Ch.374The Beast God’s Snare (3)

“I can’t die now. Is there any way?”

“Auxiliary equipment is needed to adjust cellular degradation and collapse.”

“What about preserving the head?”

“Impossible.”

The Sky Mother looked down at the dying Salman.

His entire body was simultaneously disintegrating into particles of light. Parts like wings and legs had long since disappeared. A quarter of his head was gone, and his torso’s skin had vanished, exposing muscles and organs.

The original plan was to subdue Salman and wait until AMorph arrived.

He was the one who oversaw the equipment for the Returnists. There was a high possibility he knew more than Alshas.

‘Plus, he has a Perk.’

The ability to subjugate wild animals, ‘Beast God’s Snare,’ was a power too valuable to miss. For AMorph, who gained strength from the genetic essence of creatures, it was an unparalleled ability.

But the situation had taken a strange turn.

At this rate, his body would completely collapse before AMorph arrived. Not only would they lose information, but also the chance to acquire the Perk.

‘If that’s the case, rather…’

She took her eyes off Salman and looked around.

Numerous creatures remained motionless in their places. Salman’s Perk, though he was dying, still bound them.

That powerful force wouldn’t last much longer.

‘I need power.’

In the past, she had made a choice. As a result, she lost her husband and family.

In this battle too, she had to choose. Whether to strike the enemy while PS-111 served as bait, or to retreat.

At that crossroads, she ultimately couldn’t choose either. Or rather, she essentially made an even worse choice than before. If Adhigh Orr hadn’t been there, the situation would have been much worse.

Past and present, she kept making wrong choices. The reason was clear.

It was because she lacked power.

Not being forced to make choices, but creating situations where choices weren’t necessary from the beginning. Power was needed for that.

Besides, she still had something to do.

Revenge.

Those who killed her family still roamed this world.

The reason she decided to cooperate with AMorph in the first place was for revenge.

Regardless of her affection for AMorph’s friends, she had never given up on revenge. Even to protect those small monsters she had newly befriended, she needed power.

‘Will alone is insufficient.’

Despite gaining new transformation abilities and powerful equipment, it was still not enough.

She tightened her grip on the spear in her hand.

‘I’ve never taken someone else’s Perk before, but…’

She had heard before about players fighting over Perks. Though she hadn’t heard the specific method of acquisition, judging from AMorph’s case, she could roughly guess.

“Help me.”

“Please speak.”

“I’m going to extract his heart. If anything interferes from around us, block it. Even if just for a moment.”

When Volf raises their divine stage, they need another creature’s heart. Based on AMorph’s case, a similar principle would apply when acquiring another player’s Perk.

Having made her decision, the Sky Mother approached Salman.

–

‘Huh?’

While flying toward the location of Salman’s base, the auxiliary organ under my jaw vibrated. A strange signal came from the ‘left head’ and ‘right head’ replicas.

Something exceptional seemed to have occurred.

“Why did you stop suddenly?”

Isabelle asked as I halted mid-flight. She was probably worried that something had happened to her sister PS-111.

I told her I would check and landed on the ground. Lying prone, I concentrated my senses on the auxiliary organ, feeling my consciousness slip away.

Once the connection was complete, I began to sense environmental elements different from here.

A faint smell of blood in the air. Along with it, a weak energy wave was detected.

Strangely, the energy wave emanated from a creature’s corpse. The body was so damaged that no part remained intact. Especially the chest area, which was torn open as if someone had ripped it apart.

And the smell of blood came from a small hill behind the creature.

No, I thought it was a small rocky mountain, but it wasn’t. Because mountains with four eyes don’t exist in this world.

Four narrowly opened eyes stared at my replicas.

‘A Mountain Crawler?’

I’ve never seen a Mountain Crawler with such a huge body. They grow infinitely until death, but one this size must be at least thousands of years old.

An individual that has grown this much might possess some beneficial traits. I should subdue it with my replicas first, then consume it with my main body.

As I moved my left and right heads to attack, a familiar face popped out from the creature’s back.

It was Adhigh Orr, the Gallergorn with snow-white scales and red horns.

‘Seems he came here after destroying the satellite?’

He probably came here after seeing the antimatter bomb explosion.

“Some wounds have been sutured, but it’s temporary…”

PS-111 and the Sky Mother, who were descending from its back with him, also spotted my replicas.

The Sky Mother, back in her griffon therianthrope form, now shone entirely black, unlike before. That’s because she was wearing the new Volf-exclusive equipment.

PS-111, who was with her, approached me. She seemed to have been damaged in battle, with two of her arms broken.

“82% similarity to Sub-controller ‘AMorph’. Are you a replica?”

“Yes. What happened?”

“Failed to subdue the target due to unavoidable circumstances.”

“Unavoidable circumstances?”

“The target overdosed on Psyonium-type drugs, causing genetic structure degradation and cellular collapse. We couldn’t maintain his survival until AMorph arrived.”

While she was explaining, I sensed subtle psychic power from the Sky Mother beside her. She was looking at me with serious eyes, trying to convey something.

‘Is she sending thought waves?’

Unfortunately, I can’t understand right now. The replicas don’t have ‘Monster’s Tentacles,’ so they can’t comprehend thought waves implemented through psychic power.

PS-111 can express her thoughts through special wavelengths similar to No. 26, in addition to verbal communication. That’s why she can communicate with replicas that have mimetic organs, like the auxiliary organ under the jaw.

‘Let’s talk when I get there with my main body.’

“I need to check something. Are there no more enemies around?”

“The middle child drove away hostile creatures with her newly acquired ability.”

From what she said, it seems the Sky Mother indeed acquired Salman’s Perk, Beast God’s Snare.

‘I thought she would keep him alive until I arrived.’

I hadn’t directly conveyed my intentions to her. But someone like her would surely understand Salman’s value. He could provide us with more information than Alshas.

But looking at his corpse with its torn chest, it seemed too damaged to easily extract information.

Information acquisition became uncertain, and I couldn’t get the Perk either. Quite a disappointing outcome.

‘Still, there seems to be some circumstance, so I should hear the details.’

I left a message saying I would come with my main body and terminated the link. As I moved my body, Isabelle urgently approached me.

“My sister? Is she okay?”

[Bzz bzz bzzbzzbzz bzzbzz bzz bzzbzzbzz (She’s a bit injured but fine, don’t worry)]

I saw that two of her eight arms were smashed, but that’s not a serious injury for her. She can repair herself with suitable materials.

I took to the sky again with No. 26 and Isabelle.

After flying for a while, we arrived at their location.

“Sister? What about that leg?”

“It was damaged during combat. I will upgrade that part using useful materials, so please don’t worry.”

“Please be careful. Being a machine doesn’t mean you can’t die.”

Isabelle started nagging when she saw her sister’s damaged form.

“More importantly, I found your item, little sister.”

“My item?”

“Yes. A weapon left by the deceased target. It’s yours, so I’ll return it to you.”

“Sister, this is…”

PS-111 handed something to her sister.

‘A pistol?’

A flintlock pistol that looked like it belonged in the Renaissance era. It’s the item I saw in Isabelle’s nightmare before.

“……”

The lost weapon returned to its owner. Isabelle said nothing and gripped the pistol tightly.

‘So Salman did have it.’

He was the weapons manager for the Returnists. I suspected he might have the pistol that Cynthia took in the past.

I thought it might have been destroyed when we blew up the base, but fortunately not.

“Big Elder?” “Appearance” “Changed?”

At that moment, Adhigh Orr scurried over. He examined me thoroughly with his amethyst-like eyes.

“Big child ate big and hard food and changed!”

No. 26 raised her tentacles, imitating a Magmasaur as she explained.

“Horns” “Bigger” “More” “Good”

Adhigh Orr seemed to like my transformed appearance, wagging his tail. Given his taste, he would naturally appreciate my look with the ‘Destroyer Beast Carapace’ applied.

Any other time, I would have explained the changes to my body, but now there were more important matters.

“You seemed to have something to say earlier. Can you explain what happened?”

The Sky Mother nodded and explained the situation. What happened during the fight with Salman, and why she had to take the Perk, among other things.

‘I see.’

The story wasn’t very long. But I could fully understand why she acted that way. How hard she tried to avoid the worst outcome.

Moreover, the side effect of the upgraded Psyonium was an unexpected gain.

‘And her acquiring the Perk is also a gain in its own way.’

It’s disappointing that I couldn’t get it, but I should be satisfied that the Sky Mother took it.

“I understand what happened.”

“…I’m sorry. If I had been stronger, we could have had a better outcome.”

“This is enough. Don’t blame yourself.”

We decided to settle the matter about Salman there. I picked up the sprawled ranker’s corpse and put it in my mouth.

PS-111 mentioned his genes had mutated, and she was right. As soon as I bit down, a terrible eraser-like texture greeted me. This is the worst-tasting food I’ve eaten since becoming AMorph.

It was so unpalatable that I chewed roughly and swallowed it. I waited for a moment, but nothing happened in my body.

‘I thought it might work, but it doesn’t.’

The mimetic organ and face-eater host are organs that operate based on the target’s genes. Information acquisition was impossible from meat with genetically damaged enemies.

Refreshing my palate to ease the disappointment, I looked at the new friend the Sky Mother had brought.

“That Mountain Crawler, did Salman bring it?”

“Huh? Yes.”

She turned around at my question, as if just remembering.

“It looks docile. I guess you’ve dominated it.”

“Actually, the relationship is a bit ambiguous. The Perk effect has changed somewhat.”

“Really?”

“Should I call it communion? Besides simply dominating it, I can also read its emotions and memories.”

She placed her hand on the Mountain Crawler’s head. The massive beast closed its eyes obediently. It was exactly like a pet dog feeling its owner’s touch.

“Communion.”

“Even now, I can feel its pain, fear, and other emotions. Also its painful memories experienced here.”

Her amber eyes trembled as she seemed to sense the Mountain Crawler’s feelings. Just from hearing about it, it sounded like an upgraded version of the parasitic colony I possess.

‘Wait.’

There was something concerning in what she said.

“You said you can feel its memories now?”

“Yes.”

“How detailed can you perceive them?”

“That’s… Ah!”

She opened her eyes wide as she realized what my question implied.

That giant Mountain Crawler was brought by Salman. There’s a high probability it observed what its master was doing here.

‘Good.’

To get information, we first need to treat its wounds.

I implanted symbiotic spores into the creature, which was wounded but communing with its new master.

‘Next, we need a nest.’

Although the situation has changed from what I expected, there’s no problem.

If we do this right, I think we can achieve all our objectives on this planet.