Ch.227Paradox (1)

He had many names.

The one blessed by the stars, the sage who received stellar wisdom, the strongest male, and so on.

Among his many names, this was his favorite:

The Great Odd Grad.

No expression described him better than the word “great.”

No creature in the world was as special as him, born with the blessing of the stars.

He could read the future.

Sometimes through dreams, sometimes through hallucinations.

Thanks to the precognitive abilities he possessed since birth, he could avoid crises that came his way.

He also actively used his abilities to protect his pack.

Since his aqua-scale days, he had gone hunting with his kind, helping them avoid danger. His kind trusted him, calling him a wise young being.

As time passed, he became the strongest leader of the pack. He received the respect of many of his kind, and beautiful, strong females became his mates.

Everything was perfect.

Until he met “that dwarf.”

Dozens of star cycles ago, someone infiltrated the nest and stole eggs.

The thieves were dwarves he had never seen before. They came here riding flying vessels that smelled similar to minerals.

Enraged, he tried to attack the dwarves’ flying vessel. He certainly would have, had the future not warned him.

The future he saw then was unforgettable.

The moment he attacked, one of the strange-feeling dwarves stepped forward. That one killed all of his kind, including him. The dwarves took all the eggs.

No matter how he tried to avoid this doom, the future he saw did not change.

The strange dwarf on the flying vessel was a being of a different caliber. An opponent he could not defeat no matter what.

Other members of his kind might not have given up, but not Odd Grad. Thanks to his ability to read the future, he had always thought differently from his kind.

Fear of death, anxiety about an uncontrollable future. Emotions he had never felt before swelled up inside him. The ability that made him a great being consumed him in reverse.

Consumed by fear, the choice he made was submission. He bowed his head before the dwarf and begged to be spared, promising to do anything.

Perhaps his attitude was unexpected. The dwarf, no, the “Transcendent,” seemed pleased with his behavior.

The Transcendent did not kill him. Rather, he bestowed grace upon Odd Grad.

Odd Grad’s secrets unknown even to himself, the events occurring in the stars hanging in the sky, and the truth of this world.

The moment he began to hear the Transcendent’s story, the world he knew completely shattered.

His beloved mates, the young ones he occasionally played with, the reliable white-scaled kin he hunted with.

Everything was worthless. They were no different from the metal chunks scattered out there.

The Transcendent said:

That only Odd Grad was a “unique” being. That he was worthy of becoming the incarnation of the stars and too valuable to kill.

He didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it didn’t matter. What was more important to him was that the Transcendent would guarantee his life.

After the deal with the Transcendent, he survived.

The Transcendent even gave him a precious gift as a token of their friendship.

But the young leader who loved his kind was no longer there. Only the “Great Odd Grad” remained.

That Great Odd Grad awoke from his long sleep.

The fight with the cunning “black kin” ended unpleasantly. He had to return urgently because its kind attacked the nest.

Losing the traitor was no small loss, but there was a bigger problem. The future where he would be killed by the black kin remained unchanged.

Only then did he recall the Transcendent’s warning.

The Monolith bestowed by the Transcendent had told him. That a being who might be able to kill him would come.

But Odd Grad could not follow that advice. He had more urgent matters dealing with the deserters in his pack.

Dreams also did not warn him of the ominous future. Because of this, he acted complacently.

Perhaps this was only natural. He had always chosen futures that his abilities could control.

This time too, he decided to rely on his abilities. Wasn’t it because of his ability to see the future that he survived without confronting the Transcendent? His power to see the future would surely guide him on the right path.

Odd Grad, awakened from his dream, sent out thought waves.

「At last」「Victory」「I have seen it」

After wandering through dreams for days searching for an answer, he found a way to change the future.

「Odd Grad」「Commands」「All kin」「Prepare」「Hunt」「Together」

「All kin?」

「Nest」「Defense」「Impossible」

「I command again」「All kin who can fight」「All」「Follow」「Refusal」「Will not be forgiven」

His mates cautiously voiced opposing opinions, but Odd Grad did not listen.

In his dream, he had seen it.

He stood atop a peculiarly shaped mountain peak. At his feet lay the black kin, covered in wounds. He severed the kin’s neck with his sharp claws and drank its blood.

The Great Odd Grad had seized victory once again.

–

After flying quite far from the nest, I landed on one of the peaks in the vast mountain range.

I can see a nest mixed with broken tree debris and sparkling gem fragments. It’s the twin peaks I visited recently to catch the Crystal Wing.

I lay down on the nest that had lost its owner.

‘By now, he must have seen it.’

Since I’ve deserted the pack, there must have been changes in the future Odd Grad sees. He’ll try to strike at me immediately, not knowing when such an opportunity will come again.

There aren’t many twin-peaked mountains in this area. Especially not ones with a Crystal Wing nest like the one I’m lying on.

‘If he saw me in his dream, it won’t be difficult to find me.’

There’s still time before they arrive.

I unpacked my bag and took out the equipment inside.

‘Blood River, Demolisher, Tuner…’

All are trophies obtained from enemies I’ve fought so far. There are more trophy bags in the nest besides what I’ve taken out.

The Golden Spear of Shaman is not in this bag. It was originally inside, but I deliberately removed it and threw it into a pit.

‘The Sky Mother would understand what it means.’

I believe they will soon figure out my intentions, but I’ve prepared insurance in case of failure.

She knows how useful the Golden Spear of Shaman is as a weapon. When she checks the spear hidden in the pit, she’ll immediately understand my intention.

‘Since I left, they probably won’t eat right away. They’ll probably discover it around tomorrow morning.’

This is the first time I’ve implemented a plan with so many variables. Still, this is the best way to prevent Odd Grad from knowing.

I reviewed my fight with him.

There are mainly two types of situations where I can be certain his crisis detection ability activated: when I used God’s Whip and when I activated the “Power of Deep.”

‘When the cruiser exploded, it’s not certain, but…’

Given that he didn’t suffer fatal injuries, there’s a significant possibility he glimpsed the future and avoided it.

Simply put, all the attacks he avoided by seeing the future were ones that could potentially inflict fatal injuries.

‘The enhanced Watcher of Fear is slightly different, but it’s the same in that it’s directly linked to death.’

The “Watcher of Fear” with the Power of Deep applied makes the target continuously experience the most terrible pain. In that state, not only combat but even flight would be impossible, so it’s not unrelated to death.

‘But he didn’t show such behavior with other attacks.’

No matter how tough a Black Gallergorn’s skin is, as a living being, it’s not invincible. Continuous hits from regular psychic breath or other attacks will cause wounds. In fact, he bled when hit by the cruiser’s main gun.

‘He didn’t seem to predict the future then.’

A Cult cruiser’s main gun can injure a Black Gallergorn. However, it’s impossible to kill it with one shot.

Therefore, his crisis detection ability likely only manifests for “single attacks that kill him or inflict fatal wounds leading to death.” Both God’s Whip and Power of Deep fall into this category.

‘The psychic reflection gloves are still unknown, but.’

I looked down at the equipment I had laid out.

‘His ability doesn’t match well with God’s Whip.’

“God’s Whip” is very powerful, but because of its power, it’s not good in the current situation. It triggers his precognitive ability.

‘Then I need to change my tactics too.’

I activated the translucent text box.

「Predator’s Amorphous Polyhedron: Devours one piece of equipment to specialize in the equipment’s unique ability. Only possible once per equipment, and when devouring a new piece of equipment, the previous equipment’s specialized effect is lost.」

“Predator’s Amorphous Polyhedron,” an ability I obtained several months ago after killing the cyborg player Muriel. At that time, I devoured the Cult’s orbital weapon “Lightning God,” resulting in God’s Whip, which uses the power of the Lightning God.

And here, I plan to devour a new piece of equipment.

Among the equipment in front of me, there are three items worth devouring:

Blood River and Tuner obtained from Muriel, and Demolisher acquired from the temple guards and cruiser.

‘The Demolisher.’

I picked up the gun that resembled a rectangular pencil case.

The characteristics created by the Predator’s Amorphous Polyhedron follow the features of the devoured equipment. If you eat a plasma launcher, you get a plasma heat ray; if you eat the Lightning God, you use the power of the Lightning God. If you eat the Demolisher, you can shoot a beam with material manipulation effects.

‘This won’t work either, right?’

The Demolisher’s bullets can decompose any material, no matter how hard. Since it has an effect similar to psychic breath enhanced with Power of Deep, it would fall within Odd Grad’s detection range.

‘Next is the Tuner.’

The Tuner, a cross-shaped halo headband, is a trophy obtained after killing Muriel.

Originally, Jason also had a Tuner, but when his body teleported, the equipment disappeared with him, so I couldn’t get it.

‘The Tuner’s ability isn’t bad either.’

The Tuner, a reward obtained by clearing the 9th stage of the Cult’s unique quest system.

When wearing this headband, you automatically teleport to a nearby location whenever you suffer a fatal injury. Since it’s designed to move the body by particlizing it, there’s also the formidable effect that all injuries are completely healed after teleportation.

The number of teleportations is 5 in total. In other words, it’s almost like having 5 lives.

‘Teleportation is good, but it’s useless here.’

What I need is an attack method that can deal moderate damage without triggering his ability. While having an ability to protect myself would be nice, it’s hard to say it’s useful at this point.

‘What remains is Blood River.’

I looked down at the spider-shaped machine as small as a finger joint.

At first glance, it looks small and even cute, but it’s actually a very dangerous machine.

‘Despite appearances, it’s the Star Union’s only-class war weapon.’

In terms of grade, it’s on par with the Lightning God. In fact, the production costs are almost the same.

In the game, Blood River is often used in various situations such as player-versus-player combat, rare creature capture, and weakening powerful raid boss-level creatures.

When Blood River is activated, it attaches to a specific target and absorbs life force. The absorption speed is very fast, greatly weakening even the strongest enemy.

One might think it could be detected and avoided, but that’s impossible. The metal and paint that make up Blood River have an effect that nullifies detection. Thanks to this, even my auxiliary organs can’t read it.

‘I almost died fighting Muriel because of this.’

At that time, I had already activated the “Gremlin Moss” trait, which makes machines stupid, so I was able to neutralize Blood River.

Anyway, considering the effect of Blood River, it’s appropriate for this situation. I’m getting an attack method that can accumulate damage steadily without killing him in one blow.

Looking at the equipment I had laid out, I raised my head to look up at the sky. It was still heavily clouded, making it difficult to gauge the time, but I could roughly tell it was night.

‘I still have some time, so let me think carefully.’

There are other pieces of equipment in the bag besides the three types of weapons.

I took out the equipment one by one and thought about how to use them.

Actually, I’ve already decided what to use, but the reason I’m doing this is because of anxiety.

Can I defeat an enemy who can read the future?

What if he changes his target?

What if he attacks Adhigh or the others first instead of me?

What if I realize too late, return, and find the nest filled with their corpses? No. 26, fatally wounded and dying, curses me. For abandoning them and living alone…

‘Stop.’

I slammed my head hard on the ground.

Perhaps thanks to the cold snow, the ominous thoughts disappeared in an instant, and I felt my head clearing.

‘I will not lose.’

Almost nothing has gone perfectly according to my plan on the way here. There have always been variables I didn’t know about, and unexpected crises have struck.

But I survived. No adversity, no strong enemy has been able to subdue me.

Odd Grad is no exception.

He will come here, and I will devour his genetic essence completely.

With that thought, I waited.

Time passed and the position of the clouds changed. The dark clouds thickened, and snowstorms and lightning struck together.

Amidst the severe weather conditions that were difficult to describe even as inclement:

My auxiliary organs detected something.

A very large number of large objects are rapidly approaching this location.

‘He’s here.’

I took out the equipment from the bag and put it in my mouth. The Predator’s Amorphous Polyhedron activated, and the structure inside my body changed.

Feeling God’s Whip, which had been with me for a long time, leaving, I looked up at the sky.

Behind the curtain called a snowstorm, black wings are visible.

The long wait is over.

The time for the hunt has come.