Ch.310Monster Hun (1)

‘The Defender of Beryan02’ Captain Alshas’s family member Alqadi had been dead for five days.

The entire planet mobilized for the death of an influential figure. Knowledge Managers from the Surveillance Bureau, Cults with tracking abilities, warrior units from various organizations, and more. Even the Priests of the Eye of Revelation and the Prophet Society, who protect Beryan02, were deployed.

The nobles of Beryan02 were shocked that both the Priests and Prophet Society had become involved.

The purpose of these two groups was to eliminate beings that violated providence. They typically handled internal issues like searching for the Sect of Voltex One or removing spies, rather than external threats to the Empire.

Yet they intervened in Alqadi’s death for one reason.

Recently, Outspacers had been eating away at the Empire using unusual methods.

Until now, their attacks involved creating “bio portals” on empty planets and summoning large groups. Since these portals generated massive energy, the Empire could prepare in advance.

But now the pattern had changed.

They had modified parasites that lived in “earthworms” and forcibly implanted them into captured Cults and other intelligent beings. The infected became their slaves, infiltrating various planets to prepare for attacks.

Since learning about the parasites, the Priests had developed countermeasures. They equipped their members with parasite tracking devices and psychic technology to identify the infected.

This was why the vice-captain had taken “measures” against Alqadi, and why the Priests were involved in the investigation.

However, despite the two groups’ efforts, the being that had injected the parasite remained elusive.

Alqadi’s behavior differed greatly from typical infected individuals. He had acted completely normal until his death at Kixos’s mansion. Finding suspicious elements was difficult.

Additionally, his business dealings extended into gray areas beyond legal boundaries. Many matters had been handled secretly without leaving evidence, making the investigation challenging.

Finally, after four days of investigation, they barely found a clue about who had implanted the parasite.

Alqadi had periodically sent containers of living creatures to an abandoned building in the “Street of Glory.” While his abnormal collecting habits were well-known, there was no reason for him to send animals from his collection to an abandoned street.

Moreover, Outspacer bio-portal creation required massive amounts of organic matter. The Priests and Prophet Society determined that the abandoned building, the “Hover Bus Center,” was their hideout.

However, Alshas and others who had experience fighting the previous major offensive denied the Outspacer plot theory.

The captain and many warrior unit members had witnessed Outspacer parasites. The being that emerged from Alqadi looked completely different. They suggested it might be the work of the Voltex One priests instead.

This became an issue because the composition of the subjugation force needed to change depending on who the enemy was.

Outspacers were resistant to psychic power but couldn’t use psychic techniques themselves. To face them, high-firepower psychic weapons and physically defensive equipment were needed.

In contrast, Voltex One cultists were highly variable. Their combat patterns changed completely depending on which Voltex One they served. The standard approach was to scout first, then prepare equipment tailored to the specific cult.

With both sides in sharp disagreement, Kixos stepped in to mediate.

He persuaded Alshas while asking the Prophet Society to prepare for possible cult activities. He arranged for reserve forces to be deployed immediately if anything suspicious was discovered during the subjugation.

Since he offered to pay half the cost of operating the reserve force, the Prophet Society accepted the mediation.

Thus, the subjugation operation proceeded according to Kixos’s compromise.

And on the fifth day.

A subjugation force for monster hunting entered the Street of Glory.

“Subjugation force. Moving toward the ‘hideout’.”

“Finally, it begins.”

Nern muttered in response to the communication from the Imperial Mothership hovering in the sky.

He was currently in the situation room of a defense facility located in the “Water Fortress,” watching the operation with Alshas and several soldiers.

“…I should have gone.”

“You know better than anyone that you couldn’t. Kixos was being considerate of you.”

Alshas’s Imperial Mothership, the Defender of Beryan02, was not participating in this operation.

It was well known that she had a particularly deep affection for her family. If an Imperial Mothership captain became consumed by revenge during an operation, it would cause serious problems. That’s why another Imperial Mothership was participating instead.

Nern pointed this out, but Alshas shook her head.

“That’s not it. My concern is that the enemy might not be a simple Outspacer. You know that too, senior.”

In truth, Nern shared her thoughts.

There were too many questionable points to conclude it was the work of Outspacers.

The war between them and the Empire was nothing new. The creatures would know how difficult it would be to attack Beryan02. It would be far more efficient for them to gradually conquer planets on the Empire’s periphery first.

‘And infecting Alqadi specifically is suspicious too.’

His sister was an Imperial Mothership captain, and he himself was a well-known figure in the Street of Light. Infecting an influential person with many acquaintances was foolish.

‘They may be monsters, but they’re not fools.’

From his perspective, either the Outspacers were hiding a secret unknown to the Priests, or this was the work of a completely different third party.

But he didn’t voice these thoughts.

“Nothing we can do. You’ll just have to point out anything suspicious right away.”

“Would those proud priests listen to me?”

“They’ll have to. You’re the one with countless battles against those creatures under your belt.”

She turned her gaze slightly away, seemingly embarrassed by Nern’s straightforward praise.

Alshas was participating in the operation as an advisor authorized by the council and planetary governor. If necessary, she could relay opinions to the subjugation force in the field.

The Priests didn’t particularly object to this. They knew she was a battle-hardened warrior with tremendous combat experience.

“The same goes for you, senior.”

“But unlike you, I notice you’re carrying weapons even though you won’t be fighting.”

Nern’s gaze shifted toward the floor beneath her chair. Alshas gripped two black axes she had placed at her feet.

“One of these was given to me by a friend in the Prophet Society.”

“A friend in the Prophet Society who uses an axe. An unusual friend indeed.”

“It wasn’t a weapon he used himself. To be precise, he gave me a weapon that he had received from someone else.”

There seemed to be a story behind the item, as complex emotions filled her eyes.

“If your friend is in the Prophet Society, didn’t they offer any advice about this operation?”

“Unfortunately, that’s impossible. Providence took him not long ago.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Realizing the emotion was sadness, Nern quickly apologized. She nodded as if to say it was alright.

“My friend sacrificed his life for the cause. I’ve said goodbye to many comrades, but I believe that someday their sacrifices will be recognized.”

“…You.”

“Now it’s my turn to follow the will my friend left behind. I hope the cause can be achieved without further sacrifice.”

“If it’s you, you’ll surely bring peace to the Empire. Believe me.”

She looked at Nern with curious eyes upon hearing those words.

“That peace—I hope you can enjoy it with me, senior.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You’re important to the cause. You mustn’t die before the goal is achieved.”

“I appreciate the sentiment. Don’t worry. Providence sent me back to protect the Empire. I won’t be returning to His side until that purpose is fulfilled.”

Nern spoke firmly. She smiled with satisfaction.

Just then, a Cult who was outputting images of the subjugation force’s movements shouted.

“Subjugation force entering the center!”

Their conversation ended there.

Everyone’s eyes fixed on the image floating in the center of the situation room.

The subjugation force had just set foot inside the Hover Bus Center.

—

“Parasite residual pheromones confirmed.”

“They lead further inside.”

“Container tracks confirmed.”

Two hundred combat personnel from different specialties—warrior units, knowledge managers, hunters trained in tracking, medics, priest unit members—entered the abandoned building.

Outside, 2,000 troops waited to support them and deploy in emergencies, while mothership fleet vessels hovered in the sky.

With this impenetrable encirclement behind them, the subjugation force followed the trail.

Traces of something massive remained clearly visible on the sand accumulated inside. Veteran hunters specialized in tracking techniques estimated the trace-maker to be a bipedal creature at least 40 meters in size.

“At least 40 meters? That’s enormous.”

“Judging by the size, it could be a queen’s guard.”

“Or maybe a hybrid specimen.”

“Either way, it won’t be an easy opponent. Relay this information to the ships.”

“Yes.”

The knowledge managers sent the information from the hunters to the mothership fleet above. Meanwhile, others secured the perimeter.

Not knowing what traps the enemy might have prepared, none of the 200 members let their guard down.

The subjugation force moved again after the knowledge managers finished their work.

Following the traces, they came upon underground stairs. The Priests of the Eye of Revelation, who possessed the strongest combat power in the subjugation force, took the lead. They slowly descended, extending long staffs with five-pronged ends into the darkness.

Bright light burst from the staffs, illuminating a massive underground cavity.

“Traces found in all directions.”

“Strange. There are traces but no Outspacer contamination at all.”

The senior priests leading the group watched the passages that opened in various parts of the cavity.

“The traces are spread evenly.”

“According to the detection system, a creature of similar size to the trace-maker has been detected 2km away.”

“Good. Since the passages might collapse, we’ll move in four teams of 50 people each, maintaining distance between teams.”

“Contact the reserve force above and request additional personnel and detection equipment for the cavity.”

“We should also check the computers in the center.”

After changing formation in the cavity, the subjugation force moved into a large passage.

For a while after entering, the passage felt old but maintained, but this feeling gradually disappeared as they went deeper. Everywhere were traces of a massive beast with blunt claws that had dug through the earth.

“Communication status?”

“Normal.”

“Report immediately if there’s any anomaly.”

“This is strange. There’s no sign of a bio-portal.”

“No contamination or energy detected either.”

The underground passage was quiet except for the footsteps of the subjugation force. This silence made the senior priests uneasy.

By now, something should have appeared.

For Outspacers to operate, they absolutely needed a contamination source—their nest. All activities, from bio-portals to reproduction, evolution, and nutrition, took place on the nest.

But there was no trace of a nest in this underground area. Except for queens, it was extremely rare for individual specimens to wander without a nest.

Nor was it cultists hiding, as some suggested.

Those who had surrendered themselves to evil beings committed unspeakable acts—human sacrifices, orgies, torture of victims, and more. Having already lost their minds, they didn’t bother hiding the evidence. Bones, corpses, blood—something should have been visible.

‘What kind of creature is this?’

The same thought crossed the senior priests’ minds. As tension built in the quiet passage, the warrior unit member in charge of communications shouted:

“Communication status poor!”

“Here it comes! Expect an attack soon!”

“Everyone, prepare to defend!”

The subjugation force prepared for battle in perfect unison. Everyone drew their weapons and watched the front. The light created by the priests and warriors at the front pushed back the darkness.

Something was there, beyond the now-illuminated passage. The being opened its mouth wide toward the subjugation force, as if telling them to withdraw their light.

Then a green beam shot from its mouth, flying toward them.

“All personnel activate shields!”

“Shield of Providence!”

The warrior unit members at the front all activated their shields, while the priests deployed “Reflection,” a powerful reflective technique.

The heat beam collided with the layers of invisible barriers in the passage and was reflected. The split green beams either returned to their source or bounced off the surrounding walls.

The passage walls and ceiling hit by the beams rapidly melted.

“It has acidic properties.”

“Those with neutralizing agents, prepare to spray!”

“Also put on the life support devices attached to your helmets!”

They were already prepared for poisons or strong acids, as some cultists used these as weapons. The subjugation force members quickly put on gas masks connected to their helmets.

Meanwhile, the strong acid spewed by the creature had created a hole in the ceiling above them. It was so potent that sunlight shone through the hole from above.

But the senior priests didn’t panic and calmly assessed the enemy.

“It can’t move while shooting the acidic liquid.”

“It’s unaffected even when hit by the reflected acid.”

“We should determine whether it’s due to hard carapace or something else.”

“All units, commence firing!”

The subjugation force members poured bullets from their weapons at the enemy. The explosions were deafening, and the passage ceiling collapsed.

The collapsed ceiling contained building debris as well. Some of the abandoned buildings above had collapsed due to the tremors from below.

Throughout all this, the creature just kept getting hit. Whether it knew or not that its attacks were being completely reflected, it continued spewing acidic liquid until the ceiling collapsed.

After remaining motionless for several minutes, the creature stopped its attack and disappeared into the inner passage.

“Good heavens. It’s incredibly tough.”

“Our current weapons aren’t enough. We need more firepower.”

“How’s the communication status?”

“Normalized.”

The senior priests exchanged glances at the communication officer’s words.

“A specimen that disrupts communications while spewing strong acid. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“…A new hybrid. This is serious.”

“Report this to those above and request support.”

“What should we do? Leave it to the ships from now on?”

“If it has radio jamming abilities, even tracking it with ships might be difficult. We should continue pursuing it just in case.”

Following the senior priests’ decision, the subjugation force began tracking the creature again.

But they encountered it again sooner than expected. In a narrowly dug passage, the creature once again showed only its head while keeping its body hidden.

“Toxic fungus!”

“Priest unit, prepare Air Impact! Don’t let the fungus spread in the air!”

Unlike before, what the creature spewed this time wasn’t acidic liquid but malignant fungal masses. The disgusting projectiles struck several subjugation force members.

“Ah, it hurts… it hurts…!”

“Ugh, uuugh…”

“Spray disinfectant! Just hold on a little longer!”

The parts touched by the fungus rapidly decayed. The infected writhed in pain as their flesh and bones rotted.

Perhaps due to the suddenly changed attack, this time there were casualties. Like before, the creature continued its attack for several minutes before fleeing.

As with the previous encounter, communications were reactivated after the creature disappeared. However, this time they had to spend more time in the passage than before because of the casualties.

While other members busily moved to help the casualties, the senior priests exchanged opinions about the enemy they had encountered for the second time.

“…Did you see it just now?”

“Yes. Its head was different.”

“Right. It had no eyes, and the shape of its horns was different. The head shape changed from when it was shooting acidic liquid.”

“Does it have transformation abilities?”

“I’m not sure. We should report this.”

What was clearly established so far was that it had the ability to disrupt communications and possessed at least two different types of attacks.

They reported the information they had confirmed and set out again.

And when they encountered it for the third time, more people died than during the second encounter.

It was a fairly large space, though not as large as the cavity in the center’s underground. The creature ambushed them there.

This attack was neither a malignant fungal projectile nor acidic liquid. It was a much simpler attack.

The creature moved at a speed too fast to see and rammed subjugation force members with its head.

As confirmed during their first encounter, its carapace was terrifyingly hard. The members it collided with were literally shattered.

The subjugation force tried to counterattack, but even finding the creature was difficult. It had hidden itself as if blending into the earthen walls.

After turning ten warrior unit members into lumps of flesh one after another, the creature flew beyond the passage.

“Damn it… It was too fast to see properly. Did anyone get a good look?”

“I saw it, and something was strange. Its size had decreased.”

“Its size?”

“Yes. It seemed less than 10 meters, let alone 40 meters.”

“What’s going on? Are there different creatures here?”

“I’ve finished requesting support. We’ll move together when the troops arrive.”

Although about 180 members remained, they decided to proceed safely. With the creature’s identity unpredictable, moving rashly would be dangerous.

And before the support troops arrived.

The fourth attack occurred quietly.

A voice called to them as they waited in the cavity. Someone was calling them from across a passage they had passed through.

Saying they would evacuate the injured first, so come this way.

At first, no one found it strange. Members who thought some of the support troops had arrived supported their injured comrades and followed the voice.

If a senior priest hadn’t been with them, if the communications officer hadn’t tried to confirm this via radio, they would have fallen straight into the trap.

Because the creature was there.

With only its neck and head exposed from building debris piled in the middle of the passage, it was calling to them. Again, the shape of its head was different. The external form was similar to when they first saw it, but it was pink.

After imitating voices to lure them, the creature crushed all the injured members and hid in the debris.

The real support troops arrived late and thoroughly searched the area with the others, but found nothing. They discovered a few small holes just tens of centimeters wide, but it was impossible for such a large beast to hide in them.

In the end, they returned to where their comrades were, having only lost the injured.

“It imitates voices? Is that possible?”

“…The creature changes abilities each time it changes its head.”

“What kind of monster has the queen created?”

“No, I’m not even sure if it’s an Outspacer anymore. Maybe it really is related to the cult.”

“If you’re referring to ‘Masquerade,’ I doubt it. There would have been a major disaster already if that were the case.”

Despite having 250 members including the support troops, the senior priests couldn’t shake their uneasiness.

The anxiety that an enemy of unclear identity was hiding somewhere underground, watching them, was overwhelming.

And the communication from above drove a wedge into that anxiety.

“Please repeat what you just said. What did you say?”

“An advisor has suggested that the creature you’re facing resembles the ‘Three-Headed Demon’.”

“We know about it too. Does it have transformation abilities? No, more importantly, how did it get here…?”

“The advisor is investigating that with the Prophet Society and Temple Guardian Corps. The results will be communicated immediately—*static*—retreat—*static*”

“Communication is unstable!”

“…”

Despite gaining a clue about the creature’s identity, no one was happy.

The demon’s fifth attack was approaching the subjugation force.