Chapter 361
Chapter 361
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 361
Chapter Title: Hell's Illusion
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"How about it? Did it work this time?"
"Shall we move on to the next specimen?"
With the trait secured and the materials needed for Sky Mother gathered, there was no need to hunt down more.
'Plus, I picked up a nice trait in the process.'
A text box hovered, awaiting my choice. Selecting to accept the trait made it vanish, and the digested genetic essence spread evenly through my body.
The flow of essence that would fundamentally alter my form reached my bio-pipes.
When an Aimorph reaches adulthood, short and long pipes sprout across its body. These bio-pipes are used to secrete special chemicals for psychic fusion traits like 'Dark Veil.'
As the Dreadsong's genetic essence took effect, the pipes began to change. Their black hue shifted to a dark crimson, and their biomechanical shape grew rough and jagged, like cooled lava.
Not only that—the areas where the pipes protruded, covering my entire exoskeleton, now bore dark red vein-like patterns. They resembled lava flowing from a volcano and beginning to harden.
Until now, aside from my wings and head carapace, the rest of my body had been uniformly black, leaving it feeling a bit plain. But with these accents scattered around, it definitely looked more striking.
｢Big Guy｣ ｢Star's Color｣ ｢Similar｣ ｢Looks Strong｣
Adhai tapped my ankle with her foreleg, then pointed to her own red wings with the tentacle bundle on her snout. She seemed pleased that I resembled her now.
'Maybe I should show off what it does.'
With the mutation of the bio-pipes complete, it was time to test it out.
This trait operated through two main mechanisms.
'First one.'
Chemicals generated inside the body are expelled through the bio-pipes.
All the pipes sprayed a gray liquid into the air. Like mist from a sprayer, the droplets settled on the ground and my exoskeleton before rapidly evaporating. Soon, a grayish gas reminiscent of the sulfuric fog in a Dreadsong's habitat enveloped me.
Since the gas's components were highly acidic, simply approaching could damage equipment or structures. It was like spraying traits such as 'Acidic Blood' or 'Acidic Fungus Gland' in gaseous form.
But if that were all, it wouldn't be called 'Hell's Illusion.'
That had been phase one. I put distance between myself and the others. From here on, even they could get hurt.
'Now phase two.'
Enveloped in gas, I opened my maw and lightly clacked my teeth together. Sparks flew, igniting the gas. In an instant, massive flames engulfed my body, and my internal temperature skyrocketed.
The highly acidic gray gas had an extremely low flash point, making it highly flammable. The flames burned hot enough to vaporize small projectiles before they could even touch me.
True to its name, Hell's Illusion turned me into a monster wreathed in endless fire.
'It's quite different from the original's power.'
Dread songs inhaled naturally formed gases and explosives to trigger massive blasts. Hell's Illusion, by contrast, generated its own toxic gas but traded raw destructive force and aggression for other strengths.
'This form isn't bad, though.'
As a fire-cloaking trait, it excelled against melee specialists.
It was especially effective against small, weak foes—not to mention heavily armored or high-defense enemies. Like getting soaked in a drizzle without noticing, close-range attackers would take constant damage.
No matter how tough their defenses, prolonged exposure to acidic gas and intense heat would wear them down.
'And top-tier heat resistance is a bonus.'
Hell's Illusion greatly boosted my exoskeleton's heat dissipation. No risk of my internals or flesh cooking. It'd be handy against monsters like Magmasaurs on volcanic planets.
｢Big baby all fiery hot.｣
｢Big Star｣ ｢Power｣ ｢A Little｣ ｢Felt｣
"Analysis of the gas composition confirms a mix of acidic and flammable substances. Risk of ignition upon contact—please exercise caution."
The others watched my blazing form with fascination.
"That reminds me of something from before."
｢Before? Oh, yeah!｣
"Seo-ah sis knows it too. 'Space Bomber.'"
｢Everyone knows it. It's so infamous. That's why folks these days freak out at the sight of Aimorphs.｣
Sky Mother and Isabel whispered to each other, perhaps recalling old tales upon seeing me.
'Space Bomber, huh.'
I'd been called that briefly back when I was obsessed with the game.
Here, I'd gained this trait after reaching adulthood, but in the game, it was during my Near-Adult stage. I'd sneak into space fortresses and bolt straight for the oxygen supply.
'And become light.'
Sealed space, abundant oxygen, and flammable gas—a perfect suicide bombing setup. Destroying fortresses denied genetic essence, but back then, I was fixated on terrifying enemies and didn't care.
'Looking back, I went too far.'
I'd wasted good genetic essence on terror attacks more times than I could count. After unlocking unique traits, I curbed the kamikaze runs, but before that, plenty of players rage-quit after I blew their fortresses sky-high.
'Come to think of it, there was another unique fusion recipe I unlocked ages ago.'
Besides the one from killing Vortex One, there was exactly one other, unlocked long ago. Hell's Illusion was one of its ingredients.
'Better move and check it out.'
Intending to deactivate the trait, the pipes sealed shut. The raging flames gradually died down.
｢Where to?｣
"En route back, we detected a massive pit. Given the entrance structure, it's likely connected to underground caverns."
I scooped up the others and followed PS-111's guidance to the pit.
Retracing our flight path over the barren black wasteland, a huge crater came into view. Wide enough to swallow a destroyer frigate, and peering down revealed no visible bottom—plenty deep.
'No lava inside, I guess.'
No steam or gas rose, just fierce winds howling.
I descended into the pit.
It had looked wide from above, and sure enough, the interior was riddled with small tunnels in a complex maze.
They seemed naturally carved by filling lava and gases. Over time, as contents shifted or erupted elsewhere, this massive void remained.
At the bottom, a passage gaped where lava had drained—big enough for me to hide in.
'Perfect spot.'
I crawled into the natural tunnel formed by flowing lava. Inside lay corpses of animals that had wandered in and perished.
'Handy snacks too.'
The kids hopped off my back and helped themselves without prompting.
｢This fix friend's tail?｣
"Appears to be useful organic matter for tail repairs." ｢I'll help too. What do you need?｣
｢Food｣ ｢Chewy｣
"Want me to cook it?"
｢No｣ ｢That Way｣ ｢Meal｣ ｢Uncomfortable｣
I told them I had something to check, then settled deeper inside.
'Alright, let's see...'
Lounging comfortably, I pulled up the translucent text box.
'I came here for the second recipe originally.'
After devouring 'Ring of Torment,' the incomplete trait 'Demon Machine' pointed to Apex creature hunts as the key, leading me here.
'I planned to target Magmasaurs and other high-tier Apexes.'
I hadn't expected to catch a Dreadsong en route, but things had shifted. With Hell's Illusion secured, the only remaining piece from the Deer-Horn Cult was 'Ultra Control.'
'One issue, though.'
I'd unlocked the first recipe ages ago, back when hunting Apex 'Gorgon Swarm'—with 'Inorganic Digestion' as the key trait.
So why ignore it until now? One ingredient, 'Reaper's Maw,' was nearly impossible to reacquire.
The flesh-related fusion trait Reaper's Maw was synthesized from the 'Essence Harvester Jaws' unique to Aimorph Near-Adults or special Outspacers. Using it up meant losing head-only ingestion for genetic essence.
'No choice back when I unlocked it as a Near-Adult.'
Other ingredients like 'Inorganic Digestion' and 'Bone Beast' weren't easy either. Even collecting mass essence from fortress 'Keshar Arma,' I'd agonized and passed.
'But circumstances have changed.'
As an Adult, my massive size made targeting just heads impractical. Few creatures outscaled me now; most could be gulped or devoured swiftly.
The risk of eating foes whole had diminished.
'Seems minor, but...'
Shift perspectives, and it wasn't.
'Fighting Vortex One-likes, devouring entire bodies would be a hassle.'
Without Reaper's Maw, mid-battle predation for traits got tricky. Small fries were fine, but anything sizable required eating every scrap.
'Testing on others would get harder too.'
I glanced at 026 and Adhai sharing food amiably. They'd eaten game-unpalatable stuff, gaining new powers.
The twins and Sky Mother were the same—they needed Apex flesh to grow.
Me hogging it all would rob their chances.
'Never would've thought like this before.'
In-game or real life, I'd lived selfishly.
In Space Survival, all were prey. In reality, I shunned deep bonds.
Now, feeling affection for these little monsters and considering yielding? I'd changed.
'...This way's better for survival anyway.'
Seal the first recipe as before. Ultra Control wouldn't be easy here regardless.
Focus on the second, like deciding on Aska 44.
'No recipe ingredients overlapped so far.'
Exclude Hell's Illusion from the second's unknowns. Infected researchers hunted Magmasaurs diligently—would take time.
'Next worthwhile target...'
A few valuable creatures came to mind.
Eyes closed, I pondered our next move.
"What? An earthquake destroyed the Dreadsong habitat?"
Salman tilted his head at the incoming transmission from the survey team.
Earthquakes weren't rare on volcanically active Aska 44. His building's gravity stabilizers minimized quake damage for that reason.
Salman knew this, but something didn't add up.
'Dread songs are infamous for cunning. They never nest where quakes happen.'
Even if territory loss forced them into seismic zones, problem persisted. Living underground, they sensed quakes faster than anyone and evacuated preemptively.
'No signs of that.'
His planet-wide eyes would've spotted territory shifts.
'...Vulkarox. He mentioned an unknown colossal creature near the Dreadsong zone.'
A possibility dawned.
The being that devoured vicious beasts and stole their power. If it came here, it'd hunt Dread songs first.
'No way.'
Suppressing dread, Salman issued orders.
"Check every confirmed Dreadsong territory. Report any suspicious creatures immediately."
｢Understood.｣
Ending the call, he yanked open a drawer.
'If it's here...'
Unproven, but possible. Against its infamy, solo response was suicide. Salman had zero intention of dying here.