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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 395
‘What is this…?’
I examined my altered form, now manifesting both Symbol of Hunt and Bone Beast.
The body shape resembled that of the Symbol of Hunt. My vision had vanished, the auxiliary organ beneath my jaw had evolved dramatically, and a new scythe-like bone arm had formed between my waist and pelvis features distinct to the totem.
What had changed were the thick spikes sprouting all over my body, resembling stalactites. Not only did they protrude from hardened areas like my head, back, and chest, but also from my arms, fingers, and tail. Despite this, I moved without any difficulty.
The reason lay in their structure.
Each of the massive spikes was composed of numerous fine, saw-like bone fragments. They flexed and extended freely in response to my movements. It was akin to wearing a nanomachine exosuit from a sci-fi movie.
｢Tremendous energy… detected. Body form… and color… altered.｣
｢White… Amorph. First… time seeing this.｣
PS-111 and Isabel both expressed astonishment at my transformation.
Isabel, in particular, seemed most struck not just by the shape, but by the color change. The spiked armor encasing me now gleamed silver and white so different that someone unfamiliar with Amorph might mistake me for a completely different creature.
‘That's enough checking my condition.’
The mutation was complete. Time to move. Something had changed in the system text window, but there was no time to check it.
Dice of the Void lasts for a total of three minutes. Normally, Symbol of Hunt and Bone Beast couldn’t coexist. Once the effect ends, one of the two is likely to be canceled.
‘Or maybe both will deactivate.’
This was only my second time using the dice. I had no way of knowing the outcome.
‘No. I can’t worry about that now.’
I spread the winged arms that had curled up during the mutation. Energy flared from my wings, propelling me forward with tremendous force.
As I rapidly closed in, the enemy ship presumably carrying the ranked enemy began to move. The Heavenly Sword.
｢Target… concentrating energy.｣
PS-111, clinging to my back, issued a warning. Just as it said, an enormous amount of energy was building at the blade-like bow of the ship. Even if downsized, it was clearly beyond the scale of a standard warship’s main cannon.
It wouldn’t be quite on par with a superweapon, but it wasn’t far off.
I immediately stopped mid-flight and activated the Complex Spectral Organ along with Adaptive Bioweapon.
Energy surged from the spiked carapace covering my body. Simultaneously, the dorsal armor that stored my parasitic tentacles writhed and expanded.
As a shimmering haze gathered to form a semi-transparent mirror-like structure, the armor on my back rapidly thickened. I was replicating the dorsal plating of Magmasaur, a powerful apex predator.
[ZZZ ZZZ (Everyone, below.)]
My body swelled into a beetle-like shape, and I drew Isabel and PS-111 under my chest for protection.
At that moment, the enemy’s energy weapon finished charging.
A beam resembling an ion cannon similar to the ones mounted on Gigacrackers shot forth, its brilliance growing rapidly. Even if not quite superweapon-tier, the energy contained within was enough to annihilate an entire fleet.
The blazing beam streaked toward me, colliding with the Complex Spectral Organ. The massive energy dish shimmered like a prism, wavering under the impact.
But unlike usual, it didn’t reflect the attack immediately.
The Complex Spectral Organ could only reflect energy types I had previously taken damage from. Other types or attacks inherently immune to reflection were merely reduced to half damage.
Thanks to Dice of the Void, all restrictions were temporarily removed. Whether that applied to the reflection ability was uncertain. So, I had set up a backup plan and my instincts were right.
The matrix held momentarily, dispersing some of the energy, before vanishing completely. The beam’s residual energy washed over me.
‘Huh?’
I had increased my defense through Adaptive Bioweapon, but I hadn’t expected it to nullify the attack entirely. The heat ray fired by that ranked enemy’s ship had previously triggered Pain Suppresion repeatedly from sheer force.
And yet the pain I felt now was barely noticeable. Though my body was being scorched by intense heat, the damage didn’t penetrate deeply.
It was thanks to the spiked armor that had replaced my outer shell.
The moment the thermal beam struck my body, the clustered spikes across my surface rippled like waves. Just like a porcupine laying its quills flat, every spike across my form retracted. Layer upon layer, they overlapped until there was no space left between them so tight that not even a sliver of light could slip through.
｢Outer shell structure: verified, highly hardened. Fascinating, it is.｣
｢Sister, watch your head, okay?｣
PS-111 said.
These newly formed spikes were composed of the same material as bone. Interlocked, they formed a biological shield, causing my defense to skyrocket exponentially. Even a thermal beam from a lightweight ion cannon no longer hurts in the slightest.
Eventually, the enemy’s barrage began to slow. The tangled spikes along my surface sprang back into place, sharp and ready once more.
The Heavenly Sword, which had just fired a beam, pulled back. From the urgency in its movements, it clearly hadn’t anticipated this outcome.
‘Where do you think you're going?’
Roughly one minute and thirty seconds remained.
I unfurled my wings and gave chase. Enemy warships, trying to protect their ranked fighter, launched torpedoes and thermal blasts at me.
But the spikes on my surface danced constantly, intercepting every attack. Cradled in the small arms on my chest, PS-111 and Isabel worked with me to keep the enemies at bay.
When I didn’t slow down, the enemy warships charged in directly.
A massive wall of alloyed metal tried to block my path. Before, I might have veered off to go around it but not this time. I neither stopped nor swerved. I crashed straight into them.
A violent explosion engulfed me from the impact. The remaining ships shoved back, pushing against me. These were Megacorp and Star Union warships using ramming tactics.
Foolish.
I slammed them with my head, now armored with the Ice Horror’s carapace. Hulls designed to withstand the harshest voids of space crumbled like sandcastles.
Some of the ships aimed for my torso and waist. PS-111 and Isabel quickly crawled to the carapace on my back.
｢Don't worry, about us!｣
｢The Heavenly Sword, must be eliminated.｣
Isabel released a powerful psychic pulse.
She was right. I couldn’t afford to let this ranked enemy escape.
I brought down the scythe-like arm attached below my waist toward the nearest warship. The blade, imbued with the high-temperature discharge of a Pyromancer, gleamed pure white. The ship’s outer wall, several meters thick, sliced like paper.
The warship split clean in two. Following that, my combat arm, modeled after the Gigacracker’s body, ballooned massively. I grabbed the ship with the rapidly expanding limb and swung it hard.
The enemies encircling me were swept away by the steel storm I created. Ship after ship burst apart in explosions. I tore through the blazing inferno, pressing forward.
There stood the Heavenly Sword. While the other ships tried to restrain me, it had been preparing to fire another thermal beam.
It wasn’t far. At this distance, I could easily use my corrosive tentacle to grab and reel it in.
Just then, my body shook violently.
A Star Union Jax Alpha-class warship larger than even I was now slammed down from above. My tentacles sprang from the carapace, but were blocked by its thick armor.
‘Still…’
I had one more way to pull it in.
I opened my jaws wide toward the Heavenly Sword. The muscles of my tongue, connected to my inner jaw, swelled rapidly. Then, like a bullet, the dual-jawed tongue shot forward.
It was the tongue of the Dreadsong, replicated as a variable-type bioweapon piercing straight into the Heavenly Sword’s bow. The enemy couldn’t dodge while preparing a thermal blast, and the tongue struck true.
I tugged on the tongue embedded in its bow. As the distance between us shrank, the energy gathering inside the enemy warship began to dissipate. It was clearly trying to cancel its beam and switch tactics.
Only about ten seconds remained.
Flying directly to strike it would take too long, and too many enemies still stood in the way.
‘There’s no other choice.’
I'd avoided using it, especially now that the Dragon Heart was disabled but there was no alternative.
At my will, monstrous tentacles began to move. The stored energy inside me converted into psychic power, rushing into the appendages. The once-white tentacles turned familiar shades of violet.
The highly condensed psychic power became visible to the naked eye, clustering in front of my snout.
‘Five seconds now.’
The sphere floating in front of my head elongated, and a violet line stretched outward like a dawn-lit horizon.
From the Heavenly Sword, a powerful shield something cultists might use flared into existence to block the psychic breath. But even that could not withstand a breath forged from the power of a dragon.
The shield held for a moment before shattering, and the breath slammed directly into the Heavenly Sword. The resulting explosion was even more powerful than when an entire battleship went up. The shockwave swept through everything around, including me and the nearby ships.
The spines that had been shielding me disintegrated the moment they touched the shockwave. At the same time, my enlarged body began to shrink.
｢Don’t know what that was, but… is it over?｣
｢Energy loss. Body color, shape… restored to previous state.｣
The effect of the Dice of the Void had ended, releasing the skeletal beast form.
‘The Symbol of Hunt is still active.’
Since those two traits are incompatible, it seemed only one had been canceled.
‘Still… good thing I finished it before the effect ended.’
Just as I thought that, a massive energy surge was detected in the distance.
‘Faster-than-light travel!’
Judging by the energy surging through my auxiliary sensors, a large fleet was attempting a faster than light jump. There’s no doubt the enemy ranker called in reinforcements just before their ship was destroyed.
‘This is bad.’
I had already expended a great deal of power and traits. Engaging a massive fleet now would be unwise. And if another ranker is among them, the situation could spiral out of control.
‘Maybe I should prepare the Black Devourer Cannon…’
While I was thinking that, the enemy fleet jumped into the system. Over a hundred ships tore through the void, wrapped in a shimmering blue glow.
I could lose control from the energy strain, but there was no time left to worry about risks.
Just as I began preparing the Black Devourer Cannon, I sensed a familiar presence from behind.
It was Adhai, the fastest Gallagon I knew. She launched a cluster of violet spheres from the tendrils around her mouth. They shot toward the incoming fleet.
The sphere looked so small, so fragile and insignificant. But the one who forged it was none other than the Queen of Dragons. The power within it had been tempered by starlight, a force unique to Red Gallagons.
When the violet sphere Starflame collided with the lead ship of the fleet, a tremendous shockwave spread in every direction. The auxiliary systems temporarily went numb from the magnitude of the energy release.
After the energy dispersed and the shockwaves faded, there was nothing left in the area where Starflame had struck. The reinforcements the enemy had summoned vanished without even leaving dust behind.
｢Power of the stars.｣ ｢Used twice.｣ ｢Tiring…｣
Adhai staggered as she approached. Having launched two Starflames without being in her full Red Gallagon form, she looked thoroughly drained. She couldn’t even maintain her Red Armor.
｢Big One.｣ ｢Did I… do good?｣
[ZZZZ ZZZ Z (It was a perfect move.)\]
｢Praise… makes me happy!｣
Feeling the sincerity in my brief praise, she lit up with joy.
‘She’s done enough.’
Now she should rest. Of course, since the battle wasn’t over, I would need to protect her. I reached out a wing-arm toward her.
At that moment, Adhai's body trembled.
‘…Huh?’
From the small Gallagon’s abdomen, a viscous liquid oozed out into space. Slowly, she collapsed into my hand.
‘Adhai?’
The instant I realized the fluid was blood, I hurriedly pulled her inside my body.
｢Amorph! Front! In the wreckage enemy!｣
Before I could even process Adhai’s condition, Isabel’s psychic wave burst in.
Just as she said, hidden among the wreckage from the Heavenly Sword’s explosion, something stirred. A grotesque creature, holding a rifle-shaped weapon, was watching me intently.
‘Akira Yujin!’
The Megacorp ranker wasn’t dead. And now, it was aiming for my throat.
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 395
