The Trap (5)
"You've arrived."
When I returned to the nest, PS-111 was there to greet us. The Mother of the Sky and No. 26 were nowhere in sight.
[Zzz zzzzz zzz zzzzzz zzzz (Anything happen while I was gone? Run into any enemies, anything like that?)]
"No Galagon entities were encountered. The main controller remains aboard the Cult cruiser."
[Zzzzzz zzzzzzz zzz zzzz (Good. The Mother of the Sky still hasn't shown up?)]
"'Middle Baby' departed on reconnaissance and has not yet returned."
It seemed PS-111 was guarding the nest while No. 26 was looking after the Galagons on the cruiser. As for the Mother of the Sky, she'd gone to keep watch on Od Grad's pack and simply hadn't come back yet.
I set down the cocoons I'd been carrying inside the nest.
"What are those?"
[Zzzzzz zzzz zzz zzz zzz zzzzzz (Cocoons made by Hellside Hornets. Want to try eating one?)]
"Determining it to be an interesting organic compound."
[Zzz zzzz zzzzz zzzzzzz (There's liquid inside, so just drink it down.)]
"Acknowledged."
PS-111 stretched out her long, spindly legs and moved toward the cocoon. With practiced precision, she used one bladed limb to slice it neatly open, then spread her hooked fingers wide and dipped a hand into the liquid that came trickling out.
Ever since eating the Blood Reaver—that energy-absorption device built by the Star Union—she sometimes fed this way, sipping nutrients like this. It seemed unlikely she could even taste anything doing it, but she didn't appear to mind in the slightest.
"High concentration of nutrients essential for survival detected. Can you procure a large quantity of this organic compound?"
[Zzz zzzz zzz zzzz (What I brought is all there is.)]
"Recommending further acquisition of the compound in the future."
So the healing sensation I'd felt the first time she drank the cocoon's liquid hadn't just been my imagination—it was because the stuff was packed with nutrients, exactly as she'd analyzed.
Which, in a way, made perfect sense. It was made by dissolving living creatures whole and letting them ferment.
[Zzzzzz zzz zzzzz (I should bring some to the cruiser too.)]
｢Young kin. Food?｣
[Zzz (That's right.)]
It had been a day and a half since they'd shut themselves up in the cruiser. A squad of pursuing Green Galagons could still appear in this area, so the Galagons aboard the ship had been unable to go out hunting.
There were plenty of Cult crew rations stockpiled on the cruiser, but none of it was suitable food for a Galagon. Which meant they'd been starving this entire time.
Letting them starve to death would be a terrible loss.
The whole point of bringing the Blue Galagons here was to win over the remnants of Adhai's and Ham Ort's pack. I hadn't yet collected payment for saving their lives, and I had no intention of letting them die for free.
But Adhai, who knew nothing of my intentions, was delighted to see me caring for them.
｢Young kin. Hunger. Relieved. Adult. Work. Me. Adult. Kin. Food. Delivered.｣
[Zzz zzzz zzzz zzzz (Good. Deliver this and this, and only this.)]
｢No problems.｣
Even after leaving PS-111 and setting out from the nest, she kept chattering away. Just like a few days ago, it seemed she wanted to be a good elder to the young Hatchlings—quite apart from whatever feelings she held toward the kin who had abandoned her.
Maybe she's trying to overwrite the painful memories.
I matched Adhai's chatter as we crossed the forest together, and before long, the ivory cruiser came into view through the trees. I could sense the parasite-implanted Cult members moving about inside it.
｢Hi Big Baby!｣
No. 26 had sensed me too, sending a pulse from inside the ship. A moment later, she came bounding out of the open hangar bay.
Huh?
The one bounding toward me was hugging five blue-scaled Galagons. The Blue Galagons, each over two meters long, were utterly engulfed by the ten-meter pink jellyfish. Every one of them looked as comfortable as pups nestled in their mother's arms.
[Zzz (What's this?)]
｢The wriggly babies said they were hungry, so I fed them!｣
[Zzz (Fed them what?)]
Just as she said, the Blue Galagons' tentacles were plugged into the psychic power that No. 26 had spread over her own body.
She's feeding them psychic power?
Their thin tentacles swelled up like straws at regular intervals, so there was no doubt about it—they were siphoning psychic power.
Come to think of it, that's not actually impossible.
No. 26 had grown explosively herself by absorbing the psychic power of a dead Sea Demon. Passing strength along to the Galagons, fellow psychic creatures, was more than feasible.
Now that I look closely, their scale color seems different...
Looking again, the coloring of the Blue Galagons nestled against her was odd. They were predominantly blue, but with something like green stripes running through it.
[Zzzzzz zzzz (Were they always like that?)]
｢Dunno.｣
Adhai seemed to find it strange too, tilting her head at the Hatchlings.
Just then, Ham Ort's group emerged from behind No. 26—the White Galagon Nel Germa, along with the three Green Galagons she'd brought in.
I held out the cocoons I'd brought for them. Only then did No. 26 notice them hanging from my arms and erosion tentacles, and asked:
｢What's that?｣
[Zzzzzz zzz zzzzzz zzzzz (Food. I brought it for everyone to eat.)]
｢It looks weird.｣
｢Shape. Funny. But. Tastes like honey.｣
Curiosity sparked by Adhai's words, No. 26 pulled out a tentacle and wound it around a cocoon. Then, spreading the rest of her body out like a blanket—everything except the part wrapped around the Blue Galagons—she swallowed the cocoon whole.
Inside her translucent pink body, the cocoon dissolved and its liquid seeped out. As she absorbed it, her body began to sparkle and glow like a mirror ball.
｢Tastes good!｣
The moment she started eating, the other Galagons took an interest in the cocoons too. And the instant they all got their first taste, their eyes curved into crescent moons.
｢Gratitude. Debt. Not forgotten.｣
Nel Germa, who had only sampled a cocoon before passing the rest to the Hatchlings, gave me a greeting of thanks. The Green Galagons beside her hesitated a moment, then sent me thought-waves of gratitude as well.
I didn't do anything worth thanking me for.
It was by no means free. I intended to collect every bit of it back, with interest, later.
With the Galagons fed, I returned to the nest to recover from my injuries. Then, around nightfall, the Mother of the Sky finally came home—and she brought back two pieces of extremely important information.
The first was that Od Grad's pack was on the move. Twelve White Galagons had left the nest all at once.
My plan had been to pick off the hunting White Galagons one by one before striking the nest. Adhai needed to eat White Galagons in order to grow.
And I need White Galagon genetic essence myself.
Up to that point, everything had gone according to plan. It was the second piece of information that was the problem.
[Zzzzzz zzzzz (Ham Ort is still alive?)]
｢Yeah. I watched the other Galagons carrying her.｣
She nodded to everyone gathered around.
According to the Mother of the Sky, the mother who bore Adhai was still alive. Though honestly, "barely clinging to life" would be a more accurate description than "alive."
At the news of Ham Ort's survival, I felt Nel Germa and the three Green Galagons stir with agitation. She had been their leader, and they seemed desperate to somehow rescue her.
Hmm.
The situation had just grown complicated.
The truth was, I was not the leader of the Galagons hiding in the cruiser—because I hadn't beaten their pack in a fight to claim them. I'd protected them and brought them food, but that alone wouldn't be enough to make them turn their backs on their former leader.
Given time, they'd come to follow me, sure...
But time was exactly what I didn't have, making that a pointless hypothetical.
On the other hand, simply leaving Ham Ort to die was also a problem. She was the only Galagon who knew about Adhai's secret. There was still a great deal of information I could get out of her.
"What about rescuing her during the nest assault, after the individual eliminations?"
｢Honestly? Not sure she'll last that long. Her injuries look bad.｣
And that wasn't all—we didn't have much time regardless. The Snow Queen had been left to languish with grievous wounds. White Galagons were hardy creatures; she could probably hold on a day or two, but beyond that, who could say.
What do I do?
Truthfully, this was a question with only one answer.
Plenty of enemies still remained in the nest. Fighting through all of them to rescue Ham Ort amounted to nothing less than a full-scale war—the last strategy a hopelessly outnumbered group like ours should choose.
And yet openly declaring that we were abandoning Ham Ort was another matter entirely.
Doing so could sour Nel Germa and the Green Galagons on me. They'd promised to follow my lead, so they wouldn't outright defy me—but it would leave a mark.
I'll be hard-pressed enough even if they fight with everything they've got. That kind of half-hearted attitude would be a disaster.
As I weighed the best course of action, Adhai came up to me.
｢Big Adult. Ham Ort. Worry. Unnecessary.｣
[Zzz (Huh?)]
｢Me. Confirm. Ham Ort. Strong. Kin. Comparison. Impossible. Pain. Overcome. Possible. Me. Believe. Survival. Possible.｣
She was saying that Ham Ort was strong, and so she would endure.
｢Daughter of the Shooting Star. True.｣
｢Agreed.｣
With those words from Adhai—Ham Ort's daughter, and the Galagons' savior in their eyes—the others voiced their agreement as well.
[Zzzzz (You'll be all right with that?)]
Adhai understood the meaning behind my subtle question and nodded.
｢All right.｣
[Zzz (Good.)]
I understood why she'd acted that way. Clever as she was, she'd have caught on immediately that I was in a bind—so she stepped forward and persuaded the Galagons in my place.
But for all the steadiness of her words, there was anxiety in her eyes. Evidence, no doubt, of her complicated love and hatred for her own mother.
Until her heart mends, that woman has to stay alive.
The one who would decide Ham Ort's fate was not the Black Dragon Od Grad, but the child he'd abandoned—Adhai.
In any case, thanks to Adhai, our course of action was settled: deal with the hunting White Galagons first, then rescue Ham Ort as quickly as possible.
｢Nel Germa. Hunting ground. Know.｣
[Zzz zzz zzzzzz zzz zzzz (Good. Then let's start there.)]
Four of us would hunt the White Galagon: Adhai, me, No. 26, and Nel Germa. The Mother of the Sky would stay on surveillance duty as before, while PS-111 was assigned to guard the cruiser.
"The Cult's fleet systems are complex, but with the crew present, operation will pose no problems."
[Zzz zzzz zzzzz (Just in case, I'm counting on you.)]
"Understood."
With every preparation complete, we readied ourselves to move out at once.
Before leaving, I called the Mother of the Sky aside. It bothered me a little, sending her off again when she'd only just gotten back.
｢You don't need to apologize. Honestly, this beats flying around fighting.｣
[Zzzzzz zzzzz (Glad to hear it.)]
｢I've lost count of how many times you've apologized to me, Morph-fucker.｣
[Zzzzz zzzzzz zzz zzzzzz zzz zzzzzz zzzz (You seem to be taking it well, at least.)]
｢Oh, and if you happen to get your hands on a Galagon heart, save it for me.｣
[Zzzz zzzz (Will do. Stay safe.)]
Instead of answering, she winked one amber eye and vanished into the darkness.
After seeing her off, I took to the sky with No. 26 riding on my back. Adhai and Nel Germa were waiting for me, dipping their heads slightly as I joined them.
｢Hunting ground. This way.｣
We moved fast under Nel Germa's guidance. In a divide-and-conquer operation, time was life itself, so we pushed the pace as hard as we dared.
We flew on in silence for a long while, cleaving through a night sky heavy with storm clouds, until Nel Germa up front began to slow.
｢Near. Hunting ground.｣
｢Me. Kin. Power. One. Sense.｣
[Zzzz zzz (How close?)]
｢Power. Faint. Distance. Considerable.｣
At Adhai's words, we dropped our speed.
Just one enemy? Lucky.
They usually moved in pairs or trios, so this was a surprise. Still, better safe than sorry—I asked the two Galagons to keep watch regardless.
As we glided hidden within the clouds, I too sensed psychic power close to the ground below. Whether the target had noticed our presence or not, its movements abruptly quickened.
It's caught on.
[Zzz zzz zzz (Then we strike right now.)]
｢Agreed.｣
[Zzzz (Hold on tight.)]
｢Okay!｣
After warning No. 26, I adjusted the angle of my wings and dove. Nel Germa and Adhai stayed glued to my sides, not falling behind for an instant.
Against the jet-black forest below, a white speck was streaking away at a terrifying speed.
The White Galagon, trying to escape us.
Predicting the direction of its flight, I fired a standard psychic breath that way. The purple power gathering in the tentacles strung along the back of my head, my neck, and beneath my jaws converged into a single beam of searing heat.
With a thunderous roar, the trees and earth directly in the White Galagon's path split apart. The beast dodged my breath by the width of a hair, and immediately tried to activate its Super Acceleration.
But it wasn't alone out here. Nel Germa, flying at my side, spat out two bursts of psychic breath.
Our target weaved through an aerobatic barrel roll and evaded one of the purple bolts falling from the sky. The remaining bolt tore toward its wing—only to be thwarted at the last moment. The fleeing beast had twisted its head around and fired a defensive psychic breath of its own.
Purple heat-beams from two snow-white dragons with all-too-similar eyes collided in midair.
Whether it was distant thunder or the clash of their powers, a tremendous detonation rolled across the entire region.
The beast seemed to realize that Nel Germa was stronger than it was, for it merely neutralized the breath exchange and tried to bolt again. But by then Adhai had closed the distance, unleashing her signature energy-burst psychic breath in rapid-fire volleys.
Her breath streaked toward it like rounds from a machine gun. This time the beast couldn't dodge properly—three of the bolts ripped through one of its wings.
No longer able to fly, it plummeted into the middle of the forest.
Good.
Confirming its fall, I touched down in the forest alongside Adhai and Nel Germa. Among the shattered trees lay a white Galagon, struggling on the ground.
It's small.
Bigger than a Green Galagon or Adhai, sure, but markedly smaller than Nel Germa. They said it had only recently become a White Galagon—and that certainly seemed true.
Still, that shouldn't stop it from helping Adhai grow, right?
Feed it to her, and everything would become clear.
I approached the Galagon of Od Grad's pack. It simply glared at me, making no move at all.
Was it afraid of us? Only its wing was broken; the rest of it was relatively intact. Given the notoriously combative Galagon temperament, it had more than enough reason to attack by now.
A timid individual?
Just then, the beast sent out a thought-wave.
｢You. Black kin?｣
[Zzz (What?)]
｢Trap. Caught.｣
A trap?
The instant I registered its thought-wave, my entire body felt as if it were curling in on itself.
The air grew heavy, and the transcendent perception unique to the Amorph blared alarm bells through every nerve.
This sensation—vivid, and unlike anything the Predator Sense showed me of the future—I had felt it exactly once before.
When the Imperial Carrier fired its Cosmic Bolt.
It was the same sense of crisis I'd felt facing that absolute power capable of burning a planet's surface to ash.
Which meant that a being of absolute power was right now aiming for my life.
And I was not the only one who sensed it.
｢Black kin? Big Adult! Danger!｣
｢Leader. Close. Here! Danger! Danger! Danger!｣
I turned to see Adhai and Nel Germa frozen in panic, trembling from head to tail.
Worse, No. 26 on my back was silently pouring out psychic power in torrents. Every fin and tentacle her body could produce had sprouted into being, and her Fear of the Deep Sea trait had fully activated.
No. 26?
Riding on my back, her size was limited only by that constraint—she was otherwise armed for total war. I had never once seen No. 26 this on edge.
｢Od Grad! The Great Od Grad! Comes!｣
The moment Nel Germa shrieked those thought-waves like a scream—
Beyond the storm clouds smothering the sky, a colossal shadow appeared. The shadow of a massive black dragon, two wings spread wide.
Od Grad!
King of the Galagon nest, ruler of this entire planet.
Adhai's father—the black tyrant, Od Grad—had come.