Ch.264Incarnations of Nightmare (2)

Kadun closed the distance with the female Volf in one swift move. His fist, larger than an adult male’s head, flew toward the female Volf’s head.

His naturally powerful body was further enhanced by the effects of strengtheners. His fist was truly like a thunderbolt—even a glancing blow would make the opponent’s head explode.

He expected the head of the alluringly shaped female to fly off, but the result was different.

The female Volf simply twisted her waist to the side and easily avoided his punch. Kadun’s fist hit nothing but air.

From there, she utilized the momentum of her body rotation and thrust forward with the golden short spear in her right hand.

“!”

To think she could dodge and attack simultaneously. Though surprised, Kadun didn’t forget to respond. He quickly raised his wrist to deflect the short spear at an angle.

When his wrist guard, forged from extremely hard metal, collided with her short spear, there was a loud bang and sparks flew. Despite the sparks flying right in front of them, neither of them so much as blinked.

Having successfully deflected the spear, Kadun took advantage of his opponent’s momentary hesitation to deliver a kick. His target was her thigh. His leg flew toward the target like lightning cutting through storm clouds.

In response, the female Volf leaped up, riding the momentum of her deflected spear. She was using his own strength against him.

Kadun’s foot barely grazed beneath her feet. Having avoided the attack, the enemy retreated far back to create distance.

“Tch.”

Kadun quickly checked his wrist guard. Despite perfectly deflecting the attack, there was a large gash in the guard.

‘A wrist guard made of megachrome alloy, and it’s scratched.’

Megachrome is a special metal used to build the outer walls of massive structures like space cities. It’s ridiculously hard and rarely gets damaged under normal circumstances.

‘That short spear, I need to be careful.’

Whatever it was made of, its sharpness was extraordinary.

‘But…’

Though he recognized his opponent was quite strong, Kadun still thought he had a chance. His gaze shifted to the area around her ankles.

Frost had formed heavily on the parts where they had made contact during their exchange.

Kadun was known as “Snow Claw” by other cartels. True to his nickname, he possessed the ability to emit cold energy from his body. It was an ability he gained along with his power to transform into a beast.

This cold emission ability was one reason he hadn’t brought other ranged weapons.

Enemies who engaged in close combat with him would have their bodies quickly freeze from the endless cold energy. Without means to preserve body heat, even the largest beast would freeze to death in an instant.

His opponent wasn’t wearing clothes like the primitive tribal Volfs. All she had on was a sapphire necklace around her neck.

‘Primitive bitch.’

Kadun deeply despised Volfs who maintained primitive civilizations. After a few more close combat exchanges, that woman would freeze to death.

At that moment, the female Volf lightly brushed off the frost on her ankles and resumed her stance. She pulled back her spear and lowered her posture. Blue flames began to rise in her smooth amber eyes.

‘What’s this?’

When he met her eyes with their flowing blue flames, he felt like he’d taken a hit of potent drugs. His senses blurred, and he heard the whispers of unknown entities in his ears.

“Hungry!” “Kill!” “Rip out the entrails!”

‘A mental attack!’

The female Volf had just launched a mental attack. Recognizing the situation he was in, he roared.

“KRAAAAAAARGH!”

The powerful roar shook his mind. The unidentified whispers disappeared, but the female Volf was already right in front of him.

The eerie short spear flew toward his neck. He hurriedly bent his waist backward to dodge, but it wasn’t perfect.

White fur and red droplets of blood adorned the air. If he hadn’t dodged properly just now, there would have been a hole in his neck.

The problem was that his opponent’s attack wasn’t over yet. The sharp spear blade poured down like bullets from a storm gun.

He quickly crossed his arms. While other parts might be fine, damage to vital organs like the heart would be dangerous. The golden short spear pierced through his wrist guards.

“Kugh!”

In an instant, the guards were shattered. Several large holes were punctured in his wrists. Instead of blocking, he lay down as if falling backward. The spear grazed over his protruding snout. Lying on the ground, he forcefully kicked both legs into the air.

His left leg struck the opponent’s right hand hard. Though she didn’t lose her grip on the short spear, her upper body swayed significantly. Before she could regain her posture, his right leg crashed into her abdomen.

With a loud bang, the female Volf was pushed back greatly. She flew nearly ten meters but landed safely.

Seeing this, Kadun was greatly surprised.

‘She definitely got hit by my cold emission?’

He had struck her wrists and abdomen properly. The cold should have penetrated to her bones by now. Yet she appeared no different than when they first exchanged blows.

Kadun slowly rose to his feet, keeping his eyes fixed on the female Volf.

“You seem to have a special ability?”

Despite his question, the female Volf said nothing. She merely stared at him with emotionless amber eyes.

“…It doesn’t matter.”

If his cold emission ability wasn’t working, he couldn’t continue fighting like this. He decided to use his final card.

He clicked a few buttons on his chest. His high-grade enhancement suit separated with a release of compressed air.

His now-naked body began to transform. Muscles swelled endlessly, bones twisted. The white fur covering his skin grew longer and thicker. His form, advantageous for walking on two feet, instantly changed into that of a beast.

Now transformed into a silver-furred beast, Kadun leaped toward his target. Reaching the female Volf in one bound, he struck her with his front paw.

With an explosion like that of a patrol ship, the female Volf flew away. She crashed into a building across from them. The building couldn’t withstand the impact and collapsed.

“You chose the wrong path.”

Kadun growled as he looked at the ruins of the collapsed building.

As if in response, something burst out from the collapsed building.

As he had suspected, his opponent also possessed transformation abilities.

A golden-furred beast in contrast to his silver-white fur. However, the specific form was quite different from what he had imagined.

The face resembled a feline predator similar to his, but it had horns on its head. Two curved horns resembling those of the Cult protruded above the eyes.

The torso was that of a four-legged beast like Kadun’s, but unlike the shaggy fur-covered upper body, the lower body and tail were covered in scales.

His opponent’s transformed appearance wasn’t that of a single animal but a mixture of characteristics from various creatures.

‘Not a Volf but a Hulk Mutant?’

The monster that jumped out from the ruins shook its mane around its neck vigorously. Then, with glowing amber eyes, it spoke.

“Three minutes.”

“What?”

“I can’t maintain this form for long, so I’ll finish you in three minutes.”

“You bitch…”

Just as he was about to charge at his opponent’s provocation.

She opened her mouth wide.

‘What?!’

An enormous amount of flames poured out from her mouth, engulfing Kadun.

“Aaaaargh!”

Just as I was about to put the pirate I was holding into my mouth with my wing arm, I saw a huge pillar of flame in the distance.

‘What’s that?’

Among us, only three can cause such a large fire without special conditions. Me and Adhigh Orr who can use Psychic Breath, and…

‘Sky Mother.’

She must have transformed into a Morph other than a Griffon to create that fire.

The effect of her perk “Hunter’s Transformation Shell” allows her to transform into one of four Morphs (幻獸) excluding the Griffon. And she has currently unlocked a total of three Morphs.

‘The second Morph she unlocked was the Wendigo, which she unlocked in the dragon’s nest.’

The third Morph she unlocked after fighting the Gorgon Swarm isn’t suitable for use here.

Therefore, the Morph she transformed into this time is the first one she unlocked before meeting me.

‘Chimera.’

It’s the most powerful combatant among the three Morphs she has unlocked.

Moreover, limited to close combat, it’s powerful enough to be among the top five Morphs that Volfs can choose in the world of Space Survival.

‘Efficiency-oriented players chose it a lot.’

Unlike the balanced Griffon, the crowd-control specialized Wendigo, and the third Morph specialized in long-distance travel, the Chimera specializes in power struggles.

Very tough skin, front paws with terrifying destructive power, the ability to spray extremely hot flames, fast speed—it’s a specialist in short and medium-range combat.

‘She brought it out as a counter since the opponent is a Baiho Volf.’

Before coming here, I had gathered information about the deputy leader of the Martio Cartel, so I had guessed he could transform into a Baiho.

While the Baiho also specializes in power struggles, it has a slightly different style from the Chimera. It has characteristics that weaken opponents and neutralize their crowd control or psychic power techniques. Simply put, it’s a type that overwhelms by weakening the enemy.

That’s not to say the Baiho’s specs themselves are inferior, which is why facing it with a Griffon or Wendigo would be burdensome.

‘I was thinking of helping, but…’

Since she transformed into a Chimera, there’s no need for that.

‘The Chimera’s combat power is as strong as when I used the Hunter’s Emblem.’

It’s difficult to make a simple comparison with me since my growth stages are more detailed, but limited to close combat, that’s the case. If it’s the Hunter’s Emblem I used at the Juvenile stage, she would win, but at my current point, I would win.

Of course, being that strong comes with a fatal drawback. Namely, the duration and cooldown.

‘The duration is 30 minutes. The cooldown is one month, she said.’

Before meeting me, she fought against another player, Muriel, and transformed into a Chimera, but lost because the duration ended.

If the opponent isn’t a player, it will end within 5 minutes. Sky Mother is, after all, a ranker, and a Volf ranker at that.

‘I’ll just clean up the remaining ones.’

“W-wait wait wait wait wai—!”

I swallowed the pirate I was holding in one gulp.

That’s the end of the pirates who jumped from the patrol ship I attacked. The others probably finished cleaning up their areas too.

Walking away from the blazing wreckage, I saw PS-111 and No. 26. The two were huddled close together, talking about something intently.

‘What are they doing?’

“You’ve arrived?”

“I punished bad people!”

The two greeted me as I approached. Around No. 26 were things that had come out of the dead pirates’ bodies.

He wasn’t dismembering them to eat. From the beginning, No. 26 could digest bodies just by growing larger and putting them inside.

‘Studying with PS-111, huh.’

Since leaving the dragon’s nest, he’s become much more interested in other organisms. Before, he used to move by matching his rhythm with me or imitating me, but recently he’s been delving into deeper areas.

Things like the ecology and habits of organisms, body structures, and so on.

[Zzzzz (What did you study?)]

“Yes! I study!”

“The Main Controller is showing great interest in the habits and reproductive activities of organisms.”

When I asked, No. 26 sent out a vigorous wave.

To become an excellent hunter, one must know a lot about prey. I also became the best AMorph thanks to my vast knowledge.

‘The more you know, the better.’

Is this what it feels like to see a child with academic enthusiasm? I stroked him with my wing arm. He lit up his body and climbed onto my arm.

[Zzzzzz zzzzzzz (Let’s go find Adhigh too)]

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

“I” “finished”

Speak of the devil—a meteor with mixed white and red colors fell from the sky. It was Adhigh Orr who had activated the Red Gallergorn’s power, “Red Armor.”

The redness of his body wasn’t just due to the Red Armor. A strong smell of blood emanated from his snow-white scales, which were like a pure white dress.

“I” “tired” “carry me”

“Little baby just ate. Not tired.”

“Tired” “carry me”

“Little baby can ride me.”

“No” “uncomfortable”

Leaving behind the frustrated-looking PS-111, he climbed onto my back. Then he folded his wings and lay down comfortably.

There are no more threats in this area. The minions implanted with parasites are also sending signals that their organization has been annihilated.

‘It seems the fight over there is finished too.’

After the pillar of fire disappeared, there were a few loud noises, but now it’s quiet. I moved toward Sky Mother’s direction, carrying No. 26 and Adhigh Orr, along with PS-111.

In the center of the blazing street was a beast with goat horns, a lion’s head and upper body, and a dragon’s lower body and tail.

It was Sky Mother transformed into a Chimera. She was stepping on a large lump of charcoal with her front paws and turned her head toward us.

“It’s over. It took 10 seconds longer than expected, but.”

[Zzzz zzzzzz (Your skills have gotten rusty)]

“…It’s because I haven’t transformed in a while, okay?”

She slightly frowned her amber eyes and removed her foot. The lump of charcoal coughed loudly and squirmed.

That being, completely blackened and having lost all four limbs, is the sacrifice that will raise her Incarnate stage.

The sacrifice—no, the deputy leader of the Martio Cartel—barely opened his eyes and glared at us.

“Y-you bastards… *cough*! What the, *cough*!”

Instead of answering, I gave Sky Mother a look.

“I just need to take out his heart to kill him. You can do whatever you want before that.”

[Zzzzzz (That’s good)]

I approached the half-dead Baiho.

“W-what?!”

[Zzzz zzzzzz zzz zzzz (I have many questions for you)]

Seeing the black parasite squirming out from my combat arm, his eyes widened.

If he hadn’t come here, or if he hadn’t been in this fortress, he wouldn’t have suffered like this today.

He chose the wrong path.