Ch.373The Beast God’s Snare (2)

“Huh?!”

Salman woke up with a gasp, his eyes flying open. He frantically looked down at his hands. Instead of wings covered in colorful feathers, he saw familiar hands covered in fine hair.

“Cough! W-what’s going on?”

Just seconds ago, his body had been disintegrating. But now his hands were clean without a single scratch.

‘Wait, more importantly, these are my hands?’

Skin pleasantly tanned by sunlight, muscles toned through exercise, well-maintained fingernails.

Those were the hands of a human male. His own hands that he had lost long ago.

Wondering if he had returned to reality, he quickly looked around.

He was in a pure white room. Salman sat in a chair in a room devoid of any objects or decorations.

And in one corner of the room stood a small Cult boy.

The boy, who looked almost human due to his cut horns, was muttering to himself. Each time he opened his mouth, there was static noise making it difficult to understand.

However, he could make out certain parts.

“I didn’t know the Psyonium they created had this effect.”

“You, who are you?”

“Thanks to you, I obtained important information. Fortunately, there’s no ■■■■ this time, so I’ll help you.”

As soon as the other finished speaking, Salman felt his entire body burning with pain. A familiar power was restoring his mind from madness.

He had received this kind of help before. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to maintain his sanity.

‘The, the Psyonium, argh! Who knew it had such a side effect!’

When the enemy’s spear had pierced his chest, all the Psyonium ampoules inside had shattered. The enhanced Psyonium from the ampoules had seeped into his wounds.

Normally, Psyonium doesn’t affect those who have reached the end of their growth stage or those who have used it multiple times until the duration becomes zero. Excessive consumption doesn’t cause harm.

But what he had used wasn’t ordinary Psyonium. After a large amount of the drug flowed in, his body began to change. His flesh was converting into energy particles against his will.

Fortunately, the Simurgh was a creature skilled in energy manipulation. He could control the mass of energy that had replaced his physical body.

But that was only possible if the brain remained intact. Without the equipment he wore, the ‘Golden Salamander,’ his body would have collapsed and died long ago.

‘Without the regeneration effect, cough, I would have died.’

The Golden Salamander, known as the “Gecko Armor” in the community, is equipment specialized in defense against energy attacks and body regeneration.

While the armor maintained his body, he needed to somehow control the energy to prevent collapse.

He looked down at the golden short spear stuck in his chest.

‘First, this spear…’

As he was about to pull it out because it was hindering his recovery, he felt a cold sensation at the back of his neck. The animals under his control were sending signals.

‘These vermin! They were still around!’

Slaves sent by AMorph. They were eagerly waiting to take Salman’s life.

Salman focused his mind on the beasts. As his senses connected with each animal, their perceptions were transmitted to his mind.

Everyone present was staring into the dark clouds. Soon after, the enemy appeared, parting the clouds.

‘Huh?’

Until he lost his sanity, he had been fighting a Mutant Screamer and a black Thunderbird. But the being that emerged from hiding now wasn’t a Thunderbird.

A creature with bright red wings that shone clearly in the darkness was there.

“…Gallergorn?”

Salman immediately identified the creature. Although it was much smaller than a regular Gallergorn and had a mix of red and white scales, it was undoubtedly a Gallergorn.

And Gallergorn don’t inhabit this planet.

‘…AMorph sent it!’

The Gallergorn illuminating its surroundings with red wings began to move. The flying creatures near Salman also moved to intercept the enemy.

But Salman didn’t have much hope for them. After all, the opponent was a Gallergorn. It would be fortunate if they could just buy time.

“Just stalling is enough! Hold it back!”

All flying creatures, including Pileflies, rushed toward the Gallergorn. The swarm of flying creatures, as large as a small cloud, rapidly approached the enemy.

The creature, smaller than a regular Gallergorn, showed no intention of avoiding them. As its head with sharp horns turned red like its wings, it collided with Salman’s swarm.

One against hundreds—the outcome was clear. The result of the collision was exactly as Salman had predicted.

The Gallergorn, flying like a shooting star, tore through his slaves. No monster could stand in its way.

‘Good!’

The sight of the creature spraying blood and flesh over the clouds filled with volcanic ash was exactly what he had expected.

Salman released all the energy flowing through his body at once. The energy concentrated in the shape of wings transformed into heat rays. Since he sacrificed even his physical body to create this energy, its size was truly enormous.

A heat ray larger than the bombardment from the Cult’s orbital weapon “Lightning God” raced toward the sky. At its end was the Gallergorn, distracted by Salman’s subordinates.

When the heat ray hit its target, an intense flash blinded his vision. Simultaneously, all links with the creatures he controlled were severed.

Looking through the eyes of other animals on the ground, he saw a cloud of flames covering the sky.

A normal Simurgh’s energy bullet had firepower exceeding the psychic breath shot by a Green Gallergorn. An energy bullet fired in the divine state was even more powerful.

The heat ray he fired this time was vastly superior to what he had shot in his previous divine state. He hadn’t compared it to the Lightning God for nothing.

Even a Magmasaur with its formidable defense would suffer fatal damage from this heat ray. That small Gallergorn would have nothing left, not even a piece of flesh.

‘It’s dead, now I need to find the others.’

The Mutant Screamer and Thunderbird must be hiding somewhere too. As his vision gradually returned, the creatures on the ground searched for where the enemies might be.

But one of them discovered something strange.

There was a small flame in the burning sky. Amid flames everywhere, that flame stood out with surprising clarity.

“Im-impossible!”

Until just now, it had been a mixture of red and white. But now most of its body was dyed ruby red.

Among rankers, everyone knows what those red scales symbolize.

‘No! I must have seen wrong!’

Salman hurriedly gathered energy again. He was so shocked that he forgot the pain of his body collapsing.

That’s why he was late to notice the being falling toward his head.

“?!”

Looking up, he saw a Mutant Screamer that looked like a mix of spider and scorpion features.

A navy light flashed from the tail of the creature falling from the sky. Salman urgently turned his head to the side. An energy bullet grazed one side of his face.

But that wasn’t the enemy’s only attack. The Screamer, about 8m in size, climbed onto his body.

“Boarding successful. Moving to the next phase.”

It clawed at his armor with sharp hook claws. The hook claws pierced the smooth surface, making holes everywhere. The opponent was trying to destroy the Golden Salamander.

“You damn thing…!”

With the Gallergorn still alive, escaping upward would be suicide. There were still many of his slaves remaining on the ground. Salman descended with the Mutant Screamer on his back.

Just before touching the ground, he turned his body to crush the enemy on his back against the floor. The impact knocked the Mutant Screamer off.

A Vulcarox charged at the creature sprawled on the black earth. Just as it was about to get up, it was knocked down by the bronze bull’s charge. Besides the Vulcarox, other monsters also rushed in to attack the enemy.

Meanwhile, he checked the condition of his armor. Having suffered consecutive critical damage, the Golden Salamander was on the verge of breaking.

“Argh! You…!”

As the armor’s recovery effect diminished, pain surged like a flood. Salman howled with rage and agony.

‘This spear! Because of this spear!’

Having lost his reason, Salman lowered his head and bit the golden short spear. Then he forcibly pulled it out.

“How dare you, slave of AMorph!”

After throwing the spear away carelessly, he released a thought wave filled with hatred. The enemy, who was pushing away the Vulcarox’s head with hook claws, looked at him.

“Do you think a monster like you can kill me?”

“There are two errors that need correction. First, AMorph and I are not in an owner-property relationship.”

The monster with a human woman’s face stabbed the Vulcarox’s vital point with its blade-like leg as it continued.

“Second, the mission is already accomplished. It is not my job to eliminate the target.”

“What?”

Just as he was about to ask what that meant, he felt intense pain in his stomach.

His jewel-like eyes slowly looked down. A blood-soaked spear tip was protruding from his lower abdomen. At the same time, cracks formed in the armor covering his entire body, and it soon ceased functioning.

“Kheuk!”

As the spear was pulled out, blood gushed from the wound. Salman, who no longer had the strength to stand, collapsed to the ground.

The Volf ranker who had stabbed him with the Golden Spear of Shaman stood before him.

“Target suppression successful.”

“That was close.”

“Y-you…!”

The opponent was in Griffon beastkin form, not in Thunderbird form. They must have prepared the ambush after dropping the Mutant Screamer.

In truth, it didn’t matter anymore. With the Golden Salamander broken, his body’s collapse was accelerating. His death was a foregone conclusion.

He didn’t have much time left. At most, about ten seconds.

‘Is this the end? Dying at the hands of such insignificant beings?’

Salman was a chosen one. In reality, he was a famous tycoon, and in this world, he was a powerful being. In other words, he was a valuable existence in both worlds.

“Target’s vital signs rapidly decreasing.”

“What? Why suddenly?”

“Body collapse is accelerating.”

“Accelerating collapse? Don’t tell me the Golden Salamander is broken?”

“Yes. Currently, the life support system is non-functional.”

“Wait! We can’t let him die like this!”

“What?” “Is the hunt” “not over?”

This was not the miserable end he was destined for.

‘Yes! Bumho would help me!’

The leader of the Return Faction knows his value well. Didn’t he help him even when he fell into madness this time?

Bumho wouldn’t abandon him.

‘Bumho! There’s no time! Quickly! Help me quickly! Bumhooooo!’

Salman called out Bumho’s name until his dying breath.

But there was no answer.