Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Matriarch's Vow
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The world where she first opened her eyes was a cold, heavy one.
Pressure that strangled her fragile skin. Temperatures so low it felt like knives were pressed against her entire body.
A place that certain intelligent beings called the seabed. That was her homeland.
It was a harsh environment, but she didn't think her home was all that bad.
Because there were beings who protected her.
Existences like her—pink spheres—were the weakest creatures in that dark world. So they had chosen a different path for survival than the other lifeforms in the dark, blue depths.
Forming groups. And having the adults care for the young and weak.
They had naturally formed a social structure that intelligent beings would classify as a "family."
Of course, with dangerous creatures that preyed on her kind everywhere, they always had to live under the threat of death.
Or at least, that was how it was supposed to be.
As she grew, she realized she was different from the other pink spheres.
She was special.
Intelligence rivaling that of intelligent beings. And a single thin tentacle growing from her body. Things none of her kin possessed.
She usually kept the tentacle hidden inside her, and when she pointed it at dangerous creatures, they would flee.
She protected her kin using a mysterious power.
Time passed, and despite her young age, she became the matriarch leading the group.
Though everyone saw her as the group's mother, her life didn't change much from before.
Eating with her kin and huddling together at night to sleep—that was her greatest joy.
But that joy didn't last long.
Beings descended from above and tried to drag away her kin.
They had skin harder and colder than any creature she'd seen. With claws that seemed impervious to blood, they seized her kin ruthlessly.
When she heard her kin's agonized screams, she desperately wished.
She wanted to fulfill her duty as matriarch.
She wanted her precious ones protected.
As if her tentacle heard her prayer, a massive surge of purple energy erupted from its tip, seizing and crushing the sturdy beings.
She thought she'd succeeded in protecting everyone, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
More of the cold-skinned ones kept descending from above. They snatched up the pink spheres indiscriminately.
She hoped for another miracle, but instead of a miracle, overwhelming exhaustion came for her.
And so she lost consciousness.
The matriarch who had failed in her duty awoke in a prison of foul-smelling liquid.
There, she watched. The children who should have been protected by adults dying miserable deaths.
When the pure white being holding a strange furry animal called her "Number 26," not a single one of her kin remained in the prison.
From the bottom of hell, she prayed.
Anyone, please help me.
If someone helps me...
Then I'll devote myself to protecting the children I couldn't save.
She vowed it.
-
In the world of Space Survival, my two most annoying enemies were these.
One was fellow Aimorphs in clan wars, and the other was Mega Corp users who'd completed full genetic modifications.
Their commonality? You couldn't predict what traits they'd have. With zero intel on the enemy, even a small mistake often led to fatal results.
Because of that, I'd focused solely on what traits Sihyun Yujin possessed, ignoring how she specifically differed from a player.
"Games have no restrictions on genetic tech, after all."
I'd assumed she was the same.
Seeing her player-level specs, I'd subconsciously treated this as a fight against a player. That was my misjudgment.
Looking back, Sihyun had fought using only one ability at a time from the start. I'd thought it was bluffing, but no.
Fundamentally different from players, she had a critical limitation on using genetic abilities.
"You're really getting on my nerves. To the point where I just want to kill you."
Sihyun's tone was chilling, unlike before. Probably meant as a threat, but to me, it sounded a bit off. Like she was doing it deliberately to hide her inexperience.
"I need to figure out the delay every time she switches abilities."
No matter how fast she switched, there had to be a gap. A moment when she became a defenseless ordinary person.
Time to change strategy.
"Overwhelm her relentlessly."
The Psionium effect wouldn't last much longer. Maybe two minutes at best.
To win within two minutes, I couldn't hold back. As long as it wasn't a limb-severing mortal wound, I'd trust my regeneration trait.
My rhino-like sturdy hind legs slammed into the floor. Racing down the corridor, I kept a sharp eye on her hair changing.
"You really don't know when to quit."
The tips of her hair turned red.
While running, I aimed my left arm at her. A human couldn't aim a gun mid-sprint, but an Aimorph's superior senses made it possible.
A bone spike launched from my arm tip. The chitin-reinforced bone shard sliced through the air toward her abdomen.
"!"
Her expression hardened as she canceled the hallucination ability. Almost simultaneously, as her hair returned to black, a white blade tore through the flesh of her hand.
"There's definitely a gap."
It was shorter than a second, but thanks to my auxiliary organs, I'd confirmed it. She blocked my bone spike with Galleron claws, but I'd already reached her.
"Petty tricks!"
Irritated, but I read the anxiety creeping into her eyes. Like a fencer thrusting, my tail stabbed elegantly at her.
But despite my intent, her response was sharp. She calmly deflected my tail with her claws, then counterattacked, severing the stinger at the tip.
"Ugh!"
I'd half-expected it, but the pain was no joke. Losing a limb-equivalent part was bound to hurt.
No hesitation here. I shook off the severed tail like flicking my hand. Acidic blood and neurotoxin from the wound and gland sprayed everywhere.
"Tch!"
Sihyun clicked her tongue and switched abilities. The Galleron claws receded as part of her body turned silver. Skin tougher than the alloy plating on her abdomen protected her from the acid blood and neurotoxin.
"Expected some defense, but superalloy skin?"
"Superalloy Skin" was a gene trait from the Metallic Gremlin's upper variant, Wolfram Goblin. Acquiring it made your defense top-tier, rivaling reinforced suits, but your body got insanely heavy.
As expected, her movements slowed. I raked my claws over the part that hadn't turned silver yet.
"Kuh!"
First wound on her body. Absurd monster that she was, her blood was the same red as a human's.
"A rude pup like you needs some discipline!"
Her face twisted in fury as her heavy foot slammed into my chest plate. I had to fight close to minimize distance, so I didn't dodge.
A battering ram's impact spread through my body. A human would've vomited blood and organs. My chest plate—along with my head, one of my toughest parts—still ached fiercely.
"You think this'll take me down?!"
I grabbed her embedded foot with all four arms, pouring every ounce of strength to hoist her up.
"Wh-what?!"
"Damn, she's heavy."
Heavy enough to make me curse involuntarily. Why lift the enemy? For this.
Holding her leg, I swung her like a baseball bat.
Target: the corridor wall. More precisely, the half-melted wall from acidic blood.
A deafening boom shook the corridor like an earthquake. Cracks spiderwebbed around the impact, splitting the wall.
Leaving a face imprint on the alloy wall, Sihyun's expression was one of extreme rage. She seemed humiliated by being thrown like trash.
She retracted the Galleron claws and crossed her arms in an X. So much psychic energy gathered on the white blades that purple glowed vividly.
This is bad. Too close to dodge.
"Block it!"
I hurriedly shielded my head and chest with all four arms. As she uncrossed and swung her arms, a massive sword beam I'd never seen slashed across me.
My relatively thin horns snapped. Arms and legs weren't spared. My upper right arm was more than half severed, and my thigh was gashed to the bone.
"Just a bit more!"
I summoned my last strength and charged again. Close range, but she dodged with astonishing agility. My head smashed straight into the wall.
"Where you looking?"
Mocking my missed attack.
She scanned my body quickly and smirked. My injuries were too severe to call "fine," so she was convinced she'd seized victory.
Well, is that really the case?
"Sorry, but I didn't miss."
As I pulled my head from the wall, it finally collapsed. Half-melted by acid and hammered repeatedly—no alloy could withstand that.
"My target was never you, Sihyun Yujin."
Beyond the shattered wall waited what I'd been after.
Infinite stars and endless darkness awaited us.
"This...!"
The corridor's pressure plummeted, the black void sucking us out with the oxygen. The ship's environmental systems blared warnings of severe hull damage.
Sihyun, who'd been smirking in assured victory, paled in shock. She stabbed her Galleron claws into the floor to avoid being pulled out.
This was the moment I'd waited for.
I raised my wounded left arm toward her.
The barrel aimed at her head.
Not far at all.
Specifically, close enough for a bone spike to pierce her forehead and destroy her brain before she could cover her head in superalloy skin.
Realizing my intent, her face drained of color.
"Graaaah! You think I'll go down here?!"
Facing death, did she surpass her limits?
Blood streamed from her eyes and nose as she tried activating two abilities. The tips of her black hair began creeping silver over her head to protect it.
I fired the bone spike before it was too late.
The ice-pick-like spike left my arm.
In an era of lasers and plasma, this primitive projectile hurtled toward her head.
By then, superalloy skin covered more than half her head.
Just 5cm from her forehead.
Then she froze. The superalloy skin halted mid-deployment.
Her eyes bulged in disbelief. Her gaze fixed behind me.
｢Don't bully the baby!｣
"Number 26?"
Without turning, I could see it. Purple energy tendrils erupting from Number 26's body, binding her head tightly.
"You bitch..."
The hold lasted only an instant, but enough for the bone spike to reach its target.
The spike pierced Sihyun Yujin clean through.
Her headless body went limp, strength gone.