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Chapter 205

Finding food, securing shelter, mating and leaving offsprings—everything is tied to competition.

To find limited food, you must compete with others, and the places that feel comfortable to you are likely desirable to other creatures as well. The same goes for feelings towards mates.

However, just because survival and competition are closely linked, not everyone can be a winner. Most creatures in nature live having lost in some aspect of competition.

The small cave’s owner, the Sharkbear, embodied both the winner and the loser. He triumphed in all other areas but failed in just one.

He had no mate.

Perhaps it was because he had been separated from his group at an early age.

He never learned social skills and viewed other creatures solely as prey. Occasionally, females approached him, but his attitude drove them all away.

But so what?

He had a cozy cave and a vast territory all to himself. Except for not being able to leave offspring, he led a satisfying life.

Today, the young male Sharkbear roamed leisurely in his hunting grounds to satiate his hunger. There were no creatures around that could threaten him.

Except for the occasional intrusions by a beast with white fur and long limbs.

This bipedal monster was swift and strong. Its unpredictable arm movements were particularly annoying. Thus, even the Sharkbear found it a bit burdensome.

Still, the young male was not worried. He had recently chased the beast out of his forest after a fierce confrontation. He was sure it wouldn’t return anytime soon.

As he strolled through the forest, a scent reached his nose. It was warm and sticky, out of place in the frozen surroundings. And it carried a sweet undertone.

It was the smell of blood.

Someone had died in his hunting grounds.

Rooaaar.

The young male let out a low growl.

Who dared to encroach on his territory? He thought. This time, he would not let the white-furred monster go unpunished.

Following the scent through the air, he reached an open clearing. In the middle of the snow-covered clearing was the source of the blood scent.

Under normal circumstances, he would have rushed in immediately, but he did not.

Something felt off. No predator would leave such a tasty meal behind without reason.

He dismissed his curiosity about the sweet scent and looked around. There were no tracks of other animals in the snow. He looked up at the open sky.

As always, the dark sky was snowing continuously. Could his instincts be wrong about the danger?

He noticed the broken tree branches above. They looked as if something heavy had fallen from the sky.

Had he been more social and interacted with his kind, he would have understood the significance of those signs. He would have known how dangerous aerial creatures could be.

But living alone, he never knew this. He approached the snow-covered corpse. His jaws opened wide, revealing his sharp teeth.

Just as he was about to enjoy his meal.

Something swooped down from the dark sky above his head.

[‘Enhanced Endocrine Glands’ trait has been applied.]

[Can be fused with the existing ‘Muscle Reinforcement’ trait.]

[‘Enhanced Endocrine Glands’ and ‘Muscle Reinforcement’ traits have fused. Evolving into the ‘Berserker Synapse’ trait!]

[Berserker Synapse: Enhances overall physical abilities. Reduces energy consumption and allows more energy to be stored within the body.]

[*Note: You are a living tank, an unstoppable train.]

‘Whew. Finally.’

After capturing the 11th Sharkbear, I finally gained a new trait. It took a while because I didn’t use the Symbol of the Hunt.

‘I need to save the Symbol of the Hunt for the Skywhale.’

The Skywhale has some troublesome traits like ‘Energy Absorption’, but it also has many useful traits. Besides ‘Giant Creature’ and ‘Space Travel’, it has numerous valuable traits. It’s a creature worth hunting for its power.

I looked down at my new body, enhanced with the [Berserker Synapse] trait. As expected of an internal organ fusion trait, there were no significant changes.

The only noticeable difference was that the muscles around my arms, neck, and tail were more pronounced. The muscles in my wing-arms were also stronger, allowing for faster and longer flights.

‘I feel powerful.’

In the game, these changes were merely numerical, but in reality, it felt different. My whole body felt brimming with strength. Even without activating transformation modes like the Symbol of the Hunt, I could instinctively tell.

I wouldn’t have to worry as much about the side effects.

｢Big guy, are you done eating?｣

[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ (Yes. You can have the rest)]

[Detection of rapid muscle density increase and energy distribution changes.]

｢…Your muscles are incredible.｣

While Number 26 was always indifferent to my growth, the others were not. PS-111 seemed eager to collect samples of my skin tissue, and the Sky Mother was observing the muscles of my combat arms closely.

[ZZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (Let’s leave right after we finish eating)]

｢Okay. Flap flap, sounds good.｣

[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (Where do you think we should go to find the Skywhale?)]

｢Huh? Oh, um, I’m not sure. Well.｣

She, who had brought the High Priest’s Golden Spear from the nest, seemed fascinated by the changes in my body. She stared intently at my arms with her amber eyes, startled when she heard my question.

｢Uh, well, it’s definitely somewhere in the atmosphere, but I’m not sure where it would be easy to find. As you know, they never stop moving.｣

As she said, Skywhales have no nests. Their range of activity includes the entire planet and outer space. They roam planetary atmospheres, absorbing solar and other forms of energy, then move to another planet or star system when they’ve had enough.

The planet with the Gallagon’s Nest is rich in psychic power, so Skywhales frequently visit. Thus, the chances of finding a Skywhale somewhere on this planet are very high.

‘It has not been detected in this area.’

PS-111 said, eating Sharkbear meat with its hook-like hand. The piece of meat in its hand shriveled up in an instant, turning into something resembling a dried leaf. The dried meat was then consumed by Number 26.

As I watched them eat, I thought,

‘We won’t approach the Gallagon’s Nest because of the Gallagons.’

In the game, events where Gallagons and Skywhales fought often occurred. Skywhales, which absorb all forms of hostile energy, are natural enemies of the powerful psychic Gallagons. Thus, Gallagons dislike Skywhales approaching the Gallagon’s Nest.

‘Should we search by flying directly?’

It seems we have no choice but to rely on my auxiliary organs for the search.

Once Number 26 and PS-111 finished eating, we began our search for the Skywhale.

Every flap of my wings made my thick muscles ripple. The black wings cleaved through the air, parting the clouds around us. Soccer ball-sized hailstones mixed in the blizzard struck my wings, but the membrane remained undamaged.

As my body and wings soared through the sky like a Gallagon ascending, the auxiliary organs under my chin tirelessly performed their tasks. They analyzed all elements in the clouds and the energy flowing through the air without missing anything.

[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (See anything unusual?)]

｢Not yet.｣

｢Nothing detected!｣

Sky Mother and Number 26, riding on my back, were also looking for signs of the Skywhale. Sky Mother stood on two legs, scanning the clouds with her hawk-like eyes. Despite her fear of flying, she had made significant progress.

‘Except for gripping my tendrils tightly with her hands.’

Beside her, Number 26 extended tendrils to trace the energy flow.

I maintained a speed that wouldn’t overwhelm them as they searched. Having just eaten the Sharkbear and with the Berserker Synapse effect, I still had plenty of energy.

While continuing our extensive search, my auxiliary organs detected something. The feeling tickling the ends of my auxiliary organs was subtly different from psychic power.

‘What is this?’

I sensed an unusual energy flow from a specific direction. Number 26, seemingly feeling the same, sent out a pulse.

｢Big Baby! There’s something strange coming from over there!｣

[Got it]

I slightly folded one wing to turn towards the source of the energy. My body tilted sharply with the inertia, then I spread my wings wide again, beating them powerfully. My body shot forward like a missile launched from a launcher.

As I increased speed and flew forward, a massive mountain peak came into view. It was far taller than the Twin Peaks where I had hunted Crystalwings.

The mountain pierced through the clouds and extended far above them. The peak, devoid of snow, appeared black, with no trees growing on it.

The sight looked more like a mythological giant than a naturally formed terrain.

｢Amazing. I’ve never seen such a huge mountain.｣

Sky Mother was right.

It felt like seeing Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, with my own eyes. The grandeur of the colossal black mountain was truly astounding.

As we neared the mountain, the unusual energy flow became even stronger. The black mountain seemed to be emitting energy from its peak, like a volcano spewing ash.

‘That mountain is generating energy…’

｢There! The Skywhale is there!｣

Just as I was about to focus on the mountain, Sky Mother sent a thought wave. She pointed towards the mountain peak. Though it was hard to see clearly from a distance, tiny specks were circling the peak.

I increased my speed to approach it. Soon, the Skywhale became visible to my eyes.

It had a long body resembling a whale, six wings formed from clusters of opal-colored particles, and eight eyes.

It was a Skywhale, a whale of the cosmos.

‘Judging by its size, it’s still young.’

A mature Skywhale can reach up to 50 meters in length. The one before us was about 60 meters long, nearly twice my size.

“■——–”

Sensing my approach, it let out a warning cry. Since I was there to capture it, I ignored its warning and closed in.

“■—!”

It spread its wings in anger. The opal-colored particles on its wings began to gather and shine.

‘Damn!’

Knowing what this meant, I folded my wings and dove. Six photon cannons fired from its wings, scorching the spot where I had been.

In the community, Skywhales are often compared to herbivores.

People might misunderstand them as harmless, but think of African elephants or hippos—herbivores but incredibly dangerous.

The same goes for the whales of the cosmos.

Having fired the first shots, it fired the opal-colored beams again. I wrapped my wings around my body and spun in the air. The beams grazed the outer part of my wing membrane. As I spread my wings again after the evasive maneuver, Sky Mother took action.

Using her ‘Ice Spirit’ ability, she aimed to seal the Skywhale’s photon cannon attack. The Skywhale trembled as its eyes met hers.

The light on its wings flickered and then dimmed.

｢I can only hold it for a minute! We have to finish it within that time!｣

[ZZZZ ZZZ (Don’t worry)]

I didn’t plan to drag this out anyway. While the Skywhale was distracted by the Ice Spirit, I quickly closed the distance.

I could see its eight blue eyes, now devoid of their usual sharpness. The creature, losing its mind, charged at me. I did not dodge and charged right back.

Black wings clashed with opal wings, and the thunderous sound echoed like a bolt of lightning striking.

“■—–!”

The Skywhale cried out, overwhelmed by pain despite losing its mind. I, too, felt significant pain at the point of impact, but it was bearable.

Tendrils erupted from my back, biting into the creature. It retaliated by striking my head with its wings. Though my exoskeleton didn’t crack, the impact was considerable.

[Pain Nullification Activated!]

Ignoring the text box, I bit down on the Skywhale’s wing. It shrieked in pain and attempted to strike me with its other wing.

｢Help Big Baby with the attack!｣

｢On it!｣

Everyone riding on my back leapt towards the Skywhale, now held in place.

Sky Mother wielded the golden spear of the priestess, slicing through its flesh with the glinting weapon. Beside her, Number 26 lashed at its back with tendrils, leaving deep cuts. PS-111 crawled spider-like to its flank, slashing with its claws.

Skywhales can absorb energy-based attacks, rendering them useless. As I had warned everyone beforehand, they all engaged it in hand-to-hand combat.

‘In close combat, we have the advantage.’

The Skywhale’s melee skills weren’t bad, but it had one major flaw: its lack of durability.

Its exoskeleton was easily damaged by our attacks.

“■——”

It tried to shake us off by thrashing its body. I tightened my tendrils around it to hold it in place.

Realizing it couldn’t get rid of us without first dealing with me, it opened its mouth wide.

Skywhale mouths are more for combat than feeding. Male Skywhales bite each other to prove their strength in competition for mates. Even another Skywhale can be fatally injured by those massive jaws.

But there was something it didn’t know.

‘Now!’

“■?!”

As it opened its mouth, I thrust my head inside. Before it could clamp down, I drove the horns on my head into the roof of its mouth.

Six massive horns pierced through the soft palate, reaching the sensitive inner areas. I used my tendrils to push myself further into its mouth.

“■——–”

It tried to scream, but it was impossible. Nearly a quarter of my body was jammed inside its mouth.

I shook my head, tearing up the inside of its mouth with my horns.

“—…”

Finally, when my horns ripped through to its brain, it stopped moving. The light from its beautiful wings faded, and its six eyes slowly closed.

With its death, we all began plummeting rapidly.

｢Hey, hey, hey, hey! You crazy bastard! We’re falling! We’re falling!｣

｢Wheee! This is fun!｣

[Calculating damage based on the fall height…]

I pulled my head from the Skywhale’s mouth and spread my wings wide. At the same time, the tendrils holding the cosmic whale bore the brunt of the weight.

[ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZZ (Hurry up and climb up)]

[Thank you.]

｢…Phew.｣

｢That was fun!｣

Even as the others climbed up my tendrils, I didn’t stop flapping my wings. With the Skywhale in tow, I gradually reduced our falling speed.

‘Now we just have to land and eat…’

At that moment, a surge of intense psychic power washed over me. I quickly released the tendrils holding the Skywhale and shot upwards.

In an instant, a thick purple beam slashed through my tendrils. The Skywhale’s corpse plummeted below with the severed tendrils.

｢King of the Sky｣ ｢Cannot be allowed to escape｣

Above me, against the black sky, stood a being resembling a white angel.

‘…Ham Ort.’

The white Gallagon who had taken Adhai.

Ham Ort, the White Gallagon, was there.