95: Cosmic Monster Colliding in the Deep Sea

Today's update consists of five episodes.

This is the second episode.

"……"

The true nature of the invisible quadruple impact is an attack originating from my main body.

In the Ether Space, I fully extend all eight legs, and at the instant the tips collide, I manifest only the tips onto the surface of the Maglinia's body.

Yet, despite how simple the action was, the size of my main body was on the scale of a space colony, and the speed of my leg tips—without any mods—was incomparably faster than Mach 1 under one atmosphere of pressure.

In other words...

"Satya. There was some minor disruption, but we're fine here."

"Is that so?"

Enormous amounts of heat and shockwaves erupted from the point of impact.

The surrounding water spheres instantly evaporated, blasted away, and pushed other spheres into motion, causing the nearby water and air to surge as if from a massive explosion. The seabed itself slightly glowed red-hot, and a faint, cloying scent, characteristic of a spacetime rupture, drifted through the air.

Such power would have been utterly impossible for a puppet body to withstand—had it not been pre-adapted to alter its physical structure.

Well, since it's an attack capable of easily sinking a battleship if used properly, this outcome is to be expected.

『I haven’t confirmed any record of Maeglinia’s disappearance.』

"Yeah, I didn’t really feel like I’d killed it."

The flying water sphere rolls back toward them.

Alternatively, it gets compressed by atmospheric pressure beyond Sw’s range, breaks apart, and simply falls back down as plain water.

I let myself fall and sink into the water—already prepared for both water pressure and the absence of air, so there's no issue.

"Gurgle, cough, wheeze... Ah, I've had a terrible experience..."

Around Maeglinia, neither water spheres nor water itself falls down.

Likely, she's using her telekinetic power to spread a spherical membrane around her body, adjusting for atmospheric pressure and other factors.

"So if something this minor is unbearable, just give up and die already."

"—!?!"

If that's the case, the solution is simple.

I release the ink that disables mods, causing a disturbance in Magelina's telekinetic force.

Deliberately shaping the barrier into a sphere means she can't survive in this environment unless it's distributed evenly—effectively admitting she has no choice but to maintain that form.

If a tremor arises there... the membrane will rupture from that single point, and the violent atmospheric pressure will literally crush Megalina.

"..."

Well then, this makes it the second time.

At least twice now, I've certainly killed Megalina.

The current Megalina is, broadly speaking, nothing more than a naked woman, just as I've drawn her in my imagination.

But when viewed through the eyes of a human-sized doll, it's clear that Megalina is no longer human, but a cosmic monster.

After all, human eyes—encased in pearl-like membranes—cover her entire body, each one moving its pupil and shimmering as if connected by optic nerves.

She wears nothing else.

In other words, every mod currently activated by Magrenia is being triggered solely through her own body, enabling her to alter phenomena on a scale impossible for a human-sized being.

That is clear evidence she is not human.

No human could possibly generate enough energy to achieve such a feat.

"Phew… aahh…"

Without a doubt, Magrenia is a cosmic monster.

And since Magrenia is a cosmic monster, most of its absurdity can be justified by simply saying "that's just how the OS works."

Therefore, it's perfectly natural that Magrenia, having fallen twice, rises again twice.

"F-fufu... fufufufu. I understand now. Of course. I see, Lord Virijanira, you were able to wield the power of the Cosmic Monster because you had made a contract. That made perfect sense. But I couldn't help but wonder—how could someone who is merely a human like you possibly access the power of a Cosmic Monster? But yes, yes! Yes! I understand now! It's you! You are the Cosmic Monster yourself! Ah, I curse my own ignorance! Of course! If you are a great Cosmic Monster with such immense power, imitating a human form is nothing at all!"

"Disgusting."

Maeuglinia spouted rapidly.

Over fifty eyes covering her entire body were all fixed upon me.

Her mouth and eyes alike brimmed with delight.

"And what fortune! I understood, from behind the lens, that I could never hope to reach those distant cosmic monsters. Yet surely you, like me, are frail as a cosmic monster but overwhelming as a human—understandable, acceptable, utterly unreasonable by human standards yet perfectly logical for a cosmic monster... sobby!?"

"Crush you."

I don't know how many times I'd have to smash you before you finally died.

I need to understand my opponent's rules.

So without hesitation, I unleash another invisible strike from the core, smashing it to pieces.

Turning Megalina into literal minced meat.

"Fufu, that hurts, doesn't it..."

"Regeneration, humanoid... no, either way seems pointless. Self-definition? You define your own existence through your history, so mere destruction won't work? No, it's not a modification that can arise without cost. Then there must be some limit somewhere. Anyway, the course of action is simple."

Observing Megalina's minced meat.

Suddenly, the minced meat vanishes into thin air, and Megalina reappears from the void, unharmed.

The moment I touched it, it felt both human and somewhat akin to soft-bodied creatures like shellfish, though that was probably irrelevant to the rules.

It wasn’t like me, with my main body existing in a different dimensional space like the Aether Space.

This isn’t Megalina’s base, so I can’t stay here forever.

In that case, even if we don't know what exactly is being used, it's reasonable to assume it's a type that allows one to remain alive and revive without dying until whatever that thing is runs out.

"Here's a return!"

"Wha—?!"

Megarina unleashes her telekinetic force.

A telekinetic pressure crushes my entire body, but more precisely, it compresses fluids—mainly blood—causing cellular destruction while squeezing me flat.

It seems a shield strong enough to withstand deep-sea pressure isn't sufficient against Megarina's constricting telekinetic force.

"Whatever."

"Gurk!?"

But as the doll is crushed, I instantly materialize a new one within Megarina's embrace and punch her in the stomach, sending her flying.

Not just a simple punch, I deliver a controlled blow from my true body—adjusted to penetrate just enough to break through, not destroy—materializing it from the tip of my fist and launching her upward in one swift motion, from the deep sea to the surface above.

Though my teleportation was expected, the fact that the next version of me appeared the instant the previous one was defeated was clearly beyond her calculations.

Megarina’s body pierces through multiple water spheres as she rockets upward toward the surface.

"Vee! I've sent it! Keep hammering it until it's dead!!"

Once the attack was launched into the sea, she retracted the main body's arm back into the Ether Space...

"Everyone, fire!!"

Immediately afterward, a sound and shockwave spread through the deep sea, reaching even me down below.

Satā's main body's attack.

If you were to compare it to a human, it would be like forcefully slapping with both hands. But due to its incomparable speed and weight, the power is utterly unmatched.

Why haven't we used it until now?

We can't afford to injure the person we're guarding with the shockwave.