Ch.206Whom the King Fears (3)

Ham Oort was Odd Grad’s third companion and ranked second in the pack. While many of her kind had white scales, none possessed power as mighty as hers.

Thanks to this power, she could hunt various creatures inhabiting this icy planet. Among those who met death by her breath were beings worthy of being called kings.

However, the Sky King was quite a troublesome enemy from a Gallergorn’s perspective.

It soared through the skies, devouring all the power that her precious kin needed to eat.

Even when she was with Odd Grad’s pack, there were numerous instances where young kin couldn’t grow because of it. Having possessed great strength even in her youth, she had killed the king several times by joining forces with her kin.

But as time passed, a new king would always appear and cause problems. Perhaps it came from above the sky, from where the stars dwelled.

As annoying as the king was, at some point it stopped coming after her kin. Instead, it only circled around the mountain that bordered the garden of stars.

That mountain emitted a strange power that even her kin avoided. It had been perfectly normal when she had green scales, but somehow it changed.

Anyway, after shedding into white scales, she had hunted the Sky King alone. Now that she had grown stronger, catching it shouldn’t be difficult.

The only variable was Adhigh. Her daughter, born weak unlike the naturally superior kin.

There were two reasons why she brought her to this dangerous confrontation with a powerful enemy.

First, it would be difficult to move the king’s corpse. Time was running out, and her kin were exhausted. She judged it better to bring the daughter of the meteor directly to feed her.

And second…

“Ham Oort” “Warning” “Escape” “Impossible!”

“Pain!”

Since leaving the nest, the daughter of the meteor had already attempted to escape three times.

If she behaved like this when it was just the two of them, what would happen if she went to hunt the Sky King alone? She would certainly flee from the nest while she was away.

“Sky King” “Strong” “This behavior” “Dangerous”

“I” “Leave” “Danger” “Disappear”

Ham Oort firmly gripped the struggling Adhigh with her front paw. Until now, she had knocked her unconscious whenever she tried to escape, but this approach wasn’t working.

“Kin” “Daughter of meteor” “Needed” “Cooperate”

“Kin” “Me” “Abandoned” “Me” “Interest” “None”

She had long known that the daughter of the meteor was hostile toward her and other kin. She thought she had been abandoned by the pack.

But it would be problematic if she continued to act this way. Even if she gained the strength to defeat Odd Grad, it would be useless if the daughter of the meteor remained passive.

“Odd Grad” “Young kin” “All” “Kill” “Still” “Acceptable?”

When Ham Oort projected thought waves filled with intense emotion, Adhigh hesitated.

“Young kin” “Sin” “None”

Eventually, she projected thought waves dejectedly. Ham Oort grabbed the now docile Adhigh and continued moving toward her destination.

She boasted the best flying skills among the white kin. She moved so fast that sound couldn’t keep up. Moreover, she used her psychic power to reduce the impact on the daughter of the meteor.

As she cut through the air, a black mountain came into view.

She could feel the unpleasant energy flowing from the mountain. And the heterogeneous energies mixed within it.

“?”

Adhigh, belatedly sensing the energy flow, raised her head. Then she suddenly began to struggle.

“Big elder!” “Small elder!” “Present”

“Big elder?” “Ugly kin” “Is there?”

At Adhigh’s words, Ham Oort focused on the tentacles around her mouth. One of the heterogeneous energies was clearly the wavelength emitted by the Sky King. The other was an energy she didn’t recognize well.

She realized what the mixture of two energies meant.

The big elder that the daughter of the meteor mentioned had beaten her to it.

“Ugly kin” “Sky King” “Hunting?”

“Big elder” “Strong” “Sky King” “Cannot win”

Two emotions were infused in Adhigh’s thought waves: pride and certainty.

The unknown energy was similar to psychic power but much stronger. It felt similar to when she encountered Odd Grad. The claim that the ‘big elder’ would win was no exaggeration.

After a moment’s consideration, Ham Oort activated her psychic power. Small purple sparks flew from her tentacles, and Adhigh’s body went limp.

Given her personality, she would likely act impulsively upon encountering the ‘big elder’. It was better to knock her unconscious.

Landing on the ground after stopping her flight, Ham Oort carefully placed Adhigh beside a tree.

Ham Oort looked down at the small being she had given birth to.

Born weak and abandoned by her kin, yet somehow becoming their savior. For a fleeting moment, some emotion swirled in her purple eyes before disappearing.

Turning her gaze, she spread her wings and took flight.

There was one thing Adhigh didn’t know.

How she had managed to leave this planet without dying.

But Ham Oort had no intention of telling her that. Whatever the case, her daughter had indeed been banished.

And she certainly bore some responsibility for that. She intended to take full responsibility.

–

With wings spread wide in the sky, Ham Oort hovered. I kept my eyes fixed on her while focusing on my auxiliary organs.

The Skywhale is a formidable opponent even for a Gallergorn. When comparing specs, it’s similar to a White Gallergorn, but the difference lies in special abilities.

For Gallergorn, whose strength lies in high-powered psychic attacks, the Skywhale, which devours all energy, is truly a natural enemy. Unless it’s a Black Gallergorn that can kill a Skywhale in one strike, multiple Gallergorn typically gang up on a Skywhale.

‘Even during the event, they appeared in a ratio of almost 5 to 1.’

So there must be other Gallergorn besides her.

As I was scanning the surroundings with my auxiliary organs, Ham Oort flew toward me. With just one wing beat, she reached right in front of me.

Flying right up to me, she swung her front paw. Her claws, shining like refined diamonds, aimed for my neck.

‘She’s fast.’

Her speed was incredible, worthy of being called a white lightning. Hovering in the air with flapping wings, I quickly pulled my neck back. Her claws missed the monster’s tentacles by a paper-thin margin.

As I dodged, I put strength into my tail that was stretched toward the ground. The muscles in my lower body tensed firmly, and the pincer at the end of my tail shot upward.

Before the pincer could strike Ham Oort’s hind leg, her form suddenly shrank. She quickly retreated after failing her attack.

And purple energy gathered around her tentacles. She was preparing to fire a psychic breath right after retreating.

I also hastily drew energy from my body. She fired her psychic breath first, having gathered energy before me.

A purple beam cutting through the dark sky. I maintained my energy charge while completely folding one wing. My body tilted sharply downward, and the beam slightly burned my head carapace.

The “Psychic Reflection Glove” automatically activated, reflecting part of the psychic power technique, and some of the beam reflected toward her. The monster’s tentacles, having finally completed energy charging, also fired a purple beam.

Ham Oort, who had just shown an amazing movement, easily avoided the psychic power essence that split into two paths.

[Zzzzz (Now!)]

Hearing my wavelength, the Sky Mother riding on my back tried to use “Ice Wraith.”

“!”

“Tch! The distance is too far!”

But Ham Oort quickly widened the distance, sensing we were about to do something, causing her attack to fail.

‘She’s cunning.’

As expected of a Gallergorn who defied a Black Gallergorn. After briefly engaging, I can tell her judgment is better than most players.

Having distanced herself, she seemed to judge close combat disadvantageous and began firing psychic breaths indiscriminately.

With “Monster’s Enhanced Wings,” I can move quite nimbly, though not as fast as a Gallergorn’s “Hyper Acceleration” technique. I advanced through the storm of purple beams.

Her aim was considerable, but I’m also experienced at dodging attacks. I avoided the beams with minimal movement, adjusting the angle of my wing arms to change flight direction.

Of course, I didn’t forget to counterattack between dodges. Currently, thanks to the “Berserker Synapse” effect, I’m consuming much less energy. This effect applies not only to physical activities but also to traits that consume large amounts of energy.

In other words, I can use “God’s Whip” more boldly than before.

After dodging a beam by rotating my body with my wings, I charged the Lightning God’s power. My body, covered in black scales, turned golden as if reflecting the sunset.

To her, who can see energy flows, it would look different. She would see terrifying power concentrating in the body of her opponent.

Sensing danger, she fired another psychic breath. It was much thicker than my psychic breath, suggesting she had increased the output.

‘That won’t matter if you can’t hit me.’

I avoided the incoming beam and roughly stirred the golden-glowing membrane to lift my body upward.

Then something beyond my expectation happened.

The beam, which should have passed far below me, changed its trajectory and targeted me.

‘What the…!’

She, who had been constantly changing positions to target me, was now just hovering with wing beats. Around her, psychic power was spread out like a spider web.

‘She’s controlling the beam!’

She forcibly controlled the already fired psychic breath, arbitrarily changing its trajectory.

The beam, bent upward from the middle, was about to hit my abdomen. Too late to dodge, I quickly protected my abdomen with my combat arm.

Just before impact, the beam dispersed in mid-air.

‘What’s going on?’

Where the beam had dispersed, dozens or hundreds of psychic power threads were entangled, similar to what Ham Oort had spread.

It didn’t seem like she had canceled it, as she appeared visibly surprised, suggesting this wasn’t her doing.

Then No. 26 on my back sent a wavelength.

“I’ll protect our big baby!”

‘No. 26!’

This miracle was clearly his doing. He must have interfered with the psychic breath in a way similar to what Ham Oort did.

However, it didn’t seem easy, as fatigue was evident in his wavelength.

‘Whatever, this is my chance!’

I don’t know how they both used similar methods, but now is my chance. I activated God’s Whip, seizing the opportunity he created.

The golden light enveloping my entire body traveled up around my neck and lingered around my mouth. The Lightning God’s whip of lightning. I exhaled that power.

A moment later, Ham Oort also exhaled a breath made of pure psychic power.

A golden dragon tears through the sky. Against it, a purple celestial horse charges from the other side.

When the two collided, a storm of light erupted. A sun composed of two mixed energies rose between me and Ham Oort.

A blazing sun of purple and gold.

Eventually, the sun exploded, releasing a tremendous shockwave. The light-composed shockwave cleared away the black clouds enveloping the planet’s atmosphere. In the cleared sky, yellow lightning and purple energy spread like cracks in broken glass.

After the shockwave swept across the sky, a thunderous sound followed that shook heaven and earth. It was something beyond sound, perceivable only through primal senses. Something that made one feel numb rather than just loud.

The intense collision, visible even from outer space, didn’t last long.

The result was my narrow victory. God’s Whip overwhelmed the psychic breath. Ham Oort, with her excellent judgment, tried to dodge but couldn’t completely avoid it.

With one wing tip damaged, she hovered in the air, barely maintaining balance. Her snow-white scales were either scorched or cracked from the aftermath of God’s Whip.

“Ham Oort” “Will not lose!”

Even in a situation where defeat seemed inevitable, she roared without giving up. Her tentacles turned a lighter purple than before.

As I prepared to fire God’s Whip again, my auxiliary organs warned me. Multiple life forms were rapidly approaching.

‘Gallergorn?’

As I expected, the approaching beings were all Gallergorn. In the cloudless sky, 10 Gallergorn with green scales appeared.

Flying quickly to this location, they gathered around Ham Oort and began discussing something.

‘What are they doing?’

I thought they would immediately pounce on me, but they didn’t. It seemed like they might be forming a strategy, but the atmosphere didn’t suggest that. If only I could eavesdrop on their thought waves, but I couldn’t perceive whatever technique she was using.

“Big baby, something bad happened at the bad guys’ home.”

No. 26, who possessed the most excellent psychic tuning ability among us, eavesdropped on their conversation and relayed it to me.

‘Something bad happened?’

Of course, my understanding of his words is a separate matter.

After conversing among themselves, they all turned and began flying away. Whatever the reason, they clearly seemed to be retreating.

‘You think I’ll let you escape.’

I might not care about the Green Gallergorn, but Ham Oort is almost caught. I can’t miss this opportunity to catch an Apex.

As I was about to fire God’s Whip at their backs, Ham Oort sent me a thought wave.

“Daughter of meteor” “Below”

[Zz (What?)]

“Danger” “Prevention” “Brought” “Die if late” “Quickly” “Go”

[Zzzz (Crazy)]

As soon as I understood what she said, my body moved instinctively.

“?”

Meanwhile, Ham Oort left with the Green Gallergorn. She seemed to send some thought wave before leaving, but I had no time to pay attention to that.

‘I can’t believe she’d use her as a threat!’

I thought it would be fine since she said it was necessary to protect the Gallergorn. Plus, since she claimed it was her child, I believed she wouldn’t harm Adhigh.

But I was mistaken. I folded my wings back and dove steeply toward the ground.

After landing on the ground almost like crashing, I immediately put the kids down and activated my auxiliary organs. I didn’t care about the Skywhale that had exploded to death.

‘Where? Where is… there!’

A familiar scent came from one part of the forest. I hurriedly ran toward it.

Not far away, I saw a Gallergorn lying beside a tree. A Gallergorn with beautiful emerald-green scales, a small body, and a chubby tail. It was unmistakably Adhigh.

As soon as I found her, I generated symbiotic spores. If her life was in danger as Ham Oort said, this would be necessary.

As I was about to attach the spores to Adhigh, who was lying as if dead, she suddenly raised her head.

“?” “Big elder?”

[Zzzzzz (Are you okay?)]

“Big elder!” “Joy!”

She jumped up, clung to me, and rubbed her head against me. No matter how many times I looked, she appeared perfectly fine without a single injury.

‘…Don’t tell me?’

I don’t want to believe it, but it seems I’ve been tricked.