Chapter 360
Chapter 360
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 360
Chapter Title: I Became an Evolving Space Monster
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｢Bad kid! I'm gonna punish you!｣
The enraged Seed Demon unleashed her psychic power at full force. In an instant, the ground for hundreds of meters—no, over several kilometers—turned a deep purple.
While 26 was spreading her psychic power, Mother in the Sky also sprang into action. She exercised her authority to control pressure through the maroon particles that had seeped into the earth below.
The gas that had been spewing wildly until moments ago came to an abrupt halt, and the liquefied ground rapidly solidified.
It might look like the entire environment had stabilized on the surface, but that wasn't the case. While the surface was firmly gripped by the high concentration of psychic power, far below, the pressure was wildly fluctuating due to that divine griffon's authority.
｢Ughhh!｣
｢Aimorph! I can't hold out much longer!｣
[Zzuzz zzuzuzu (Just hold on a little longer)]
A few minutes passed, and the ground began to shake as if an earthquake had struck. My auxiliary organs faintly detected Dreadsong's movements.
The beast couldn't budge an inch, pinned by the psychic power pressing down from above and the rampaging particles in the earth below.
[Zzuzz (Got it)]
The moment I sent out the signal, 26 immediately released her psychic power.
A black wall then appeared before us.
It was the planet's bedrock. The fragments shattered from constant collisions below erupted upward the instant they were freed.
｢Enemy｣｢Detected!｣
And among the flying debris was Dreadsong. Covered head to toe in blood, it was sent tumbling through the air without any chance to react.
Seeing it, Adhai moved to intercept, but someone was even faster.
Isabelle, with her elongated body, shot straight toward the target floating in the sky. She smashed through every obstacle in her path and seized the massive Dreadsong—far larger than herself—with countless hands.
'Perfect.'
With Isabelle grabbing it, the plan was a success.
I was about to relax when Mother in the Sky lightly tapped me with her forepaw.
｢Those fragments flying up there...｣
[Zzuzz (Yeah?)]
｢...They look like they're about to come down.｣
The chunks of bedrock had soared tens of kilometers into the sky. Now, they began their freefall as a rain of stones.
-
"Lord Salman, the cargo has departed. Estimated arrival in seven days."
"Good."
Salman nodded as he heard the report from his steward during dinner.
"Keep in constant contact. We can't afford any mishaps along the way."
"Understood."
The steward bowed politely at his master's command and withdrew.
Salman sliced into the meat on his plate with his knife. It was a steak made from Vulcarox, the beast he commanded. Even butchering such a massive bronze bull-like creature yielded only enough edible meat for a single plate.
He speared a precious piece with his fork and popped it into his mouth. The texture was a bit tough—a drawback—but the flavor itself wasn't bad. Topped with exorbitantly expensive spices, it was impossible for it not to taste good.
Yet it fell short of satisfying the palate of someone like him, raised on the finest delicacies back in the civilized world.
'Tch.'
There were no saffron-vanilla ice creams here, no Iberico ham airlifted from his own farms. That reality weighed heavily on him.
'They're all impressive. If even I, after just three years, am struggling this much, how did they endure those long years?'
He had spent a mere three years in this world, yet it already felt torturous. He could only imagine the hardship for the members who had lasted far longer.
Salman took a sip of Cult-style wine, marveling anew. The meat was mediocre, but the wine had a decent raspberry-like aroma.
As he finished his meal at a leisurely pace, a strange sensation washed over him—like a chill wind on the back of his neck after basking in warmth. He knew exactly what it meant.
It was a signal from one of the animals under his dominion sensing danger.
'Vulcarox?'
Aska 44 had a surveillance system unlike any other planet's, thanks to Salman and his dominion over myriad beasts.
He had scattered his controlled animals across the planet. These living surveillance cameras roamed, watching for intruders.
And when they spotted one, they signaled Salman.
Just like now.
'Who is it?'
According to Vulcarox's signal, an enormous creature unlike any he'd seen was prowling near Dreadsong territory. Salman had ordered his beasts not to engage strong foes, so it had fled from the mysterious monster.
'Tch. I deliberately skipped linking vision because it's tiring.'
Salman's perk, Beast God's Leash, allowed him to link physical functions with his dominated monsters. But the many restrictions when connected made it a rarely used ability.
Even before, his controlled creatures had given faulty reports multiple times. No matter how much he dominated and commanded them, he couldn't upgrade their wild animal intelligence.
The Vulcarox on his plate now had sent a false alarm, leading to this.
'Still, better check just in case.'
Salman beckoned his steward with a gesture.
"Send a ship to inspect Dreadsong territory."
"Understood."
Assuming it was just another of Vulcarox's dumb mistakes as usual, he drained the rest of his wine.
-
[Zzuzz zzuzuzu (Everyone okay?)]
｢Whew, thought we were gonna get crushed.｣
｢I'm fine!｣
"No issues aside from 11% tail damage."
I cleared the rocks piled on my back using my three heads and six erosion tentacles.
The bedrock fragments that had shot sky-high rained down directly on me. The moment I saw the falling rock shower, I grabbed the kids with multiple arms and bolted.
The massive explosion from 26 and Mother in the Sky combined was immense in scope. Without the Reinforced Hindlegs trait, I'd have been buried under the rocks.
I could withstand that level of impact unscathed, but the kids couldn't. A moment's delay, and Mother or PS-111 would have been injured.
'And PS-111 actually got hurt.'
While running, its tail took some damage from falling rocks and lava. Fortunately, the demolisher at the tip remained intact.
[Zzuzuzu zzuzuzuzu (Can you heal it?)]
"Repair possible with adequate organic material."
As it spoke, it tilted its head upward.
Isabelle was descending, prey in hand. She had embedded dozens of arms into the massive toad-like monster's body.
Each time Dreadsong thrashed, the arms shifted slightly. Probably shredding its insides with sharp claws.
｢Me｣｢First｣｢Found｣｢Cut｣｢In｣｢Line｣｢Sneaky｣
"It's not cutting in line. It's about who grabs it first after spotting it."
｢Deny｣｢Pretty｣｢Girl｣｢Disappointed｣｢Disappointed!｣
"Let your guard down with anything, and it'll get snatched like this."
Adhai trailed behind, pouring out resentful thoughts. Isabelle ignored it completely, of course.
By the time they landed, Dreadsong was barely clinging to life. Isabelle approached me, still holding the monster.
"You need to kill it to get the trait, right? Same here?"
I nodded, and it handed over the spoils without a word.
For Coldblooded, unlocking higher contracts required achieving various goals, including apex hunts.
'Dreadsong doesn't count, though.'
It was an apex, but not one of the targets Coldblooded needed to hunt.
'Or maybe it doesn't matter now that the body's changed?'
Either way, it had no use for Dreadsong's flesh.
I prepared to consume the new gene essence, activating Icon of the Hunt to boost predation trait acquisition odds.
The trait effect triggered, transforming my body.
Carapace covered the eyes on my central head, blacking out my vision. In exchange, my auxiliary organs sharpened dramatically, letting me vividly sense the changes in my body. Second jaws—pharyngeal jaws—protruded from each head, and the carapace and horns covering them thickened.
The restructuring wasn't limited to my heads. My body size doubled, and new bone scythe arms emerged from my waist area.
"What...?"
｢Oh yeah, this is Isabelle's first time seeing it, huh?｣
Isabelle's eyes widened at my sudden change. Beside her, Mother nodded knowingly.
｢She said the gene essence acquisition rate goes up in that form.｣
"...What? Isn't that cheating?"
｢Not something you can just transform into anytime. There are restrictions.｣
Isabelle muttered blankly. An Aimorph calling it cheating felt like a generational shift.
Transformation complete, I picked up the Dreadsong Isabelle handed me. Now over 100 meters tall, the colossal carnivorous toad looked like a hamburger.
'Gotta eat carefully.'
Its corpse had many uses. Accidentally devouring parts beyond the head would be a waste. I extended my double jaws and bit into its massive head. The skull crunched, oozing thick fluid, flesh, and brain matter.
'This has a unique flavor.'
Its brain tasted like the curry from that Indian restaurant before. A pleasant spicy kick hit first, then greasy flesh mellowed it out.
Lavaraptors had a mild spiciness too—likely from the mix of lava and acids creating this taste.
'Want more, but...'
With the kids waiting, no time for that.
I set down the headless apex. Mother, back in humanoid form, stepped up first. She began skinning it with the priestess's golden spear.
"I'll assist with skinning."
｢Thanks. Handle the rear end.｣
"Understood."
While they worked on the corpse, I swallowed what I'd been chewing and waited for the expected text box.
'Huh?'
Aimorph digestion was top-tier; Dreadsong's meat quickly turned to energy and vanished. But no predation success message appeared.
'What? No way?'
It had happened before—on the frozen planet, only one Crystalwing couple yielded a predation effect.
Icon of the Hunt greatly boosted success odds, but didn't guarantee traits. I'd been thrilled at the easy catch, but this was the result.
｢Huh? Aimorph, did it not pop again?｣
Having nearly finished skinning, she panicked seeing me unchanged.
[Zzuzuzuzu zzuzuz zzuzz (Seems like it)]
"Thought it was cheating, but guess not always."
Isabelle's disappointment stung extra hard.
｢Wanna hunt a fresh one now?｣
[Zzuzuzuzu (Too tough)]
Plus, wasting the transformation on Icon of the Hunt hurt. Sure, find another per Mother, but underground lurkers weren't easy to track in time.
As I resigned myself, PS-111, quietly skinning, spoke up.
"Acquired full ecological data on Dreadsong inhabiting this planet from the spaceship. Including this specimen, three individuals under surveillance."
[Zzuzz (What?)]
"If desired, I can provide locations of the remaining two."
PS-111's usual stiff tone.
But right now, it sounded incredibly warm—like an angel's voice.
[Zzuzuzuzu zzuz zzuzuzuzz zzuzuzuzuzu zzuzuz (Start with the closest one here)]
19 minutes after this unexpected savior appeared.
Exactly 2 seconds before Icon of the Hunt ended, I successfully predated a Dreadsong.
'That was close.'
The text box appeared, and soon after, strength drained from my body. Icon of the Hunt had ended. My gigantified form halved in size, and altered parts reverted to normal.