I had a dream.
Back in my Special Forces days, a squid once got into my pants while I was doing combat swimming in the sea with my fellow soldiers.
At the time we brought the squid out without thinking much of it, put it on a rock heated by the sun and grilled it to eat.
HISSSSS......
The squid, turning golden brown on a stone as hot as a griddle.
That scene back then, that smell, that sound, that taste, I remember all of it vividly.
'Mm...... the smell of stone-grilled squid...... not bad...... no, wait, why is that smell coming from my body?'
I opened my eyes with a start.
I had very nearly been fucked.
'Uh, how long was I out?'
The moment I came to my senses, I looked around.
WHEEEEEEE—
My body was still flying, shoved along by the shockwave.
So I must have been out for about 10 seconds.
...TAP!
I just barely managed to turn my body and land on the sandy floor.
'Ugh!'
Once I had settled on the floor, the pains I had not been feeling until then rushed in belatedly.
THROB— THROB— THROB—
I had been swept up in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption and hit by small volcanic bombs again and again on top of that, so there was no way my body was fine.
'At least I survived because I activated the Impregnable Fortress trait the moment the volcano erupted.'
If I had not eaten the Ironclad Scale, being caught even slightly in the aftermath of the volcanic eruption would have meant instant death.
SNIFF, SNIFF—
Every time I moved my body, it gave off the smell of stone-grilled squid cooking.
<Kraken 'Growth Form': Slick-Flesh Sulfur Oilfish>
-The growth form of some cephalopod.
The predator that hatched from the egg has reached its prime growing season.
The sulfur oil secreted from its skin is extremely flammable and ignites at even a small impact.
-Grade: ★ (1-Star)
-Combat Power: 10,279 [-9,721]
Just from taking a few volcanic bombs, my Combat Power had been cut by a whole half.
'No, let's think positive. It's not that I only have half my Combat Power, it's that a whole half of it is left......'
Think positive, my ass. I had very nearly died.
In the game, I used to charge without hesitation into volcanic eruptions and even lightning strikes, claiming I was making use of terrain features, but this did not seem like something to do at all in reality.
'Still, I saved my life, and that's what counts. Let's drink to it.'
I went through the motions of curling the tip of a tentacle around a glass and raised a toast.
At the end of it was the volcano, still spewing a pillar of fire in full force.
RO-OOOOOOAR......
A small volcano in the middle of a fissure eruption.
Like a humidifier puffing out mist with a red glow, small, froth-like drops of magma were shooting up like mad.
The flames did not go out even underwater but swirled, giving off heat and light, and around them the sulfur gas made an enormous mass of froth.
The hot, churning waterspout looked just like a great red dragon ascending to the heavens.
For a while I watched the sight with my mouth open.
Flames stretching out from the far-off deep sea.
......But there was no time to be entranced by that marvelous scenery.
<Kraken 'Growth Form': Slick-Flesh Sulfur Oilfish>
-Combat Power: 10,276 [-3]
-Combat Power: 10,274 [-2]
-Combat Power: 10,270 [-4]
-Combat Power: 10,267 [-3]
.
The moment the volcano erupted, the water temperature around it began rising like mad.
My flame resistance was still only at a faint level, so once the temperature passed a certain point, I could not avoid damage.
'The automatic Combat Power reduction from extreme environments can't be stopped even by the Star Fragment of the Ancient God. It's a shame I couldn't eat the soldier, but for now I should be satisfied just to have survived......'
The soldier had been caught full-on in the volcano's eruption, so by now there would not even be a corpse left to recover.
BUBBLE, BUBBLE, BUBBLE, BUBBLE, BUBBLE, BUBBLE, BUBBLE, BUBBLE......
Dodging the columns of bubbles rising from all over the ground, I had just started to move.
At the very moment I was about to move to a safe zone.
KA-BOOM!
An explosion from the direction of the volcano's crater caught my attention.
'!?'
I turned my head, and at the unbelievable sight, my jaw finally dropped.
KRR-RRRRRRRIP!
Astonishingly, the soldier was alive.
And not only was it alive, it was tearing its way out of the volcano's pillar of magma with two huge pincers.
[Grr-aaaaaaagh!]
I could not help shuddering at that bizarre and terrifying sight.
'......It evolved?'
The change that had come over the soldier's body was enough to make me doubt my eyes.
The body that had molted out of its old carapace was red-hot and glossy, like ore just about to melt.
Countless spikes that looked as if they had formed from hardened lava covered the iron armor all over its body, and there were now four huge pincers.
-<Soldier Crant-Magma Zoea (Mutation)>
-A bizarre creature with the appearance of a crab and the habits of an ant.
A warrior of offense and defense in one, with a hard carapace and sharp pincers; it is said that only a very few individuals that have won the harsh competition for survival on the seabed can reach this form.
The form taken by the most senior battle-hardened veteran, who served the queen through the long years until the early colony became a great colony, after adapting to the harsh environment of the lava zone.
The searing heat of a hydrothermal vent dwells in the tips of its huge pincers, which defeat any enemy.
-Traits: <Nest>, <Servant>, <Burrowing>, <Scissor Cut>, <Pincer Hammer>, <Crab-Foam Bullet>, <Ironclad Skin>, <Impregnable Fortress>, <Tremendous Stamina>, <Tenacious Life>, <Fight to the Finish>, <Persistent Pursuer>, <Night Vision>, <Intermediate Poison Resistance>, <Stratum Severing>, [+]<Intermediate Flame Resistance>, [+]<Fire Brand>
The soldier had mutated and evolved into a higher species other than the queen.
Only then could I learn its settings in detail.
'......So it was an individual that had served the queen since the early days, when the colony would have been tiny. No wonder its pincers had so many scars.'
As a result of the extreme environment value being added to the experience it had built up repelling intruders over long years, the soldier had evolved into a fearsome monster.
GRRRRRRK!
The mutated soldier looked at me.
The molted husk clinging to its body was burning and blazing, so it looked like an incarnation of lava descended to earth.
-<Trait: Tenacious Life>
-Patiently endures even harsh surroundings. Can halve the damage taken from weather, terrain changes and the like.
The soldier had probably been able to save its life thanks to this trait.
'This is the first time I've seen a wild monster other than me and my kin evolve.'
A single bead of cold sweat dissolved into the water.
I knew the Combat Power of a mutated soldier well.
A rare monster you can run into at a very low chance while roaming the field.
By the settings, the average Combat Power of those things was roughly in the low 40,000s.
For me, with my Combat Power knocked down into the 10,000s by volcanic bombs, it was an opponent I could not beat even if I died and came back.
'This is really bad. The Combat Power gap has opened to over 30,000.'
At this level, it would be hard to win even using the terrain and its features.
What's more, the mutated soldier would also have gained 'Intermediate Flame Resistance' as it evolved.
If so, there would be no way at all to stand up to the mutated soldier on the Hell's Gas Stove map.
If it came after me again, persistently and at high speed, it was my fate to be finished in the end.
'Fine. If I'm going to get caught anyway even if I run, let's fight to the finish here. I'll at least break one of your pincers before I go!'
I raised my tentacles and got ready for battle.
......But then?
KIKIK— KIKIKIKIK—
The mutated soldier's reaction was somehow strange.
As soon as it tore its way out of the pillar of fire, it began to flee in the exact opposite direction from where I was.
STAGGER, STAGGER—
With an unsteady gait, as if it were drunk.
'What's this?'
I watched the mutated soldier from behind.
It got away from me and began to climb the cliff on the far side.
CLATTER— CLATTTTER— KIKIK—
It looked as if it meant to escape out of the basin.
In that instant, I could guess the mutated soldier's situation and intent.
-<Soldier Crant-Magma Zoea (Mutation)>
-Combat Power: 108 [-42,913]
Earlier, I had been too flustered to check its Combat Power.
Looking again, its Combat Power was a mere 108.
At this level, it would die even if I just left it alone.
'Its original Combat Power was around 43,000? That's monstrous. But why did that high Combat Power...... ah!'
I clapped my hands.
That's right.
The mutated soldier had achieved evolution into a higher species in an extreme situation.
But evolution doesn't end just because it succeeded.
Just as an insect is weak right after it molts out of its pupa, the same goes for a crab.
The mutated soldier had molted in the middle of a volcanic eruption, and with its carapace not yet hardened, still soft and squishy, it would have had to endure a shower of magma and volcanic bombs.
'Sure, in a situation like that, it makes sense that it's fallen into a near-death state.'
I checked the mutated soldier's status once again.
-<Soldier Crant-Magma Zoea (Mutation)>
-Combat Power: 118 [+10]
-<Soldier Crant-Magma Zoea (Mutation)>
-Combat Power: 126 [+8]
-<Soldier Crant-Magma Zoea (Mutation)>
-Combat Power: 139 [+13]
.
.
It was recovering its Combat Power little by little, bit by bit.
That would be because its defense was rising as its carapace hardened after the molt.
Of course, I had no intention of leaving it be.
'......A thing whose original Combat Power is 43,000 is now a measly 139?'
A discount rate of a whopping 99.7%,
Not even AliExpress or Temu cuts prices like this.
How could I pass up a big sale like this?
I charged with ironclad scales wrapped around my body.
The mutated soldier had already climbed about halfway up the cliff.
But it was much slower than when it had been chasing me.
Because its quick movement speed only shines when it is pursuing an enemy, not when it is fleeing from one.
'......In short, it's a case of 'the hunter fallen into prey'?'
I swam straight up along the cliff.
I came face to face with the back shell of the soldier climbing the cliff.
The crab shell, cooked bright red, looked soft at a glance.
In its present state, I could pierce it even without a skill, but.
-<Trait: Hell Bite>
-Wraps around the enemy and attacks with the sharp teeth on the suckers. Has a low chance of piercing the enemy's armor.
I made a point of bringing out my attack trait and stabbed the very center of the mutated soldier's crab shell.
CRU-UNCH!
The hardened tip of my tentacle smashed through the soft crab shell and lodged deep inside.
The armor piercing effect normally goes off at a low chance, but in a situation like this it is 100%.
[Urgggggh!?]
The mutated soldier let out a shriek and raised a pincer, but if it did that, it would lose its center of gravity and fall to the bottom of the cliff.
In the end, the mutated soldier had no choice but to withdraw its pincer and keep climbing the cliff.
I pounded away at the back plate of the mutated soldier, now helpless.
CRUMBLE! SQUELCH! CRACK! GRRRRRIND! CRRRUNCH! WHACK!
The soft carapace broke like a biscuit soaked in water.
Seeing that the fragments were over 10cm thick, I thought that if it had been in good shape, breaking it would have been out of the question.
Before long, I made a big hole in the mutated soldier's crab shell and burrowed into the flesh inside.
The crab's organs came into view.
The stomach between its two eyes, the brain located right below it, the testes in the middle of the trunk and the gills on the left and right, and the heart at the lower center.
I churned and tore all of these to shreds with the sharp tips of my tentacles.
[Urgggggh!]
From outside, I could hear the mutated soldier's screams.
It was climbing the cliff with every ounce of its strength.
It seemed to believe that if only it could flee as far as the territory where its underlings were waiting, its situation would improve.
But I had no intention at all of letting it leave this map.
'This is the end.'
I was looking at the big heart before my eyes.
A lump of muscle pounding away, covered in white fascia.
I threw a cross chop at it without hesitation.
PO-POW!
I felt it at my fingertips, no, at my tentacle tips.
The feel of tough, soft muscle being torn by something hard and sharp.
The mutated soldier's heart was smashed to pieces.
And at the same time.
SKREEEEEEEK......
The inside of the soldier's body, which had been heaving violently, slowly went quiet.
However big and hard a monster may be, once its heart is destroyed, there is nothing it can do.
There was no longer any need to stay submerged in the crab-gut mush either.
I left the fishy, sticky swamp and came straight up out of it.
'Pwah!'
Once I shook off the bile stuck to my face, I could finally see ahead.
The mutated soldier was dead, still clinging halfway up the cliff.
In the center of its back shell, which had already hardened, the hole pierced while it was soft remained, gaping wide.
'Finally did it.'
I had brought down the soldier I had been waiting for.
Now it was time to tear into its flesh and steal its abilities.