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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 336
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｢…My God.｣
Mother of the Sky gazed blankly at the sky beyond the dome’s hole.
Even amid the intense battle, she stood motionless. Such a thing was unimaginable under normal circumstances, but for this moment, it didn’t matter.
The creatures she had been fighting, the Outspacers, were in the same state.
A single drop of ink had spread uncontrollably across the red paper. The formless ‘thing’ devoured the sky-filling airships and Outspacers.
The usual sounds of battle the loud explosions, the screams of terror none of those could be heard.
It was a silent massacre.
‘At this rate, it’s almost at the Vortex One level.’
Being a Ranker herself, she had hunted many raid bosses. The destruction unfolding in the sky was something she had only witnessed during fights with Vortex Ones or Red Gallagons.
In fact, even the Coldbloods she had saved were reacting similarly to when they first faced a Vortex One. From the way they trembled behind her, it seemed they feared this even more than encountering a giant monster face-to-face.
Due to the overwhelming terror, she sent out particles that manipulated pressure to shake them from their delirium. The slight stimulation made them shudder uncontrollably.
｢Everyone, pull yourselves together!｣
"!"
｢Now’s the chance! Get on the airship over there!｣
Thanks to her, 40 Coldbloods regained their composure and escaped to safety. Mini Mutant Screamers and MPS-05 followed closely behind them.
The city, once known as the safest in the world, was now a thing of the past. Hiding temporarily in the desert filled with sand would probably be far safer.
｢Grrrrrrrr!｣
‘Tch!’ ｢｣
While the Coldbloods and MPS-05 boarded the airship, the Outspacer’s Bugs began to move again.
A giant 30-meter-long bugs monster swung its front legs, which were as thick as the columns supporting buildings. The Mother of the Sky spread her agate-colored wings and soared into the air. The Bugs’s claws struck the spot she had just vacated by mere inches.
As she dodged the attack and rose higher, she scattered particles of the same agate color. The agate-colored particles twisted the Bugs’s legs unnaturally upon contact.
Had it been another creature, it would have writhed in pain, but not this one. Despite losing one of its front legs, the Bugs showed no sign of pain and aimed its bio-spikes at her.
‘It’s been modified so as not to feel pain.’
She deftly avoided the bio-spikes that came flying toward her, weaving through the ruins of buildings. In the distance, she could see more bugs coming.
｢Adhai! They're coming!｣
Hiding behind a half-collapsed building, she called out to Adhai.
Adhai, from the rooftop of a building on the opposite side, was staring at the sky beyond the dome. Her violet eyes, reminiscent of amethyst, were fixated on the ‘black entity’ greedily consuming the airships and flying monsters.
‘Why is she like this all of a sudden?’
She wondered if Adhai had fallen into a state of fear, like the other creatures here, but looking more closely, it seemed that wasn’t the case.
With her gaze fixed, unmoving, Adhai appeared to be in a deep state of extreme focus, almost to the point of losing herself.
At that moment, the Bugs that had been targeting Mother of the Sky noticed the small Gallagon. From its back, a 3-meter bio-spike was fired.
The spike was aimed at the rooftop where Adhai stood. Without the protection of her ‘Red Armor,’ she would be pierced and certainly killed by the attack.
‘I can’t let that happen!’
Mother of the Sky tensed her hind leg muscles and kicked off the ground with tremendous force. Her body, with the grace of a feline predator, shot forward like an arrow. She also flapped her wings hard, increasing her speed.
The Griffon with golden fur broke through the crumbling building walls and soared toward the opposite rooftop.
Just before the bio-spike could pierce Adhai, she successfully grabbed it and dodged. The sharp tip of the stake grazed the horn on her head by mere inches.
At that moment, Adhai turned to look at her.
｢Ugly friend?｣
｢Are you out of your mind? The battle’s not over yet!｣
｢Battle?｣｢Hunting?｣
Upon hearing those words, a red light suddenly flashed in Adhai's eyes. The red patterns engraved on her snow-white body flared up like flames.
‘What’s going on?’
She was momentarily startled and looked again, but Adhai appeared the same as always.
Adhai shook her head vigorously and unfurled her wings.
｢Friend｣｢word｣｢right｣｢hunting｣｢not over.｣
｢...I see.｣
｢Together｣｢hunting.｣
After saying that, Adhai cloaked herself in Red Armor and took off into the air.
‘Was that just a mistake on my part?’
Thinking it was just a misjudgment, Mother of the Sky followed Adhai, who had already started battling the Bugs.
---
The Amorph consumes other creatures and absorbs their traits as its own.
However, compared to its constantly evolving concept, its ability to organically change its body isn't particularly abundant. The feature of frequently altering its body to suit the situation is more characteristic of the Wolf than the Amorph.
The traits that transform the Amorph’s body into a killing machine such as the ‘Perfect Organism’ that adapts the body, ‘Organic Evolution’ for taking on various special states, and the ‘Variable Bio-Weapon’ that morphs body parts into apex forms were all things that didn't exist in the game.
Had any of these been part of the game, the balance of Space Survival would have shifted dramatically.
In any case, traits that alter the body were rare in the game. In such conditions, the ‘Bone Beast’, which enhances the user's body, was an incredibly attractive feature.
The ‘Bone Beast’ , a body modification trait created from the materials of ‘giant creatures’, allows the user’s body to grow bone-like armor to protect vulnerable areas. Additionally, the entire body’s size increases by about three times.
Having used it multiple times in the game, I knew exactly what changes would occur. However, this was the first time becoming a Bone Beast after reaching adulthood in this world.
As the trait activated, dark black exoskeletons and scales cracked open, releasing the material that would form bone armor. The material quickly solidified and coated my exoskeleton, forming a solid, white armor. Sharp spikes protruded all over the completed armor.
As the armor enveloped my body, my entire form rapidly grew. Muscles stretched to the point of tearing, and a chilling sound emanated from the joints inside my body.
1.5 times, 2 times, 3 times. My body, which seemed like it would continue growing endlessly, stopped just before reaching 200 meters in length.
｢Grroooar!｣
｢Grrr!｣
The heads on either side of me growled at the new sensation. The cries of my two heads grew deeper, fitting the size of my enlarged body.
On the snouts of both heads, helmets made from animal skulls, resembling a warrior’s armor, covered them. It gave off a fiercer, more intimidating impression than before.
‘Perfect.’
｢■■■■■■■■!｣
Having completed my transformation, I let out a mighty roar. The two heads on either side roared in unison.
With all three heads roaring at once, the air split with an ear-splitting sound, close to a sonic boom.
｢Crack!｣｢Crack!｣
“Hearing is impaired. Recovering with residual energy.”
Number 26 and PS-111, which were bonded to my body, also reacted to my movement. It seemed that PS-111 had been affected by the sonic boom.
[ZZ ZZZ (Everyone, be careful)]
I cautioned the others and flapped my now three times-larger black wings. As with my body, my wings grew three times their size, propelling me forward as I cut through the air. Below, I could see the desert, covered in sand, now shrouded in shadow.
｢Swish!｣
The Collector Bugs below shrieked at the sight of me approaching. Forced to charge by the queen’s command, they attacked despite their terror. I didn’t avoid them, instead charging straight into them.
Like bugs colliding with a car’s windshield, the Outspacers were torn apart as I plowed through them.
The so-called vicious stomach acid they boast about, and the sharp teeth, were useless. The power to dissolve shells remained as it was, but the bone beast's armor was so thick that it was hard to inflict serious damage.
｢Bad flapping!｣
｢Hiss?!｣
“Support fire commencing.”
Number 26, who had climbed onto my back, and PS-111, who had moved from the central head to beside Number 26, helped me in hunting down the bugs.
After enlarging itself back to several dozen meters in size, Number 26 extended its tentacles, which had sharp saw blades attached. The bugs, narrowly avoiding a collision with me, were struck by Number 26's tentacles and shattered into pieces.
PS-111, hiding below Number 26, supported us with its tail equipped with a demolisher. Whether it was calculating its flight trajectory or something else, the material-decomposing shells it shot never missed.
The enemies also began retaliating against us, who were massacring the Outsiders. The main guns of the cult warships, hidden among the bugs, fired. A violet barrage poured over me. The Outsider's stomach acid and blood that covered my body evaporated immediately from the heat ray.
However, the skull-like shell and the black scales beneath it took no significant damage. Some of the protruding spines broke off, but it wasn't enough to be considered substantial damage. I swung my two tails toward a nearby warship.
The right tail with pincers collided with the warship's shield. The translucent violet protective shield cracked like glass and shattered. The pincer that broke the shield struck the warship's front end with great force.
A chain of explosions erupted inside the warship as it was sent flying. I extended my corrosive tentacles and grabbed the warship that was about to crash down.
“Ughhh!”
Cult members from the broken warship tumbled down. Some were devoured by my tentacles, while others fell to the red sand below.
I used the destroyed warship as a club and swung it at other ships and Outsiders. Each time it collided with a warship, dozens of collection bugs were crushed.
Then, a change in movement occurred among the Bugs that had gathered in large groups. The ones following the queen's orders quickly scattered.
‘I mustn’t look back.’
I struck the Bugs that had momentarily lost their formation from behind. I opened the jaws of all my heads wide and swallowed the retreating ones whole. My body grew drastically, and each time I opened my mouth, more than ten of them were swallowed at once.
｢Swallowing effect activated!｣
Thanks to swallowing hundreds of bugs, I finally acquired the desired traits. Upon acceptance, sensation returned to my previously immobile arms. The "Parasite Colony," which had been restricted due to genetic loss, was finally restored.
‘Phew. Finally restored….’
Just then, a golden lightning bolt streaked across the distance, grazing my body. Though I had taken little damage when hit by the warship's main guns, this time it was different. The white shell that had been grazed by the heat ray shattered.
I faced the enemies surrounding me while keeping an eye on the surroundings with my Auxiliary Organs. In the distant sky, a sphere several hundred meters in size floated alone.
‘Could that attack… be from the Thunder God?’
The Thunder God I knew had a flat mandala shape, not something like that. If I overlapped several mandala-shaped Thunder Gods to form a sphere, it might look like that.
‘An upgraded version?’
It appeared stronger in both appearance and firepower, so it likely was an upgraded version.
‘Thought it was all destroyed…’
The ‘Black Devourer Cannon’ had destroyed everything in its range, including the Thunder Gods. I thought they had all been swept away along with the warships, but it seems not. That must be the last Thunder God remaining from the elite fleet of the Observatory.
‘I think I know who's controlling it.’
The orbital weapon Thunder God can only be handled by those with strong psychic powers. It must be Alshas controlling it.
The Thunder God, having failed to strike me, gathered lightning once more. I didn’t avoid it either, instead focusing my psychic power.
Perhaps due to the energy expended by the Black Devourer Cannon, I could clearly feel the energy leaving my body, unlike the previous chaotic shots. Thanks to the Dragon’s Heart, I was recovering quickly, but full recovery would still take time.
‘Don’t think about anything else, just focus.’
The Thunder God, having gathered energy to the extreme, began to shine brilliantly. It might feel like this if you faced the sun directly. As the yellow heat rays were fired, I too exhaled a breath of highly condensed energy.
The three beams of dragon power collided with the Thunder God’s lightning. The shockwave created by the energy clash shook the heavens of Verzan-02. The surrounding enemies were swept up by the shockwave, crashing into each other or falling to the ground.
‘It’s certainly strong…’
But not strong enough to defeat me.
The standoff didn’t last long. Just like a snake swallowing a smaller one whole, the breath from my three heads devoured the lightning.
By the time the yellow light almost faded from the red sky, a purple heat ray struck the Thunder God. An intense explosion followed, strong enough to temporarily paralyze the auxiliary organs beneath its chin.
A massive explosion, like several nuclear bombs going off at once, covered the sky with flames. The remaining warships were consumed by the fire and turned to dust.
Beyond the roaring flames, I could see Alshas and Isabel standing atop the queen, protected by the Collection Bugs.
Alshas seemed quite flustered, likely because his plan was collapsing in real-time. Though far away, I could certainly feel his emotions.
I aimed my recovered combat arm at him. Upon seeing that, he took several large steps backward.
“What did you say? That we should cooperate and overcome obstacles?”
“!”
The one here is most likely a clone.
But it doesn’t matter.
No matter where he hides in this universe, or what weapons he brings.
I won’t stop until I devour his essence.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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