Ep. 86
‘No. 26?’
The identity of the pink jellyfish that broke through the asphalt on the road was number 26.
‘What has changed so much in the time I haven’t seen you?’
The guy’s appearance changed so much from before that I couldn’t recognize him for a moment.
First of all, those colorful colors flowing gently on the pink body were something that had never been seen before.
Energy shining in all kinds of colors was constantly changing and fluctuating above the body, and it looked like countless eyes watching the surroundings.
This effect is caused by ‘fear of the deep’, one of the Sea Demon’s unique characteristics.
Due to that characteristic, if a person who is not immune to mental attacks approaches the Sea Demon, they will go crazy or fall into a state of panic.
‘In addition, it can weaken the secondary psychic power skills used by nearby enemies.’
According to the setting, the Sea Demon possesses very powerful supernatural energy. So, superpower energy sometimes leaks out of the body.
The supernatural energy that escapes at this time has a negative effect on surrounding creatures, and the result of characterizing this phenomenon is the fear characteristic of the deep sea.
Therefore, if a person with psychic power uses long-distance auxiliary skills such as Soul Link or Spirit Attunement near the Sea Demon, they will not work properly.
‘Not only that, but that eerie visual is also famous.’
Imagine a monster over 20 meters tall in the deep sea watching you with hundreds of eyes.
It was so scary that overseas communities used the image of the Sea Demon with the fear of the deep sea activated as a disgusting meme.
Of course, the energy surrounding No. 26’s body did not look as vicious as the original.
Maybe it was deliberately controlled in front of me.
‘Now that I think about it, my appearance has changed a lot.’
The fear characteristics of the deep sea are so impressive that other aspects have also changed considerably.
A bundle of 20 long, thin tentacles stretched out from under the body, and thick fins that served as legs could be seen sparsely between the tentacles.
The tentacle shape was similar to the saw blade tentacle I had before.
Although it was thinner than mine, the sharp saw blades protruding from its entire tentacle were sufficiently threatening.
The guy who appeared completely on the road shot a wave at me.
｢Big baby!｣
No. 26 stretches out his tentacles and strokes me as if he is happy to see me.
Thanks to the symbolic effect of hunting, I also grew in size, but No. 26 was no slouch either.
It’s because the fins are bent, but if they were straight, they would be about 7m to 8m long, and the tentacles were over 10m long.
[Zuzuzu (How?)]
｢I did as my eldest child taught me! I ate a lot and grew up hard!”
It’s strange. I think I told you to stay hidden.
Is it because we evolved? Number 26’s intelligence seems to have improved much more than I expected.
“It’s not just me that has grown. Even the little one has grown a lot.”
[Zuzu (What?)]
A green object rose into the air from the pit behind No. 26.
It circled through the atmosphere inside the space city and landed lightly in front of me.
｢Adult｣｢Nice to meet you｣
Adhai bowed his head and greeted me.
‘Did you grow up to be Green Gallagon?’
No. 26 also changed a lot, but Aadhai’s appearance was truly a cataclysm.
The color of the scales mostly turned green, with occasional blue scales. Its body length has grown to well over 1m, and its wings have become much larger than before.
Not only the body and color, but also the appearance has changed significantly.
Previously, it resembled a skink due to its chubby body and long legs, but now it has transformed into a completely different appearance.
The four long, well-stretched legs reminded me of a deer, and the slim and flexible body was even charming.
On the other hand, unlike its slender body, its tail felt relatively thick and plump.
In the case of the head, it had a bundle of tentacles instead of a mouth, but the head became longer than before and the number of horns on the head increased to four.
‘It’s very small compared to Green Gallagon, but it looks similar.’
Moreover, seeing that the tail got thicker as it grew, Aadhai was definitely a female.
Gallagons are sexually dimorphic creatures, so males and females look different.
Males have thick and colorful horns instead of thin tails, while females have thick tails but monotonous horns.
‘It was established that the more gorgeous the horns on a male’s head, the more handsome he was, and the plumper the tail of a female was, the more beautiful she was.’
Looking at that sturdy tail, you can say that Aadhay has a good body among gallagons.
‘What did you eat to grow so fast?’
There was nothing left to guess.
In the sewers, there were many corpses of the knights and soldiers I had killed, and the employees who died when the signal chip was activated still remained.
Also, as the ground in the store district collapsed, quite a few people fell into the sewer and died.
‘But you ate it all?’
And that without being caught by the soldiers patrolling the sewers.
‘Then it’s tremendous growth.’
If my prediction is correct, not only has his physical growth improved, but his combat skills have also improved by leaps and bounds.
Number 26 shrugs as if asking for a compliment.
Even though it was an urgent situation, I couldn’t help but praise him, so I stroked his body.
The guy trembled as if he was in a good mood. The energy flowing on the surface reflected the emotions and changed into a dreamy color.
It looked so disheveled that it was difficult to imagine that it was the fear of the deep sea.
｢Me｣｢Growing｣｢Me｣｢Awesome｣｢Adult｣｢Praise｣
Aadhay also leaned forward to praise me, so I patted him too.
I thought to myself as I watched Aadhai gently wagging his tail.
‘I have mastered my hunting method.’
No. 26 would have taken the lead in the hunt rather than Aadhai, who had not been with me for long.
Because he was always a quick learner.
I guess he learned the hunting method I often use: setting traps, hiding, and surprise attacks.
‘Anyway, let’s think about that later.’
Code Black will be here soon.
If it were any other time, we would have hid them somewhere and fought, but now the situation was different.
‘I’ll have to take them with me and fight.’
Less than two. There are many parts that are difficult to handle on my own, so I need to actively utilize No. 26 and Aadhai.
[Zuzu zuzu zuzu (I have something to say for a moment.)]
｢Huh?｣
｢?｣
[Zuzu zuzu zu zuzu (I have to fight a strong enemy. Help me.)]
When I said that, their eyes turned to my severed arm. and headed to the wound on his side.
Originally, No. 26 did not have eyes, but it was easy to see where he was interested, whether his emotions were reflected in the psychic power flowing on his surface.
“Are they the ones who hurt my eldest baby? I can’t forgive you!”
“Adults” “Those who attacked” “Enemies”
No. 26 became very angry and slammed his tentacles on the floor. The asphalt cracked and the surrounding road cracked with a loud noise.
Adhai also expressed his discomfort by kicking the ground violently with his back foot.
‘It won’t be a problem to fight.’
It seems that No. 26 has not only grown in size but also gotten stronger.
The Sea Demon is a powerful creature that is treated as a quasi-boss. In terms of risk alone, it is half as high as Black Gallagon.
‘I feel like I’m not finished growing yet.’
It is enough to assist me.
Aadhay still has blue scales, but since most of his body is covered with green scales, it is safe to think that he has the power of Green Gallagon.
‘If my prediction is correct, we can intercept the enemy even with the power of Green Gallagon.’
Since Green Gallagon is only in the fluid stage, it does not show overwhelming destructive power like White Gallagon or Black Gallagon.
Instead, its combat capabilities have developed in a different direction.
‘Besides, No. 26 can use the fear of the deep sea, so if you use these two well…’
Green Gallagon and Sea Demon. And Aimov.
All three of us here are still immature and underdeveloped.
However, if you work together, you can easily hunt strong enemies.
I calmed them down and explained the operation.
–
Code Black was a war orphan.
In Megacorp, orphans are the ones at the bottom who cannot be saved and the dark side of society itself.
Almost all of the orphans are reduced to hired servants, and the lucky ones enter Space Dog.
In that respect, Code Black was a unique case.
She became an employee of the Eugene family and became the material of the shadow.
Like countless test subjects, her life was about to fade away.
But she survived.
She had a much higher aptitude for psychic power than ordinary humans.
Thanks to this, she was able to become the first successful product of the Eugene family’s cult gene transfer experiment.
Prototypes are usually of lower quality than mass-produced models, but she was something outside of the normal category.
Among the hybrids between cults and humans that were created later, her power was unrivaled.
When the transformation into Shadow was completed, the head of the family, Akira Yujin, gave her the name.
Code Black.
A title given to the most superior being among the shadows.
“Code red. Where did the target go?”
｢Housing complex 32nd Street. “Caution.”
“Caution? “What is it?”
“The flow of psychic power is unstable. An unknown entity has infiltrated the psychic control web. “
The target can use psychic breath. “Did he do this?”
“Unknown. This is because an unidentified entity has built its own psychic control web.”
“I understand. Please continue to monitor.”
“I understand.”
After finishing the conversation with Code Red, who was mentally connected, she headed to where her goal was.
Like the conversation we just had, most shadows are machine-like beings with a faint sense of self. This is because his mind was completely destroyed after a terrible experiment.
Among the shadows, the only ones who could speak freely were Code Black and the already dead Code White.
‘Now I am the only one.’
Since Code White died during the mission, she is the only one who is the greatest among the shadows.
That fact made her excited.
In fact, although she does not know it, all shadows have elements of mental instability.
Code Black is obsessed with being the most superior and perfect being.
The reason she talked a lot when fighting was not for conversation, but to show off her specialness.
‘If only I could get that monster’s genes…!’
If she succeeds in transplanting his genes, she will become a higher-dimensional being than she is now.
Feeling uplifted for the first time in a long time, she saw a target in her eyes.
The target was a large hole in the middle of the road.
It was a hole that had been dug at best, but instead of running away, it lay down on the floor with all four large arms attached.
“You’re not running away?”
｢· · · Lal · Phil · Yo · No · · ·｣ ｣｣ ｣
” …
Code Black was surprised to see what he was saying.
It sounded strange, as if a woman’s voice had been recorded on a machine and then altered, but it was clearly using human speech.
‘great.’
Since there were monsters out there that needed to be under strict surveillance, I thought they had high intelligence enough to escape from surveillance.
However, I had no idea that he would be intelligent enough to communicate with people.
Her mission is to capture him.
Any monster with a brain capable of conversation would fully understand the situation it finds itself in.
She opened her mouth.
“If you’re smart, you’ll know. Please surrender.”
「Gul·se grrrr gwa·yeon·uh·teul·ka·」
She frowned as she felt the relaxation in his words.
‘You’re cocky about animals.’
“I will take you away, leaving only the head and body.”
She pulled two psychic whips out of her hands.
Just as she was about to swing, the floor she was standing on cracked and a tentacle came out.
‘surprise attack!’
Was this the reason I had my hands on the floor?
She quickly launched herself into the air.
The tentacle that failed in the surprise attack went back into the ground.
She swung her whip loudly in the air.
The target is not the tentacles but the main body of the monster.
The tentacles are connected to the arms, so they are now neutralized. As she expected, it couldn’t move.
The moment the purple snake rushed to bite the monster’s body, the monster turned its head to block the whip’s path.
The whip, made of pure psychic power, struck the monster’s thick head carapace, creating intense sparks.
‘also.’
She realized that the shield-shaped carapace on the head and wrists was the hardest on the monster’s body.
‘We need to aim somewhere else.’
As soon as she landed, the snake in her left hand rushed at the monster, its tongue lashing out.
However, the monster that had already retrieved its tentacles had retreated for a long time.
The whip she fired only scratched the asphalt of the road.
It didn’t end there, and the monster retreated and threw a large piece of road debris at her.
‘Reflection!’
An intangible shield appeared in front of her and all the fragments bounced away.
However, it is still too early to feel relieved. This is because the thorn hairs flew in with a slight time difference from the fragments.
It was an attack aimed at the moment when the reflection that blocked a physical attack was briefly released.
“Tsk.”
Her whip whirled sharply, sweeping away a rain of thorns.
‘Are you aiming for the opportunity when the reflection is turned off?’
Reflection can perfectly defend against all types of physical attacks. Even repeated attacks such as machine guns are blocked when reflection is activated.
However, while reflection is active, you have to concentrate your mind, so you can’t keep it unfolded all the time.
So, you have no choice but to disarm it when moving or performing other actions, but there is a very short cooldown between disarming and reusing it.
‘It’s clear the enemy is used to fighting cults.’
I don’t know what it is, but that monster was targeting Reflection’s weak point exactly.
‘We need to change our strategy.’
Originally, I was going to organize it in the Psychic Whip line, but it doesn’t seem to be easy.
‘I will settle this with a barrage of psychic breath.’
Code Black raised both hands, faced forward, and opened his palms wide.
A black sphere appeared in front of my hand, and then it became a long black heat ray that split the air.
The monster must have decided that it couldn’t stop this, so it leaned in close.
The black heat ray not only burned the crown-like head carapace and the arms on its back, but also shattered buildings in the distance.
It crawled quickly with three arms and legs attached to the ground to avoid the heat rays.
Heat rays burn roads and houses, sending debris flying from the ground into the air.
The crawling monster ran through the air, stepping on the fragments. He even counterattacked by shooting thorns at every stop.
She blocked the thorn hairs by simultaneously casting Reflection while shooting her Psychic Breath.
“stop! “The joke ends here!”
She fired psychic breath with her right hand and pulled out the psychic whip with her left hand.
A psychic whip flew in and caught the monster’s legs in the air, followed by a black heat ray burning its tail.
｢Geuuu!｣
The monster cries out in extreme pain.
One of its main weapons, its tail, is now neutralized.
Code Black pulled the guy out with a smile on his face and threw him on the floor.
She was about to finish it off with a heat ray, but the monster didn’t give up and jumped up and charged at her.
He tried to cut her down with his long arms, but she had already cast Reflection.
The guy’s arm was pushed back significantly. She swung her psychic whip at the man whose posture was broken and wrapped around his neck.
“It’s done. I want you to surrender… ugh!”
As she spoke, he opened his mouth wide. Hot flames shot out of its mouth and rained down on her face.
“Ahh!”
Thanks to the reflection, no one was injured, but the high temperature of the flame could not be prevented.
Her eyes were badly burned as so much heat rushed to her face.
“This fucking monster…!”
Even though she was distracted, she fired her psychic breath. The heat ray blew off one of the monster’s arms, but it was still alive.
An arm with claws resembling a scythe hangs from its back.
A vicious-looking bioweapon was stamped on her shoulder.
‘If you keep doing this, you’ll get punished!’
She quickly signaled a code red.
Purple light emanated from her devastated body and her body quickly disintegrated.
The arm swung by the monster passed through her body and landed on the floor.
After becoming a spirit, she was quickly reassembled behind the monster in a neat condition without any injuries.
As soon as her body materialized, she struck the monster with a psychic whip.
The monster could not avoid her attack and fell helplessly.
“This is the first time someone has caused this much damage to me.”
Her tone of voice was calm, but she had lost half of her reason.
This is because he almost lost his life once while fighting against someone weaker than him.
“Akira-sama will understand if we just remove the brain and take it with us.”
When she stretched out her hands, the black sphere came into existence again.
Just as I was about to finish off the stumbling guy.
“Cough?!”
She vomited blood from her mouth.
Only then did she feel extreme pain in her abdomen and unconsciously fell to her knees.
“What is this?”
She touched her abdomen with her hand. The outside was fine, but I could feel hard rebar fragments inside.
“Young, body, fire, e, are really weak, points, etc.”
A voice was heard from above her head as she panicked.
These were the words muttered by the monster that had suddenly approached her.
“How…?”
｢If there is an obstacle, obstacle, or object in the wrong way, it cannot be wrong.’ When materializing again from the state of
spiritual embodiment, there should not be any object in that place. . If that happens, the object will remain stuck inside the body, just like what happened to her.
Of course, she is well aware of the weaknesses of spiritual body tuning technology.
What she couldn’t understand was how the rebar fragments had suddenly appeared without her or Code Red’s awareness.
‘no. Now, the spirit form comes first….’
She quickly signaled Code Red.
I want you to become a spirit again and increase the distance between you and him.
But the answer that came back was beyond her expectations.
“Being attacked by an unidentified enemy. Need to focus on defense now. Spiritualization is not possible. ｣
‘What?’
An unidentified enemy.
Suddenly, her eyes fell on the hole that had been dug in the road earlier.
Several purple glowing tentacles were extending out of the pit and swaying gently.
‘Psychic power!’
Come to think of it, Code Red was like that.
Someone has infiltrated the surveillance network that Red created with psychic power. They have built their own psychic control web, so their exact status is unknown.
At the time, it was thought that the target used psychic powers to avoid surveillance, but that was not the case.
‘There wasn’t just one enemy!’
The monster spoke as if answering her thoughts.
“U·ri·is·ha·na·ga·ah·ni·da·” The
monster’s arm cut off her neck.
![Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]](https://cpunovel.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/arcane-sniper.jpg "Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]")
