Ch.339Vortex One (3)

Just as I was about to reach out to grab Alshas’s airship, the ‘Ring of Agony’ moved. Countless arms on the ring’s surface grabbed me and yanked hard.

The creature wasn’t just massive—its strength was terrifying. My body was forcibly ejected from the monitoring station against my will.

I extended my corrosion tentacles to grip the outer wall of the monitoring station while simultaneously activating my “Morphable Bio-weapon.”

The transformation focused on my head. I changed my central cranial carapace to resemble that of the apex creature “Ice Horror.”

After transforming my head, I applied strong force to the tentacles gripping the outer wall. My body shot into the structure like an arrow released from a bowstring.

Then came the intense impact. My head rammed into the Ring of Agony.

All Voltex One beings boast tremendous durability since their bodies are composed of the Power of Deep and organic matter. However, they aren’t immortal, indestructible beings.

The numerous arms attached to the ring’s surface were crushed under my cranial carapace. The heads on both sides bit down on the black ring with all their might.

In that position, I drove my two legs into the floor of the monitoring station and pushed with all my strength.

The ring-shaped body was forced in one direction by my strength. During this process, the control tower and ships collided with the creature and exploded.

The corrosion tentacles on my back grabbed floating ship debris. I swung them like clubs, striking the demon. Each time the debris in my tentacles collided with the enemy, loud explosions shook the monitoring station.

‘It’s about time for a counterattack.’

「-」

As expected, the creature’s independently moving arms suddenly stopped. Pairs of arms joined together and simultaneously clapped in my direction.

Immediately, tremendous pressure descended upon me.

「Pain Reduction activated!」

An invisible force twisted not only my tentacles but also my neck and torso. I felt like a wrung-out dishcloth.

The structures around me began to crumple with friction sounds. Docked ships twisted like taffy, and various facilities including the control tower were compressed like crushed cans.

‘It really is strong!’

The Ring of Agony uses different abilities depending on the posture of its arms. The clapping posture is used when manipulating gravity.

I’d experienced this in the game, of course. Feeling it physically rather than just seeing numbers was incredibly oppressive. My bone armor, which could withstand battleship cannon fire without damage, was instantly cracked and broken.

And this destructive power came from an incomplete state. If it had been at full strength, I might have lost a head.

‘But…!’

Attacks that can’t kill me only make me stronger.

‘Tyrantroid’ activated, making my body grow larger again. As I changed, my strength increased as well.

I returned my central head with the Ice Horror carapace to normal and mutated my combat arms.

The bones inside my arms extended with a chilling sound. As the bones transformed, the parts that had functioned as hands changed into scythe shapes with serrated edges.

The main weapon of the mantis-like apex creature “Hellscythe Hornet” was now in my hands.

I swung my combat arm with the scythe widely. The sharp edge embedded directly into the black ring. This was possible thanks to the Hellscythe Hornet arm’s characteristic sharpness combined with the enhancement effect of Tyrantroid.

「–」

When the ring was directly wounded, the creature moved again. The arms that had been clapping with palms pressed together now took a prayer position.

Immediately, tremendous repulsive force erupted from the creature. The heads biting it were repelled, and the bio-scythe embedded in the ring’s surface was pulled out. Black liquid spurted like a fountain from the wounded body.

I wasn’t the only one caught in the repulsive force. The airship Alshas was riding was swept up in the shockwave, bouncing around before being washed out into space.

‘He won’t be able to escape like that.’

The rocket engines at the rear had been severely damaged when caught in the Voltex One’s grasp. In that condition, not only was FTL travel impossible, but even landing on nearby Beryan02 would be impossible.

‘Let’s deal with the Ring of Agony first.’

I put aside my concern for Alshas and focused on the enemy before me.

The creature that had pushed me away was trying to use its gravity manipulation ability again. Just as the palms that had been pressed together separated and were about to reconnect, I pointed my central head toward it.

As I opened my mouth wide, No. 26, who had been hiding inside, jumped out. Growing larger as it leaped, it charged at the Ring of Agony. Thousands of saw-blade tentacles growing from its body wrapped around the ring’s arms.

「No! Don’t!」

「-」

The arms that No. 26 couldn’t grab clapped together. An invisible force struck me and No. 26, but it was much weaker than before. The power had diminished because not all arms were moving. Thanks to that, No. 26 was holding up well.

While No. 26 held on, I prepared my Psychic Breath. Psychic power gathered in the monster tentacles attached to each head. The tentacles, filled with enormous energy, flickered like burning flames.

I fired the breath as soon as sufficient power had gathered. No. 26, knowing I was gathering energy, quickly shrank its body to avoid it.

Purple beams from my three heads struck the black ring. The impact of the breath made the ring stagger and pushed it back significantly. The arms that had been pressed together moved to take another position even as they burned.

At that moment, a small light flashed behind the creature. The light, a mixture of red and white, was Adhigh Orr.

While I charged in first to draw the Voltex One’s attention, he and the Sky Mother were supposed to sneak in. Having circled to the enemy’s rear, he finally launched his attack.

A red lightning bolt, too fast to follow with the naked eye, pierced the black ring.

No matter how tough a Voltex One might be, it was useless against the supreme defensive technique “Red Armor.” Adhigh, wrapped in Red Armor, penetrated straight through the enemy’s body.

Even the Ring of Agony found this attack difficult to withstand, hesitating as it tried to counterattack.

I didn’t miss that opening and rammed into it. A brief shockwave occurred on impact, and the creature’s body lifted slightly.

‘Now!’

I grabbed the airborne creature with my corrosion tentacles and wing arms, pushing it all the way to the opposite wall of the monitoring station. Various obstacles—the tall command tower, large docked ships—exploded as they collided with the creature.

「—」

The creature, having taken continuous damage, twisted its body.

‘Finally starting.’

This wasn’t from pain. Unlike before, this was a signal that it would fight properly from now on.

The half-remaining circular ring-shaped body bent, and the ends of the ring crossed. Normally it would form a figure-eight shape, a Möbius strip, but with only half its body remaining, it took this form instead.

「—-」

‘Danger!’

The creature’s arms crossed in an X-shape with palms facing outward.

Seeing this, I quickly pulled away from it. Immediately after I fell back, black light beams spread in all directions from its body.

Though a simple attack—releasing the Power of Deep through the mouths on its palms—the results were far from trivial. This was because thousands, tens of thousands of mouths were firing energy masses that composed the Voltex One’s flesh.

The black energy bullets rained down, destroying everything around. Whether armored ships or thick outer walls, everything was shattered.

No. 26 and Adhigh Orr actively used their abilities to avoid the energy bullet barrage. Adhigh utilized his characteristic speed to easily evade incoming attacks. No. 26 shrank itself very small to avoid being hit by the energy bullets altogether.

But with my size, I couldn’t dodge like they could.

Countless energy bullets raked across my entire body. Even my carapace, strengthened by my traits, was insufficient to block a Voltex One’s attacks. Holes were punctured throughout my body—wing arms, back, abdomen.

「Pain Reduction activated!」

Blood gushed from my broken and penetrated wounds. The Pain Reduction trait kept sending warning messages to be careful.

‘I can endure this much!’

As long as my head and heart weren’t damaged, I could heal. Now I needed to trust the AMorph’s robust vitality.

I endured the rain of death while preparing my next weapon.

‘There are still many Cult members here.’

Cult members were hiding inside the ships docked at the monitoring station and in the defense facilities. They were paralyzed with panic, unable to move because of the giant monsters that suddenly appeared and were destroying buildings.

‘If you can’t come to your senses, I’ll help you.’

「-」

The Ring of Agony stopped its energy bullet barrage and tried to use its gravity manipulation ability again. Using it after changing its body shape would make its destructive power and intensity much higher than before.

「Don’t bully big baby!」

At that moment, No. 26 extended its tentacles toward the creature. Purple streams flowing from the tentacle tips transformed into a massive membrane trying to cover the ring.

「–」

The ring’s arms changed from a clapping position to a prayer position. It floated its body to avoid No. 26’s membrane.

Meanwhile, I used the powerful mind control trait “Herald of Great Confusion.” As the trait activated, invisible psychic waves erupted from my body.

Herald of Great Confusion can distort the cognitive abilities of all sentient beings within a maximum radius of 500 meters. It would be difficult to control opponents who skillfully handle psychic power like the Cult, but right now they were in a state of terror, having lost their reason.

Now I could easily plunge them into reckless madness.

As I expected, some of the docked ships began to move. In their minds, they would have only one thought—to kill the demon immediately. The ship-mounted batteries of the launched vessels immediately spewed fire.

The target was, of course, the giant monster floating in the air—the Ring of Agony.

As several ships came forward to attack, other ships began to gather courage and join in. The defensive batteries installed inside the monitoring station also supported the ships.

「–」

As even the ships that had been quiet as mice began attacking it, the enemy entered defensive counterattack mode. Psychic heat beams fired from the ships bounced off its body. Some struck other ships, some embedded in the walls inside the monitoring station.

While it was distracted by the ships, I crawled low to get behind it.

‘This should be enough?’

Standing at a suitable position, I drove my wing arms, combat arms, and both legs into the structure’s floor. After firmly anchoring my body to prevent movement, I extended my corrosion tentacles to grab the creature.

「-」

‘Too late!’

The creature tried to manipulate gravity against me, but this time I was one step faster. I simultaneously applied force to my limbs embedded in the monitoring station and yanked hard on my tentacles.

The monster, 1.5 times larger than me, was helplessly pulled toward me. The broken figure-eight ring flew past my head toward the opposite wall where my tail was pointing.

When it crashed into the wall, there was a tremendous roar and the entire structure tilted significantly. Turning my head, I saw the creature break through the monitoring station’s outer wall and fall into outer space.

‘Good.’

The first goal of my plan was achieved.

I pulled my arms and legs out of the monitoring station floor. Then I quickly caught No. 26 as it rolled down the tilted floor.

[Zzzzzz (Are you okay?)]

「That was close!」

「I」「am」「fine」

Adhigh also flew to me and landed on top of my central head.

Together with them, I exited the devastated monitoring station.

「—-」

The thoroughly angered creature prepared to fire energy bullets at us.

Just as the arms on its surface were about to cross in an X-shape…

A black heat beam flying from across space burned its body.

The name of the weapon that attacked the Voltex One was “Black Cannon.”

Like the “Cosmic Bolt,” it’s one of the Imperial Mothership’s secondary weapons that uses dark matter as an energy source.

Imperial Motherships had gathered here to eliminate the “main enemy” after receiving distress calls from Beryan02 and the monitoring station.

‘Good. Now it’s time to move to the next plan.’

[Zzzzzz (Please)]

「Yes」「I」「can」「protect」「little adult」

I handed No. 26 over to Adhigh Orr and deactivated the bone beast, which didn’t have much time left.

My body, which had grown more than 3 times larger, rapidly shrank. The white carapace that had covered my entire body lost its vitality and crumbled.

A strong feeling of exhaustion hit me, but it wasn’t time to rest yet.

After turning my body once, I played my next card.

‘Emblem of the Hunt.’

Right after the transformation ended…

The AMorph adult’s body evolved once again.