Chapter 27

Chapter 27

‘Fucking bastards...!’

The wreckage of the cargo container lay in ruins, and within it was Elchen. His auxiliary heart had been destroyed by the attack from Garlic, but he still had one more heart, which kept him from dying.

The problem was that his current state was barely hanging on, to say the least. The auxiliary heart played a role in stabilizing mutated Hulks injected with various genes. A Hulk mutant without an auxiliary heart would die shortly.

He was an improved being, so that saved him; otherwise, his body would have been collapsing.

‘How dare you betray me? You damn bitch, I’ll make you beg for death.’

In reality, what made him angrier than the threat of death was the presence of the traitor. He wanted to capture and tear apart that traitor’s limbs right away, but there was something else to do first.

‘Damn it. Of all times for the device to malfunction.’

Even a clever person like Garlic knew that it was a shock-trigger detonator, yet she didn’t hesitate to break it. As a result, the timer attached to the nuclear reactor had already started. In exactly ten minutes, everyone on this ship would turn to dust.

‘Do you think I’ll die here? Don’t make me laugh! Do you know who I am? I’m Elchen Dvara.’

Even in his paralyzed state, he struggled with all his might. It was his unwavering determination to survive by any means necessary.

***

「Baby, are you alright?」 26 asked as we ran. I could feel the little guy trembling in his small hand.

[ZZZZ (I’m already healed)]

「Really?」

I had the ‘Regeneration’ trait, so I could quickly restore my damaged exterior, which had been torn slightly. There were still injuries on my legs, but the bleeding had stopped.

While gently stroking Number 26 with my small hand, I contemplated how to attack Si-hyun.

‘A surprise attack will probably be difficult.’

Her eyes, the Terrors’ eyes, had the ability to see through things. Even if I tried to hide, she would probably see through it quickly. Moreover, from what I could tell, Si-hyun seemed to have an ability beyond just seeing through things.

‘I can feel her presence.’

Si-hyun had pushed me into a corner where I had to follow her. In that case, I had no choice but to go along with it for now.

‘Let’s start by eliminating the negatives.’

There were three disadvantages working against me: the time limit, weaker attack and defense compared to the enemy, and lack of information.

‘I can’t do much about the time limit right now. I have to focus on killing her.’

‘Information scarcity can only be solved by confronting her directly.’

If I had been a player who favored other races, I might have been defeated by her, but I was an Amorph player. The only people who knew more about the genetic traits than I did were the developers.

‘So, what’s left is my attack and defense...’

I considered going back to the control room to devour the cyborg, but that had its own problems. When I evolved to the next stage, my body would be completely immobilized for a minimum of several hours. If the bomb went off or I was discovered during that time, it would be over.

‘I’ll have to put my evolution on hold... Oh.’

Thinking about evolution reminded me of something.

‘The Psyonium!’

If I consumed Psyonium, I could use the abilities of Pre-saint for a short period of time. Si-hyun possessed Gallagon’s Claw, which allowed her to release a plasma-like energy called Windstorm, commonly known as ‘Sword Qi’ in the game. I had no resistance to Psychic Powers right now, so I couldn’t counter Gallagon’s Claw.

However, what if I become a Pre-saint here? If I become an ascendant, I gain the Psychic Power Resistance trait as an evolution bonus. If she’s really Gallagon, I’m not sure, but if she only transplanted Gallagon’s claw, I should be able to withstand it with my exterior.

‘Plus, I’ll gain a long-range attack method.’

While I have the Serrated Tentacles, they could only be used for mid-range deterrence at best. Facing off against Si-hyun’s Gallagon Claw with my tentacles would be inadequate. Moreover, our senses were linked, so if I extended my tentacles recklessly, she could easily counterattack.

‘Pre-saint’s long-range attacks don’t have such a drawback.’

If we were to nitpick, perhaps it consumed more energy? Anyway, I had to fight before the Psyonium’s effect wore off. There was no need to pay attention to energy.

I arrived at the lab nest and set 26 down.

[ZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZZZZ (Just wait a moment).]

「Where are you going?」

[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZZZZ (I’ll keep an eye on it, don’t worry).]

「Little one, it’s not okay.」

[Zoom, zoom, zoom (Don’t worry about it).]

Despite my words, the little one didn’t move. It seemed like it had something to say but couldn’t bring himself to say it. Normally, I would have waited until it was ready to speak, but I didn’t have time for that now.

I left it behind and approached the lab refrigerator. Inside was a violet liquid. I pulled it out and swallowed it in one gulp.

‘Ugh!’

The searing pain coursing through my body felt as though I was being consumed by flames. Even during the times when they had forcibly administered medication to Number 26, the pain seemed far more intense than anything I had experienced before.

‘I shouldn’t be able to see it normally.’

One of the reasons Gallagon’s claws were terrifying was that their attack trajectory couldn’t be seen. You had to predict where the attack was coming from just by looking at what the enemy was swinging, making it quite challenging.

I had never imagined that there might be a function like a Psyonium Organ because I had never encountered an enemy with such an ability in the game.

I had gained unexpected information, but now was a fighting situation. I will think about this later. I charged at her.

My enhanced legs slammed into the corridor. The combination of Type, Traits, and Evolution Status made my charge explosive.

Like a missile fired from a silo, my body shot towards Si-hyun. My movements were faster than she expected, and her pupils slightly dilated.

I had intended to pierce her abdomen with my horn, but she was no pushover. As she pulled out Gallagon’s claws from her other arm, she deflected my horn.

“Ha-ha-ha! That won’t work!”

I knew that too. Her posture had slightly faltered, but there was no sign of pain on her face.

However, my attack wasn’t over yet. With my tail wrapped around her, pinning her in place, my left lower arm aimed directly at her head.

“Huh?”

‘Fire.’

With the sound of twanging piano strings, a spike shot out from the end of the barrel attached to my wrist. The spike was aimed directly at her head, but she hastily used the Gallagon’s claw to block it just before it could pierce through.

“Nice try, but not enough to take me down.”

With those words, she struck my tail with Gallagon’s claw, anticipating my counterattack. I had already started to retract my tail in preparation.

At that moment, her black hair glowed red.

‘Red hair? Wait a minute, could it be?’

I quickly distanced myself from her, but I was slightly too late. For a very brief moment, less than a second, a drowsy sensation washed over my entire body. As I woke up from what felt like a dream, excruciating pain surged from my tail.

I managed to regain my composure and retract my tail, but it had been severed by almost a third of its circumference.

‘Wait a minute, that’s the ability of the Red Mist!’

The Red Mist was the apex predator that inhabited the jungle-type planets. It resembled a jaguar with red fur and could emit pheromones from its fur that induced hallucinations. On the surface, it might not seem like much, but once you were affected by those pheromones, there was no escaping, making it an extremely threatening ability. The only solution was to keep a distance to minimize the hallucination effect.

The White Gallagon was as rare as it gets, so I had no idea where she had obtained such genetic essence.

“You’re keeping your distance. Do you know about the Red Mist? You’ve piqued my interest.”

She smiled as if she liked what she saw.

‘She’s not an easy opponent, as expected.’

With the Red Mist’s hallucination ability in play, I had to find a way to finish the fight before the Psyonium effect wore off. When I turn into Metamorph, my long-range attack abilities will disappear.

‘At times like this, I need to stay calm.’

Panicking wouldn’t change anything. The only way for me to win was to patiently look for an opportunity.

After confirming that my tail had somewhat healed, I charged at her again.

“Kyahaha! That’s the way to come at me!”

She laughed as she kicked my arm. As my arm passed through the air, Gallagon’s claw dug into my chest.

Her attack, which was aimed at flipping me over, was thwarted as I twisted my waist. My lower arm hadn’t been idle during this time. From the holes between the four fingers, mucous projectiles were launched towards her eyes.

“Ugh!”

No matter how strong she was, it seemed that she couldn’t avoid the physiological disgust as she quickly closed her eyes. I didn’t let this opportunity slip away.

I had been aiming for her shoulder with my sharp horn, but unfortunately, it was a shallow hit. She quickly moved her shoulder, avoiding a deep wound.

“Do you want to keep playing around?”

Her hair began to glow red again, and I quickly backed away. While retreating, I launched thorn bones at her as a restraining measure.

“Tsk!”

She stopped her transformation, and once again, Gallagon’s claws were drawn to deflect the thorn bones.

‘Did she just...’

She retaliated by firing a crescent-shaped energy blade at me. I managed to avoid it by pressing my body against the floor and immediately focused on her.

‘I wonder...’

There was no visible change. She appeared unfazed, but I could sense an unnaturalness in her expression.

‘I guess she can’t use two abilities at once?’

I had finally found a clue on how to exploit her weaknesses.

Join our Discord for release /invite/dbdMDhzWa2