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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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Chapter 464
The Outspacers’ Great Queen was once human.
Back when she was human, her name was Joy Spencer.
Her lover, the Empress of the Outspacers, calls her ‘Joyra’. The name ‘Joy’ is one of the few things that remind her of her human past.
But now, a new being connected to that past has appeared.
‘An Amorph ranker…’
Joy narrowed her eyes at the monstrosity rampaging across the battlefield.
The sole Amorph ranker from the game Space Survival. The most evil ranker, contemptuously called ‘Amorph’ who holds the 5th rank, was standing before her.
｢New entity. Dangerous. Be cautious.｣
｢I know.｣
Three heads with unnaturally developed carapaces, grotesque pouches dangling on its neck, and multiple long legs its form was nothing like that in the game. But that’s to be expected; an Amorph’s appearance changes depending on which genetic essences it absorbs.
In fact, the 5th ranker is notorious for disguising itself with all sorts of bizarre forms to deceive others. This form was clearly intentional.
‘Tch! Why the hell is that thing here?’
NEO-3 star system is considered a strategic hub, but it’s not a place attractive to the Amorph.
It’s famous as a munitions factory producing high-performance warships. There are plenty of other places to find genetic essence.
Her lover had warned her to watch out for Megacorp’s rankers but never mentioned the Amorph.
‘Could it be after that research lab?’
Joy had come to raid the secret research lab on planet NOX-02, also known as Nox. Maybe the Amorph came with the same intention.
‘…No. It wouldn’t know that much.’
She quickly dismissed her speculation.
Only a handful in Megacorp knew the research lab’s significance. Even her lover learned about it only accidentally while spreading parasites.
The Amorph may be formidable, but it’s not omniscient. Very few knew the lab’s location. How could it?
It was probably just rotten bad timing.
‘The lab is screwed because of that thing.’
Though Joy’s power was immense, her opponent was that infamous “Mopfaki.” As long as it blocked the path to the lab, her lover’s mission was impossible.
Yet she didn’t leave. There was still something she wanted to accomplish.
‘I have to bring something back for him.’
This large-scale invasion was extremely important to the Empress. She despised variables; if plans fell through, it would greatly disappoint her.
As much as the 4th-ranked loves Joy, she held a deep affection for him as well. She didn’t want to let him down.
‘Instead…’
Joy’s gaze shifted to the Red Gallagon ridden by the Amorph. Its size was like a Blue Gallagon’s, but it possessed the abilities of a Red Gallagon, a mutant.
‘The swarm still didn’t have the essence of the Red Gallagon, right?’
If she could take that Red Gallagon, her lover would be very pleased.
The Gallagon’s owner wouldn’t stand by and watch, but there was no need to worry. Using the power of the Wings of the Heavens, capturing or escaping the enemy wouldn’t be difficult.
Joy focused her mind on the Amorph in flight. The Vortex One’s power that controls space activated, tearing a hole in the empty void.
But the Amorph danced skillfully around the black pit, as if sensing where the force acted in advance.
｢Tch. Annoying.｣
The Vortex One transcends physical laws and logic. Its powers cannot be detected by normal means. It seemed the Amorph had prepared special detection traits in case of a fight with the Vortex One.
‘I can’t help it.’
Fortunately, its flight speed wasn’t very fast. Joy decided to exploit that.
｢Todres. Trap it with the swarm.｣
At the Great Queen’s order, the teal Outspacer Todres responded silently. The queen’s controlled swarm spread out like a net. The mesh tightened rapidly, closing distance on the Amorph.
For now, the lower-level units could only serve as meat shields, but that was sufficient. Even holding it for a moment would help.
Outspacers hemmed in the Amorph from all sides. There was no way out.
The Amorph swung its grotesque tentacles and struck down the lower units blocking its path. Blood and flesh flew, and holes tore open in the encirclement. The Amorph succeeded in making a path and aimed to slip through.
‘Gotcha.’
A massive rift leading to another dimension opened before the Amorph’s tentacles.
Once caught in the wormhole created by the Wings of the Heavens, escape was impossible. Knowing this, the Amorph hurriedly retracted its tentacles.
But that was exactly what she had planned.
Normally, the Wings of the Heavens can only open one wormhole at a time, but she was different. Her activation range was shorter than the original’s, but she could create more wormholes.
Joy concentrated on the Amorph’s head specifically, on the Red Gallagon perched atop.
The Red Gallagon tried to escape belatedly. But Joy was one step faster.
At the moment the new wormhole began to trap the Gallagon’s wing, interference occurred. The Amorph shoved the Red Gallagon away with tentacles growing from its back.
The smaller Gallagon bounced off, and the tentacle instead touched the edge of the wormhole. Simultaneously, the Sea Demon embraced by the Amorph transformed its pink tentacles into blades and swung, cutting the tentacle caught in the wormhole.
‘What the…?’
The severed limb was sucked into the wormhole. Joy immediately created another wormhole, but the Amorph had already fled with the Red Gallagon.
‘Damn! Another mutant?’
She knew the Sea Demon could use psychic power to mutate itself. But she had never seen tentacles weaponized like that.
‘Did it just collect mutants or what?’
Like other Outspacers, she had devoured countless creatures but had met mutants only a handful of times. Yet that thing brought mutated apex organisms as its slaves.
‘Does it expect to get a rare genetic essence?’
No mutant had ever produced previously unknown traits by being eaten.
Of course, the opponent was that infamous Amorph surely it had some sinister plan.
‘I need to kill that mutant.’
Unlike the Gallagon, the Sea Demon’s genetic essence was plentiful. That troublesome pink monster was useless.
Afterward, Joy kept attacking the Amorph. Wherever it fled, wormholes born of the Vortex One repeatedly appeared and vanished.
Contrary to her hopes, the Amorph was hard to catch. Having been hit once, it moved more cautiously than before.
｢Todres, how are the other queens doing?｣
｢They need more time.｣
Seeing the Amorph commanding subordinates made her feel the absence of the other queens more keenly. The situation would be very different if they were all here.
‘Turan is dead, and only Todres, specialized in auxiliary support, remains.’
Todres excels in energy manipulation and ally enhancement but shows the weakest direct combat power among the four queens.
Moreover, interference from a Prometheus-like robot made it difficult to use energy manipulation effectively.
｢Great Queen, I will support with power.｣
｢No. That’s a last resort.｣
Todres’s support was powerful but had a fatal flaw: they had to share control of their bodies. If surprises happened in battle, responding quickly was difficult.
｢For now, focus on pressure with the lower units.｣
｢Understood. Hm?｣
Suddenly, Todres emitted a puzzled energy wave.
｢Why?｣
｢The entity blocking movement has stopped responding.｣
｢What did you say?｣
Hearing those words, Joy checked the Amorph’s status.
It was still dodging at high speed, but somehow it looked anxious. Seeing that, she thought she understood the creature’s intention.
‘It’s trying to use humans.’
The ruler of this star system was Megacorp. To them, the Outspacers and the Amorph were nothing but invaders alike. Their plan was to lure them into the battlefield and provoke a chaotic fight.
The Wings of the Heavens had no special defensive techniques. The standard strategy was to distract it with numerous troops and attack its core during the opening.
‘Ha. How foolish.’
That was just the original’s weakness. Joy’s body did not contain only the essence of the Vortex One. She had long since compensated for her weak defenses with genetic essences from other creatures.
｢Good. Summon all queens.｣
Whether or not the Amorph knew, there were humans here, not only them.
As Todres waved her tentacles, blue sparks flashed in all directions. Moments later, the reinforcements Joy awaited crossed into the battlefield in a blaze of light.
｢Krrk! Great Queen! How dare you leave me behind to go first!｣
｢I sensed the death of a brother born of Mother. What is the matter?｣
A red monster called Krieger growled fiercely as soon as it arrived, accompanied by the bat-monstrous Hungersnot, which had doubled in size since they last met. Behind them, Outspacers scattered across the star system began to appear one by one.
｢Those down there are the enemies the Empress hates most. Krieger and Hungersnot, focus on fighting them.｣
｢Grrrr. I smell a strong one.｣
｢Those who harmed Mother shall be repaid with death.｣
｢Todres, boost those two immediately.｣
｢I obey the Great Queen’s orders.｣
While Joy issued commands to the newly arrived Outspacers, Megacorp’s ships also leapt into the fray. Bright light engulfed the battlefield as when they approached the star.
The light faded quickly, revealing countless ships.
Human-made alloy vessels and biological weapons created solely for battle charged at each other.
As green heat rays and thorn-shaped projectiles tangled chaotically, the Amorph darted into the fray. Its form was quickly obscured by ships and Outspacers.
｢Go and capture it.｣
The moment Joy gave the order, the enhanced Krieger and Hungersnot lunged forward.
Krieger was the fastest and most heavily armored of the four queens. Now strengthened, it was essentially a sentient superweapon.
Flying at terrifying speed, Krieger slammed into Megacorp’s fleet, shaking their formation violently. Ships struck directly vanished without a trace, and others caught in the shock were instantly disabled.
But Krieger was stopped by another red comet the Red Gallagon controlled by the Amorph clashed with it.
｢Krrk?! Strong!｣
Since its creation, Krieger had never been wounded. Yet now, a fine crack appeared on its nearly immortal carapace.
The surprise wasn’t limited to Krieger. The Red Gallagon, shielded by an indomitable defense, was also stunned to see its opponent relatively intact.
Of course, since it hadn’t been hurt badly, it quickly recovered and fled among other ships.
｢I will assist.｣
｢Grrrr! This is my prey! Don’t interfere!｣
Hungersnot ignored Krieger’s words and opened its mouth toward where the Gallagon had hidden.
Just as a powerful black lightning was about to be unleashed, a fighter suddenly crashed into its maw.
｢How dare you!｣
Hungersnot crushed the fighter and turned its head.
Nearby, a pink Sea Demon clung to a warship’s hull. It had captured and thrown the fighter that launched at it.
｢Enemy of Mother!｣
The enraged bat beast spewed black lightning. Not only the warship but other nearby vessels turned to dust. Among them, there was no sign of the Sea Demon’s body.
Realizing this, a Sea Demon bathed in blue light emerged from afar.
｢I won’t let you escape!｣
Hungersnot spread massive wings and began the pursuit.
Meanwhile, Joy observed the entire scene from the rear.
Her goal was to capture the Red Gallagon. Additionally, this was a perfect opportunity to kill the Sea Demon.
Yet she didn’t move and the reason was clear.
‘The Amorph is gone.’
A smart Amorph wouldn’t recklessly release the Gallagon and Sea Demon. They were bait. The real threat was hidden somewhere amid the chaotic battlefield, waiting for her to make a move.
｢Great Queen.｣
Just then, Todres called her without lowering her guard.
｢Two dangerous Giga Crackers are preparing to attack.｣
｢Giga Crackers? How many?｣
｢Two.｣
Right after, two teal heat rays shot from a distance.
One alone could easily slice through an asteroid. Two could erase all Outspacers here.
Of course, powerful heat rays meant nothing if they missed. Joy created two wormholes in their path. The unknown space born of the Vortex One swallowed the energy completely.
At that moment, the hidden Amorph appeared. As if waiting for this, it charged toward her at high speed.
‘Just as I thought!’
Prepared for the Amorph’s ambush, Joy responded instantly.
A large wormhole appeared above Joy, from which the teal heat rays fired by the Giga Crackers emerged.
The Amorph hurried to dodge but was stopped by Todres.
Though the Amorph was protected by an unknown energy field, it wasn’t as dense as the Red Gallagon's.
In a very brief instant, Todres’s interference succeeded in trapping the mighty enemy.
The duration was less than a second, but it was enough. The Giga Crackers’ heat rays blew off the Amorph’s head.
‘Captured!’
The Amorph doesn’t die immediately without its head. It erased the wormhole above and recreated it behind.
The headless monster writhed its tentacles grotesquely and was sucked into the wormhole.
‘Huh?’
Finally, Joy had killed the Amorph. Achieving something even her lover struggled with she felt joy for a moment, then saw something strange.
Earlier, the Sea Demon had cut one of the Amorph’s tentacles. Yet all the tentacles of the headless Amorph remained intact.
‘No way?’
｢Great Queen!｣
Joy suddenly looked up.
Where the wormhole had blocked vision until just now, the Amorph was there. It carried a snake-like robot on its back, looking down at her.
‘The wormholes…’
Joy could create up to four wormholes at most. To lay a new one, she had to erase a previous wormhole, a process that naturally took longer than simply opening one.
While she erased an existing wormhole, the Amorph opened its mouth wide, two huge maws tearing open.
The instant she faced that abyss within its jaws, endless darkness engulfed Joy’s vision.
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[Translator – Seraph]
[Proofreader – Draxx]
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