Chapter 194
Translator: uly
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: Awakening in the Abyss
The first things to greet me were the parasitic aliens swarming all around.
"Swarming inside your shell-back, and now your gut too, right on cue."
- We need an escape plan, Master.
"This is right in the middle of its stomach, though?"
Most alien stomachs I could've shredded in one go, but not here. I couldn't risk it lightly.
As I pondered, water started dripping from the ceiling.
A downpour.
No need to ask why it was raining inside a Space Crawler's belly.
This was gastric acid meant to melt us.
As the aliens charged in alongside it, a surge of crisis hit me.
-Beep! Bzzzt!
As the floor began flooding with acid, R3D3 frantically lifted and stomped its legs in panic.
'Should I just give up?'
The egg was tough, but not built for this level of chaos.
Protecting the embryo while fighting in this hellish environment was impossible.
And if things kept up, even R3D3 would be in danger.
-Master! Beep!
"Hold on a bit longer! I'm thinking!"
The ground rippled as the Space Crawler moved.
Each time, waves of acid surged in, carrying aliens along with them.
I fought fiercely while steadily pushing toward what I figured was the outside.
'Is this the right direction?'
I sharpened my senses between strikes, but the massive energy flow coursing through the Space Crawler's body drowned everything out. I couldn't reach beyond it.
Communications were cut off, of course.
The stomach's violent shaking suggested the Space Crawler was still on the move, but I had no idea where it was headed.
Then, a massive rush of mud and debris poured in from ahead.
-Beep!!
No time for warnings. I grabbed R3D3, leaped high, and slammed my blade into the ceiling to hold on.
Everything got swept away.
A few locust-like ones chasing me by jumping lacked the height and plummeted back into the muck.
-Bzzzt! Cleaning up on our own, Master. Are we safe now?
"Doubt it."
I shook my head, sliding down the blade embedded in the ceiling, feeling the acid soak my body.
No way aliens died that easily from some dirt.
Holes were still opening in the walls, spilling more even now.
At least the acid-flooded floor was now buried under safer mud.
I yanked the blade free and dropped to the ground.
The Space Crawler's movements were growing more violent.
'Not enough time to blast straight through like this.'
For the first time, I seriously thought I might die trapped in here.
I readied my crimson cannon and reached toward the ceiling.
"Firing."
No need for amplification.
Too strong, and the backlash might hit me too.
A moderate surge of crimson energy gathered in my forearm and lanced into the ceiling.
Before I could check the results, I maxed out my barrier and wrapped it around R3D3.
"Urk...!"
The shockwave exploded back, slamming me and R3D3 into the floor.
The stomach convulsed, flipping my vision wildly, while a torrent of blood-mixed acid poured in.
The Space Crawler reacting in pain.
Standing still was impossible.
Just as I sensed its thrashing pause, gravity suddenly flipped about ninety degrees.
The floor became a wall, the forward passage the sky.
An endless abyss below.
'The Space Crawler's flying.'
Normally, after crashing to the ground, a Space Crawler needed time to gather energy for spaceflight.
But this one was defying common sense.
Like it was willing to die the moment it escaped gravity, it was ripping dormant energy from its entire body for a desperate launch.
"Then...!"
I readied another crimson cannon.
I hadn't expected one shot to provoke this much, but since it was going all-in, I had to match it.
Two shots, three.
I unleashed them relentlessly, shredding the stomach lining to ribbons.
The tattered chunks of massive flesh rained down, twisting the Space Crawler with each one.
Nothing to grab for stability.
Amid the endless tumbling and crashing, I kept firing.
On the sixth shot.
Even with my enhanced physique straining to its limit, the Space Crawler suddenly stopped.
'Dead?'
The energy flow in its body had weakened sharply via my senses, but it was still alive.
Left alone, it'd probably die from exhaustion.
Whatever it was scheming, in this state, it couldn't do a thing.
"I'll die first at this rate..."
I clutched my dizzying head and slowly stood.
It felt like I was in a furnace.
R3D3 stuck close, providing indirect cooling, but it was far weaker than when fully clothing me.
Then R3D3 spoke in a feeble voice.
-Master. The egg's cracked.
"What?! ...Ugh, figures."
I'd half-expected it from blasting away mercilessly.
Plus, R3D3 carrying the egg waddled unsteadily even on flat ground.
No matter how careful, protecting it amid that chaos was impossible.
One side of the egg was deeply caved in.
Inside the shattered shell: opaque, viscous contents.
And faintly within, a lifeform.
That was the Breeder's embryo.
'Energy's leaking steadily. It'll die like this. Any way to save it?'
Through the cracks and breaks, energy drained rapidly.
The once-powerful presence of the embryo was fading.
Scowling, I took the egg from R3D3.
"Hand it over."
I eyed my right arm.
More precisely, the dark tattoo retaining absorption traits.
Maybe this could do something.
Cradling the egg against my right arm, I immersed myself in its energy flow.
I felt the massive energy slowly leaking out.
Using the absorption trait, I began drawing it all in steadily.
'Easy.'
No resistance.
Not just the leaked energy—even the dormant reserves inside flowed smoothly into my right arm.
No pushback at all.
I realized why: the energy was pure primordial essence, almost.
Its purity came from nourishing the embryo's growth.
The absorbed volume grew.
Once it strained my arm's capacity, the excess began circulating through my body.
After one full circuit, it vanished without a trace.
'Where'd it go?'
More kept leaking.
But the same happened.
One lap around the body, then gone.
How could a superhuman not sense this happening inside himself?
I focused harder.
Zeroed in on the instant before it vanished.
A few times, same result.
No clue where it went.
But then I noticed: regardless, my condition was steadily improving.
That's when it hit me.
'It became my internal energy!'
A shiver ran through me.
After reaching the red band, I'd gained intentional control over external energy to explosively enhance my body.
Strength for power, density for toughness.
Overflowing external energy became a resource at will.
But at the red band, I still couldn't handle internal energy.
Couldn't even sense it, let alone control.
Thanks to my settings and Roze's teachings, I knew it existed—but not where or how much.
Roze said the next stage would reveal it.
My vessel was huge, so who knew how long, but eventually, the breakthrough would come naturally.
Nothing to do but wait, since it couldn't be forced externally.
But now, this absorbed primordial energy was converting to internal energy, as if that was its purpose.
"Ah..."
Serendipity.
I let my mind drift with the flow.
Senses sharpened without effort.
Soon, I sensed the primordial energy settling not just in my flesh, but my core and the blue demon horn too.
I'd already used primordial energy from the museum to revive my damaged blue demon horn once.
No different this time.
The horn devoured it, gradually regaining its original form.
The majestic one from when the blue demon rampaged, earning the title of Demon King.
No mirror needed.
Its roots surged, the forehead stub erupting outward, curving diagonally inward in a sharp, elegant hook.
The aura from the horn intensified steadily.
How long was I immersed?
At some point, I crossed the line.
No special event or change.
Just a sense of fullness.
But I knew that alone was monumental.
'Even waking from immersion, I won't lose this sensation.'
Now I could wield internal energy at will, alongside external.
No longer just external boosts—combining both propelled my physique to inhuman heights.
'More Superman than human now?'
I'd transcended humanity long ago.
But limits had always loomed.
Now, the power I'd wield held no trace of human frailty.
Deepen and master it, and even Roze's self-modification would eventually be mine.
That was the true meaning of crossing the line.
Savoring this new stage.
A sudden unease crept in.
'It hasn't stopped.'
Energy exceeding my right arm's capacity kept flooding in, converting to internal, absorbed by core and horn.
But even pure primordial energy had downsides in excess.
Overkill.
My vessel was already full—keep absorbing, and I'd burst like an overinflated balloon.
Alert, I recalled why I'd absorbed it originally.
-Master!
While immersed, I'd sucked the Breeder embryo dry indiscriminately.
Not just its leaked energy—its own reserves too.
State far worse than before.
'Can't let this stand.'
I began expelling the absorbed energy.
Post-threshold, control felt effortless.
Now I could do it.
I infused 'will' into the primordial energy and injected.
The contents inside hardened, sealing the shell's breaches.
The egg turned bumpy, unlike its original smoothness, but the leaks stopped completely.
'Live.'
But the embryo didn't recover easily.
I'd poured in nearly all from my arm, yet it remained precarious.
So I started dumping excess internal energy too.
No loss— it'd auto-adjust to my vessel's capacity.
One worry, though.
Once converted, it was tainted by me—couldn't regain purity outside my body.
Inject impure internal energy, and would it reject?
'No choice. If it dies after this, oh well.'
Testing with a tiny bit first.
The embryo greedily devoured it, craving life fiercely.
I ramped up the flow gradually.
It took every drop without hesitation.
As it fed, the blob-like embryo's form sharpened.
'Baby...?'
Tiny and wrinkled—hard to make out—but vaguely fetal, human-like.
Sensing stable vitals, I halted the infusion.
Yet it felt... whiny, somehow.
'...Nah. Gotta grow first.'
I shook my head, recalling the adult Breeder's form.
The egg had shrunk to two-thirds size—much easier to carry.
Checking elapsed time, a familiar voice echoed from afar.
"Lemon!!"
-Beep! Incoming.
Roze and Merdi.
The two women racing into the Space Crawler's gut to rescue me.