Blood flowed from the corpse, staining the snow-covered ground. Amidst the whispering of leaves, a spider-like monster sprinted forward.
The target of the creature’s pursuit was , specifically my neck area. Sohow, it pinpointed my weakness in an instant.
Six corroding tentacles sprang forth from my back. Originally sturdy, these tentacles had beco even stronger thanks to the synthetic scales covering them, spreading wide to grasp the creature in an attempt to restrain it.
The creature was roughly 4 ters in size, slightly smaller than the Mother of the Sky. While I wasn’t sure of its strength, it wasn’t enough to overco the disadvantage posed by its size.
The collision between the creature’s six tentacles and its eight legs was accompanied by a loud clatter of tal, echoing through the forest.
The creature, considerably smaller than my corroding tentacles, twisted its legs to evade their attacks. Stained red by the black tal skeleton, it swiftly crawled onto my tentacles.
In an instant, the spider-like monster had reached my back. Its forelegs aid for the tentacles of the creature on my neck.
｢Watch out!｣
I tid my movents carefully, shaking my body vigorously. The three chanical claws at the end of its tal legs sliced through the air.
As the creature’s posture faltered, I initiated a counterattack. I twisted my tail upward, swinging the pincers at its end forcefully. The creature hastily raised its two damaged forelegs to defend itself.
Unfortunately, my pincers were strongest at the head segnt, along with my carapace. A heavy cracking sound, akin to being struck by a colossal hamr, resonated as the creature’s body floated in the air.
Then, the Mother of the Sky leaped onto my combat arm. With all her might, she struck the creature’s right legs with her two forelegs.
“Argh!”
Despite being struck by the pincers while airborne, the spider-like monster managed to twist its body sohow. Unfortunately, her attack only managed to crush one of its legs.
As they crossed paths and landed in separate areas, unlike the graceful landing of the Mother of the Sky, the spider-like monster sank halfway into the ground, perhaps due to its damaged legs.
｢…Tougher than expected.｣
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ (Seems like it)]
Her blow was heavy enough to punch holes through a battleship. Yet, the creature’s legs didn’t break, let alone bend.
‘I guess it’s not going to work.’
Originally, I had intended to confirm its identity by consuming its flesh, but it proved to be a better fighter than anticipated. Ti was not on our side. It wasn’t wise to prolong this any further.
I activated my reserved ‘Insight’ ability.
[Na: S-422
Species: Mass-produced by ■■■■
Status: Contains unidentifiable information.
Equipnt: Contains unidentifiable information.]
‘What?’
The information revealed by Insight was unconventional. I tried using it again to see if it would change significantly, but it remained largely the sa.
‘Why isn’t it a player?’
This was the first ti since Muriel that ‘unidentifiable information’ had appeared.
[Leg damage status: ‘Critical’. Irreparable. Main controller ‘Pira Eleven’ unresponsive. Proceed with combat.]
While I was using Insight without moving, the creature, having adjusted its stance, launched another attack.
S-422 darted forward, its seven legs moving swiftly.
I twisted my body and swung my tail forward. The piled-up snow turned into a blizzard as it scattered.
The creature lowered its body to evade my attack while simultaneously twisting its two forelegs backward to rake underneath my tail. As scales and blunt claws were torn off, a sharp pain surged through .
The corroding tentacles rushed to defend their master from the attack, but the creature leaped upward, anticipating it, dodging the assault.
My tentacles remained stuck to the ground, while the creature, airborne, faced the incoming attack from the Mother of the Sky.
Their collision, between her most potent weapon, the beak, and the creature’s forelegs, produced a sound akin to a fierce struggle rather than re tal clashing against flesh.
[Left leg number 2 damaged.]
“Ugh!”
The creature’s tal legs were sliced as if by a blade. However, the Mother of the Sky wasn’t unscathed either, as the creature’s claw had cut into her side.
I crawled forward, using my combat arm to shield her while opening my mouth wide towards the creature. The acidic fungal spores located near my throat were activated, and soon, green acidic spores were ejected from my mouth.
[Acid substance detected.]
Still airborne, the creature twisted its body forcibly to avoid the incoming liquid.
However, this ti, the creature couldn’t completely dodge. Greedy fungal spores that touched its body began to gnaw at the tal skeleton.
[External skeleton damage 88%.]
The creature, upon landing, attempted to glance at its legs, but it was too late. Its legs were already irreversibly damaged.
Unable to stand any longer, the creature collapsed onto the snowy ground.
‘It’s over.’
The creature’s main weapon had been its legs all along. It seed like it had no other weapons.
‘No, it might still have sothing left.’
Since I couldn’t see its equipnt, it might have hidden weapons. I cautiously approached the creature.
[Main controller ‘Pira Eleven’ communication failure confird. Loss recorded, database registration complete.]
The creature, with its head pressed against the ground, muttered sothing incessantly.
[Incineration, incineration protocol activated. 20, 19….]
‘Incineration protocol?’
[18, 17, 16….]
‘Could it be?’
With a foreboding feeling, I quickly grabbed the Mother of the Sky. Crawling frantically, we dashed out of the courtyard.
｢W-why suddenly? What’s happening?｣
As I suddenly embraced her and ran, she shot a bewildered look, mixed with a hint of panic. She seed unaware of why I was acting this way, but there wasn’t ti to explain everything.
Instead of explaining, I continued to knock down trees and kept crawling forward.
After about ten seconds, I felt a trendous amount of energy and heat emanating from behind . Along with it ca an overwhelming roar that made my auxiliary organs tremble.
The Mother of the Sky, glancing back at , widened her eyes.
｢What in the world! Run faster!｣
[ZZZ (I know!)]
I could already feel an abnormal amount of heat around my back and tail. Just by looking at it, one could tell that the amount of energy released from the creature’s body surpassed dozens of plasma launchers.
‘I might not die, but….’
The Mother of the Sky clinging to my combat arm might. I, being robust, might only lose my carapace, arms, and legs, but she would be incinerated without a trace.
Thanks to the three combat arms, blunt claws, and corroding tentacles, I was able to barely escape the explosion range in a frenzy.
As we watched the forest ablaze, the Mother of the Sky murmured.
｢Did such a creature exist in the ga?｣
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (There wasn’t in my mory.)]
｢Really?｣
In gas, there were beings that used self-destruct as a weapon. The standard play in gacorp involved planting bombs in expendable henchn’s bodies and initiating a self-destruct charge, and there were also creatures in the wild that exploded to inflict damage.
However, there had never been a creature capable of causing such a powerful explosion.
‘Could it be the remnants of the Space Hound I encountered before?’
Suddenly, the mory of the Hulk Mutant, who had implanted a bomb in one of its two hearts, causing trouble, ca to mind. At the ti, I was weak, but the opponent, being a Hulk Mutant, was remarkably intelligent, leaving a lasting impression.
I quickly shook my head.
‘No, the likelihood of it being him is low. It’s too sudden for it to appear in a place like this.’
Rather, it might be more reasonable to associate it with the new Screar encountered on the Star Union warship before arriving here. It seed to have a strong connection with it.
‘It’s excessively overpowered for a Screar.’
Moreover, when I checked with Insight earlier, I saw it.
The word ‘mass-produced’ was displayed in the creature’s species na. There were two things I could infer from this word.
First, that the creature was created by soone. And….
‘It’s not just one creature.’
There might be dozens, hundreds, or even more monsters resembling the Screar sowhere on this planet.
‘…Let’s worry about that later.’
Right now, we need to get out of here. If such a massive fire erupts in this snowy and icy planet, the Gallagons are sure to co flying.
Or perhaps the creature’s companions.
‘Hunting is off the table for today.’
We can never co back to this area near the forest. The Gallagons will continue to patrol the area.
We must try approaching the mountains from another direction, once we’re confident it’s safe.
As we escaped the burning forest, we faced a new problem.
‘Crossing the snowfield is risky.’
A black fla blooms on a world filled with white. Everyone would surely take notice of this, but crossing the ice plain without any cover would be too risky.
If my scales were white, it wouldn’t be a problem, but since they are closer to blackish-purple, they would be easily visible even from a great distance in current conditions where the snowstorm isn’t blowing.
However, using ‘Organic Evolution’ to transform into an ‘Intelligent Weakling’ and reducing my size isn’t a favorable option.
We might end up fighting unknown monsters and Gallagons. If that happens, one of the special states that can be transford through Organic Evolution, ‘King of Monsters,’ will be the trump card, so we should save it.
“We need to go underground.”
Underneath the ice, there’s a vast underground space.
The nest I made isn’t completely enclosed by walls; it’s an open space in both directions. I’m not sure if the underground space below here is connected to the nest, but it would be safer than walking on the snow.
[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZ (We’re going to dig through the floor. Keep an eye out for anyone coming.)]
｢Got it.｣
Leaving the surveillance to the Mother of the Sky, I repeated what I did yesterday. I heated my body with thermal discharge and broke the ice with my combat arms and tail.
｢We should hurry.｣
[ZZZ (What?)]
“Dozens of Gallagons are coming this way.”
Upon receiving the unwelco news from above, I increased my speed. Utilizing my corrosion tentacles and split jaws, I hastily dug through the ice.
Thanks to my last effort, I managed to complete the tunnel connecting to the underground space. I hurriedly crawled out and sent the Mother of the Sky down first.
Now, the Gallagons were close enough to be visible even to my eyes. Unfortunately, they were focused on the burning forest. They picked up the corpses of the burned creatures and flew away sowhere.
While the enemies were preoccupied elsewhere, I quickly concealed the entrance of the newly made tunnel.
With all the work done, I crawled down into the ice cave. Luckily, I didn’t sense anyone catching on.
｢No one’s onto us?｣
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZ (I don’t know).]
Arriving in the underground space, I quickly left with the Mother of the Sky.
‘Darn.’
I didn’t expect to be in such a difficult situation because of so mass-produced monster.
‘I don’t know who it is, but….’
The one who has irritated to this extent is truly rare. It’s as annoying as being interfered with by the Amorph Hunters back in the day.
‘Let’s find out who.’
I’ve never forgiven those who interfered with my evolution until now. In the ga, I retaliated against the Amorph Hunters with every ans available to .
The one who created the ugly spider-like creature. They will follow the sa path as the Amorph Hunters.
A huge underground complex spanning hundreds of ters.
Enjoying the cozy darkness while minding his own business, ‘It’ sensed a vibration. It was clear that so fool dared to act up on his territory.
Such incidents have been frequent lately.
In this vicinity, unfamiliar ‘small creatures’ often sward towards him, and the colorful snakes flying in the sky suddenly road around his territory.
Having lived countless long years, ‘It’ didn’t like to move his body much due to his lazy nature. He only roughly crushed or swallowed the ‘small creatures’ attacking him, while leaving the flying snakes alone.
However, today’s vibration was different from previous occasions. Strong vibrations shook ‘It’s’ nest.
When those arrogant creatures threatened his ho, ‘It’ thought.
If these fools continue to trample his territory like this, wouldn’t even the flying snakes in the sky start to ridicule him? It ant that ‘It’ had beco weak enough to not even protect his own ho.
‘It’ may be lazy, but not stupid. In this harsh world, the only future left for the weak is death.
So, ‘It’ decided to show the invaders that the king of this underground was still alive and well.
Determined to move for once, ‘It’ tracked the scent of the enemies with his elongated antennae. Despite being old, the tips of his sharp antennae still caught the faint scent of two lines.
After the significant vibration, invaders entered ‘It’s’ territory. The scent of the two beasts that had entered ‘It’s’ territory reached his antennae.
Having found his prey, all that remained was to seek retribution. ‘It,’ who filled the underground complex hundreds of ters, stretched his coiled body.
It was ti for the hunt after a long ti.
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