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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 341
As the enormous mining vessel tore through space, Vortex One halted its attack. It seemed to be deliberating whether to strike me or the mining ship first.
Seizing the opportunity, I drew my final card.
‘It’s time to use the King of Monsters.’
The King of Monsters is one of the special states of Organic Evolution. When I activate this trait, my body transforms into a colossal creature.
I had previously consumed Syonium and reached maturity before using the King of Monsters. However, at that time, the Symbol of Hunt was on cooldown, so I couldn’t use them together.
In other words, this would be my first time using the King of Monsters while in the Symbol of Hunt state.
In the empty universe, my body grows at an alarming rate. The Ring of Agony, which was much larger than me before, has now shrunk to a size smaller than mine. If I compare myself to the Gigacracker, I think I’m about a third of its size now.
Of course, there was a cost to my rapid growth. The massive energy consumption was evident as energy drained from my body in real-time. If I didn’t have the heart of a dragon, which pumped massive amounts of psychic power into me, I wouldn’t have been able to hold out for more than a few minutes.
Currently, my body is in a precarious balance.
‘Alright. This ends here.’
With both the Symbol of Hunt and the King of Monsters, I charged at Vortex One, my ultimate cards activated.
「-」
Seeing my overwhelming size rushing toward it, Vortex One clapped. The force of gravity manipulated my body, twisting it painfully. My exoskeleton shattered, and the pipes throughout my body bent and snapped. My arms and legs contorted grotesquely, and my bones were crushed.
「-」
「-」
But it didn’t stop there. The Ring of Agony clapped twice more, and the left side of its head and the right side of its tail were crushed by an intangible force, making a chilling sound.
‘I can still do this!’
I didn’t stop. I pressed forward.
As it was about to clap again, Adhai, who had circled around to the opposite side, pierced it.
The force that had been pressing down on me disappeared, and in its place, energy orbs made of abyssal energy were fired from the many hands on the surface of the Ring of Agony.
Among the pouring black meteor shower, a faint red afterimage of Adhai shimmered. She skillfully avoided the relentless barrage of energy orbs, which had no gaps.
Just like on Verzan-02, her flying skills had now reached the highest level. She could even go toe-to-toe with top-tier pilots from Megacorp and Star Union in dogfights.
The Ring of Agony, realizing that the energy orbs wouldn’t be able to catch her, changed its stance. It intended to crush her with its gravity manipulation powers.
At that moment, Number 26, who had been perched on Adhai’s back, intervened. Pink tentacles extended from its body, releasing purple strands that wrapped around it and Adhai like a web.
The two of them, now surrounded by a glowing, purple mandala-like sphere of light, reminded me of the shield Cynthia had once used to protect herself.
「-」
Soon after, the intangible force descended upon the shield created by Number 26. Even Vortex One couldn’t break through the shield easily, and both of them held their ground.
Seizing the moment, I closed the distance to the enemy.
Before Vortex One could clap again, I gathered all my strength and rammed into it. The collision caused its stance to falter as it was struck by my massive body.
「----」
「-」
「--」
Its limbs shifted three times in quick succession. Energy orbs, gravity manipulation, and anti-gravity bursts all exploded in rapid succession.
The excruciating pain rattled my head, and the message that pain relief had activated appeared repeatedly. Thanks to my unique resilience and the enhancement effects of my various traits, I barely managed to hold on.
‘I can’t be pushed back now.’
Enduring the relentless attacks, I wrapped my long neck and tendrils around Vortex One. Now that I was larger than it, encircling its fragile body was no longer an issue.
「-----」
‘Where do you think you’re going?’
Vortex One attempted to split its body to escape, but I had anticipated this. As its body began to tear apart, I used my tentacles to grip the parts of its core, preventing it from fleeing.
「--- ---」
Not giving up, Vortex One tried to reshape its body. It likely intended to twist itself further from its remaining ‘8’ shape to maximize its destructive power.
It wasn’t a bad decision. If it had done this five minutes ago, it would’ve been a better move.
From a considerable distance in the space where Vortex One and I were engaged, energy began to gather at the center of a massive structure that resembled a blooming flower.
Due to Isabelle’s busy schedule, PS-111 was unable to act. Instead, the Mother of the Sky and the MPS series took charge of activating the ion cannon. While I distracted Vortex One with the King of Monsters, the Gigacracker's ion cannon finished its preparations.
「--」
Vortex One was aware of this and tried desperately to drop me. As its anti-gravity power surged, I released strength from my neck and tentacles. My body, now thoroughly damaged, was knocked away by its force.
‘Now!’
At that moment, the ion cannon was fired.
A heat ray capable of splitting an asteroid was rapidly closing in on us. Vortex One’s arms distorted gravity in an attempt to redirect the heat ray, but it was already too late.
The cyan-colored death consumed its entire body.
The arms on the surface of the Ring of Agony burned away, and its body, supported by the abyssal power, collapsed like a sandcastle.
The heat ray, which had delivered a critical blow to Vortex One, flew far past its original target, striking Verzan-02.
While the Gigacracker is one of the superweapons, its core function is still as a mining ship. It would be impossible to destroy a planet as large as Verzan-02 with it.
However, it wasn’t without consequences. It was certainly capable of wiping out civilizations established on a planet.
When the enormous beam from the ion cannon struck, the clouds of the red planet dispersed. The shockwave from the explosion sent debris and sand fragments high into the atmosphere before they rained down to the surface. Cities hit by the heat ray were completely eradicated, while even those in distant locations would be devastated by falling debris.
Now, the Red Jewel of the Cult Empire no longer existed. Only a barren, sand-covered planet remained.
After the ion cannon fired, the Gigacracker returned to its spherical form.
「-」
Vortex One was in bad shape after taking a direct hit from the ion cannon. Its torso was severely cracked, and most of its arms were gone. Black liquid continuously leaked from the cracked parts of its body into space.
This was a clear sign that it could no longer maintain its physical form.
I dragged my battered body toward it.
The Ring of Agony tried to resist, moving its arms in futile gestures. I wrapped my right and central necks around it tightly.
Once I had a firm grip, I used my double jaw to bite into its flesh. When its arms flailed, I tore them off, and when it tried to twist its body to escape, I used my tentacles to bind it even more tightly.
Like a snake wrapping around its prey, I slowly consumed it.
Soon enough, I felt the Abyssal Core at the tip of my jaws.
‘This is the end.’
Without hesitation, I swallowed the core whole.
「Devouring effect activated!」
The imperfectly summoned demon of the universe from Verzan-02 had finally met its end.
---
“Please, please! Please, let this work!”
Alshas desperately tried to contact her comrades.
Caught in the fight between Vortex One and the Amorph, her ship had been completely destroyed. The rocket propulsion system at the rear of the ship had been damaged, making it impossible to even land on a nearby planet.
It was already a miserable situation, but things only got worse.
The communication monolith, which Alshas had been using to contact her comrades from the Return Faction, was damaged by a shock and shattered.
‘This can’t be happening! Why do I have to go through this!’
As one misfortune piled upon another, Alshas felt like she was on the brink of madness. It was as though the entire universe had conspired to torment her.
She knew full well that she wasn’t a saint. But was she truly someone who deserved such a wretched fate?
She didn’t think so.
Most people, like her, live by exploiting others just enough to get by. If she was a sinner, then everyone in this world no, in the real world was a sinner.
Moreover, the faction she belonged to, the Return Faction, worked to help everyone. If their grand plan succeeded, everyone could be saved.
She didn’t completely agree with the lofty ideals, but she certainly recognized their necessity. That’s why she had devoted herself to the greater cause.
‘If only I can get in touch! If only I can reach out, they’ll come to rescue me!’
Desperately, Alshas tried to repair the shattered monolith. Her fingers bled from being pricked by wires and metal fragments, but she didn’t care.
In that moment, she looked less like the beautiful figure of the Cult and more like a grotesque monster.
The truth was, from the moment the Outsiders retreated, her fate had already been sealed.
But she couldn’t accept that reality.
Whether in this world or the real one, she had always been an important figure. She had used others as tools and discarded them without hesitation, but she could never have imagined that others would discard her.
“Just a little more... Just a little more...”
As she was about to connect the wires to the monolith, the ship shuddered violently.
The shock, as if something had collided with the outside of the vessel, caused Alshas to freeze in place.
“W-what was that?”
She quickly turned her gaze to the front glass.
Just moments ago, she had seen the view of a dark backdrop dotted with tiny white specks. But now, the glass reflected nothing but perfect darkness.
‘Should I just jump out into space?’
If she used her psychic shield to protect herself and employed her levitation abilities, maybe she could escape. With her superior psychic power, it wasn’t an entirely unreasonable idea.
The problem was the oxygen.
Even if she donned her mask and protective suit to escape, she would need a substantial amount of oxygen to travel to another planet or ship. Without it, her psychic power would run out before the oxygen did, leading to a quick death.
‘I don’t want to die!’
Her selfish nature, which had been present since the real world, was clouding her judgment. Instead of acting, she hesitated, worrying only about what would be most advantageous for her survival.
And time wasn’t going to wait for her any longer.
“Eek?!”
The ship shook again, this time with much more force. Startled, Alshas dropped the monolith she had been holding.
This time it wasn’t just a single shake; sharp, metallic noises rang out, and part of the ship’s inner wall began to bend.
“No, no...”
The wall was being torn apart, much like an aluminum can being crushed. If this were space, the pressure difference would have caused the air to rush out, but that didn’t happen.
Beyond the ripped wall was not the vacuum of space, but a dark, enclosed hangar.
It was then that Alshas realized what had collided with, or rather latched onto, her ship. The fragile figure of the Cult trembled as if shaken by a gust of wind.
The head of the Amorph, descended to envelop the ship.
“I’d love to devour you right now, but I’ll have to wait.”
Seeing the white eyes of the Amorph, Alshas felt as though she might faint.
Of course, even if she did faint, it wouldn’t change anything.
Now, it was the Amorph’s time.
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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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