Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Chapter 72

‘Be afraid. Be afraid.’

The enemies unleashed a barrage of plasma volters, but being underwater, no one managed to hit accurately. Escaping unscathed from the saturation of plasma bullets, I retrieved the blood-sucking tentacle, pulling a knight along in the process.

“...Kuk!”

The knight caught in the tentacle somehow resisted by drawing the Blade Claw with his left arm on the opposite side.

‘That won’t work.’

With the sharp claws on the back of my hand, even if they were reinforced, they would easily be cut into pieces. My blood-sucking tentacles responded to my will and penetrated into the broken gloves of the opponent.

“Aargh!”

The tentacle with sharp teeth on the inner surface entered the armor, turning the opponent’s body upside down. As the arm fell off, the knight writhed in pain.

‘Maybe calming down with some water will help.’

Thanks to the assault pack, the knight received oxygen through the helmet connected to the pack even underwater. After pulling the knight, I removed the combat helmet.

Inside, moderately long blonde hair flowed.

‘What the... a woman?’

I naturally thought it was a man, but it turned out to be a woman. Perhaps due to genetic modification, her appearance was quite outstanding.

“Darn it...!”

The female knight distorted her expression due to extreme pain.

‘In the game, many MegaCorp players try to recruit female mercenaries.’

The knights provided as a special bonus by the Eden family are randomly chosen in terms of both name and appearance. There are instances of bulky, muscular African-American males appearing, as well as fair-skinned blonde females like the knight in front of me.

Therefore, among MegaCorp players, there are quite a few who want to assemble mercenaries with beautiful knights.

There were even guides in the community on how to recruit only cute girl knights.

‘I preferred Amorphs, though.’

Of course, being an ordinary man, I felt a liking when I saw a beautiful woman.

But now, for some reason, looking at the beautiful woman’s face didn’t evoke any special emotions.

‘Anyway, a female knight.’

Watching her, I had an amusing thought.

If she’s a woman, there might be some use.

I opened my mouth and gently bit her neck.

“Ugh?!”

She groaned.

Since I bit her gently, it shouldn’t be painful. It might be because of some physiological aversion to Amorphs.

The neurotoxin in my saliva seemed to take effect, as her expression quickly relaxed. Perhaps the pain from the amputated arm wasn’t being felt either.

Confirming that she was paralyzed, I placed the helmet back on her that I had removed earlier.

‘To connect the assault pack... Ah, here it is.’

As I connected the tubes on her neck and shoulders, light returned to the helmet. With power restored, the reconnaissance chip inside the helmet should be functioning again.

‘You’ll be my bait.’

In my experience, female comrades make excellent bait. Most people react more sensitively to the death of a woman than a man.

I wondered if there would be gentlemen in this space age rushing to rescue a damsel in distress.

It’s worth experimenting with.

***

‘Was the signal device a decoy?’

Yannick double-checked the signal. The signal that had been 30 meters away before they arrived was rapidly moving farther.

‘Is there another creature here?’

After a brief pause, he shook his head.

‘No, it’s unlikely that wild animals would follow his intentions so precisely. Assuming he has the ability to split is more plausible.’

Creatures that can split their bodies are rare but definitely exist.

‘He uses the split ability to insert signal chips for disruption. He’s a strategist.’

A quite skilled one, at that.

Yannick felt the need to broaden his estimate of him.

‘Ability to breathe fire, shoot bone spikes, become invisible, split, and high intelligence. Quite impressive, indeed. The Commander would be pleased.’

Even with the current technology for creating hulk mutants , it was impossible to incorporate so many different traits into a single body. While the genetically modified humans of the Yujin family might possess diverse characteristics, the creature’s appearance didn’t seem human in any way.

‘When I saw him earlier, his appearance resembled that of a snake.’

He hadn’t used the invisibility ability, probably because of the flowing water in this location.

“Captain Yannick! Catherine’s vital signal is still valid!”

“What?”

Upon hearing a member’s shout, Yannick manipulated the terminal on his wrist. Soon, the vital signals of the members of Squad 4 and the vanished comrade Catherine, as well as the visual feed from her camera, appeared inside the visor.

‘She’s still alive?’

Catherine’s signal was faint, but she was still alive. Judging by her view, she seemed to be leaning against a wall somewhere in the passage.

“Captain, Catherine hasn’t died yet. If we don’t rescue her quickly, it might be too late.”

“...”

Yannick fell silent at the member’s words.

‘A trap.’

The creature was using the signal device for disruption tactics. There seemed to be something fishy about it.

“He’s highly intelligent. There’s no way he’d leave a wounded person for no reason.”

“Catherine might have resisted. With enhanced physical abilities from the assault pack, she could easily handle his body, even with a blade cutter.”

That was a valid point. When they entered the sewers, they didn’t just rush in without any information about the monster. Based on various types of information, including the armaments of the comrades who fought with him at the hospital and the station, the current Eden Knights had an idea of the monster’s defensive capabilities.

“What... Ugh?!”

“He’s around! Don’t take off your helmet!”

In order not to melt his head along with it, the knight quickly removed his helmet.

A little late, but Yannick saw that the creature’s main body was hiding in front, not behind.

However, his warning came too late.

The tail of “It,” which had wrapped around the knight’s leg, emerged from the water and pierced through the back of his head.

“..ugh!”

The knight with a hole in his head collapsed.

“Damn it! The main body is behind us! Open fire!”

Yannick and the knights quickly fired their bolters. Several shots hit the creature’s head, but it didn’t care and leaped across the passage.

“One person, stay to protect the wounded! The rest, follow me!”

Thirteen knights chased the creature at a rapid pace.

The creature’s movements were still fast, but being hit in the head seemed quite lethal, as it couldn’t widen the distance from the knights.

Yannick, who was closing in on the creature, alternated between his bolt and plasma gun.

‘I misjudged! I should have waited and called for reinforcements!’

In a short time, less than a few minutes, four knights were killed. Furthermore, one was injured.

While they managed to injure the creature, the losses on their side seemed much greater.

“He’s moving through the narrow passage!”

“According to the map, the passage end is blocked.”

“Good!”

The somewhat good news was that the creature seemed confused.

It frantically moved around, seeming unfamiliar with the injury, to the point of pushing itself into a dead end.

“Alright, this is our chance.”

Yannick resolved to subdue the creature while it was still disoriented. He and the knights entered the narrow passage.

***

‘Ah, damn, it hurts a lot.’

I sustained wounds on my body. Thanks to the regenerative effects, the outer layer of my head had almost completely healed, but the shoulder area was still recovering. Moreover, the blood-sucking tentacle on my left arm was torn about half, requiring considerable time to heal.

‘It’s indeed tough without the Symbol of Hunt.’

While my exterior was tough, it was challenging to block blade cutters or plasma attacks.

‘Maybe the ‘Perfect Organism’ properties alone aren’t enough.’

The synergy of the organic enhancement type and the complete organic effects made my skin more robust than ever, but there were still many shortcomings.

‘I intentionally tried to lure them into complacency.’

Plasma attacks were thrown with confidence in the resilience of my head, but getting hit by the blade claw was unexpected. It hurt more than I thought, to the point where I unintentionally made a sound.

‘There are still many enemies to fight, so I need to be more careful.’

Anyway, it’s almost over now. I’m currently at a dead-end in a narrow corridor, just wide enough for me to barely fit. Even without focusing on auxiliary systems, I could hear the sounds of enemies chasing me into the corridor.

‘They’re furious.’

Seeing the turbulence in the water, it seems the enemies are quite enraged.

‘Losing composure during battle is most dangerous.’

I adjusted my posture, half-submerged in the water. This narrow passage was indeed a bottleneck. The enemies, taller than 2 meters, could only form two columns at best, or one column if not. They would move within the passage like that.

In other words, there was no cover even if a powerful area attack were to be launched.

‘Psychic enhancement type, and Perfect Organism that enhances the type effect.’

How strong will it be?

‘Let’s experiment.’

When I first obtained the Psychic enhancement type, I instinctively knew. Thanks to the type, the restriction on the psychic breath had increased, allowing me to fire it up to a maximum of two times.

‘Normally, one time would make me lose consciousness.’

Not now. The current situation doesn’t allow for it. Seeing the increasing flow of the water, the remaining distance between them and me is now minimal.

‘The enemies have come far enough.’

In case they turn around to flee, I need to time it as accurately as possible. Even though I could use it twice, I couldn’t waste my valuable psychic breath ability in vain.

[The distance with the creature is 10 meters.]

I heard the enemy’s voice. The outline of the knight leading the way could be seen in the darkness.

I turned my body toward the outside of the passage and activated the monster’s tentacles.

A bunch of violet tentacles emerged from the back of my head, trembling and moving. Long and thick violet tentacles aimed toward the front of my head, demonstrating the power of a dragon.

[He seems to be bo... Wait! Something’s not right!]

“What’s this? E...Everyone, activate your shields!”

The one who appeared to be the commanding officer among the knights hastily shouted.

Not a bad judgment, but can shields really block this?

After I became Amorph, I never experienced such an overwhelming psychic power concentrated in front of me.

A massive psychic power, something only the great dragons of the universe could handle, focused in front of me.

The dirty filth inside the narrow passage couldn’t withstand the energy, boiling.

It wasn’t the same as before, where all my life force and mental power were sucked out. Now, it wasn’t to that extent.

Instead, it was scorching hot.

And then, like a violet sun that only great dragons could wield, it fired.

The water evaporated, and the metallic walls that composed the sewage turned into dust.

The violet light emitted from the shields the knights raised couldn’t compete with the pure energy in the corridor. When the violet heat touched, the shields disappeared as if they had never existed.

The sturdy armor of the knights, the expensive assault packs, the various genes in their bodies – everything was engulfed by the violet heat.

After the psychic breath ended, there was nothing left in front of me.