Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Blue Devil's Horn
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It was a horn, sure, but the thing sitting in front of me right now looked downright bizarre.
Just a flat stone the size of my palm.
‘A miracle that even this much survived.’
They'd stripped off all the dangling ornaments that had been attached like gaudy decorations to make it look impressive.
I couldn't exactly complain.
It had probably been whittled down during research or material extraction.
If anything, this worked better for me.
The Blue Devil was a 7th-grade entity, same hazard level as a Land Crawler.
If it had been intact, there's no way my ability could've handled the sheer volume of information inside.
"Hmm..."
I'd already decided how to use it.
A risky, adventurous choice that differed sharply from my stable methods so far.
Even with my mind made up, it still took some mental prep to dive in.
‘Still gotta do it.’
I picked up the Blue Devil's horn.
No matter how tough the material, after all this time, it was unlikely any complete data remained intact.
Even using my ability, the odds of salvaging a perfect fragment were slim to none.
So what other options did I have?
I grabbed a sharp medical scalpel.
Carefully, I incised the skin on my right temple, just a bit higher up.
Blood trickled down through my hair, pooling at my jaw before dripping to the floor.
I'd tensed the muscles to minimize the bleeding.
Back in the day, I wouldn't have even watched someone else do this without calling them insane, but now it was just routine.
I cut to match the base of the horn, lifting the skin to expose the skull.
I set the scalpel down, pressed the horn against my skull, and activated my ability.
"Urgh...!"
In that instant, an intense sensation surged from the junction, racing through my whole body.
My head burned hot.
But it didn't make me dizzy.
I'd honed my ability steadily for exactly this moment—it was fulfilling its role, weaving the Blue Devil's horn into my flesh.
First time trying this.
Not extracting info with my ability and applying traits, but directly 'transplanting' a chunk of alien body.
Yeah, this was insane.
Soon, the [Direct Energy Organ] trait—which had lost function due to all the processing—began reviving.
At the same time, the dormant alien factors started firing up.
Contamination, meanwhile, was minimal.
Even from a Blue Devil, it was barely on par with what I'd absorbed from the 2nd-grade leech doctor.
‘Just as expected...’
Practically the best-case scenario.
My ability was running wild now.
Adjusting the fusing horn to fit my body, knitting it seamlessly as if it had always been there.
The exposed scalp had already reattached at some point.
The horn had rooted not just at the joint but across my entire skull.
No taking it off now, even if I wanted to.
As the transplant wrapped up, the fever started subsiding.
I reached up and felt my head.
The front right side had thickened like a bump.
Just barely hidden by my hair, so it wouldn't show from the outside.
‘It won't stick out, right?’
Bad feeling about this.
I smacked my lips and wiped my head with the towel I'd prepped.
I'd minimized the blood, but the mirror showed a mess.
Going out like this would definitely spark misunderstandings.
After wiping off the worst of it, I eyed the energy vessel sitting right beside it.
Blue Devil's horn and energy vessel.
They were a set.
For the energy accumulation organ to function, it needed an energy source—like a generator.
Especially a primitive concentrate like the one slumbering in this vessel.
‘How do I even use this thing...’
But holding it now, I hesitated.
I had to inject it, but breaking it would cause an explosion for sure.
‘If this blows, I'm dead.’
Not some partial burst like in the original story.
A full detonation would rival a nuke—terrifying stuff.
As I rolled it around in my palm, fretting, I noticed an odd energy flow.
When I'd set it on the table, it had a clean, steady stream, but now it churned chaotically, drawn to something.
‘Huh, like this...?’
I brought the energy vessel to my head.
Nailed it.
Through the contact point, the primitive energy seeped from the vessel into the horn.
The changes didn't stop there.
‘Guh! No way...?’
The horn swelled, then pierced my skin, sprouting up like a shoot.
And as it absorbed more energy, it kept growing bit by bit.
Still hard to spot under my hair, unless you looked really close.
The vessel soon emptied.
Satisfied, the horn shrank slightly, but it still jutted out from my scalp, asserting its presence.
‘Problematic.’
No way people wouldn't notice this.
But no solutions came to mind.
"Hmm..."
No helping it.
I washed up and stepped out.
Then styled my hair.
Not my usual natural look—instead, I teased the front up a bit for more volume.
‘Can't see it now, right...?’
Checked from every angle—no horn visible.
I got dressed and checked the time.
"Huh...?"
When did time fly like this?
The procedure had felt smooth, but apparently not.
Seeing two days had passed, I bolted into action.
Good thing I'd padded the schedule for this exact scenario.
*
Sixth class of Practical Combat.
Instead of the lecture hall smashed in the first class, the training arena was packed with all of Class 1 before it even started.
"Where've you been?"
"Had solo prep to handle."
The risky procedure had succeeded, but the remaining three days flew by adapting to my changed body.
"The commander ditches us solo!"
Rune Shin stepped up as I arrived, picking a fight like clockwork.
But I didn't need to respond.
Kiz appeared out of nowhere, blocking him and taking the heat.
"Leonard explained to us first. No pointless disruptions before class."
"Big guy. When'd you become that four-eyes' lapdog?"
"I'm warning you. Class time."
"Fine, whatever. We'll talk later."
Rune Shin menaced me with his mechanical spear before stepping aside.
He probably wasn't seriously planning trouble anyway.
"Ready?"
"All set. Prep's perfect, like Leonard said."
"Good. Relieved you're here."
"Same. Got my back with you around, Leonard."
Kiz said it bluntly, still hunching his massive frame.
‘Even shrunk down, he's huge...’
I'd been shocked seeing Kiz first time.
Among cadets bulked up artificially, he had overwhelming volume.
That posture? Probably just how he bridged the gap with others.
"Time."
Tension settled over the cadets.
Conversations cut off.
Right on the dot when class started, the door flew open, and three dummies charged the cadets.
"Drop 'em!"
My voice cut the air as fierce abilities slammed into the assistants.
A few overlapping hits sent all three crashing down.
Three prepped teams dragged them off in sync.
‘Where's the vice-captain...?’
There—the bald grandpa, arms dangling like always.
No way he'd step in yet, but we couldn't relax.
"Kiz, eyes peeled."
"Don't worry. Vice-captain's mine."
Kiz bared his teeth, resolve hardening.
I checked the three teams tackling assistants.
Had to neutralize them for sure, but not too fast.
All at once.
Push right to the limit before the vice-captain moves, then finish together.
"Better than last time. Three retirees so far."
"Already three? Idiots."
"Better than expected. Focus, no chatter."
"Tch...!"
Half the cadets were killing it.
Some were already matching the assistants one-on-one.
Without those armor suits, they could've traded blows evenly.
One per team, they were throttling 'speed,' minimizing casualties.
"Still far?"
"A bit more."
I locked on the vice-captain.
He knew our goal, so he watched us closely.
‘Just a little longer. Almost...’
Vice-captain's threshold.
Bodily learned after five classes.
Couldn't predict perfectly, but rough boundaries? Yeah.
Just past the ten-minute mark.
I'd been eyeing the assistants when I bellowed.
"Now!"
Cadets shifted gears.
Ability users who'd held back poured it on like they meant to kill.
Physicals ramped up too.
"Kiz!"
Kiz charged ahead.
Fight was on.
Even left alone, vice-captain was one step from moving.
We preempted, targeting him first.
"Raaagh!"
Kiz swung his great axe at full sprint—pure Iron Giant's essence in a 'lethal blow.'
Even the vice-captain couldn't shrug that off easy.
"Still wild."
But he met it head-on.
Best defense is offense.
For a martial artist who'd mastered Lion's Heart perfectly, countering beat dodging any day.
‘Dead Heat!’
Clash ended even.
Vice-captain caught the axe blade with both hands, skidding back with Kiz.
"Behold the Liu Clan spear!"
Rune Shin and I closed from three sides.
Abilities disrupted him constantly; others shielded us.
"Same as last time. This'll work?"
"Results will tell."
"Right. Hope you pull it off."
Vice-captain grinned in reply.
Then he exploded into inhuman, hyper-dynamic motion, batting our attacks aside.
"Gh...!"
We attackers took the hits instead.
Each clash flung me and Rune Shin around.
Without Kiz anchoring and crowding his space, we'd be down already.
Especially me, unarmed in ultra-close quarters.
"Dumb four-eyes! Wanna flop already? Adjust distance!"
But today was different.
I pressed harder than planned, lunging at the vice-captain.
Took hits that should've retired me ages ago, but bounced back like a rubber ball, stalling him.
"Hm?"
After a few exchanges, the vice-captain's eyes flashed—he'd noticed.
Rune Shin and Kiz, who'd warned me off, now eyed me closely, piecing it together.
"This... no, can't be?"
Vice-captain jabbed a hooked finger to probe.
‘Grab!’
Couldn't fully dodge.
His fingers raked my skin deep.
The kind of strike that'd gouge flesh and spill blood.
But my forearm? Pristine.
"Kiz, lock him!!"
Perfect timing—I yelled.
Distracted, vice-captain lost balance, yielding 'space.'
Kiz surged in as planned, wrapping his massive frame around him.
Took a hit, but for an Iron Giant practitioner? Manageable.
"Hah! Been waiting for this!"
Rune Shin's mechanical spear roared at max output.
The technique he'd drilled since class one—to land one solid hit on the vice-captain—unleashed now.