Ch.72Drive (2)

‘How terrifying. So scary.’

Though the enemies were firing plasma bolters wildly, perhaps because we were underwater, none of them could aim properly.

After successfully evading the barrage of plasma shots, I retreated while retracting my blood-sucking tentacle, pulling the knight toward me.

“…Kuk!”

The knight caught by my tentacle tried to resist by drawing a blade claw with his opposite left arm.

‘That won’t work.’

With those sharp claws on the back of his hand, even my enhanced tentacles would be sliced clean off.

My blood-sucking tentacle responded to my will and burrowed into the enemy’s broken armor.

“Aagh!”

The tentacle, lined with razor-sharp teeth on its inner surface, entered the armor and tore through the opponent’s body.

It was like being sawed at the spot where his arm had been severed, causing the knight to writhe in agony.

‘Maybe swallowing some water would calm him down.’

Despite being underwater, the knight was still receiving oxygen through his helmet connected to the assault pack.

I yanked the knight toward me and removed his helmet with my combat arm.

Long blonde hair flowed out from inside the helmet.

‘What? It’s a woman?’

I had naturally assumed it was a man, but it was a female. Thanks to genetic modification, she was quite attractive too.

“Damn it…!”

The female knight’s face was contorted with extreme pain.

‘There were many Megacorp players who tried to recruit female mercenaries in the game.’

The knights provided as House Egerton’s perk have randomly determined names and appearances.

Sometimes you’d get a muscular black man, and other times a blonde white woman like the knight before me.

That’s why quite a few Megacorp players wanted to build their mercenary teams with pretty knights.

There were even guides posted in the community about how to recruit only beautiful female knights.

‘I preferred AMorphs though.’

Of course, as a normal man, I would feel attracted to beautiful women.

But now, perhaps because of my current body, I felt nothing special looking at a beautiful face.

‘Anyway, she’s a female knight.’

Looking at her, an interesting thought occurred to me.

Being female, she could be useful.

I opened my mouth and gently bit her neck.

“Ugh?!”

She shuddered.

Since I bit her gently, it probably wasn’t pain causing that reaction. More likely it was physiological disgust toward AMorphs or something similar.

As the neurotoxin in my saliva took effect, her expression quickly relaxed. She probably couldn’t even feel the pain from her severed arm anymore.

After confirming she was paralyzed, I put the helmet I had removed back on her.

‘To connect it to the assault pack… ah, here it is.’

When I connected the tubes at her neck and shoulder, the helmet lit up again. With power restored, the reconnaissance chip inside the helmet would be working again too.

‘You’re bait.’

In my experience, female teammates make perfect bait. Most people react more sensitively to women dying than men.

I wonder if there will be gentlemen rushing to save a woman even in this space age. Time to experiment.

–

‘Was the signal a decoy?’

Yanek rechecked the signal.

The signal that had been 30 meters away before they arrived was rapidly moving away again.

‘Is there another creature here?’

He pondered briefly before shaking his head.

‘No. It’s unlikely that a wild animal would follow its intentions this perfectly.’

It seemed more plausible that the monster had some kind of division ability. Creatures that could split their bodies were rare but did exist.

‘Using division ability to split its body, inserting signal chips to create confusion. This thing is a strategist.’

And quite a skilled one at that.

Yanek decided he needed to broaden his estimation of the creature.

‘Fire-breathing ability, spine shooting, invisibility, division, and high intelligence. No wonder His Highness desires it.’

Even Yanek, who had hunted hundreds of beasts, had never seen a creature with such diverse abilities.

Even with current Hulk Mutant creation technology, it would be impossible to incorporate so many different traits into a single body.

At best, House Yugin’s genetically modified humans possessed various characteristics, but the creature’s appearance didn’t look human at all.

‘When I saw it earlier, its external features resembled a snake.’

It probably wasn’t using its invisibility ability, which it had used at the hospital and station, because of all the flowing water in this location.

“Squad Leader Yanek! Catherine’s vital signs are still active!”

“What?”

At his squad member’s exclamation, Yanek manipulated the device on his wrist.

Soon, the vital signs of the 4th squad members and the view from the missing comrade Catherine’s helmet camera appeared on the inside of his visor.

‘She’s still alive?’

Catherine’s signal was weak but still active. From her view, it appeared she was leaning against a wall somewhere in the passage.

“Squad Leader, Catherine isn’t dead yet. If we don’t rescue her quickly, it might be too late.”

“……”

Yanek remained silent at his subordinate’s words.

‘A trap.’

It was reasonable to assume that a creature clever enough to use signal decoys had something up its sleeve.

“It has very high intelligence. There’s no way it would leave an injured person behind without reason.”

“Catherine might have resisted! With her enhanced physical abilities from the assault pack, she could easily cut through the creature’s body with a blade cutter.”

That was true.

They hadn’t entered the sewers without information about the monster.

Based on various data, including the armament level of comrades who died fighting the creature at the hospital and station, and traces left on the battlefield, the Silver Lion Knights knew approximately how strong the monster’s defenses were.

Computer simulations of the collected data concluded that the creature’s outer skin couldn’t withstand a blade cutter wielded by a knight with enhanced physical abilities from an assault pack.

“Squad Leader. We came here secretly to capture it. If we’re late and encounter the defense forces, things will get complicated. We don’t have time to hesitate.”

That was also correct.

The enemy was much more intelligent than expected, which was troublesome, and if the defense forces got involved, the situation would become even more complex.

As his subordinate said, they needed to deal with the creature as quickly as possible. And rescue their comrade in the process.

“Alright. I’ll report to Lord Jacob immediately…”

As he raised his communicator, something flew from the back of the passage.

The thin, elongated object lodged directly into the communicator he was holding.

‘A spine!’

As his gaze turned toward the back of the passage, the auto plasma gun on his shoulder activated. Green energy bolts illuminated the passage as they flew.

In that brief moment, he saw something like a python hiding beneath the water surface. The black shadow briefly visible on the water surface soon disappeared beyond the passage.

“Squad Leader!”

“I’m fine.”

The cunning creature had waited for the moment when his guard was down as he raised the communicator.

‘Damn it!’

Yanek carefully examined the remains of the broken communicator in his hand.

‘If only the chip isn’t damaged!’

Fortunately, the communication chip itself remained intact.

‘Phew, good thing it’s not broken.’

He inserted the communication chip into the terminal on his wrist.

Soon, the function to send files and messages was activated on the terminal. Yanek sent a brief warning message to Jacob along with the data recorded by his camera.

‘This will leave evidence, but…’

They were using a communicator connected to an independent communication network because they were on a secret mission.

Transmitting data through the terminal would inevitably go through the defense fleet’s communication network. Unless they were fools, they would certainly question why his team was on a secret mission.

‘The enemy is far exceeding our expected level, so there’s no choice.’

He had to believe that their master, Danver, would somehow smooth things over.

“Let’s move.”

Having successfully transmitted the information to Jacob, Yanek led his subordinates forward again.

The steel warriors charged through the passage with their massive bodies.

Neither the sewage filling half the passage could stop the charge of 18 knights, each well over 2 meters tall.

Was it because of their anger, or because of their bodies strengthened by assault packs and enhancement suits? With each step they took, the hard floor of the sewer passage was deeply dented.

“15 meters to Catherine.”

“Everyone slow down and watch your surroundings.”

As they approached Catherine’s position, the knights reduced their speed.

With their vigilance at its peak, the knights carefully examined their surroundings. The auto plasma guns also moved busily, ready to fire at any target designated by their owners.

“The creature doesn’t seem to be around.”

Apart from the water current, no other movement was detected.

At Yanek’s nod, two of the squad members approached Catherine.

She had only her upper body above the water surface and was hanging her head.

She looked dead, but all the knights were constantly checking vital signs, so they knew. She was still alive.

“Hey, Catherine. Are you okay?”

“……”

One of the squad members went close to her and shook her left shoulder. She made a mumbling sound in response.

“What did you say?”

“…!”

Her voice from inside the helmet. It sounded like she wanted to shout loudly but was being suppressed by something.

“Dan…ger? Are you saying it’s dangerous?”

The moment he muttered, two red tentacles shot out from the opposite side—behind the knights.

“Kuk?!”

“Ugh!”

The tentacles struck the necks of two knights in the rear ranks with tremendous force.

No matter how protected they were by enhancement suits, the neck is a vulnerable area for humans.

There was no way they could remain unharmed after their necks were directly hit by tentacles as thick as an average adult man’s thigh. The necks of the two knights dislocated from their original positions and bent in strange directions.

“Enemy attack!”

At Yanek’s shout, all the knights’ attention turned to the rear. Green energy bolts fired from auto plasma guns hit one of the tentacles.

The tentacle hit by plasma bolts was half severed. Meanwhile, the other one had already hidden underwater.

“Kill it!”

The knights aimed their bolters in the direction where the tentacles had been.

But the creature’s attack wasn’t over yet.

While the knights’ attention was focused on the rear, the main body of the tentacles, which had been hiding under Catherine’s feet, emerged.

The ‘thing’s’ real targets were the two knights who had come close to check on Catherine’s condition.

“Huh?”

The knight mumbled stupidly.

As he turned his head, he saw small white blades and darkness before him. The deep darkness swallowed his head whole.

“You son of a—ugh?!”

The knight who saw his comrade’s head being completely bitten off by ‘it’ quickly tried to swing his blade claw.

If something hadn’t wrapped around his leg, he would have successfully beheaded the monster.

The knight’s posture was severely disrupted, but he was a veteran among veterans.

Moreover, with the enhancement effect of the assault pack, he was able to adjust the direction of his claw even as his stance collapsed.

Thanks to this, his blade claw succeeded in cutting the monster’s shoulder. Blood spurted from the monster’s wound and splashed onto his helmet.

The monster must have found this attack painful, as it opened wide the mouth that had been holding his comrade’s head.

“Grrrr!”

“Success… ugh?”

That was good so far, but what happened next was something the knight couldn’t have predicted.

The helmet stained with blood began to rapidly melt.

“Uh, uuugh?!”

“The creature is nearby! Don’t remove your helmet!”

It was obvious that if left alone, his head would melt along with the helmet, so the knight quickly removed it.

Yanek, who belatedly realized that the creature’s main body had been hiding in front, not behind them, shouted when he saw this.

But his warning came too late.

The tail of ‘it’ that had tripped the knight’s leg shot out of the water surface and penetrated the back of his head.

“Kuk.”

The knight with a hole in his head collapsed.

“Damn it! The creature’s main body is behind! Open fire!”

Yanek and the knights hurriedly fired their bolters. Several shots hit the monster’s head, but it ignored them and jumped beyond the passage.

“One person stay behind to protect the injured! The rest follow me!”

Thirteen knights pursued the monster at high speed.

The creature’s movements were still fast, but the hit to its head must have been quite fatal, as it couldn’t widen the distance from the knights.

Yanek, who was continuously firing bolts and auto plasma guns at the gradually approaching creature, gritted his teeth.

‘I made the wrong judgment! I should have just waited and called for reinforcements!’

In the short span of just a few minutes, four had died and one was injured.

They had managed to wound the creature, but by any measure, their losses were far greater.

“The creature is moving into a narrow passage!”

“According to the map, it’s a dead end!”

“Good!”

The one piece of good news was that the creature seemed panicked.

It was so flustered by its injury that it had cornered itself in a dead end.

‘Well, a creature that intelligent probably isn’t used to being injured.’

Creatures born naturally powerful are accustomed to trampling others but not to being hurt themselves.

All the dangerous creatures the Silver Lion Knights had faced were like that. They inflicted great damage on the knights but were eventually hunted down because of the small injuries they sustained.

And the trophies obtained from those beasts now flowed within the knights’ bodies.

‘Now’s our chance.’

They needed to subdue it while it was still disoriented to prevent further casualties.

With that determination, Yanek and the knights entered the narrow passage.

–

‘Ow, this really hurts.’

I examined the wound on my body.

Thanks to the regeneration effect, the outer skin of my head had almost recovered, but the shoulder area was still injured.

Also, about half of the blood-sucking tentacle on my left arm had been torn off and would need considerable time to recover.

‘It’s definitely tough without the Mark of the Hunter.’

Although my outer skin is hard, it was difficult to block blade cutters or plasma attacks.

‘Pure organic characteristics alone aren’t enough.’

My outer skin, enhanced by both the physical enhancement type and complete organism effect, was still lacking in many ways.

‘I deliberately tried to induce them to lower their guard, but…’

I did rely on my head’s outer skin against the plasma attack, but getting hit by the blade claw was unexpected. It hurt so much that I involuntarily cried out.

‘I need to be more careful since I’ll have to fight many enemies in the future.’

Anyway, it’s almost over now.

I’m currently at a dead end in a passage so narrow that my body can barely fit.

Even without focusing on my auxiliary organs, I can hear the enemies following me into the passage.

‘They’re angry.’

Judging by how roughly the water surface is shaking, they must be quite furious.

‘Losing your composure during battle is dangerous.’

I positioned myself, half-submerged in water.

This narrow passage is truly a one-way street.

The enemies, who are well over 2 meters tall, can move at most in two columns, or more likely in a single file in this passage.

This means there’s nowhere to take cover if a powerful area attack is launched here.

‘Psychic enhancement type, and complete organism that enhances type effects.’

The Psychic Breath fired by the monster’s tentacles, synergized by these two.

I wonder how strong it will be?

‘Let’s experiment.’

When I first acquired the psychic enhancement type, I instinctively knew. Thanks to the type, the limit of Psychic Breath increased, allowing me to fire it up to twice.

‘Normally I’d lose consciousness after using it once.’

But not now.

Judging by the increasing flow of water, the distance between me and them isn’t much anymore.

‘The enemies have entered far enough.’

I need to time this perfectly in case they turn and flee. Even though I can use it twice, I can’t waste the precious Psychic Breath ability.

“10 meters to the target.”

I can hear the enemy’s voice. In the darkness, I can see the outline of the knight at the front.

I turned my body toward the passage exit and activated the monster’s tentacles.

The purple tentacle clusters emerging from the back of my head trembled and moved.

The long, thick purple tentacles all pointed toward the front of my head to demonstrate the dragon’s power.

“I can see it… Wait! Something’s wrong!”

“This is? E-everyone, activate shiel—!”

The one who appears to be the commander among the knights shouts urgently.

Not a bad judgment, but can shields really block this?

Since becoming an AMorph, an enormous psychic power I’ve never seen before concentrates at the front of my head.

The filthy sewage in the narrow passage boils, unable to withstand the energy.

Before, it felt like all the life force in my body and mental power in my head were being drained, but now it wasn’t that severe.

Instead, it was very hot.

My outer skin glowed red as if facing magma or a furnace.

And then.

A purple sun, which only the great dragons of the universe could wield, was fired.

Water evaporated, and the metal walls constituting the sewer turned to dust.

The purple light of the shields the knights deployed was nothing more than a shadow before the pure energy burning through the passage.

As soon as the purple heat ray touched them, the shields vanished as if they had never existed.

The knights’ sturdy armor, expensive assault packs, and bodies filled with various genes—all were consumed by the heat ray.

After the Psychic Breath ended, nothing remained before me.