Ch.332Contract (4)

Isabelle and the Cult ranker flew toward the outskirts of the city on an airship.

Despite being protected by shields, the hull constantly shook. Considering what was happening outside, this level of vibration was nothing.

Shortly after the airship took off, a tremendous impact struck the entire bio-dome surrounding the city.

Is this what it feels like to be in the middle of an erupting volcano’s crater?

Isabelle had never experienced such an intense energy explosion before. Nor its aftermath.

Beyond the airship’s window, she could see a massive hole punched through the bio-dome.

The walls comprising the dome weren’t single layers but multiple overlapping structures. The gaps between walls ranged from tens to hundreds of meters. Even bombardment from orbital weapons like the Lightning God rarely penetrated the dome’s walls.

Yet this incredibly sturdy dome was half-destroyed.

Walls had collapsed, buildings were burning. As ships crashed one after another from the energy explosion, the city had become a complete hell.

The beautiful image that represented Beryan02 was nowhere to be found.

“Crazy bastard. He’s determined to destroy the city.”

The Cult muttered while looking at the devastation through the glass. Despite his words, his voice betrayed no particular emotion.

‘What is he thinking?’

Her opponent had lived in this world longer than Isabelle. Not only was his individual power formidable, but the forces he commanded were substantial.

But none of that meant anything before that infamous ranker, AMorph.

Seeing how he destroyed the bio-dome, it was clear he had become much stronger than in the game. Perhaps he had even acquired characteristics that didn’t exist in the game.

Her opponent surely knew this. It was incomprehensible to Isabelle why he maintained such a relaxed attitude when he should be fleeing for his life.

“You seem curious about why I’m acting this way.”

“…”

“Well, I suppose you’d think I’m being too casual, especially when facing ‘that AMorph.’ Particularly for someone ranked only 14th.”

“…No matter what you prepare, defeating him will be difficult.”

From Isabelle’s perspective, it would benefit her if her enemy fell to AMorph, but she couldn’t say that honestly.

She had to protect those she hated most because of a contract made when Cynthia saved her life in the past. So she hid her true feelings and responded obediently.

“That’s true. If I were alone.”

“Alone?”

While they conversed, the airship reached its destination.

‘This place?’

After disembarking, she recognized the location.

“Are you planning to hole up in your home?”

“Similar, but slightly different.”

Her opponent continued making cryptic statements that were just vague enough to be confusing.

They entered a relatively modest-looking mansion. Normally, slaves managing the mansion would have come out to greet them, but they must have all fled as none were visible.

Except for just one.

“You’ve arrived.”

A Cult with a very familiar face welcomed the visitors to the mansion.

Two Cults stood facing each other.

Bizarrely, they were identical, as if one were looking into a mirror. The smooth silver-shining hair, even the tips of the yak horns protruding from their temples.

It wasn’t just their appearance that was identical. Their voices were perfectly the same, as if recorded and played back.

While Isabelle looked identical to her twin sister Penelope, they weren’t this similar. The two Cults she was looking at were identical as if manufactured in a factory.

“Isabelle, I don’t need to explain this to you.”

“You can see my perk.”

Isabelle nodded at their words.

‘Simulacrum.’

The ability to consume large amounts of energy to create identical copies of oneself.

This was the unique perk of Alshas, once ranked 14th and now commanding the Imperial Mothership “Defender of Beryan02.”

While psychic techniques for creating doppelgangers existed in the game, Alshas’s ability was truly exceptional. The copies were created with identical consciousness, identical abilities, and identical equipment as the original. Fighting Alshas was essentially fighting multiple rankers.

Of course, there were drawbacks, but the advantages far outweighed them.

‘But that alone won’t be enough to defeat AMorph.’

While Simulacrum was indeed a powerful perk, it wasn’t enough to subdue AMorph. That guy would surely identify Alshas’s weakness after just a few encounters.

“Preparations?”

“All complete.”

“Good. Guide us.”

“Isabelle too?”

“Isabelle will fight alongside us anyway. Right?”

In response to the question from ‘the Alshas who brought the airship,’ Isabelle silently nodded.

“Well, since ‘I’ made the decision, there shouldn’t be a problem. Follow me.”

‘The Alshas who was in the mansion’ guided them to an elevator deeper inside. Once all three boarded, the elevator began descending rapidly.

“How is he? This plan was his idea, after all.”

“You know without me saying. How much he hates that Morph. His enthusiasm is excessive to the point of being troublesome.”

“He must be quite bitter to hold onto memories from decades ago. Such a fearful human.”

“We’re not ones to talk.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

The elevator, which had been descending endlessly, finally stopped.

When the doors opened, a pungent odor enveloped Isabelle’s antennae. It resembled the smell of melting asphalt. It was so foul that her antennae tingled.

Alshas and his copy stepped out of the elevator as if unbothered. Following behind them, the first thing she saw was an enormous underground cavity.

“This space was excavated under the pretext of building a hover bus center.”

“Though the project was scrapped midway.”

“It doesn’t matter since this was the intention from the beginning.”

“According to the original plan, we should have dug much more.”

“Can’t be helped since the situation changed. This size should be sufficient.”

The space was massive enough to accommodate several battleships with room to spare.

In the center stood a structure.

Organic tissue was clumped together in a ring formation about 200 meters in size, with a translucent membrane covering the inside of the ring. The vertically positioned ring touched both ceiling and floor, with sticky mucous membranes tangled at the contact points.

She knew exactly what this biological structure was.

Its name was ‘Bio Portal.’ A transportation method primarily used by Outspacers.

Alshas’s hidden card was a large number of Outspacers.

–

Metal rain falls from the sky. Molten steel beams and various materials fused with metal pour down like a heavy storm.

Who would believe that just minutes ago, these were the outer walls of the bio-dome or Cult battleships?

Where I stand, a massive hole has been punched through the bio-dome surrounding the Fortress of Water. All created by the psychic breath I fired.

Thanks to the activation of ‘Tyrantroid,’ my energy output increased several times beyond normal. That resulted in consequences beyond my intention.

‘I only meant to take care of the battleship and the Eye of Revelation priests.’

I didn’t expect the highly defensive bio-dome to be destroyed. Even in the game, I’ve destroyed it multiple times, but this is the first time I’ve done it solely with my own power. My preferred method was usually to crash an Imperial Mothership from planetary orbit to destroy the dome.

‘Different from what I expected, but this works out better.’

The effect of Tyrantroid grows stronger as my injuries worsen. So the power of my psychic breath isn’t at its limit yet.

‘If only it weren’t so difficult to control at will, it would be perfect.’

The overwhelming power I felt just before firing the breath through the monster’s tentacles is no longer present. The vitality that enveloped my entire body is rapidly decreasing.

As my body recovers due to my regeneration characteristic, the Tyrantroid effect is diminishing.

｢Wow! So strong!｣

Just then, I felt a familiar yet intense wave from behind. It was from No. 26, who had enlarged his body.

｢Big brother hurt but still strong!｣

He stroked my wounds with his large tentacles.

Currently, I’m in an enlarged state due to the enhancement effect of Tyrantroid. While not as extreme as when transformed into a ‘Bone Beast,’ I’ve grown at least 1.5 times larger.

No. 26, who was caressing my wounds, had changed no less than my transformed body. In the settings, Sea Demons range from 20 to 30 meters in size, but they can temporarily inflate their bodies even larger during combat. The current version of him exuded enough majesty to be called a devil of the sea.

‘Though his behavior is still as cute as ever.’

｢Doesn’t your injury hurt?｣

[Bzz bzz bzzbzzbzz bzzbzz (It’s fine since it heals quickly)]

“Damaged cells and tissues are being repaired at a very rapid rate due to dramatically enhanced metabolism.”

As PS-111, perched on my head carapace, said, the carapaces that were shattered by the Slayer and main cannon are regenerating steadily, if not extremely quickly.

I extended my wing-arms to stroke him, who had entered combat mode. Every time my enlarged body moved, the surrounding buildings shook significantly.

Since the enemies were incinerated instantly, Adhigh Orr and Sky Mother also flew to my vicinity.

｢Big｣｢Elder｣｢Very｣｢Very｣｢Big Elder!｣

Adhigh Orr circled above me, wagging his tail. He seemed quite pleased with my transformed appearance and the destruction I had demonstrated.

｢Is it because you fired while enhanced by Tyrantroid? Your breath is almost at Red Gallergorn level.｣

[Bzzbzz bzzbzz (It’s not that powerful)]

｢What do you mean it’s not? Look what you’ve done to the Fortress of Water.｣

Sky Mother stuck out her tongue while looking at the ruined dome. She too knows how difficult it is to destroy a bio-dome, which explains her attitude.

‘It seems I’ve mostly cleared out the enemies inside the fortress.’

There’s time before the fleet stationed outside the planet descends.

Before that, I need to confirm the enemies suspected to be rankers.

[Bzzbzz bzzbzzbzzbzz (Is Alshas next?)]

｢Probably.｣

The deputy leader of the Eye of Revelation priests was also a likely ranker candidate, but he disappeared without a trace from my breath.

“Before we go, I request that we check on the Coldblood that ‘little brother’ brought.”

‘Ah. Right.’

I had forgotten.

The area with slave quarters is far from the center, so it wasn’t affected by the flood. But with the dome largely collapsed now, I’m not sure if the hideout where they’re hiding is still intact.

‘If those guys die, this will all be for nothing.’

[Bzzbzz bzzbzz bzz (I’ll move, so climb on)]

｢Okay!｣

No. 26 reduced his body to about 20 meters in size before climbing onto me. It felt quite strange, like having a huge water balloon wrapped around my back.

｢Tight｣｢Make｣｢Body｣｢Smaller｣

｢I can’t because bad humans might appear.｣

“You might fall if you don’t wrap around with tentacles. Please stay closer.”

｢…This isn’t the time to say it, but this looks a bit awkward.｣

With the kids on my back, I spread my wings wide. Though the Tyrantroid effect has slowed my movements, I can still fly. Even in this state, I’m much faster than a personal airship.

After flapping my wings a few times, my body rose into the air. I beat my wings vigorously and headed toward the warehouse where the slaves were hiding.

In less than a few minutes, I arrived at the area where the slave quarters were clustered and carefully landed.

“M-monster!”

“Aaaaargh!”

The city residents who saw me screamed and ran around. Among them were warriors and priests.

With my left and right heads’ mouths wide open, I charged toward those fleeing between buildings. Then I absorbed dozens of Cults.

While replenishing the energy I had consumed, I lowered my wing-arms close to the ground to help MPS-05 disembark.

[Bzz bzzbzz bzzbzz (Go help them)]

“Confirm. Confirm.”

“I will inform you immediately if a crisis occurs.”

The woman with metal legs quickly disappeared from my sight. PS-111, synchronized with the mini-screamer, will relay MPS-05’s situation to me.

‘That’s settled.’

Leaving the slave matter to MPS-05, I headed back to Alshas’s mansion.

Crossing through the chaotic streets and approaching the outskirts of the city, I spotted an old mansion. I also saw figures standing in front of it.

I reduced my speed and landed on the garden in front of the mansion. The ground shook greatly from the impact of my landing, but my opponent showed no reaction.

One of the two was someone I knew, which might explain the lack of response. It was Isabelle, the small Coldblood ranker.

The problem was the other person.

A female Cult with smooth silver hair and yak horns at her temples. Having seen her in photos, I immediately recognized who she was.

Imperial Mothership Captain Alshas.

The Cult ranker of Beryan02 was waiting for me.