——————
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
——————
Chapter 333
“You bug-like creature. I thought you were dead, but it seems you were just hiding.”
Cult ranker Alshas clicked her tongue as she looked at me, having landed on the ground.
Instead of replying, I scanned the area to assess if there were any threats.
‘If there are other rankers or reinforcements, this will get troublesome.’
The Auxiliary Organs beneath my jaw twitched, gathering information from the air.
‘It seems there’s no one in the mansion.’
Moreover, there was no sign of movement anywhere nearby.
Of course, they could be hiding using cloaking technology, so I couldn’t let my guard down. Or, they might have activated a long-range lightning strike to bombard me.
‘Also, that mansion... something’s off.’
It looked like a shabby, small house on the outside, but something about it felt strange.
The faint sound of wind through the open doors and windows, mixed with a slight smell of dirt, were elements that shouldn’t be present in a properly constructed mansion.
‘I need to be cautious.’
Both the enemy and I are rankers. Just as I’m hiding my trump card, so is my opponent.
I quickly assessed my surroundings and then looked at the enemy’s outfit.
Like the last time I met Jason, Alshas was wearing the Dragon Slayer set made from the corpse of a Black Gallagon.
However, it was slightly different from the typical setup I knew.
The Dragon Slayer set consists of Purification, a weapon in the form of an energy blade; "Judgment", which looks like a tomahawk; and the enhanced armor made from Gallagon scales. Alshas was only holding two of the Judgment blades. Purification was nowhere to be seen.
The appearance of the enhanced armor was also subtly different from what I knew. The armor she wore was designed for a male.
‘Did she get it from another ranker?’
Perhaps it was from a colleague within her faction.
‘Other than that, she has nothing special.’
That’s actually the problem.
The situation is overly favorable for me.
When I fought the cultists underground, I didn’t use all my strength and kept as much hidden as I could. I even pretended to be dead.
As the captain of an Imperial Carrier, Alshas would have been deeply involved in the purge operation. She should understand better than anyone what it means for me to reappear. She likely thinks I’ve started attacking because I no longer need to hide.
Yet, despite that, it is unreasonable for her to show up in front of me like this without any preparation.
‘Could it be that she trusts Isabel?’
I turned my gaze to the small Coldblood standing next to Alshas.
I know well that it’s impossible for her to betray me. She did everything she could to ensure that the children and I would avoid danger.
‘She’s here because of the contract.’
I know she got an unfair contract . The contract that binds hem to obey the orders of rankers.
‘I didn’t expect this… but I did anticipate that I might end up fighting both Isabel and an enemy ranker.’*
And I know what I need to do to solve this.
‘I need to eliminate those connected to the contract first.’
Of course, that won’t nullify the contract itself. Until I kill Vortex One and break the contract, it won’t disappear.
But that’s something I can deal with later. Right now, I need to remove the person I’m protecting in front of Isabel. That way, she will be able to move more freely than she can right now.
‘What’s surprising is that even knowing that, she still openly revealed herself.’
Perhaps she made that choice because she doesn’t know the nature of my relationship with Isabel.
Though it’s not my place to say, every ranker in the game hated me. From Alshas's perspective, she probably believes that Isabel would see me as an enemy.
Honestly, even though I couldn’t say that Alshas was a good ally, even as a polite gesture, Alshas would be a better opponent than me, who sees everything as genetic essence. In fact, before I brought PS-111 here, wasn’t Isabel already showing signs of not liking me?
“Amorph and a pet, huh? An unbelievable combination. Have you suddenly developed some humanity?”
Alshas mocks me in a sarcastic tone, her eyes constantly shifting as if calculating my potential.
‘She must have realized that I’m not an easy opponent anymore.’
With the Sea Demon on my back, the Red Gallagon, and the Griffon Wolf that flew with me, even without PS-111, we’re dealing with two raid-boss-level creatures and two ranked players.
But despite that, I couldn’t find any sign of tension from Alshas. Even Isabel, who knows me, flinched when I appeared, yet Alshas remained calm.
‘It seems like she’s hiding something…’
Any further analysis is meaningless. I’ll know for sure once I attack directly.
“If you’re with a pet, you can communicate….”
Before her words finished, I extended my Corrosive Tentacle and struck her. She didn’t expect me to attack during her speech, so in a panic, she raised the axe she was holding.
The two axes crossed in an "X" shape, clashing with the appendages of my tentacle that shot forward. The size difference was so significant that Alshas was thrown into the air by the shock of the collision.
As her posture faltered in mid-air, another Corrosive Tentacle quickly closed in on her. The sharp appendage at the tip of the tentacle lightly grazed her ankle.
“What?!”
Alshas’s face is painted with confusion. Her body suddenly not responding to her will must have confused her.
‘Perfect.’
When I struck her ankle, I activated the only special trait I had kept hidden until now. The trait that turns anything it touches into a quartz statue ‘Medusa’s Organs.’
She quickly began to crystallize below the knee, and then she crashed into the garden behind her. I sent out the remaining tentacles to attack her as well.
“…….”
She couldn’t even groan as more than half of her body turned into stone. The head on my left opened its jaws wide and swallowed her whole.
‘It’s over.’
I could feel her body digesting as it passed through my long neck. Since I just devoured a ranked player, there should be a bonus or a new trait coming my way. I waited for the text box to appear.
‘Hm?’
But no response came.
Something felt off, so I looked at Isabel. Her expression was the same as when she was standing next to Alshas. There was no sense of relief that I had just dealt with her.
‘What is this?’
“You crazy bastard, attacking out of nowhere.”
At that moment, a familiar voice echoed from inside the mansion. The owner of the voice slowly walked out from the mansion’s entrance.
‘She’s not dead?’
The figure walking out of the mansion was none other than Alshas the one I had just eaten. From her face and voice to the equipment she was wearing, everything was exactly the same.
“Looks like the Empress was right. You really can’t communicate, can you?”
As if nothing had happened, she scratched her forehead with the handle of her axe.
‘What’s going on? She wasn’t wearing the Coordinator… so it can’t be that.’
If she had been wearing the ‘Coordinator’, a device that grants teleportation ability in emergencies, I would have been able to escape, but she wasn’t. I confirmed with my own eyes that she wasn’t wearing anything on her head.
Most importantly, her body had already been completely digested inside me. There were no signs of it disappearing midway.
So, the Alshas before me is a different entity she only looks like the one I just consumed.
‘This is strange, it’s not like she’s a clone.’
Even if she were a recently awakened clone, something feels off. The fact that her enhanced gear and the two axes were also replicated doesn’t add up.
Though there are psychic abilities in the game that can create duplicates, they don’t appear this naturally. It’s possible there’s some technique I don’t know about, but if that were the case, the cult-ranked players I fought would’ve used it too.
That means there’s only one answer.
‘It’s her special trait.’
The ranked players I’ve fought so far all had special traits that didn’t exist in the game.
I suspect that Alshas’s special trait might be the ability to create duplicates of herself.
‘If my guess is right, then this one too…’
The one talking casually in front of me is probably not the real Alshas. The original, the one who creates duplicates, is likely somewhere else.
‘This is becoming troublesome.’
I thought anyone who knew of my reputation wouldn’t have the nerve to come out so confidently, but to think they’d resort to such a trick.
“So your special trait is cloning yourself.”
When I spoke in Roberts' voice, Alshas snorted.
“Hah, I thought you were mute since you’ve been so quiet until now.”
The ability to create identical clones. It’s a highly desirable power. Another reason why she must die.
‘Before I find the original, I should examine the abilities of the clone more thoroughly.’
“That attack earlier was unexpected. Well, to be precise, I anticipated it, but it was much faster than I imagined.”
As I stood still without attacking, Alshas started to assess me. That was the confidence only someone who believed they could never be in danger would show.
‘The movements of the muscles, the heartbeat, and even the state of the armor. It’s all identical.’
“Amorph, I’m sure you’re wondering about this. Even if Isabel and I cooperate, you probably think we can’t defeat you, right?”
As she said this, she gestured toward Isabel.
In a split second, I made eye contact with Isabel. Her gaze was filled with many emotions of regret, resentment, and even worry.
She conveyed all those feelings to me before quickly turning her head and standing behind Alshas.
“Do you know why humans are considered the apex of all creatures? It’s because we work together to overcome challenges.”
At the same time, the ground shook violently. Simultaneously, I felt an overwhelming surge of energy that sent a tingling sensation through my Auxiliary Organs.
Something was rapidly rising from beneath the earth.
“Empress, please help us.”
The moment she finished speaking, the old mansion exploded.
[ZZ ZZZ (Everyone, be careful)]
I spread my wings wide and quickly ascended. In an instant, dozens of stakes, each about three meters long, flew toward me, piercing through the membrane of my wings.
「Big one! Are you okay?」
The pain from the injuries struck my mind, but that wasn’t the most important thing right now.
The one who had thrown the stakes at me was emerging from the ground. Or rather, it might be more accurate to say it was coming up while lifting the earth itself.
The creature that rose from the ground was easily over 30 meters tall. It resembled a rhinoceros beetle, but with multiple bio-cannons mounted on its back an enormous monster. The debris from the collapsed mansion fell into the hole it had emerged from.
「Big Elder」「Enemy」「Be careful」
“Multiple lifeforms detected. Please be cautious.”
In the area beneath my feet, and across the entire city, similar creatures were beginning to reveal themselves.
「Amorph, is that…?」
[ZZ (Yes)]
As the monsters began emerging from all directions, the Mother of the Sky, flying beside me, was aghast.
I understood her feelings perfectly.
I never imagined I’d see them in the Cult’s territory either.
And then, something appeared that confirmed both my and her thoughts.
From the crater where the mansion used to be, a giant creature with hundreds of eyes emerged. This creature, equipped with countless sensory organs, lifted Alshas and Isabel onto its body and ascended into the air.
“Launching Verzan-02 is truly unfortunate, but since the Empress strongly desires it, there’s no choice.”
「‘■■’■has ■■done. Friends■ ■■ ‘■■■’ are dead, orders■■.」
“I know. I understand. Let’s get started then.”
As Alshas finished speaking, more creatures emerged from the crater.
Thousands of monsters, each about 5 meters tall and resembling a mixture of hornets, snakes, and scorpions, simultaneously flew up into the sky. The air above the shattered dome was quickly filled with the loud flapping of their wings.
As the flying monsters surrounded me, the 30-meter-tall creatures on the ground aimed their bio-cannons at me.
These monsters have no names.
Because to them, individuality holds no meaning.
A multitude that exists for a single purpose.
They are beings from a place far beyond this universe.
The Outsider swarm that Alshas summoned descended upon me.
——————
HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
——————