Ch.311Monster Hunt (2)

In the cavern where the enemy forces were regrouping, there was another secret passage beneath their feet.

It was a small path used by No. 26 and Adhigh Orr. Just earlier, No. 26 had lured enemies with voice mimicry, attacked, and quickly escaped through this hidden route.

Me, Adhigh, and No. 26. We took turns ambushing the enemy. With our attack methods changing each time, they couldn’t regain their composure.

And now it was my turn to torment them again.

“…?!”

“My ears, my ears…ARGH!”

The extermination squad members froze in place. The face parasites rushed in, tearing their opponents to shreds.

“Damn it! It’s a sonic attack!”

It had been a while since the face parasites joined combat. Many enemies I’d fought recently were immune to the parasites’ paralyzing sound waves. That limited their combat opportunities, with most being used just for information gathering—but not today.

The enemies, unprepared for sound-based attacks, were immobilized by the paralyzing waves. Even the cult priests were affected.

“Counter with…gack?”

“Senior Priest!”

A priest giving counter-orders dissolved when hit by acidic breath.

‘You shouldn’t forget about me.’

Obviously, face parasites weren’t the only ones here. After spraying acidic breath over the enemies’ heads, I retreated with the parasites.

The priests, having lost a comrade in an instant, raged furiously, but all they could do was shout.

I withdrew without any resistance and pressed my three heads against the floor. The auxiliary organs beneath my jaws collected information about activities in the tunnels below.

Having three heads meant my auxiliary organs’ performance was tripled. Thanks to this, I could easily observe enemy movements without building a nest.

‘They’re regrouping.’

The extermination squad in the cavern remained stationary. Instead, I sensed new movement from the Center’s direction.

Unless they were fools, they must have gathered information after being ambushed five times. Now they were preparing countermeasures.

‘Yes. You’re doing well.’

Did they realize their actions were exactly what I intended?

I had two main objectives in this battle.

First was buying time.

To infiltrate the ‘Water Fortress,’ I needed to transform into the ‘Clever Weakling,’ but the cooldown hadn’t finished. I needed to wait at least two more days.

After the parasite was discovered, I prepared various measures to ensure prolonged engagement. The dozens of tunnels dug underground were part of this preparation.

On a normal planet, they would have ended this with an Imperial Mothership, but this was Beryan02. With multiple cities on the surface, bombardment was impossible. To capture me, they had to enter the underground passages.

Additionally, due to their cultural background, they were unfamiliar with underground combat.

Except for the priests of the Eye of Revelation who fought against the cult, the rest had no experience fighting underground. Even the priests fought much better above ground than below.

So I prepared a complex battlefield to extend the fight. No. 26 and I had diligently created it before the enemy could establish their encirclement.

Honestly, I could easily annihilate the enemy right now. Even No. 26 and Adhigh with their implanted traits could do it. Or I could use the nest and ‘Color of the Deep’ combo like before.

The reason I’m going through all this trouble relates to my second objective.

‘Providing false information to the real enemy.’

The core of AMorph gameplay lies in its traits. Using countless traits strategically for unpredictable attacks is the basic AMorph strategy.

In other words, if opponents know what traits I possess, the effectiveness is halved. They can identify weaknesses and prepare accordingly.

Strictly speaking, the Cult group facing me now isn’t my real enemy. They’re more like scouts sent by my ‘true enemy.’

The Cult ranker hiding somewhere above is diligently analyzing—what evolution stage I’m at, what traits I possess, and so on.

Knowing this, I deliberately revealed certain traits instead of hiding them.

To conceal my truly important weapons while providing misleading information.

Currently, my two most powerful weapons are: the allies helping me and the traits I gained through the transcendence system.

Of these, the first is something no one who knew me from the game would believe.

No one I’ve encountered believed that my companions followed me with free will. Even Cynthia, whom I fought last, considered No. 26 just a pet. Sky Mother said it was a miracle that I traveled with other creatures.

The mysterious ranker confronting me on Beryan02 is the same. He doesn’t know I have companions.

To hide this fact, I created the illusion that I ‘possess a trait allowing me to freely change my body.’

For example, No. 26 and Adhigh, who ambushed enemies in my place, used traits I previously possessed.

First, Adhigh. He actively used the newly implanted defensive fusion trait ‘Protective Coloration.’ This trait allows him to mimic surrounding environments after staying in one place for a few seconds—useful for someone small and agile like Adhigh.

Of course, protective coloration alone can’t evade detection systems, but that’s where No. 26 helps. Hidden in secret passages, No. 26 neutralizes detection equipment with psychic power, allowing Adhigh to strike.

Adhigh fought as usual—protecting himself with ‘Red Armor,’ then accelerating to ram enemies. They were helpless against the unbreakable Gallergorn projectile.

Then there’s No. 26. He used ‘Mutation Tentacles’ and ‘Mimicry Tentacles’ to finish off the wounded.

In the game, ‘Mimicry Organ’ was my signature trait. Imitating voices and appearances to lure and kill enemies was something I did frequently.

Any ranker would know that both protective coloration and mimicry were traits I commonly used. They’ll surely think it was my doing.

The enemy probably thinks I’ve gained a ‘trait to adjust body size’ or ‘ability to transform into different forms.’

‘There are similar traits, but…’

At least, it’s far from what the enemies imagine. The more these misconceptions accumulate, the higher the probability they’ll make fatal mistakes.

‘That’s already happening now.’

The enemy ranker has made an incorrect judgment.

If I were fighting myself, I would have used an Imperial Mothership after the second ambush. But the enemy continues sending forces underground instead.

While this might be to learn more about my capabilities, what matters is that they’re underestimating me.

From their perspective, I keep exposing traits and repeatedly fleeing. I haven’t even built a nest.

Yet I’m not trying to lure them into a trap either. If that were my intention, would the 200 Cult members who entered underground still be alive?

Any ranker who’s fought an AMorph would understand what this means.

That I haven’t been on this planet long and am not fully prepared to fight.

No matter how notorious I am, in this state, wouldn’t I be manageable?

‘That’s what they’re thinking.’

If the enemy underestimates me, I’m grateful. I didn’t come to this planet to fight them anyway.

I lifted my heads from the floor.

They’re still busy regrouping. It will take at least an hour.

Meanwhile, I have things to do. If this succeeds, I can buy quite a bit of time.

I moved back toward the wide open passage.

–

Watching Alshas busily communicating through the transmitter, Nern recalled his nightmare.

He had witnessed a similar scene before.

‘The three-headed demon…’

The legendary monster that annihilated an Imperial Mothership and its fleet at the holy site Psygil08.

The blasphemous beast appeared in footage recorded by the extermination squad.

‘Its appearance has changed, but it’s definitely the same creature.’

The head shape seen through the Imperial Mothership’s camera differed significantly from its current form. It now had more horns. Moreover, its size had shrunk incomparably.

Though it only showed its heads while hiding its body, Nern immediately recognized it. The fact that it was his sworn enemy.

Nern told Alshas about this. As the only person at the site—no, on the planet—who had directly witnessed the monster, she immediately took action.

After knowledge managers compared records related to the creature with the extermination squad’s footage, his statement was confirmed. Headquarters was thrown into chaos upon receiving reports that the underground opponent was the three-headed demon.

The only fortunate thing was that the creature appeared to have weakened.

If the enemy had the same capabilities as when previously sighted, those who entered underground would already be dead.

Alshas pointed this out to calm the commanders. Meanwhile, she requested the dispatch of Temple Guardians specializing in monsters, fully armed priests of the Eye of Revelation, and summoning of Imperial Motherships stationed on other planets.

All requests except the Imperial Mothership summons were approved.

Currently, elite forces of the Temple Guardians were hurrying to Beryan02. The Eye of Revelation had also dispatched powerful priests like the vice-leader to the underground.

The fully armed priests headed toward the Street of Glory and would soon join the extermination squad.

Watching Alshas effectively using her position as advisor, Nern felt relieved but also slightly anxious.

It’s true that the demon had weakened. But whether it could be easily defeated remained questionable.

For instance, during the five ambushes, it showed its heads four times. Three times resembled the monster Nern had witnessed. The head spewing acidic breath was like the central head, and those shooting flesh-corroding masses resembled the side heads.

However, the pink head that mimicked Cult voices felt different. Though its appearance was identical to the central head, it felt alien—like a different creature.

What if it wasn’t just one creature? What if it had helpers or other monster subordinates?

Currently, both the extermination squad and Alshas were focusing their strategy solely on the three-headed demon. If there were multiple creatures, they could face serious trouble.

‘…No, it doesn’t matter anyway.’

This was Beryan02, one of the Empire’s core planets. It was impossible for the creature to escape from here. Even if there were two instead of one, it would only prolong the inevitable. The creature would die here.

The only regret was that he couldn’t kill it himself.

Though he wanted to join the extermination squad, Alshas wouldn’t let him. His caring junior wanted him to watch his enemy’s death from a safe place.

‘Still, if there’s a chance…’

As he was dwelling on this regret, a message appeared on his wrist terminal. His eyes widened upon reading it.

‘What?’

The message was from Minseok Yujin, the butler serving Siheyon Yujin.

It said his master and Lila Chamberlain had rushed out immediately after seeing the footage sent by the extermination squad.

‘Why on earth?’

It was true that Siheyon had promised to help with his revenge. He had also explained in detail about his target, the three-headed demon.

But acting immediately after seeing the footage was a different matter. The creature’s appearance was quite different from what he had described.

Yet they moved so promptly—what did this mean?

‘Could it be?’

This was a reaction only those familiar with the creature would show. Just like himself.