Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 183



Only Noblemtl

Ep. 182

The enemy’s shouts echoed through the tunnel. The only emotion in his voice was fierce anger.

‘good.’

This makes it less likely for the enemy to retreat, because enemy players will never think of going back until they kill me.

‘It’s Morphbak.’

The opponent is the third player I’ve encountered after Muriel, the Mother of Heaven. Unlike when I fought Muriel, I only have limited information about the enemy.

It’s not going to be an easy fight.

‘But I don’t intend to lose.’

I ran across the frozen ice and recalculated my cards.

The tetanus vines I had prepared to surprise the enemy were just used.

Tetanus Vine is an infection-related trait inspired by the flesh-eating plants often seen in classic horror films. The method of infection is similar to that of a parasite.

There is a space inside my fighting arm where parasites and tetanus vine seeds can live. Just as parasites can escape through small holes in the arm when needed, tetanus vine seeds can emerge from holes in the inside of the palm.

The difference is that, unlike parasites that can enter the body of others on their own, the tetanus vine cannot do that. It exists in the form of seeds when it is in my body, so I have to inject it directly into the other person.

Once inside the body of the victim and taking in nutrients, the tetanus vine grows very quickly. It can reach full growth in as little as five minutes, or as little as ten minutes, and then prepares 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. This is similar to the way a branch of a plant grows when cut and planted in the ground.

Naturally, the host dies during the explosion, as it’s as if a grenade exploded inside his body.

Because of these characteristics, I mostly used Parasite and Tetanus Vine together in large-scale melees or when making surprise attacks.

Even players who have a lot of experience fighting me often prepare for this by immediately killing players who are controlled by parasites.

So the cult players chasing me won’t be fooled anymore.

‘It was used well as a provocation and lure, so it’s okay.’

Aside from the Tetanus Vine, other spleen items include the Bone Beast and Revenant Organ that we recently acquired.

Both traits play a very important role in Aimov’s combat. They are traits that I used a lot in the game.

You can think of Bone Beast as a trait that combines the effects of ‘King of Monsters’ and ‘Emblem of the Hunt’ that I obtained into one set.

Of course, it’s not like you’ll become dramatically stronger like when you use the King of Monsters or the Symbol of the Hunt.

The effects of the Bone Beast can be summarized into two main points.

‘Giant Gallery’s defense power has been strengthened.’

Since it is a trait created using the giant creature trait and the bone axe trait as materials, it inherits the effects of both traits.

When the Bone Beast trait is activated, my body becomes slightly larger than when I used the Gigantic trait. My body is currently about 28m long, so you can think of it as growing about 3 times that size. Of course, as my body grows larger, my strength also increases.

Up to this point, it’s similar to a normal giant transformation, but in the bone beast state, one more thing is added.

The point is that a solid bone armor is placed on the surface of the body. It is similar to how shells grow here and there on my body when I wear the symbol of hunting. Since spines are added to the thick armor, I can hit and hit enemies of similar weight to me when fighting them.

‘But there is no effect like increased speed.’

It is disappointing to think that when you use the symbol of hunting, the speed goes up instead of down.

‘If it’s good enough to be a symbol of hunting, that’s a problem too.’

The only special traits obtained through the Transcendence system are those that, as the name suggests, transcend the limits of Aimorph. It is too greedy to expect such effects from a bone beast that is ‘only’ a fusion trait.

Even though it is not at the level of a hunting symbol, I have a Bone Beast that is strong enough to be saved as a trump card. I can use it when facing off against enemy players. In addition, I now have the King of Monsters, a special state that can be transformed with the ‘Organic Evolution’ trait.

‘I have plenty of energy thanks to eating Ice Horror.’

I have enough energy to maintain the Bone Beast, since a beast hundreds of meters in size is in my stomach. Let’s use the King of Monsters, who consumes extreme energy, depending on the situation.

‘And the Revenant Agency.’

The Revenant Agency, as its name suggests, is a trait related to resurrection.

‘It doesn’t really revive you though.’

This fusion trait, created using ‘lyrics status’ as its material, functions in a completely different way from other traits.

Most of the traits I have are either always-on like passives, or give 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 is activated and secretes a special hormone to my heart.

Even if Aimorph was capable of actively controlling the activities within his body, he could not control the Revenant organ. It would be a characteristic that only works when conditions are met, just like in the game.

Not only that, the Revenant Engine’s effects vary depending on how powerful I am and what ‘state I’m in.

If you don’t properly meet this condition, even if you activate it, it will be of no use.

‘Plus, the cooldown is incredibly long.’

Due to these difficult conditions, there are few players who have used this trait properly in the game. At best, 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 as good as this one.’

The Revenant Engine is a powerful weapon that can turn the tide of battle if it is ‘properly activated’. If used well, it can really mess with cult players.

‘Where then, prepare for the whirlwind of gods… .’

As I was checking the numbers I had, I felt a familiar yet unfamiliar sensation in front of me. Numerous images appeared and disappeared before me, as if the video was being played at double the speed.

At the same time, the auxiliary organ under the chin trembled.

“An unknown danger is approaching.”

“■■■■■■ is my ■■ ■■■■.”

‘Predator sense!’

I quickly slid down the corridor, my body pressed against the ground. A ball of ominous energy barely brushed past my back and the back of my skull. As the energy bullet hit the corridor wall, an eerie sound was heard and the spot it hit evaporated.

“Fucking Cunt! Where are you running off to!”

An angry voice came from behind me. It was a cult player. Then I felt an ominous energy bullet flying towards me.

‘… Tsk!’

The cultists protecting the players shot a demolisher at me.

The demolisher’s bullets were aimed squarely at my auxiliary organs, as they knew that was my weak point.

I quickly covered the auxiliary organs with my combat arm while turning my head to the side. Most of the energy bullets missed, but not all of them, and a few hit my arm.

“Pain relief activated!”

The synthetic scales and carapace around his wrist melted like ice placed on a hot plate as soon as they touched the substance fired by the Demolisher.

‘… That’s why I made a surprise attack.’

Because of its size, it is not easy to dodge small energy bullets. That is why I dealt with it by making a surprise attack before shooting the demolition shells from the other side.

I opened my mouth with my head tilted back, lifting only my upper body, and fired the acid fungus at the cultists standing behind me.

The green liquid that had been flying through the air stopped as if it was fixed in midair.

A faint purple glow can be seen in the darkness that fills the passageway. An enemy player has used psychic powers to grab the liquid.

‘Tsk.’

“Moffick, it’s because of you that Alya died.”

I didn’t respond, but instead used my tail to slap the ceiling above the passageway. I ran again, leaving the collapsing ceiling behind me.

The enemies fired psychic skills at me as they were unable to shoot the demolisher due to the ice and rocks in the passage. Gravity Control and Binding were raining down on me, but I was one step faster.

Although some of the psychic techniques did hit the tip of my tail, I had the Swamp King’s pincers attached to my tail. My body’s best defense against psychic attacks was the best, so I was able to survive.

‘Even so, the connection is not ordinary.’

The cultists who entered the underground space of the Ice Plain split into three groups and targeted me.

I’ve personally fought the other two groups, excluding the ones guarding the players. None of the others were particularly impressive, except for the cult leader who died from the tetanus vines.

However, their movements when attacking me along with the enemy players were clearly different. Their connections were as natural as flowing water, as if their heads were connected as one.

‘It doesn’t seem like a buff technique.’

Looking at the situation, one technology comes to mind.

Among the most advanced psychic power techniques, there is one called ‘Ultra Control’. It is a crowd control technique that completely dominates the mind of a specific target.

It has a similar effect to Parasite, but it differs in that it is more controllable and the victim cannot resist.

‘There is no time limit.’

Unlike Amorph, which requires constant parasite replacement, once Ultra Control is applied, it cannot be removed until either the user or the victim dies.

The downside is that it doesn’t work well against enemies prepared for psychic attacks, and it can only control one person at a time.

‘So, it’s probably not true…’

Or maybe it’s a unique perk that he has. Maybe it’s a trait that grants a wide range of buffs to other cults.

As I was running, I heard a loud noise behind me.

The sound of a cult player breaking through a collapsed passageway. Then, as more cultists move about, the sound of their footsteps vibrate the passageway.

But it doesn’t matter, I’ve already reached my goal.

I broke through the half-collapsed, narrow passage and entered a wide cavity.

Ahead, you see a white skeleton hundreds of meters in size. This is the Ice Horror Tomb, the place where you lured the cultists and fought them earlier.

As soon as I entered, I quickly turned my head and prepared for the next attack.

The long monster tentacles that covered my neck and back began to move and head towards my head. Purple energy streams that started from the tip of my tail gathered towards my head along the synthetic scales.

A large sphere, 6 meters in diameter and larger than my head, was created at the end of my snout. The sphere, burning with purple flames from inside to outside, flew towards the passageway through which the enemies were running.

The sphere that had been a perfect circle became a single line of heat like the horizon. It became thinner, but its destructive power did not decrease.

A powerful force that even ships cannot withstand, psychic breath tears the passages of the underground caverns apart and advances forward.

But this time, the result I was hoping for did not happen.

The purple spear that had been flying while shattering the ice passage stopped in midair. And the heat ray naturally changed direction as if it was supposed to do so.

The target of the psychic breath manipulated by artificial power was not the cult, but me.

‘this!’

I quickly pulled my tail forward and raised my pincers. The psychic breath flying at me with great force collided with my pincers.

“Pain relief activated!”

‘Ugh!’

The force of the impact nearly broke my tailbone. I grabbed the claws with my fighting arms and used them as a shield to block the psychic breath.

The psychic breath began to reflect again due to the effect of the superpower reflective gloves that were also applied to the claws. As it was reflected repeatedly, the purple energies lost their target and flew around to various places nearby, getting stuck.

The wide underground cavern shook again with a great impact. The cracks in the ceiling and walls were incomparably larger than before.

Enemy players and cultists appeared as huge shards of ice rained down from above, too large to be described by the word “iceberg.”

“It’s annoying.”

A male cultist with staghorn horns and a full body suit of black armor muttered in annoyance. He had a small silver staff on his waist, and on his back was the axe, ‘Condemnation’, carried by the female cult leader.

I knew it the moment I saw it. The author was a cult player who was after me.

In front of the player, eleven cultists stood, wearing the same gear as the other groups. All wore ivory bodysuits and carried champion shields. Six of them carried Gallagon’s Claws, and five carried Demolishers.

In that respect, they were no different from other groups of temple guardians, but as soon as I saw them, I immediately noticed that there was something strange about them.

Their eyes were as glassy as if they had lost their minds, and the timing of their breathing was exactly the same for all 11 of them.

Moreover, it appeared to me that I could detect psychic powers as an auxiliary organ.

Each of the eleven cultists had purple stems stuck into their heads. These purple stems were all connected to the player and the back of their necks.

“You fucking Morph-bag, you killed Elya because of me. Fuck, it was so hard for me to conquer her… .”

The player, with his handsome face distorted into a vicious grimace, spat out a curse. The deer horn cultist, who was treated as royalty in the cult society, spoke like a thug, but the cultists in front did not react at all.

When I saw that, I was sure of what the enemy’s special ability was.

‘Upgrading the effectiveness of psychic power techniques.’

The one that just reflected my psychic breath, the purple stems that are now attached to the cult’s crown. I think I know what power they both come from.

‘Reflection and Ultra Control are clear.’

The reflective ability is probably Reflection. Originally, it was a technique that only reflected physical attacks, but for some reason, it became capable of reflecting supernatural attacks as well.

Ultra Control is a trait that originally only allows one person to control it at a time, but this guy is controlling 11 people at the same time.

Given that, it’s very likely that the enemy’s special ability will greatly enhance the effectiveness of psychic power techniques.

The reason I make this assumption is because I feel it is similar to me.

‘Of course, I can’t make a hasty decision.’

The important thing here is that they can also reflect energy attacks. If so, it makes my plan much easier to execute.

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 completely screwed!”

“You could have cured it, but you killed it.”

“Do you know what you’re up to? You probably have a nest or trap set up somewhere nearby. Or maybe you have that Wolf slave.”

“What does that mean?”

“Do you think I don’t know? Griffin Wolf, you ate it? Ha-ssi, whatever. I’ll think about it after you’ve prepared it first.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the cultists in front of him raised their weapons. The demolisher, which was targeting my auxiliary organ, looked like it would fire energy at any moment.

But I was also ready. I lay down on the spot and lowered my upper body close to the ground. As I changed my posture, the human-faced beasts on my back were preparing to attack.

When the human-faced beasts are not transformed into symbols of hunting, they are positioned on their backs. Due to their physical structure, they have no choice but to lie down like this to attack small-sized enemies.

‘firing.’

｢—–!｣｢—–!｣｢—–!｣｢—–!｣｢—–!｣

The human-faced beasts opened their mouths wide. Sound waves emanating from the small monsters shaped like cult heads shot out at the cultists holding the demolishers.

“Tsk.”

A player who clicks his tongue lightly at the sight.

The cultists who were being controlled hurriedly tried to escape, but not all of them were able to do so. Three cultists wielding the Demolisher were paralyzed by the attack and fell to the ground like boiled dolls.

‘Sound waves cannot be reflected.’

I kept that fact in a corner of my mind. Meanwhile, my body moved diligently.

The tip of my tail was pointed at the cultists who had avoided the sound waves. As soon as I opened the pincers on the tip of my tail, the thorns packed tightly inside were fired at the cultists.

“The outburst.”

As if they had known this would happen, the cultists holding the Champion Shield moved with nimble movements. They quickly approached the Demolisher shooters and blocked their thorns with their shields.

Then the other cultists put gravity control on me. The gravity around the space I was standing in changed drastically, putting a strain on the entire space.

The output was so enormous that even the cult’s limiters were removed with Ultra Control. I had been lowering my body, and I had no choice but to bury my head in the ground.

“You act like shit in real life, and you act like shit here too. You should know that you’ll never be able to act nicely.”

The player didn’t care at all as the minions casting Gravity Control gushed blood from their eyes, nose, and mouth.

I said with difficulty as I watched him play as if he had won everything.

“Father, I thought you were going to wear it?”

“You fucking morph-bag, this is a cheap way to catch you.”

“okay?”

“But Alya, she was a good girl. Thinking about it makes me mad again.

As he gestured, annoyed, the cultist with the demolisher shot an energy bullet at my head. Some of the monster’s tentacles were cut off as they were hit by the energy bullet that disintegrated everything.

“Pain relief activated!”

“Ugh!”

“Are you sick? You little shit, you’re acting all sloppy.”

A scream escaped my lips without me realizing it, as I was in pain beyond my imagination. The player groaned at the sight.

“You know, the best record I’ve ever seen for a kid is one year? Let’s see how much longer you can last.”

The player seemed delighted at the thought of capturing me and torturing me.

But there’s one thing he still doesn’t know.

I’m not standing still because I’m scared of him or because I have no way to deal with him. While he was off guard, his special trait was ready.

“Don’t forget those words.”

“what?”

Instead of answering, I raised my head slightly.

And I opened my mouth wide. The moment I fired the thorn, the power of the brain god that I had prepared boiled up from my chest. The enormous energy that had been sleeping in my chest like a beast on a leash received the signal and rushed forward. A golden ray of light that brilliantly illuminated the dark underground cave, the whirlwind of gods, sprang out from my mouth.

“What?!”

The player who saw that sight was surprised and spread both arms. It was an attempt to use reflection like when blocking psychic breath.

But the divine scepter I shot flew not at them, but towards the wall far above them. Its force, strong enough to destroy an imperial carrier, created a huge hole in the ice ceiling.

The remaining energy spread out along the shared ice walls and ceiling like lightning across the night sky.

The underground cave shook violently as if an earthquake had occurred, perhaps because it had been struck by the whirlwind of God.

“Ha, haha. Hahahaha! You crazy kid! You missed that one!”

As I unleashed the power of the Brain God, all the strength drained from my body. The player went crazy upon seeing me lowering my head.

‘You missed the mark?’

Well, is that really so?

“I can block your lightning attacks anyway… huh?”

The player who was laughing at me shuts his mouth. He also knows.

This means that the vibrations occurring within the community are unusual.

‘I wasn’t aiming for you in the first place.’

He probably doesn’t know why I fought here. When I first came in here, I should have thought it was strange to see the Ice Horror’s corpse behind me.

This place was quite dangerous as we fought against the Ice Horror. Above us was a vast plain of ice hundreds of meters thick.

The reason this underground world has been able to survive for so long is simple: no shocks have occurred that were big enough to upset the balance.

But ever since I started fighting the Ice Horror, that precarious balance was completely shattered. The ice walls that used to be like Atlas supporting the huge ice block were all in shambles, and the cracks in the ice ceiling above my head were bigger than the rest.

In that state, there is no way you can endure it if you use the Whirlwind of God.

“First, take care of your subordinates here and then go.”

“This fucking kid?!”

The panicked player cursed and used Reflection, but it was not enough to stop the barrage of huge chunks of ice.

As I watched him struggle to block, I pulled out my next card.

‘Now is your chance.’

A bone beast that turns Aimorph into a giant monster. Its trait has been activated.

My body began to grow rapidly within the collapsing cavity.