Ch.363The Devil of the Volcano (2)

“Dad, I hurt so much…”

“Really? Should I ask them to give you some painkillers?”

“No. Just loosen this. It hurts and I can’t breathe.”

“Sweetie, the nurse who can remove the bandages isn’t here right now. Let’s take them off tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay…”

“That’s my good girl. Oh, I just remembered I brought a fun movie. Let’s watch it together.”

“Okay!”

“Nurse, where’s my dad?”

“He can’t come today. So let’s play together, okay?”

“Today too?”

“You know how busy he is, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Mom?”

“I brought pizza that my cutie loves! Shall we eat together?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, don’t mind the camera. It’s nothing. Wow, this looks delicious, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“When did you film that broadcast?”

“Why do you care?”

“Are you crazy? What the hell are you doing with our child?”

“What about you? You showed interest only at first and barely visited after that.”

“Ahem, I’m busy too. I can’t be in and out of the hospital every day.”

“Well, I guess you would say that with the pittance you earn.”

“Huh. That’s rich coming from someone who sells her own child because she can’t even earn that pittance.”

“What? Who’s selling their child? How dare you say that! Do you know how I feel…”

If only I hadn’t been sick, none of this would have happened.

If only I hadn’t gotten in the car with Dad that day, none of this would have happened.

If only I…

The auxiliary organ under my chin detected something foreign. My body, which had been in light sleep, gradually awakened. As sensation returned to my body, I could feel the hot heat of the lava again.

Was it because I had been soaking in the boiling magma for so long? I dreamed while briefly asleep.

‘Of all things, an unpleasant memory surfaced.’

After an accident when I was young, I spent a long time in the hospital. More than half of my body had been burned, requiring various treatments.

It got better after I became an adult, but before that, I struggled a lot with the trauma from the accident. I was so affected that even seeing someone light a cigarette in a movie would make my body freeze up.

‘If becoming an AMorph made that better, it’s definitely an advantage.’

Imagine someone who used to fear fire now falling asleep in lava.

While thinking about this, a wave came from inside my mouth.

「Big kid, are you okay?」

[Zz (Huh?)]

「Are you feeling bad?」

It was a wave sent by No. 26 from inside the mouth of my central head. It seems they sensed my emotions while I was dreaming.

[Zzzz zzzzzz (I’m fine now)]

「Really?」

「Heat」「Feeling」「Bad」

[Zzzz z zz zzzz (Don’t worry. We’ll be leaving soon)]

After reassuring the worried little ones, I opened my eyes.

The lake that had been peaceful before I fell asleep was now completely ruined.

The Vulcarox and Lava Raptors were torn to pieces and scattered about, and the Stoners had all fled, nowhere to be seen.

And there stood the culprit who had turned the lake into a scene of carnage.

The monster was about 11 meters tall, its body covered in red scales. A row of sharp bone plates ran along its back, and two additional elongated arms were attached to its shoulder blades. Though it had four arms, its body shape resembled that of a human or ape, standing upright on two legs.

This monster, looking like a burning giant, was the ferocious predator known as a Pyromancer.

The creature, with its back to the center of the lake, was holding a Lava Raptor with its four arms.

“Kee, keeek!”

The Lava Raptor thrashed its tail in resistance, but the monster didn’t back down at all.

Instead, its four arms swelled up enormously. Blood spurted from the Lava Raptor’s body before it was split in half.

“Tseuuu, tsaaaa.”

The Pyromancer, having torn apart a creature about half its size, made a strange crying sound. Intoxicated with victory, it began to devour its spoils.

‘This is my chance.’

I crept through the lava lake, slowly approaching it.

Like most creatures inhabiting volcanic planets, the Pyromancer has extremely hard scales. It cannot be wounded by ordinary attacks.

‘Plus, it has an annoying ability.’

As its name suggests, the Pyromancer has two special abilities reminiscent of fire.

One of them is an incredibly powerful healing ability.

Its recovery power can instantly heal wounds that would otherwise be fatal. It can regenerate from just a head within minutes.

This comes at the cost of massive energy consumption, which means it won’t die as long as it has energy. Knowing this, it constantly eats prey to store energy in its body. Like adding firewood to maintain a fire.

Since it’s a creature that continuously revives if not killed in one go, the strategy against it is quite standardized.

Either use overwhelming firepower to kill it in one strike, or…

‘Block its recovery ability.’

With my entire body submerged in magma, I pulled out corrosive tentacles from my back. Long, thick tentacles that had been hidden inside my thick carapace emerged and approached the monster.

Distracted by its meal, it didn’t notice what was behind it.

Just as the pointed appendage at the end of the tentacle was about to grab the back of its head, the monster stopped moving.

“Tstssts?”

‘I’ve been spotted!’

The monster, which had been sniffing, leaped forward as if diving. The appendage of my corrosive tentacle barely grazed the back of its neck. Some scales were torn off and blood sprayed into the air.

“Tsaaaack!”

The face of the monster, now facing me head-on, looked like a lion with scales instead of fur. Its auditory organs had atrophied and disappeared, replaced by highly developed eyes, nose, and tongue to detect objects.

The hideous monster roared at me, baring its sharp fangs.

[Zz zz (Everyone out)]

When I opened my three mouths, the little ones inside jumped out. First, No. 26 held the monster with psychic power. Then Adhigh Orr, covered in “Red Armor,” rammed into the immobilized Pyromancer.

“Tsaaaa!”

The monster, its upper and lower body separated by Adhigh’s charge, let out a short scream as it collapsed to the ground.

Finally, Isabelle moved like a snake and wrapped around the severed upper body of the enemy. Dozens of hands firmly gripped its arms to prevent it from resisting. Then she tried to stab the monster’s head with her tail, which had Gallergorn’s claws.

“Tststststs.”

But the Pyromancer’s regeneration was much faster than its movements. The bone plates on its back turned white. Knowing what this signal meant, Isabelle quickly unwrapped herself.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

Seeing the tips of the arms on its shoulder blades pointing toward Isabelle, I rammed the monster with my central head.

The Pyromancer floated in the air. Along with it, I could see the white light that had colored the bone plates moving to the two arms attached to its shoulder blades.

Just before the monster flew away from the impact of our collision, it swung its whitened arms widely.

The distance was too close to avoid. The tip of its hand reached my right horn, cutting it halfway through.

「Pain Relief Activated!」

「Great One!」

The monster that damaged my horn flew backward and crashed onto the ground covered in volcanic ash.

It might seem like the monster took more damage, but that’s not the case. I injured my horn, but it would have no wounds at all.

I launched my corrosive tentacle toward where the monster had crashed. The appendage at the end of the tentacle pierced its shoulder.

“Tststststs.”

The monster struck the tentacle with its whitened arm, making an irritated cry.

「Pain Relief Activated!」

Another pain relief message appeared. The tip of the tentacle with the appendage was almost completely severed by this blow. I quickly pulled the tentacle back.

‘How annoying.’

If its miraculous regeneration symbolizes an endlessly burning fire, then those white arms symbolize the heat of fire.

The Pyromancer can convert stored energy into heat using the bone plates on its back. When the bone plates turn white, it means it’s ready to send the stored heat to the arms on its shoulder blades.

And arms filled with heat become swords that can cut through anything. Their power is enough to easily destroy even my head carapace and thoracic carapace.

A predator with ideal offensive and defensive capabilities. That’s what a Pyromancer is.

‘Thanks to Hell’s Illusion, I didn’t get completely cut.’

Normally, I should have lost both my horn and corrosive tentacle. It was only thanks to “Hell’s Illusion,” which provides a heat dissipation effect, that they weren’t completely severed.

「Great One」「Are you okay?」

「Bad human! Bad human!」

“That annoying trait is still the same.”

The little ones also retreated and worried about me. Knowing the enemy has a fearsome attack method, they don’t rush in recklessly.

“Tststststs.”

The monster flicks its tongue. It looked as if it was mocking me.

I’ve taken damage to one tentacle and one horn, while the monster appears completely unharmed without a single wound. If I were in its position, I would react the same way.

‘But…’

I’m not a fool either.

There’s a secret about the corrosive tentacle that neither Isabelle nor the Pyromancer knows. Among my unique traits, there’s one that interacts with the appendage attached to the end of the tentacle.

For that trait effect to work, it needs some time.

‘About 3 minutes from now, or at most 5 minutes.’

Considering the monster’s size, it might be shorter. If it takes additional attacks from the corrosive tentacle, it will be even shorter.

I retrieved the severely injured tentacle and extended another one. As I moved, the little ones also began to act.

Just like before, No. 26 initiated the attack first. As the invisible psychic power surged, the Pyromancer reacted immediately. Though it couldn’t see, it sensed something approaching with its wild instincts.

The monster moved nimbly, escaping the range of No. 26’s binding. But No. 26 didn’t panic and immediately followed up with the next attack.

A purple barrier connected to No. 26’s tentacle, hidden under the black ash, shot up from beneath the monster’s feet. The part of the monster’s lower leg that touched the barrier instantly vanished.

While the monster was momentarily suspended in the air after losing its leg, Isabelle flew toward it. Just like before, Isabelle wrapped around the monster. The difference was that her arms were now gripping the Pyromancer’s bone plates.

When a metallic sound came from Isabelle’s arms, cracks formed in the bone plates and intense steam erupted. As the energy-to-heat conversion organ was damaged, the white color immediately drained from the monster’s arms.

Finally, Adhigh Orr flew toward the monster with Red Armor. The target of his front paws, stained red like blood, was the enemy’s head.

Realizing it couldn’t dodge due to being bound by Isabelle, the monster took a drastic measure. It tore off part of its own upper body.

「What the?」

“Tsaack!”

The monster tore off part of its upper body and threw it at Adhigh Orr. During that brief flight, it regenerated part of its flesh and climbed onto Adhigh.

「You」「Disgusting!」

While Adhigh twisted his body to shake off the monster, the half-formed arm of the monster turned white.

At that moment, the monster was pushed by an invisible force and tumbled on the ground.

「Don’t bully the little kid!」

“Tsack!”

After briefly expressing its anger, the Pyromancer immediately turned around and started running in the opposite direction. It wasn’t fleeing but trying to replenish its energy with other prey.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

I put strong force into my two legs and kicked the ground. Even without spreading my wings, my body rose high.

“Tsaaaack!”

The running monster was startled by the shadow falling over its head. I tried to crush it, but it rolled sideways and avoided me.

As soon as I landed, I swung my tail. The monster, which was hastily stuffing a nearby corpse into its mouth, immediately responded when it saw my two-pronged tail approaching.

Its white arm collided with my tail, which had pincers attached. Until now, it had been cutting through my carapace like radish, but not this time.

Considering my size, the pincers are also enormous. Even the monster’s arms can’t cut through them in one go.

While the pincers sacrificed themselves to restrain the monster, my corrosive tentacle targeted it. Just like what another tentacle had done earlier, the sharp appendage pierced the monster’s shoulder.

“Ts, tsaa!”

Since it wasn’t alone here, the monster abandoned its weapon. It cut off its own arm and quickly created distance.

“Tsaaaack!”

Despite suffering multiple fatal wounds in just a few minutes, the monster now looked no different from when we first encountered it. Truly remarkable regeneration.

The monster probably knows this too, which is why it roars so confidently.

‘Well, we’ll see about that.’

This makes it the third time. The number of times the appendage of my corrosive tentacle has injected “something” into the monster’s body.

“Tsaa, ack?”

The monster stops moving. It tilts its head, detecting an abnormal phenomenon in its body.

But it’s too late to realize now.

“Ts, tsts?!”

The monster panics upon seeing its crystallized shoulder. It swings its opposite arm to break the scales on its shoulder, but it’s useless.

The silicon-based microorganisms I injected have already spread throughout its body.

“Is that possibly?”

[Zz zzzzzz zzzz (Yes, it’s exactly what you’re thinking)]

A trait named after the mythical monster that turns those who see it to stone.

The environmental adaptation unique trait, “Medusa Organ,” was turning the Pyromancer into quartz fragments.

“Tsaack?! Tsaaaack!”

The monster frantically tried to break off the parts of its body that were turning into crystal-like material.

If it had immediately cut out the infected areas when it was first attacked on the back of its neck, and when its shoulder was pierced, this wouldn’t have happened. The microorganisms from the Medusa Organ are ineffective if the contaminated area is removed before they spread.

But the monster didn’t know this, and even left those parts intact while regenerating the rest of its body. Thanks to that, the microorganisms could quickly spread throughout its body.

Now the monster’s transcendent regeneration is essentially neutralized. In a situation where its regeneration and the Medusa Organ are precariously balanced, it can’t recklessly regenerate its body.

[Zzzz zzzzzz zz zzzz zzzz zzzz (Did you think I came after you without a plan?)]

The Pyromancer with its ideal hunter’s body.

The apex creature that had always been overflowing with confidence was no more. What stood before me was merely prey gripped by fear.

As always, killing prey that has lost its will to fight was never difficult.