“Monster, it’s a monster!”
The pirates screamed in horror as they saw me emerging in the middle of the fortified camp. Following that, merciless beams of light rained down. Over a hundred pirates, coupled with dozens of walkers and defense towers strategically positioned, created an overwhelming spectacle of destruction through coordinated gunfire.
If it were before my evolution into a Quasi-Saint, I might have suffered irreparable injuries from this attack.
As I thought, a rain of plasma bullets poured on my exoskeleton like a downpour on a bonnet, I heard a sound. Their attacks were futile against my bio-armor, and I needed to remind them of the futility of wasting bullets.
I pierced through the spectacle and leaped into the air, landing between them. Six combat-ready arms extended simultaneously, targeting the armed pirates. As a Quasi-Saint, my body had grown to over 20 meters in size, and my arms and claws had proportionally enlarged. Each swipe of my claws tore through the pirates’ bodies, and when caught by the combat arms, they were thrown into the distant defensive barriers.
“Ahh! We’re all going to die!”
When the bone axe at the end of my combat arm beheaded someone, the corrosive tentacles consumed the head before it hit the ground. Some pirates, as a last-ditch effort, drew sonic blades from their waistbands and charged at me. The ultra-vibrating blades, capable of effortlessly cutting through thick wood and hard metals, shattered surprisingly easily against my strength.
Pirates wore dumbfounded expressions, as if they couldn’t believe the reality unfolding before their eyes. Losing focus during combat is more fatal than anything else, and they paid the price as useless heads were separated from their bodies.
“Damn! Just crush them!”
Heavy walkers, armed with storm guns and plasma launchers on both arms, fired at me as I massacred my way through their comrades. The brutal heat of enriched uranium rounds and the destructive plasma beams turned the area where I stood into a chaotic battlefield. Pirates, already dying from my hand, were quickly incinerated by the blind projectiles.
As I regretted the senseless destruction, a powerful plasma energy, distinct from gauss rifles, struck my head.
If I were a monolithic entity, I would have been pushed back significantly by that attack. But now, it merely made my head tilt slightly.
“The plasma launcher isn’t effective!”
The shocked exclamations of the heavy walker pilots echoed around me.
To be honest, it’s not like I came out of this unscathed. The parts of my exterior hit by the intense heat are now reddened, and I, too, am feeling the pain.
But it’s at a level I can endure and bear.
‘I should give back, as much as I have taken’
I thought to myself. My jaw splits into two, and the two internal organs inside my body quickly activated.
The Acidic Mycotoxin Sac, a fusion trait created using the original acidic blood feature I had. The contaminated Fungus Organ, a gland that produces spores filled with contaminated fungus.
These diabolical mechanisms diligently prepare to inflict dreadful pain upon the enemies.
Next, a mix of emerald-green liquid and black spores passed through my throat and dispersed outside my mouth.
This acidic liquid, lethal to both machines and humans, flew towards the Heavy Walkers and the pirates nearby.
When the acidic mycotoxin, capable of easily melting alloys, corroded the Walker’s gloves, the decay fungus infiltrated the gap, causing adverse effects on the human flesh within.
The operators could do nothing but scream as the thick gloves that once protected them from threatening environmental elements now become prisons.
Linked mentally to the operators, the Walkers cease firing and start leaping in place. The pirates who used to take cover behind the Walker, composed of thick metal blocks, are crushed under its powerful feet.
“We need the leader! We need the leader!”
As I continue my rampage, the remaining pirates lose their morale and flee.
There’s no need to chase after them. The fog surrounding this fortress and the nests emerging from the ground below will take care of them.
“The fog is poisonous… cough!”
After just a few steps, they realize that their respiratory systems are compromised. The pirates forget about escaping and collapse on the spot, coughing up blood mixed with chunks of flesh.
All the pirates in the fortress wore reinforced suits. Their helmets provided gas masks, but when the effects of ten nests combine, even the enhanced smog tower emitting toxic fog falls short in protecting them.
“Ugh! G…ghost! It’s a ghost!”
“Ha… Ha… The flowers…the flowers are so beautiful…”
The hallucinogenic beetles that emerged from the nests, as if nurtured by the pirates’ blood, are now targeting them with their sticky tendrils. These creatures, also enhanced tenfold, make it challenging for the pirates to escape.
Despite thinking that this fortified camp was the safest, the pirates were wrong.
Even if they had to defy Muriel’s orders, they should have left this planet.
‘You’ve chosen the wrong path.’
My corrosive tendrils relentlessly harvested the heads of pirates, who were falling to the ground and dying, even in the midst of battle. It was like picking fallen fruit from a tree.
“All Walkers, retreat to the central plaza!”
The surviving Walkers ceased their attacks and hastily withdrew. I knew what they were expecting.
In the central plaza stood the most formidable presence in this camp, Muriel, the leader of the Humanity Cartel and the 20th-ranked player.
She was waiting for me.
I crawled after the Walkers, keeping my upper body close to the ground.
Heavy Walkers were specialized in unleashing firepower on the enemy while maintaining their formation, but they had no significant advantage in mobility. Although they moved much faster than humans, they were no match for me, moving like a train.
As I got closer to the Walkers, I attacked them from behind. Trapped in the dense toxic fog outside, they had no choice but to await death; leaving the cockpit was not an option.
When the remaining Walkers dwindled to just a handful, the fleeing ones reached the central plaza.
There, a cultist with deer antlers, wielding a dazzling golden spear, stood.
She wore a cross-shaped headband emitting a subtle violet glow and a full-body suit resembling reinforced armor.
Muriel, fully prepared for battle, looked at me while puffing on an electronic cigarette.
I covered a fleeing Walker, grabbed the operator, and pulled her in front of Muriel. With my arms, I seized both her arms and legs, presenting her in front of the leader.
“Le…Leader! Please…save… Aaaargh!”
The strength in my combat arm could tear apart the outer wall of a spaceship barehanded. Even with reinforced armor, it was a force that an ordinary person couldn’t withstand. The pirate I had caught desperately called for the leader but ended up separated into upper and lower halves, dead.
Seeing this, Muriel furrowed her brows.
“Surprising….isn’t…. it?”
“Surprising? Pfft, that’s what I’d say. Never thought you’d become a Protoform.”
Muriel spoke with irritation, spitting out her words. She seemed neither shocked nor fearful knowing that I had become a Protoform.
The attitude Muriel displayed here was that of someone who believed they were in clear superiority.
“I…never…expected…you…wouldn’t…run…away.”
Hearing my words, she chuckled as if hearing an amusing joke.
“Run away? Me? Seems like there’s some misunderstanding….”
Muriel, who spoke like that, held a lighter in her left hand. She pressed the switch on the lighter-shaped terminal.
Suddenly, eight small spider-like machines resembling spiders emerged from the dirt around me and clung to me simultaneously. They moved at such a rapid speed that it was difficult to detect with the auxiliary organ under my chin. I couldn’t avoid them at all.
As the machines emitted a red light, my body began to feel heavy, as if soaking wet cotton. It felt like the machines were absorbing vitality from me.
The name of the machine attached to my body is Blood Reaver. It’s one of the top-tier combat weapons used by Star Union. It swiftly attaches to the victim during combat, rapidly absorbing life force. With exceptionally high durability, once attached to the body, breaking free from the machine is nearly impossible.
Moreover, detection is impossible, much like what I, as an auxiliary system, failed to notice. The surprise speed is also incredibly fast. Thanks to these features, the Blood Reaver was a deadly weapon against biological players or enemies in the game.
I couldn’t resist, and I ended up with my head slammed into the ground. Even though I desperately wanted to get up, I couldn’t even twitch a finger.
“I guess you weren’t prepared to fight a monster like me?”
Muriel approached me with a triumphant smile. The moment she raised her spear high, I struck her side with my combat arm.
She narrowly avoided my attack by a hair’s breadth. My sharp claws left a thin scratch on her side.
As she quickly stepped back, my corrosive tentacles erupted towards her from all six directions. She swiftly parried the attacks with her spear, and in the meantime, I pulled out a bone axe, aiming for her ankles.
Her body shone purple, soaring into the air. While my bone axe swept over the ground, she landed lightly at a considerable distance.
Her suit hesitated for a moment but eventually healed the scratch on her side. In a matter of seconds, her body returned to its pre-battle state.
In contrast, her face seemed less composed than before, as if she had lost some composure compared to a moment ago.
“You have the Blood Reaver attached; how can you move?”
Instead of answering, I lifted myself up, tearing off the Blood Reavers attached all over my body.
On the black, spider-like machines, silver moss was intricately intertwined.
‘I would have been in danger if I didn’t know in advance.’
Even with just one attached, the Blood Reaver has an effect beyond injecting paralysis to biological enemies. Those who are affected by this machine not only have their life force drained but also become paralyzed, rendering defense impossible.
‘It’s not just any top-tier weapon.’
Mother of the Sky mentioned that Muriel had two Blood Reavers, and that she might use both when fighting me.
Given that Griffin Wolf heavily relied on physical performance, she must have fought Muriel in a considerably weakened state.
‘To think she used eight of these on me?’
Contrary to Mother of the Sky’s words, Muriel had eight of them. And she used all eight on me.
In the game, no player had ever used eight simultaneously. After all, being a top-tier weapon, it’s not something one can easily obtain.
‘If I would have been a Pre-Saint, I would have died instantly.’
Even as a Quasi-Saint, with eight attached at once, I would have been unable to move a finger, and my life force would have quickly depleted, leading to death.
‘I did use my head a bit, but…’
Before I engaged in a battle with her, I had already activated the Gremlin Moss in anticipation of unexpected surprises. The silver mosses were prepared to exit through the pores on my external surface and exoskeleton at any moment, allowing me to effectively block the formidable attacks launched by the enemy.
‘As long as the Gremlin Moss is active, the Blood Reaver is useless for the next 20 minutes.’
By the way, there’s no need to worry about the life force drained by the Blood Reaver. Thanks to the cannibalistic effect, the corpses on the ground, or in other words, those who died on this campsite, are all equivalent to my energy.
Even at this moment, the tail in contact with the ground is steadily absorbing energy sent by the nest, so there’s no need to worry.
I finally detached the spider-like machine attached to my head and threw it in front of her.
“Did…you…think…I wouldn’t…be…prepared…to…fight…against…a…monster…like…you?”
Her face stiffened as I echoed the words she had just spoken.
“Unfortunate…for….you…my…dear…sister…I’m…tempted…to…open…up…my…abdomen and…show…you…my…internal…organs.”
“Hmph, entertaining thought. I’ll keep it in mind.”
With a raised lance and a combat stance, Muriel seemed deep in thought, and I couldn’t discern her plans. While I can make educated guesses about her psychology based on heartbeats and bodily responses using my auxiliary systems, it’s not entirely accurate.
But it doesn’t matter.
She may not know much about me, but I’ve acquired valuable information about her.
‘The outcome of a battle lies in the difference in information.’
Before raiding the camp, I constructed a nest to create advantageous terrain for myself. I gathered as much information as possible about the enemies I would be hunting and devised strategies on how to deal with them.
In terms of both terrain and information, I have an advantage on both fronts.
And there is only one thing left for me.