Chapter 207


    HEL SCANS


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    The creature that was rubbing its head against my body suddenly stopped and lifted its head. Then she called out to me through telepathy.


    [ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ (Are you hurt?)]


    ?No? ?Pain? ?None? ?At all.?


    I wondered if she had an injury I hadn’t noticed, but it didn’t seem to be the case. The creature hesitated and backed away from me.


    Just a moment ago, she was excited to see me, but now she seemed awkward. Not only her behavior but also the telepathic waves radiating from her body were filled with negative emotions.‘Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?’


    As if to answer my question, she sent another telepathic wave.


    ?I? ?Apologize? ?Must.?


    [ZZZZ ZZ (Apologize?)]


    ?I? ?Followed? ?Ham Ort? ?Abandoned? ?Adult? ?Sorry.?


    She was referring to when she followed Ham Ort when we first encountered it. Although I understood her intentions, she seemed to have been weighing on her heavily.


    ?I? ?Want? ?Adult? ?Tribe? ?Again? ?Please.?


    The creature lowered her front legs and bowed her head, disying an unprecedented level of respect.


    ‘Hmm.’


    From the start, I had intended to bring her back. Therefore, I hadn’t thought much of meeting her again.


    However, the creature saw things differently. Adhai had been exiled from her tribe once for being small and weak.


    ‘Come to think of it, even before we came here, she was overly cautious.’


    After guiding me to the nest, she asked if she could stay with me. I had assumed she would, but she seemed to worry about being unnecessary and having to leave.


    Even now, she seemed burdened by the prospect of returning after leaving us to survive.


    ‘…This isn’t something that can be solved with words.’


    I know well how past pains can torment one’s life. The body lives in the present, but the mind remains trapped in the past.


    So, I decided to do what I had most wanted when I was struggling.


    I gently embraced the creature with my winged arms and held her close.


    [ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (You’re back, that’s all that matters.)]


    ?Adult? ?Forgive? ?me??


    The creature trembled as she spoke, and I shook my head.


    [ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZZZ (You did nothing wrong, there’s nothing to forgive.)]


    ?I? ?Abandon? ?Tribe? ?Wrong.?


    [ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (You chose to protect me. If anything, I was the one who was wrong.)]


    ?No!? ?Adult? ?No? ?Wrong.?


    [ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZ (Let’s agree that neither of us was wrong.)]


    ?I? ?Again? ?Tribe? ?Possible??


    [ZZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZ (You never really left.)]


    I sent this telepathic wave with firm resolution. Understanding my sincerity, Adhai finally rxed.


    I lightly stroked her head with my small arms. she turned her head as if she felt tickled and looked at my winged arms.


    ?Wings? ?First? ?See.?


    [ZZZZ ZZZ (Really?)]


    When we first met, I did have wings, but not in their current form. They used to cover my back like a beetle’s, and I could barely use them due to the transcendence penalty.


    ?Cool!? ?Cool!? ?Very? ?Cool!?


    Adhai tapped me with its front paw and nodded energetically. She seemed very pleased with my transformation.


    [ZZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (Let’s go back. The others must be waiting.)]


    ?Little Adult? ?Ugly friend? ?Weak child? ?Present??


    [ZZZ (Yes)]


    Upon hearing my words, Adhai climbed out of my embrace and onto my back.


    I carried her back to where I had left the others.


    ?What happened??


    As soon as she saw me with Adhai, the Mother of the Sky asked.


    [ZZZZ (I was deceived.)]


    ?It seems so.?


    ?Little One!?


    [Confirmed as Sub-controller 2 ‘Little One.’ Nice to meet you again.]


    ?Everyone? ?Happy.?


    Gagon, by design, doesn’t lie. As a race modeled after legendary and mythical dragons, they value contracts highly. If she weren’t for this characteristic, I wouldn’t have trusted Adhai when we made our contract.


    That’s why I believed what Ham Ort said, never imagining that Gagon could lie.


    ‘…Still, I guess I should be d that Adhai is safe.’


    In this case, it’s fortunate that it was a lie. Despite my annoyance at being deceived by Gagon.


    Just then, having greeted everyone, Adhai trotted up to me.


    ?Sky King? ?Adult? ?Hunt??


    [ZZZ (Sky King?)]


    It pointed to the burst Sky Whale with the tip of its horn.


    ‘Why did theye here?’


    While Ham Ort might be okay, Adhai was not well-suited to fighting Sky Whales. She couldn’t use its psychic abilities and was too small tond any effective hits.


    Conversely, it would be very easy for a Sky Whale to kill Adhai. Whether she fired a photon cannon or struck with its wings, Adhai would be done for.


    ‘Adhai must know this.’


    As if to answer my question, Adhai sent another telepathic wave.


    ?Ham Ort? ?Said? ?Sky King? ?Needed? ?I? ?Said? ?Adult? ?Already? ?Hunted? ?Sky King? ?Hunt? ?Useless.?


    Adhai proudly spread its wings. It seemed Ham Ort intended to target the Sky Whale, but then realized I was already here and Adhai told her that hunting the Sky Whale was impossible.


    [ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZZ ZZZ ZZ (I understand needing the Sky King, but why did youe together?)]


    ?Ham Ort? ?Said? ?I? ?Must eat? ?Sky King? ?Savior? ?Condition.?


    [ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ (Must eat the Sky King?)]


    Now that I looked closer, Adhai’s wings were different. Earlier, I was only checking for injuries, but now I could see clearly.


    ‘There are spots on her wings.’


    Near the membrane of the wings, there were white spots, like grains of sand. She seemed more natural than a sign of illness, like freckles.


    ‘White?’


    I suddenly wondered if Ham Ort was trying to evolve Adhai.


    The growth conditions of Gagons are unknown. I don’t know how Adhai grew. When she molted the green scales, I was not with her.


    ?Ham Ort? ?Brought? ?Snake King? ?Adult? ?Hunted? ?Snake King? ?Much? ?Bigger.?


    ‘Snake King? That I gave? That can’t be…oh.’


    I remembered. The first apex creature I hunted on this was the Ice Horror. Considering its size and appearance, it could indeed be called a Snake King.


    ‘Does Adhai need to eat apex creatures to be a White Gagon?’


    When Blue Gagons, which can be considered hatchlings, absorb the natural psychic power from their nest, they grow. Once they be Green Gagons, they start hunting wild animals in earnest.


    Ons where dragon nests are located, there are usually many apex creatures, so they inevitably have to fight them.


    ‘Apex creatures are generally very nutritious.’


    Ice Horrors, cier Fiends, Crystalwings. All of them are beings that possess immense energy. By hunting and consuming these monsters, they umte that energy in their bodies and grow into White Gagons.


    ‘Although this isn’t entirely urate…’


    If my hypothesis is correct, there should be more White Gagons in the dragon’s nest. Since there aren’t, it’s likely there are other factors I’m unaware of.


    ‘Maybe Adhai is unique.’


    Ham Ort took Adhai because she was special. She said she was necessary for fighting the ck Gagon group.


    Of course, it’s unclear why such an important creature was handed over to me now.


    [ZZZZ ZZZ ZZ ZZ (Will you change if you eat the Sky King?)]


    ?Ham Ort? ?Said? ?Change? ?Possible? ?I? ?Absorbed? ?Snake King? ?Changed? ?Stronger.?


    Adhai pointed to the spots on its wings with its front paw.


    ‘Testing she would confirm it.’


    If what she says is true, Adhai should change after eating Sky Whale meat.


    ‘In any case, Ham Ort and the Gagons are under my control.’


    Adhai knows where they are. If there’s anything uncertain, I can just capture and question them.


    I approached the Sky Whale’s corpse.


    I activated the Symbol of the hunt amid the pool of blood and fragments of entrails scattered on the ground.


    My head transformed, with a carapace covering my eyes. My back split open, revealing skeletal scythe arms, and small ws resembling centipede legs sprouted all over my lower body.


    These were changes that urred when I previously used the Symbol of the hunt, but there were two differences.


    Under the influence of the berserker synapse, which drastically reduces energy consumption, my body didn’t elongate as much as before. My current body length was approximately 45 meters. Considering that I usually grow at least twice asrge when using the Symbol of the hunt, this was an exceptionally small size.


    ‘I don’t have anyints about the size. It might actually be an advantage.’


    The other difference was the red patterns on my arms and wing membranes.


    The red patterns, spreading like blood vessels from the inside of mybat arms and wing arms, followed the muscle fibers and extended to the wing membranes. The original ck wings were cool, but they had their own charm.


    ?Adult? ?Wings? ?Cool.?


    [ZZZ ZZ ZZZ (Yes, they are.)]


    Afterpleting my transformation, I bit into the head of the Sky Whale, its contents spilling out. The others approached and started tasting the space whale’s meat as well.


    ***


    It’s unique to Odd Grad’s group, but original Gagons value their young highly. Gagons don’ty many eggs, and even the few they doy often don’t hatch due to harsh environments.


    The few eggs that do hatch are precious, so the whole group is desperate to protect them.


    Those not out hunting, whether female or male, guard the nest and the young. Since most members are usually out hunting, it’s safe to say that the majority protect the nest.


    There are only two situations where hatchlings in a nest guarded by the entire group would die: when a predator like a Sky Whale appears, or when a stronger group of Gagons attacks.


    And now,


    The group following Ham Ort was on the verge of annihtion.


    The forest surrounding the nest was aze as if it had been bombarded. Amid the roaring mes, Gagons with various colored scalesy fallen.


    The cave serving as the hatchling Gagons’ sanctuary had its ceilingpletely torn off. Inside, the bodies of Gagons were piled up like a mountain.


    Most of the bodies were those of blue hatchlings.


    Ham Ort, the leader of the nest, was watching the horrific scene. It wasn’t because she was ruthless orcked affection for her kin.


    Her body was in a state of utter devastation. Her beautiful white wings, once like a bride’s dress, werepletely torn off, and only a third of her tail remained.


    Three of her four brilliant horns were broken, and the tendrils around her mouth were half torn off. it was hard to find any part of her body that wasn’t broken.


    The one who had reduced her to such a pitiful state floated leisurely in the sky.


    A being with six horns and jet-ck scales like the night sky, overwhelminglyrger than Ham Ort.


    The most powerful Gagon on this, the Great Odd Grad.


    He was holding a Blue Gagon in his front paw, sucking its bodily fluids.


    Ripping apart the hatchling with his purple tendrils, it was a sight Ham Ort had tried desperately to prevent.


    After devouring the hatchling in an instant, he tossed the shriveled corpse in front of her.


    ?Evil Odd Grad!? ?Killed the young kin!? ?Killed kin who were once part of the group!?


    Ham Ort’s psychic wave, filled with rage at the brutal death of the young ones, erupted. Although the two factions were at war, there was no reason to kill the ignorant hatchlings.


    Moreover, Odd Grad’s faction was split in two due to rebellion. Killing all of them when even one more could be useful was not a wise decision.


    ?The young kin are innocent! Cruelty!?


    In response to her primal expression of fury, Odd Grad calmly replied.


    ?Odd Grad speaks, Rebels’ seeds must be eradicated.?


    ?!?


    ?However.?


    Hended on top of Ham Ort. The sheer weight of hisrger body crushed her, causing her to scream.


    ?I do not kill rebels.?


    ?Ham Ort will not surrender!?


    ?It does not matter. Rebels need much more pain.?


    He methodically broke her legs with his front paw. She couldn’t even scream in extreme pain, only letting out faint groans.


    ?Odd Gradmands, Take the rebel away.?


    ?Yes.?


    ?Hunt down the escaped rebels. Kill them.?


    Other Gagons grabbed Ham Ort, having heard his psychicmand.


    As she was dragged away in a daze, she thought.


    At least thest hope hadn’t been snuffed out.


    She hadn’t told the daughter of theet, but for her to be the savior, one sacrifice remained.


    That was to devour the white kin.


    Initially, she had nned to take responsibility and make the sacrifice herself. But Odd Grad’s assault on her nest had disrupted that n.


    Therefore, she had no choice but to entrust the task to another kin, Nel Germa.


    Nel Germa was also a female who had risen against Odd Grad. Even in a dire situation, she had acted promptly upon hearing Ham Ort’s request.


    While Nel Germa drew their attention, another white kin led the surviving kin to safety. She did this toplete the final mission given to her.


    Now, there was nothing left for Ham Ort to do.


    All that remained was to see what choice her daughter would make.


    Throughout, she had made only wrong choices. There were only two decisions she could confidently say were right.


    But she hoped her daughter would make wise choices. She continued to pray until she lost consciousness.


    HEL SCANS


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