Ch.119Night Hunt (3)

“…….”

Muriel, sitting in the commander’s camp within the defensive position, glared at the monitor with cold eyes.

The vital sign graph that had been violently fluctuating until just now was now completely still, drawing a straight line.

What did this mean?

“Boss, there’s a large amount of blood residue here.”

In the video sent by her subordinates, a pool of blood was visible. Genetic testing confirmed it was all blood shed by the Sky Mother.

With that much blood loss and the chip’s location no longer detectable, it was easy to predict what had happened to the Sky Mother.

AMorphs don’t create companions. By now, the Sky Mother would be chopped into pieces, swimming inside an AMorph’s stomach.

“Tch. This is troublesome.”

The reason Muriel had kept the Sky Mother alive was because an associate who shared her goals wanted a female Volf slave.

The Sky Mother matched her associate’s picky tastes. She had planned to train her moderately before sending her over, but things had gone wrong.

‘That damn bastard!’

If that notorious morph-lover had eaten the Sky Mother and gained her traits, it would become a headache.

She knew that the probability of an AMorph acquiring traits was low.

But you never know what might happen.

‘I don’t think I’ll lose, but…’

Muriel opened the safe in the camp.

Inside the safe were an old communicator and a diamond-shaped kit.

Among Muriel’s weapons, the one with the most destructive power was the ‘Lightning God.’

However, the Lightning God was merely a means to make combat advantageous.

The weapons she “uses best” were the items inside this kit.

She put the communicator in her pocket and carefully picked up the kit with both hands, then sat down in front of the computer.

“Tsk, I’ll need to replenish this after this fight is over.”

While clicking her tongue, she slowly opened the kit as if handling a precious item. Inside were various types of drugs and small mechanical devices.

Psyonium that raises the user’s potential by one level, Ultra Controller that greatly improves the precision of psychic power techniques, Nano Spartan modules that make the skin extremely hard while increasing recovery ability, and so on.

All were powerful but had significant side effects. If she didn’t have a “different” body from ordinary people thanks to her “Perk,” she would have thought twice about using them.

After carefully examining the items, she closed the kit and called for a subordinate outside.

“You called?”

“Brother, an attack will come soon. Gather all the captured slaves in the central plaza.”

“The slaves? Understood.”

She had planned to use all the Volf slaves as reinforcement materials for her spear.

For a moment, she felt regret about throwing away all the toys she had collected, but she shook her head.

Those consumables could be obtained again anytime.

More than that, the cruiser, the hard-to-obtain Sky Mother, and the precious drugs and enhancement modules.

The damage AMorph had inflicted on her was by no means small.

‘Morph-lover, don’t think you’ll die easily.’

Until now, Muriel had never let anyone who harmed her go unpunished.

The 5th-ranked AMorph would pay his debt with his own blood.

–

‘It’s complete.’

After confirming that the tenth nest was expanding on its own, I released the link.

Cute spores spewed mucus and toxic fog everywhere, and the black waves covering the ground advanced relentlessly.

So far, I had been moving around Muriel’s campsite, planting nests in a surrounding formation. I completed ten nests in total, five on the ground and five underground, and nine of them had already merged into one.

Within 10 minutes, the tenth nest would also merge with the others.

Then my assault on the enemy’s lair would begin.

‘But before that, there’s something I need to check.’

I headed toward the sixth nest I had planted through a tunnel I had dug earlier.

The underground world that had previously been filled with soil, stones, and tree roots no longer existed. This place was now filled with sticky mucus, malignant tumors, pustules spewing disgusting slime, and spores that continuously contaminated the air.

Someone else might find it disgusting, but to me, it was a familiar space.

After passing through the long tunnel, I was greeted by the underground cavity I had dug, the sixth nest.

On top of the nest lay a Volf with a half-human, half-beast appearance.

She had an eagle’s head with mane-like long hair, and a body that was a mix of lion and human. Her hands and upper body resembled a woman covered in lion’s fur, while her lower body was that of a lion, though without a tail.

‘Judging by how close she is to a beast, she must be at a high stage of Incarnate.’

If she hadn’t been severely injured, she might have been quite a formidable opponent.

Right now, she’s recovering quickly thanks to the symbiotic spore effect, but it will take a few more days for her to heal completely.

I lay down in the middle of the nest and called to her.

“I·know·you’re·a·wake·so·get·up.”

“……”

I knew she was awake since I entered the nest. Her heartbeat was different from when she was unconscious.

The Griffon Volf quietly opened her eyes.

“Surprising. You’re not going to kill me?”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“Your·body·will·be·use·ful·la·ter.”

Not killing the Griffon Volf doesn’t mean I’ll keep her alive indefinitely.

I crawled closer to her and dipped my finger in the blood pooled on the floor, then put it in my mouth. It tasted so sweet that one might believe she had honey instead of blood in her body.

‘It’s a pity I can’t eat her right away.’

Having the Griffon Volf alive is advantageous to me in several ways.

In the short term, she can provide useful information. From information needed for the immediate fight with Muriel to information about the existence of players.

One might think I could just extract the information needed for the battle with Muriel and then kill her, but that’s not the case.

Even if I capture Muriel later and extract information about players, without someone to cross-verify, it would be difficult to know whether it’s truth or lies.

‘And the Griffon Volf hates Muriel.’

The Griffon Volf’s skills are quite good from what I’ve seen. Having her fight alongside me against Muriel would be a good asset.

I implanted a parasite in her while she was unconscious, so betrayal is impossible. Due to the Infection Enhancement type, the intensity of pain the parasite can inflict has greatly increased, so if she betrays me, she will die instantly.

Unless I command the parasite to withdraw, her options for escaping from me are limited.

Besides the short-term advantages, she could also be useful in the long term.

‘I can use her later when fulfilling the conditions for Ascended evolution.’

From the Subadult stage onward, evolution conditions become much more demanding than before. It’s not just about eating a few intelligent beings and acquiring a few types.

‘Instead, I need to hunt specific creatures or obtain unique traits.’

I displayed the newly updated evolution conditions.

“‘Subadult’->’Adult’ Evolution conditions partially met.

APEX 0/30 (not achieved)

Unique traits possessed 2/10 (not achieved)

Types possessed 4/6 (not achieved)”

To evolve from Subadult to Adult, I need to hunt 30 rare creatures classified as top predators, or “APEX,” and secure 10 unique traits they possess.

The difference from before is that conditions can be met just by successfully hunting prey, without necessarily eating them. This change occurred because I acquired traits like Essence Harvester Jaw that affect the genetic essence absorption mechanism.

‘Though that doesn’t make it any easier.’

APEX includes powerful psychic creatures like Gallergorn, as well as extremely powerful beings like Skywhale and its superior species, Arcane Orca. Creatures classified as APEX are uniformly powerful and extremely rare, making them difficult to find.

‘That’s why I contracted with Adhigh Orr to help me advance beyond Subadult.’

Gallergorn is classified as a representative APEX. If I go to the dragon’s nest with Adhigh’s guidance, I should be able to fulfill the evolution conditions without much difficulty.

‘Besides that, there’s also the option of actively utilizing the transcendence system, but…’

I currently have two unique traits. Both were obtained through the transcendence system.

One might think that with the transcendence system, I wouldn’t need to hunt APEX creatures, but there are problems with that.

‘Not knowing the trait effects and restrictions on using other traits.’

These are the major drawbacks of the transcendence system.

Unique traits obtained through the transcendence system are completely new traits that didn’t exist in the game.

As a result, it’s difficult to determine whether they’re immediately useful to me, and I can’t know what restrictions will be imposed until I acquire the trait.

‘I’ll need to appropriately utilize both APEX hunting and the transcendence system.’

Anyway, keeping the Griffon Volf alive is in the same context as contracting with Adhigh Orr.

When advancing from Adult to Ascended, the conditions required are incomparably more difficult than before. I don’t know what will happen later, but from my current perspective, there’s a high possibility that her life will be needed.

“Ha, you’re still the same.”

She seemed to vaguely sense why I hadn’t killed her.

Yet she didn’t show anger or displeasure toward me.

‘Even if she were hostile to me, she wouldn’t have many options.’

She is currently in a seriously injured state. And thanks to the symbiont I attached to her body, she’s receiving healing effects and immunity to the contaminants generated in the nest.

Even without using the parasite, just by removing the symbiont, she would die.

Of course, she’s a player who knows me well. She must know how foolish it would be to resist in this situation.

“I don’t mind. As long as you keep your promise.”

“Mu·ri·el·will·suf·fer·and·die.”

“Good. I, Sky Mother, will follow you.”

Just as I expected.

The Griffon Volf, who called herself Sky Mother, made a wise choice.

She forced herself to get up from her lying position and bowed her head to me.

“…I’ll recover as quickly as possible to be of help.”

“It·does·not·mat·ter. I’ll·use·you·as·need·ed.”

In fact, the reason she can’t get up isn’t just because of the damage inflicted by Muriel.

‘It’s partly because of me, but there’s no need to mention that.’

When I decided not to kill her, I removed the biosignal device at the back of her head using my Ghost Claw.

I made a slight mistake in the process.

Removing the chip with just Ghost Claw without the Dexterity trait wasn’t easy, and as a result, I had to leave her with massive bleeding and aftereffects.

‘Well, being a Griffon Volf, she’ll recover quickly.’

An ordinary Volf would have died the moment I removed the chip, but not her.

Her ‘Incarnate’ stage is quite high, so even in her untransformed state, she inherits the abilities and appearance of her Griffon mode.

With the Griffon’s recovery ability plus the healing effect of the symbiotic spores, she’ll recover enough to move with me when I strike at Muriel.

More importantly, there’s something I need right now.

“Mu·ri·el’s·weak·ness. Tell·me.”

Before the nest is completed, I need to learn as much as possible about Muriel’s equipment, her strengths and weaknesses, and her habits during combat.

Who Sky Mother is and information about players can wait until after I deal with Muriel.

–

Despite it being the middle of the night, the defensive position and the surrounding forest were as bright as day.

The large floodlights on the tall watchtowers continuously monitored the ramparts surrounding the position and the area beyond, while inside the position, hundreds of pirates were on high alert, preparing for an enemy attack.

The pirates, who were vigilant without a moment’s distraction, could well be described as soldiers. The reason they were so focused on guard duty was because of their boss, Muriel.

She had killed the Volf slaves gathered in the plaza one by one with her spear.

Just like slaughtering animals.

The pirates of the Humanity Cartel knew well what would happen if they displeased their boss who was mad with anger. Naturally, discipline was strictly maintained.

Moreover, the fact that all contact with the pirates who had gone out for reconnaissance earlier had been cut off made those guarding the fortress even more tense.

“Watchtower 1, all clear.”

“Watchtower 2, all clear.”

“Watchtower 3, fog is suddenly appearing.”

“This is Watchtower 4, I see fog too, like Watchtower 3.”

“Watchtower 5, fog? Why suddenly when there’s no rain… Ah, I can see it here too.”

While ominous radio communications were exchanged from the watchtowers, three pirates were moving the Volf corpses scattered across the plaza to a warehouse.

“The boss seems really pissed off, huh?”

“Damn, I hope we just get through tonight safely.”

“Hey, I have a powerful charm, want to buy it?”

When they had moved about half of the corpses, a murky fog settled over the defensive position.

It wasn’t particularly strange for fog to form in the middle of the night in a hot, humid jungle, but it was rare for such thick fog to appear without rain.

Moreover, the fog had an unpleasant smell. It was a familiar smell that anyone who worked as a Space Dog would recognize.

It was the smell of death. The kind of smell that only crows targeting decaying corpses would appreciate.

“Cough!”

“Hack, what’s with this rotting corpse smell…?”

“Ugh, let’s hurry up and finish this.”

The pirates who were clearing the corpses hurried to the warehouse while dry heaving.

Upon reaching the warehouse, they dumped the corpses from the cart into a corner. Dozens of Volf bodies were already piled there like a pyramid. The dirt floor of the warehouse was soaked with blood and organ fragments that had flowed from the bodies.

The corpses piled there all had their eyes wide open. As if to say they would never forget the pirates’ sins, even in death.

One of the pirates shuddered at the eerie sight.

“Shit, this is one of the top three worst sights I’ve ever seen.”

“Cut the crap and help out, will you?”

“Tsk, fine. Ptui!”

The pirate who spat would have helped his comrades move the protruding corpses elsewhere.

“Huh?”

If he hadn’t seen the corpse twitch before turning his eyes away, he certainly would have.

“What was that just now?”

He rubbed his eyes and looked at the corpse again.

As if to prove he hadn’t seen wrong, the corpses at the bottom of the pile were being ‘absorbed’ into the pitch-black soil.

He tried to alert his comrades to this bizarre phenomenon.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, a long, massive hand shot out from the ground. He was dragged underground without even being able to scream.

“Hey! Help me… Huh? Where did he go?”

“Eh? He was right there just now?”

There was a light on the warehouse ceiling, so the interior wasn’t that dark. Yet their comrade had disappeared in such a bright place.

“D-damn you! Stop joking around!”

“Is this the time for jokes?! Come out now!”

Did their comrade hear their shouts? The pile of corpses began to collapse with a rumble.

The pirates expected it to be their comrade’s mischievous prank, but what emerged from among the corpses was not their comrade.

It was a snake with six sharp appendages.

The snake bit off a pirate’s head with bullet-like speed.

Blood gushed like a fountain from the neck of the pirate whose head had disappeared in an instant.

“Huh?”

The pirate standing next to him only came to his senses after being splashed with his comrade’s blood. Only then did he realize that his two comrades had been killed in the warehouse.

“Uh, uwaaaaah!”

He screamed and fell backward. Thanks to falling, he was able to narrowly avoid the snake’s attack that had killed his comrade.

He crawled out of the warehouse in terror after seeing the snake that had plunged between his legs.

As soon as he got outside, he blew hard on the whistle hanging around his neck. A sound like the cry of a soaring bird of prey echoed throughout the defensive position.

“Enemy attack!”

“Where?”

“The warehouse!”

Voices of pirates shouting could be heard from various places inside the position, and the pirate who had blown the whistle tried to get up and flee somehow.

Behind him came a thunderous noise. It was clearly the sound of iron bars supporting the building and the roof being smashed.

As he ran, he could see fragments of what had been the warehouse flying into the sky.

And a massive object as thick and long as a redwood tree fell on top of his head as he fled.

CRUNCH

He was crushed to death by the massive object without even being able to scream. Thus, he never knew that the massive object was a creature’s “tail.”

“■——-!”

“It” that had turned a pirate into a bloody pancake with its tail roared loudly.

As if announcing that the “night hunt” within this fortress was now beginning.