Became an Evolving Space Monster

After the metallic gremlins withdrew, the barrier protecting the fortress deactivated. The Mother of the Sky and I returned to the fortress through the military port.

｢Where should I go?｣

Once inside, the Mother of the Sky transformed from her winged griffon form back to her humanoid appearance.

Her back, still adorned with wings interwoven with dense muscles, was significantly smaller than in her griffon state, now only reaching down to her thighs when folded. The movement of her wings retained the same flowing, jade-like sheen.

With the golden spear of the priestess resting on her shoulder, she asked me.

‘Under normal circumstances, we’d head to the second command center...’

I doubted Cynthia would be idling around the ruined silo; she had likely moved to catch a transport from another command center.

‘She’d have gone to the first command center.’

Being a cult ranker, she would know the layout of Kesha Arma just as well as I did. There’s no way she wouldn’t understand the implications of her recent oxygen shortage, realizing that I’d already seized the third command center, which oversees the fortress’s life-support systems.

‘She’s probably already battling with them by now.’

In the heat of battle, I’d asked Number 26 to accompany Adhai to target the first command center. If Cynthia headed there, they would have encountered her by now.

‘Together, they won’t win easily, but they won’t lose either.’

Both Number 26 and Adhai are formidable psychic creatures—the Sea Demon and the Red Gallagon. Against the cult, they’re practically the worst matchups imaginable.

If Cynthia possessed the overwhelming firepower of someone like Jason, it’d be dangerous, but she lacks that kind of offensive capability.

[ZZZZ ZZ (Let’s head to the first command center.)]

I sent a wave of communication to the Mother of the Sky, retrieving the membrane concealed in the armored segment of my winged arms. Since ‘Bone Beast’ was still active, my body remained massive. Like sails on a ship, the membrane unfurled widely, and everything around me was forced back by its sheer breadth.

｢You’re really huge.｣

With a small expression of awe, she spread her own wings alongside me. Though smaller than in her griffon form, her wings were still breathtaking as she took off ahead of me.

Following her lead, I began to flap my wings as well. My enormous wingspan, over 100 meters, sent everything beneath me scattering.

Each wingbeat shattered ruined buildings, lifting fallen corpses into the air. Among the debris, there was even a hover bus, split in half, which crashed onto a nearby structure.

It didn’t take long for a long, cylindrical building to come into view as we flew over the devastated areas. We landed in front of the first command center, enclosed by a barrier.

｢Looks like they’re already fighting inside?｣

Just as she said, there was a large drill-like hole in the barrier, and faint screams of pirates and gunfire drifted from within.

‘I should probably widen the entrance...’

Just as I gripped the edge of the hole with my winged arms to expand it, the sounds from within abruptly stopped. An all-too-familiar wave and thought pulse emanated, tickling my monster’s tendrils.

｢It feels like the Little One!｣

｢Big One｣ ｢Right｣ ｢Let’s go｣

｢Yes! Let’s go!｣

Moments later, they appeared. Number 26, likely in the midst of battle, was in its larger form, while Adhai’s head and front legs were stained red.

｢Little One is huge!｣

｢Big One｣ ｢Transformation?｣

[ZZ (Yes.)]

Having seen me use ‘Bone Beast’ a few times, they weren’t surprised by my massive size.

But it was their first time seeing the Mother of the Sky with wings, and both showed signs of awe.

｢Does the Medium One have wings too? Do they grow in after evolution?｣

｢Yes. Just like you said, the wings developed after growth.｣

｢Fascinating! I want wings too!｣

｢Ugly friend｣ ｢Slightly｣ ｢Improved｣

｢Maybe you could drop the ‘ugly’ part now.｣

｢Tail｣ ｢Thin｣ ｢Still ugly｣

｢…You promised to protect me, and yet you just up and left with comments like that?｣

｢Anyway｣ ｢Growth｣ ｢Almost｣ ｢Complete｣ ｢Knew it｣ ｢That’s why｣ ｢I left｣

｢Not conceding a single point, are you?｣

They seemed quite taken by the Mother of the Sky’s new appearance. Number 26 tentatively touched her wings with the tip of its tentacle in fascination. Despite her earlier comments, Adhai circled around her, occasionally nodding in approval.

‘I thought you were in the middle of a fight?’

Glancing behind them, I saw bodies strewn about, their original forms barely recognizable. Cynthia couldn’t possibly be dead already, which meant she hadn’t arrived here yet.

Focusing my auxiliary senses, I couldn’t detect any signs of life.

‘Where did she go? Could she have gone somewhere else?’

[ZZ ZZ ZZ ZZ ZZ ZZZZ (On your way here, did you encounter any strong foes?)]

｢A strong foe?｣

[Z ZZ ZZZZ (Yes, the one I fought.)]

Since Number 26 had been with me during the battle before breaking away, it should remember Cynthia. If she’s hiding elsewhere, it’ll be difficult to locate her.

But its response was beyond anything I could have expected.

｢Little One and I taught a bad guy a lesson!｣

[ZZ (Huh?)]

｢Little One smashed a bad guy who was wearing a hard shell and flapping around!｣

｢Agreed｣ ｢Star’s power｣ ｢Used｣ ｢Horned human｣ ｢Attacked｣ ｢But｣ ｢Horned human｣ ｢Used strange power｣ ｢Didn’t die｣

｢So I hit them like this! Bam! Bam!｣

Number 26 shifted one of its thick tentacles into a new form. The tentacle thinned out, sharp as a needle hanging from a thread, and as it pierced through the air, a sharp sound echoed.

[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ (The two of you killed Cynthia?)]

The surprising answer demanded clarification.

｢Yeah. We taught her a lesson and ate her.｣

｢Delicious｣ ｢Stable｣

｢Yes! She was delicious!｣

｢Hold on. You’re telling me the two of you killed and ate a Ranker?｣

[ZZ (Yes)]

Judging by their reactions, it seemed they had indeed defeated Cynthia—not just subdued her or held her off. They had killed her and devoured every part of her.

‘Come to think of it, those Metallic Gremlins…’

Just before fleeing, the ones that charged at us like maniacs started acting oddly. I had thought it was simply due to fear of the psychic breath attack.

But now it seemed like it had less to do with that and more to do with something else. When Cynthia died, whatever tool she’d been using to summon the Metallic Gremlins must have malfunctioned.

‘Good grief.’

Even though the Sea Demon and Red Gallagon combo was an effective counter to her, Cynthia was still a Ranker. She’d hunted boss-level creatures many times before and would’ve known effective strategies to deal with them.

I assumed they would hold her off, not kill her and eat her whole.

‘Wow. The two of them actually took down a Ranker.’

With that thought, a peculiar emotion began to rise within me.

Was I upset because they’d cost me a special advantage by devouring her? Or was it the loss of a valuable informant?

No, none of that. This emotion wasn’t connected to anything negative like anger or regret.

[ZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZ (Both of you did well. Truly impressive.)]

It was… joy.

｢Wow! The Big One praised us!｣

｢I｣ ｢am amazing｣ ｢The Great Adhai!｣

The surge of emotion from my words delighted them. Number 26, oblivious to its increased size, was jumping up and down in place, and Adhai hopped up onto my back, bouncing gleefully.

Honestly, I did regret losing Cynthia's advantage and information, but the growth these two displayed was worth far more.

They had managed to trap Cynthia all on their own, without my help or guidance. That meant something significant.

There was no telling how many more Rankers we would face. Right now, I was up against two factions: Jason’s faction and Cynthia’s, known as the “Returners.” I didn’t yet know how many members they each had, but it was likely no small number.

‘If they can reach Ranker-level skill, future fights will be much easier.’

That practical realization coexisted with a hard-to-describe feeling.

Once, long ago, as a child, I had imitated an actor in front of my parents.

My mother, who was a famous actress at the time and a strict person, had been different that day.

For once, the usually expressionless woman looked at me and, without a word, smiled. Not the performative smile she showed to reporters or wore on set, but a real, genuine smile.

‘…I was really happy back then.’

Why was I thinking of that rare smile of hers now?

Maybe this feeling I had was similar to what my mother felt watching me back then.

｢So, are there no more threats now?｣

It was the Mother of the Sky’s telepathic message that snapped me out of my reflection.

[ZZ ZZZ ZZZZZ (Yes, the Ranker is dead.)]

｢Judging by the state of this fortress, it looks like the crew hunting for the gene essences is also taken care of. Now we just need to deal with the remaining pirates.｣

[ZZZ ZZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZZZ (PS-111 has taken control of the life-support system. They won’t last much longer.)]

｢…You did the same thing here as in the game?｣

[ZZ ZZZZZ (It’s efficient.)]

The remaining pirates and survivors in the fortress were effectively on borrowed time. Anyone in an enhanced suit would have oxygen capsules to hold out a bit longer, but even then, only for a few extra minutes.

Once they were dealt with, there would be no reason to stay here.

‘The conditions for adult evolution are already met.’

Thanks to plundering the underground storage, I now had all the unique traits needed to create the two I needed for synthesis. Once complete, I could finally evolve into my adult form.

‘Ah, speaking of, I remember a certain trait from earlier.’

Thinking about the traits triggered a memory I’d nearly forgotten.

I had managed to get a trait from a Warp Boy while trying to capture a Titan Boss.

Because of Cynthia, I hadn’t had the time to confirm it. There were only a few minutes left before the trait would automatically cancel.

I opened the message box right away.

｢Devour effect activated! ‘Warp Creature’ gene essence successfully obtained.｣

｢Acquired the biological trait ‘Warp Creature’ from ‘Warp Boy’.｣

｢Would you like to apply ‘Warp Creature’?｣

‘Oh?’

In such a short time, yet another unexpected twist.

The ‘Warp Creature’ trait was practically essential for an Amorph, an incredibly useful trait. It drastically reduces the time needed to prepare for faster-than-light travel.

‘An invaluable trait for escape.’

Now that I had the ‘Monster’s Reinforced Wings’, I could perform solo faster-than-light travel. But I avoided using it during combat because preparing for faster-than-light travel was incredibly slow—nearly five minutes of being completely immobilized and vulnerable to attack.

Obtaining the Warp Creature trait would cut that preparation time in half.

‘To get such a valuable trait here, of all places.’

The chances of getting the Warp Creature trait from a Warp Boy were low, so I hadn’t expected much, but I gladly accepted it.

And then….

｢‘Jason (Jason Tunningham)’’s special attribute in the Token Storage can be fused with ‘Warp Creature’.｣

｢This trait qualifies for the Trait Enhancement System. Would you like to use it?｣

The message box displayed yet another unexpected option.