Chapter 434
Chapter 434
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 434
Chapter Title: An Opportunity for Revenge (6)
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Izermong's plasm was poured into one of the eight slots available in the Physex Machine.
Seven slots remained.
To enhance Izermong's Antithesis ability, Reisis planned to combine the traits of three other creatures: Voltum, Grabber, and Riston.
Voltum, which resembled a mosquito magnified a thousand times, possessed a unique trait called 'Blood Adhesion,' causing it to feel an affinity for any target from which it drew blood.
It was presumed to be a psychological mechanism evolved to suppress hemolytic reactions, and in the laboratory, this trait was used as a tool to subordinate other creatures.
"Pouring in Voltum's plasm."
After the plasm of Grabber, which had self-levitation abilities, and Riston, which enhanced a creature's activity, were added, the four types of creatures awaited fusion within the Physex Machine.
Unlike the Art of Integration, a main type had to be set to draw out unique traits. The current main type was Izermong, and the three sub-types would enhance its Antithesis.
"Now, let's begin."
When the button was pressed, the four types of plasm that half-filled the glass sphere were all sucked into the central glass tube.
As electricity flowed through the vacuum-sealed interior, the liquid began to boil violently.
"Ooh!"
It was a wondrous sight, no matter how many times they saw it.
The researchers, who had once felt revulsion at the inhumane biological experiments, could not deny the creator's joy of crafting a living being with their own hands at this moment.
A brilliant white light, so intense it was blinding, erupted as electricity discharged within the glass tube.
While everyone else turned their heads away, only Reisis watched the changes inside the tube with rapturous eyes.
As the new species was born, the glass tube split into four sections and collapsed to the floor.
"Success!"
The researchers felt a sense of awe at the form of the creature, which was completely different from what they had predicted.
It was a giant eyeball, one meter in diameter, its surface covered by a thin epidermis that served as an eyelid.
Where the optic nerve would connect on an eyeball, dark red tentacles extended, fluttering like a tail.
Biological Weapon - Akamai (Prototype)
A cold thrill ran through the laboratory.
Could this truly be called a living creature?
Gazing upon this organic something, created solely to serve human purpose and completely unrelated to environmental factors, one couldn't help but think that there was nothing in the world that shouldn't happen.
"Haaaah."
Reisis's red lips parted slightly.
What a beautiful form.
God had given living beings the potential for infinite change.
"Huk!"
Reisis's face, lost in ecstasy, contorted.
Her red cloak billowed, revealing something writhing violently beneath it.
A biologist approached, his face pale with fear.
"Commander, you must now form the contract..."
Reisis quickly composed her expression.
The sensitive stimulation, like her insides were spilling out, was unpleasant, but thankfully, it soon receded back into her body.
"Right, I almost forgot about that."
Reisis slit her wrist with a fingernail and offered her blood to Akamai.
Drip. Drip.
As the blood dripping onto its epidermis was absorbed, Akamai's large iris constricted sharply.
Then, as if showing affection, it turned to Reisis and blinked its eyelid a couple of times.
Voltum's Blood Adhesion was complete.
"Is it a success?"
"Of course. It has become my faithful subordinate. Now, shall we get started for real? Bring in Shirone's clone."
A researcher contacted the basement, and the floor split open as an elevator brought up Shirone's clone.
Currently, Shirone's brain was an empty slate.
It was no different from an animal with only basic desires like eating and procreating.
The researchers placed a device they'd disguised as a brainwave scanner over its eyes and shot a beam of light, transmitting memory patterns through the retina.
It was a method similar to the one Arcane and Alpheas had jointly researched.
However, the reason for failure was also the same; the clone, having been injected with memories, would soon suffer a mental collapse and die.
Of course, that was no concern for Reisis.
All she had to do was wait for Shirone to absorb all the creature's traits, then swallow him whole.
BOOOOOOM!
A berserk rage erupted from the bed where Shirone lay.
Researchers were sent flying by the shockwave, and Shirone's body shot out like a wild beast, seeking a safe zone.
'What? Where am I?'
Shirone's eyes darted left and right, gathering information.
A laboratory. Reisis. A strange device he'd never seen before.
He still couldn't understand the situation.
He was sure he had been lying next to Plu, undergoing a brainwave scan, but suddenly he was here.
"What have you done to me?"
"Hmm, let's see."
Reisis tapped her lips.
"I'd love to explain, but I won't. I have a feeling I'll have to repeat myself quite a few times."
Reisis snapped her fingers, and Akamai, floating in the air, activated its Antithesis.
"Kugh!"
It was as if the very air had turned to solid steel; Shirone couldn't even lift a finger.
"Th-This is...?"
"Sorry. To use a Nephilim's abilities, you need to possess intellect. This will be over soon."
Immortal Function began with insight, something impossible for a clone left with only animal instincts to achieve.
Shirone gritted his teeth.
For someone saying sorry, her eyes looked far too pleased.
Captured by Akamai, Shirone was moved and placed inside the Physex Machine's glass sphere.
Unlike experiments on corpses, they needed to observe mental changes, so putting him in whole and dissolving him directly was the most effective method.
"Commander, what should we combine him with?"
A Nephilim with 100 percent affinity should be able to easily embrace the individuality of any creature.
Furthermore, to verify this, a creature with advanced functions was preferable.
"Synthesize him with Akamai."
"What? But..."
"It doesn't matter. This is just a prototype anyway. It's the perfect opportunity to experiment on Shirone's clone."
The biologist obediently followed her orders.
The experiment preparations were complete, and plasm filled the glass sphere containing Akamai and Shirone.
The black liquid rose past Shirone's neck and covered his face.
A moment later, the liquid level dropped as it flowed into the central glass tube, and Shirone's form vanished without a trace.
The researchers watched the glass tube emitting a powerful light, their faces tense.
Main type Shirone, sub-type Akamai.
The two beings had completely dissolved and were reborn as a single creature.
"W-What?"
The glass tube separated, and Shirone stood there, his eyes closed.
Even if the fusion focused on function, combining two beings with different forms should have resulted in some change.
Faced with this unexpected outcome, the biologist adjusted his glasses and took a closer look.
"He's just human. Could the experiment have failed...?"
At that moment, Shirone's eyes snapped open, and a light burst from his left pupil, which was a different color.
"Aaargh!"
The researchers screamed, their bodies contorting as if their bones were twisting.
Reisis, who had hastily backed away, wore a stunned expression.
'He only absorbed the functions?'
Only someone who had personally experienced it could understand the changes that occur in a plasm state.
And Reisis was one of the humans who had experienced the plasm state more than anyone else in the world.
When one dissolves into plasm, thought ceases. But within the liquid, integrated into a single substance, countless signals flow.
'It's the Ultima System.'
Therefore, if one could control the unification signal in the plasm state, it was entirely possible to selectively choose functions and forms.
'This is dangerous.'
No, it's beautiful.
The ability to acquire the traits of any creature in existence.
It was, quite literally, reaching the realm of the gods.
"What have you done to me?"
Reisis's lips trembled.
Shirone had even controlled his consciousness. Akamai had been completely subjugated.
'I want that power even more now.'
Reisis spread her arms and approached him.
"Shirone, let us become one."
Shirone activated Antithesis. The immense binding force stopped Reisis in her tracks.
But she, on the contrary, felt a thrilling pleasure.
It was a power on a completely different level from Izermong's Antithesis.
Shirone mercilessly unleashed his Photon Cannon.
Reisis was slammed into the wall, and the ceiling shook. With each flash of light, the cloud of dust where she was grew larger.
"Hah... Hah..."
Shirone's eyes, glaring forward as he panted heavily, wavered in shock.
Half of Reisis's face, emerging from the smoke, had transformed into that of a hideous monster.
The corner of her eye was raised as if to tear her forehead, her pupil was slitted like a snake's, and between lips that stretched across her lower jaw were three times as many teeth as a human's.
"Kiii, Shi...rone..."
The sound, like scraping metal, sent shivers down Shirone's spine. He opened his palm to summon Arman.
'Vajra Armament... huh?'
Only then did Shirone realize he didn't have the Kubrick.
But it couldn't have been stolen. He hadn't lost consciousness at any point from the brainwave scan until now.
'Don't tell me... I'm not me?'
Shirone quickly retraced the events.
He hadn't lost consciousness, but the process from the brainwave scan to his arrival here was completely severed.
The liquid he'd seen in the Art of Integration. The transformation from being dissolved in it to being reconstructed by the Ultima System.
'I've been cloned!'
He wasn't the original, which was why he didn't have the Kubrick. And Reisis was using this to conduct some kind of experiment.
'A biological fusion similar to the Art of Integration.'
A powerful insight flashed through Shirone's mind.
'Arman, if it's Arman...!'
Just as something swung out from behind Reisis's cloak, Shirone's head was severed from his body.
"Huuuuu."
Reisis quickly retracted a part of her body.
It was a repulsive form, but the researchers dared not show any reaction.
The moment they assigned meaning to a physical body, their heads would fly off, just like Shirone's.
"From now on, double the clone production. Find out exactly what changes occurred."
The biologist spoke with concern.
"It's too dangerous. Shirone controlled the biological fusion. If by some chance you are consumed by him, Commander, no creature will be able to stop him."
Even Reisis didn't like the sound of that.
"For now, only experiment with Type A. The clones from before he went to Babel. It should be fine as long as he doesn't have the Ultima System."
"But the original is ultimately Type B. The danger still remains."
"It doesn't matter. If I set myself as the main type, even the Ultima System won't be able to exert its power."
According to myth, the Art of Integration was a technique created to destroy the Ultima System, but since it was unknown how much of that was true, one could not be certain.
Reisis gave a bitter smile.
"Even if I am the one who gets consumed."
"What?"
"If Shirone and I become one, the result will be something that is neither me nor Shirone. That's enough. As long as I can become one with him, I will not stop the experiment. Continue as planned."
Even if a main type is set, what is ultimately born is a completely new creature.
Therefore, characteristics that could define her were unimportant.
But the biologist was still uneasy.
Reisis thought it was simply a matter of mixing, but the Ultima System perfectly controlled biological fusion.
And the researchers knew nothing about how that was possible.
'Right, Shirone can't turn the tables. At most, he'll just become one with the Commander.'
The reason for his anxiety, despite this, was his vast experience from working in the laboratory for so long.
To be optimistic that nothing would go wrong was, in fact, a sign that one's information was confined to a narrow frame.
The variables always lie in the unknown, beyond one's perception. And when something begins to move in that darkness...
'Is it really okay to proceed like this?'
A bio-shock occurs.