Ch.398Ranker (3)

A wave of pink flesh flows across the empty space.

Countless tentacles, tangled and spreading, resembled a sea in a storm.

Perhaps “storm” is an apt description. Steel ships were swept away by tentacles attacking from all directions. Their screams and cries echoed and faded within the raging psychic power.

The enraged Sea Demon, No. 26, was leading ships and crew to their deaths.

“No. 26, was, that strong?”

Isabelle sent a thought wave filled with shock at the sight. Though I couldn’t answer immediately due to the stellar coordinate penalty, I shared her sentiment.

The largest Sea Demon I’ve ever seen was a corpse in the deep sea. Even in its normal state, that corpse was larger than No. 26 in battle mode.

But the No. 26 rampaging before me was overwhelmingly larger than any Sea Demon. With its tremendously expanded mass of tentacles, it seemed to exceed several hundred meters in size.

Moreover, its tentacles were growing larger and multiplying in real time. The main body was already buried within the mass of tentacles, no longer visible.

Its current form resembled a gigantic rose made of pink tentacles and countless eyeballs layered upon each other. Like a magnificent flower spraying psychic power instead of fragrance, it swept away enemies with terrifying force.

Even while mercilessly destroying enemy warships, it never attacked me or the Metallic Gremlins. The Metallic Gremlin horde, initially afraid of No. 26, quickly changed their attitude and helped it.

The Megacorp and Star Union ships opposing No. 26’s offensive were responding sluggishly, unlike before. This was because the psychic power released by No. 26 had paralyzed their communication network. The enemies floundered before being swept away by tentacles or torn apart by silver demons attacking from all directions.

Even the battleships targeting me, immobilized by the stellar coordinate penalty, scattered in all directions due to the greater threat.

‘What’s happening?’

Though No. 26 had the ability to change its tentacles, it had never transformed this dramatically before. Its body usually underwent rapid changes when it ate an apex creature or received characteristics from me.

But this time, there was nothing particular that could have triggered such growth.

‘Is this the effect of eating the Magmasaur? Or because it devoured Voltex One?’

As I reconsidered the various prey No. 26 had consumed, something occurred to me.

‘Screamers.’

The Screamers that No. 26 faced here were all created using special materials—the corpse of Cult ranker Jason Tunningham with his powerful psychic abilities. While I was dealing with the enemy’s main force, No. 26 fought and devoured these Jason Screamers.

‘Could absorbing a massive amount of psychic power at once have affected it?’

Or perhaps the various prey it had eaten before, combined with the enormous energy it consumed this time, created a synergistic effect that accelerated its transformation.

‘If it changed like this from consuming energy…’

It would probably return to normal after depleting all its psychic power.

‘So I need to kill Akira Yujin now.’

I need to cut off the enemy’s head before that happens.

Akira seemed to think similarly. The one who should have been fighting my avatars was flying toward me. Behind him, Star Union warships unaffected by No. 26’s EMP were buying time against my avatars.

Having shaken off my avatars, Akira rapidly approached me. As he closed the distance, he aimed his right wing at me. Seeing him about to fire a light bullet, Isabelle moved to intercept.

She left my side, advancing like a snake swimming across water, and raised her gun. The barrel pointed at Akira’s right wing. When she pulled the trigger, the power of Voltex One contained in the gun barrel activated.

However, Akira, having experienced this attack before, avoided the gun’s attack by diving sharply. Then he spread his left wing—which had been destroyed and replaced—and swung it wide. Small objects shot out from inside the wing and flew toward Isabelle on their own.

Isabelle moved to dodge as soon as she saw Akira counterattack, but she was a moment too late. Projectiles resembling sharp blades cut through her arm holding the gun and her torso.

“!”

Isabelle hurriedly retrieved the gun floating in space. Meanwhile, Akira closed in on her.

His hook claws flashed like lightning, and cleanly severed cables and metal tubes scattered into space.

Isabelle barely avoided Akira’s attack aimed at her eyes. She bent her elongated body to completely envelop her enemy. Akira grabbed Isabelle’s torso with his two arms that didn’t have hook claws.

As he applied pressure, the outer shell made from Voltex One’s flesh began to crumple. Isabelle counterattacked by swinging her multiple hands, but couldn’t inflict significant damage on her enemy.

“Like, this!”

‘Dangerous.’

She should have escaped immediately when caught, but Isabelle misjudged. Akira took her attacks while raising his arm with the hook claw high.

Just before the sharp claw could pierce Isabelle’s crown, a pink pillar appeared behind him. A tentacle sent by No. 26 struck Akira hard. The impact sent Akira flying, and Isabelle was freed from his grip.

“Small friend, okay?”

“Th, anks.”

Akira, hit by a tentacle several meters thick, was unharmed. But he seemed displeased at being interrupted. He fired a light bullet, blasting apart the tentacle that had struck him.

“I’ll punish bad child!”

No. 26, equally enraged, responded not by showing pain but by sending even more tentacles. Isabelle, having taken significant damage in close combat, hid among the tentacles and used her gun and the Gallergorn’s claw sword implanted in her tail to keep him at bay.

While Isabelle and No. 26 engaged Akira, my penalty ended. Able to move again, I rejoined the battle.

Green heat rays and metal missiles with the strong smell of gunpowder grazed my large wings. Fragments of destroyed ships and corpses of humans and cyborgs shattered against my carapace.

Breaking through the chaos, I approached the enemy and launched corrosive tentacles to capture Akira. He performed spectacular aerobatic maneuvers to avoid all six tentacles I shot. While doing so, he swung his left wing to launch sharp projectiles.

I quickly withdrew my corrosive tentacles before the projectiles could tear them apart. He then sharply changed direction and charged at me.

Simultaneously, I sensed a massive amount of energy gathering in his right wing. He intended to snipe me at close range. But instead of dodging, I charged toward my approaching opponent.

The moment the light bullet was fired, a pink wall appeared in front of my head. No. 26 had extended several tentacles to take the attack in my place.

The tentacles instantly turned to chunks of meat, but thanks to them, I could avoid the energy bullet. I swung my auxiliary organ covered in bone blades at Akira beyond the pieces of flesh.

The bone blades that appear in the Hunt’s Icon state are as hard as my head carapace and extremely sharp. Akira hurriedly extended his hook claws to defend against my attack.

Intense sparks flashed, and cracks formed on both his hook claws and my bone blades. With our blades locked, he kicked the tip of my snout with both legs. Despite being overwhelmingly smaller than me, the power behind his kick was by no means insignificant.

As my head was pushed back, his body rapidly moved away. From there, he spread both wings to prepare another barrage of attacks against me.

‘However…’

When fighting me, focusing solely on “just me” isn’t particularly wise.

A large head shot out from the side of him. It was my “left head” that had been engaging warships before answering my call. It opened its mouth wide like a snake and bit down hard on Akira’s right wing.

As the wing crumpled, his expression contorted. He tore off the wing without hesitation and brought his hook claw down on my avatar’s head.

The hard head carapace was punctured, and bloody flesh spurted out from inside. Akira, with his hook claw embedded in the avatar, opened his mouth at the fountain of blood gushing from the wound.

At that moment, the fatally wounded left head grabbed him with its combat arm. Then his head melted like water. Isabelle had sniped him with her gun.

This would have been the end for an ordinary human, but he was no ordinary being.

“Not over, yet.”

Akira didn’t die despite losing his head. He tore apart the avatar’s hand with his hook claw and quickly retreated.

Taking advantage of Akira’s withdrawal, I approached the left head. It had sustained a fatal wound and could no longer function.

‘You did well. Come back now.’

I placed my auxiliary organ covered in bone blades against the avatar and deactivated “Hydra Division.” The liquefied avatar crossed over to my body through the auxiliary organ and snout. Shortly after, the left neck rose from between my neck and shoulder.

Currently, I cannot use my recovery trait because of Akira’s trap. Perhaps because of this, the left head that returned to me was restored in its damaged state.

Just then, Isabelle sent me a wave.

“Genetic, material consumption, don’t.”

[Zzzzz (Is it a perk?)]

“Consumption target, mimics appearance, perk.”

The moment I recognized Isabelle’s wave, Akira’s distant form began to change. His body, having lost a head and one wing, twisted violently before transforming into a familiar shape.

“Ate AMorph blood, flesh, so…”

A large head carapace and elongated neck, horns protruding where eyes should be, auxiliary organs growing beneath the jaw, two wings and four arms, and a long tail. Though only about 10 meters in size, its form was very familiar.

‘AMorph.’

Akira’s newly transformed appearance closely resembled an adult AMorph with a single head—in other words, my avatar.

Akira, seemingly pleased with the world perceived through auxiliary organs, smiled, baring his teeth. He appears quite satisfied with mimicking my form.

[Zzzz zzzzzzzz zzzz zzzzzzzz (You could have told me about such a perk earlier)]

“No time, sorry.”

Isabelle apologized to me nervously. Since what she said was true, I didn’t feel the need to reproach her.

‘An enemy imitating an AMorph.’

Against other rankers, taking the form of a pseudo-AMorph wouldn’t be a bad choice. An adult AMorph with various traits applied guarantees powerful combat ability.

‘If it were another ranker, that is.’

He seems to have played his trump card thinking he would finish me here, but that’s a mistake.

I am the only AMorph ranker.

Against an AMorph opponent, I never lose.