Ren Yi was filled with curiosity, but given his current identity as a "Son of God who rose from the ranks of low-level mutant beast hunters," it wasn't easy to ask.
Just as he was debating how to probe for information indirectly, WhatAreYouLookingAt began explaining things to him over the Anomaly Web.
【This "Extinction" seems to be a special mutant beast. It's very powerful.】
【How do you know? You're quite well-informed.】
【I can obtain partial memories by digesting souls. This was in Tarol's memories.】
So Possession allowed one to gain the host's memories as well. That was an unexpectedly practical ability.
But Ren Yi still felt something was off.
【This mutant beast sounds formidable, but why are their expressions so strange? Could it be that it's not actually that dangerous?】
【It's actually quite dangerous. It often sneaks up on lone Holy City folk.】
【But the problem is, "Extinction" is quite literal... This fellow has a peculiar hobby: slaughtering its own kind, especially mutant beast younglings.】
【So if you run into it, as long as you find a mutant beast cub to use as bait, it'll immediately switch targets, allowing you to slip away. Calculating it that way, the danger isn't actually that high.】
What was this? A genocidal killer in the mutant beast world?
Influenced by the values of the Alliance, Ren Yi felt an instinctive disgust toward creatures that slaughtered their own young.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Mimicking Gawain's expression, he put on a look of gravity and helplessness.
"General Finn," Ren Yi said, stepping forward with a persuasive tone, "'Extinction' might not usually be a major threat, but at this moment, the situation is completely different."
"We are short on time. If we let it kill too many mutant beasts before us, resulting in a shortage of Divine Gift Crystals, no one will survive the Calamity. We would be sinners for all eternity."
Finn also looked exceptionally vexed. "It's my fault, Lord Son of God. I didn't expect that fellow to use us as a distraction, attacking the young in the nest while we were drawing the mutant beasts out."
He took a deep breath and spoke with firm resolve. "I'll dispatch more troops and expand the search area. Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we will capture that beast alive!"
Capture it alive?
Why alive? At a critical juncture like this, shouldn't they be doing everything possible to just kill the thing?
Ren Yi glanced at Gawain and saw no sign of surprise; he seemed to take it for granted.
Had the Pope privately ordered Finn to capture Extinction alive? Did that confirm that "Extinction" was the so-called Instance Clearer, or Instance Beast?
But if the Pope really had such an arrangement, given his cautious nature, he should have instructed them not to reveal it in front of Ren Yi.
WhatAreYouLookingAt didn't have Ren Yi's reservations; she simply asked in her booming voice.
"You big shots, why capture it alive? Surely you aren't planning to show mercy to a mutant beast?"
Finn frowned.
Gawain was the first to answer. "'Extinction' is a very unique individual. Its healing factor is incredibly powerful. Furthermore, after it dies, a new 'Extinction' always emerges soon after, and it seeks revenge on those who killed its predecessor..."
"In that case, doesn't it sound more like it dies in one place and simply resurrects in another?" Ren Yi asked.
"That... is what the Lord Pope said," Gawain stammered.
That made it even more suspicious... Ren Yi's eyes flickered.
"Enough, words are useless now." He turned toward the depths of the ruins, his gaze sharp. "Take me to the nest first. There might still be some that escaped the slaughter."
This was just a surface-level excuse for Finn and Gawain.
WhatAreYouLookingAt had said their target was very close to them.
If that was the case, and assuming "Extinction" really was the Instance Beast... had it actually left the nest?
...
After waiting for Finn to assemble the troops, the group headed straight for the mutant beast nest.
This particular nest in the southern district was hidden within a derelict underground passage, where the walls had been gouged with holes of various sizes by the mutant beasts' raw strength.
Upon entering, a damp, fishy odor mixed with a heavy scent of blood hit them full-on.
Gawain, walking at the front, shone a tactical flashlight inside. The beam cut through the darkness, revealing a scene that made the accompanying soldiers gag.
It looked more like an abandoned crime scene than a beast's nest.
Severed limbs of mutant beasts littered the ground. Blackish-red blood pooled into winding rivulets that flowed down the passage's incline, collecting into dark puddles in the hollows.
Most horrific were the dead pregnant beasts; their bellies had been violently torn open, the edges of the wounds jagged and uneven. Murky amniotic fluid mixed with black blood soaked the ground beneath them, with countless unformed fetuses scattered nearby.
These fetuses lay curled, their thin limbs splayed at unnatural angles, their skin a ghostly pale, resting silently in the gore.
"Extinction did this?" WhatAreYouLookingAt furrowed her brows.
Ren Yi didn't pay much mind to the carnage. Instead, he looked around, even taking the time to peer into the hollowed-out burrows.
【My perception doesn't pick up any living things... Classmate Slime, what are you doing?】
【Nothing, just looking for something.】
【...Back to Extinction. Are you really sure it's here?】
WhatAreYouLookingAt gave him a bewildered look.
【Positive. And its position hasn't changed once since we got here.】
The mark still pointed to this vicinity. Based on previous deductions, "Extinction" had to be hiding deep within the nest.
The vanguard had already scouted the area and reported no living things.
Ren Yi's own perception told him there was no sense of being watched, nor were there any targets for him to "plant a seed" in.
Was it hidden in the rocks or soil, or perhaps high above?
Ren Yi felt he should open his mind a bit further...
Since they were tracking a soul, it didn't necessarily have to be a complete, living creature.
Just as Finn and Gawain stepped into the passage, something changed.
A soft "squelch" broke the silence of the nest.
Ren Yi's perception was the first to trigger. He whipped his head around, his flashlight beam locking onto the ground, but there were only severed mutant beast limbs.
Then, Ren Yi saw a limb suddenly spring up like a scorpion whose tail had been stepped on, lunging straight for Gawain at the front of the group!
"Watch out!"
Gawain reacted instantly. The soil beneath his feet surged, forming a thick earthen wall in front of him.
With a loud thud, the severed limb slammed into the wall, actually gouging out a small pit. It then pivoted nimbly in mid-air, using the momentum to lunge at Finn, who was coming up from behind!
Finn was caught off guard; he had just drawn his sword when the limb pinned itself hard into his shoulder.
In the Anomaly Web.
【Did your Parents really never mention what this "Instance Beast" or "Instance Ghost" looks like?】
Ren Yi found the situation incomprehensible. In this low-magic world, this was getting a bit grotesque.
WhatAreYouLookingAt didn't answer, so Ren Yi turned his gaze toward Gawain and Finn.
You guys never mentioned that "Extinction" was just a claw?
However, seeing the terror mixed with shock on Finn's face, it was clear he hadn't expected this either.
The intense pain made Finn groan. Blood instantly stained his divine robe. The severed limb seemed alive; the bone spurs at its tip began to churn frantically, tearing open an even larger wound.
Ren Yi immediately sensed something was wrong. Beside him, WhatAreYouLookingAt also turned her head in shock.
Ren Yi's ability had been planted the moment he sensed the movement, but he quickly realized something...
This severed limb had no eyes.
This meant it had no "sight" for Ren Yi to interfere with, nor a "line of sight" for WhatAreYouLookingAt to build a bridge for Possession.
Through its bizarre physiological structure, this mutant beast had actually banned both of their abilities.
Rate on N.U.
