Chapter 315
Chapter 315
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 315
Chapter Title: Relic (2)
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‘Not an Outspacer, huh? That’s unexpected.’
The situation was extremely dire.
Sihyun had anticipated that it wasn’t a pure Outspacer. There was no such form in the Mega Corp data archives, after all.
Still, she’d judged it to be at least a queen-level variant—or perhaps a completely new breed of Outspacer.
But it was neither.
The Abyss Destroyer was a relic that selectively destroyed specific genes. If it were an Outspacer, there’d be no escaping death.
Yet it hadn’t died even after being hit by the Abyss Destroyer’s waves. It had merely taken some injuries.
She already knew the monster had strengthened itself through advanced genetic manipulation. The reason it had collapsed after the Abyss Destroyer hit was surely because the Outspacer genes comprising its body had been destroyed.
That alone was a fatal blow, but a bigger problem remained.
‘That terrifying thing has now become a wounded beast.’
There was no way that intelligent monster didn’t know how fearsome the Abyss Destroyer was. It was certain to chase her down somehow before she could escape.
There were countless Cults wandering this underground, but the odds of them slaying it were low. They’d be lucky not to become fodder for its recovery.
That was precisely why she hadn’t brought her subordinates along. Untrained as they were, they’d only end up as a meal for it.
In the end, she’d have to face the monster herself. From her perspective, leaving it alone posed too great a risk. She had to finish it here, one way or another.
‘To kill it, I need its genetic data.’
If she collected some of the monster’s flesh or blood and fed it into the Abyss Destroyer, the relic would analyze the genetic data on its own. Once the analysis was complete, she could kill it.
‘The problem is how to harvest its flesh...’
Even after suffering genetic-level damage, it had only collapsed to the floor. Inflicting wounds on a monster with such astonishing durability and intelligence—and collecting samples from it—wouldn’t be easy.
At that moment, a groan mixed with mechanical noise reached her ears.
｢Ugh... where is this?｣
It was Laila, who had been lying on the ground.
Her life support suit, which had entered temporary repair mode after the heavy impact, had normalized and begun moving again. She struggled to prop herself up, leaning her back against the wall.
｢What happened? Did you take down that monster?｣
“Failure. I succeeded in injuring it, but I couldn’t kill it.”
｢...｣
Laila fell silent at Sihyun’s words.
A moment later, a modulated voice emanated from the quiet life support suit.
｢So, what’s the plan?｣
“It’ll chase us down before I can slip away. I know it.”
｢How about alerting the Cults and teaming up with them?｣
Yesterday, as Sihyun had been preparing to descend underground, Nern had contacted her.
He’d told her that if she was going to fight it, she should join forces with the Cults. If he spoke to Alshas, the Cults would provide support.
“That won’t work. There’s no way they’d leave my relic alone.”
｢Yeah, you’re right.｣
Sihyun had rejected Nern’s proposal.
The Cults would surely try to seize the Abyss Destroyer the moment they saw it—even Kisos, who had promised to sponsor her.
The relic was something only she could use, but would they just give up? It wasn’t hard to imagine how the Cults would treat her.
‘But if things stay like this, I’ll die anyway.’
She glanced down at the crystal battery mounted on the Abyss Destroyer.
She’d obtained this battery along with the relic and had attempted to analyze its composition and structure, but no information had come up. Its makeup and operating principles were complete mysteries, yet like the main unit, it harbored transcendent power.
The crystal battery’s role was to recharge the Abyss Destroyer, allowing it to continuously fire its gene-destroying waves.
Of course, the main unit wouldn’t stop working without the battery. Tests before arriving at Berzan-02 had shown that even detached, the remaining charged energy stayed in the weapon.
However, the only way to supply energy to the Abyss Destroyer was by attaching the crystal battery. She’d tried every method imaginable, but all charging attempts had failed.
In other words, without the crystal battery, the Abyss Destroyer effectively became a one-use weapon. It was essential if she wanted to keep using the main unit.
‘Current battery energy remaining: 60%.’
If she used it all up, she’d need time to recharge. It wasn’t overly long, but it took about a day, so she couldn’t fire recklessly.
‘Two shots left.’
It consumed around 30% per shot, so she had exactly two chances to counterattack. She had to harvest its flesh within those two and strike.
But the monster would anticipate her reusing the weapon. Using herself and Laila as bait wouldn’t work again.
Every condition was against her except the relic itself. She bit her lip.
‘Is there really no way?’
Her only option was to link up with the Cults underground and bide her time for an opportunity. She could wait until it fought the Cults, harvest flesh in the chaos, and then use the weapon.
‘It’ll be like handing it a meal, though...’
It was a monster that absorbed genes and reinforced its body. Fighting the Cults would let it recover rapidly from injuries, but there was no alternative.
Having made her decision, she was about to open her mouth when Laila spoke first.
｢Hold on. Message from Captain Nern. He says he’s found a way to provide solo support and will help us.｣
Thanks to the communication device built into her life support suit, she could receive simple messages.
‘Nern’s going to help us?’
With countless Cult warriors underground, he had no reason to go out of his way for Sihyun’s group. As if sensing her doubt, Laila continued.
｢According to the Cult advisor with Nern, the higher-ups want to capture it alive.｣
“Capture it alive? They’ve lost their minds.”
She and her team had once thought the same. The result: one dead, the other reduced to a state where she couldn’t survive without her suit.
｢They seem to have judged that the relic is the only way to kill it beforehand. Nern says the advisor lost family too and harbors deep resentment.｣
“Must’ve gotten support from Alshas.”
Alshas wasn’t participating directly in operations now, instead serving as an advisor. Still, as a former Imperial Mothership captain, he could easily provide Nern with powerful weapons.
｢I’ve sent the coordinates, so have them come there...｣
Before Laila could finish, the tunnel shook faintly. Knowing what that meant, the two flinched.
“It’s here. Guide them with the coordinates.”
｢Got it.｣
Something shaking the underground passages was drawing closer to them.
The two dashed toward the coordinates Nern had sent.
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‘Not joining the Cults?’
Contrary to my expectations, Sihyun and her companion were heading in a strange direction. Judging by the traces they’d left, they were far from the Cults’ location.
‘No communication interference here.’
Specimen 26 wasn’t present, and I hadn’t deployed Dark Veil. It was unlikely they’d fled to some random spot due to comms issues.
‘Some kind of plan?’
If they were just buying time, there was no reason to head anywhere but toward the Cults.
They could use the Cults as bait to pin me down, then fire their weapon. Why discard such good bait and act like this?
‘This direction leads close to the surface.’
It might look like they were abandoning the fight to escape, but I couldn’t assume that. Sihyun Yujin was the human who’d landed a solid hit on me. High chance she’d prepared some trap I didn’t know about.
Maybe her followers on the surface had set one up.
‘A trap, huh.’
The concern was valid, but my top priority was destroying her weapon. Even if I spotted a trap now, it was time to move.
I assigned my two flanking heads to watch our sides and ramped up my pursuit speed.
They were humans in reinforced suits, but they couldn’t outpace a 60-meter Aimorph.
Soon, their footsteps echoed ahead. By now, they’d surely noticed I was catching up.
As I ran, I summoned the human-faced bugs.
Small monsters with human heads and insect bodies crawled out from the nests at the lower part of the back carapace. The five human-faced bugs clung upside-down to the tunnel ceiling and skittered ahead rapidly.
“!”
Sihyun, visible in the distance, swung her left arm wide toward me. Galleron claws protruding from her hand’s back launched a sword wind formed of psychic power.
I charged straight through the sword wind. The weapon that had attacked me earlier hung at her waist.
‘Good.’
I’d kept two heads vigilant for any hidden tricks, but it wasn’t necessary.
Corrosion tentacles burst from my back all at once, lunging toward her waist.
Her reinforced-suit companion trailing behind aimed the barrel of his Slayer at the tentacles. A bluish light flashed, and sharp pain lanced from one tentacle’s appendage. The suit’s performance was decent—it had hit while we were both running.
But it meant little. The remaining five tentacles were closing in on Sihyun.
“Tch!”
Wings sprouted from her back, and she rocketed into the air. Some tentacles slammed into the ground where she’d stood; others pursued her.
When the tentacles’ sharp appendages tried to seize her, she’d fold her wings to minimize her profile, form shields with her arms to deflect, or exploit my size by weaving between tentacles to tangle them up.
She slipped nimbly through the tentacles filling the underground tunnel. I’d felt it before, but her combat sense was sharp enough to remind me of fights with Players.
‘But tentacles aren’t my only weapon.’
While the tentacles attacked, my main body drew even closer to the enemy. My right head moved to swallow Sihyun whole.
｢Not on your life!｣
The moment I gaped my jaws wide to devour her entirely, a mechanical sound rang out from below. Her reinforced-suit companion slammed both hands into the ground beneath me. The floor dipped slightly, making my legs wobble.
‘Annoying pest.’
｢Gah!｣
With my combat arms neutralized, I swung my wing arm hard instead. The enemy flew off like a fly swatted by a newspaper, embedding into the wall.
My left head then spat acidic breath at the wall where he’d crashed. Unfortunately, the still-conscious foe desperately dodged.
｢Guh... guh...｣
He hadn’t evaded perfectly—one leg melted away. Not just the suit; the flesh it protected vanished entirely.
“Damn it!”
Witnessing her companion’s plight, Sihyun finally drew her weapon.
The fact that she’d held off until now confirmed it had restrictions.
‘Seems like a limited-use type.’
And not many left—two or three at most? With few chances, that explained her caution.
The crystal mounted on the weapon spun, emitting an eerie glow.
I knew there was no dodging that wave in this narrow underground space. But this time, unlike before, I was prepared.
‘Now!’
“What?!”
The five human-faced bugs hidden on the ceiling dove at her. Distracted by me, she panicked at their sudden appearance.
One fired a paralysis wave at her. For a split second, her body froze before moving again.
But that brief window was plenty for the bugs. The approaching one slashed down at her weapon arm with its razor-sharp foreleg.
“Ugh!”
With a short groan, she dropped the weapon. The instant it left her hand, the crystal stopped spinning.
Another bug moved to destroy it, but Sihyun reached out toward the falling weapon.
A whip of psychic power shot from her palm, flying to wrap around it. The dropping weapon and the bug’s foreleg were moments from contact.
In that instant, I issued a new order to the bug. Its foreleg’s trajectory twisted slightly.
The whip snagged the weapon first by a hair’s breadth. Right behind, the bug’s foreleg struck the weapon’s surface. A sharp impact rang out, and the weapon, wrapped in the whip, returned to its owner.
“...!”
Sihyun, reclaiming it, tried to activate it but hesitated. She’d noticed something off about the vacuum-cleaner-like device.
Her gaze dropped to the floor.
There lay the crystal, drained of light. Per my command, the bug had struck to detach the mounted crystal rather than smash the weapon.
The moment she realized this, my head was already in motion.
I slammed my gaping maw into the ground. Dirt, sand, and the crystal weapon within were sucked up my long neck into my body.
“You bastard!”
She cleaved through the surrounding human-faced bugs as I charged. My tentacles and heads obstructed her, so she countered with Reflection.
The heads and tentacles rebounded, and Galleron claws slashed my neck. But that alone couldn’t force out what was on the verge of digestion.
If she’d had time, maybe—but my right and left heads were already preparing attacks from both sides.
Forced to settle for being drenched in the blood gushing from my neck, she defended the right head with Reflection and the left with her shield before retreating.
By then, everything I’d swallowed had been fully digested. Intense heat surged from within my body.
‘What’s this?’
This was utterly different from every prior activation of the Raider’s Irregular Polyhedron. It wasn’t just part of my body changing—it felt like every cell constituting my form was being reborn.
As if I were evolving.
｢C-contact... c-came... r-right now, in the... a-air...｣
“Tell them to attack now!”
Paralyzed by the sudden transformation, I couldn’t move as the enemies retreated. At the same time, I sensed powerful energy concentrating above my heads.
And then, an overwhelmingly intense heat and light poured down upon me.