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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 340
Two Empire battleships were firing at the Ring of Agony.
One was likely Alshas's flagship, Defender of Verzan-02, and the other was probably an Empire battleship stationed to protect another planet in the Aur system.
Normally, when an Empire battleship moves, the flagship battalion (mother ship squadron) would always be deployed, but right now, only a small number of destroyers were present. This was because, when fighting in Verzan-02, Alshas had included the flagship battalion in the elite fleet of the surveillance station.
While it seemed that Alshas was trying to support the attack against me, it ended up being a bad move. The elite fleet, including the flagship battalion, was wiped out by the Black Devourer cannon, and some of the Empire battleships that had been deployed alongside them were also destroyed.
With the failure of the strategy, the two remaining Empire battleships became the last line of defense. If those ships were destroyed, the Aur system would essentially become a free-for-all.
‘So far, things are going as planned.’
While the Empire battleships were buying time against the Vortex One, I checked my evolved form.
This wasn’t the first time I had used The Symbol of Hunt since becoming an adult. I had used it several times when I visited the Dragon's Nest, where Adhai's kin had settled. Back then, I actively used The Symbol of Hunt to implant traits into the mini-Screamers created by PS-111.
‘But this is the first time I’m using it to fight a strong opponent.’
It had been a long time since I had transformed for combat as well. Previously, I only used The Symbol of Hunt to gain fixed traits.
‘So, I should check my physical state thoroughly.’
Starting with my head, as before, my eyes were gone, and the Auxiliary Organs beneath my jaw had become more enhanced. The central head had also developed a shell over the spot where the eyes used to be, much like the left and right heads, and sharp horns had grown from it.
The Auxiliary Organs under my jaw were no longer delicate tentacles but were now protected by sharp, blade-like bone structures, similar to fangs on both sides of my mouth.
In addition, the back of my head and horns had grown far larger than before. Through the sensations felt through the Auxiliary Organs, the exoskeleton and horns were interwoven and sharply protruded. It felt like wearing a throne made of swords, like something from classic fantasy literature.
The heads on the sides, which had previously been simple in comparison to the central head, had become more elaborate and ferocious-looking.
Another major change was that the shape of the heads and the jaw structure of all three heads had changed. The jaw had transformed into something similar to that of a snake or crocodile, resembling the mouth from my sub-adult form.
Of course, it wasn’t identical. A second jaw had grown inside the lower jaw.
｢Grrr｣
When I opened my mouth, the second jaw, the pharyngeal jaw, protruded between my jaw and neck. This new tentacle-like tongue had replaced the jaw as a result of acquiring the ‘Harvester's Jaw’ trait.
It wasn’t just inspired by the idea; the appearance had become truly reminiscent of an eXriXe.
‘It’s closer to a bearfish than an eXriXe, though.’
Next, looking at my body, it had grown even larger, just like my head. Without any enhancements, my body was only 60 meters long, but now I easily surpassed 100 meters. I’d estimate it to be around 120 meters.
Besides my increased size and the disappearance of my eyes, there was one more trademark of The Symbol of Hunt left.
That was the bone sickle arms that sprout from my back.
Previously, these bone sickle arms appeared near the shoulder blades, which made attacking during biting or struggling with enemies easier.
However, now that I had matured, the body structure seemed to have changed. The bone sickle arms no longer grew from my back, but from the lower back near my combat arms. They had also grown much longer, almost as long as my regular wings.
The reason I call them ‘regular wings’ is that my wings have become even more enormous since I entered The Symbol of Hunt form.
My massive wings, which almost seemed too large for my body, were now waving over the dark sea. The inner membranes of the wings were marked with vivid red wave patterns, evoking the image of constellations in the night sky.
With the overall increase in size, my muscles had grown tremendously as well.
Even though my length had doubled, the thickening of my body due to muscle growth made it seem like there was no significant change in proportion. In fact, it even felt like I had gained weight.
Due to the explosive increase in muscle mass, my weight also increased considerably. If I had been inside the surveillance station, the floor would have collapsed under my mere presence.
‘Excessive power, I love it.’
Since I had been continuously fighting since Verzan-02, my stamina had been heavily drained. In addition, the injuries I sustained in my attempt to activate the Tyrantroid, and the energy expended by the Black Devourer cannon, had not been fully recovered yet.
However, after temporarily upgrading my body through The Symbol of Hunt, it felt like some of the lost strength had returned.
｢Little adult｣ ｢Horns｣ ｢So many｣ ｢Very｣ ｢Big｣ ｢As expected｣ ｢Cool｣
｢The little one is cute.｣
This was the first time the two of them had seen me transform into The Symbol of Hunt in my adult form. Back at the Dragon’s Nest, Adhai had been busy performing the role of the leader, and 26 was preoccupied with caring for the Gallagon hatchlings.
｢Denial｣ ｢Cool｣ ｢Cute｣ ｢Different.｣
｢Cool and cute!｣
｢That’s... acknowledged.｣
As usual, Adhai gave an assessment based on Gallagon's instincts, while Number 26 gave an unexpected evaluation.
‘Cute, huh. Is it because of my mouth?’
I guessed it was because of the snout that resembled that of a bearfish. In the deep sea, you can encounter creatures with similar jaw structures to mine, so Number 26 might have been reminded of the animals from its home and called me cute because of that.
‘Well, whatever. There’s nothing wrong with my body.’
After a quick check, I lifted my head.
Now it was time to hunt the demon in front of me.
I flapped my wings fiercely. The energy emitted by my wings helped propel me swiftly through space, which was essentially a zero-gravity environment.
My body moved as quickly as a warship charging at full speed. Behind me, Adhai and Number 26 closely followed.
While I had been evolving, the Ring of Agony and the Empire battleships had been locked in intense combat. The relatively poorly equipped destroyers had already been wiped out, leaving only the Empire battleships struggling to hold their ground.
Just then, as we appeared, one of the Empire battleships turned part of its secondary weapon system, the Black Devourer Cannon, towards me. Soon, another Empire battleship followed suit and prepared to attack.
Each Empire battleship had only eight turrets of the Black Devourer Cannon, which, though less powerful than the Cosmic Bolt, was still an incredibly formidable weapon.
The Black Devourer Cannon had two modes: when dealing with a small number of enemies, it fires black heat rays; but when facing fleets, it launches spheres that create artificial black holes.
Although they were different in form, both used the same energy source as the Cosmic Bolt dark matter making them vastly more powerful than standard warship weapons. In fact, during the battle between the Cult Fleet and the Star Union’s fleet, the Empire battleships had used the Black Devourer Cannon to fire black hole shells, causing massive destruction.
Soon, the four Black Devourer Cannons designed for fleet combat fired. The black heat rays, resembling black holes, shot toward me with the intent to incinerate.
‘Of course, it won’t matter if I don’t get hit.’
I folded my wings at the right moment as the four black heat rays shot toward me, narrowly missing my body as they streaked by.
Adhai, following behind me, skillfully changed course and avoided the heat rays with ease.
Meanwhile, the other Black Devourer Cannons were unleashing a barrage at the Ring of Agony.
｢-｣
The arms burning from the heat rays clapped in silent applause.
The firepower of the Black Devourer Cannon was far stronger when its shape was twisted into an ‘8’ rather than the typical ring. This was true even now, with only half of its original body summoned.
As the gravitational manipulation force was activated, the space around us rippled like paper caught in a breeze. The force that distorted the laws of physics spread and reached Defender of Verzan-02.
Then, the Empire battleship began to twist like a pretzel from its edges, ignoring the thick armor and shields it had created.
Seeing this, another Empire battleship ceased firing at me and redirected all of its Black Devourer Canons at the Vortex One. The smooth exterior of the ship, which looked like cut diamond, began to crack, and its edges opened. From within, the turrets fired the black spherical projectiles black hole shells.
｢-｣
The Ring of Agony clapped again.
The black sphere, however, seemed to halt in mid-space as if blocked by an invisible wall. The surrounding space warped, and all the light was sucked into the black sphere.
Firing black hole shells at the Vortex One, who could manipulate gravity, was a poor decision.
The small black holes created by the Black Devourer Canon were indiscriminate, making it impossible to distinguish allies from enemies. The Empire battleship that had unknowingly launched the black hole shells got caught in its own weapon. Its massive hull rapidly shrank and soon disappeared into the depths of space.
In the meantime, I approached the Ring of Agony and struck its body with my battle arm and bone sickle arm.
The size of the body was smaller than when it had grown large as a bone beast, but its strength had become much greater. The cold bone sickle, like starlight floating in space, tore through the arms covering the ring. Then, with three heads that now had double chins, I viciously bit into it.
The flesh, made from a fusion of organic material and energy, seeped into my body. The superior digestive system of the Amorph absorbed the physical form of the Vortex One and converted it into nutrients.
The Vortex One recognized that I had become stronger than before and immediately began to counterattack. As its arms crossed in an X shape on the surface, countless energy pellets struck my body.
‘Energy pellets.’
If it had instead created antigravity and pushed me away, the damage would have been less. The Vortex One made the wrong choice.
Despite being hit with a deathly rain from close range, my body soon became battered, but my strength grew even greater.
Additionally, my body size increased.
The heads and arms I had implanted into its body grew rapidly due to the Tyrantroid effect. From the Vortex One’s perspective, it would have been like stuffing dozens of hemostatic sponges into its wounds.
It was certainly a pain of an entirely different dimension, and it briefly halted its movements. I shook the heads embedded in the ring’s body, probing its insides.
There was something I needed to do while it couldn’t move.
‘Where is the core?’
The Vortex One, being a being that transcends regular life forms, doesn’t have arms, legs, or digestive organs.
However, it does have organs that are necessary to maintain and operate its physical form, such as a heart and brain. This organ is called the ‘Orbital Core’, and if it is destroyed, the summoned Vortex One will die.
In order to steal the genetic essence of the Vortex One, I must consume the Orbital Core.
｢--｣
The Vortex One must have realized that I was eating its flesh while searching for the core, as it reacted immediately. Its arms folded together, creating an overwhelming anti-gravity effect, and they enveloped me. My body was thrown back, but unlike before, I wasn’t pushed away helplessly.
Now, my arms and heads were embedded in its body, acting as anchors. If it were just on the surface, the anti-gravity wouldn't work, so I could withstand it.
｢Pain suppression activated!｣
｢Pain suppression activated!｣
Of course, I could only endure it; I couldn’t nullify the shock from the anti-gravity. The wounds from the energy pellets I took were wide open, and my thick exoskeleton shattered.
After the exoskeleton broke, it was the muscles and bones' turn. The anti-gravity generated by the Vortex One caused the exposed muscles to tear, and the bones broke. The blood pouring out from my body filled the zero-gravity space.
‘…Strong!’
Even though it was just using its self-defense ability, the power was immense. If gravity manipulation were involved here, even I wouldn’t be able to survive.
‘It should be coming soon…’
It must have had similar thoughts, as it gathered its hands together to clap.
At that moment, its body wobbled slightly. The defender of Verzan-02, which hadn’t been completely submerged, attacked it.
｢----｣
Its arms, which had been about to clap, crossed in an X shape. It probably intended to deal with the relatively less troublesome enemy, the Empire flagship, before trying to kill me.
After the arms shifted position, a brief but intense wave of energy was felt. Following that, the Empire flagship’s movement ceased.
"-"
The Vortex One, which had sunk the Empire flagship with energy pellets, was attempting to change posture. The numerous palms, which were about to touch each other, would crush me completely.
However, I wasn’t the only one here with the Empire flagship.
Its body suddenly shuddered. Adhai, carrying Number 26 on her back, had flown in and pierced through it.
The arms began moving to deal with the annoying enemies attached to it.
‘Can they really do that?’
Number 26, which creates a shield that blocks anything, and Adhai, who can protect herself with her Red Armor. Even for a Vortex One, it would be impossible to easily kill them.
Meanwhile, my Auxiliary System had finally detected something foreign. A large organic mass, around 10 meters in size, was nearby.
‘Orbital Core!’
After confirming the location of the core, I extended my erosion tentacles from my back. I tore into the surface of the ring where the core was hidden.
｢-----｣
Realizing that the core had been exposed, The Vortex One changed its posture. All of its arms clenched into fists and extended straight forward.
Then, its body, shaped like a broken 8, shattered into pieces. Like a lizard cutting off its tail in a critical moment, it detached the parts where my heads and arms had embedded.
‘I knew it.’
The part where the core was hidden moved farther away, but this was all part of the plan.
The severed ring pieces came back together, and the Vortex One returned to its broken 8 shape. Since it had detached parts of its body because of me, its size was smaller than before.
I buried my head into the body that had lost its master and prepared my next move.
A distance away, its body merged and it began to move to finish me off.
Just before it was about to clap, a wave from somewhere struck the tips of my monster's tentacles.
｢Wow! A new home is coming!｣
｢Not yet.｣
‘It’s finally here!’
The ‘new home’ that Number 26 was talking about.
There was only one thing it could be referring to.
A concentration of blue light appeared in the empty space of the universe. Shredding through the light, an enormous structure of immense mass emerged.
The Superweapon Giga Cracker, with a diameter of 2 kilometers, from Megacorp.
As I sent off the Mother of the Sky from Verzan-02, I had made a request.
Once the dangerous elements of the Aur system were mostly dealt with, bring the Giga Cracker here.
Now that the Empire flagship had been destroyed, the superweapon carrying the Mother of the Sky, PS-111, and Isabel had arrived.
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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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