Black and White (3)
｢Hidden kin.｣｢Bringing them.｣
[Zzzz zzz zzzzzz zzz (When everything is settled, bring them here.)]
｢Understood.｣
With a respectful bow in my direction, Nel Germa spread her wings and took to the sky.
By rights, she should have died in this very spot — devoured by Adhai as planned. But the plan had changed. Rather than sacrificing her, I had chosen the path of letting her live.
With the plan altered, she moved on to her next task: gathering the scattered survivors of her kin.
Most of the Galagons who escaped the purge were still hatchlings, she said, watched over by only a handful of Green Galagons. Judging that the safest place on this planet was at my side, she decided to bring them all here.
Not that I have any intention of eating them right now.
My original plan had been to acquire wings and then rescue Adhai — not to fight an all-out war against the Black Dragon's pride.
Since arriving on this planet, I had clashed with Galagons exactly twice: once against Ham Ort alone, and once against ten Green Galagons. Both times the circumstances had aligned so perfectly that victory came easily, but that was luck, nothing more.
What if Ham Ort had brought subordinates? Or what if those ten Green Galagons had been led by three or four White Galagons? The fight would have been anything but easy.
A Galagon is dangerous on its own, but a pack together is something else entirely.
Just as lions in Africa hunt dangerous megafauna as a pride, a properly assembled Galagon flock becomes a genuine threat. Think of it as a strictly superior version of the Glacier Fiend commanding its minions. A large Galagon pack is a living squadron of fighter jets.
Which means I have to strike fast, before they finish their own preparations.
Once they learned that the Green Galagon pursuit squad sent after Ham Ort's remnants had been wiped out, they would realize something was wrong. Ored Ghad was older than any Galagon on this planet, and he would know exactly how to respond to the emergence of a powerful enemy.
In other words, I had to shake them before they could dig in.
Thankfully, Nel Germa knew a great deal of useful information.
Like Ham Ort, she had once belonged to the Black Dragon's pride, and so she knew precisely how many White Galagons it held.
Nineteen White Galagons in total.
There had been twenty-four originally, but four had left with Ham Ort, leaving nineteen. Twelve of those were young specimens, freshly molted. The sexes were split evenly down the middle.
The remaining seven, however, were mature adults with long years since their molt. Not quite Black Galagons, but clearly quite old.
In the game, age had made no difference. But this was reality, and here the spread widened with every year lived and every battle survived.
One look at Ham Ort was proof enough of that.
Those seven were prized mates of Ored Ghad and directly managed by the Black Dragon himself. Nel Germa had emphasized how dangerous they were — I would do well to assume each of them was at least Ham Ort's equal.
First, I'll build a plan around culling the weak ones.
Any White Galagon would do as material for Adhai's growth — at least, that was what the Galagons who knew her secret had said.
The first one becomes food. The rest….
I would devour as many as I could for their Genetic Essences, then draw the survivors over to our side. Any other time, I'd have eaten the lot of them, but right now we needed to grow our numbers.
And I already know when they go out to hunt.
The seven elders never left the nest, remaining at Ored Ghad's side. The twelve younger ones flew out on a hunt once every three to four days.
Nel Germa said there wasn't much time left before their next sortie.
They didn't yet know the pursuit squad was dead, so there was a good chance they would send out the hunt before learning of it. Then again, a Galagon's sense of time ran subtly different from a human's, so I couldn't rely on her word alone.
Surveillance and preparation. I need both.
I would keep watch on the nest's movements while making ready for battle before they ever took wing.
That was what I — no, what we — had to do from this moment on.
Having sketched out a rough plan from what Nel Germa told me, I called the kids over.
“It's a solid plan. I'd only change one thing.”
[Zzz zzzzz zzzzz (Which part?)]
“The nest lookout should be me, not PS-111. My eyes are sharper, and I've got the experience.”
“I cannot, agree with, that statement. My sensor, array covers 360 degrees, and—”
My original reason for assigning nest surveillance to PS-111 came down to two advantages she possessed: psionic detection and agility.
The best psionics expert among us was No. 26, but she was painfully slow on land. If the Galagons ever caught her, escaping would be next to impossible. PS-111's detection ability was inferior to No. 26's, but her movements were far nimbler.
Still — she has a point.
Mother of the Sky's psionic senses were weaker, but her eyesight was exceptional. PS-111 didn't seem convinced, yet in my judgment the gap between the two wasn't all that large.
Better still, she was a ranker like me. Naturally, she had hunted her share of Galagons.
Though the fact that this isn't a game does bother me.
Unlike the stiff, machine-minded PS-111, she possessed genuine flexibility of judgment. Even if things went sideways, she could claw her way out of a crisis without much trouble.
[Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz (Fair enough. I'll leave that part to Mother of the Sky.)]
“Got it.”
[Zzz zzzzzz zzzzz zzz zzzzzz (In exchange, PS-111 moves with No. 26.)]
“Understood.”
“Leave it to me, friend!”
No. 26 and PS-111 would be tasked with guarding the pack Nel Germa brought back. Nel Germa hadn't said it outright, but it was hard to believe an ancient Black Dragon would have sent only a single pursuit squad.
There are bound to be more Green Galagon trackers out there.
With No. 26 and PS-111 attached to Nel Germa's group, they could handle any encounter without trouble.
[Zzzzzz zzz zzz zzzzz (Adhai. You're coming with me.)]
Two reasons.
Combat training — and seeing how she handled new Apex prey.
White Galagons were certainly the key to her growth, but there was no telling what effect other prey might have. The odds were slim, yet it might prove a tremendous boon to her development.
Either way, there's no loss in it.
Apex creatures were packed with energy — excellent food for a freshly molted Adhai.
And she could only temper her abilities if I brought her along on the hunt.
Going into the coming battle, she needed total command of her own powers or things would go wrong. Nothing adapted her to combat like facing a genuinely dangerous foe.
[Zzzzzz zzz zzz zzzzz zzzzz (When Nel Germa returns, take them to the nest.)]
“You sure about that?”
[Zzzzzz zzzz zzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz (Blue Galagons left outside will freeze to death. They can only survive in the cruiser.)]
I understood what Mother of the Sky was worried about, but there was no other way. Having lost the Dragon's Nest, the only way to keep them alive was to send them to the heat of the cruiser.
Right on cue, Nel Germa returned.
｢Survivors.｣｢Kin.｣｢All?｣
｢All.｣
｢Know?｣｢Where?｣
｢Ored Ghad.｣｢Took them.｣
Nel Germa had brought back three Green Galagons and five Blue Galagons. Every single White Galagon, she said, had been killed by Ored Ghad personally.
That's bad.
The enemy fielded nineteen White Galagons; our side had nine in total, Adhai included. Ten at best. The imbalance was beyond comparing.
I had expected as much, disappointing as it was.
Adhai had not. Her whole body began to tremble. While she was held captive by Ham Ort, she had been kept in the nest where the hatchlings lived. No one knew better than she did how many Blue Galagons had died there.
Any other time, I would have comforted her. This time, I would not.
Rage serves a fight.
It let her push past the limits she would otherwise draw around herself.
Granted, rage could drown good judgment — but that didn't matter here. I would be the one regulating her emotions.
[Zzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz (Ask them where they want to go.)]
“I'll explain on the way. Follow me.”
｢Agreed.｣｢All.｣｢Moving.｣
Everyone began moving exactly as we'd arranged. When they were gone, only Adhai and I remained.
｢Big Adult.｣｢Me.｣｢Shock.｣｢Young kin.｣｢Death.｣｢Not want.｣
[Zzz (I know.)]
｢Young kin.｣｢Sin.｣｢None.｣｢Ored Ghad.｣｢Bad.｣
Truthfully, before things had turned out this way, I'd intended to devour every Galagon on this planet — but that, I kept to myself.
Instead, I said something else.
[Zzzzzz (We avenge them.)]
｢Agree.｣｢Vengeance.｣｢Needed.｣
[Zzz zzz zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz (Ored Ghad abandoned you. He killed your mother, and he killed the young ones too.)]
｢Agree.｣
The moment my Monster's Tentacles carried the wave to her, fire surged up in her eyes. This was no metaphor — a violet flame truly flickered to life above her amethyst gaze, her latent psionic power stirred and spilling out of her body.
[Zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzz zzzzz (Ored Ghad must repay this in death. His whole pride with him.)]
｢Agree!｣｢Ored Ghad.｣｢Death.｣｢Needed!｣｢Needed!｣
Adhai nodded with fierce, burning conviction.
With that, I could harvest the Galagons' Genetic Essences without putting a crack in my relationship with her. It was a pity about the Blue Galagons, but no matter.
Leaving all that aside — Ored Ghad has to die.
Not merely because he would come for me, or because I needed his Genetic Essence.
He was the one who had abandoned Adhai in the first place. The one who had carved an unforgivable wound into someone I cherished.
And when every preparation is complete….
Ored Ghad would die by my hand.
The ice plains where the King of Beasts made his domain.
The ground there had grown unstable ever since a mysterious earthquake had shaken it days ago, and above that fractured surface flew ten green-scaled figures.
They were the pursuit squad dispatched by Ored Ghad, combing the plains for the remnants who served Ham Ort, the Snow-White Queen.
After scouring the ice plains and finding no trace of the enemy, the flock chose its next destination: a place far removed from their nest. The Frozen Canyon beyond the plains. It was the King of Beasts' territory, but they paid that no mind.
The King of Beasts was invincible on the ground, but he could not fly. Even if they crossed paths with him, they could slip away whenever they pleased.
And so the Galagon flock entered the King of Beasts' domain without a single thing to stop them.
The ten winged dragons crossed the deep, nature-carved ravine without a care in the world. They were somewhere around the canyon's midpoint when the lead Galagon spotted something.
Down in that abyss, too deep for light to properly reach, something glinted.
｢Halt.｣
｢Traitors.｣｢Found?｣
｢Confirm.｣｢Approach.｣
The very instant the lead Galagon moved toward the light —
dozens of red lights appeared on the cliff face above it.
｢Enemy｣｢Am—｣
Sensing that something was terribly wrong, the Galagon rushed to broadcast a thought-wave. But his kin never received it.
Some unknowable interference was walling them off from one another.
While he floundered, his signal swallowed before it could land, the red lights hurled themselves from the cliff. Dozens of unidentified creatures, each bearing many legs, swarmed down onto his body.
He thrashed and clawed, desperate to shake them loose. It was useless. With razor talons and teeth, they savaged his wings without mercy.
Within seconds, soaked head to tail in his own blood, he was plunging toward a depth with no visible bottom.
He could only hope his kin had escaped while he was being torn apart. Reality betrayed that hope.
All nine of his comrades were falling into the abyss exactly as he was.
And above, on the cliff's edge, still more red lights gazed down at them without a flicker of emotion.
“Ten hostile organisms subdued. Committed as supply energy.”
“Energy reserves sufficient to restore 'Fira Eleven' to 75% capacity. Resumption of activity anticipated.”
“Deploying recovery team. Deploying supply team….”
Even as they fell alongside him, the red lights droned on in that ceaseless, incomprehensible tongue.
What those sounds meant, the Green Galagon would never live to understand.