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Chapter 181

Therefore, I don’t know how my activated mimic organ appears to others. Judging by the reactions of others, the mimic organ seems to evoke subtle discomfort. It’s as if something non-human is mimicking a human appearance.

Initially, it might not be noticeable, but using the mimic organ repeatedly eventually makes others feel uneasy, unless they are fools. Once the other party starts to suspect, the effectiveness of the mimic organ greatly diminishes. Just like how the once terrifying Red Mist, now becomes a mere tale of the past.

‘But it’s too valuable to discard like that.’

I devoted much effort to overcoming the drawbacks and peculiarities of the mimic organ. I practiced my vocalizations and gathered information about potential targets for transformation. Through numerous trials and training sessions, I became quite adept at convincingly impersonating even unfamiliar subjects, like now.

‘Why is everyone acting like this? I just asked for some help.’

The group of Temple Guardians spread out in the street, eyeing me with tension as they cautiously gripped their weapons. Those wielding Gallagon’s Claw took a step forward, while those with Demolishers aimed at my head from behind.

‘What’s going on?’

‘…’

Every time my voice resonated through the corridor, the members’ gazes wavered. While my voice might sound like that of a comrade, the cult’s inherent sensitivity rejected it. The being before them wasn’t ‘Cult Celenae’.

‘What’s the matter?’

When a cultist aiming at my head asked, the female cultist beside her spoke up while keeping her gaze on me.

‘…We’ll subdue first, then verify.’

As the only one among the group with yak horns on her head, it was evident that she was the leader of this group. Like her subordinates, she seemed confused when she first laid eyes on me, but now she appeared composed.

Following the leader’s command, the cultists began to approach me gradually. Three cultists with Demolishers aimed at my head or upper body.

‘Hmm, interesting.’

The reason they aimed above my head was simple. They didn’t see me as Celenae. They probably thought I was displaying hallucinations.

Beings capable of producing high-level hallucinations like Red Mist or Sea Demons can even deceive senses. They can die from hallucinations without physical harm. However, the hallucinations presented by the mimic organ are not at that level. They must have realized that my presumed hallucination ability hasn’t reached the realm of sensory control. Even amidst their fear of me, they must have telepathically discussed how to handle the situation.

‘Not a bad response, but…’

Unfortunately, it’s not the best response. The mimic organ’s effect is to replicate the appearance of other intelligent beings through pheromones, not physically transform my body. So what happens to parts of my body, like corrosive tentacles? The answer is simple.”

‘It’s not visible.’

The corrosive tentacles extending from my back were already above the heads of the cultists wielding Demolishers. They were completely unaware of what was above their heads.

“…”

The cultists with Gallagon’s Claw fixed their gaze on me as they approached. They extended their hands with the Champion Shield activated, intending to cast the psychic power technique ‘Restraint’ to block enemy movements.

At that moment when all the cultists present focused on me, the corrosive tentacles struck the cultists from behind.

“Huh?!”

“Ambush… Ugh!”

With six appendages on each tentacle spread wide, they grabbed the upper bodies of the cultists. Meanwhile, the mouths inside the appendages swallowed their heads.

The mouths of the corrosive tentacles were filled with sharp teeth. Even if they wore sturdy reinforced armor like Dragon Scale, they couldn’t withstand the prison of razor blades closing in from all sides.

They couldn’t even scream and just slumped over, their upper bodies contorted in death.

“This… darn it! He’s hiding his body, so be prepared!”

As soon as the cult leader shouted loudly, the cultists approaching me hastily raised their shields, taken aback.

Unfortunately, the plan to sweep away the enemies with a tail strike was thwarted. Although the cultists were hit by the tail I used to sweep, the damage wasn’t significant as they blocked it with their shields.

‘Not bad.’

Presumably, that leader seemed to be the most skilled among the Temple Guardians present here. Perhaps ranking within the top five in the Temple Guardians in terms of skill?

‘It worked out better this way.’

It would have been dangerous to join forces with the cult players. I charged forward, maintaining the mimic organ.

The goal was to retrieve the Demolishers from the cult warriors moving back. As soon as they saw me rushing, they hurriedly backed away.

My massive body trampled over one of the Demolishers resembling a small cannon. The cultists who successfully retrieved the two Demolishers managed to evade my attacks by rolling.

It was a bold move, almost worthy of praise if they were allies. Despite not being able to properly perceive my overall appearance, they managed to estimate my size and evade.

Two cultists, halfway up, immediately aimed their Demolishers at me. Seeing their fluid movements, it was clear they had considerable experience.

However, the problem for them was that they were facing me.

As the tooth fairy nest near my waist burst, black carnivorous fleas swarmed out. Their target was directly the faces of the cultists aiming the Demolishers. With teeth resembling human teeth, the tooth fairies latched onto the cultists, gnashing at them.

‘Argh, get off!’

‘Go away… agh!’

Amidst the cultists whose vision was obscured by the palm-sized carnivorous fleas, I swung my tail towards them. It was to clear out both the cultists with Demolishers and the tooth fairies in one strike.

However, this time, my intentions were blocked. The enemy leader, the cultist with yak horns, rushed in and struck my tail with the Champion Shield she held in her hand.

‘Hmm?’

Normally, she should have been knocked away, but surprisingly, she succeeded in changing the direction of my tail. The pincer at the end of the tail struck an empty space instead of the target.

The wall of the ice passage vibrated significantly due to my attack. The cult leader, without any hesitation, struck down my tail with the axe she held in her other hand.

“Oh, dear.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!”

“Everyone, prepare your formations!”

Feeling the pain emanating from my tail, I immediately retracted it. Seeing the damaged section where her axe struck, I realized her axe was a weapon I knew well. It was one of the rewards a cultist receives upon clearing Quest Level 10.

‘The Dragon Slayer quest, was it?’

The axe’s name was ‘Condemnation.’ In the lore, it was an axe forged from the horn of a Black Gallagon, part of the Dragon Slayer set. Most likely, it was given to that woman by a player who had come here.

‘Annoying.’

The effect of Condemnation was simple. It significantly enhanced the wearer’s physical abilities to Gallagon-level. The problem was that this enhancement effect was no laughing matter. Just by seeing the damage caused to my tail by the Champion Shield earlier, one could tell.

‘…Now there’s one more reason not to delay.’

I couldn’t be sure when the cult players might change their minds and come here. Seeing that woman wielding Condemnation meant there was a high chance the opponent was wearing the Dragon Slayer set. That meant it would be difficult to fight even against such an annoying opponent.

Before I knew it, I charged towards the cultists who had formed their formations.

One of the warriors aimed his Demolisher at me and fired. The characteristic blue energy projectile of the Demolisher flew towards my head.

I quickly turned my head, but the back-of-the-head armor was grazed slightly as it passed. True to its nature as a weapon that disintegrates matter, the area hit by the projectile evaporated on contact.

Ignoring the attack, I charged forward to crush the cultist with the Demolisher. Seeing that the cultist didn’t stop even after being hit, he flew aside in panic.

“Where?”

I swung my corrosive tentacles towards him.

“Crack!”

The circumference of my tentacles was as thick as a log. No matter how sturdy the other side’s armor was, it couldn’t absorb all the impact. The cultist hit by the tentacles vomited blood and writhed on the ground.

As another tentacle flew to finish him off, another cultist intervened. The cult warrior leaped high and swung a white sword made from Gallagon’s Claw at my tentacle. As the hook scraped against the glass window, a sinister sound echoed, and sparks flew from the tentacle.

With synthetic fibers covering every part of my body except the armor, I boasted high defense. Thanks to the small scales on the surface of the corrosive tentacles absorbing the impact, there were only minor scratches.

However, that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. I sliced the cultist inspector who landed after being hit by the tentacle with my combat arm.

“Let… let go of me!”

Before he could exert force with the arm holding the knife, I exerted pressure with my hand. It made a sound similar to throwing a water balloon from the top of a high-rise apartment. Warm juice flowed profusely between the four long fingers.

I casually flicked my hand and brought down my head towards the cultist who had fallen earlier.

“Ah, ah!”

He tried to crawl away somehow, but it was already too late. His lower body was completely crushed by the Demolisher along with my head.

“Damn it!”

Other cultists spat curses as they watched their comrades die, but they didn’t rush in recklessly. Instead, they played the card of psychic power attacks, unique to cultists rather than engaging in close combat.

Two cultists with goat horns spread their hands wide, aiming at me simultaneously. Instantly, my body felt as heavy as soaked cotton.

‘Gravity control, huh?’

A psychic power technique manipulating gravity, it belonged to a control skill with considerable versatility. It was similar in position to the ‘Restraint’ favored by No. 26.

The floor where I stood cracked, and my upper body unknowingly tilted downwards. While the cultists with goat horns blocked my movements, one cultist with ram horns and the leader unleashed psychic power attacks towards me.

The warrior’s attack was a psychic whip, while the leader’s shot resembled a purple spear.

The Pain Spear boasted high penetrating power as a psychic power technique, and the effectiveness of the psychic whip varied greatly depending on the user’s skill level. Both were techniques I encountered when fighting against the Eugene family’s shadow, Code Black, in the space city before. Those techniques that had put my life on the line were now flying towards me again.

‘But…’

The purple whip struck my combat arm, and the long spear pierced through my head armor. The synthetic fibers covering my arms peeled off, and there was a hole in my head.

‘I’m much different now than I was then.’

It was the ‘Psychic Reflection Glove,’ a characteristic I gained from devouring the Swamp King. Its effect was to reflect 30% of the damage received from psychic attacks.

As the whip and spear struck, seemingly reversing time, they began to fly back towards the cultists.

“What?!”

“Oh, no!”

The leader quickly raised the Champion Shield, while the ram-horned warrior rolled his body to the side. That choice determined their fate.

“Crack!”

True to its high penetrating power, the Pain Spear pierced through the Champion Shield, but it only grazed the leader’s left arm.

But the ram-horned warrior wasn’t so lucky. The reflected psychic whip struck his bowed torso mercilessly.

“Ugh!”

From his left armpit to his chest, he screamed in agony. Witnessing his pitiful state, the goat-horned cultists’ eyes wavered.

Seizing the opportunity, I cast ‘Watcher of Dread’ on one of the cultists in the midst of casting gravity control.

The eye-shaped patterns on my head armor glowed ominously.

A downgraded version of the abyssal fear, the Watcher of Dread showed terrifying illusions to one opponent. It was very effective when used in situations where the enemies were confused, like now.

The color drained from the face of the cultist under the influence of Watcher of Dread.

“Aaah! No! Please, forgive me! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Hey, hey! Snap out of it!”

With both hands clutching his head, he hesitated to sit down on the spot. The weight pressing down on me became lighter.

I lifted my head and aimed the tip of my nose at the remaining goat-horned cultist. He snarled at me, but there was nothing he could do.

I widened my lower jaw. A rapidly growing green lump shot out from inside my throat.

The horrifying mass filled with deadly fungal spores aimed straight for the goat-horned cultist’s palm. Though within the area where gravity was manipulated, it couldn’t fly far, but it didn’t matter. As long as it made contact with any part of his body, it would be enough.

And the fungal spores touched the enemy’s right hand.

“This is mu… ugh, aaahhh!”

As the fungus began to corrode, his hand quickly melted away. The ivory armor tried to recover somehow, but the lost hand couldn’t be restored.

Even losing his right hand in an instant, someone who could maintain their composure was not abnormal among ordinary creatures.

Finally free from gravity control, I looked at the last remaining leader.

“Urgh, ugh, ugh….”

“Heeeyy! Senior! Please don’t hit me! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Ugh, ugh, ugh….”

“….”

Her eyes quickly swept over her panicked comrades. I felt the pressure in her right hand, which held the Judgment.

The cult leader seemed determined to bury herself here.

‘Not running away?’

Her heartbeat was still intense, but compared to a moment ago, she seemed somewhat calmer. There was no fear in her gaze as she stared at me.

Rather, there was a sense of relief.

“Wait, could it be?”

Seeing her like that, I realized why she was acting this way.

‘The player sent telepathy!’

She must have asked to delay because she was going to arrive. Maybe when the cultists’ tactics changed earlier, it was a signal that the player was coming.

I scanned the vicinity with auxiliary devices. There was still no sign of any particularly powerful energy flow.

‘…I need to move.’

This wasn’t the right place to fight him. I turned and retreated.

As if my prediction was correct, the cult leader didn’t chase after me. Instead, she attended to the injured.

‘She’s finished anyway.’

I still had one more trap up my sleeve. Although I acquired the characteristics a long time ago, I never had a chance to use them.

If it goes off, that woman dies.

I ignored the leader and ran along the dark corridor.

“…Damn it!”

As the guy’s presence was no longer felt, Alia sat down on the floor. There had been several instances where her life was at stake while fighting strong monsters.

It was natural for the Temple Guardians to step in only when monsters appeared that were difficult to subdue by conventional means. But today’s opponent was the most terrifying she had encountered.

Her lover, Jason’s words were true. He was a monster so terrifying that even being called a demon wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

From what she saw, the true power of the ‘Three-Headed Demon’ was its outstanding stratagems. He fought several steps ahead of her, a veteran member.

Even now, it’s the same. He could have killed her, but he chose not to and retreated. He must have foreseen that her lover would come here.

“He is a threat to the Empire.”

After tending to the injured, Alia approached Bilone, who was leaning against the wall.

Bilone knelt before her. With his neck paralyzed, his eyes were bloodshot, tears streaming down his face.

“Jason said he’s being controlled but…”

Bilone must return alive for the sake of Alia, no, for the sake of the Empire’s security. She was the one who survived the longest by the side of the ‘Three-Headed Demon’. Until she extracted the necessary information from her head, she couldn’t let her die.

Sensing the affection in Alia’s gaze, Bilone spoke.

“L-Lady Alia, I-I’m sorry….”

“It’s because you’re useful to the Empire. There’s no need to apologize.”

Though Alia spoke coldly, Bilone’s reaction was peculiar.

“I-I’m s-sorry… I-I’m sorry, I-I’m so-orry! Ugh!”

“Huh?”

Bilone continued to retch, then dropped his head.

“Hey? What’s wrong…?”

The moment she approached Bilone, she suddenly raised her head.

What used to be Bilone no longer resembled the person Alia knew. Vines grew from every hole in her eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and face. The moment she saw this, telepathy flew into Alia’s mind.

‘Fuck! It’s tetanus vines! Alia! Get back!’

“What?”

Before Alia could understand what her lover meant, Bilone’s head exploded. Pieces of red vine turned into small fragments and flew towards Alia.

“What’s happening…?”

Alia wiped off the vine pieces and unknown red liquids from her upper body. She looked down at the headless corpse with a horrified expression.

Red vines writhed like worms inside the cleanly severed section of the neck. Seeing this, Alia felt a sudden itchiness on her left shoulder.

“Why all of a sudden…? Ugh?”

She thought the wounds from the battle with the monster had healed, but they hadn’t. The itching was brief, and soon, severe pain began to spread from her shoulder to her entire upper body.

“Ugh, ugh?! Aaaah!”

It was as if countless bugs were crawling inside the veins beneath her skin. She clawed at her torso as if tearing it apart.

“Aaah!”

Unable to scratch due to the protective effect of the ivory armor, she began to remove the reinforced clothing and scratch. The delicate flesh quickly turned into a bloody mess.

Was it because of this? She hadn’t noticed thin vine-like things wriggling inside the wounds where blood flowed.

Finally, she understood why Bilone had ended up like that. And what her own fate would be.

“AAAAH!”

“Alia!”

In the midst of fading consciousness, she heard her lover’s voice. Despite the immense pain, she ran towards the direction from which her lover’s voice came.

Was it due to instinct driven by love, or was it because of the commands of the entities crawling inside her body?

Whatever it was, she didn’t know.

“Fuck….”

Once again, she heard incomprehensible words. The moment she heard those words, Alia no longer felt any pain.

To be precise, she didn’t feel any sensation other than pain.

“Amorphhhhh! You damn son of a bitch! Because of you, my Alia died!”

She couldn’t understand what her beloved boyfriend’s words meant.

Couldn’t blame her.

Even if she was a cultist, without a head, she would die.