Ep. 182
The enemy's cries were heard like echoes in the tunnel. The only emotion in his voice was fierce anger.
'good.'
This reduces the possibility of the enemy retreating. Because enemy players will never think of going back until they kill me.
'It's called Moffak.'
The opponent is the third player encountered after Muriel, the Mother of Heaven. Unlike when fighting Muriel, I was in a situation where I only had limited information about the enemy.
It will not be an easy fight.
'I don't plan on losing though.'
As I ran across the frozen ice, I recalculated the cards I had.
The tetanus vine prepared to surprise the enemy was just used.
Tetanus Vine is an infection-related trait inspired by the man-eating plants that frequently appear in classic horror movies. The infection method is similar to using parasites.
Inside my fighting arms is a breeding ground for parasites and tetanus vine seeds. Just as parasites escape through small pores in the arm when needed, tetanus vine seeds emerge from pores on the inside of the palm.
The difference is that, unlike parasites that automatically enter the other person's body, tetanus vines cannot. When it is in my body, it exists in the form of a seed, so I have to inject it directly into the other person.
The tetanus vine, which enters the opponent's body and ingests nutrients, grows at a very fast rate. It will fully grow in 5 minutes at the earliest or 10 minutes at the latest, and then prepare to reproduce.
'It's like becoming a human bomb.'
The tetanus vine, which spreads through blood vessels, explodes itself when a new host appears nearby. It can be said to be similar to new growth if you cut off a branch of a plant and plant it in the ground.
Of course, the host dies during the explosion. It's like a grenade exploded inside your body.
Thanks to this feature, I mainly used Parasite and Tetanus Vine together in large-scale melees or early surprise attacks.
Even players with a lot of experience fighting against me often prepared for something like this and immediately killed the player being controlled by the parasite.
So cult players who come after me won't be fooled anymore.
'It's okay because it was used well as a provocation and bait.'
Aside from Tetanus Vine, if you look at other trump cards, there are Bone Beast and Revenant Engine that you recently acquired.
Both traits play a very important role in Aimov's combat. These are the characteristics that I like to use in games as well.
Bone Beast can be seen as a trait that combines the effects of 'King of Monsters' and 'Image of the Hunt' that I obtained into one set.
Of course, it is not at all possible to become dramatically stronger like when using the King of Monsters or the symbol of hunting.
The effects of Bone Beast can be broadly summarized into two.
'Strengthening the defense of Giant Hwarang.'
Since it was created using the Giant Creature trait and the Bone Ax trait as materials, it inherited the effects of both traits.
When the Bone Beast trait is activated, my body becomes slightly larger than when I used the Gigant trait. My current body length is about 28m, and I can see it growing about three times from here. Of course, as your body grows, your strength becomes stronger.
Up to this point, it is similar to a regular giant flower, but one more thing is added in the bone beast state.
The point is that the surface of the body is covered with a hard bone armor. It is similar to how shells grow here and there on my body when I use the symbol of hunting. Because things like spines are added to the thick armor, you can inflict damage by bumping your body when fighting an enemy of similar weight class as you.
'Instead, there is no effect such as increased speed.'
It is disappointing to think that when using the symbol of hunting, the speed increased rather than decreased.
'If it's good as a symbol of hunting, that's also a problem.'
The unique characteristics obtained through the transcendence system are, as the name suggests, those that transcend the limits of Aimorph. It is too greedy to expect that much of an effect from a bone beast that only 'barely' has fusion characteristics.
Even though it is not at the level of hunting, the bone beast that is powerful enough is also saved as a secret weapon. It can be used when confronting enemy players. In addition, I now have the special status monster king that can transform with the characteristic of 'organic evolution'.
'Thanks to eating Ice Horror, I have plenty of energy.'
Since a beast measuring hundreds of meters has entered my stomach, I have enough energy to maintain the bone beast. Let's use the King of Monsters, which consumes a lot of energy, depending on the situation.
'And the Revenant Agency.'
As the name suggests, Revenant Agency is a characteristic related to resurrection.
'It doesn't really revive you, though.'
This fusion characteristic, created using the 'state of suspended animation' as a material, functions in a completely different way from other characteristics.
Most of the characteristics I have are either passive, active at all times, or have special effects when I activate them.
Revenant institutions, on the other hand, operate only conditionally.
Although it is not visible from the outside, there is a very small secretory organ attached to my heart. If the conditions are met, this organ activates on its own and secretes a special hormone to the heart.
Even if it were an Amorph that could actively control the activities inside the body, it could not control the Revenant organ. It is a feature that only works if the same conditions as the game are met.
That's not all. The effects of the Revenant Agency vary depending on how powerful I am and 'what state I am in.'
What if this condition is not properly satisfied? Even if you activate it, it is of no use.
'Plus, the cooldown is very long.'
Because of these difficult conditions, there are very few people in the game who have used this feature properly. At most, I and the 4th place outspacer ranker were the only players who had fun with this trait.
'But when you look at me now, there is no joker card like this.'
The Revenant Agency is a weapon so powerful that it can immediately turn the tide of the war if it is 'properly activated'. If used well, it can really mess you up when fighting cult players.
'Then prepare for God's whip…'
While I was checking the last number I had, I felt a familiar yet unfamiliar sensation in front of me. Numerous images appeared and disappeared in front of me, as if the video speed had been doubled.
At the same time, the auxiliary organ under the chin trembled.
「An unknown danger is following.」
「■■■■■■ is my ■■ ■■ ■■■.」
'Predator sense!'
As I was running down the aisle, I quickly placed my body on the floor. An ominous ball of energy narrowly passed over my back and the occipital carapace. When the energy bullet hit the wall of the passage, an eerie sound was heard and the area where it was hit evaporated.
"Fucking Cunt!" "Where are you trying to run away?"
An angry voice heard from behind. He was a cult player. Then I felt an ominous energy bullet flying towards me.
'…Tsk!'
The cult protecting the player shot a demolisher at me.
The Demolisher's bullets were aimed precisely at my auxiliary organs. Just as I know that is my weakness.
I tilted my head to the side and quickly covered the auxiliary organ with my fighting arm. Most of the energy bullets missed, but not all, and a few hit my arm.
「Pain relief activated!」
The synthetic scales and carapace near the wrist melted like ice on a grill as soon as they came into contact with the material fired by the Demolisher.
'…That's why the surprise attack was carried out.'
Because of its size, it is not easy to avoid small energy bullets. That's why they dealt with it by surprise attack before shooting the Demolisher from over there.
I lifted my upper body, turned my head back, and opened my mouth. Then I fired acid fungus at the cultists standing behind me.
The green liquid that was flying through the air stopped as if it were fixed in the air.
A faint purple light can be seen in the darkness that fills the passage. The enemy player used psychic power to capture the liquid.
'Tsk.'
"Mofbak, Alya died because of you."
Instead of responding, I used my tail and struck the ceiling above the passage. I ran again, leaving behind the collapsing ceiling.
Since it was difficult to shoot the Demolisher due to the ice and rocks in the passage, the enemies fired psychic techniques at me. Gravity control and restraints poured down on my back, but I was one step faster.
Although some of my psychic techniques fit the tip of my tail, my tail has the Swamp King's claws attached to it. I was able to survive because my body had the best defense against supernatural attacks.
'Even so, the connection is not normal.'
The cultists who entered the underground space of the Ice Plain divided into three groups and targeted me.
Of these, excluding the ones guarding the player, I personally fought the other two groups. Aside from the cult leader who died from the tetanus vine, none of the others were particularly impressive.
However, the movements of those attacking me along with the enemy players were noticeably different. The connection was as natural as water, as if the heads were connected as one.
'It doesn't seem like a buff technique.'
Looking at the situation, there is one technology that comes to mind.
Among the highest-end psychic power techniques, there is a technique called 'Ultra Control'. It is a crowd control device that completely controls the mind of a specific target.
It has a similar effect to parasites, but differs in that it can be controlled more precisely and the victim cannot resist.
'There is no time limit.'
Unlike Aimorph, which requires constant replacement of parasites, Ultra Control, once applied, is not released until either the user or the victim dies.
The downside is that it does not work well against enemies prepared for psychic attacks and that only one person can control it at a time.
'So it's highly likely not…'
Or it could be a unique special effect that it has. It may be a trait that gives a wide range of buffs to other cults.
As I was running, I heard a loud noise behind me.
This is the sound of a cult player breaking through a collapsed passage. Next, the sound of footsteps made by the majority of the cult members moving causes the passage to vibrate.
But it doesn't matter. Because I have arrived at where I was aiming.
I half collapsed, breaking through the narrow passage and entering a wide cavity.
In front of you, you can see a white skull hundreds of meters long. This is the Tomb of Ice Horror, the place where the previous cults were lured and fought.
As soon as I got inside, I quickly turned my head and prepared for the next attack.
The long tentacles of the monster, which started from the carapace on the back of my head and covered my neck, moved and headed towards the front of my head. Streams of purple energy started from the tip of my tail and flowed through my synthetic scales towards my head.
A large sphere with a diameter of 6 meters was created at the end of my snout, larger than my head. The sphere, burning with purple flames from the inside to the surface, flew toward the passage where the enemies were running.
The sphere, which had maintained a perfect circle, became a ray of heat like the horizon. Although the thickness became thinner, the destructive power did not decrease.
The psychic breath, a force so powerful that not even a ship can withstand it, moves forward, tearing apart the underground passageway.
But this time, the results I hoped for did not happen.
The purple spear that flew through the ice passage stopped tall in the air. And the heat rays naturally changed direction as if they were supposed to.
The target of the artificially manipulated psychic breath was not the cult, but me.
'this!'
I quickly pulled my tail out in front of my body and raised my claws upward. The psychic breath that flew at me with such fierce force collided with my claws.
「Pain reduction activated!」
'Pfft!'
I almost broke my tailbone because of the tremendous impact. I grabbed the claws with my fighting arms and used them as shields to block the psychic breath.
Psychic breath began to be reflected again due to the effect of the psychic reflective armor applied to the claws. Due to the successive reflections, the purple energies lost their target and flew around nearby.
The wide underground cavity received a great shock and shook again. The cracks in the ceiling and walls had grown incomparably larger than before.
Enemy players and cults appeared as huge ice fragments, so large that it was difficult to describe them with the word icicle, rained down from above.
"It's too much of a bother."
A male cult member wearing black, full-body armor and antlers muttered in annoyance. He had a small silver stick on his waist, and on his back was the ax 'Danjin', which was held by a female cult leader.
I knew it as soon as I saw it. That the author is a cult player targeting me.
In front of the player, 11 cult members stood armed with the same weapons as the other groups. They all wore ivory bodysuits and wore champion shields. Six of them held Gallagon's claw sword and five held Demolisher.
In that respect alone, they were no different from other temple guardian groups, but as soon as I saw them, I immediately realized that something was strange.
Their eyes were blurry, like a person who had lost his mind, and the timing of their breathing was the same for all 11 people, with no difference whatsoever.
Moreover, it seemed to me that I could sense psychic power with my auxiliary organ.
Each of the 11 cult members had purple stems on the top of their heads. Those purple stems were all connected to the player and the back of his neck.
"Fuck you, you bastard, I killed Alya because of you. "Fuck how difficult it was for me to attack him…"
The player cursed, his handsome face contorted in a grim way. The Deer Horn Cult, who were treated as royalty in the cult society, spoke like a bully, but the cults in front of them did not react at all.
When I saw that, I was convinced. What are the enemy's perks?
'Upgrading the effect of psychic power technology.'
The purple stems that just reflected my psychic breath are now hanging from the top of the cult's head. I think I know what abilities they both derive from.
'Reflection and ultra control are evident.'
The ability to reflect is probably reflection. Originally, it was a technique that only reflected physical attacks, but for some reason, it was able to reflect psychic attacks as well.
Ultra Control is an ability that can only control one person at a time, but he is controlling 11 people at the same time.
Considering that, it is very likely that the enemy's perk greatly enhances the effect of psychic power skills.
The reason I assume this is because I felt it was similar to mine.
'Of course, we can't be too sure.'
The important thing here is that it can also reflect energy-type attacks. Then it will be much easier to carry out my plan.
I opened my mouth to buy time to prepare the next card.
"It's because of me. "I don't understand."
"You don't understand? "You planted a tetanus vine and the kid got all messed up!"
"It can be cured, but you are the one who killed it."
"Do you know what else you are going to do? They must have also placed nests or traps nearby. Or that Wolff slave."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think I don't know? Gryphon Wolf, you ate it, right? Ha, what happened? "I'll have to take care of you first and then think about it."
As soon as he finished speaking, the cult members in front of him raised their weapons. The Demolisher that was targeting my auxiliary organ looked like it was going to fire its energy at any moment.
But I am also ready. I lied down on the spot and lowered my upper body close to the floor. As I changed my posture, the beasts on my back were preparing to attack.
When they are not transformed into hunting symbols, they are located on the back. Due to the structure of the body, if you want to attack a small-sized enemy, you have no choice but to lie down like you do now.
'launch.'
「—–!」「—–!」「—–!」「—–!」「—–!」
The beastmen opened their mouths. The sound waves emitted by the small monsters in the form of cult heads were fired towards the cultists holding the Demolisher.
"Tsk."
The player lightly clicks his tongue upon seeing that.
The cult members who were being controlled hurriedly escaped, but not all of them could escape. The three cult members holding the Demolisher were paralyzed and fell to the floor like stuffed dolls.
'Sound waves cannot be reflected.'
I stored that fact in the back of my head. Meanwhile, my body was moving diligently.
The tip of my tail pointed towards the cultists who had escaped the sound waves. As soon as the pincer at the end of the tail was opened, the thorn needles packed inside were launched towards the cult members.
"It's a struggle."
As if they knew this would happen, the cultists holding the Champion Shield moved with agile movements. They quickly approached the Demolisher gunners and blocked the thorn needles with their shields.
Next, other cult members applied gravity control to me. The gravity around the space where I was standing changed significantly, putting a strain on the entire cavity.
The output was enormous, as if all of the cult's limiters had been lifted with Ultra Control. As I was lowering my body, I had no choice but to hit my head on the ground.
"You act like shit in real life, and you're doing it here too. "Know that you will never be treated well."
Even though the minions using Gravity Control were bleeding from their eyes, nose, and mouth, the player didn't care at all.
When I saw him acting like he had won everything, I said something with difficulty.
"I thought you cared about your subordinates?"
"You damn Morphbag, is this cheap enough to catch you?"
"okay?"
"But Ally, she was a good girl. Thinking about it makes you angry again?
When he got irritated and gestured, a cultist holding a Demolisher shot an energy bullet at my head. Part of the monster's tentacles were cut off after being hit by an energy bullet that disintegrates everything.
「Pain reduction activated!」
「Uuuuu!」
"Does it hurt? "What a fucking bastard is out there."
A scream escaped my mouth without me realizing it because the pain was beyond imagination. The player laughed at the sight.
"The highest record I've worked on so far is one year, right? "Let's see how much longer you can hold out."
The player seemed happy to capture me and torture me.
But there's one thing he doesn't know yet.
I'm not staying quiet because I'm afraid or have no way to deal with it. While the guy was caught off guard, the trait was ready.
"Don't forget those words."
"what?"
Instead of answering, I slightly lifted my head up.
And he opened his mouth wide. The power of the Thunder God, which had been prepared from the moment the thorn needle was fired, boiled up in my chest. Like a beast on a leash, the enormous energy that had been sleeping in my chest received a signal and raced away. A golden ray of light shining brilliantly in the dark underground cavity, the divine whip, spewed out from my mouth.
"Fuck?!"
The player who saw this was surprised and spread his arms. The intention was to use reflection like when blocking a psychic breath.
However, the whip of God I fired did not fly towards the guy, but towards the wall far above them. A force powerful enough to destroy an imperial carrier created a huge hole in the ice ceiling.
The remaining energy spread along the ice walls and ceiling of the cavity like lightning spreading across the night sky.
Perhaps because of God's whip, the underground cavity shook violently as if there had been an earthquake.
"ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha! You crazy bastard! "You're missing that one!"
As I vomit out the power of the Thunder God, all strength drains from my body. The player went crazy when he saw me with my head down.
'You missed it?'
Well, is that really the case?
"I can block your lightning attack anyway… huh?"
The player who was laughing at me shuts up. He knows it too.
This means that the vibration occurring within the cavity is unusual.
'I wasn't targeting you in the first place.'
He probably doesn't know why I fought here. When I first came here, I thought it was strange to see the Ice Horror's corpse behind me.
While fighting the Ice Horror, this place was in a very precarious state. Above our heads is a vast ice plain boasting a thickness of more than several hundred meters.
The reason why this underground world has been able to persist so far is simple. This is because there was no impact large enough to shake the balance.
But after I started fighting Ice Horror, that delicate balance was completely broken. The ice walls, which were like an atlas supporting the huge ice block, were all ruined, and the cracks in the ice ceiling overhead were larger than the cracks in the other parts.
In that situation, there is no way I could survive because God's whip was applied to me.
"First, get rid of your subordinates here and then go."
"What the fuck?!"
The panicked player cursed and used reflection, but it was not enough to stop the barrage of ice blocks of enormous thickness.
As I watched him try his best to block it, I took out the next card.
'Now is your chance.'
A bone beast that turns Aimorph into a behemoth. Its trait is activated.
My body began to grow rapidly within the collapsing cavity.
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