I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 764

I couldn’t say a single word. I could only watch.

An entity hatched using a lion’s body as a host. I didn’t know how to describe this monster that defied common sense.

But one thing was certain. That bizarre entity was by no means friendly to us.

Just as it had hatched by using the lion as nourishment, our treatment would not be much different.

"...."

"...."

The monster and I locked eyes.

An appearance that looked like a half-and-half mix of a human and an insect. Eyes close to those of a bug stared straight at me.

Some insects have a much wider field of vision than humans, allowing them to see everywhere except behind them.

Judging by the circumstances of the records confirmed so far, that must be the ’successful product’ of this laboratory.

"...Everyone, prepare for battle."

I quietly instructed the group.

Breaking out of their shock, the group also armed themselves.

That monster might not attack us, but the probability of that was abysmally low.

Kkigik— kkigigik—

A bizarre noise emanated from the monster, which possessed a rugged human physique.

It wasn’t a sound made with a mouth; rather, it seemed its insect-specific vocal organs were operating.

I didn’t know what kind of signal it was, but I instinctively felt it wasn’t anything good.

[Hunt. Consume.]

Aside from having hideous insect-like teeth, the monster spoke human language.

The monster finished speaking while staring straight at me.

[Evolve.]

Kwaang!

As if a cannonball had been fired, the large monster’s figure closed in right before my eyes.

Thanks to that, I came face-to-face with its hideous appearance, but since I had anticipated this to some extent, I reacted quickly.

Kkaang!

Its thick fist and the Sword of the Heavenly Demon collided.

It was an incredible strength, enough to make the hand holding the Sword of the Heavenly Demon go numb.

Even though I had boosted my physical abilities with mana, its physical strength surpassed my expectations.

[Huum!]

Chwareureuk!

While the monster’s fist and my sword clashed, Cain swung his coffin flail.

The other members of the group also prepared their respective attacks and poured them directly onto the monster.

I immediately kicked the monster in the abdomen to push it far away.

Kwaang!

First, Cain’s coffin flail landed a direct hit on the monster.

Kwagwang! Kwaang!

Lackey and Elia’s magic combo bombarded the monster.

The coffin flail was one thing, but since it was hit directly by powerful fire magic, it should have sustained some damage.

Under normal circumstances, that is.

Jjirit—

"?!"

The problem was the sensation when I kicked its abdomen just now.

Even though I had reinforced my body with mana, I felt a stinging pain in my ankle.

I could easily shatter ordinary boulders, so just how hard was this thing?

Fortunately, the pain quickly subsided, but what followed was even more shocking.

Swieeeek!

Flame fragments that had flared up in all directions due to the fire magic.

With a strange sound, those fragments began to be sucked toward a single point.

After a moment, even the dust generated by the recoil of the fire magic was completely sucked in.

And when I realized that the culprit behind that sound was the monster’s ’inhalation,’ I couldn’t help but be astonished.

"What on earth is..."

"Did it seriously eat the fire?"

Hwareureureuk!

The astonishment was brief; the monster exhaled a powerful fire breath toward us.

An intense flame, as if a dragon were unleashing its breath.

At this, Lackey and Elia immediately joined forces to deploy a shield.

The power of the fire breath was extremely formidable, but fortunately, it wasn’t enough to pierce the shield.

Kwaaaang!

The problem was the punch that followed.

While we were blocking the flames, the monster rushed forward again and threw a punch at the shield.

Surprisingly, from a mere punch, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the shield.

"Master! This guy’s strength is as powerful as yours!"

"It’s going to break on the second punch!"

No wonder even Lackey and Elia were startled.

Of course, I couldn’t be certain yet that it possessed physical abilities on par with mine.

However, the fact that we had to set the upper limit there allowed us to predict how difficult this fight would become.

Jjaenggeurang!

A second punch followed, and the shield shattered into pieces.

The moment I saw the shield shatter, I immediately dashed toward the monster.

Since I now knew its physical tier was insanely high, I had no choice but to mark it myself.

I had fought in this manner before, but this was slightly different in nature.

’Its gaze must not turn toward the others.’

One of those punches could literally pierce a body, not just metaphorically.

If anyone had to take a hit, it had to be me; I couldn’t let anyone else get hit.

Thinking so, I rushed toward it while holding the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.

Seeing how it had just exhaled fire, a swift battle was the answer.

Kkumul-kkumul—

It was when I used Unity of Self and Object to coat the Sword of the Heavenly Demon with aura.

One of its arms squirmed violently, and its shape began to transform.Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping . com.

Siing!

Finally, the monster’s entire arm turned into a giant blade.

A form that looked like a mantis’s scythe, yet also resembled a finely honed sword crafted by a human.

Chwaang!

It swung that blade and clashed with the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.

Even though it was the Sword of the Heavenly Demon coated with aura, its transformed arm was perfectly fine.

On the contrary, it went beyond being fine and was evenly matched.

Just how hard and sharp was it to firmly withstand even the Sword of the Heavenly Demon?

’What on earth is this guy’s identity?’

Amidst the continuous shock, my gaze suddenly drifted downward.

The part of its feet touching the ground was squirming abnormally.

I saw that squirming and urgently shouted to the group.

"Don’t stay in one place, keep moving while you fight! Watch the ground carefully!"

At my shout, the group didn’t stand still either and constantly kept their feet moving.

I also applied strong force to the Sword of the Heavenly Demon, pushing it far away.

Kkwadeudeudeuk!

Sure enough, the moment we left our spots, sharp thorns shot up from the ground.

Not just beneath my feet, but also where the others had originally been standing.

I might have been fine, but there was a very high probability that the others would have been easily impaled.

’What on earth did they create?’

Chaeng! Kkaang!

Exchanging blows with the monster whose arm was transformed, I assessed its abilities more accurately.

Perhaps because its field of vision was extremely wide, it kept throwing checks at the others even while fighting me.

The group was also swayed by those checks, making it very difficult for them to support me.

Kwagwagwak!

[Ugh...! What on earth is this...!]

In particular, Cain being neutralized was the biggest obstacle.

Cain could move endlessly as long as his mana didn’t run dry.

But perhaps having noticed this immediately, the monster directed countless checks toward Cain.

Beyond thorns shooting up from the ground, they moved like tentacles and bound him tightly.

Since the Dullahan’s size was quite large, his flexibility was somewhat lacking, and the monster targeted this weakness intensively.

’Even if Lackey or Elia try to free him, it’s difficult.’

Chaeng!

What was even more troublesome was that as the exchange of blows continued, I was being pushed back ever so slightly.

Although I forced my way through with my powerful physical tier, there was a sense of being technically outmatched.

What did this mean?

’This bastard. Is he copying my techniques?’

It meant that even if clumsily, the bastard had begun to mimic me.

Until just a moment ago, it was merely swinging randomly, but as time passed, its sword path became stable.

Despite it being a sword transformed from its arm, it mastered it in a short amount of time.

Kwaak!

I grabbed its arm and used frost to freeze it solid.

Since I realized it was copying my techniques, I had no choice but to introduce a ’variable’ like this.

The monster also seemed flustered upon seeing its own arm freeze solid, showing a look of bewilderment.

"Hup!"

Seogeok!

I didn’t miss this opportunity.

I swung the Sword of the Heavenly Demon down to completely sever its transformed arm.

No matter how hard its exoskeleton was, when I struck with all my might, it was cleanly sliced.

Kwajijik!

After freezing the severed transformed arm to its core, I stomped on it and shattered it to pieces.

I thought this would easily neutralize it, but...

Kkumul-kkumul—

The severed arm squirmed, and a new arm sprouted.

Furthermore, it gleamed even harder than the original arm, looking as if it had adapted in an instant.

That wasn’t all.

Jjeojeojeok!

"What..."

Frosty mist drifted from the arm that had been severed and recovered, and surprisingly, it even used cold energy.

Thanks to that, this time my arm was frozen solid instead.

It was a relief that I hurriedly backed away; otherwise, I would have been caught in a counterattack.

’Is it really adapting in real-time?’

I couldn’t believe it even as I saw it with my own eyes.

Just what on earth did they create for such a monster to exist?

What was even more shocking was that it had hatched using a lion as a host.

If we were to lose this fight... just imagining it was horrifying.

[Evolve. Consume. Reproduce. Evolve.]

And its target was precisely me.

The bastard pushed in even more violently, seemingly determined to target me.

I had absolutely no intention of becoming its breeding ground, so I constantly fought back.

’But how do I win? It adapted when fire was shot, and it adapted immediately when cold was used.’

I needed a finishing move to send it to the grave in one shot. And it wasn’t like there was no way at all.

It was only because I had been engaging in close combat so far, but I still had my bow.

The problem was that I had to succeed in one shot.

If I failed, it might immediately ’adapt’ and even my bow wouldn’t work.

’Then it would be a real catastrophe.’

Seogeok!

Since techniques couldn’t settle the match, I steadily pushed through with my physical tier, and as a result, I barely managed to sever its neck.

However, an insect didn’t die just because its neck was severed.This chapter was taken from novelping . com without permission.

It fought a fierce battle with me without caring even when its head fell off.

Kkumul-kkumul—

"Holy shit."

To make matters worse, it was even regenerating from the severed head.

I couldn’t predict at all where its ’brain’ was located.

ㄴAllfather) This is strange. It is a phenomenon that violates the Law of Conservation of Mass-Energy.

Even if it was a hybrid of an insect and a human, this defied common sense.

Even the Chief God would die if his head was severed, but this was beyond the human scope.

’Even the Chief God was at least human, but this...’

Kwaaaang!

It was an instant.

The bastard changed one of its arms, which was originally close to a sword, into a hard blunt weapon.

The swap was so fast that even the expression ’in the blink of an eye’ was insufficient, so I was pushed back by its sheer force and collided with the wall.

It recognized the difference in our physical tiers and altered its body to exert even greater strength.

Since it even had a brain to think with, it was incredibly troublesome.

’Even though Ash had a variety of techniques, she was helplessly defeated by my attacks...’

I’ll be honest. First of all, it wasn’t stronger than Ash.

It was just that its unique unpredictability was absolute garbage.

Moreover, its endurance was close to infinite, and the lack of a clear counter-method only added to the confusion.

Chwareureureuk!

It was when I was recovering from the confusion after colliding with the wall.

A hideous sound entered my ears, and a mass of tentacles filled my vision.

Startled, I struck them away with the Sword of the Heavenly Demon, but I was slightly too late.

Cheok! Cheok!

Brown tentacles slowly began to cover my body.

As they covered my entire body as if they were alive, it felt like being bound in a spiderweb.

"Hey! Fire! Fire!"

Hwareureureuk!

I hurriedly asked the group to breathe fire, but what do you know?

Perhaps because it had adapted due to the fire magic earlier, it didn’t work at all.

The same went for cold. No matter how I channeled cold energy, it didn’t do a damn thing.

’What kind of bastard is that...!’

While I was too dumbfounded to speak, the tentacles invaded up to my neck.

Thinking I couldn’t let it go on like this, I raised my mana to the absolute limit.

Ssuuuuk—

But the moment I raised my mana, it was immediately drained.

It seemed the tentacles covering my body had some sort of mana-absorbing property.

In a dilemma, the other members tried to rescue me, but...

[Interference. Absorb. Evolve.]

The monster wasn’t about to let that happen.

As if intending to absorb the others as well, it extended tentacles to suppress them.

"I-Is it going to lay eggs in me?! I haven’t even gotten married yet!"

"Can you really make jokes like that right now?! Think of a way to escape!"

A desperate crisis.

I brainstormed as much as possible to escape somehow.

Although my mana was absorbed every time I raised it, that didn’t mean my physical tier was being drained.

Ujijik! Kwajik!

Therefore, I was able to exert strength in my arms to tear off the tentacles, and I even pulled out my bow and arrow.

The problem was that I had to stake everything on a single arrow.

Thus, after nocking an arrow on the bowstring, I aimed it precisely at the monster.

’Should I really shoot it at the monster?’

The guy who fought perfectly fine even with his neck severed?

Just as a slight hesitation arose, the World Tree next to the monster suddenly caught my eye.

At the same time, I remembered the lion quietly closing his eyes in front of the World Tree before dying.

’Why was it in front of the World Tree despite using the lion’s body as a host?’

In the first place, it was strange that it hadn’t escaped this place despite having such a physical tier and adaptation ability.

What if it hadn’t escaped because it couldn’t leave this place?

Hadn’t Allfather repeatedly said so? That no living creature can escape the Law of Conservation of Mass-Energy.

The moment those theories came to mind, I aimed my bow at the World Tree instead of the monster.

[Danger. Suppress.]

Kwang!

As the tip of my arrow pointed toward the World Tree, the monster rushed forward.

It could have just suppressed me with tentacles, yet it personally stepped in. Isn’t that strange to anyone?

Even in this perilous situation, I quietly closed my eyes and murmured.

’The King’s arrows are sharp, piercing the heart of the King’s enemies...’

Along with that, the monster filled my vision, but—

’They fall before the King of all.’

Piing!

My releasing the bowstring was one step faster.

Peok!

The arrow that left the bowstring precisely penetrated the very center of the monster’s chest.

Even so, the fist approaching my face did not stop.

Seeing that the fist was transformed like a blunt weapon, it seemed intent on crushing my head in one blow.

No matter how much I covered myself with Body-Protecting Gangqi, I would be heavily injured if hit by that attack.

But before that.

Peok!

My arrow piercing the World Tree happened first.

Utteuk!

The monster’s fist stopped right in front of my face.