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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 374
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｢There has to be a way to keep him alive. Isn't there something we can do?｣
“To regulate cellular degradation and collapse, auxiliary equipment is required.”
｢What about preserving just his head?｣
“That is impossible.”
Mother of the Sky looked down at the dying Salman.
His entire body was disintegrating into particles of light simultaneously. His wings and legs had long since vanished. A quarter of his head was already gone, and the skin on his torso had dissolved, leaving his muscles and organs completely exposed.
Her original plan had been to subdue Salman and wait for the Amorph to arrive.
That thing oversaw the Returner faction’s equipment. The information stored in his head was no doubt valuable. In terms of intelligence on the Returners alone, he might even surpass Alshas
‘Not to mention the special trait he has.’
The ability to dominate wild creatures, ‘Beast God's Snare’, was far too powerful to let slip away. For the Amorph, which gained strength through the genetic essence of living beings, it would be an exceptional asset.
But things had taken an unexpected turn.
At this rate, Salman's body would completely collapse before the Amorph even got here. Not only would the information be lost, but the special trait would be beyond reach as well.
‘If that's the case, then…’
She turned her gaze away from Salman and scanned her surroundings.
Countless creatures remained frozen in place, unable to move. The grip of Salman's ability still held them bound, as long as he remained alive.
But that power would fade soon.
‘I need strength.’
In the past, she had made a choice. And as a result, she had lost her husband and family.
Even in this battle, she had been forced to choose. Strike the enemy while PS-111 acted as bait, or retreat.
And in the end, she had failed to choose either. No, her decision had been worse than either option. If not for Adhai, the situation would have turned out far worse.
Past and present, her choices had been wrong. The reason was clear.
She simply didn’t have enough power.
Rather than being forced to make difficult decisions, she needed to create a situation where no choice was required at all. And for that, she needed strength.
She still had unfinished business.
Vengeance.
The ones who had killed her family still walked freely in this world.
That was the very reason she had agreed to cooperate with the Amorph in the first place.
Regardless of the bond she had formed with its friends, she had never abandoned her goal of revenge. And now, for the sake of protecting these strange little creatures she had come to care for, she needed more power.
‘Resolve alone isn’t enough.’
Even with a new transformation ability and powerful equipment, it still wasn’t enough.
She clenched the spear in her grip tightly.
‘I’ve never taken someone else's special trait before, but…’
She had heard stories of other players fighting over special traits. Though she hadn’t learned the exact method, she could make an educated guess from what the Amorph had done.
｢Help me out.｣
“Please state your request.”
｢I’m going to take his heart. Stop anyone who tries to interfere, even if just for a moment.｣
When Wolf ascended the stages of deification, they required the hearts of other creatures. The same applies to gaining perks from other players, as we saw with Amorph.
Determined, Mother of the Sky stepped toward Salman.
---
‘Huh?’
As I was flying toward the location where Salman’s base had been, the Auxiliary Organ organs beneath my jaw trembled. A strange signal was coming from my left and right head replicas.
‘What is it?’
It didn’t feel urgent enough to indicate a dangerous situation. Instead, even by my own standards, something highly unusual seemed to be occurring.
“Why’d you stop all of a sudden?”
Isabel asked as I halted mid-flight. She was likely worried that something had happened to her sister, PS-111.
I told her I needed to check something and landed on the ground. Lying low, I focused my senses on the Auxiliary Organs, allowing my consciousness to shift outward.
The connection stabilized, and I began perceiving an environment different from my current one.
There was a faint scent of blood in the air. Along with it, I detected weak energy waves.
Strangely, those energy waves were emanating from a corpse. The body was so heavily damaged that there was hardly any intact flesh left. The chest, in particular, had been violently torn open, as if something had ripped it apart.
And the scent of blood was coming from the rocky hill behind it.
Or rather what I had thought was a hill.
Because there was no such thing as a mountain with four eyes.
Four narrow eyes were slightly open, observing my replicas.
‘A Mountain Crawler?’
I had never seen a Mountain Crawler of this size before. These creatures grew endlessly until death, and for one to reach this scale, it would have to be at least several thousand years old.
‘I don’t know why something like that is here, but…’
A specimen of that age could potentially possess valuable traits. I needed to subdue it with my replicas first and consume it with my main body later.
I moved my left and right heads, preparing to strike.
But then, a familiar figure emerged from its back.
A Gallagon with snow-white scales and crimson horns.
Adhai.
‘So she took down the satellite and came here?’
She had likely arrived after witnessing the explosion of the antimatter bomb.
“I’ve managed to close some of the wounds, but it's only temporary”
Descending from the Mountain Crawler’s back alongside her were PS-111 and Mother of the Sky. They, too, had spotted my replicas.
Mother of the Sky, now back in her griffon form, was clad in a sleek black sheen, different from before. It was the new combat gear designed specifically for Wolf.
PS-111 dismounted from the Mountain Crawler’s body and approached me. Two of its arms had been damaged, likely from the battle.
“Sub-controller ‘The Amorph’, similarity detected at 82%. Are these replicas?”
“Yes. What happened?”
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, we failed to secure the target.”
“Unforeseen circumstances?”
“The target overdosed on a Psionium-class substance, causing genetic instability and cellular collapse. Survival could not be maintained until your arrival.”
As PS-111 explained, I felt faint psychic energy radiating from Mother of the Sky. She was looking at me intently, trying to convey something.
‘Is she sending a telepathic wave?’
Unfortunately, I couldn't understand it at the moment. My replicas lacked the monster tentacles necessary to interpret telepathic signals converted into psychic power.
PS-111, in addition to verbal speech, could transmit specialized micro-wavelength signals similar to Number 26. That meant I could communicate with it and Isabel using just my mimicry organs and auxiliary organs.
However, Mother of the Sky and Adhai had no such ability. Communicating with them required the presence of my monster tendrils.
‘I’ll come with my main body and talk to them directly.’
“I need to verify something. There aren’t any more hostiles nearby, right?”
“The Middle One used its newly acquired ability to drive away all hostile creatures in the area.”
Hearing that confirmed my suspicion Mother of the Sky had acquired Salman’s special trait, ‘Beast God’s Snare’.
‘I had assumed she would keep him alive until I got here.’
I hadn’t explicitly told her my intentions. But someone like her wouldn’t have overlooked Salman’s value. He could have provided us with more information than even Alshas
However, looking at the corpse with its chest torn open, it seemed too severely damaged to extract any useful information.
Information retrieval was now uncertain, and the special trait was lost. Considering I had placed my trust in Mother of the Sky and PS-111, the outcome was rather disappointing.
‘Still, there must be a reason. I should hear them out properly.’
I left a message saying I would arrive with my main body and disengaged the link. As I moved, Isabel hurried over to me.
“Sis? Is she okay?”
[ZZZZZ ZZ ZZZ Z (She’s fine, don’t worry about it.)]
I had seen that two of her eight arms had been shattered, but that kind of damage wasn’t significant for her. With the right materials, she could regenerate them on her own.
With Number 26 and Isabel, I took off into the sky again.
After a period of flight, we arrived at their location.
“Sis? What happened to your leg?”
“It sustained damage during battle. I will upgrade it using appropriate materials, so there is no need for concern.”
“Please be careful. Just because you’re a machine doesn’t mean you can’t die.”
The moment we landed, Isabel started lecturing her sister after seeing her injuries.
｢Big One?｣ ｢You changed?｣
｢Big One ate strong, solid prey and transformed!｣
Adhai gazed at me with her gem-like eyes, analyzing my new form. Number 26, seeing this, raised its tentacles and mimicked a Magmasaur.
｢Horns｣ ｢Big｣ ｢Many｣ ｢Good｣
It wagged its tail, seemingly pleased with my transformation. Given its taste, it wasn’t surprising that it liked my current form, now reinforced with Destroyer Carapace.
Under normal circumstances, I would have explained my body’s changes to it, but there were more pressing matters to attend to.
“You seemed like you had something to say earlier. What happened?”
Mother of the Sky nodded and began explaining what had happened during the battle with Salman, why she had no choice but to take his special trait, and everything in between.
‘I see.’
The explanation wasn’t long, but it was enough for me to understand her reasoning. I could tell how much effort she had put into avoiding the worst possible outcome.
Moreover, the unexpected side effects of the enhanced Psionium variant were an unexpected gain.
‘And the fact that she obtained the special trait could also be considered a win, in its own way.’
It was disappointing that I couldn’t acquire it myself, but at least it was in her hands. That was enough for now.
“I understand what happened.”
｢…I’m sorry. If I had been stronger, I could’ve gotten a better result.｣
“This is more than enough. Don’t blame yourself.”
With that, we concluded the matter of Salman. I lifted the fallen ranker’s corpse and put it into my mouth.
PS-111 had mentioned his genes had mutated. That seemed to be the case.
The moment I bit down, I was met with a horrible, eraser-like texture. Since becoming the Amorph, this was the worst-tasting prey I had ever eaten.
It was so unpleasant that I barely chewed before swallowing. I waited for a moment, but there was no reaction from my body.
‘Just as I thought, it’s useless.’
Both my mimicry organs and my Humanoid Parasite host relied on analyzing the genes of what I consumed. Since his genes had been damaged at a fundamental level, no information could be extracted.
Clicking my tongue in disappointment, I shifted my attention to the new companion Mother of the Sky had brought along.
“That Mountain Crawler… did Salman bring it?”
｢Huh? Oh, yeah.｣
She turned around as if just remembering it.
“It’s staying still. So, you’ve already taken control?”
｢It’s… not exactly control. The effect of the trait changed a little.｣
“Oh?”
｢It’s more like a connection than pure domination. I can sense its emotions and memories.｣
She placed a hand on the Mountain Crawler’s head, and the massive beast closed its eyes, its demeanor resembling that of a tamed pet basking in its master’s touch.
“A connection, huh.”
｢Even now, I can feel its pain, its fear… even the painful memories of what it went through here.｣
Her amber eyes trembled slightly.
Hearing that, it sounded almost like an advanced version of my parasite network.
‘Wait.’
Something in her words caught my attention.
“You said you can sense its memories?”
｢Yeah.｣
“How detailed are they?”
｢Well… Ah!｣
Realization struck her, and her eyes widened.
That colossal Mountain Crawler had been under Salman’s control. Meaning it had likely witnessed everything its master had done here.
‘Good.’
To extract information from it, I first needed to heal its wounds.
I reached out and implanted symbiotic spores into the injured creature.
‘Next, I need a nest.’
The situation had shifted from what I originally expected, but that wasn’t a problem.
If everything went well, I might be able to achieve all of my objectives on this planet.
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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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