Banished from the herd, I was actually a member of a very rare species. ~With the unique skills that only I can use, I can grow and evolve quickly. I will become an unrivaled monster~ - Episode 136: The God, the Automaton, and the Slime

Episode 136: The God, the Automaton, and the Slime

(Note: Special for this chapter the MC’s dialogue is written in ‘…..’. Star God’s dialogue in <….>.)

The Chaos Beasts—those who destroyed my hometown of Slime village.

The Star God had just revealed the true identity of the king of the Chaos Beasts. It was one of the〔Spirit of Chaos〕, “The Cursed Plague of the World”.

‘Do you know….. about the Chaos Beasts?’ 

<Indeed. Their leader is an abomination, a mixture of incompatible Species and Attributes within a single 〔Soul Arche〕. Karkinos, possessing the plant Species, generates its minions as seeds, dispersing them far and wide. After the death of its minions or the hosts they parasitize, it retrieves their 〔Soul Arche〕. It grew larger without limit, surpassing the boundary of soul capacity>

‘It collects souls? So, does that mean the ones I’ve defeated so far…’

<No. For reasons beyond understanding, your [Unique Skill] possesses the ability to prevent [Chaos Transformation]. You are able to destroy its minions without them being absorbed by Karkinos. Thus, you are the last hope>  

It was a bit complicated, but it seemed like my [Unique Skill] allowed me to <Level Up> without having my <Soul Fragments> stolen by Karkinos.  

Well, I had already noticed that my <Level> increased normally after defeating Chaos Beasts before.  

The Sage then explained, in simpler terms, to me, who looked puzzled about what exactly the Chaos Beasts were.  

“I see, so it send its minions everywhere to harvest <Soul Fragments>. In that case, the sooner they’re dealt with, the better. Star God, where is Karkinos now?”  

<Karkinos resides in the eastern continent, in the Great Magical Wilderness where it devours the flesh and bl00d of the ‘Green King’, who stands guard at its heart>  

‘The Great Magical Wilderness…’  

According to Ergo, the merchant’s son, there were five continents in this world. 

We were on the central continent, where humanity thrives in relative peace. 

However, on the four outer continents—east, west, north, and south—humans were almost nonexistent.  

The reason was simple: the magical beasts there were too powerful

.  

Those lands were filled with dense |Mana|, far surpassing even the Sovereign Beast Region.  

The plants and animals that absorbed this |Mana| possessed abnormal |Stats|, leading to <Level> inflation and creating regions where even Sovereign Beasts couldn’t dominate the food chain.  

These regions were known as the “Great Magical Wilderness”.  

So dangerous that special Margraves were appointed to guard against magical beasts crossing the sea.  

And now, it was my next destination.

‘I have a question. The prophecy says the world will end soon. But if Karkinos is only sending minions for now, can’t people here still resist?’  

<No. The current calm is only because Karkinos is focusing its attention on battling the ‘Green King’. Soon enough, the ‘Green King’ will fall. And once that happens, Karkinos will turn its gaze toward this continent>  

Can a plant-based magical beast really move? Can it really cross the sea? But that would be a naive thought.  

Once a magical beast reaches the level of a Calamity Beast or even higher Beast Rank, their biological weaknesses are long gone.  

‘But if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better for me to head there sooner and help the ‘Green King’? If we team up, it’ll be two against one. I have a friend with convenient teleportation magic, so I could get there fairly quickly.’  

<If you use the Barrier Attribute, you might make it before the ‘Green King’ falls. However, cooperation would be futile. If Karkinos could be defeated by sheer numbers, I would have already sent a message to the ‘Ten Kings’, using the First Automaton>  

It seemed that the “First Automaton” referred to the Sage. I was briefly confused about who the Star God was referring to, but then it became clear. 

Apparently, aside from Karkinos, there were nine other magical beasts who had {Evolved} beyond Sovereign Beasts into Beast Kings. These nine, along with the Demon King of the Sixth Class, were known as the “Ten Kings”.  

They were the strongest monsters in the world.  

However, even if they could unite, they still wouldn’t be able to defeat Karkinos, as they lacked the necessary decisive blow.  

<Karkinos’ Attribute is Chaos. It has no form, no boundaries, and absorbs everything, assimilating it into itself. Thus, conventional attacks have no effect. Even I, and my angel Acortus, were defeated by it>  

‘Then won’t the same thing happen to me?’  

<No. As I mentioned earlier, your power is especially effective against the Chaos Beasts>  

‘But isn’t that just because it prevents my <Soul Fragments> from being stolen?’ 

<For now, yes. However, your [Unique Skill] is still in the process of development. There remains the Sixth Grade. As things stand, there is no hope for this world, Gaia, to defeat Karkinos. However, your Sixth Grade, beyond even my foresight, might be able to destroy it>  

…So, it was just a guess.

But maybe this was the only thing we could cling to.  

The Star God supposedly had the ability to view the |Stats| of all living things.

Through this, it explored all possibilities and realized that defeating Karkinos was impossible.  

Still, in its desperate struggle to avoid its own demise, the result was me.  

Even if the chances are slim, this is the only path left to take.  

‘I understand the situation. So, I should head east and train my [Unique Skill] along the way?’ 

<No. That power can only be sharpened through battle. Therefore, you must first defeat the ‘Ten Kings’. You have twenty-eight days. This will be the turning point>  

‘Four weeks, huh…’  

Whether that’s a long time or a short time depends on how you look at it, but I’ll think of it as plenty of time.  

My [Unique Skill] can grow relatively quickly, after all.  

‘But I don’t know where the *Ten Kings* are. The only one I’m familiar with is the Demon King’ 

<There is one in each of the four Great Magical Wildernesses, one in the sky, and four in the water. If you want more details, look at this>  

With that, the Star God created something in its hand that looked like a globe. 

Judging by the shape of the continents, it seemed to be a model of the world we were in.  

Nine markers were displayed on the surface of the planet, indicating the locations of the Beast Kings.  

‘It seems like it’d be tough to travel to all of these.’

No matter how you looked at it, it was impossible to see all nine markers at the same time. 

The globe-like object was rotating, so pinpointing their positions wasn’t difficult. But covering that kind of distance would be a challenge.  

<You do not need to defeat all of them. By the time you’ve slain half of the ‘Ten Kings’, your [Unique Skill] will have reached the Sixth Grade, and your <Soul Accumulation Level> will have maxed out at 999. You’ll have more than enough time to achieve that>  

Oh, so I only need to take out five of them.

With Paula’s barrier magic, I could shortcut the travel. And with four weeks….

<The ‘Green King’ will fall within five days, and Karkinos will reach your continent in two. Factoring in humanity’s resistance, it will take about one month for Karkinos to reach the Demon King. The Demon King’s Attribute is the only power in this world that has any effect on Karkinos. It won’t kill it, but it will provide support. You must work together>  

‘—Wait, what?’

At that moment, I finally realized the discrepancy between the god’s perception and mine.