Ch.212Trap (1)

    What apex would be suitable for Adhigh and me to hunt together?

    The Skywhale that absorbs all types of energy is out of the question. Fighting it would require relying solely on physical abilities, which would be extremely disadvantageous for Adhigh, who is much smaller than his own kind.

    Crystal Wing would be an appropriate opponent to develop Adhigh’s skills, but there’s a problem. Catching them would take at least several days, and we don’t have that much time.

    So Crystal Wing is also excluded.

    Another consideration would be the Glacier Fiend, but this is also ambiguous. The Glacier Fiend’s narcotic substance can even entice a Gallergorn. A White Gallergorn would have high poison resistance and could endure to some extent, but it would be difficult to avoid aftereffects. With the battle against Odd Grad approaching, fighting an enemy that leaves aftereffects isn’t ideal.

    What about the Ice Horror then?

    Not very good. In the case of Ice Horror, he has eaten it twice. Once caught by me and once by Ham Oort, making it 2 times. Having eaten it multiple times, it’s unlikely to have any new effects.

    With Ice Horror eliminated, Gallergorn remains. Not a bad opponent, but apart from Odd Grad and Ham Oort’s group, they don’t exist on this planet. So Gallergorn is also impossible.

    That’s a total of 5 types of apex excluded.

    If I remember correctly, there are 3 other types of apex that inhabit ice planets. One of them, the Arcane Orca, is a higher species of Skywhale, so that’s out, leaving two types.

    One of them has no flying ability at all. It’s not suitable as a training target for Adhigh, who needs to become accustomed to aerial combat.

    Naturally, there’s only one apex left.

    Right now, Adhigh and I are moving to catch it.

    We’re currently in a location far from the forest where the nest is located. It’s relatively close to the massive mountain where we caught the Skywhale, but it would still take quite some time to get there.

    We’ve ventured a bit far since there’s been no special movement from Odd Grad’s group. I plan to look around for just one day and return, as it would be dangerous to take too much time.

    Considering Adhigh’s stamina, we occasionally landed on mountains to rest or eat.

    [Eat]

    “Thank you”

    I handed Adhigh a small animal carcass. Watching him suck blood with his tentacles, I swallowed an animal carcass in one bite.

    ‘This one we’re going to catch is also difficult to find, so I shouldn’t be impatient.’

    It’s a type that’s annoying to find, though not as much as Crystal Wing.

    The one we’re hunting this time is a stealth-type apex. Like the Ice Horror, it belongs to the type that builds its own home and hides.

    ‘Though it’s more like a food storage than a home.’

    It has the peculiar habit of capturing prey, storing it in a suitable place, letting it decompose, and then eating it. No wonder its nickname is “the gourmet.”

    Like a picky eater, our hunting target this time is very intelligent. It doesn’t have the high sociability or advanced communication system like Gallergorn, but that’s because they only move alone.

    In a way, it can be said to be similar to AMorph.

    After finishing our brief meal and rest, we resumed our search.

    Below our wings, we could see mountain ridges stretching widely, leaving behind the forest full of trees.

    Even during flight, my auxiliary organs remained fixed on the middle slopes of the mountains. The creature usually makes its hiding place in the middle of mountains, so we need to examine that area carefully.

    As intelligent as it is, it hides its nest well, but there’s one distinctive feature. I’ve already told Adhigh about this.

    “Great One” “Question”

    While carefully examining the mountains, Adhigh called out to me.

    “Great One” “Knowledge” “Much” “Kin” “I” “Unknown things” “All” “Know” “Amazing”

    [Is that so?]

    “Ham Oort” “Odd Grad” “Both” “All” “Don’t know” “Great One” “Only”

    He seemed amazed that I knew so much information. From my perspective, it’s more impressive that he remembers every movement of the stars.

    “Great One” “All” “Prey” “Everything” “Know?”

    [No. Not to that extent]

    I’ve memorized about 80% of the biological information that appears in Space Survival. Given AMorph’s characteristic that knowledge equals power, knowing more about creatures is always beneficial.

    ‘There weren’t many players who knew as much as I did.’

    Probably only the 4th-ranked Outspacer and the 1st-ranked Cyborg ranker knew as much as or more than me.

    However, this is reality, so there are quite a few differences from the game. No. 26, who became a Sea Demon from a Bubble Amoeba, and the mutant Gallergorn Adhigh. Both are beings that couldn’t be seen in the game.

    Besides them, even the Ice Horror I first encountered on this planet was much larger than its predetermined size in the game. The White Gallergorn Ham Oort also possessed skills far superior to his kind.

    ‘So far, my knowledge has been sufficiently useful, but…’

    I don’t know how long that will last. In the end, there’s only one way to minimize the risk arising from the discrepancy between my knowledge and reality.

    ‘Building strength to avoid death.’

    [I don’t know many things too. I’m still weak]

    “Great One” “Body” “Black kin” “Similar” “Power” “Strong”

    [You’ll become stronger than me when you grow]

    “Truth?”

    It’s true. Even an ordinary Black Gallergorn is superior to me in specs. If Adhigh ever becomes a Red Gallergorn, he would be the most powerful among my companions.

    ‘Of course, due to his small body, he wouldn’t be as strong as the original.’

    Hearing my words, Adhigh happily wagged his tail from side to side as he flew.

    “I” “Growth” “Complete” “After” “Wish” “Have”

    [Yes. If you have something you want, I’ll grant it]

    “Promise”

    I also need to continue collecting genetic essence apart from evolution. It wouldn’t be bad to hunt together if he wants specific prey.

    As we continued exploring the mountains, I spotted traces of our target.

    [Found it]

    “Where?”

    [There]

    Adhigh and I landed on the middle slope of a snow-covered mountain. It was a mountain with few rocks but dense with trees and plants.

    ‘They transplant trees and plants to the entrance of their nest.’

    Perhaps an ordinary animal or someone unfamiliar with its habits would just pass by.

    “That place” “Nest?”

    [Yes]

    I took Adhigh to an area densely covered with trees, vines, moss, and various plants.

    The reason I was certain this was its nest and food storage was simple. I pulled out a vine growing from the ground.

    ‘This plant species doesn’t grow nearby.’

    With its flying ability, it always goes far to gather food. Each time, it brings back seeds or roots of plants from the area where the prey is and plants them at the entrance of its hiding place.

    In other words, if you see plants that don’t naturally grow there, that’s its hiding place.

    After swallowing a fruit from the vine, I threw one to Adhigh as well. As he started eating the fruit, I said:

    [Wait here for a moment]

    “I” “Together” “Enter”

    [No. I’ll lure it out and then we’ll fight outside]

    The enemy we’re facing this time prefers very irregular tactical styles. It either ambushes from hiding or deceives the enemy to counter-attack. Despite this, it has very high attack power, and if we’re not careful, Adhigh’s body could be severed.

    ‘In that case, it’s better for me to go in and draw it out.’

    I tore away vines and trees. As I cleared obstacles with my wing arms and combat arms, a large cave appeared.

    A faint smell of blood and decaying corpses came from inside. The moment I smelled it, I was certain.

    ‘It’s inside.’

    The creature I’m looking for doesn’t go outside until it finishes eating its food.

    I entered the entrance in a prone position. The entrance was narrow, but it widened as it went deeper. It wasn’t just the passage that widened. There were numerous branching paths, like an ant colony.

    But there was no need to go deeper following the paths. My job is simply to draw it out.

    ‘It’s probably waiting for me, but…’

    I stopped at a reasonably wide passage.

    Coincidentally, the cooldown for the Hunt’s Emblem had just ended a few minutes ago. I brought out the bioweapon dormant within my body.

    As my head carapace changed shape, my vision disappeared and other senses became much more sensitive. My body structure twisted, and the human face moved to the head carapace, while bone scythe arms protruded from my back. Red vein-like patterns were engraved on my wings. The change wasn’t just in appearance; my body length also increased.

    After completing the mutation, my body filled the passage. If I raised my body even slightly, my head would touch the ceiling.

    Everything was exactly as I wanted. I began ramming the walls and ceiling of the passage with my head carapace.

    ‘Come out quickly.’

    The collapse of this place won’t kill it. Instead, all the prey it cherishes will turn to garbage.

    “Suaaaak! Shaaaak!”

    As I intended, an angry roar came from inside. Then, a sound similar to rapidly flipping through a paper book echoed through the narrow passage. It was the sound of it running.

    Having successfully lured it, I backed away.

    From beyond the dark, damp-smelling cave, it was getting closer. Strong resentment could be felt in its footsteps.

    And just as the pincer part at the end of my tail went outside the nest…

    An arm similar to a mantis’s foreleg slashed through the air. Its foreleg, with tremendous cutting power, cut off one of my horns.

    Knowing it was approaching, I quickly pulled my head back, avoiding a fatal wound.

    Having lost one horn, I hurriedly escaped outside the nest.

    “Great One” “Horn” “Where go?”

    [It will come out. Get ready]

    Adhigh, who had been using his tentacles like a straw to eat fruit, tensed up at my warning. Just a few seconds after I escaped, it jumped out.

    Its forelegs flew at me again to cut me, but I was also prepared. Using the wide space, I turned my body sideways to avoid its attack and used that momentum to swing my tail.

    The pincer attached to my tail moved like a meteor hammer and struck the enemy. With a strong boom, it rolled onto the snow piled in front of the cave.

    ‘It was weak.’

    As expected, it got up without any trouble.

    Its name is “Hellside Hornet.” As the name suggests, it’s an apex with an appearance close to an insect.

    ‘Of course, such an insect doesn’t exist in the world.’

    The Hellside Hornet has an appearance that mixes the characteristics of a mantis, a hornet, and a horsefly. However, while ordinary insects have 6 legs, it has a total of 8. It has 2 arms similar to a mantis’s forelegs on its upper body, and 6 legs on its lower body.

    Looking at its body structure, the upright upper body and the folding scythe-like forelegs are similar to a mantis.

    While the structure is like that, unlike the slender feel of a mantis, its upper body is developed as if bulked up. Inside its thick carapace, there are muscles packed so densely it’s hard to imagine for an insect.

    ‘Its speed and strength come from those muscles.’

    The head attached to the solid upper body resembles a hornet. Just as being bitten by a hornet’s jaw is very painful, its jaw is also a threatening weapon.

    On its back were wings large enough to cover its entire body and more. Unlike the upper body reminiscent of a mantis, the lower body looked as if a horsefly’s body was attached whole, with a long biological tube-like structure attached near the rear.

    [Be careful not to get hit by that tail]

    “Understood”

    I didn’t compare it to a horsefly for nothing. If you’re attacked by its tail, you’ll be infected with parasites.

    They don’t control other targets like my or an Outspacer’s parasites, nor do they drive you crazy like the Glacier Fiend’s narcotic substance. Instead, hundreds or thousands of maggots emerge from the wound. It can be seen as having a similar effect to the “tetanus vine” I used to torment the temple guardian earlier.

    ‘In some ways, it’s even more horrifying than the vine.’

    Imagine hundreds of maggots, each the size of an adult man’s finger, tearing through the wound and inside the body. It’s visually shocking, but above all, one would inevitably suffer tremendous pain. While I might be able to handle it, Adhigh would be incapacitated immediately upon infection.

    If there’s any consolation, it’s that due to its body structure, it’s difficult for it to infect Adhigh with its tail.

    ‘It’s because its body is large.’

    The Hellside Hornet in front of us is about 10m in height and 15m in body length. To infect Adhigh, it would need to be quite flexible.

    The Hellside Hornet, with a dark military green base and deep brown stripes, glared at us with its repulsive compound eyes.

    “Shaaaa, Suaaaa.”

    Its gaze turned to our wings. It must be checking how much mobility we have.

    Eventually, its wings spread wide. Simultaneously, Adhigh and I also spread our wings.

    ‘It’s starting.’

    All three of us flew up into the dark sky.

    An aerial battle involving me and two apex creatures has just begun.


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