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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 373
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"Hah?!"
Salman gasped for breath as he opened his eyes. He immediately looked down at his hands in a panic. Instead of the vibrant feathers that once covered his wings, he saw familiar hands covered in fine hair.
"Cough... W-What the hell?"
Just seconds ago, his body had been breaking apart. But now, his hands were perfectly intact, without a single wound.
‘No… these are my hands.?’
His skin, lightly tanned by the sun, his well-toned muscles, his neatly trimmed nails everything was exactly as he remembered.
They were the hands of a human man, the very hands he had lost long ago.
Thinking he might have somehow returned to reality, Salman hurriedly scanned his surroundings.
He was in a stark white room. There were no decorations, no furniture nothing but the chair he was sitting on.
And standing in one corner of the room was a small Cult boy.
With his horns cut off, the boy almost looked human. He muttered to himself, his words laced with static, making them difficult to understand.
However, Salman caught a few phrases.
"I didn't expect the psionium they made to have that kind of effect."
"You who are you?"
"Thanks to you, I got some valuable information. And since there's no ■■■■ this time, I'll lend you a hand."
The moment the boy finished speaking, a searing pain spread through Salman's entire body. A familiar force jolted his mind, dragging him back from the brink of madness.
He had received this kind of help before. Gritting his teeth, he fought to hold on to his sanity.
‘P-Psionium, I didn’t know it had side effects like this!’
When the enemy’s spear had pierced his chest, the psionium ampules inside him had shattered. The enhanced psionium within them had seeped directly into his wounds.
Ordinary psionium had no effect on those who had reached the final stage of growth or had exhausted its duration through repeated use. Overdosing wouldn't cause harm.
But the enhanced psionium was different.
The sheer volume of the substance that flooded his body had triggered an uncontrollable transformation. His flesh began converting into energy particles, independent of his will.
As a Simurgh adept at energy manipulation, he was able to maintain control over the mass of energy that had replaced his physical form but only because his brain was still intact. If not for his equipment, Golden Salamander, his body would have long since collapsed.
‘If not for its regeneration ability… cough… I'd be dead already.’
The Golden Salamander, known in the community as ‘Gecko Armor’, specialized in energy resistance and rapid bodily regeneration. While the armor worked to restore his body, he had to desperately suppress the runaway energy to prevent his own destruction.
He looked down at the golden spear still embedded in his chest.
‘First, I need to deal with this…’
It was interfering with his recovery. He reached for it, intending to yank it out but suddenly, he felt a chilling sensation at the back of his neck.
His controlled beasts were sending him a warning.
‘Those damn vermin… they're still here!’
The slaves sent by Amorph, who are after Salman's life.
Salman focused his mind, connecting with his controlled beasts. Through their shared senses, their vision and perceptions flowed into his mind.
All of them were fixated on the dark storm clouds above.
Moments later, the enemy emerged, parting the shadows.
‘…Huh?’
The last opponents he had fought before losing his mind were the mutant Screamer and the black thunderbird.
But the one emerging now was not the thunderbird.
It was something else, something with radiant crimson wings, glowing vividly in the darkness.
“…A Gallagon?”
Salman, possessing the power to dominate wild beasts, instantly recognized its identity.
Though much smaller than a typical Gallagon, its scales were a striking mix of red and white.
There was no doubt about it.
It was a Gallagon.
And this planet had no native Gallagon population.
‘…The Amorph!’
It had come here as well to hunt him down.
The crimson-winged Gallagon, illuminating the sky with its vibrant glow, moved. The airborne creatures near Salman immediately took to the skies, intercepting the approaching enemy.
But Salman had little expectation of their success.
The opponent was a Gallagon, after all.
If they could even stall for time, that would be a victory in itself.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
｢Just buy me some time. Hold it down.｣
At his command, every flying creature in his control, including the Fireflies, swarmed toward the Gallagon. The air was thick with wings, a dark cloud of bodies rushing toward their target.
Yet the enemy showed no intention of dodging.
As its horned head turned a deep crimson matching its wings it crashed into the swarm head-on.
One against hundreds. The outcome should have been obvious.
And just as Salman had predicted, the result was overwhelming but not in his favor.
Like a falling meteor, the Gallagon tore through his thralls, tearing them apart with savage precision. No creature in its path could halt its advance.
‘Great!’
The sight of the creature spraying blood and flesh over a cloud of volcanic ash was exactly what he expected.
Salman released all the energy coursing through his body at once. The energy concentrated in the shape of wings and turned into heat. The energy was enormous, as he had sacrificed his body to create it.
The heat raced through the sky, dwarfing the bombardment from the Cult's Thunder God, and at the end of it was Gallagon.
An intense flash blinded him as the heat ray hit its target. His link to the creatures he controlled broke instantly.
Through the eyes of his remaining ground forces, he glimpsed the aftermath of a storm of fire engulfing the sky.
A normal Simurgh's Energy Bolt attack has more firepower than a Green Gallagon's Psychic Breath. His energy bolts are even more powerful when fired while in a trance.
The heat rays he fired this time were far more powerful than his previous shots while in his power state. He wasn't thinking of the Thunderbolt for nothing.
Even a Magma Saur, with its fearsome defences, would be fatally damaged by this heat ray. That little Galagon will not be left with any flesh.
‘Now that he’s dead, I guess I’ll have to find another one.’
The mutant Screamer and the thunderbird had to be lurking somewhere. As his vision gradually returned, he had his creatures scan for threats on the ground.
There was a small flame in the blazing sky. With flames everywhere, the flame was surprisingly clear.
｢T-That’s impossible!｣
The creature that had once been a blend of red and white was now almost entirely ruby-colored.
There wasn’t a single Ranker who didn’t know what that red meant.
‘No. No, this has to be a mistake!’
Panic surged through Salman. He hastily gathered his energy once more, ignoring the searing pain of his body breaking apart.
Because he had failed to notice something.
The figure plummeting toward him from above.
｢?!｣
Salman’s eyes snapped up just in time to see a mutant Screamer, its grotesque form a fusion of spider and scorpion, descending upon him.
A flash of deep blue light flared at the tip of its tail. By the time he realized it was a firing signal the energy bullet had already grazed his face, slamming into his shoulder.
But the enemy’s attack didn’t stop there a massive, eight-meter-tall creature had leaped onto his body.
“Successful boarding. Proceeding to the next phase.”
｢You damn bastard…!｣
Its razor-sharp hook claws scraped against his armor, digging into the smooth surface and puncturing holes throughout it trying to destroy the Golden Salamander.
‘How dare you!’
Fleeing into the air was suicide as long as the Gallagon was still alive but the ground was still teeming with his thralls.
With the mutant Screamer still clinging to his back, Salman dove.
Just before impact, he twisted his body, slamming the enemy beneath him. The sheer force sent the creature tumbling off him.
The moment it hit the blackened ground, a Vulcarox charged in.
The Mutant Screamer, just beginning to rise, was sent flying by the bronze bull’s relentless charge. Other beasts quickly followed, closing in to rip it apart.
Meanwhile, Salman assessed his armor’s condition after suffering repeated damage, Golden Salamander was on the verge of breaking.
｢D-Damn it! You…!｣
As the armor’s regeneration effect wore off, waves of pain crashed over him. Salman howled in rage and agony.
‘That spear! It’s because of that damn spear!’
Losing himself to fury, Salman bent forward and clenched the golden spear in his teeth. With sheer force, he wrenched it free.
｢You think a mere slave of the Amorph can kill me?!｣
He hurled the spear aside, his voice thick with hatred.
The enemy who had been pushing back the Vulcarox with its hook claws turned to look at him.
｢A monster like you… You really think you can kill me?!｣
“There are two errors that I would like to correct.First, the Amorph and I do not share a master-servant relationship.”
The creature, which bore the face of a human woman, impaled the Vulcarox’s vital point with its bladed limbs before continuing.
“Second, my mission is already complete. Eliminating you is not my job.”
｢…What?｣
He barely had time to process those words before a sharp pain shot through his stomach.
His gemstone-like eyes slowly lowered. A spearhead, slick with blood, jutted out from his abdomen the armor encasing his body cracked apart, its systems shutting down entirely.
"Kh…!"
As the spear was wrenched free, blood gushed from the wound his strength gave out, and Salman collapsed to the ground.
Standing over him was the Wolf Ranker his golden ceremonial spear still dripping with blood.
“Target neutralized.”
｢That was close.｣
｢Y-You…!｣
The opponent was not in Thunderbird form, but in Griffon form. It must have dropped the Mutant Screener and prepared for the surprise.
With the Golden Salamander broken, Salman’s body was unraveling faster than ever his death was inevitable.
He had mere seconds left. At best, ten more.
‘Is this how it ends? Me, dying at the hands of these wretched nobodies?’
Salman was chosen in the real world, he had been a renowned tycoon.
Here, he had been a powerhouse in both worlds, he had been important.
“Target’s life signs are rapidly deteriorating.”
｢…What? Why so suddenly?｣
“Your body is collapsing at an accelerated rate.”
｢Collapsing? Don’t tell me… Did Golden Salamander break?!｣
“Affirmative. Life-support functions are no longer operational.”
｢Wait! You can’t just let me die like this!｣
｢Huh?｣｢Hunt…?｣｢Not done?｣
This wasn’t how his fate was supposed to play out.
‘No! Beom-Ho will save me. He has to!’
The leader of the Returners knew his worth hadn’t he already rescued him from madness once?
Beom-Ho wouldn’t abandon him.
Beom-Ho! I don’t have time!
‘Hurry! Save me! Beom-Hooooo!’
Salman called his name, again and again but there was no response.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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