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Chapter 123

Muriel’s body was immaculate, without a single scratch. However, her suit, wrapping around her body, told a different story. It had numerous holes, exposing her pristine white flesh.

The nano spartan modules were top-notch among defense modules, but they were not omnipotent. In a state as damaged as this, restoring her to her original state would require replenishing the nano machines.

‘But she must have used up the spare ones already.’

I could tell by the trembling eyes. She had few cards left.

‘I’ve already verified the equipment and techniques Mother of the Sky taught me.’

Before facing Muriel, I recalled my battles with the rankers one by one—their races, technologies, the strength of their equipment, and the strategies they primarily used. This allowed me to anticipate Muriel’s modules, psychic power techniques, and actions in various situations.

‘She fought reasonably well.’

Muriel’s skills were not lacking. For some reason, she brought with her a deceptive combination of a cultist and cyborg hybrid, making her a formidable opponent. If she had known even a bit more about my condition and abilities, she wouldn’t have fallen so easily.

‘At least until she can use some trump card.’

If Muriel had intended to escape from the start, it wouldn’t have been easy for me to chase her. The large-scale camp where we stood had long-distance transport ships. If she fled to another continent, I would never have caught up.

‘But…’

She had several opportunities to escape but didn’t take them. And now, the time for her to pay the price was approaching.

“Ugh!”

Muriel let out a short groan. The self-assured smile she had during our first fight was nowhere to be seen. As the Adjuster’s opportunity dwindled to just one, she completely lost her fighting spirit.

Instead of a battle, there was only one path left for her to choose.

“Damn it! Just watch!”

Muriel shouted and pressed the buttons on the mechanical arm near her neck. Then, her body rapidly blurred like smoke and soon disappeared into the mist. It was a perfect stealth, as if she had never been there.

‘I can’t even see her in my sight.’

Not even auxiliary devices could detect her properly. If it weren’t for the vibrations created by Muriel’s breath, footsteps on the ground, and similar signs, I wouldn’t have known which direction she had jumped.

Even the Mother of the Sky, far superior in vision to me, constantly turned her head to find Muriel.

｢That woman, there was still something left.｣

“I’ve…never…seen…that…level…of…stealth…module…in…the…game.”

｢…For now, I can’t see her with my eyes.｣

Seeing that she hasn’t used such a high-level stealth module until now, there must be limitations for its use in combat or retrieval restrictions.

｢What are you going to do?｣

Mother of the Sky, who hasn’t found Muriel, turns her head to me.

‘What am I going to do?’

She’s asking the obvious.

“I’ll…capture…and…kill…her.”

｢Alright.｣

No matter how excellent stealth equipment she possesses, in the end, she’s within the palm of my hand.

‘This is my territory.’

With just my auxiliary devices, it’s difficult to directly spot her. But the traces she left behind, once linked with the nest, can easily lead me to her.

‘How many times do I have to say it?’

Running away before fighting me is Muriel’s only way to survive.

***

“Damn, damn, damn, damn….”

In a thick mist-covered forest, Muriel hides on the branches of Redwood trees, spanning over hundreds of meters. This module was an experimental one developed by a Mega Corp ranker who shared Muriel’s intentions. Made using ‘Giant Chameleon’ as a material, the module provides advanced stealth capabilities to the wearer. It is naturally invisible to the naked eye and remains undetected by detection devices or technologies.

However, as it is not yet completed, it has many unstable aspects. While it works fine when moving cautiously, intense movements in combat or being attacked by enemies immediately cancel the stealth effect. The ranker who developed this module even suggested using it only for emergency escapes, given its unfinished state.

Although she succeeded in escaping from the enemy for now, there is still a problem. The possibility that the ruthless Amorph or the vengeful Mother of the Sky might give up tracking her is close to zero.

“…There’s no time to wait for the Adjuster reset.”

Time acts equally on both sides. She has no other option but to hide for 24 hours, but the other side doesn’t.

“That Amorph bastard, he might burn down the entire forest.”

If it’s someone who hangs corpses on trees, there’s that possibility. Thinking of the horrific sight of her subordinates, she shuddered unintentionally. The thought that a skinned corpse might be her future was strong.

“It won’t work.”

She observed the surroundings using the remaining reinforcement effect of Sionium. With enhanced senses, she felt there were no other enemies nearby.

“I didn’t want to use this, but…”

Deciding that there were no enemies nearby, she firmly pressed the button on the side of her neck. Then, a slender tube protruded from her nano-suit and inserted itself into her ear.

The device she activated allowed communication between stars. Before fighting Amorph, she had fused the military communicator she kept in the safe with the nano spartan module. Originally, she planned to use it to order her subordinates on other planets to bring a spaceship after the battle. The reason she didn’t use it during the battle is that interstellar communication consumes a lot of energy. Once this communication ends, there’s a high chance the nano spartan module will automatically deactivate, consuming all remaining energy.

“Please answer!”

Amidst the short connection tone, a sudden strong wind sound echoed in her ear. When a giant bird flapped its wings, the sound briefly appeared and then disappeared.

“What’s that?”

She looked up at the trees but saw nothing. Thinking she should move, she heard a beep from the communicator. Then, a beautiful male voice came through.

“My Honey? What’s wrong with you, not mentioning the risk of eavesdropping when communicating?”

“Brother!”

The voice she always thought was annoying, right now felt unexpectedly comforting. Muriel barely held back tears.

“Brother, I’m in big trouble! Help me right away!”

“What?”

“My subordinates and I lost everything to those bastards, and we’re being chased right now! Come quickly!”

“Damn, those bastards again? They talked about a ceasefire, and now this goddamn… Wait, huh? What about my request then? I asked you to save the Wolf females.”

Muriel couldn’t hide her irritation at the opponent’s slave talk even in such an urgent situation.

“No, damn it! Brother! Your sister is in danger, isn’t that more important? And it’s not them, it’s someone else! There are only two, but they’re incredibly strong, so you need to prepare properly!”

“Two? You lost to just two?”

“One is a Wolf player who you wanted, and the other is an Amorph player!”

“…What? Amorph?”

“Yeah! I told you, he’s the 5th ranker!”

When Muriel mentioned the enemy chasing her, the other side fell silent.

“Anyway, there’s no time! Prepare as quickly as possible… Huh? Brother?”

“…”

“Brother?”

“Oh, shit… [Disconnected]”

“Brother? Brother? No way! It got cut off?!”

With the sudden communication cutoff, Muriel quickly tried to contact again. But only the connection tone continued to ring, with no response from the other side.

“Damn it! No, if I call my sister…”

She tried to request help somehow, but a red light flashed on her wrist. It was a sign that the nano spartan module was being deactivated. As the red light went out, the nano suit that enveloped her body disappeared, transforming into a small disc-shaped machine. With the suit gone, she was almost naked. Despite being a sturdy cyborg, she was helpless in front of the monsters tracking her.

The stealth effect by the experimental module was still active, but it wasn’t permanent. When that effect ends, so does her life.

“Oh, no! No, no, no!”

Almost losing her mind, Muriel desperately tried to reactivate the module by shaking the disc. Even though there was no way the nano machines, whose energy had been depleted, would come out, she was too irrational to judge.

“This can’t be happening… Huh?!”

As she tapped the tree with the disc, she heard the rustling of leaves in her ear. Some creature was approaching beneath the tree where she was hiding. In this toxic mist, there were only two animals that could casually walk around like that.

After a while, a creature appeared with the body of a flexible but muscular lioness and the head of an eagle.

Muriel, utilizing the exceptional vision typical of birds of prey, thoroughly scanned the surroundings and the trees above. She remained still, holding her breath. The griffon passed by the tree she was hiding in, disappearing into the mist beyond.

“Whew.”

Confirming its departure, Muriel finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“…I need to move.”

She couldn’t predict when the griffon might return. Engaging in a melee with the griffon wolf without protective gear would be suicide.

“And that damn Amorph isn’t in sight either.”

She needed to leave this place immediately. With that determination, Muriel retrieved the disc she had used to hit the tree.

“Hmm?”

The disc was smeared with black mucus. Her gaze shifted to the wound on the tree where the sticky liquid was flowing instead of sap.

“…She knew what the black liquid was. It was a substance automatically secreted from Amorph’s nest.

In other words, the tree she had been hiding in was contaminated by Amorph’s nest.

“Come to think of it…,”

Suddenly, she remembered the flapping sound she heard before requesting help via the communicator. Except for the three in this forest, there were no other living creatures. So, who made that sound?

Muriel felt a chill running down her spine. It wasn’t just a feeling; her body was trembling like she had been doused in cold water. She slowly lifted her head. Above her head, there were only lush branches and leaves.

Trembling like a possessed woman, Muriel threw the disc upwards. There was nothing there, yet the disc, as if colliding with something, fell back down from the empty air.

Thud-thud-thud-thud.

Trembling, Muriel watched as the creature slowly revealed itself above her head. With its snake-like long body coiled around the redwood, it looked down at her, concealed.

“Hee, hee-hee!”

She tried to escape, but the creature was faster. A tentacle emerged from its back, grabbing her leg.

“L…let go… Aaah!”

Six sharp appendages on the tentacle crushed her leg after seizing it. Subsequently, other tentacles grabbed her arms and legs.

“S…save me! Please, spare me!”

“As…you…said…I…will…cut…open…your…belly…and…show…you…my…insides.”

“T…that’s… Noooo!”

As her once intact limbs twisted slowly, Muriel’s eyes, which had shone violet, lost their light due to the excruciating pain. The psychokinesis power technique was canceled mid-cast due to the terrible pain.

“No…until·now…I·haven’t·met·any…one…who…escaped…death.”

As the creature seemed ready to fulfill its words, Muriel desperately opened her mouth.

“W…wait! Let’s talk! Just give me a moment to negotiate!”

“…Talk…?”

Amorph hesitated at her words.

Muriel, speaking with a submissive attitude as her life hung in the balance, said,

“I have many good cards! I’m sure it will be advantageous for you! So, let’s negotiate!”

I withdrew my hand that had reached out to her. Negotiation. It was too late to mention the word now. She had threatened my life several times, and her subordinates had tried to kill 26 and Adhai. Moreover, she knew too much about me now.

“Handing me over to other players would be troublesome.”

Although Muriel must die in my hands to prevent information leaks, the information about the other players seemed quite intriguing.

“Well, if you want, I’ll serve you! You know, Amorph can do such things!”

Did she think I was tempted by her proposal since I remained quiet? Instead of answering, I lifted Muriel from the tree.

‘She still doesn’t know me well.’

Because she doesn’t know me well, she recklessly makes arrogant statements.

“Whenever you want, as long as you spare me… Huh?!”

I raised the corroded tentacle that had been gripping her leg high, impaling her body on the ground.

“Urgh!”

“Don’t…mis…under…stand.”

Muriel, vomited black blood.

Ignoring her reaction, I swiftly raised the tentacle that had grabbed her again. Muriel’s eyes reflected pain and fear, but I did not hesitate.

“Kkuek!”

“What…your…body…can…do…for…me…is.”

“G…Gah! Gommaa, Kkuk!”

“Only…to…provide…flesh.”

“E…Eooppian, Kkk!”

After striking more than ten times, bones, various mechanical parts, and modules sprang out from her body through pierced skin.

‘Since she’s a cyborg, she won’t die from this.’

I didn’t intend to kill her yet, so I only struck hard enough to break her spine.

“Kkuk, Kkureuk, Kkuyuk, Kkugeuk….”

Muriel, sprawled on the floor, groaned, resembling a dissected frog, barely alive with twitching nerves.

Only the grotesque mechanical doll remained, devoid of its pristine ivory-like skin, beautiful appearance, and magnificent horns.

“You…asked…for…negotiation, right? Fine, I’ll listen.”

Hearing my dry voice, she weakly raised her head.

“S…Save…me?”

“There…are…conditions.”

“I’ll do anything! Anything you say, I can do it!”

Even without saying so explicitly, she would unquestionably follow my orders.

I activated the parasitic organism attached to me in front of her. The parasite, strengthened by type enhancements, enjoyed the fresh air after a long time and stretched its body.

“T…That’s! Wait, just a momennnt!”

I held Muriel’s head to prevent her resistance and released the parasite. The black parasite wriggled its way into her nostrils.

“Keek! Kekkek! Kweeok!”

“Originally…I…would…interrogate…you…in…this…condition.”

I hastily explained to her, who was coughing violently, what would happen next.

“I…will…scratch…your…spine…one…by…one…with…my..hands…”

“N..noo”

“Until…my…questions…are…satisfied.”

“W…What?”

She looked at me with a stupid expression, seemingly unable to comprehend. She might not understand now, but she would involuntarily understand soon.

“The…number…of…times…until…my…questions…are…completely…answered.”

“W…Wait, wait, wait, wait!”

“By…the…way…lying…is…useless.”

Muriel’s complexion turned ghastly pale at the sight of my hands with activated Ghost Claw properties.

She, being a cult member, should be well aware of what I can do with these claws.

“I’ll…ask…Who…was…the…one…you…talked…to…a…little…while…ago?”

As the interrogation began, my sharp claws sparkled in violet.

About six hours into the deadly game between Muriel and me, I managed to extract all the valuable information from her.

‘What an intense obsession.’

Despite her spine being scratched by Ghost Claws over a hundred times, Muriel remained sane. It revealed the tremendous desire she had for her own life.

‘She almost died several times due to the parasite’s sanction, distracted by wandering thoughts.’

Thanks to my symbiotic fungal spore trait, she didn’t die. Whether it was good for Muriel or not, I couldn’t say.

“There’s…nothing…more…to…ask.”

“…So, are you going to spare me…?”

“…No…”

“Wha—”

Muriel sent me a look questioning whether I was breaking our promise. I shook my head.

“My…interrogation…is…over…but…the…next…person…is…waiting.”

“Next?”

As I stepped back, a griffin appeared behind me.

“Ch…Cho..”

“Ah, ah, aaaaah.”

The clothes of a young wolf, once worn by her lover , were now worn by the mother of the sky. Seeing this, Muriel trembled like a reed in the wind.

｢You killed my family. When you cut my lover’s throat, when you tortured me, I hesitated. Whether killing you is the right thing to do.｣

“W-Wait! Serah Unni! W-We were good, right? Yeah?”

｢Yeah. Two years ago, I saved you, thinking you were just another human. But…｣

Carefully putting down the clothing she had been holding, the mother of the sky continued, her eyes now filled with tears.

｢I was wrong. Players like you must go extinct.｣

While the sky mother spoke, I checked the symbiotic organism attached to Muriel’s body.

｢Give me six hours, you can eat her, but II need to kill her, but don’t say a word during this time, please.｣

“Got it.”

“This is different from the promise! You said you’d spare me! You said you’d spare meeee!”

Muriel wailed as I left the scene.

Why don’t I keep my promise? That’s what her eyes seemed to say.

“I never made a promise in the first place. I said I would help you repay your debt and that I would let you live.”

I don’t need to point out that she was never promised salvation.

Six hours later.

I returned to where they had been.

“Hi, hiiik, hiiik, hiiik….”

Muriel remained, only her head and upper torso, with her breath clinging on. The mother of the sky was nowhere to be seen.

I’m not sure what their relationship was, but the mother of the sky didn’t seem to want to see Muriel die.

‘I probably don’t need to call her by name.’

I picked up Muriel, who had fallen.

“Mom….”

She murmured her last words quietly.

Soon, my jaw widened, and I swallowed her whole.

With that, Space-Dog Ranker Muriel, who was ranked 20th, died.

[The predation effect is activated! Successful confiscation of ‘Muriel (Han Soo-bin)’ special reward!]

[The fusion of ‘Metal Absorption,’ previously held, is possible.]

[The special reward of ‘Muriel (Han Soo-bin)and the ‘Metal Absorption’ trait are fused. Evolves into the ‘Plunderer’s Amorphous Polyhedron’ trait!]

[Plunderer’s Amorphous Polyhedron: Predates one piece of equipment to specialize its unique ability. Can only be done once per piece of equipment. When preying on a new piece of equipment, the effects of the previous equipment’s trait are lost.]

[*Note: You are death, the destroyer of the universe. But beware, the whole universe will be watching you.]

What struck my head along with the taste of sweet gourmet cake was a new text box related to the new trait.