Ch.142The Three-Headed Devil (1)

As soon as I regained consciousness, I felt the liquid surrounding my body. A thick, warm sensation like amniotic fluid.

I tried to move my arms, but they wouldn’t budge, as if paralyzed. My entire body felt dull, like I’d been injected with a massive dose of anesthetic.

‘Looks like the mutation isn’t complete yet.’

I quickly assessed and accepted the situation.

I couldn’t move my eyelids to see, but my body was probably still in a gelatinous state. Inside the cocoon, all sorts of chemical reactions were occurring, transforming my body through mutation.

‘Probably about one or two hours left.’

Normally I’d try to sleep at this point, but I wasn’t in the mood. I felt like I’d seen something important before viewing my old memories, but I couldn’t remember what it was.

‘It was definitely something important…’

It felt like something was blocking my mind, preventing me from remembering. No matter how much I tried, the memory wouldn’t surface, which only frustrated me more.

‘…Let’s give up.’

If it was truly important, it would come back eventually. I forcibly stopped trying to recall it.

‘Instead, let me check what everyone is doing.’

To relieve my growing frustration, I turned my attention to those who should be on the surface. I concentrated on my auxiliary organs to sense what was happening outside the cocoon.

Perhaps because I was mid-evolution, I could only vaguely sense what was happening on the surface above me.

And there was no one there. All I could feel was the hard leg shell of the Swarm King.

‘Where did everyone go?’

My most vulnerable moments are when I’m evolving or using the transcendence system. That’s why I asked them to protect me before entering the second stage of transcendence.

I hate to say it myself, but my relationship with them isn’t bad.

No. 26, who has spent the most time with me, goes without saying, and Adhigh Orr admires me.

I also try to avoid doing things they dislike. If there’s something they want, I’d like to accommodate them within reason.

The Sky Mother is a bit ambiguous, but she has her own goals, so the likelihood of her betraying me is low. If she was going to betray me, she would have done so as soon as I entered the cocoon.

There’s no chance they would leave me without reason. So in this case, there’s only one possibility.

‘There’s a threat nearby.’

It was clear they had left to eliminate something that could harm me.

‘In terms of threats that could attack me here…’

The first thing that came to mind was the Horned Gigant couple.

Their habitat is quite far from here, but they’ve been entering the forest frequently since they ate those pirates last time. They must have discovered the taste of human and Cult meat and started prowling around.

‘I deliberately made my nest in a safe place, so it’s probably not them.’

Other potential threats could be a rescue team coming to save the personnel from the deep-sea research facility, but that’s also unlikely. My nest is quite far from the base.

‘Or perhaps Muriel’s colleagues?’

When I interrogated Muriel before, I heard she had players supporting her. And that she had sent a distress call before dying, which was ignored.

‘I erased as many traces as possible.’

I could tell they were wary of me from the detailed conversation Muriel described. Still, just to be safe, I cleaned up any traces I might have left.

Before leaving the campsite, I “incinerated” or buried all artificial structures and weapons.

There are traces of the cruiser that exploded after being struck by the Lightning God, but finding my nest based on that alone would be nearly impossible.

‘Since my nest is underground.’

There’s a small chance players might have discovered my nest using technology I’m unaware of. But even that doesn’t make sense.

‘If they had found my nest, I’d already be dead.’

Two players of Muriel’s caliber or higher could easily take down No. 26, Adhigh Orr, and the Sky Mother. It’s been four or five hours since I entered the cocoon, more than enough time to finish the job.

So the fact that I’m still alive means it’s not two players who came directly. The mysterious enemy must be at a level where they can engage in combat with my companions.

‘So I’m back to square one.’

It seems I’ll have to go look for them as soon as my mutation is complete.

–

The Sky Mother is a ranker.

Though not particularly extroverted, she had experience running a large clan and leading raids to hunt boss-level creatures.

From leading the extermination of the sub-boss Sea Demon, to participating in the extermination of Red Gallergorn and Voltex One, which only rankers dared to challenge.

She prided herself on having been through thick and thin, but the scene before her now was utterly surreal.

“Aaaagh!”

“Everyone run!”

A Sea Demon, grown to over 10 meters, was indiscriminately slaughtering Cult warriors in the middle of the forest. Each time its tentacles, thicker than logs, swung, the upper body of a Cult warrior disappeared. Whenever the eye-shaped pattern on its body glowed, Cult members bled from their eyes and ears.

Their leader died immediately upon encountering the Sea Demon, struck by a tentacle. His body twisted like a fly hit by a swatter.

“Deploy shields! Deploy shields!”

A female Cult member shouted while dodging tentacles. She must have been the second-highest ranked warrior, as the others hurriedly deployed shields at her command.

But shields were meaningless against a Sea Demon that handled psychic power as skillfully as a Gallergorn.

“D-dying-gggkk?!”

A warrior who bravely rushed forward with a shield suddenly stopped mid-air. Then his arms, legs, and waist began to twist against his will.

“Aaaaargh!”

Was this what it looked like when a child pulled the legs off an ant? The warrior, hit with 5 stacks of the Sea Demon’s “Binding,” soon had his limbs and torso separated from his lower body.

“I-it’s useless…aaaagh!”

Meanwhile, another warrior was struck by the Sea Demon’s thick tentacle and flew into a tree. With his neck bent at an unnatural angle, he blinked a few times before moving no more.

It was clearly a horrific scene of slaughter.

Yet the reason the Sky Mother found it surreal was because of the waves emitted by the Sea Demon—no, No. 26—each time it attacked the Cult members.

“Bad humans! Bad humans!”

“Aaaagh!”

“Who said to hit the middle child!”

“Eeeek!”

Between their screams, No. 26 repeated the words “bad humans” while massacring the Cult members. It couldn’t distinguish between Cults and humans.

“Damn it! Block its tentacles first!”

At the female Cult member’s command, two Cult members with harpoon-like weapons stepped forward.

‘Oh no!’

Seeing this, the Sky Mother quickly jumped down from the tree.

Those harpoon nets contract rapidly upon hitting their prey, constricting it. While that alone wouldn’t pierce the Sea Demon’s tough exterior, the Cult’s nets were made of Black Silver.

‘If it’s Black Silver, No. 26 could get hurt!’

If No. 26 were injured even slightly, the sleeping monster would certainly not be pleased.

However, her concern proved unnecessary.

Just as the net was about to touch it, No. 26’s body suddenly shrank into a small balloon-like form. The diminished creature easily avoided the net, then grew back to size and swung its tentacles.

One of the Cult members who fired the net barely dodged, but the other was hit by a tentacle and his upper body flew off.

The surviving Cult member momentarily showed relief, but it was premature. Stones and metal fragments on the ground trembled, then flew at his face at high speed.

He too met the same fate as his comrade, with holes punctured all over his face.

‘Not bad.’

Despite its childish speech, No. 26 was fighting very well, like a true Sea Demon. It was actively applying its skills.

‘No need to stay here any longer.’

The Sky Mother left the scene of No. 26 smashing the Cult members and headed to where Adhigh Orr was fighting.

Currently, Adhigh Orr was slaughtering another team of Cult members. As the only one among AMorph’s companions capable of high-altitude flight, Adhigh was utilizing this advantage, grabbing Cult members and dropping them to their deaths.

‘There is a flight technique among psychic power skills, but…’

It was impossible to dodge Adhigh’s attacks as it flew faster than bullets. Colliding with its charge meant certain death.

Moreover, all the Cult members who entered this forest were not in their right minds. This was due to No. 26’s “Terror of the Deep.”

‘It has better application skills than the Sea Demon in the game.’

According to the lore, Terror of the Deep is a phenomenon that occurs when powerful psychic energy leaks from a Sea Demon. As a result, the minds of other creatures are adversely affected and collapse as they get closer to it.

But No. 26 implemented Terror of the Deep by spreading psychic power thinly and widely like a spider web. Most enemies remained relatively lucid, but in exchange, their communication devices and certain psychic power techniques became unusable.

Creating an environment where communication was blocked and enemies could be picked off individually—that was No. 26’s intention.

Of course, since it wasn’t yet a fully matured adult, the effect wasn’t perfect.

After it began fighting directly, the effect of Terror of the Deep fluctuated. Some might break free from control if unlucky.

Still, the tactic itself was effective enough that the Sky Mother couldn’t help but be impressed.

‘…Like friend, like AMorph.’

If No. 26 became an adult, it would be a terrifying monster.

‘I suppose that’s fortunate in a way.’

Should she be relieved or worried that such a fearsome monster was an ally?

While pondering this, she heard a sound above her head.

It was a scream.

The Sky Mother immediately stopped running. A few seconds later, a Cult warrior crashed through tree branches and hit the ground.

There was a loud explosion-like sound as his body shattered completely.

A green dragon gracefully landed on the unrecognizable meat fragments.

With a slender 2-meter body, wings larger than its torso, four horns, and a plump tail, the impressive dragon was Adhigh Orr.

After dropping a Cult member to his death, Adhigh was holding another Cult member in its front paws. Having used super-acceleration to ram into him, the captive Cult member was crushed halfway despite wearing reinforced armor.

“Here” “cleanup” “complete”

“You’re fast.”

“I” “amazing”

“Yes, you did well.”

One team had already been eliminated, and another would soon be finished.

She had detected three teams of Cult warriors in total. Only one team remained.

“Enemy” “remains” “hunt” “begin”

“Wait a moment… oh no.”

She had planned to eliminate the remaining team together, but Adhigh flew off first. She shook her head helplessly and followed after Adhigh.

–

“Huff, huff, huff…”

Cult warrior Olrai hid behind a tree, breathing heavily.

‘Damn it! The warrior captain, Edrin, Ashen, all dead…’

The warrior unit that came to this planet had been annihilated except for him. He knew this despite the lack of communication thanks to the tools he possessed.

Unlike other Cult members, Olrai was an “Innovative” Cult who freely used primitive race equipment.

Before the mission began, he distributed small chips to the other unit members. These were military tracking chips commonly used by Megacorps. While difficult to use for long-distance missions, they worked fine for activities within a specific region of a continent.

Additionally, the reinforced suit he wore wasn’t the standard Cult warrior armor. It was a special custom reinforced suit obtained from House Garmelda of the Megacorps.

This suit had relatively lower physical protection but provided powerful stealth effects, making it perfect for infiltration missions.

Furthermore, Olrai had mastered a psychic power technique to erase his bodily presence, making him virtually a ghost.

‘Damn it! I offered to share these good things, but why wouldn’t they listen…!’

Though usually despised for “liking monkey toys,” it was thanks to those monkey-made equipment that he survived.

‘If I can just reach the transport ship, I can survive.’

So far, he had seen three monsters, but who knew how many more dangerous creatures lurked around. They must be mutations caused by contamination. The purification operation needed to be expedited.

After confirming no monsters were nearby, Olrai moved again.

‘Once I pass this area!’

The transport ship was beyond those bushes. Moving as quietly as possible, he suddenly ducked down. A black shadow flashed across the ground and disappeared.

His comrade Edrin had demonstrated what that meant.

‘Why is a Gallergorn here?!’

Remembering his comrade who was grabbed by a Green Gallergorn, lifted several kilometers, and dropped, he moved cautiously.

Finally, after passing through the bushes, the transport ship he had been hoping for appeared before him.

However, the ship’s condition was far from what he had expected.

“Grrrrrr.”

“Grung.”

Two large theropods with huge horns on their heads were destroying the transport ship and devouring the pilot inside.

They were “Manuk Arma” in Cult language, or Horned Gigants as Megacorps called them. Indigenous to Psygil08, these predators from volcanic regions had ventured deep into the forest.

“Grr, sniff? Sniff sniff.”

“Grrrrrr.”

One of the Manuk Arma seemed to smell something, sniffing the air. Its head turned precisely toward where Olrai stood.

These creatures have extremely keen senses of smell. There was no way it would miss the scent of his sweat-soaked body.

Olrai silently backed away. Once behind the bushes, he ran at full speed. He heard the creatures roaring behind him but ignored it and ran like mad.

‘Daaaaamn!’

Unfortunately, his escape didn’t last long. The Green Gallergorn circling overhead spotted him and swooped down.

Despite using every means to survive, Olrai couldn’t overcome his fate.

Colliding with the 2-meter body flying at supersonic speed, he ended up like an insect squashed by a palm.

–

“Hide and seek” “over”

Looking at the fragments of what was just an enemy, she nodded with satisfaction.

Recently, she felt her relationship with the Big One had become more distant than before. The Little One and the Ugly Friend spent a lot of time with the Big One, but she didn’t have many activities with him.

So she thought: I’ll earn merit and receive affection from the Big One.

In just one day, she had hunted over 10 prey. With this much achievement, surely the Big One would pay attention to her.

After licking the blood off her body, she was about to return. She would have, if a new enemy hadn’t rammed into her.

“Kwaaaaa!”

“Pain!”

Colliding with the suddenly appearing monster, she tumbled onto the dirt. Thanks to her quick reaction before impact, she avoided a fatal wound, but one of her wings was badly torn.

“You” “me” “pain” “give” “kill”

Despite this, Adhigh Orr didn’t lose her fighting spirit. Standing firmly on all four legs, she glared at the creature. Currently, the Little One and the Ugly Friend were far behind.

She had rushed too far ahead in her eagerness.

So she needed to hold out until they arrived.

“Grrrrrr!”

“Two?”

The devastating realization was that there wasn’t just one creature.

One of them, which had rammed her with its horn, charged at her. With her torn wing, she barely managed to dodge that attack.

Unfortunately, dodging the second attack—the creature’s tail—was impossible. Struck by its thick tail, she flew into a tree behind her.

“Pain!”

Blood trickled from the tentacles attached to her head from the impact. She tried to stand up, but her four legs trembled and had no strength.

“Grrrrrr.”

The creature, now close, opened its mouth wide. Sharp protruding teeth. Soon those teeth would tear her fragile body to shreds.

“Death” “dislike!”

“Kwaaaaa!”

It was too early to give up.

She fired Purple Lightning with all her might. The purple lightning struck the creature’s eye, causing blood to splatter.

Despite having its eye burst, the enemy didn’t retreat. If anything, the attack seemed to enrage it, as it tried to bite her while being struck by lightning.

“Big One” “sorry”

She had done her best until the end, but it seemed this was as far as she could go. Sensing death, she closed her eyes.

But then she felt vibrations from somewhere. It didn’t feel like being chewed by teeth, as there was no pain at all.

The vibrations, initially faint, grew stronger until it felt like someone was grabbing and shaking her body violently.

“What is?”

“Grung?”

“Grrrr?”

The earthquake wasn’t just felt by her. The two beasts also showed signs of confusion at the sudden tremor.

And then.

The ground exploded, and the beast that was about to bite her was flung up into the trees.

[ZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZ (How dare these madmen!)]

A massive dragon roaring with earth-shaking fury.

It was the Big One she had been waiting for.