's lightning whip. I unleashed it forth.
A beat later, Ham Ort exhaled a breath of pure psionic power.
A golden thunder wyrm tore across the sky. From the opposite side, a purple heavenly steed charged.
The moment they collided, a storm of light erupted. Between us rose a sun of mingled energies.
A blazing purple-and-gold sun.
The sun exploded, unleashing a colossal shockwave. The light-infused blast swept away the black clouds shrouding the planet's atmosphere. In the now cloudless sky, yellow lightning and purple energy spiderwebbed like cracks in glass.
After the shockwave scoured the heavens, a primordial rumble shook heaven and earth. It was less a sound and more something perceived through raw instinct—beyond mere noise, just an overwhelming deafness.
The clash, visible even from space, was brief but intense.
The result was my victory by judgment. 'God's Lash' had overwhelmed the psionic breath. Ham Ort evaded with her keen judgment but couldn't fully escape.
One wingtip damaged, she wobbled, barely staying airborne. Her snow-white scales were scorched and cracked from the aftershocks.
Even in this hopeless situation, she roared defiantly. Her tendril glowed a paler purple than before.
I prepared to fire another 'God's Lash' when my auxiliary organ warned me. Multiple lifeforms were rapidly approaching.
'Gallerons?'
As expected, the incoming beings were all Gallerons. Ten green-scaled ones appeared in the clear sky.
They flew here swiftly and clustered around Ham Ort, communicating something.
'What are they doing?'
I thought they'd charge me immediately, but no. I wondered if they were devising a plan, but the atmosphere wasn't right. If only I could eavesdrop on their thought waves, but for some reason, I couldn't detect them.
No. 26, with the finest psionic tuning among us, eavesdropped and relayed it.
'Big trouble?'
Whether I understood her words was another matter.
They conversed among themselves before abruptly turning and flying away. Whatever was happening, they were clearly retreating.
'Where do you think you're going?'
I couldn't let the Green Gallerons go, but Ham Ort was nearly done for. I couldn't miss this chance at an Apex.
As I aimed 'God's Lash' at their backs, Ham Ort sent me a thought wave.
[Zz (What?)]
[Zzz (Crazy)]
Understanding her message, my body moved on instinct.
In the meantime, Ham Ort fled with the Green Gallerons. She seemed to send one last thought wave before leaving, but I had no time to care.
'To think she'd use her as a hostage!'
I thought it was fine since she needed Gallerons to protect her. Plus, as her own child, I believed she wouldn't harm Adhai.
My mistake. I folded my wings back and dove toward the ground like a plummeting meteor.
I crash-landed almost like a fall and immediately set the kids down, activating my auxiliary organ without a glance at the exploded Skywhale corpse.
'Where? Where is she... there!'
A familiar scent wafted from one side of the forest. I rushed toward it.
Soon, I spotted a Galleron lying beside a tree. Emerald-green scales, small frame, plump tail—unmistakably Adhai.
The moment I found her, I generated symbiotic spores. If her life hung by a thread as Ham Ort said, this was necessary.
As I moved to attach them to the seemingly lifeless Adhai, she suddenly raised her head.
[Zzz (You okay?)]
She sprang up, clinging to me and rubbing her head against mine. No matter how many times I checked, she appeared utterly unharmed.
'...No way?'
I didn't want to believe it, but it seemed I'd been had.