Chapter 206

Chapter 206

HEL SCANS

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Ham Ort was the third consort of Odd Grad and the second in command within their ranks. While many of her kin shared her white scales, none possessed strength greater than hers.

Her formidable power allowed her to hunt the diverse creatures inhabiting this icy star. Among those who met their demise from her breath, there were beings worthy of being called kings.

However, the Sky King was a particularly troublesome adversary for Gallagon.

He soared through the skies, devouring the very energy that her precious kin needed to survive.

Even when she was with the Odd Grad pack, the Sky King had prevented young ones from growing, a problem they encountered more than once. With her immense strength from a young age, she had teamed up with her kin multiple times to slay the king.

Yet, each time a new king emerged, causing further trouble. They seemed to come from the sky above, from the realm where the stars reside.

Though the Sky King had been a persistent nuisance, he eventually stopped seeking out her kin. Instead, he lingered around the mountain near the Star Garden.

That mountain emitted a strange energy that even her kin avoided. Back when she had green scales, it was fine, but it had changed at some point.

Regardless, after she shed her scales and turned white, she once captured the Sky King alone. Now, being even stronger, it would be no problem for her.

One potential variable was Adhai, her daughter born with a weaker body, unlike her naturally superior kin.

There were two reasons for taking her to such a dangerous place to fight a formidable foe.

Firstly, it was difficult to move the king’s corpse alone. Time was short, and her kin were exhausted. She judged it better to bring Adhai along and feed her directly to help her grow.

Secondly...

「Ham Ort」 「Warning」 「Escape」 「Impossible!」

「Pain!」

Since leaving the nest, Adhai had attempted to escape three times already.

With just the two of them, if she went to capture the Sky King alone, Adhai would surely escape the nest while she was gone.

「Sky King」 「Strong」 「This action」 「Dangerous.」

「Me」 「Leaving」 「Danger」 「Disappearing.」

Ham Ort tightly grasped Adhai with her front paw. Until now, she had knocked her unconscious every time she tried to escape, but this couldn’t go on forever.

「Kin」 「daughter of Meteor」 「Need」 「Cooperate.」

「Kin」 「Abandoned」 「Me」 「No interest.」

She knew that Adhai was hostile towards her and the other kin, believing she had been abandoned by the group.

However, if this continued, it would be problematic. Even if she gained the strength to defeat Odd Grad, it would be useless if Adhai remained passive.

「Odd Grad」 「Young kin」 「All」 「Kill」 「Is that」 「Okay?」

Ham Ort sent out a wave of thoughts filled with intense emotions, causing Adhai to hesitate.

「Young kin」 「Innocent.」

Eventually, Adhai relayed a sullen thought wave. Ham Ort, holding the now subdued Adhai, resumed their journey.

She was the best flyer among the white-scaled kin. She moved so swiftly that even the sound couldn’t keep up. Meanwhile, she used her psychic power to reduce the impact Adhai would feel.

As she soared through the air, she spotted the black mountain.

She sensed the unpleasant energy emanating from it, along with other strange energies.

「?」

Sensing the energy flow belatedly, Adhai looked up and started struggling.

「Big Adult!」 「Lesser Elder!」 「Present!」

「Big Adult?」 「Ugly kin?」 「Present?」

Focusing on the tendrils at her mouth, Ham Ort detected that one of the strange energies was indeed the wavelength emitted by the Sky King. However, the other energy was unfamiliar to her.

She realized what it meant that the two energies were intermingled.

The “Big Adult” that the daughter of Meteor mentioned had beaten her to the hunt.

「Ugly kin」 「Hunting」 「Sky King?」

「Big Adult」 「Strong」 「Can defeat Sky King.」

Adhai’s thought wave carried two emotions: pride and conviction.

The unknown energy was similar to psychic power but much stronger. It felt like when she encountered Odd Grad. The claim that the “Big Adult” would win was no lie.

Ham Ort hesitated for a moment before activating her psychic power. Small purple sparks flickered from her tendrils, and Adhai’s body went limp.

Given her temperament, encountering the “Big Adult” would likely trigger impulsive behavior. It was better to knock her out.

Ham Ort stopped flying and gently landed on the ground, carefully placing Adhai beside a tree.

She looked down at her small offspring.

Born weak and abandoned by her kin, yet she had become their savior. For a fleeting moment, an emotion flickered in her purple eyes and then vanished.

Turning her gaze away, she spread her wings and took to the sky.

There was one thing Adhai did not know.

Why was she still alive and able to leave this planet?

I didn’t know how the two of them used similar methods, but now was the time. Seizing the opportunity it created, I activated the Divine Spectre.

The golden light enveloping my entire body climbed up to my neck and gathered around my mouth. The Divine Spectre. I unleashed that power from my mouth.

A moment later, Ham Ort also released a breath made of pure psychic power.

A golden dragon tore through the sky. Opposing it, a purple celestial horse charged.

As they collided, a storm of light erupted. Between Ham Ort and me, a sun made of mixed energies emerged.

A blazing sun of purple and gold.

Eventually, the sun exploded, releasing a tremendous shockwave. The shockwave of light cleared the black clouds that enveloped the planet’s atmosphere. In the sky, now free of clouds, yellow lightning and purple energy spread like cracks in shattered glass.

After the shockwave swept through the sky, a deafening roar followed. It wasn’t so much a sound as a primal sensation, something beyond mere noise, leaving only a profound sense of numbness.

The intense clash, visible even from space, didn’t last long.

The result was a decision victory for me. The Divine Spectre overwhelmed the Psychic Breath. Ham Ort dodged skillfully but couldn’t completely avoid it.

Ham Ort staggered in the air, with one damaged wing. Its once snow-white scales were scorched and cracked from the impact.

「Ham Ort」 「Won’t be defeated!」

Even in this dire situation, it roared defiantly. Its tendrils turned a lighter shade of purple.

As I prepared to fire the Divine Spectre again, my auxiliary organs warned me. A large number of lifeforms were rapidly approaching.

‘Gallagons?’

As expected, they were all Gallagons. In the clear sky, I saw ten Gallagons with green scales flying toward us.

They quickly reached Ham Ort and began communicating.

‘What are they doing?’

I thought they would attack me immediately, but they didn’t. I wondered if they were strategizing, but it didn’t seem that way. If only I could eavesdrop on their psychic waves, but whatever Ham Ort did, I couldn’t sense it.

「Big baby, there’s big trouble at the bad guys’ place.」

Number 26, who had the best psychic tuning ability among us, overheard their conversation and relayed it to me.

‘Big trouble?’

Of course, understanding what it meant was a different matter.

After their conversation, they all turned and started to fly away. I didn’t know why, but it was clear they were retreating.

‘Where do they think they’re going?’

I couldn’t let Ham Ort, who was nearly defeated, escape. I couldn’t miss the chance to capture an Apex.

As I aimed the Divine Spectre at their backs, Ham Ort sent a psychic wave to me.

「Daughter of the meteor」 「Is below.」

‘What?’

「To prevent」 「Danger」 「I brought her」 「If late, she will die」 「Hurry」 「Go.」

‘Crazy.’

The moment I understood what she meant, my body moved on its own.

‘What?’

Meanwhile, Ham Ort and the Green Gallagons had left. It seemed like she sent another psychic wave before leaving, but I had no time to focus on that.

‘To think they’d use her as a threat!’

I had thought it was necessary to protect the Gallagons, and I believed Adhai would be safe because she was their child.

But I was wrong. I folded my wings back and dove toward the ground.

I landed almost in a crash and immediately activated my auxiliary organs after dropping off the kids. The Skywhale, dead and scattered, was the least of my concerns.

‘Where is she? Where... there!’

I caught a familiar scent from one side of the forest. I hurried in that direction.

Soon, I saw a Gallagon lying next to a tree. The beautiful green scales like emeralds and the small, chubby body was unmistakably Adhai.

As soon as I spotted her, I generated a symbiotic spore. If her life was in danger, as Ham Ort said, I needed this.

Just as I was about to attach the spore to the seemingly lifeless Adhai, she suddenly lifted her head.

「Big one?」

[ZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZ (Are you okay?)]

「Big one!」 「Glad!」

She jumped up and clung to me, rubbing her head affectionately. She looked completely unharmed.

‘...Could it be?’

I didn’t want to believe it, but it seemed I had been deceived.

HEL SCANS

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