Ch.217Black Dragon (1)

The black entity emerges from the clouds, revealing itself. Even from a distance, its overwhelming presence is impossible to ignore.

Flapping wings twice the size of its body, it lands above the forest.

As I get closer, my auxiliary organ tingles. The powerful psychic power flowing from the Black Gallergorn is affecting me.

The strongest being among all the Apex creatures I’ve fought.

The black dragon, Odd Grad, stands before me.

“Big baby, be careful.”

No. 26, riding on top of me, warns. His wavelength clearly shows tension.

I know exactly how strong a Black Gallergorn is. After all, I’ve hunted this creature dozens of times in the game.

The only thing I hadn’t anticipated was why it would be here.

‘How did it know to come?’

The Sky Mother said she hadn’t seen any creatures entering or leaving its nest while she was monitoring it. Since the Green Gallergorn tracking team hasn’t returned either, the chances of it knowing about my existence are slim.

‘Could the Green Gallergorn recorded in the cruiser’s logs have informed it?’

It might have reported to Odd Grad after seeing me fight the cruiser.

But questions remain. The White Gallergorn with the broken wing clearly said “trap.”

This means it had already figured out my plan to “strike when the White Gallergorn goes hunting.”

Its unexpected appearance has created significant problems.

I’m not in optimal condition. While my physical wounds have mostly healed, my abilities are the issue. “Symbol of the Hunt,” size enhancement through “Organic Evolution,” and “Revenant Organ” are all sealed.

And my companions are scattered. I only have No. 26, Adhigh Orr, and Nel Germa with me to fight it.

Even at my best, victory wouldn’t be guaranteed against this enemy. Fighting in this diminished state makes the situation truly dire.

‘…Let’s stay calm.’

This is no time for negative thoughts. They won’t change anything. It’s far more productive to focus on how to survive this powerful enemy before me.

I observed it calmly. Having landed, it didn’t rush in but glared at me.

It too was engaging in reconnaissance, just like me.

‘Seems quite intelligent.’

Judging by appearance, it was larger than any Gallergorn I’d seen here. About the size I would be when using Symbol of the Hunt.

Its body resembled a snake’s elongated form, but it didn’t look slender. Solid muscles lined its neck, chest, waist, and tail, covered with scales reminiscent of obsidian.

Six curved horns like those of goats or sheep adorned its head, and long tentacle clusters hung like whiskers around its mouth.

Up to this point, one might say it possessed the noble appearance of an Eastern dragon, but I felt nothing of the sort. It was because of its eyes.

Ham Oort, Adhigh Orr, Nel Germa—all had beautiful amethyst-like purple eyes. This creature also had jewel-like purple eyes, but the impression was completely different.

Odd Grad’s eyes conveyed only ferocity and cunning. They were worlds apart from Adhigh’s eyes, which showed dignity and a hint of playfulness.

‘A cruel opponent.’

I should consider it closer to a player than an ordinary creature. And a highly skilled player at that.

‘It subdued Ham Oort without sustaining any injuries.’

I could see old scars on its black scales, but these weren’t from Ham Oort. In other words, it had subdued Ham Oort without taking a single hit.

‘Hmm?’

While examining it, I noticed something unusual. A ring with a jewel was fitted on its foreleg.

‘I’ve never seen equipment like that before.’

It’s something that didn’t appear in the game. Judging by the refined form of the jewel, it had clearly been processed by an expert.

‘I should be wary of that.’

Just as I discovered something unusual about it, it also noticed something special about me. It tilted its head curiously at No. 26 on my back.

Whether Black Gallergorn or Sea Demon, both are powerful psychic creatures. They seemed to sense how dangerous each other was.

Eventually, deciding it was superior to No. 26, it began to move. The psychic power flowing like water across its black scales rapidly gathered toward its head.

‘Here it comes.’

The first attack was a psychic breath. After rapidly charging power, it fired a dark purple beam bordering on black.

I spread my wings and lifted my body upward. The beam grazed the carapace below my lower body. The grazed part evaporated without leaving a trace.

‘…Reflection is impossible.’

There’s no point in psychic reflection armor if the carapace disappears before it can activate. Having dodged the attack by flying up, I tried to fly toward it.

That’s when it raised its head while continuing to fire its psychic breath.

‘Tsk.’

With excess psychic power to spare, it continued firing without interruption. The all-consuming beam followed my tail. I beat the air fiercely with my wings to increase my flight speed.

While I was drawing its attention, Adhigh Orr and Nel Germa tried to attack Odd Grad. Nel Germa fired energy first, but something blocked it.

The White Gallergorn with broken wings fired a breath that neutralized Nel Germa’s attack.

“Traitor”

“Nel Germa” “Ham Oort” “Serve”

“Traitor” “Death”

“Kin” “Handle” “Black kin” “Support”

“I” “Understand”

While Nel Germa marked the White Gallergorn, Adhigh came to support me. It performed a flanking maneuver, circling behind Odd Grad before firing a psychic breath. A barrage of purple energy bolts—now its signature technique—flew toward Odd Grad’s head.

In response, Odd Grad briefly interrupted its breath and raised its wings to shield its head. Adhigh’s energy bolts hit its wings and exploded.

But its wings remained intact except for slight scorching on the outside.

“Solid!”

“Odd Grad” “Speaks” “Insolent thing” “Begone”

Emitting a cold thought wave, Odd Grad fired another psychic breath. A beam shot from its mouth much faster than the one it had fired at me earlier.

‘A trick!’

It had deliberately fired slowly when attacking me.

“!”

[Zzzz (Danger!)]

It was incredibly close. If Adhigh had been any larger or slightly slower, it would have been cut in half by the beam.

It narrowly avoided the beam by flying away, but couldn’t prevent the tip of its tail from being severed. It faltered momentarily from the pain of its burned tail.

Just as Odd Grad was about to adjust its breath to roast Adhigh, I released the energy I had been gathering while Adhigh bought time.

The power of the White Gallergorn created by the monster’s tentacles advances toward its head. Deciding it couldn’t block with its wings, it turned its head and spewed a beam at me.

The nearly black beam it exhaled and the vivid purple beam I created competed in a power struggle. The impact shattered the ground between us, splintering trees and scattering them into the air.

‘…So strong!’

I knew it would be a formidable opponent, but not to this extent. While our output was similar, the accumulated energy was on a completely different level. This was close to an adult AMorph.

While focusing on firing my beam, I checked on Adhigh. It had barely endured the pain of its burning tail and escaped into the air.

Having confirmed this, I stopped my breath. As our beam contest ended, its psychic breath flew toward me.

Instead of flying upward, I lowered my body sharply. As expected, it had anticipated I would fly up and adjusted its beam accordingly.

Having baited a miss, I opened my mouth wide from my lowered position. My lower jaw split in two, and green fungal masses spewed out from inside.

As the acidic fungi flew toward it, it spread its wings wide and flapped them vigorously. Like a small typhoon had formed, the airborne fungi scattered.

‘Clever creature.’

As expected of a cunning opponent, it knows how to use its body well. Of course, I hadn’t expected the acidic fungi to make it writhe in pain.

Having bought time with the fungi, I kicked the ground hard with my tail and jumped upward. It belatedly tried to fire another beam.

If only the scattered fungal masses hadn’t regrouped and flown at it.

“What’s this?”

Odd Grad fired short bursts of psychic breath at the fungi moving as if attached to invisible threads.

While its attention was diverted, I soared high into the sky.

After flapping my wings several times to gain altitude, Adhigh flew to me.

[Zzzz (Are you okay?)]

“Pain” “But” “Endure”

Though it was just a brief exchange, I clearly understood that it was no ordinary opponent. It was among the top five most sensible beings I’d encountered in this world.

And that’s not all. True to being a Black Gallergorn, its combat abilities were top-tier. In a contest of strength, I would lose.

‘I need to win with unconventional attacks.’

I know what characteristics and skills a Black Gallergorn possesses, but it doesn’t know about me. It doesn’t know about AMorphs or what powers I have or how I’ll use them.

[Zzzz Zzzz (I need your help)]

“Yes! Trust me!”

No. 26 on my back waved its tentacles gently.

Just then, a psychic breath flew up from below. After dodging, I saw Odd Grad flying toward us.

“Insignificant things” “Won’t escape”

As it spewed breath, its horns glowed purple. This wasn’t just from the light of psychic power.

[Zz Zzzz (Watch out above)]

“Above?”

As its horns glowed purple, the cloud patterns began to change strangely. Soon, massive waterspouts descended from the sky in reverse. The waterspouts carried hail and snow, along with purple lightning.

This was “Maelstrom,” a powerful psychic power technique available to Black Gallergorn. True to its name, it summons a powerful psychic storm.

[Zz Zz Zzzzzz Zzzz Zzzzzz Zzz (You need to keep moving to avoid the lightning)]

“Understood”

After warning Adhigh, I moved again. As soon as I did, purple lightning struck where I had just been.

When under the influence of Maelstrom, one must never stay still. Lightning slightly weaker than psychic breath targets the caster’s enemies.

Having caused a localized weather anomaly, Odd Grad flapped its wings and pursued us. Its psychic breath grazed the tip of my wing.

I gradually reduced my speed while pretending to evade it. This increased my chances of being hit, but I had No. 26.

It was subtly adjusting the angle of Odd Grad’s psychic breath just enough that it wouldn’t notice. As a result, I either narrowly avoided the enemy’s attacks or suffered only minor injuries that singed my carapace.

“Vermin!”

Odd Grad, annoyed by my evasive maneuvers, emitted a thought wave tinged with irritation.

‘Now.’

I had been waiting for it to become emotional. While dodging its attacks, I prepared a psychic breath. When my energy was almost fully gathered, I folded one wing to sharply change direction. My body, which had been flying forward, flipped sideways from the momentum.

In that state, the monster’s tentacles once again exhaled the dragon’s power.

It had anticipated this move since I closed the distance and calmly countered my breath.

Another power struggle began. It still exuded confidence. Endless power poured from the tentacles around its mouth, and its amethyst-like eyes were full of mockery.

Adhigh is special; ordinary Gallergorn cannot move while firing psychic breath. I too can freely adjust the angle of my psychic breath, but my speed decreases.

The enemy must know this fact. It must think I’m foolish for engaging in a power struggle in the middle of the Maelstrom field.

As it expected, purple lightning fell on my head. Just as the lightning was about to sear me and No. 26, a new energy bolt flew in from a distance. The lightning exploded above my head when hit by the energy bolt.

“Pain Reduction activated!”

The psychic lightning penetrated my carapace and tore into my insides, but the pain was bearable. The lightning from Maelstrom is less powerful than the breath directly fired by the caster. Moreover, its destructive power was further reduced because Adhigh detonated it midway.

The psychic reflection armor activated in my head, which had been struck by psychic energy. The energies that had composed the lightning lost their target and scattered in all directions like fireworks.

“How dare” “Annoying act”

For Gallergorn sensitive to psychic power, the explosion before their eyes must be similar to seeing flares fired from a fighter jet.

Having successfully disrupted its vision, I activated “Deep Color” while folding all my wings. My body plunged downward, and its beam flew over my head carapace.

Two more horns broke as a result, but that didn’t matter. Having evaded its attack, I spread my wings again and flew under it.

“Such tricks!”

Its horns flashed again to control the lightning falling above me, which was above it.

‘But the real attack is elsewhere.’

Another deception. When it hesitated momentarily to control the lightning, I brought out the weapon I had prepared.

Bubbles composed of green, purple, and various chaotic color combinations spewed forth. Numerous bubbles—or rather, Watchers of Fear imbued with Deep Color—flew toward it.

The moment it attacks the bubbles, it’s over. When those bubbles, enhanced Watchers of Fear, burst, No. 26 will control them and direct them at it.

If even one of the many bubbles touches it, it will be immediately incapacitated.

And it moved exactly as I predicted. Its head, which had been adjusting the Maelstrom, reflexively turned toward the bubbles. The tentacle clusters hanging around its mouth turned purple.

With less than a second until the psychic breath fired, its eyes suddenly filled with bewilderment.

In an instant, its tentacles returned to their original color, and it flapped its wings powerfully. The composed demeanor it had shown until now vanished as it retreated as if seeing an extremely dangerous substance.

No. 26 tried to control the bubbles to attach them to it, but it had already retreated far away.

The plan to incapacitate it with enhanced Watchers of Fear had failed.

“You!”

Odd Grad emitted a strong thought wave from a distance. While it seemed filled with anger at first glance, other emotions were mixed in.

It was clearly wariness and fear.

‘How?’

It was about to fire breath at the bubbles as if it were the natural thing to do. It had even gathered energy. But just before firing, it aborted the attack and retreated.

As if it knew my attack was dangerous.

‘…It was wary of the Watcher of Fear? Does it know about me?’

It’s unclear how Odd Grad knew about and avoided Deep Color, but one thing has become clear.

This fight won’t end easily.