Ch.137Legacy (2)

Until now, I’ve primarily used “Hunting Emblem” as a means to acquire traits.

This is because it significantly increases the probability of predation when I consume corpses I’ve killed.

Even when eating genetic samples or corpses I didn’t kill myself, I can still acquire 0.5 traits rather than complete ones, which is better than nothing. They can be used as transcendence materials after all.

However, I suspect that the original purpose of Hunting Emblem isn’t about predation probability.

It’s all about hunting and slaughter. Its purpose is to specialize in cornering, crushing, and killing enemies.

In the description of Complete Organism, there’s a sentence:

That my flesh is optimized for slaughter and evolution.

Actually, my current body is subtly different from the Subadult form in the game. The six combat arms, the lifestyle of crawling with my lower body and tail due to lack of legs, and the blunt claws scattered across my body are identical to the game.

However, my size and head carapace are larger than in the game, and my combat arms are quite long too. Generally speaking, I’ve evolved to be much more advantageous in combat compared to the game.

What would happen if I enhanced my hunting and predation abilities even further?

My temporarily mutated form looked very different from before.

First, my body size.

Compared to before the mutation, my length seems to have almost doubled. As evidence, my line of sight had changed.

Since becoming a Subadult, I’ve been moving by dragging my lower body and tail on the ground, so my eye level hasn’t changed much. It’s roughly between 7m and 10m.

But now I feel like I’m looking down from a height of over 15m. The Sky Mother in front of me is even covered by my shadow.

‘Looking at my body length, I must be similar to Pale Mask.’

While the change in size was most noticeable, there were also significant detailed changes.

Starting with my head, my jaw, which used to split on both sides, has become much thicker and stronger. There’s now space between my jaw and neck, allowing me to open my mouth wide like a snake. With this size, I could probably swallow a human in one gulp.

As my jaw strengthened, my teeth also hardened, making it seem like I could easily chew through thick-skinned enemies like Sea Demons.

And there’s one major difference. The auxiliary organs under my jaw are now covered and protected by carapace.

The most vulnerable part of my body would be the auxiliary organs under my jaw. Since they’re delicate organs responsible for detection, they weren’t protected by skin or carapace.

‘This was a major weakness in the game too.’

The carapace covering my auxiliary organs appears to be made of the same material as the bone scythes at the ends of my arms, and its shape is similar to the bone scythes.

In other words, it has surprisingly high cutting power.

My appearance with four blades under my jaw reminds me of the land monster UlX-raX-isX from classic SF strategy games.

The blade carapaces covering my auxiliary organs can each move freely as I wish. I can swing the blades when turning my head to harvest an enemy’s neck, or I can bite and simultaneously slash enemies with the blades when fighting large opponents.

While the auxiliary organs have become new weapons, their detection capabilities haven’t diminished at all. This is thanks to the tiny holes pierced throughout the blade carapaces.

These aren’t just simple holes—my already excellent cognitive abilities have been further enhanced. I can even detect when it will rain by reading the humidity in the air.

My eyes, like before, are hidden within my head carapace, but the enhanced performance of my auxiliary organs compensates for this, so there’s no problem.

‘My head carapace has changed a lot too.’

Before becoming a Subadult, the back of my head changed dramatically, spreading out like a crown. The shape is still the same now, with the back of my head spreading widely, but it differs in that there are elongated spines and sharp bone plates protruding here and there on top of the layered carapace.

The carapace covering my head appears to be at least three layers thick, extremely increasing my defense. Additionally, the new spines and bone plates maximize the destructive power of my charging tactics, where I stab enemies with my horns.

‘Overall, my appearance has become more ferocious.’

It’s not as majestic as QueeX-AliX, but from an efficiency standpoint, it’s not bad.

If the changes to my head were revolutionary, how has my body changed?

First, my back has evolved to be covered with double layers of carapace similar to my head, with bone plates and spines protruding between them.

If enemies tried to crush me with their body weight like Pale Mask did, they would undoubtedly be impaled by my bone plates and spines and left in a critical state.

And as I expected, new bone scythe arms have grown on my back. Of the eight holes covered with spiral membranes, only two didn’t produce corrosive tentacles—these were the holes where the bone scythe arms emerged.

The overall shape of the bone scythe arms that protruded outward was similar to before.

Unlike regular arms with one joint between the humerus and radius, these arms have an extra joint in the middle, making them longer and more flexible.

The difference from before, apart from the increased size, was that the bone scythes at the ends of the arms had split into two. Like pincers, bone blades protrude up and down, and they can move freely according to my will. The length of the up-and-down bone scythes exceeds 3m, giving them an overwhelming presence. Their sharpness and hardness have also improved incomparably.

While the changes to the bone scythe arms are quite interesting, the biggest change to my body would be my lower body.

When I became a Subadult, claws appeared all over my body, primarily used for crawling, digging, or moving underground or underwater.

Those claws have changed ferociously.

It’s like a centipede grown to about 50m. The previously stubby, short claws have transformed into short leg-like structures. Thanks to these numerous legs, my lower body and tail were slightly lifted off the ground.

‘At this rate, my movement will be much faster.’

Moreover, the gliding membrane that was originally only between my arms now exists between the small legs as well, so I might even be able to float on water like this.

Finally, my upper body.

Unlike my head, back, and lower body, which had clearly mutated, there weren’t any special changes to my upper body.

My combat arms just became thicker and longer. And correspondingly, the membrane hidden between my arms also grew larger.

As I moved around to check my newly mutated body after becoming a Subadult, the Sky Mother in front of me flinched.

“Not an Adult… but what kind of ability is this?”

[Zz zzzzz zzzzz zzzz (It’s my secret weapon, I can’t tell you)]

“A secret weapon, huh. Maybe it’s a Perk. If it’s a Perk, it’s not impossible, but to become this strong…”

The Sky Mother understood even though I didn’t answer.

Right now, she was greatly intimidated by my majestic appearance.

Her neatly aligned fur was standing on end, probably due to tension, and her eyes trembled slightly. I could also feel her heart beating strongly through my auxiliary organs.

She, who never lost her dignity when first encountering me or fighting Muriel, is now afraid of me.

At that moment, No. 26 and Adhigh Orr approached.

“Big one got bigger again?”

[Zzzz zzzzzz (It’s temporary)]

“Big one can change body too, just like me.”

No. 26 was happy about finding a common ground.

Meanwhile, Adhigh just stared at me blankly.

“I” “Adult” “Question”

[Zzzz (What?)]

“I” “Adult” “Tail” “Female” “Judge”

[Zz (Huh?)]

He pointed to the back with the tip of his wing. In the direction his wing was pointing was my massive tail.

Then he pointed to my horns with his wing.

“I” “Judge” “Error” “Adult” “Horns” “Many” “Cool” “I” “Wonder” “Adult” “Male?” “Female?”

‘Hmm.’

Gallergorn are sexually dimorphic animals, so males and females look different. Males have thick, long horns, while females have plump tails instead of horns.

As a Subadult, my tail changed the most dramatically. By Gallergorn standards, it would be an understatement to call it robust.

‘Ah, come to think of it?’

When I went to rescue No. 26, he hesitantly spoke to me. I thought it was because of guilt.

‘Now I see it wasn’t that.’

He probably wanted to ask if I was male or female.

After using Hunting Emblem, my horns have grown considerably. They’re about 2m long. This size puts me above Black Gallergorn. I could be considered among the upper ranks of the species Adhigh has seen.

In other words, my appearance is very bizarre by Gallergorn standards. I have both large horns and a thick tail.

Still, it was such an absurd question that I was pondering how to answer when the Sky Mother answered first.

“This one is undoubtedly male. This trans… ahem, this creature couldn’t possibly be female.”

“Male?”

“A male, yes.”

[Zz zzzzzz (I’m male)]

At my and the Sky Mother’s words, Adhigh tilted his head. After looking at my horns for a moment, he sent a thought wave indicating he understood.

“I” “Understand” “Adult” “Male” “Certain”

[Zzzz (Yes)]

“Adult” “Most” “Cool” “Pack” “Leader” “Possible”

[Zzzzz (Thank you)]

“…Ha.”

I expressed my gratitude for Adhigh’s praise, ignoring the Sky Mother’s scoff.

Now that the explanation to them seems complete, I finished my inspection.

It’s time to do what I originally intended.

Consuming the Pale Mask.

‘Tsk. It’s a shame to use something this good only for predation.’

I know Hunting Emblem is a trump card, but I can’t help feeling regretful every time I transform. If only it didn’t have the limitation of 20 minutes duration and one week cooldown, I would have actively used it in combat.

‘I wonder if it gets better at Transcendence Level 2.’

The condition for Transcendence Level 2 is to use five fusion traits related to different types as materials.

I’ve already cleared the conditions for Transcendence Level 2 thanks to the traits I secured while roaming the swamp. However, I need to use the nest-related fusion trait “Symbiotic Spores” as material, so I’m waiting until I get a new nest-related fusion trait.

‘Let’s get a new nest-related fusion trait before leaving this planet.’

The spaceship is ready, albeit a bit damaged, and both No. 26 and Adhigh are gathered. I should aim to get a nest-related fusion trait before I can use “Nightmare Horizon” again.

‘I’ll think about that later.’

Now it’s time to enjoy predation. I approached the corpse with No. 26.

‘Let’s see.’

I opened my jaw wide and bit into the Pale Mask’s head. My mouth, which opened enormously like a great white shark or a boa constrictor, tore off a large chunk of the Pale Mask’s flesh.

‘Hmm.’

Is it because my jaw has been strengthened, or because my teeth have hardened? When fighting it, it felt tough, but now it feels like it’s melting in my mouth.

‘This is an interesting taste.’

I’ve eaten two types of marine creature meat here: Fishrian and Sea Demon.

Both boasted unique flavors, but the taste itself didn’t go beyond the category of seafood.

But this male Pale Mask meat, how should I put it? It had a different flavor from seafood.

‘It’s closer to lamb, actually.’

The Pale Mask meat, perhaps mixed with brain oil, boasted the greasiest texture of any meat I’ve eaten in my life. Just looking at it this way, it might seem greasy, but due to the intense meat flavor, I didn’t particularly think it was greasy.

‘Moreover, the taste comes in stages.’

When first bitten, the fat and meat juice burst, and an intense meat flavor dominates the mouth. Then, as you chew the meat, unlike at first, it changes to a soft taste mixed with oil. Finally, it changes to a sweet taste like ice cream melting in your mouth before disappearing down your throat.

Unlike Sea Demon meat, which has a unique yet natural feel, Pale Mask meat is intuitive. It’s like the difference between a high-end seafood buffet and an American steakhouse.

‘It’s good that it tastes good after all the effort to catch it.’

So No. 26 and I thoroughly enjoyed the Pale Mask meat.

It took about 10 minutes to eat the entire head of the creature.

The moment I licked up the last drop of brain fluid, the expected text box appeared.

“Predation effect activated! Successfully acquired Human-Faced Beast genetic essence.”

“Stole ‘Human-Faced Beast’ trait from ‘Pale Mask’.”

“Apply ‘Human-Faced Beast’?”

The trait I acquired is ‘Human-Faced Beast’.

It was a trait that generates parasites resembling those pale faces, which are like mascots of the Pale Mask.

Unlike the Pale Mask, which uses hypnotic waves and shock waves, the Human-Faced Beast applied to AMorph has different effects. While I was glad to see this trait, which I had used effectively, I also felt disappointed.

‘I was aiming for Giant Creature.’

The ‘Giant Creature’ trait is shared by creatures over 50m in size. If you get the Giant Creature trait, you can use the gigantification ability. If I used gigantification along with Hunting Emblem, my physical abilities would be virtually invincible.

It might sound childish, but I wanted to see it at least once. My appearance using Hunting Emblem while gigantified.

Anyway, I need to catch creatures belonging to Apex to evolve. Since most Apex creatures are large, there will be many opportunities to get the Giant Creature trait in the future.

I shook off my disappointment and applied the Pale Mask’s legacy, the Human-Faced Beast trait.

–

In the infinite darkness of space.

In that space where only stars tens or hundreds of light-years away emit the only light, a massive structure was floating.

The structure resembled a refined diamond. With a diameter of 3km, an ivory-colored hull decorated with gold and special metals, this structure was surprisingly a spaceship.

It is the Imperial Mothership, a mass-produced weapon that concentrates the ancient technology of the Cult Empire.

Until just a few thousand years ago, the Imperial Mothership was active, traversing numerous battlefields.

To protect the “Providence” that forms the foundation of the Cults, to enlighten countless planets and natives, the Imperial Mothership had no time to rest.

Of course, that’s all ancient history now. The Cult Empire has been suffering from civil war for over a thousand years. Even at this moment, numerous factions were repeating meaningless verbal battles in the Imperial Council for their political gain.

In other words, wars with the outside had ended, and internal strife had begun.

As times changed, there was no longer a place for powerful weapons like the Imperial Mothership. Some were retired, and some performed defense duties on the outskirts of the empire.

The Imperial Mothership here, “Judge of Damos08,” was one of the ships that avoided retirement and was banished to the outskirts.

In the outskirts of the outskirts, where no one visits, not even monsters like Metallic Gremlins or Outspacers, the captain of the Imperial Mothership was repeating meaningless route calculations today as well.

If the Cult aide hadn’t rushed to him, he would have had another day identical to usual.

“Captain, a message from the council!”

“I told you to reject faction membership requests.”

“That’s not it! A purification order has been passed in the council and is under review by the elders. I think the order will come down within a week at the latest, or in a few days at the earliest.”

The Cult with yak horns turned his head at the aide’s words.

“Purification order? Could it be Outspacers? When did they invade? Which area is under attack? Is the problem so serious that a mothership needs to be mobilized?”

“Uh, well, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The intelligence department monitored Star Union and obtained information that a holy site has been contaminated. It’s not clear which species did it.”

“Holy site?”

“The holy site Psygil08.”

“Psygil…”

The captain was interested in espionage activities and information gathering, so he didn’t mind interacting with inferior intelligent beings. Therefore, he knew well that humans and cyborgs call Psygil08 as PH-101.

“The holy site is contaminated, and the machine guys know before us? The council is truly rotten.”

Not only the captain but also the Cult leaders with functioning brains knew well that the corruption of those running around in the council was severe.

They also knew that some of them handled money through piracy or smuggling.

“…There’s a disgusting smell.”

“What will you do?”

The captain shrugged at the aide’s question.

“What else? We are warriors. Sacred warriors who follow Providence and are loyal to the Cult, not factions. If it’s an order from the council, we must follow it.”

“Captain…”

“Inform all crew members. Tell them to prepare in advance.”

“Understood.”

After the aide left, the captain resumed route calculations. The universe implemented by psychic power appeared before him again.

However, its shape was slightly different from before. The universe floating in front of the captain resembled the star system to which the PH-101 planet belonged.