Ch.369Two Battlefields (2)

“Damn it!”

Salman, hiding his body in the clouds, cursed inwardly.

Every time a thunderous roar echoed from below, his insides burned with anxiety. He knew exactly what was happening down there.

Two uninvited guests who suddenly appeared at the site of the antimatter bomb explosion were now holding him back.

One was Volf, transformed into the phantom beast Griffon, and the other was a grotesque monster resembling a Screamer.

The Empress had already told him about the Griffon ranker. Just a damn Morph-lover’s slave, she’d said. The Screamer monster that came with him was probably another of AMorph’s slaves.

Currently, Salman was in Simurgh invocation mode thanks to Psyonium. Not only that, but the equipment he wore was also top-tier.

In contrast, his opponents were merely Volf, who was at best around the upper Incarnate level, and a strange monster without flight capability. Volf would be troublesome since he was also a ranker, but not enough to overturn the power difference.

He thought they would be easy opponents to deal with, but that was a misjudgment.

The slaves sent by AMorph were by no means easy enemies.

‘I don’t have time for this…’

Just then, a black light flashed between the dark clouds.

Knowing what that light meant, Salman tensed up. His wings, glowing with emerald and lapis lazuli colors, radiated light as they accumulated energy.

Originally, Simurgh is a phantom beast specialized in energy manipulation. Like the apex creature Skywhale, it can absorb and accumulate surrounding energy for offensive use. Especially in invocation state, its mixed energy cannon boasts high power.

Despite having such a powerful weapon in hand, he couldn’t relax. His eyes, shining like jewels, moved constantly, monitoring in all directions.

“!”

Another flash of black light. Salman’s wings reacted nimbly.

The energy gathered in his wings was released in spherical form, flying toward where the light had flashed. A sound similar to thunder rang out as the clouds split apart.

‘What?!’

But there was nothing there. Realizing this, Salman quickly moved.

As soon as he moved, a black lightning bolt flew to where he had been. Intense sparks flew from the tip of his tail feathers. He thought he’d dodged in time, but he was slightly late. The lightning’s sharp claws had scratched his protective barrier.

‘Damn it!’

Though protected by a barrier made with energy manipulation abilities and armor with excellent defensive capabilities, he couldn’t be completely at ease.

His opponent had already far exceeded his expectations.

‘Where did it go?’

The enemy had disappeared. Looking around, he could see nothing but clouds.

Gritting his teeth, Salman used his raptor hind legs to take out a silver sphere from his armor.

The sphere was a hologram drone, a weapon that uses electromagnetic fields to create specific images to deceive enemies.

The activated hologram drone soon transformed into an identical copy of Salman. After creating this decoy, he accumulated energy in his wings while taking out other drones one by one.

Generally, small drones are considered to have much lower combat power, but the ones Salman took out were different. This was because threatening weapons were hidden inside the drones.

After activating all the drones, he finally took out a very different type of object.

It was a revolver made of jewels. Though it looked more like a decorative item than a weapon, he handled it as carefully as if it were a dangerous bomb.

Just as he was trying to hide the hind leg holding the gun, the enemy swooped down on the decoy. The Simurgh’s neck, created by electromagnetic fields, was torn by black talons.

The enemy had taken the bait. Salman’s wings spread wide, releasing the charged energy. The energy turned the clouds into white light, revealing the black beast as well.

It was a flying beast with a massive body as large as Salman in invocation mode.

Its body and wings were covered with hard, sharp feathers as if forged from metal, and its neck and head resembled a pterosaur. All the feathers covering its body were black, but only its eyes were bright amber, looking like lanterns shining in darkness.

The creature that destroyed the hologram drone was clearly not a Griffon.

The name of this monster, with its mixed form of pterosaur and raptor, was “Thunderbird.” The creature that had been a Griffon just before the fight had now become a different phantom beast targeting Salman.

‘The power to transform into different phantom beasts!’

Though its color was slightly different from a typical Thunderbird, that was probably because it transformed while wearing armor.

The point to be cautious about was the Thunderbird’s speed. It was among the five fastest phantom beasts Volf could transform into.

Salman fired covering shots with his energy cannon while creating distance. The opponent who had destroyed the hologram drone followed him.

The Thunderbird is a beast optimized for aerial dogfighting. Its basic speed overwhelms the Simurgh, and it can use superluminal navigation as fast as a Metallic Gremlin.

Yet he could move on par with it thanks to the power gained from Psyonium. In invocation state, physical abilities increase dramatically, allowing him to keep up with the Thunderbird’s speed.

This meant he had to finish it before the Psyonium effect wore off.

‘I still have more, but…’

Though he had a few more enhanced Psyonium ampoules in his chest, those were truly a last resort.

Psyonium’s duration decreases with each use. He needed to save it for escaping from AMorph, so he couldn’t use it here.

‘One shot! Just one hit and it’s over.’

Apart from being as fast as lightning, the Thunderbird doesn’t have any other special abilities. The Simurgh’s energy cannon could inflict fatal damage to it with just one hit.

Moreover, he had a trump card.

The gun in his hind leg. It was a weapon made by a Coldblood player who contracted with Voltex One. A former colleague from the Returnees had given it to him.

Salman glanced at the enemy following him. The black Thunderbird cutting through the air was rapidly closing the distance between them.

‘My policy is not to kill fellow players, but given the situation, I have no choice.’

He felt slightly uncomfortable about having to kill ‘another human,’ but the opponent was AMorph’s slave after all. Just another piece of trash from the ruling faction.

For the sake of his faction, and for his own survival, dangerous elements had to be eliminated in advance.

With that thought, Salman infused energy into the gun.

When Sky Mother first opened her eyes, she faced a world of wilderness.

Inhuman beasts unseen on Earth, harsh environments. Many other elements threatened survival.

The world of Space Survival was a harsh place, difficult even for her with a body stronger than humans.

Still, she liked it here.

Here, she didn’t need to carry an asthma inhaler or medicine bottle every time she went outside.

There was no need to be hurt by others’ ostracism and mockery.

A new body, a new family, and a new name.

Life as “Sky Mother,” not Choi Seoa, was happy.

Until she lost her entire family because of past connections.

After that day, she resolved never to let such a thing happen again.

Light flashed in the dark sky. The vibration of air followed belatedly. It was similar to when lightning strikes.

But Sky Mother knew well that light was far more dangerous than real lightning.

The identity of the light was an energy bullet. The enemy hiding in the clouds was firing energy bullets.

She quickly folded one wing. Her body, gleaming with black luster, tilted sharply to one side.

The enemy’s barrage continued behind her as she moved rapidly along the texture of air and wind. Of the pouring energy bullets, only a tiny fraction barely touched the tips of her feathers, while the rest all missed.

“Tch!”

She could feel the thought wave left by her opponent, the Volf ranker Salman.

Whether the opponent knew it or not, Sky Mother was also famous in the game as an excellent pilot. If rankings were based solely on fighter piloting skills, she would be in the top three. There was a reason AMorph had asked her to teach Adhigh Orr how to fly.

She hadn’t had many opportunities to show her skills, mostly supporting Adhigh or AMorph, but today was different.

The Thunderbird, the third phantom beast she could transform into with the “Hunter God’s Disguise Shell,” specialized in aerial speed battles. Thanks to this, she could demonstrate flying skills worthy of the name “Sky Mother.”

The Thunderbird sprinted through the storm of ash and light.

Her flight style wasn’t elegant like Adhigh or Gallergorn’s, nor did it inspire awe with massive size like AMorph’s. Her specialty was moving as efficiently as possible, securing advantageous positions, and rapidly pressuring the opponent.

Even now, she was narrowly avoiding incoming energy bullets while steadily closing the distance with the enemy.

The opponent, judging that energy bullets alone wouldn’t be enough, took out another means of attack. Objects smaller than the light clusters pierced through the dark clouds and flew toward her.

Small size not exceeding 1m, and movement as fast as fired bullets. Combat drones. Though their combat power was far inferior to anti-ship drones, they couldn’t be underestimated.

Especially since he had already tried to deceive her with hologram drones once.

As expected, one of the drones released clumps of powder made of tiny particles. These powders, looking like fluorescent sand, moved as if alive.

In fact, they weren’t sand but swarms of creatures as small as sand grains. Called “Moss Flies,” they were biological weapons created by Megacorp through genetic manipulation.

When Moss Fly swarms attach to a target, they generate fungi that slow the target’s movement. Moreover, since Moss Flies have self-luminous properties, enemies affected by them become excellent targets.

Following the flying fluorescent cloud—or rather, the Moss Fly swarm—the drones approached Sky Mother.

The enemy had thrown down the gauntlet to settle things here.

‘Yes. You don’t have time, right?’

She had known all along that Salman, transformed into a Simurgh, was getting anxious.

His specs were far higher than what she had estimated based on information from Isabelle. Being able to enter invocation state meant he was close to the ending.

Energy bullets fired by an invocation Simurgh could inflict fatal damage even to AMorph. One hit would put her in a critical state.

An enemy with such specs had been moving passively until now? There could only be one reason.

‘You used enhanced Psyonium, didn’t you.’

He was the equipment manager for the Returnees. It must be either Psyonium stolen from the ruling faction or obtained through some method.

‘He doesn’t have much time left.’

More than 5 minutes had already passed since the fight began. If the effect ended and AMorph arrived, he would be in big trouble, so he would want to escape quickly.

‘Good.’

Currently, PS-111 was buying time against the gigantic Mountain Crawler on the ground. She had told him to retreat if it got dangerous, but he definitely wouldn’t do that.

‘Let’s end this here.’

She, who had been fleeing, quickly folded one wing. Due to air resistance and acceleration, her body tilted sharply toward the folded wing. Thanks to the abrupt change in direction, her pointed beak now faced the drones and Moss Fly swarm.

In that state, she accelerated toward the enemies. As the distance closed, some drones spat out small spider-shaped machines. It was Star Union’s unique weapon, “Blood River.”

Light flashed from the clouds behind them. This was the phenomenon that occurs when a Simurgh’s wings charge energy. The plan was to weaken her with Moss Flies and Blood Rivers, then snipe her.

The distance remaining between her and the approaching Moss Flies and Blood Rivers was just a few meters. In a few seconds, she would be completely incapacitated.

But no threat could shake her concentration.

Everything flowed slowly as if time had stopped. Just before touching the Moss Flies, her body dived steeply. This was because she folded her wings and stretched her neck and legs to minimize air resistance.

After diving past the Moss Fly swarm, the mechanical vampires, Blood Rivers, blocked her path next.

Just before the Blood Rivers’ metal claws could grasp her feathers and body, she adjusted the angle of both wings. This caused her body, riding the wind, to rotate greatly once. Due to the wind pressure generated, the mechanical vampires failed to grab her.

Conversely, when rotating her body, she used her hind legs to catch a Blood River in reverse. Then she threw it at another approaching drone. With a boom, various harmful substances and weapons contained in the drone burst out.

Sky Mother half-spread her black wings to push the air strongly. Her body accelerated like lightning, quickly moving away from the explosion.

Having broken through the enemy’s offensive in an instant, she plunged into the black clouds.

“What?!”

Salman, who had been watching the scene blankly, screamed a thought wave mixed with a shriek. This was because her movement clearly deviated from common sense.

“D-Damn it! This is cheating!”

Light bullets were fired from the enemy’s wings. Faced with the rain of light, she pointed her wingtips backward and straightened her body. By minimizing the area that could be hit, she narrowly avoided the barrage of energy bullets.

Now the distance was close enough to clearly see the opponent’s face.

A creature with a canine head wearing golden armor was glaring at her. There were two types of emotions in those eyes.

One was fear of an incomprehensible situation. The other was…

“Die!”

The opponent, who had not yet given up, took something out with his hind legs.

The object grasped by his pointed toes was a jewel-made gun.

There was still quite a distance between him and her. And she had no means of long-range attack.

‘That’s what you think.’

Originally, a Thunderbird’s feathers are silver.

The reason her body is black is not because of a perk, but because she’s wearing a certain armor. It’s armor made using Voltex One’s “Ring of Agony” as material.

Above her wings rose a black arm reminiscent of Voltex One’s arm. That arm was holding a golden short spear.

The black arm threw the short spear toward the enemy.

Belatedly, Salman’s gun aimed at her head.

The Golden Spear of Shaman flew through the air like a shot arrow.

The moment that spear pierced the target’s chest, the claws pulled the gun’s trigger.

“Kuk?!”

“Kuk!”

Thought waves filled with pain lingered in the air before disappearing. One of the owners of those thoughts fell into the clouds as dark as the abyss.

Floating above the clouds where ash-fire scattered was a bird as black as jet.