Chapter 264
Chapter 264
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 264
Chapter Title: The Wrong Path
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With a single powerful stomp, Kadun closed the distance to the female Wolf in an instant. His fist, larger than an adult man's head, hurtled toward the female Wolf's skull.
His innately powerful body had been further enhanced by boosters. That punch was like a thunderbolt—just grazing it would shatter his opponent's head.
He'd expected the head of this female with her alluring figure to go flying. But the result was different.
The female Wolf twisted her waist sideways, effortlessly dodging the punch. Kadun's fist struck empty air instead of its target.
Using the momentum from her spin, she thrust out the golden spear gripped in her right hand.
"!"
He hadn't anticipated the enemy pulling off both evasion and attack at once, leaving Kadun flustered.
But he was a seasoned warrior too. He hurriedly raised his wrist to deflect the spear at an angle.
The moment his wrist guard—forged from incredibly tough metal—clashed with her spear, a deafening boom rang out, sparks flying. Even with flames bursting right in front of them, neither flinched.
Kadun successfully parried the spear and seized the opening as she staggered, launching a kick. His target was her thigh. Like lightning cutting through storm clouds, his leg shot toward her.
In response, the female Wolf rode the force that had flung her spear away, leaping upward. She'd turned his power against him.
Kadun's toe barely grazed past beneath her feet. Having dodged the attack, she retreated a good distance back.
"Tch."
Kadun glanced at his wrist guard. Even though he'd perfectly deflected it, a deep gash marred its surface.
'Made of megachrome alloy, and it's already scratched.'
Megachrome was a special metal used for the outer hulls of massive space structures like orbital cities. Known for being extremely hard yet heavy, it was rarely incorporated into reinforced suits.
Even he, with his exceptional physical prowess, found pure megachrome too burdensome, so he'd made his guard from an alloy. It was plenty tough—no need to worry about it breaking in a fight.
'Gotta be careful with that spear.'
He didn't know what it was made of, but its sharpness was no joke.
'But...'
Though he recognized she was formidable, Kadun still thought he could win. His gaze fixed on her spear and her ankle area.
Frost clung thickly to the spots where they'd collided during their exchange.
Kadun was known among other cartels by the moniker "Snow Claw." True to the name, he could emit chilling aura from his body—one of the powers he'd gained alongside his beast transformation ability.
One reason he wore high-grade reinforced armor yet carried no ranged weapons was this frost emission. Enemies who closed in for melee froze solid under the relentless cold. Without means to preserve body heat, even massive beasts succumbed in moments.
And this opponent wore no primitive tribal garb like the uncivilized Wolves. Her only adornment was a sapphire necklace around her neck. Instead, intricate black wave patterns traced her exposed body.
'Savage bitch.'
Kadun utterly despised the Wolves for clinging to their primitive ways. Sure, this female had a stunningly beautiful body, but it didn't shake his resolve.
A few more close exchanges, and she'd freeze to death.
The female Wolf lightly shook the frost from her ankle and reset her stance. She pulled her spear back, lowering her posture. Then, blue flames began flickering in her smooth amber eyes.
'What the...?'
Locking eyes with her, where blue fire swirled in those pupils, felt like taking a drag from potent narcotics. Reality blurred, and whispers from unknown entities echoed in his ears.
"Hungry!" "Kill!" "Rip out their guts!"
'Mental attack!'
Realizing his predicament, he followed up his frost emission with his second ability.
"GRRROOOOAAARRR!"
The intense roar he unleashed shook his mind clear. The insidious whispers vanished in an instant.
But he couldn't relax yet. The female Wolf who'd assaulted his mind was already right in his face.
Her spear thrust toward his throat. He jerked his waist back in a desperate dodge, but it wasn't perfect.
White fur and red blood droplets painted the air. Had he not evaded properly, there'd be a hole in his neck.
The problem was her assault wasn't over. The spear blade poured forth like bullets from a storm gun.
He swiftly crossed both arms. He could afford hits elsewhere, but damage to vital organs like his heart spelled doom. Golden spear tips stabbed into his wrist guards.
"Guh!"
The guards shattered instantly, punching several large holes through his wrists. Instead of blocking, he toppled backward. The spear grazed over his protruding muzzle. Flat on the metal floor, he kicked both legs skyward with explosive force.
His left leg smashed her right hand's back. She didn't drop the spear, but her upper body reeled. Before she recovered, his right leg slammed into her abdomen.
With a thunderous boom, the female Wolf was hurled back a good ten meters. She landed steadily.
Witnessing this, Kadun was stunned.
'She took the frost emission head-on?'
She'd been squarely hit on wrist and gut. The chill should have seeped into her bones by now. Yet she looked no different from their first clash.
Kadun rose slowly, eyes locked on the female Wolf.
"Got some special ability, huh?"
She offered no reply to his question. Her amber eyes, devoid of emotion, simply glared.
"...Doesn't matter."
If frost emission wasn't working, he couldn't keep fighting like this. He resolved to play his final card.
He clicked a few buttons on his chest plate. His high-grade suit hissed, venting compressed air as it detached.
In moments, his naked body began to mutate. Muscles swelled endlessly, bones twisted. The white fur coating his skin grew longer and thicker. His bipedal form shifted to a beast's in a heartbeat.
Now a snarling beast clad in silver fur, Kadun lunged forward. He closed on the female Wolf instantly, swiping with his forepaw.
A deafening explosion like the patrol ship's earlier blast sent her flying. She crashed into a building across the way, which collapsed from the impact.
Kadun growled at the rubble of the ruined building.
As if in answer, something burst from the debris.
As he'd suspected, she had transformation powers too.
In contrast to his near-white silver fur, hers was golden. But the actual form differed greatly from what he'd imagined.
Her face resembled his feline predator, but horns sprouted from her head—curved like a Cult's, two of them above her eyes.
Her torso was a quadrupedal beast like his, but while the furry upper body matched, her lower half and tail were scaled.
Her transformed state wasn't one animal, but a chimeric blend of multiple creatures' features.
'Not a Wolf—a Hulk mutant?'
The monster leaping from the ruins shook its mane grandly. Its amber eyes gleamed as it spoke.
Furious at her taunt, he charged—
She gaped her maw wide.
'What?!'
A torrent of flames erupted, engulfing Kadun.
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"G-GWAAAAAH!"
I was about to stuff a pirate into my mouth with my wing arms when a massive pillar of fire erupted in the distance.
'What's that?'
Among us, only three could unleash flames that big without special conditions: me and Adhai with our psychic breaths, and...
'Mother of the Sky.'
She'd transformed into a familiar other than Griffin to breathe fire.
Her perk "Skin of the Hunt God's Disguise" let her shapeshift into one of four familiars excluding Griffin. She'd unlocked three so far.
'The second was Wendigo from the Dragon's Nest.'
The third, unlocked after battling the Gorgon Swarm, wasn't suited for here.
So this time, it was the first familiar she'd unlocked—before meeting me.
'Chimera.'
Among her three, it boasted the strongest raw power.
Not just that—in pure melee, it ranked in the top five among familiars Wolves could pick in Space Survival.
'Efficiency chasers loved it.'
Unlike balanced Griffin, crowd-control Wendigo, or mobility-focused third familiar, Chimera specialized in brute force brawls.
Tough hide, devastating forepaws, ultra-hot flame breath, blazing speed—it was a mid-to-close range specialist.
'Pulled it out as a counter to the White Tiger Wolf.'
I'd gotten intel on the Marcio Cartel's second-in-command before coming, so I knew he could turn into a White Tiger.
White Tigers specialized in power clashes too, but differed slightly from Chimera. They weakened foes, nullifying crowd control or psychic tech. In short, debuff and dominate.
That said, White Tigers' specs weren't lacking, making Griffin or Wendigo a tough matchup.
'Thought about helping, but...'
Chimera form? No need.
'Chimera's combat power matches my Hunting Image at Subadult stage.'
Hard to compare directly due to my detailed growth phases, but in melee, yes. Her win against Subadult Hunting Image; I'd win now.
Of course, immense power came with fatal flaws: duration and cooldown.
'Thirty minutes uptime, one-month cooldown.'
Before we met, she'd fought another player, Muriel, as Chimera but lost when time ran out.
Against non-players? Five minutes tops. Mother of the Sky was a ranker Wolf, after all.
'Time to clean up the rest.'
"W-Wait, waitwaitwaitwait—!"
I swallowed the pirate in one gulp.
The pirates who'd jumped from the patrol ship I'd hit were done. The others were probably wrapping up too.
Heading past blazing wreckage, I spotted PS-111 and No. 26. They huddled close, chattering intently.
'What's up?'
"You're back?"
They greeted me as I approached. Around No. 26 lay bits from dead pirates' bodies.
Not for eating—she could just ingest corpses whole by expanding.
'Studying with PS-111, huh.'
Since leaving Dragon's Nest, she'd grown fascinated with other creatures. Once content mimicking me or syncing breaths, now she delved deeper: ecology, habits, anatomy, etc.
[Zuzuzu (Studied stuff?)]
"The Main Controller shows great interest in creatures' habits and reproductive activities."
She fired off waves enthusiastically at my question.
To be a top hunter, know your prey. My vast knowledge made me the ultimate Aimorph.
'The more you know, the better.'
Like watching a scholar kid. I patted her with a wing arm. She sparkled, climbing aboard.
[Zuuuuu zuzuzuzu (Let's find Adhai)]
"Understood."
Speak of the dragon—a white-and-red meteor plummeted from the sky. Adhai, with Red Galleron's power "Red Armor" active.
Her body wasn't just red from the armor. Her once-pristine white scales, like a dress of snow, reeked of blood.
"Little one can carry you."
Brushing off dejected PS-111, she clambered onto my back, folded her wings, and sprawled lazily.
'Not bad once in a while.'
No threats left in this sector anyway. The parasite-ridden minions had signaled their handlers' annihilation.
'Fight over there too.'
After the fire pillar vanished, a few booms echoed, but now silence. With No. 26 and Adhai aboard, PS-111 in tow, I headed to Mother of the Sky.
In the street's fiery center stood a beast: goat horns, lion head and upper body, dragon lower half and tail.
Mother of the Sky as Chimera. She pawed a massive charred lump, turning to us.
[Zuzuzu zuzuzuzu (Skills rusty)]
Her amber eyes narrowed slightly as she kicked the char. It coughed and twitched.
This thoroughly scorched, limbless thing—all four legs gone—would raise her deification stage.
The sacrifice—no, Marcio Cartel's second-in-command—barely opened his eyes, glaring at us.
I ignored him, looking to Mother of the Sky.
[Zuzuzuzu (Lucky)]
I approached the half-dead White Tiger.
[Zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu (Got questions for you)]
His eyes bulged at the black parasites wriggling from my combat arms.
Had he not come here—or stayed in this fortress—he wouldn't be in this mess.
He had chosen the wrong path.