Ch.228Paradox (2)

Flying towards me, the Gallergorn suddenly stopped and changed their formation. They maintained their distance while surrounding the mountain peak where I was.

Soon, purple lights flashed beyond the clouds. After encircling me, they unleashed a coordinated barrage.

‘As expected.’

Psychic Breath densely illuminated the vast sky. Even Adhigh Orr, the fastest Gallergorn I’d encountered, would struggle to dodge this.

‘Not that I’m planning to dodge anyway.’

I spread my wing arms and combat arms wide to welcome the approaching wave of purple light.

The cosmic dragons’ breath engulfed the mountain peak.

The abandoned jewel nest shattered into pieces, and the small forest of trees was caught in a hail of energy. The ground beneath my feet collapsed, completely blowing away the peak’s summit.

The saturation of Psychic Breath triggered a massive avalanche down the mountainside. It was enormous, washing the entire mountain with snow and ice. The explosion from the Psychic Breath was buried in the thunderous sound of the avalanche.

“Cease,” Odd Grad commanded, and the Gallergorn horde stopped. Their coordinated breath attack had been as impressive as a Cult Empire fleet barrage. Thanks to them, this place was too devastated to be called the Twin Peaks anymore.

One of them approached through the blizzard to confirm the results.

Timing my move perfectly, I vigorously flapped my newly grown wings with their red stem patterns. The snow and ice covering me fell away as my body shot upward.

My wings became a storm, driving away the blizzard. The green Gallergorn was startled by my unharmed appearance. No wonder it was shocked—I didn’t have a single scratch despite the tremendous bombardment.

I charged at the Green Gallergorn before it could properly react. My horns, much more ferocious than when we last met, pierced through its abdomen.

It writhed in extreme pain. To end its suffering quickly, I grabbed it with my combat arms.

Then I applied force, tearing apart its body. The Gallergorn’s blood soaked my cold scales. As the fragments scattered, I made sure to catch its head with the pincers on my tail.

The Gallergorn became agitated, intimidated by my brutal display.

Only Odd Grad, flying majestically behind the Gallergorn, maintained his composure.

“Black Slaughterer.”

Though he attacked first as a precaution, he must have anticipated I wouldn’t die from this. Of course, he probably didn’t expect me to emerge completely unscathed.

“You” “Changed”

[Zzz zzzzzz zzz zzzzzz (I prepared to hunt you)]

“Foolish” “Great Odd Grad” “Never defeated”

At his nod, the Gallergorn surrounding me from a distance closed in. Having confirmed their breath attacks were ineffective, they intended to engage in close combat.

I flicked my tail, tossing the Green Gallergorn’s head into my mouth. While savoring the sweet blood of the Gallergorn, I unleashed my most powerful weapon.

The black scales covering my entire body glowed eerily with green, purple, and other indescribable colors. Rainbow-colored tar from the abyss flowed through the monster’s tentacles extending from the back of my head, neck, and jaw.

The essence of the abyss formed at the tips of the tentacles. Bubble-shaped Psychic Breath moved to devour my enemies.

Seeing the bubbles, the Gallergorn quickly scattered. As they dispersed, they threw something they had been holding in their front paws.

What they threw were chunks of flesh from unknown creatures. My Psychic Breath, against my will, engulfed these meat chunks first.

The flesh dissolved in the Psychic Breath and fell toward the invisible ground below.

Though difficult to see from a distance, the other Gallergorn were also holding pieces of creature flesh in their front paws, hind legs, and tails.

‘…They’re smart.’

Just as I had analyzed them, it was clear Odd Grad had been studying my characteristics as well.

The Psychic Breath enhanced with the abyss’s colors has tremendous firepower and chain explosion effects, making it highly effective in group battles. It automatically targets new objectives after completely devouring organic matter.

Its drawbacks are that it doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe, and its projection speed is slow. Odd Grad had identified this weakness in that short time and prepared countermeasures.

‘If No. 26 were here, this wouldn’t be a problem…’

He must have known I was alone when he came here. That’s why he chose this method.

The Gallergorn approached me after neutralizing my enhanced Psychic Breath. They were too close now for me to use the abyss’s colors anymore.

A white-scaled Gallergorn swung its front paw at me. Its sharp claws scraped across my head carapace.

Feeling sparks fly above my head, I opened my lower jaw and bit its arm. Before the enemy could pull away, I gripped its body tightly with my combat arms.

Another Green Gallergorn pounced on my back. I swung my tail, which had been hanging limply toward the ground. I felt the heavy impact through the pincers at the end of my tail.

Leaving the Green Gallergorn with a broken neck to fall, I pulled back my head with the White Gallergorn’s arm still in my mouth. The arm was torn off, and the creature’s thought waves of pain echoed through the void.

“Together” “Surround it”

At Odd Grad’s command, the Gallergorn charged at me all at once.

I tore at the howling White Gallergorn’s head while swinging my tail. An approaching Gallergorn ducked in surprise at my tail. Meanwhile, I threw the headless corpse and leaped into the midst of the oncoming horde.

Green and white scales flashed chaotically as their claws scraped against my carapace and scales. One white Gallergorn stabbed my side with its horn. The sharp horn penetrated my scales and dug inside.

“Pain Reduction Activated!”

A text box warned me, but I ignored it. I deliberately acted this way to sweep them all away at once.

Sharp claws and horns rained down to kill me. Undeterred, I extended my four combat arms to grab them.

Firmly gripping parts of their bodies with my four long fingers, I activated the trait I gained from consuming Blood River.

‘Hand of the Feeding Leech.’

The condition of the Gallergorn in my grasp changed dramatically.

Their smooth scales shriveled rapidly, and their skin and muscles turned to mush. The hard horns on their heads crumbled, and their moist tentacle bundles withered.

In less than a few seconds, four Gallergorn became dried-up mummies. Simultaneously, the wound in my side healed rapidly.

Though I had a regenerative trait, this was a different level of speed. By the time I grabbed the one that had stabbed me and drained its life, even my scales had been fully restored.

Like God’s Whip, the Hand of the Feeding Leech effect was simple.

It absorbed the enemy’s energy to heal my body. The effect was just ridiculously good.

“Retreat!” “It” “Hands” “Beware!”

The intelligent Odd Grad quickly realized what my ability did. The Gallergorn that had been clawing at me quickly backed away.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

Just as I tried to grab the tail of a fleeing White Gallergorn, an immensely powerful breath struck me.

‘Odd Grad.’

He had finally stepped in.

I examined the area hit by his breath. The direct impact area had scales and skin peeled off, exposing the muscles underneath, while surrounding areas were burning hot.

This level of damage despite having ‘Mimicry Scales’ active… He truly deserved to be called an anomaly. However, thanks to the energy absorbed by the Hand of the Feeding Leech, my wounds healed instantly.

‘Huh?’

For a moment, a familiar color swirled in my heated carapace before disappearing. A strange light mixing green and purple, similar to when I activated the abyss’s colors…

“Pain Reduction Activated!”

‘Ugh!’

My thoughts were interrupted as Odd Grad, who had flown at me unnoticed, rammed into me.

With added acceleration, his horns easily tore through the membrane of my combat arms and wings. I tried to grab him, but he had already retreated far away using hyper-acceleration.

‘…So this is what makes him an anomaly?’

It was a tactic Adhigh Orr often used, but the results were on a different level. Due to differences in size and output, the destructive power was incomparably terrifying.

As I fell with holes in my wings, he circled around and flew toward me. I used ‘Fearful Gazer’ enhanced with the abyss’s colors.

An ominous light emanated from my head carapace, creating colorful bubbles.

The moment I used my ability, another Gallergorn shot a Psychic Breath at the bubbles. The bubbles exploded midway and fell to the ground, unable to advance further.

Having regenerated my wing membrane with absorbed energy, I tried to gain altitude, but Odd Grad blocked me.

His speed was truly like black lightning. His horn flew in to pierce my abdomen.

But this time, I was prepared. His horn barely grazed my side, and I threw my corrosive tentacles to entangle him. One almost caught his hind leg, but he kicked it away forcefully.

While engaging with him, other Gallergorn targeted my back. Like Odd Grad, they used hyper-acceleration to attack me with their claws and quickly retreat.

‘…So they’re trying to wear me down this way?’

There were dozens of them. Even if each one succeeded in attacking just once, they could inflict significant damage on me.

True to his intelligence, he had chosen a cunning approach, despite his arrogant demeanor.

But I too had expertise in close combat.

I took their attacks while waiting for an opportunity.

A Green Gallergorn flew in to attack me. Perhaps inexperienced, it entered hyper-acceleration earlier than the others.

‘It’s difficult to change trajectory in hyper-acceleration.’

I predicted its flight path, dodged while extending my corrosive tentacles. Its attack missed, and my tentacles caught its wing.

The Green Gallergorn panicked. I extended my combat arms to drain all its energy.

“That ability” “Cannot be used”

But Odd Grad wouldn’t let me heal my wounds. The black dragon’s breath flew in and completely incinerated the Green Gallergorn instead of me.

True to his exceptionally ferocious nature among Gallergorn, he chose to sacrifice his own kind.

‘Yes. Keep doing that.’

But I wasn’t discouraged. This ultimately benefited me.

Similar incidents repeated several times afterward. Whenever I tried to use the Hand of the Feeding Leech, he would fire his breath to eliminate the recovery source—his own kind—in advance.

I also tried to approach them for counterattacks, but it wasn’t easy to chase after creatures flying in hyper-acceleration. Whenever I managed to catch one to recover my health, Odd Grad’s attack would inevitably come.

Though he had killed more of his kind at this point than I had, the Gallergorn still followed him. While I sensed their disrespectful emotions, they didn’t betray Odd Grad to serve a new king.

The tide of battle gradually turned in their favor. The energy absorbed by the Hand of the Feeding Leech was depleted, and my injuries continued to accumulate.

“Pain Reduction Activated!”

Just now, Odd Grad had flown in and torn off one of my combat arms. Moreover, he didn’t discard my arm but drank the blood contained within it.

It was a clear provocation directed at me. I responded by firing a Psychic Breath. Since it wasn’t enhanced with the abyss’s colors, Odd Grad didn’t dodge but exhaled flames composed of psychic power.

Like the sun rising over the dawn sea, purple light spread across the black sky.

It was a magnificent sight created by a Black Gallergorn and an AMorph carrying Gallergorn genes.

But it wasn’t good from my perspective. I was giving it my all, but he wasn’t.

During the power struggle, he dramatically increased his breath’s output as if to end this game. The tug-of-war that had been evenly matched suddenly shifted as psychic power surged toward me.

The Psychic Breath he fired, combined with the recoil of my own power, struck my entire body. Thanks to Mimicry Scales, my body wasn’t instantly disintegrated, but I couldn’t avoid the pain and injury.

With part of my membrane burned away, my body fell onto the peak.

During the fall, a strange light flashed again in my reddened carapace before disappearing.

Before I could check why this kept happening, a massive impact struck my mind. My body crashed onto the ruined peak.

“Pain Reduction Activated!”

I felt more weary than pained. Ignoring the text box, I looked up at the sky.

‘How much time has passed?’

It had been quite a while since the fight began. The sky was still covered with dark clouds, making it incredibly gloomy.

No, except for one spot.

Due to our power struggle, there was a white line in the middle of the clouds. White light shone through the gap in the split clouds.

Then black wings blocked the light. Odd Grad had landed in front of me.

I quickly extended my combat arm that had been buried in the ground, but he easily avoided it as if he had known in advance. After evading my sudden attack using his ability to see the future, he struck my arm hard with his tail.

After breaking my arm, he easily deflected the corrosive tentacles I had launched with his front paw. I had been preparing the abyss’s colors and was about to fire a Psychic Breath at him.

“Useless”

Having foreseen this, he swung his front paw and cut off a chunk of my monster tentacles.

“Grrrrrr!”

My mind went blank, and I involuntarily screamed. Messages about pain reduction being activated appeared repeatedly, but I couldn’t register them at all.

Such terrible pain was something I hadn’t experienced since being hit by the Fearful Gazer version of the abyss’s colors. I couldn’t think or do anything.

“Black Slaughterer” “Weakness” “Understood”

“Grrrr….”

“Great Odd Grad” “Power” “Did you not know” “Foolish one”

He pulled me out of the ground. I should grab him with my combat arms even now, but I couldn’t muster the strength.

Pinning me down with his hind legs and tail, he spoke.

“Once again” “Great Odd Grad” “Victory”

He raised his front paw wearing a ring. Sunlight poured through the split sky, illuminating his back.

Seeing that light cluster after so long, and the small dots moving within it…

I played my final card that I had been saving.

“Die”

He swung his front paw and tore flesh from my neck. Blood gushed out, and my consciousness began to fade.

Looking at me with my fatal wound, he triumphantly drank the blood flowing from the wound.

He clearly believed he had won.

His attitude pointed to only one fact.

[Zzzzzz (So this is it)]

“?”

[Zzzzz zzzzz (The future you saw)]

Odd Grad was startled that I wasn’t dead. In that moment, I used the ‘Bone Scythe Arm’ protruding from my back to slash at him.

Specifically, I cut off his front paw wearing the ring.

“You!”

Having instantly lost his front paw, he hastily retreated. I picked up the fallen body part and absorbed it.

“Why aren’t you dying?!”

Odd Grad raged as he watched my neck wound healing.

The one thing this future-seeing creature had missed was the AMorph’s weakness itself.

To kill an AMorph instantly, you must destroy its head and heart. Not the neck or other parts.

“My kin!” “Black Slaughterer” “Kill it!”

He spread his wings and took flight, broadcasting thought waves. He ordered them to kill me immediately, whether by charging or firing Psychic Breath.

But the Gallergorn horde didn’t move.

“Odd Grad” “Commands!” “Black Slaughterer” “Kill it!”

Odd Grad ordered again, but they didn’t even look at him. Every Gallergorn present except the black dragon had their gaze fixed on a single point.

[Zzzzzzz (Odd Grad)]

“You!”

Instead of answering, I pointed to the sky with my finger.

The brightest light I’d seen since arriving on this planet. Six Gallergorn could be seen with their backs to the light.

Odd Grad flinched in surprise as he recognized who they were.

Looking at the red dragon among them, I broadcast my wavelength widely.

[Zzz zzzzz (Serve the Queen)]

The abandoned and the traitors.

Beings from the past had come to assassinate the tyrant of the future.