Ep. 205
–
Survival is competition.
Finding food, finding a place to rest, forming a relationship with the opposite sex and leaving offspring. Everything has to do with competition.
In order to find limited food, they must compete with other beings, and where they feel comfortable, other creatures feel the same way. The same goes for feelings toward the opposite sex.
However, just because survival and competition are closely linked does not mean that everyone can become the winner of the competition. Most creatures in nature live defeated in some aspect.
The owner of the small cave, Shark Bear, was also a being with two sides: a winner and a loser. He won all other competitions, but was eliminated in only one category.
He had no partner.
Maybe it was because he fell away from the group early on.
He failed to learn social skills and only judged creatures other than himself as food. There were a few females who approached him, but they all left because of his attitude.
But what does that matter?
He has a cozy cave and the vast area around him is all his. Except for the fact that he cannot leave any descendants, he lives a sufficiently satisfactory life.
Today too, a young male shark bear was leisurely walking around the hunting grounds to satisfy his hunger. There were no creatures around here that could threaten him.
Except that a beast with white fur and long arms and legs occasionally invades its territory.
The monster that walks on two feet is agile and strong. Arms moving in unpredictable directions are especially annoying. As such, it is a bit of a burdensome enemy for Shark Bear as well.
Still, the young male wasn’t worried. This is because a while ago, he kicked out a bastard that had entered his forest without realizing it. Since I’ve scolded him properly, he won’t be coming in for a while.
While he was walking through the forest in peace, a smell reached his nose. A warmth and stickiness that does not match this cold, frozen place. And the sweet scent that permeates deep within.
It was the smell of blood.
Someone died in his hunting ground.
“Kuong.”
The young male let out a soft cry.
Who dares to invade his territory? he thought. This time, I won’t leave alone the white-furred monster that doesn’t know the subject.
As I followed the scent flowing in the air, I saw an open space. There was a source of blood smell in the middle of a clearing with falling snow.
If it had been any other time, the male would have rushed out right away, but he didn’t.
Something was strange. No predator would throw away delicious food like that for no reason.
He broke his attention from the sweet scent and looked around. There were no other animal footprints on the snow-covered ground. I raised my head and looked up at the open space.
As always, only white snowflakes fell continuously from the dark sky. Was his sense of ominousness wrong?
The tip of a tree branch was visible in his line of sight. Unnaturally bent tree branches. It looked like something heavy had fallen from the sky.
If he had any social skills and interacted with other members of his race, he would have known what those traces meant. How dangerous the beings flying above your head are.
But the young male, who lived alone, never knew that. He approached the snow-covered corpse. His jaw opened wide and the teeth inside came out all at once.
The moment when you are just about to enjoy dinner.
Something flew over his head from the black sky.
–
「The ‘Enhanced Endocrine Gland’ characteristic has been applied.」
「Can be fused with the existing ‘Muscle Reinforcement’ feature.」
「The ‘Enhanced Endocrine Gland’ and ‘Muscle Reinforcement’ characteristics have been fused. Evolve with the ‘Berserker Synapse’ trait! 」
「Berserker Synapse: Improves overall physical abilities. Energy consumption rate is lowered and more energy can be stored in the body.
*P.S.: You are a living tank and a locomotive that never stops.”
‘Phew. Finally.’
After catching the 11th shark bear, I finally gained a new trait. It took quite some time because I didn’t use the hunting symbol.
‘The symbol of hunting should be left for Skywhale.’
Sky Whale has mine characteristics such as ‘energy absorption’, but it also has many other useful characteristics. It has many good characteristics other than ‘giant creatures’ and ‘space flight’. It would be nice to say that as powerful as it is, it is worth hunting down.
Anyway, I looked down at the body with the new attribute ‘Berserker Synapse’ applied. Due to the nature of internal organ convergence, no significant changes were observed.
The only difference is that the muscles around the arms and neck have been strengthened and become thicker. The muscles in their wing arms have also improved, allowing them to fly faster and longer.
‘Overflowing with energy.’
In the game, there were only numerical changes, but is this because it is reality? I feel full of strength throughout my body. I hadn’t used the hunting symbol transformation mode yet, but I knew it instinctively.
Now we can worry less about side effects.
「Big baby, can you not eat any more?」
[Zuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzu (Yes, it’s okay. You eat the rest)]
“I can sense a rapid increase in muscle density and a change in energy distribution rate.”
“…You have amazing muscles.”
Number 26, who had always been by my side and watched me grow, didn’t show much interest, but the other kids didn’t. PS-111 wanted to harvest my skin tissue, and Heavenly Mother was keeping an eye on the muscles in my fighting arms.
[Zuz, zuzuzu, zuzu, zuzuzu (Let’s leave right away when we finish eating)]
“Yes. I like flopping.」
[Zuzuzuzuzu Zuzuzu Zuzuzu Zuzuzu Zuzuzu (Where should I go to find Skywale?)]
「…Huh? Oh well. “Hmm.”
She brought the priest’s golden spear from the nest and thought the changes in my body were interesting. She was staring at my arm with her amber eyes and was startled when she heard my question.
“Well, I’m sure it’s somewhere in the atmosphere, but I’m not sure where I can easily find it. As you know, they move around non-stop.”
As she said, Skywhale has no nest. The planet and the entire universe are their sphere of activity. They move around the planet’s atmosphere, absorbing solar energy and other energies. Then, when you get tired of it, you move to another planet or star system.
The planet where the Dragon’s Nest is located is rich in psychic power, so Skywhale often visits it. So it is very likely that there is a SkyWhale somewhere on this planet.
“It hasn’t been found around here.”
PS-111 said as he ate the shark bear’s meat with his hook-like hand. The piece of meat in his hand shrunk in an instant and turned into a dry leaf. No. 26 ate the dried meat and disposed of it.
I thought as I watched them eat.
‘There are gallagons in the dragon’s nest, so I won’t go near there.’
Events where Gallagon and Skywhale fight often occur in the game. Skywhale, which absorbs all hostile energy, is the opposite of Gallagon, a powerful psychic creature. That’s why the Gallagons don’t like Skywhale coming close to the dragon’s nest.
‘Should I fly and look for it myself?’
This time too, it seems like the only way to do the search is to rely on auxiliary agencies.
After No. 26 and PS-111 finished their meal, I and the others began searching for Sky Whale.
Every time it flapped its wings high in the sky, its thick muscles twitched. Every time the black wings hit the air, the clouds around them split. Soccer-ball-sized hail mixed in with the snowstorm hit my wings, but my wing coating was not damaged in the slightest.
While my body and wings were flying in the sky like an ascending dragon, the auxiliary organs under my chin also did their job without stopping. We analyzed all kinds of factors, including the components mixed in clouds and the energy flowing in the air.
[Zuzu Zuzuzu Zuzu (Do you see anything?)]
“Not there yet.”
“I can’t feel anything!”
Sky Mother and No. 26, riding on my back, were also looking for traces of Sky Whale. The Mother of Heaven stood on two legs and looked into the clouds with eagle eyes. It was a huge improvement over my fear of flying.
‘Except I’m holding on to the erosion tentacles with my hands.’
Beside her, No. 26 took out a tentacle and traced the flow of energy.
I continued flying, maintaining just enough speed to make it easy for the kids to find me. I’ve eaten a lot of Shark Bear and have the effect of Berserk Synapse, so I still have plenty of energy.
While the search continued for a while, my assistant caught something. The feeling of gently tickling the tip of the auxiliary organ was subtly different from psychic power.
‘This?’
An unusual flow of energy can be felt in a certain direction. Number 26 on my back seemed to feel the same way and sent out a wave.
“Big baby! I feel a strange feeling over there!”
[Zu (yes)]
I slightly folded one wing and turned in the direction where I felt the energy. Due to inertia, the axis of my body suddenly shifted to the side. Then it spread its wings wide again and hit the air hard. Then my body shot out quickly like a missile launched from a launch pad.
As I sped up and rushed forward, I saw a huge mountain peak. It was a mountain that was incomparably higher than the Twin Peaks where we went to catch Crystal Wings.
A mountain that extends far above even through the clouds. Since the peak was above the clouds, there was no snow on the top of the mountain. The trees weren’t growing and it just looked black.
It looked more like a mythical giant than a naturally formed terrain.
“It’s huge. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a big mountain in my life.”
It was just as Heavenly Mother said.
What would it be like to see Olympus Volcano, known as the largest mountain in the solar system, with your own eyes? The majesty of the enormous black mountain was truly amazing.
As I got closer to the mountain, the flow of foreign energy felt even stronger. The black mountain was pouring out energy from the tip of its peak, like a volcano spewing out ash.
‘That mountain creates energy…’
「There you are! “There’s a Sky Whale over there!”
Just as I was about to pay attention to the mountain, the Mother of Heaven fired a thought wave. She pointed with her paw near the mountain peak. It’s hard to see because it’s far away, but something like a very small particle was hovering around the peak.
I increased my speed and approached him. Soon, Sky Whale began to appear in my eyes.
An elongated body resembling a whale, six wings that look like clusters of opal-colored particles, and eight eyes.
It was Skywhale, the space whale.
‘Looking at his size, he’s still young.’
Even as a sub-adult, Sky Whale reaches a body length of 50 m. The guy in front of us is about 60m tall. It is almost twice the size compared to me.
「 ——–」
It noticed my approach and let out a warning cry. Since it came to eat me in the first place, I ignored its warning and approached.
「 —!」
Then it became angry and spread its wings. Opal-colored particles began to glow and gather from its wings.
‘this!’
Not knowing what that meant, I folded my wings and dived. Then, six photon cannons were fired from its wings. Six heat rays as thick as the psychic breath I fired passed by where I was.
In the community, Sky Whale is evaluated as having a personality similar to that of an herbivore.
People who don’t know it may misunderstand that it’s mild and not dangerous, but think about it carefully. African elephants and hippopotamuses are also herbivores, but how scary they are.
The same goes for whales in space.
The one who fired first fired an opalescent heat ray again. I wrapped my wings around myself and spun around in the air. The heat rays lightly scratched the outer skin of my wings. The moment I unfolded my wings again after making an evasive maneuver, the Mother of Heaven on my back came out.
The goal is to block Skywhale’s photon cannon attack with the ‘Ice Demon’ ability. Skywhale made eye contact with her and trembled.
The light from its brilliant wings flickered and quickly faded.
“Right now, even one minute is my limit! I have to finish it within that time!」
[Zuzuzu (don’t worry)]
I didn’t plan on dragging it out for too long anyway. While he was distracted by the ice demon, I closed the distance in an instant.
The gun has been lost and eight eyes colored blue are visible. The guy who lost his mind is charging at me. I didn’t dodge either and just ran straight at him.
Then the black wings and the opal-colored wings collided with each other. There was a loud noise, like when lightning struck.
「 —–!」
Even though he was out of his mind, Skywale cried out as if he could not help the pain. I also felt quite a bit of pain at the impact area, but it was bearable.
A tentacle burst out from my back and bit into its body. It hit me on the head with its wing. Although the shell did not break, the impact was significant.
Ignoring the “Pain reduction activated!” text box, I opened my mouth and bit the guy’s wing.
It was in pain and tried to hit me with its other wing.
「Help the big baby and attack!」
“I will help.”
At that time, everyone on my back rushed towards Skywhale, who was holding me down.
The Mother of Heaven came for the first time in a long time, carrying the priest’s golden spear. While the golden javelin flashed and cut into the flesh, Number 26 swung its tentacles next to it and cut a wound on its back. PS-111 crawled like a spider and clung to the creature’s side, clawing at it with its claws.
Sky Whale has the ability to absorb energy, so all attacks using energy are impervious to it. Since we had told them before coming to fight, everyone attacked him with hand-to-hand combat.
‘This side has the advantage in close combat.’
It’s not that his melee skills are bad, but there’s one thing he lacks. The point is that the tenacity is weak.
Its outer shell can be easily damaged by our attacks.
「 ——」
He shook himself off and tried to throw down the enemies he was riding on. I tightly entangled the creature with my eroding tentacles so that it could not move.
The guy opens his mouth wide, probably thinking he can’t deal with the kids until he kills me.
Skywhale’s mouth is mainly used for purposes other than feeding. According to the setting, when males compete for one female, they bite each other’s bodies with their mouths to prove their strength. If bitten by those huge jaws, even a Sky Whale would inevitably suffer fatal injuries.
But there’s something he doesn’t know.
‘now!’
「?!」
The moment he opened his mouth, I put my head into his mouth. Before he could tighten his jaw, I stabbed him hard in the roof of his mouth with the horn of his head.
Six huge horns pierced the soft palate and even touched the delicate parts inside. I tightened my grip on the eroding tentacles and pushed my body deeper into its mouth.
「 ——–」
The guy tried to scream, but it was impossible. Because about a quarter of my body is stuck in its mouth.
I shook my head and scratched the inside of his mouth with my horn.
「—…」
And when my horn finally tore out its brain, it stopped moving. The light disappeared from the beautifully shining wings and the six eyes slowly closed.
As soon as the guy stopped breathing, all of us who were in the air began to fall quickly.
“Hey ya ya ya! You crazy bastard! away! It’s falling!”
“Waaaaa!” Fun!」
“If you measure the height and calculate the damage…”
I took my head out of Sky Whale’s mouth and spread my wings and arms wide. At the same time, the erosion tentacles that were holding the space whale’s body were suddenly stressed.
[Zuzzuzuzu (come up quickly)]
“Thank you.”
「…Ugh.」
「It was fun!」
I didn’t stop flapping my wings even while the kids were climbing up the tentacles. As I held on to the Sky Whale and waved my wings, the falling speed gradually decreased.
‘Now just go down and eat…’
At that moment, I felt a strong flow of psychic power. I immediately released the tentacles holding Skywhale and quickly flew upward.
For a split second, a thick purple heat ray tore through my tentacles. The space whale’s corpse fell down along with the tentacle pieces.
「King of the Sky」「Can’t be missed」
From the black sky, a being resembling a pure white angel was looking down at me.
‘…Ham Ort.’
The pure white Gallagon who took Aadhai.
White Gallagon Ham Ort was there.