Ch.420Ill Fate (3)

Jackal Volf Tane of the Salt Forest tribe loved the myths of the ancient gods.

Stories of the celestial horse racing across the Milky Way, legends of the eagle that became the sun itself to replace the lost light.

Her heart always raced whenever she heard stories of her ancestors who traveled between stars and commanded the universe. Listening to legends and myths made her feel closer to her ancestors.

That’s why she was interested in myths passed down not only by her own tribe but also by others. She collected all the stories that wandered through the land where she was born and raised.

Perhaps thanks to that passion, Tane became the second wisest Volf in the tribe after the chief, despite her young age. The tribe members called her the little sage.

If Tane had grown older, she would have become the leader of the tribe.

But when they descended from the sky, everything changed.

The village where she was born and had lived until now was burning. Charred corpses were scattered on the ground.

Fire, blood, and screams consumed the young Volf’s homeland.

They were there amidst all the death. The steel demons who descended from the sky.

The moment she recalled their laughter, Tane woke up.

The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was pitch darkness.

“Where is…?”

Her soft mumble echoed loudly. It felt like she was in a cave-like space. The air was full of moisture and had a strangely unpleasant smell.

Then she heard the sound of water being struck violently from afar. Startled, Tane looked at the thick curtain of darkness.

Though she couldn’t see anything, she could feel it. That a very large and terrifying presence was here.

She heard the sound of water parting, like when a huge beast crosses a lake. Tane quickly tried to hide herself.

“Eek!”

But no matter how much strength she applied, her body wouldn’t move. Heavy mud-like substance was firmly binding her arms and legs.

While she struggled, that presence was getting closer and closer.

Just as she was overwhelmed by heart-stopping fear.

Two amber lantern lights bloomed in the middle of the black curtain.

「Just a moment.」

Along with that, a refreshing voice seeped into Tane’s mind.

「May I ask you something?」

Surprisingly, as soon as the mysterious voice was heard, the overwhelming presence gradually dispersed. The entity in the darkness had retreated.

As the terrifying presence disappeared, the flames slowly approached.

When the flames grew larger than Tane’s palm, a bright light suddenly burst from below. As the light drove away the darkness, the true form of the amber flames was revealed.

What stood there was a massive beast with noble features. The creature with a white hawk’s head and warm amber eyes was looking down at her.

At that moment, Tane remembered.

The being who had saved her when she was dying, trapped under a collapsed house.

「You were the first to wake up.」

“……”

「I have something to ask, if that’s alright?」

This being, who seemed to embody the very image of the ancestors from myths, was asking her.

“Yes, my god.”

Of course, Tane’s answer was predetermined.

–

“I see.”

「Do you need additional explanation?」

PS-111’s voice flowed from the communicator. I shook my head.

“No, this is enough.”

「Understood. Then I will continue monitoring in case intruders enter.」

While the Sky Mother was talking with the Volfs, I was listening to PS-111. About what happened at the place she went to investigate.

‘The Volf tribe of U-08 was annihilated, the chief and older Volfs were kidnapped.’

By the time the Sky Mother arrived, everything was already over. The villages she knew had all been reduced to ashes. The only survivors were the ten Volfs she brought with her.

Not only that, but the stone tablets recording the tribe’s history and ruins were all destroyed. The ruins, in particular, were thoroughly destroyed beyond recognition.

‘Are they eliminating everything needed for tracking?’

It’s a given fact that the Sino Group is preparing to hunt the Arcane Orca. However, even so, there’s no need to erase all traces that could help with tracking.

‘Yet they’re doing this…’

Perhaps this is an attempt to check the Sky Mother, or more precisely, me.

Very few players have participated in the Arcane Orca tracking team. Even fewer have participated as mercenaries.

When the Sky Mother learned that the head of Sino had worked as a mercenary, she vaguely guessed their identity. The other side probably thinks the same.

The fact that the Sky Mother and I are working together was exposed during the last fight with Akira Yujin. The ranker leading the Sino Group would have also learned this fact.

Then it would naturally make sense for them to think I know the tracking method. In fact, I’ve come this far thanks to the Sky Mother.

‘If we had been a little later, tracking would have been much more difficult.’

Should I call this a blessing in disguise? While I was thinking that, the Sky Mother approached me.

「Not all of them are awake, so I asked the children who regained consciousness first. Still, I heard everything I needed.」

“Really?”

「I know who did this. A Space Dog player who insists on using only melee weapons, do you know them?」

Melee weapons don’t receive very good evaluations in Space Survival. In a world where laser and plasma weapons are rampant, and thousands of spaceships are mobilized in a single war, it can’t be helped.

‘Still, there are quite a few enthusiasts.’

In other media dealing with SF, you can often see characters using melee weapons.

The same goes for Space Survival. There are players who favor weapons like sonic blades or the Cult’s psychic swords.

“A pirate who mainly uses melee weapons.”

Hearing this, a few names come to mind. Among them, if we’re talking about a ranker…

“Was it rank 25? A pirate ranker who mainly uses melee weapons and bombs.”

「That’s right. Seems like you’ve fought them before?」

“I fought them twice just before quitting.”

For someone who only uses unusual weapons, they had surprisingly poor combat sense. Instead, I remember they covered their lack of skill with expensive equipment.

「The surviving child said they saw a steel giant wielding huge twin swords. They said he commanded other giants.」

“If it’s an extra-large twin sword set, it would be either ‘Colossus Shot’ or ‘Sacred Fangs’. By steel giant, do they mean power armor?”

「No. They said he was as tall as a tree, so it’s probably a walker.」

While power armor might make sense, walkers and melee weapons aren’t a very compatible combination. The fact that they still insisted on melee weapons makes it highly likely that the opponent is rank 25.

「Rank 25 has experience participating in the Arcane Orca tracking team. They were kicked out shortly after I joined.」

“Kicked out?”

「They were notorious for only being friendly with strong people. If someone was weaker than them, they’d ignore them. So the clan leader kicked them out.」

I thought something was strange. Now I understand how they got good equipment despite their unremarkable skills. They probably obtained it by using their connections with higher-ranked players.

Also, the fact that pirates possess numerous high-grade weapons from Megacorp and Star Union might be related to this. It makes perfect sense if they obtained them through in-game connections.

“Alright. What about other rankers? What did the Volfs say?”

「I asked, but there were no other suspected rankers besides rank 25. Even those children don’t know who’s outside the planet.」

I raised my head to look at where the Volfs were.

“I think it would be good to check by implanting parasites.”

Now that I’ve obtained the ‘Shape’s Horn’, the parasites should have been enhanced in some way. It wouldn’t be bad to experiment with the newly enhanced parasites while gathering information.

‘Or maybe turn a few into face parasites… wait, face parasites?’

Come to think of it, I currently have face parasites from both the Dominance and Return factions. I should call Jason and Alshas again and ask them once more.

‘Come out.’

In response to my call, the cohabitants inside my body react.

A monster with a body like a combination of mantis and wasp, bearing the face of a Cult, burst out through the membrane.

Seeing this, the Sky Mother slightly furrowed her brow.

「Face parasites? To ask about rank 25?」

“Yes.”

Soon after, Jason and Alshas’s face parasites prostrated themselves before us, bowing their heads.

“You called for us.”

“Did you call for us?”

“Do any of you know about rank 25? Not in the game, but in this world.”

Alshas answered my question first.

“I haven’t seen them, so I don’t know.”

“You haven’t seen them?”

“We in the Return faction failed to secure influence in Megacorp and Star Union. So we used spies.”

“You mean Cynthia. That’s certainly not wrong.”

As he said, the Return faction has a history of forcibly recruiting weak rankers through Cynthia. They probably conducted several espionage activities against their enemy, the Dominance faction.

“Cynthia? Why suddenly…?”

「Because that bitch was a spy, you stupid bastard.」

“What?”

The Sky Mother, who still doesn’t like Jason, sent out thought waves filled with malice. Looking confused at first, he soon understood the meaning and widened his eyes.

“Fuck! Alshas, you daring bitch!”

“Look who’s calling who a whore, you pervert. You’ll sleep with anyone.”

“I’ll tear you to pieces!”

“Bullshit. I’m the one who…”

“Quiet.”

At my command, the face parasites all shut their mouths. I didn’t bring them out to listen to useless chatter.

“I understand they’re not members of the Return faction. Jason, do you have anything to say?”

“I don’t know much. I’m sorry.”

「Rank 25 is a pirate who possesses numerous high-grade equipment from Megacorp and Star Union. It’s obvious they’re closely connected with rankers, yet you say you don’t know?」

When the Sky Mother sharply pointed this out, Jason quickly bowed his head.

“Our, our Dominance faction tends to stick with those we know, so there’s a lot we don’t know about each other.”

“Is that so? If you don’t know, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Wait! There was a Space Dog ranker who worked with Akira and Jubaka!”

As I was about to put him back into my body, Jason hurriedly added.

“That guy took jobs from both of them, bringing them necessary items. Now, now that I think about it, I think he was rank 25! I’m certain!”

The face parasite, not wanting to go back into my body, desperately tried to recall memories.

“Why didn’t you mention this when I asked before?”

“Well, well, I haven’t been in contact with him for quite some time. I asked Jubaka, but he said he hadn’t heard from him in a long time either. So I thought he might already be dead…”

Jason spoke while trembling. He seemed afraid I might get angry at him for only now mentioning something important.

However, I had no intention of punishing him. I understand this is a limitation of face parasites.

Even if I eat someone and create a face parasite, their memories don’t fully become mine. Face parasites only properly remember what the original person considered important, or what they experienced just before death. The rest they either remember inaccurately or forget entirely.

‘Like now.’

He’s not lying. He probably couldn’t recall properly because he didn’t consider rank 25 important in his lifetime.

“Besides the Megacorp CEO and Star Union’s Grand Marshal?”

“Not that I know of.”

“What about his perk?”

“I, I haven’t seen it myself, but according to Jubaka, he’s extremely good at handling unique-grade weapons. That’s why he was given several missions to test new weapons.”

The ability to handle unique-grade weapons. Just hearing it, it sounds like a rather mundane ability.

‘It would depend on the range of weapons.’

And depending on how it’s applied, it could become a terrifying perk.

‘I should be careful about this part.’

“Any other characteristics?”

“That’s all I know.”

“Good. I’ll call if I have more questions.”

“What? Wait…”

“No, no! That hell…”

Since I had nothing more to ask, I retrieved the face parasites.

“What do you think?”

「…First, about the Grand Marshal. He will absolutely not come here.」

I share her thoughts.

Everything in Star Union revolves around the Grand Marshal and the Machine Committee. The probability of the Grand Marshal coming out just for a hunt is low.

“Seeing the deployment of numerous Star Union equipment, I think the High Commissioners might have been deployed instead of the Grand Marshal.”

「Right. If it’s the High Commissioners, they would be supporting from outside the planet, so those children wouldn’t know.」

The Sky Mother scratched her beak with serious eyes. She asked.

「Then how will Akira respond?」

“He won’t come either.”

「Why? Because of his defeat in the last battle?」

That’s not wrong, but my reason for being certain is slightly different.

“When I entered the cocoon, I saw a vision. A vision about the ending mission that happened in the past.”

「What?」

“I heard from a being I met there. They told me there’s a ranker on Earth who knows the secret of the ending, and I should meet him.”

This was completely unexpected, and the Sky Mother’s eyes widened.

“I saw Akira participating in the ending mission. Surely he must be the one who knows the secret of the ending.”

「…Tell me more.」

I was planning to tell her when we met, so this worked out well.

I explained what I heard from the Information Unit.