Chapter 179
Chapter 179
Chapter 179
Elysion (4)
SWISH! SWISH!
Along with the sound of something smooth sliding.
BAAAAANG!
Massive tentacles began bursting out from various parts of Eses Mountain.
"...Octopus?"
Maria muttered absentmindedly upon seeing those tentacles.
"It's... quite big, isn't it?"
"It's rooted itself throughout the entire mountain."
Only after Garganta's temple was destroyed did Rudian feel the core made of Outer Force pulsating from within.
Only then could he clearly identify the enemy's true nature.
"Star Spawn...."
No matter which god's offspring it was, for such a being to appear in this world would require nearly dimension-shifting level magic.
-I shall devour you all!
Moreover, seeing that it possessed a considerably high intelligence, it was certainly not a low-ranking being that had been summoned.
"It's fortunate we can finish it here."
If they had left such a thing alone, it would have continued devouring the humans who came on pilgrimage to the Garganta sect.
Furthermore, if it had entered the ocean, the ecosystem would have surely been thrown into chaos.
Rather than recklessly charging in, Rudian carefully examined the creature's information.
-Name: None
-Race: Ktuna Star Spawn
-Age: None
-Title: None
-Strength: 352
-Agility: 50
-Life Force: 2,950
-Outer Force: 170
Overall Combat Power: 68,880
'So it was Ktuna's offspring?'
Ktuna, one of the twin alien gods along with Krakar.
It was essentially the final boss of Chapter 3 and the actual perpetrator who first ruined this planet.
"How about it? Should we attack?"
Maria approached Rudian and asked.
"There's no particular problem. Due to the nature of Outer Force, it might absorb others' power, so be careful of that."
"Got it."
Dealing with that creature right now wasn't a problem.
From Rudian and his party's current perspective, it was just a sandbag with a lot of health.
However, to beings of lower rank, those things were truly like genuine cosmic horror.
Even if they brought armies or knight orders, they couldn't do anything about that pulsating life force and would end up becoming the creature's meal.
'The problem is how many of these things are embedded on this planet....'
Should it be called a characteristic, or should it be called a problem.
The reason humanity suffered near-extinction damage in the Chapter 3 space war was because of creatures like this.
Certainly, in outer space, the proportion of exceptional strong beings wasn't that large compared to its infinite size.
However, befitting that infinite size, there existed dozens, hundreds of millions or more of nameless beings whose combat power easily exceeded ten thousand units.
'This isn't about war. We need to find the ones that might be hiding.'
In the original work, the moment even one of these things embedded itself in humanity's residential area, a massacre beyond imagination unfolded.
"Garganta...."
CRACK!
The only god among the Seven Great Gods who hated humanity.
If one knew that his essence was a being from outer space, it would naturally be inevitable.
'But... something feels off....'
That nameless offspring of Ktuna certainly wielded Outer Force.
However, for some reason, Rudian was feeling an inexplicable familiarity toward that tentacled creature, not knowing whether it was male or female.
'Am I crazy? I'm definitely not into that kind of preference....'
Rebecca was excitedly pounding those tentacles with enthusiasm, and Maria was also lending appropriate strength while turning the famous scenic Eses Mountain into flatland.
Seeing the creature's life force being carved away in real time, it seemed like it would perish without any particular twist....
'I absolutely can't let this sensation pass.'
Rudian joined the battlefield with that conviction.
"Hm? Rudian, are you joining too?"
"Wait a moment. I have something to ask that creature."
Rudian slowly approached the Ktuna Star Spawn that had already become a half-grilled octopus.
Sensing Rudian's power as he approached, the Star Spawn trembled its massive tentacles and uttered something in a voice filled with emotion.
-Oh, ooh... This vivid Outer Force! You are a being of higher rank than I!
"Let me ask just a few things."
-Speak.... Though it's my principle not to converse with the inferior beings of this planet... you who wield the same energy are different....
He had been prepared to resort to torture if it didn't answer questions, but the creature unexpectedly cooperated obediently.
"How did you come here?"
To Rudian's question, the Star Spawn waved its tentacles and answered.
-The humans of this world opened a gate. And following the ancient god's proposal, I devoured the humans who opened the gate and have been waiting for the time....
The humans of this world would mean Garganta's believers, and the ancient god would be Garganta himself.
"How many did you eat?"
-Not that many.... At most about a hundred people....
"......"
Though the surrounding faces frowned at the words "at most a hundred people," from another perspective, those words were correct.
'It's not that it only ate a hundred people, but probably because there were only a hundred people to eat.'
Probably because they had already greatly declined in influence while granting power to the gods of the pantheon, they likely threw even the remaining shell to this Star Spawn economically.
He had confirmed the circumstances, but....
'What is this? This unresolved feeling?'
Rudian continued questioning with a frown at the tickling sensation.
"Are there more like you in this world? If so, how many entered?"
-......
Naturally, the creature didn't answer this question.
-I cannot tell you. This is part of the plan established by my great parent. I am not in a position to carelessly divulge such information.
"What if a god similar to your parent asked?"
-What do you mean... HUEOK!
The Star Spawn trembled its tentacles in shock when Rudian pulled someone forward.
Naturally... that someone was none other than 'Yev.'
"...What are you doing."
"Just keep your mouth shut. I'll make you anything you want."
"......"
Yev obediently closed her mouth.
A supreme god even in outer space.
Even at the appearance of a being no different from a creator, the Star Spawn trembled its tentacles while desperately resisting.
-E, e, even so... I cannot... tell... you!
"Persistent...."
-N, no matter how great a child of the great mother... I, I pledge my loyalty to... my... parent!
WITHER!
At that moment, the creature's tentacles rapidly lost vitality and began to droop.
"Damn!"
Rudian realized that the Star Spawn had chosen suicide.
Since the authority of the Death King didn't work on beings from outer space, reviving it would be difficult.
"Shit...!"
Thinking he had missed the chance to learn something, Rudian couldn't hide his discomfort and let out a deep sigh.
'No, there's still a chance.'
There was still an opportunity to resolve this damn sense of unease.
"After cleaning up this place, let's head straight to the Dark North sect. There's a possibility that such creatures remain there too."
The Dark North sect, like the Garganta sect, was located in a place rarely touched by human hands.
Rudian and his party thoroughly incinerated the vicinity in preparation for any possible situation and quickly headed to the Dark North sect.
"What on earth is going on?"
"That's right, Lord Rudian. If there's something you've missed, we'd like you to consult with us too."
Rebecca and Evangeline also showed anxiety at Rudian's urgent behavior.
Seeing this, Rowen also threw advice and a question at Rudian.
"Lord Rudian, when a team's leader wavers, the entire team wavers. Could you tell us what's happening?"
To Rowen's concern, Rudian smiled ambiguously.
"Well... it's quite difficult to express in words. For now, I'd appreciate it if you could follow my intentions."
"Of course, that's natural, but...."
The problem was that neither Yev, nor Diablo, nor anyone could even detect the sense of unease that Rudian was currently feeling.
That fact made Rudian even more anxious.
***
Upon arriving at the Dark North sect, Rudian's party confirmed that Outer Force was circulating throughout the entire sect, just like at the Garganta sect.
And following the same procedure as before, this time they captured a Krakar Star Spawn and threw questions at it.
No, to be precise, they tried to.
-K, krrr! Give me, give me a comfortable death!
"Shut up for a moment. Even death is just a luxury for you."
The Krakar Star Spawn, waving its bizarre tentacles mixed with purple and yellow, felt fear at Rudian's party's power while extremely reluctant to divulge Krakar's plans.
'How should I... What questions should I ask to get answers?'
Rudian desperately mentioned keywords while searching for answers.
Diablo, Yev, Krakar, Ktuna... Berus, Dark North, Garganta, Satera, Shub... Adi?
'Adi?'
Only then did Rudian become aware of Adi's existence, which he had been forgetting all along.
'Adi, Adi... Adi.'
Adi was still asleep, and to wake him up, he needed to find a terminal, but... terminal? Terminal? Terminal!
"Right, this was it...!"
Adi's terminal.
An item that was itself one of the strongest opportunities in , and while its name wasn't even mentioned in the original work, it had exerted great influence one way or another as an Easter egg.
"Hey."
-Wh, what?
The Krakar Star Spawn shrank its tentacles at Rudian's overbearing appearance.
"The source of the power that summoned you. Can you tell me where it is?"
-The, the source of the power that summoned me...?
"Right, you don't need to tell me Krakar's plan. Just tell me where the source of that power is - the power that brought your physical body here before your current power... Outer Force. Then I'll kill you comfortably."
-Th, that is....
Now Rudian finally realized the identity of the unease that had been enveloping his body.
The phenomenon of feeling familiarity with these Star Spawn, separate from Outer Force.
That was because traces of 'Adora' flowing from Adi's terminal remained on these creatures too.
'There's no way that sects reduced to mere shells after offering all their power and causality to the gods would have the strength left to summon such creatures. Naturally, they 100% used external power.'
Rudian was certain that external power was Adi's terminal.
-The, the power that summoned me here is....
The moment the Star Spawn was about to say something.
-Information leak possibility confirmed. Implementing incineration to maintain secrecy.
BURST!
As if something had exploded inside, the Star Spawn's body burst and scattered explosively.
While everyone in the party was confused by the situation where external force had clearly been applied.
'What is this?'
Not only Rudian himself, but everyone present couldn't sense the power that had been secretly applied to the Star Spawn.
In such a situation....
-Right... over... there....
At the Star Spawn's last words squeezed out with its remaining strength, Rudian widened his eyes and turned his gaze toward the direction the voice came from.
"......!"
Where Rudian and his party's gaze reached....
"What is that?"
"Humanoid... go...lem?"
Something in human form was hovering in the sky.
Though it had the appearance of a human woman, the characteristic artificial appearance it displayed was so alien that it couldn't be concealed.
That 'something' that had suddenly appeared in the sky looked down at Rudian's party with an expressionless face.
Rudian, who seemed to know the identity of that something, absentmindedly voiced his speculation.
"...Android?"
No, judging by the lack of detectable emotions, would it be closer to a humanoid?
However, at the opponent's following words, Rudian opened his mouth in shock of a completely different dimension than before.
"Second-generation exploration-type artificial intelligence Elysion, eliminating enemies according to temporary user's command."