Chapter 341
Chapter 341
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 341
Chapter Title: Assault on the Torment Ring
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'Whatever, that's not important. No issues with my body.'
After a quick check, I lifted my head.
Now it was time to hunt the demon right in front of me.
I shook my fully spread wings vigorously. The energy radiating from them allowed my body to move effortlessly through the gravity-free void of space.
My body shot forward like a battleship at full throttle. Adhai and Number 26 stuck close behind me.
Even while I was evolving, the Torment Ring and the Imperial Motherships had been locked in fierce combat. The lightly armed destroyers had been wiped out early on, leaving only the motherships to struggle desperately.
Then, as we appeared, one Imperial Mothership swiveled part of its secondary armament—the Black Cannon's gun ports—toward me. The others followed suit, preparing to fire.
The Black Cannon, with only eight turrets per mothership, was a devastating weapon, even if it fell short of the Cosmic Bolt.
It had two modes: thin black thermal beams for small groups of enemies, and spheres that formed artificial black holes for fleet engagements.
Though their forms differed, both drew on dark matter—the same energy source as the Cosmic Bolt—making their power incomparable to standard battleship weaponry. In fact, during the previous clash between the Cult fleet and the Star Union, Imperial Motherships had unleashed black hole rounds from their Black Cannons, inflicting massive casualties.
Suddenly, four anti-fleet Black Cannons roared to life. Pitch-black thermal beams, evoking black holes, streaked toward me to incinerate everything in their path.
'Of course, they have to hit first.'
Mid-flight, I timed it perfectly and folded my wings. The four beams encircled me, grazing just above my body by a hair's breadth.
Adhai, trailing behind, deftly altered her trajectory to evade the beams with expert precision.
In the meantime, the other Black Cannons unleashed a barrage on the Torment Ring.
｢-｣
Its arms, scorched by the beams, clapped in silent applause.
The creature's firepower more than doubled when twisted into its figure-eight form compared to its standard ring shape. This held true even now, with only half its body summoned.
As its gravity-manipulating power surged, space rippled like paper in the wind. The force, warping the laws of physics, washed over the Verzan 02 Defender.
The Imperial Mothership began twisting from its aft end like a corkscrew, ignoring its thick armor and shields entirely.
Seeing this, the other mothership halted its fire on me and focused every Black Cannon on the Vortex One. Cracks spiderwebbed across its diamond-cut hull, and hatches irised open at the edges. Turrets emerged, firing black spheres—black hole rounds.
｢-｣
The Torment Ring clapped again.
The black spheres halted mid-space as if blocked by an invisible wall. Space around them warped, devouring all light.
Firing black hole rounds at a gravity manipulator like the Vortex One? Not a wise move.
Black hole rounds couldn't distinguish friend from foe. The unnamed Imperial Mothership, rushing to save its ally, got caught in its own weapon. Its massive hull contracted violently before vanishing into the cosmic abyss.
In that moment, I closed in on the Torment Ring and slammed down with my combat arms and bone scythe arms.
Though smaller than when enlarged by the Bone Beast trait, my strength had surged. The bone scythes, cold as starlight in the void, shredded the arms encasing the ring. My three heads, each with double jaws, tore into it mercilessly.
Flesh fused from organics and energy seeped into my body. My superior Aimorph digestive organs absorbed the Vortex One's substance, converting it to nourishment.
It sensed my increased power and reacted instantly. Its surface arms crossed in an X, unleashing a storm of energy blasts that hammered my body.
'Energy blasts, huh.'
It would've done less damage if it'd used repulsive force to shove me away. Wrong choice.
Up close, the barrage shredded my body in seconds—but my power only grew stronger.
Along with my size.
Thanks to the Tyrantoid effect, my embedded heads and arms swelled rapidly within its flesh. From its perspective, it must've felt like dozens of hemostatic sponges jammed into its wounds.
The otherworldly pain froze its movements momentarily. I thrashed my heads inside the ring, ravaging its innards.
There was work to do while it was immobilized.
'Where's the core?'
Vortex Ones transcended normal biology—no limbs, no digestive organs. But they had organs analogous to hearts or brains to sustain and control their forms: the Abyssal Core. Destroying it killed the summoned Vortex One.
To steal a Vortex One's genetic essence, an Aimorph had to devour this core.
｢--｣
Sensing I was devouring its flesh in search of the core, it reacted. Its arms clasped together, generating overwhelming repulsive force that slammed into me. My body whipped backward, but unlike before, I wasn't flung helplessly away.
My arms and heads anchored me inside it. Repulsive force worked on surfaces, not internals, so I held firm.
Pain Mitigation
Reduces incoming pain
Pain Mitigation
Reduces incoming pain
I could endure, but not negate the shock. My energy-blast wounds tore open wildly, thick carapace shattering everywhere.
Next came muscle and bone. Exposed flesh ripped, bones snapped under the repulsive force. Blood erupted from my body, filling the weightless void.
'...Strong!'
Just a self-defense ability, yet devastating. Add gravity manipulation, and even I'd be done for.
'It's about time...'
It seemed to think the same, raising its arms to clap.
At that instant, its body shuddered slightly. The not-quite-sunk Verzan 02 Defender struck it.
｢----｣
Its arms shifted from clapping to an X, prioritizing the less troublesome Imperial Motherships before dealing with me.
Once repositioned, a brief, intense pulse rippled out. The mothership went still forever.
｢-｣
Having destroyed the mothership with energy blasts, it moved to reposition again. The moment those countless palms met, my body would be crushed.
But it wasn't just me and the motherships here.
Suddenly, its innards quivered. Adhai, with Number 26 on her back, had pierced it.
Its arms moved to eliminate the irritating intruders clinging to it.
'Think you can?'
Number 26's barrier blocked anything, and Adhai's Red Armor protected her. Even a Vortex One couldn't dispatch them easily.
Then my auxiliary organs detected something alien. A massive 10-meter organic mass nearby.
'Abyssal Core!'
Locating it, I extended erosion tentacles from my back and tore into the ring segment shielding the core.
｢-----｣
Realizing its core was exposed, it assumed a new stance. All arms balled into fists and thrust forward.
Its half figure-eight body fragmented. Like a lizard autotomizing its tail, it severed the section impaled by my heads and arms.
'Knew you'd do that.'
The core-bearing segment drifted away, but that was part of the plan.
The fragmented rings recombined into a diminished figure-eight—the Torment Ring, smaller after sacrificing part of itself.
I buried my head in the abandoned torso and prepared my next move.
The reformed body, distant now, lunged to finish me.
Just before it could clap, a pulse from somewhere struck my monster's tentacle tip.
'Finally!'
Number 26's "new nest."
There was only one thing that qualified.
In the empty void, azure light converged. Tearing through the glow emerged a colossal structure of immense mass.
Mega Corp's 2km-diameter superweapon: the Gigacracker.
Before parting from the Mother of the Sky at Verzan 02, I'd made a request.
Once the threats in the Aur Sector were mostly cleared, bring the Gigacracker.
With the Imperial Motherships annihilated, the superweapon arrived carrying the Mother of the Sky, PS-111, and Isabel.
Only two Imperial Motherships had been firing on the Torment Ring.
One was likely Alshas's mothership, the Verzan 02 Defender. The other guarded another planet in the Aur Sector.
Imperial Motherships usually deployed with carrier battle groups, but here only a handful of destroyers accompanied them. Alshas had included the carrier group in the Surveillance Bureau's elite fleet during the Verzan 02 battle.
Intended to bolster the assault on me, it backfired. The Black Devourer Cannon wiped out the elite fleet and carrier group—plus several extra motherships.
With its strategy failed, these two motherships were its last bastion. Lose them, and the Aur Sector would be leaderless.
'Still on plan so far.'
While the motherships bought time against the Vortex One, I'd checked my evolved form.
This wasn't my first time using Predatory Form since becoming an Adult.
I'd used it multiple times in the dragon's nest where Adhai's kin had migrated, transplanting traits to PS-111's mini screamers via the Manifestation of the Hunt.
'But first time using it directly in combat against a strong foe.'
And transforming specifically for battle after so long. I'd always used it to permanently acquire traits before.
'So, time for a full body check.'
My heads first: eyes gone, as usual, with auxiliary organ sensitivity boosted under the jaws. The central head now had carapace over the eye sockets like the sides, topped with sharp horns.
The sub-jaw auxiliaries shifted from thin tentacles to razor blades protected like tusks flanking the mouth.
The rear cranial carapace and horns had grown massively. Sensory feedback suggested jagged protrusions where shell and horn intertwined—like wearing a throne forged from fantasy swords on my head.
The side heads, simpler before, were now more ornate and vicious.
Another major change: all three heads' skulls and mouths had altered. Jaws resembled subadult snake- or croc-like forms.
Not identical, though—a second jaw inside the lower one.
｢Grrr｣
Opening wide revealed the pharyngeal jaw protruding between jaw and throat. The tentacle tongue from the Reaper's Jaw trait had evolved into this.
Not just inspired by—it now truly evoked a Xenomorph.
'Closer to a moray eel than an Alien, though.'
Body next: overall much larger, like the heads. Unenhanced length was 60m; now easily over 100m, maybe 120m.
Besides size and eyelessness, one more Predatory Form hallmark remained.
Bone scythe arms from the back.
Previously, they emerged near the shoulder blades—perfect for biting or grappling foes.
Post-Adult restructuring changed that. Now they sprouted from the waist below the combat arms. Far longer, nearly matching my standard wing arms.
I called them "standard" because Predatory Form enlarged my wings enormously.
These impossibly vast wings rippled over a black sea. Vivid red wave patterns on the inner membrane evoked constellations in the night sky.
Heads, arms, everything hypertrophied—muscles exploded in mass.
Length doubled, but thickened bulk kept proportions similar. If anything, I felt bulkier, like I'd gained weight.
Muscle surge meant massive weight gain. Standing still in the Surveillance Bureau would've collapsed the floor.
'This overflowing power—I like it.'
Nonstop battles since Verzan 02 had drained my stamina. Wounds from provoking Tyrantoid activation, unrecovered energy from the Black Devourer Cannon—it all lingered.
But Predatory Form's temporary upgrade restored some lost strength.
This was their first time seeing Adult-to-Predatory Form. Adhai had been busy leading in the dragon's nest; Number 26 tending Galleron hatchlings.
Adhai gave her usual instinct-based assessment. Number 26, surprisingly, called it cute.
'Cute, huh. Because of the mouth shape?'