Chapter 177

Chapter 177

Chapter 177

‘Could it be Gallagon?’

I sensed a faint psychic power emanating from the intruder. However, if it was Gallagon, they wouldn’t move this quietly. To investigate further, I lay back down on the nest.

Confirming that the sub-device under my chin was linked to the nest, I focused my senses on a specific point. Leveraging all my physical senses, I poured them into the source of the vibration.

Sound, smell, the flow of special energy. Thanks to the nest and its various features, my enhanced sub-device absorbed these three elements. The refined information sent by the sub-device was quickly interpreted by my brain.

‘A refined footprint. Military. Metallic scent. Slightly different. Tools made of some special alloy mixed with metals. And concealed psychic power.’

Putting it all together, there was only one answer.

‘Cult regular army, Vanguard Division.’

Though the distance made it uncertain, they seemed to be skilled individuals. Judging from their equipment and movements alone, they surpassed the Mock Combat Unit we encountered at the Cult sanctuary last time.

‘Guardians of the Temple, or perhaps the Eye of Providence Priests. Moreover, the one leading them...’

The one who extracts psychic power when destroying obstacles blocking the passage. An extraordinary individual.

Initially, I thought they were using psychic power tools to clear the blocked passage, but upon closer inspection, that wasn’t the case. They were concealing their psychic power, only exerting it briefly when necessary.

‘The most proficient in psychic power among those I’ve seen.’

Among the beings I’ve encountered so far, there are only two who handle psychic power the best: Number 26 and Code Black, the shadow of Yujin who fought in the TNC Special Trade Hub.

But that being alone surpasses both of them easily.

‘At that level, they’re almost Black Gallagon tier.’

Cult elite troops that include formidable individuals enough to raise my vigilance. As they gathered and split into three groups at the crossroads, there was no room for relief. All three groups were heading towards the nest.

‘They’re looking for us.’

Otherwise, they wouldn’t bother breaking through blocked ice passages to move.

「What is happening?」

PS-111 asked me, perhaps sensing my changed demeanor.

“There are Cult intruders. They seem to be coming this way based on the direction.”

“I don’t detect anything, but if what you’re saying is true, they’re probably a Cult group entrenched in Black Gallagon’s territory.Eugene

‘What?’

“That Cult group arrived on this planet 29 days ago. Currently, their camp is within Gallagon’s territory.”

Hearing that, I felt my heart sink.

To a Gallagon, their territory is a kind of hunting ground. It’s not only about hunting prey but also where adults provide hunting education to hatchlings, so it’s crucial.

Allowing Cultists entry into such an important place implies collusion between Gallagon and that Cult group.

An unidentified Cult powerhouse, and a Black Gallagon, who holds a high position even among the Apex. Fighting against both simultaneously would result in defeat given my current condition.

“Could it be that Black Gallagon sent the Cultists here?”

[It could be, or it might not be.]

“What does that mean?”

Upon my inquiry about the vague response, the individual began to explain in detail.

[According to reports from other intermediary terminals, the Gallagon group is currently in a state of division.]

“Division? Wait, could it be a leadership succession?”

[Yes. The second-ranked White Gallagon is challenging the Black Gallagon.]

“The White Gallagon is challenging? That’s odd. Unless it has evolved into a Black Gallagon, it could never win.”

The power difference between White and Black Gallagons is like heaven and earth. The Black Gallagon is so powerful that it can easily kill five White Gallagons rushing at it simultaneously. Other Gallagons also know this gap, so until the White Gallagon evolves into a Black Gallagon, they would never follow it.

[That would be the case normally, but the White Gallagon is leading multiple Gallagon groups and continuing the challenge.]

“Let’s skip over that for now. What’s the connection between the succession battle and the Cult group?”

[The second-ranked group is hostile towards the Cult group. Gallagons supporting the challenger have also been observed attacking the Cult.]

“I see.”

Listening to their words, I think I understand the situation. Although it’s a confusing situation, it seems the intruders and the Black Gallagon have an ambiguous relationship.

“So the Black Gallagon isn’t aiding the Cult. They’re just together for some reason, not as closely connected as one might think.”

[That’s correct. The Cult groups also haven’t taken actions supporting the Black Gallagon.]

However, even with that said, we cannot be certain. Now that we’re exposed, the fact that we’re in a dangerous situation doesn’t change.

After disconnecting from the nest link, I woke everyone who was sleeping. I explained the situation to them, looking tired.

‘Cult warriors? Why are they here?’

[Reason unknown]

‘...If a Black Gallagon-tier adversary is involved, it won’t be easy to handle. We need to get out of here.’

The Mother of the Sky, after hearing the situation, suggested leaving the nest.

Her words, indicating caution, suggested that the Cult was more than just priests, and the exceptional Cult warriors who accompanied them numbered in the tens. So, they likely meant to retreat first and assess the situation before fighting.

「Fellow」 「smell」 「similar」 「danger」 「very」 「danger.」

Adhai, sensing the gradually approaching psychic powers, agreed with The Mother of the Sky’s suggestion. The sight of his four-horned head twitching looked quite anxious.

“PS-111, do you have any information about the Cult group’s capabilities?”

“It was handled by other intermediary terminals, so I have limited information. Based on the insufficient data, it’s presumed to be a psychic power user surpassing the Cult Empire’s priests. Therefore, I recommend fleeing.”

PS-111, floating head and all, also opted for escape.

“We have to teach those bastards who endanger families a lesson!”

Only Number 26 had a different opinion, suggesting not to flee but to stand and fight.

He’s someone with a strong sense of responsibility to protect his family. He’ll likely sacrifice himself to protect those here.

Each of them looked at me after expressing their opinions. It implied a silent agreement to follow the decision I made.

‘Should he seem likely to lose the fight, commit suicide?’

He seemed to have no doubt whatsoever that the Temple Guardians would lose against the creature.

On top of that, he even instructed them on specific suicide methods. He insisted that if they were to die fighting the creature, they must never leave even a trace of their heads behind.

He even went as far as to tell them to concentrate their psychokinetic powers in their brains and detonate them if they felt like they were going to die.

“Why on earth?”

In cult society, suicide is generally taboo unless it’s for a specific purpose of self-sacrifice. Taking one’s life for trivial reasons is seen as a rebellion against the great ‘principle.’

I asked separately via telepathy, but he didn’t explain. He would simply tell them to commit suicide since they wouldn’t understand anyway.

When the most honorable priest in the Empire behaves like that, it’s only natural for the esteemed Temple Guardians to lose morale.

Even though they were divided into three groups of twelve each due to the fork in the road, the dissatisfaction among the members didn’t easily dissipate. Though Alia warned briefly, the members still harbored animosity toward Jason’s rude behavior.

[Alia! Movement detected ahead!]

At that moment, the scout shouted loudly. Upon this, Alia and the twelve guardians drew their weapons.

Silent but swift in their strides, they were conversing incessantly in the mental realm connected through telepathic links.

‘Jaxtal, Nesien will take care of the ceiling. We might be ambushed from above.’

‘Starbran, Bilone will cover the front, while I and Brentz will take the rear.’

‘Theren, something is disrupting the telepathic link. Check it out.’

‘Got it.’

While regular warriors could use telepathic links, they relied on helmets designed to amplify psychokinetic powers for this purpose.

However, the Temple Guardians were trained to communicate with each other without any special tools. This was to avoid exposing vulnerabilities during combat.

With flawless coordination, they entered a significantly large chamber. Apart from the fact that there were four paths leading out, there didn’t seem to be anything special about it.

“Which way should we go?”

“We can’t determine the shape of the underground chambers due to interference.”

“Looks like the enemy is nearby. Everyone, stay alert.”

With weapons at the ready, they proceeded cautiously, scanning their surroundings. As they crossed the chamber and approached the intersection of the four paths, Alia sensed something amiss.

“Hmm?”

It felt qualitatively different from before. She looked around, but besides the ice and rocks turned black by the darkness, there were no other notable features.

However, as a seasoned warrior, Alia pondered why she felt that way. And soon enough, she arrived at an answer.

“A smell!”

There was a different scent in this chamber compared to the ice corridors they had traversed thus far. It indicated that something unknown was mixed in the air.

Realizing this fact, Alia urgently sent a telepathic command.

“Activate Dragon Scale Armor...!”

Just as Alia was about to give the command, dozens of movements were detected around the ground where they stood. And from beneath the ground, creatures the size of cultists’ faces suddenly emerged.

“It’s an ambush!”

“Everyone, respond!”

The members immediately counterattacked towards the flying small creatures. Spears and longswords struck the creatures as arrows and bullets pierced through their heads. In the blink of an eye, dozens of creatures were swiftly dealt with by their lightning-fast response.

“What are these?”

“Jason said they’re offspring of the three-headed demons.”

Upon hearing this, one of the guardians picked up a creature’s corpse. The creature resembled a cockroach with a black carapace, with human-like teeth protruding densely around its face.

“Utterly dreadful appearance...”

As he was about to curse, he stopped speaking. He had seen something behind him through the shared Soul Link vision.

Beside his shoulder.

“Kikik.”

In the place where there should have been only deep darkness, there was a face as white as snow.

“Watch out!”

“Huh?”

Resembling a human woman’s face, ‘it’ opened its mouth wide like a snake. Inside its bright red mouth were hundreds, if not thousands, of teeth densely packed.

Then, the sound of bones crunching in his ear. That was his final memory.

“Brentz is down!”

“Initiate counterattack!”

The creature, with a giant bug-like body attached to the head of a human woman, began biting Brentz’s head and started to flee. With eerie movements, crawling on multiple legs, it disappeared into one of the four corridors.

“Kikik, kikik, kikik, kikik, kikik, kikik, kikik.”

Beyond the dim corridor, only the mocking laughter of the creature echoed ominously.

“Damn it! We’re going after it! Clear the area!”

“Uh, Alia? Bilone is nowhere to be seen.”

“What?”

Upon hearing this, Alia hastily checked the Soul Link.

It was as the member said.

One of the remaining eleven Soul Links was moving abnormally fast.

While Brentz was under attack, Bilone, who was guarding the front, had been kidnapped.

“No way?”

The three-headed demon they were targeting.

One of the demon’s associates was among them.

In this frozen labyrinth, they were not alone.