[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Thala]
In mythology, the sky is an object of fascination. The vast heavens often take on the divine role of Father or Mother, closely tied to the creation myths. Even without divine attributes, the sky was seen as the abode of gods or as a place where souls find salvation, sometimes as heaven, and other times as the realm of beings beyond humanity.
Even with the end of the age of ignorance and the dawn of reason and technology, the sky remains alluring. This holds true in “Space Survival” as well. Given that the game is set in the vast universe, the sky inevitably becomes a target for challenge and conquest. But caution is advised—who knows what might lurk within the unknown expanse of the sky?
Snow, rain, hail, and storms—my wings swim through the symphony of nature. Lightning flashes, followed by thunder. With each strike of lightning, my shadow flickers against the ashen clouds. My shoulders tense, and the muscles covered in scales and armor tremble. The membrane extending from the tips of my long fingers slices through the clouds. The span of my outstretched wings exceeds 40 meters on each side, longer than the length of my body.
‘Considering my size and weight, I need wings this large to fly.’
Those cultists under attack by me wouldn’t find this situation pleasing. Although my body is much smaller compared to the hundreds-of-meters-long cruisers, cultists observing me through their cameras wouldn’t think so.
‘Bringing them down might be a bit much.’
Just a moment ago, I rammed the front section where their command center is located with my body. It was to disorient them. As I expected, the cruiser’s crew couldn’t make a sound decision. Instead of fleeing at full speed, they retaliated with their artillery.
Amid the eerie noise of the blizzard and lightning, the sound of psychic turrets firing mixed in. I adjusted my wing arms and dove sharply. The enemy’s attack barely grazed the tip of my tail.
｢Be careful while flying! If we fall, it’s over for us!｣
[I’m designed for atmospheric descent missions, so it shouldn’t be an issue…]
｢Whee! Flap, flap! This is fun!｣
The kids were riding on my back as I flew at an incredible speed. Worried they might fall off, I gently wrapped them with my infiltration tentacles. As Mother of the Sky said, it wouldn’t end well if they fell.
Contrary to her name, Mother of the Sky didn’t seem to enjoy high-speed flight. Since earlier, she’s been clutching my tentacles like a roller coaster safety bar.
Mother of the Sky being a griffin has the ability to glide temporarily in the air. I thought she’d be fine, but I was mistaken.
‘Number 26 seems to enjoy it.’
As usual, Number 26, who likes everything I do, seemed to be having a lot of fun. On the other hand, the mostly mechanical PS-111 showed no emotion.
‘Should I take out the engines first?’
It’s unlikely, but if their captain activates the hyperdrive engine, it’ll be troublesome. If they manage to warp into a star, that’s one thing, but escaping from here wouldn’t be good for me.
‘They might bring reinforcements from the Cult Empire.’
Since this planet isn’t designated as a sanctuary, the situation is different from last time. If I’m not careful, I might end up fighting the entire empire. I’ll battle the empire when I become an adult, but now isn’t the time. I need to prevent their escape.
‘Let’s start with the thrusters.’
I glided through the clouds, gently flapping my wing arms. The enemy cruiser’s artillery continued to fire at me, and large purple energy shells pierced the clouds, closely trailing me. Even synchronized with a spaceship, I could easily evade such attacks. Entering the storm clouds, I effortlessly dodged the enemy’s fire.
‘They probably won’t use their main cannon.’
Cult cruisers are equipped with powerful main cannons. In the past, Muriel’s pirate fleet, possessing a cruiser from the Humanity Cartel, targeted me from a great distance. Despite controlling a cargo ship from the StarUnion, one shot from the main cannon split the massive vessel in two.
The destructive power is immense, but they likely won’t use it now. Activating the main cannon concentrates enormous psychic power, essentially advertising their presence to the surrounding Gallagons.
‘Of course, they might just lose it and fire, but…’
I need to finish this quickly before that happens.
Hidden within the clouds, I quickly approached the side of the cruiser. The artillery guns, catching sight of me as I burst out of the clouds, hastily swiveled their barrels. A few quick-firing guns managed to hit me, but it didn’t matter much. I had already closed the distance to the cruiser.
Judging the distance to be close enough, I spread my wing arms wide and extended the membranes. My rapidly advancing body came to an abrupt halt in midair. Simultaneously, I channeled the recoil into my tail. Like a natural pendulum, my long tail swung forward. The pincer at its end struck the diamond-shaped cruiser’s side like a mace.
With a thunderous crash, flames erupted, and the cultists’ ship lurched violently to one side. The thruster on that side was destroyed, causing the cruiser to lose balance.
Amidst the confusion, I landed on the cruiser. The artillery, hindered by the shaking of the entire ship, failed to hit me accurately.
Before the ship could stabilize, I had work to do. I activated my “Acidic Myotic Gland” feature for the first time. Acidic mucus mercilessly poured out from beneath my bifurcated jaws. The smooth ivory-colored exterior armor of the cruiser began to melt with a pungent odor. The fungi quickly penetrated the outer wall and infiltrated the interior sections.
‘That should be enough.’
With my combat arm, I widened the hole and thrust my head inside. There, in the hallway, I saw a cultist staring at me in shock. Before he could react, I opened my jaws wide and bit down on him.
“A monster is breaching the ship!”
The cultist crew screamed, seeing their comrade disappear into my stomach, leaving only his ankles.
‘This place is too cramped for me.’
My body had grown too large to navigate the corridors easily. Unless I reverted to a more compact form, moving, let alone fitting inside, was nearly impossible.
‘Perhaps I should target the runway.’
After firing some fungi at the fleeing cultists, I pulled my head back outside.
[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ (I’m heading to the other side.)]
｢Got it. Let’s secure the command center and the engine room first.｣
｢See you later, big baby.｣
‘This is a chance to update the database on cult cruisers’
Carefully, I placed the kids I had been holding with my infiltration tentacles inside the ship. Sensing their presence moving away, I spread my wings again.
The captain shouted desperately. He had injured his head in the recent impact, but that was not important.
[External armor damage rate is 9%! Twenty-three percent of the internal sections are damaged!]
“The status of the crew is unconfirmed!”
[An unidentified psychic creature is heading to the engine room! The defense squad has been wiped out!]
“Damn it! What are the Templers doing?!”
“They’re, they’re trying to stop the monster that appeared on the runway….”
Despite his words, the captain knew. He couldn’t be unaware. The numerous video feeds floating in the center of the command room starkly displayed the dire situation.
The twelve Templers were all on the runway. They were currently overwhelmed by a gargantuan flying creature much larger than any Gallagon they had faced before.
To say they were facing it would be inaccurate. It was more of a slaughter.
The long, thick tentacles protruding from its back were as fast and deadly as energy shells. Even the Gallagon Scale Armors worn by the members were of little significance if caught by those tentacles—once engulfed, their bodies would dissolve completely. What good was armor against such defense?
And that wasn’t all. The creature, with its immense size, was undeniably tough.
“Damn it! The creature is reflecting psychic powers!”
“What should we do then?”
“Use the Demolishers—aaaargh!”
In a momentary distraction, another member fell. Foam, uncomfortably luminous, covered his head, his waist bent backwards.
He had been one of those who had protected the cultists on this ship before departure. But the odds were not in their favor.
The flying monster was excessively strong.
The captain turned his head as he saw another member’s limbs being torn off.
They were their last hope, and even that was fading away. They had to come up with another plan.
“Should we abandon the ship?”
Using the escape pods might allow them to escape from these monsters.
The problem was that escaping wouldn’t necessarily improve their situation. Abandoning the ship in a place with terrifying monsters and harsh weather conditions made survival impossible. At best, it would prolong their lives for a few days.
“Prepare to activate the superluminal engines.”
“Captain! That’s insane!”
Despite objections from the crew in the situation room, the captain shook his head. It was their only remaining option.
Since the ship was already significantly damaged, there was a high probability of it breaking apart during navigation. But in any case, whether they stayed or left, death was almost certain.
Moreover, one of the monsters was heading towards the engine room, which meant this option might be unavailable in a few minutes.
“After flying to a nearby planet using superluminal navigation, we can escape.”
Though the identity of the attacking monsters was unknown, they were likely native creatures of this place. Whether they could survive in a completely different environment remained uncertain.
“I’ll say it again. Prepare to activate the superluminal engines.”
As the captain was about to give the order again, the floor shook violently.
It wasn’t the ship shaking. Currently, the ship is maintaining balance in the air with the emergency thrusters. The flying creature that could destroy the ship was still fighting the Templers on the runway.
“It’s not the ship shaking…”
His gaze fixed firmly on the closed bulkhead door. If the situation room was attacked, all the intermediate areas connected to it had been closed.
As if to answer his question, the situation room shook again. This time, it wasn’t just him who felt the impact.
The crew who had been diligently adjusting the ship’s condition stopped moving. Like the captain, they stared at the bulkhead door.
“…Confirm the status of nearby sectors.”
Then, a thunderous roar. A sound very close, akin to firing energy shells from a cannon, echoed nearby. It seemed to come right from behind that bulkhead door.
And the captain’s prediction was correct.
The bulkhead door shook violently from a strong impact. After a few more tremors, it soon fell silent.
Although the attack had ceased, none of the cultists present here thought the enemy had retreated just like that. Some crew members, following the captain’s gesture, retrieved weapons stored in the bridge.
As they armed themselves, another change occurred at the bulkhead door. A sudden red dot appeared on the surface of the door. The red dot rapidly enlarged, soon becoming a sizable hole as energy concentrated intensely and disintegrated the material forming the door.
Everyone in the situation room peered through the hole. Dim cries of crew members echoed faintly through the hole.
And amidst the deep darkness, “it” revealed itself.
Eyes as red as blood, a face so pale it seemed unmatched.
If her eyes had been closed, one might have called her face beautiful, like that of a woman, glaring into the situation room.
Someone uttered in disbelief. But soon, they had to retract their statement.
The white face floating in the darkness wasn’t anything like a woman.
Of course not. Whether human or cultist, no woman’s mouth opens that wide.
A mouth as wide as a cultist’s face. At the moment when a purplish-blue flame erupted from within, the captain tried to give an order.
“Open fire on that monster immediately.”
Suddenly, the world twisted, and the smooth ivory-colored floor rushed up abruptly. Along with it came a familiar sight he saw every morning in the mirror.
His finely adorned upper body.
It was then that the captain realized his neck had been severed from his body.
Gradually, countless arms tore through the hole, and the silent screams of the crew members became his final memory.
[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Thala]