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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 337
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Alshas could not believe the reality that was right in front of her.
She had heard a long time ago that The Amorph had killed Jason. She also received the news that her long-time comrade, Cynthia, had met the same fate.
So, she had thoroughly prepared. She had enlisted the influential figures within the planet long before, ensuring the operation of an elite fleet. Not only that, she had contacted the Empress and had the Outspacer Legion on standby.
But that wasn't all. She had also made contingency plans, preparing for the possibility that things might not go as expected. In other words, she had prepared backup measures, double and triple-fold.
She was confident that even if the enemy came unexpectedly, she would be able to stop them.
However, her predictions were completely off.
The elite fleet of the Observatory had been wiped out, and the Outspacer Legion was almost gone as well.
Now, the only things left were the insurance she had prepared and the Imperial flagship guarding the Observatory.
｢The Empress has commanded: ‘The Predator’ hunt has failed. She orders you to retreat.｣
“No! Wait! It can’t end like this!”
｢The Empress warns: If your friend is consumed by ‘The Predator,’ it will be dangerous. Flee.｣
｢Flee.｣
｢Flee.｣
“Shut up! Shut up!”
It was hard enough to keep her sanity, but the voice of the Queen kept echoing inside her head, making it nearly unbearable.
‘The insurance! I still have insurance left!’
With bloodshot eyes, she glared at Isabel, who was standing beside her.
‘If I can make her summon the Vortex One…’
Coldbloods, the race Isabel belonged to, form deeper bonds with their masters the more contracts they enter into. Once that bond reaches a certain level, the contract to summon the Vortex One becomes unlocked.
The summoned Vortex One grants one wish in exchange for a price. From assassinating enemies to burning entire planets or annihilating fleets, anything is possible.
Of course, as the difficulty of the wish increases, so does the price exponentially. If one does not prepare a proper price, the Vortex One will refuse the summoning.
Furthermore, the price for summoning a Vortex One always includes the summoner’s life. In the game, this was a minor issue, but not here. If Isabel were to summon the Vortex One, she would certainly die.
‘I was hoping to save it for later!’
Isabel’s special ability, "All-Seeing Eye", was an incredibly powerful skill. It was a precious tool, and the idea of wasting it now saddened Alshas.
Still, it was better than dying. If she could successfully kill The Amorph here, her standing within the Return Faction would remain secure.
‘I’ll have to escape while Isabel summons it.’
The Alshas here was a clone. Her original body was not here, but in the Observatory. Simulacrum-made clones have distance limitations for how long they can be maintained.
‘But no one knows that fact.’
If the clone disappears, the original body plans to escape with the Imperial flagship to another star system. Since up to five clones can be created, no one would be able to track her down if she decided to flee. Even if The Amorph tried to follow, they wouldn't know which one was real, and their efforts would be in vain.
Having cleared her thoughts, Alshas called out to Isabel.
“Isabel. It’s time to fulfill the contract.”
Isabel slowly turned her head.
The face of the one with antennae and a lizard-like face revealed no emotion.
“Summon the Vortex One.”
Isabel remained silent, pressing her lips together and not responding.
She likely understood what that command meant. But Alshas was confident.
“Don’t worry about your lost sister. Not long ago, Cynthia obtained an important clue.”
“Shut up.”
“We’ll rescue her soon… What?”
For a moment, Alshas thought she had misheard.
“What did you just say?”
By now, Isabel’s face had developed cracks that resembled a shattered mirror. Black liquid, not blood, was dripping from the wounds.
Isabel had made a contract to prevent herself from turning against Alshas and the Return Faction members. The wounds forming on her body were the penalties for breaching the contract.
The Coldblooded figure, covered in wounds, struggled to speak.
“Yes, you, you know that I was deceived. My sister... she’s already dead.”
“Did The Amorph drive you mad?”
“You’re the ones who are crazy! You, deceiving, malicious... cough! Fools!”
Isabel, vomiting black liquid, drew a sickle from her waist.
“You know where the original is, don’t you? You can’t escape, there's absolutely no way out!”
What she had thought was a simple self-defense weapon, the sickle, suddenly became something Isabel realized she had never seen before. Now she understood why she had prepared it.
“Wait, you?!”
“To the dwellers of the Abyss, I declare this.”
As the creature tried to stab its own abdomen, Alshas hurriedly raised her hand. A psychic restraint technique wrapped around Isabel’s body, binding her.
“To track and destroy the cult ‘Alshas’…”
“Crazy! Stop!”
But the creature didn’t give up. Even as its body twisted grotesquely, vomiting blood and black liquid, it tried to pierce itself with the sickle.
Alshas, seeing this, screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Damn it! Queen! Send it somewhere else!”
Isabel’s entire body was surrounded by blue light, but the light suddenly flickered as though something had interfered with it.
Meanwhile, Isabel finished her words.
“I sacrifice my blood, my life.”
At the moment her words ended, the sickle pierced through her abdomen.
Having completed everything, Isabel collapsed on top of the Queen’s body.
---
‘Huh?’
The movements of the Outsider forces guarding the Queen were strange. They were moving chaotically, similar to when the Black Devourer cannon had been fired.
‘Did they lose control?’
｢Big baby.｣
At that moment, the wave sent by Number 26 flowed into me from behind.
｢It’s scary over there.｣
[ZZZZ (It’s scary?)]
｢Yes.｣
When Number 26 says it’s scary, it’s a phrase used when encountering a very dangerous opponent.
‘Does it still have hidden cards?’
I wondered if they had summoned an Outsider Ranker or some other Ranker, but that seemed unlikely. If that were the case, the wave of super-fast travel would’ve been felt, but it hadn’t happened.
‘I need to check it myself.’
I flapped my wings and cut through the air. My body rapidly approached the group surrounding the Queen. The collection insects, who had lost control, were too busy fleeing to attack me.
Beyond the scattered group, there was the Queen, now in chaos.
And above her...
‘Isabel?’
The small and fragile Coldblood was lying collapsed.
Isabel’s body, collapsed on the Queen, was shaking as though she had a seizure. Her body trembled violently, and from her mouth, thick black liquid constantly poured out.
It looked like dead blood, but it wasn’t blood.
The black liquid began to move as if it had its own will, gathering at a single point in the air.
I know what that is.
‘Vortex One!’
Only one person here could summon it: Isabel, the Coldblood Ranker.
‘Could it be that Alshas ordered this?’
At first, I thought that Alshas had forcibly commanded Isabel. But looking at it again, I realize I was mistaken.
The reason for that is Alshas’s condition. She was trembling in fear, visibly shaken.
That made it clear who had led this summoning. Isabel had called Vortex One by her own will.
‘…I don’t know why it happened, but this isn’t the time to dwell on it.’
Isabel was shivering uncontrollably, vomiting black liquid. She was still alive during the summoning process, though not yet dead.
‘If this were a game, she’d definitely be dead.’
But this is reality. If I can pull her out while she's still conscious, she might survive. That’s the reasoning behind my thoughts, based on the summoning method happening before my eyes.
Vortex One, like the Outsiders, is a being from another universe. It operates beyond the laws of this one.
For instance, Vortex One's body is composed of small amounts of organic matter and a special energy known as ‘Abyssal Power’. In simple terms, it’s an energy-based life form with a will of its own.
To maintain its energy-based body, it needs large amounts of organic material, so it typically divides its body into pieces and remains in a dormant state.
And Coldbloods are optimized to protect the split Vortex Ones, essentially acting as living storage devices.
‘That’s why summoning Vortex One results in death.’
When demons from another universe appear in the material world, they devour their summoners. They discard unnecessary storage devices and obtain the energy they need to sustain their physical forms.
Thus, I need to separate Isabel before Vortex One is fully summoned. That’s the only way to save her.
[ZZZZ ZZZZ (I’m pulling Isabel out.)]
“I will help.”
｢Yes! Let’s save our friend’s family!｣
I closed the distance between myself and the Queen, then extended my devouring tentacles. Six tentacles, sprouting from my back, moved toward the black liquid in the air.
｢‘■Eater’s’ attack. Block■■.｣
The unique wave of the Outsiders brushed against my monster’s tentacles. The creatures under its command, the collecting insects, blocked my tentacles. Like moths clinging to a light bulb in the middle of the night, the insects stuck to my tentacles, preventing them from moving.
Only one of the tentacles managed to break through the sea of insects and strike the black liquid.
The moment my tendril made contact with the black liquid, which was infinitely smaller than my tendril, I felt an overwhelming rebound. Not only that, but the part where the tendril struck seemed to cave in as though hit by a molecular-disrupting grenade.
｢Pain Reduction Activated!｣
The ‘Pain Reduction’ trait activated after a long time. A sharp pain struck my mind, but I didn’t waver. This was something I had expected and planned for.
‘Good. Now that I’ve fed it, the summoner’s obsession with me should have lessened a bit.’
Some Vortex Ones attack their summoners during the summoning ritual, especially during the process of their bodies being reconstructed. Since I provided it with a different kind of food instead of Isabel’s flesh, her life will be extended for a little while.
With that in mind, I approached the Queen again to separate Isabel directly. As I got close, the Queen attempted to initiate super-speed travel.
｢No way!｣
｢!｣
At that moment, Number 26 extended its saw-toothed tentacles and grabbed the Queen. Like a giant octopus catching a shark or whale, countless tentacles wrapped around the Queen's body. The Queen, once glowing blue, returned to her original state.
“Damn it! The Amorph... because of you…!”
Alshas, seeing this, yelled in fury and swung the ‘Judgment’ he held, cutting off Number 26’s tentacles. The saw-toothed tentacles were effortlessly sliced through by the Black Gallagon’s horn, forged into a weapon.
｢Ow!｣
‘How dare you!’
The two heads on Number 26 were filled with fury as they watched it suffer. The heads opened their mouths as wide as they could and pounced on Alshas, covering it completely.
"Damned…!"
Alshas couldn't even scream, crushed directly beneath the heads. At the same time, the queen's body was gravely wounded.
The queen let out a scream of agony as she fell to the ground. The collection insects attacking me followed her descent.
The queen, now embedded in the desert sand, began to glow with a bluish light before vanishing completely.
Under normal circumstances, I would have pursued the queen, but I couldn't do that now.
It was because of Isabel, floating in the air.
‘The tremors in its body are weakening.’
The black liquid oozing from its body had already spread far beyond the size of its own body, even further than the queen's. Thanks to me stalling, it's still holding out, but in just a few minutes, that black liquid will form into a Vortex One.
‘I need to find a way out of this.’
I had killed summoners before, but never had I interfered in a summoning mid-process like this. Even when trying to extract Isabel with my erosion tentacles and combat arms, the black liquid blocked me.
Using Psychic Breath or the Black Devourer cannon would be risky. Not only would I run out of time, but there was also the risk that Isabel could die in the process.
As I was lost in thought, Number 26, riding on my back, moved. It used the fins on its lower body to crawl up to the head in the center of my body.
‘Huh?’
｢I’ll protect my friend’s family.｣
What it did next was beyond my expectations.
As it stretched out one of its tentacles, a purple stem appeared. The stem swayed like the waves of the night sea, reaching toward the space where Isabel was floating.
‘What’s that?’
Like a spider weaving a web for its prey, the purple stem spread out into a membrane, wrapping around Isabel. On the membrane, the purple stems tangled together, creating a geometric pattern.
A sudden surge of energy enveloped Isabel's entire body, cutting off the black liquid that had been leaking from its Coldblood form. The black liquid tried to reclaim Isabel’s body, but it was all blocked by Number 26's purple waves.
Once the black liquid and Isabel were fully separated, the purple stem created by Number 26 vanished. Isabel’s body, now like a string that had been cut, plummeted to the ground.
‘Damn it!’
I quickly dove down after Isabel. Just before she hit the sand, I barely managed to catch her with my combat arms.
‘Phew.’
At least I managed to separate them before she died.
Of course, there were still many unclear aspects about the process, but there was something more important to attend to now.
I landed on the sand and stretched out my fingers to check on her.
The state of the small Coldblood was devastating. Her body was covered in wounds that looked like they had been made by sharp blades, and a curved weapon, the one I had seen before, was lodged in her abdomen. The wounds were leaking a mixture of black liquid, blood, and flesh.
She was barely alive, and with such severe injuries, it wouldn't be strange if she died at any moment. I hastily activated the internal organ fusion trait, "Ultra Jelly."
Ultra Jelly is a trait that consumes the body’s stamina to create high-calorie nutrients.
In the game, I used it to recover stamina by consuming pre-made jelly when needed, such as during long battles in enemy territory or when building nests. Simply put, it was like a potion for the Amorph.
Droplets, similar to saliva, began to form in my mouth, quickly merging into a small mass. Although small, it was about the size of an adult male's upper body.
I didn't have time to feed Isabel in small amounts, so I poured the Ultra Jelly directly over her. The semi-liquid, soft jelly seeped into her wounds.
‘...This isn’t good.’
However, her wounds didn’t show any signs of improvement. The Ultra Jelly only managed to keep her condition from worsening.
"‘Little sister’s’ condition is extremely poor. Life functions are expected to cease within the next five minutes."
PS-111, who had been observing my treatment, spoke.
As it said, Isabel's body was on the verge of collapse. There was nothing that could heal her.
"Ah, sis...."
Hearing her twin sister’s voice, Isabel called out for her only remaining family. I picked up PS-111 from above and gently placed it beside her.
"Little sister. You cannot give up."
"Mi... I'm... sorry, sis, for abandoning you..."
"I have great expectations of you. You are essential to me."
"Amorph, sis, please..."
With those final words, Isabel lost consciousness.
‘Should I just consume her like this?’
If I let her die like this, I would lose everything her knowledge, her special abilities, everything she possessed. If I don’t consume Isabel now, the loss will be even greater.
‘The problem is the downsides...’
I had never eaten a Coldblood in the process of dying. There’s a real risk that the Vortex One could tear through my stomach and escape if I’m not careful. From the words Isabel left, it seemed fine, but I can’t be 100% sure. She probably hadn’t experienced anything like this before.
‘What should I do... wait a minute.’
Just as I was about to swallow the dying Coldblood whole, an idea suddenly popped into my head.
"PS-111, there’s a medical facility in the Gigacracker, right?"
"Yes. However, that facility cannot remove the unidentified substance that has infested little sister’s body."
"What if we make a new body?"
PS-111, understanding my intent, blinked its red camera lens.
"You already know how to transfer it, don’t you?"
"The success probability is estimated at 10%. The chances of failure are high."
"If we don’t do this, Isabel will die. And before that happens, I’m going to eat her."
Upon hearing my honest words, PS-111 lowered its head. It stood still, but inside, I could feel it calculating countless possibilities.
"Think about what you really want."
"What I want?"
PS-111 raised its head after hearing my question. Its red lenses gleamed with a faint light.
"I want to keep little sister alive. So please, help me."
"Alright."
I immediately used the "Starlight Coordinates" to send PS-111 to the Gigacracker.
The Starlight Coordinates impose a penalty on movement based on the size of the object being moved and my own size. Normally, when I would use it to move PS-111, I would be immobile for dozens of minutes, but not now. I was in the ‘Bone Beast’ state, so my body had grown more than three times in size.
A minute passed, and my body regained mobility. I immediately used the Starlight Coordinates on Isabel as well.
‘If it’s PS-111, it will succeed.’
Although PS-111 had estimated the success rate as low, I didn’t believe that.
It had already repaired and upgraded its own body, and how many mutant screamers had it created? Excluding its creator, no one knew more about screamers than it did.
So I was certain it would succeed.
‘Leave Isabel to it, and now the only thing left...’
I looked up at the sky.
The Vortex One, which had lost its Coldblood during summoning, was still wandering aimlessly. The black liquid that had been clumped together was now expanding into a mist, growing to an enormous size. It was already larger than my Bone Beast form.
‘Who did it summon?’
I had a few guesses, but I couldn’t be 100% sure.
While I focused on Isabel, the incomplete summoning ritual was almost complete.
Something stirred within the vast black mist. Something inside the mist writhed and slowly began to crawl out.
‘It’s coming.’
What emerged from the mist was a gigantic black ring.
Countless arms were attached to the body of the ring. Like the ring itself, the arms were black, each with hands clasped together in a prayer-like gesture.
The overall appearance resembled a halo often seen in religious artwork. However, it should have maintained a perfect ring shape, yet what appeared now had half of its body missing.
‘...The Ring of Agony.’
The Vortex One, known as the demon of the universe.
One of them had descended in an incomplete state onto Verzan-02.
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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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