Click-
I aimed at the Skull Centipede's head, partly as a declaration of war.
I didn't worry about a fatal blow.
For most monsters and beasts, the head is a vital point, but unlike the Skull Hound, the Skull Centipede is a creature where the bone parasite completely dominates the entire body, making its head practically decorative.
The real vital point of the Skull Centipede is right next to the heart where the bone parasite has taken root.
However, I deliberately aimed for the head.
Bang─!
The bullet cut through the air and struck the Skull Centipede's head.
Since it was an armor-piercing round, it didn't inflict much damage as expected.
The Skull Centipede merely shook its head once and let out a menacing roar.
[Kyaoooor!]
Thud! Thud!
Surrounding monsters and beasts, led by the Skull Centipede, charged toward me.
Of course, I could have blown away its heart before it even got close, but I didn't.
To seize the bone parasite within the Skull Centipede, I needed it to reach me.
'No need to deal with it within Ark's surveillance range.'
Although it was unlikely that the Ark's forces would notice me operating on the outskirts of the battlefield, it was better to be cautious.
[Gigit! Gigigit!]
In the meantime, the distance between me and the Skull Centipede was rapidly closing.
["...What are you doing? Master, why aren't you shooting?!"]
"I'm going to subdue it."
["What?"]
The Skull Centipede's appearance itself was the embodiment of a monstrous terror.
Its entire body was covered with spikes and protruding bones of all kinds.
A grotesquely distorted form that would strike fear into any human.
But I had no reason to be scared now.
I wasn't the same as before.
With the Bone Armor and my close combat abilities, dealing with a Grade-7 monster was not a problem anymore.
[Kieeeeee!]
The Skull Centipede, now at the border of Mount Noah, lunged its bone tendrils toward me.
But there was no way that the attack of a mere Grade-7 monster would reach me.
[Gigit!]
Swish!
Without me having to say anything, the Bone Armor sprouted its own bone tendrils.
The bone tendrils of the armor collided with the Skull Centipede's, and—
Crack!
The bone tendrils clashed, and the Skull Centipede's were snapped like brittle sticks.
The Bone Armor didn't stop there, using its tendrils to completely restrain the Skull Centipede's body.
There was no need to use [Hardening] or [Steelization].
The sheer difference in strength between the Skull Centipede and my Bone Armor was overwhelming.
[Kieeek!]
The Skull Centipede let out a shriek.
But in its completely restrained state, there was nothing it could do.
[Kieeeeee!]
Following the Skull Centipede, other monsters and beasts also rushed in.
There was no reason to leave them alive, so I picked up the Ark-15 Automatic Conversion Rifle.
Click-
I replaced the magazine.
A-985 explosive rounds.
Boom!
As soon as the trigger was pulled, explosions erupted one after another, thick smoke billowing into the sky.
But amidst the smoke and the battlefield's chaos, the blast didn't stand out much.
[Grade-8 Beast Type: Skull Hound has been slain.]
[Damage dealt to Grade-8 Beast Type: Skull Hound increased by 0.05%.]
[Grade-8 Beast Type: Skull Hound has been slain.]
[Damage dealt to Grade-8 Beast Type: Skull Hound increased by 0.05%.]
.
.
.
[Grade-8 Beast Type: Mutated Scale Snake has been slain.]
[Damage dealt to Grade-8 Beast Type: Mutated Scale Snake increased by 0.05%.]
Meanwhile, the Bone Armor extended its tendrils toward the Skull Centipede's heart, aiming to extract the parasite rooted next to it.
Squish! Squish!
The agile tendrils moved like a surgeon's hands, beginning the dissection of the Skull Centipede's torso.
Soon, the creature's body was split open, revealing the bone parasite inside.
[Gigit! Git!]
[Kieeeeek!]
The bone parasite from the Skull Centipede and the parasite from my armor seemed to resonate with each other, echoing out eerie cries.
"Shut up."
I gripped the parasite rooted next to the Skull Centipede's heart and yanked it out.
Snap—
Crack—!
[Kieek! Kieeeeek!]
As expected of a Skull Centipede, its connections were rather tenacious.
However, having been weakened considerably by my Bone Armor's suppression, it didn't take long to rip it out.
Rustle—
The newly acquired bone parasite was wrapped securely in the tendrils of the Bone Armor, effectively sealing it.
Even though it had been weakened, there was no worry of suffocating it to death, as a bone parasite that had mutated into a Skull Centipede wouldn't die from something like that.
[Giggit!]
The Skull Centipede's parasite struggled and pounded on the tendril cage, but with the vast difference in strength between the two parasites, it wasn't going anywhere.
'That should do it.'
I secured the bone parasite wrapped in tendrils to my side.
Having obtained what I needed, it was time to rejoin the battlefield since the war was still raging on.
["...What are you planning to do with that?"]
"I'm going to use it."
["Handling a bone parasite outside the Ark isn't exactly easy... Ah."]
Esther, mid-sentence, suddenly seemed to remember what kind of armor I was wearing, her expression turning blank.
["...What the heck? No, seriously, he's definitely human, but..."]
Esther shook her head, as if completely baffled.
Of course, I had no intention of explaining it to her, so I just let her be.
'That aside...'
I turned my gaze to the battlefield.
Although the firepower I unleashed had created a temporary lull on the Red Line front, the wave was still ongoing.
'And I still need to find a monster with a core to use as the heart for the bone parasite, along with a suitable mount.'
The plan was simple.
Inject the 55-type anesthetic into the bone parasite, connect it to the heart of the monster to be used as a core, and implant it into a living monster.
The domesticated bone parasite would take over the monster's heart and begin the mutation, resulting in a tamed monster.
The process itself was fundamentally similar to creating the Bone Armor, though the difference was that this time the target was a living creature rather than Ark-Grade-protective gear.
Naturally, capturing a live monster required skill that few possessed.
'Of course, the reason the Ark doesn't mass-produce tamed bone parasite monsters isn't for lack of ability.'
It wasn't really due to any special reason.
It was just that the efficiency wasn't good enough.
Unlike the Skull Knight or the Bone Armor, which yield decent efficiency with investment, domesticating a bone parasite monster is far less efficient.
Fundamentally, bone parasites are monsters.
When utilized as a Skull Knight or Bone Armor, their primal instincts are suppressed, allowing humans to control them.
Of course, some among them do mutate into Skull Turncoats, but considering the immense power of the Skull Knight, it's a risk worth taking.
However, domesticating a monster through a bone parasite is entirely different.
'There are just too many requirements.'
Capturing a living monster is one thing, but the most critical issue is the consumption of a bone parasite—a resource of considerable value even within the Ark.
And even after going through all that trouble to create a domesticated bone parasite monster, it's questionable how much help it would actually be in combat.
How much combat power would one monster contribute as an ally?
Especially considering the enormous cost and time required to produce just one?
That's why the Ark chooses to operate Skull Knights and Bone Armor but refrains from domesticating monsters through bone parasites.
The efficiency simply isn't worth the opportunity cost.
But that's only true for the Ark.
For someone like me, living outside the Ark, the story is a bit different.
'In my current situation, just one reliable mount would be more than enough.'
Besides, for someone like me, it's relatively easy to secure monster and beast corpses.
In other words, it would be quite manageable to raise and develop a bone parasite monster.
'First, I should reduce their numbers a bit.'
I gripped the NOA-8 Heavy Machine Gun.
It was time to announce the end of this relentless war.
* * *
"Ha…"
Second Lieutenant Imosha let out a deep sigh.
It must have started that day.
Since the day she had been dragged by Lieutenant Colonel Banol to the White Line, the memories of that day had been etched into her mind.
'Emergency Line Meeting.'
The contents of the meeting had been so complicated and overwhelming that she couldn't remember much, but there was one thing that remained clear.
One of the reasons why the Emergency Line Meeting had been convened at the White Line.
'The appearance of a new Turncoat.'
The Skull Turncoats are monsters with wildly varying traits from one individual to another.
Therefore, even within the Ark, Skull Turncoats are identified individually.
However, it's impractical to assign a unique identification number to every single Skull Turncoat.
Thus, the Ark only gives distinct names to Skull Turncoats classified as Grade-2 or higher.
To date, there have been five Skull Turncoats named by the Ark.
Just like the previous five, the newly named Skull Turncoat also took its name from a chess piece.
'Turncoat Pawn.'
The most basic soldier among chess pieces, but one that can become anything upon reaching the end of the board.
A Skull Turncoat capable of confronting an extra-Grade-disaster-class monster or a regional master.
This was the assessment the Ark had made about Turncoat Pawn based on the information gathered so far.
"Haa…"
As if she didn't already have enough on her plate, now the appearance of a new Turncoat weighed heavily on Second Lieutenant Imosha's mind.
'And… according to the quartermaster, Carl Marcus came to the Ark and took a significant number of supplies…'
When Quartermaster Gedwin first informed her that Carl Marcus was still alive, Second Lieutenant Imosha couldn't help but feel a strange, inexplicable emotion.
Hadn't he supposedly saved Lieutenant Colonel Maybell Pilgrim, the Head of the Red Line Special Purpose Weapons Research Lab, by sheer coincidence?
But before she could even grasp what that feeling was, Gedwin's next words left her stunned.
"…What did you say?"
The supplies Carl Marcus had taken from the quartermaster were no ordinary goods.
Among them were heavy weapons like the NOA-8 Heavy Machine Gun and the TITAN-17 Anti-Behemoth Rocket Launcher, including A-985 explosive rounds.
'Gedwin said that there weren't many rounds, so it would be hard to make proper use of them…'
But why was that?
Imosha couldn't help but feel an odd sense of expectation toward Carl Marcus.
A thought crossed her mind—could it be that he was genuinely fighting for the Ark?
Lost in her musings, Second Lieutenant Imosha continued her vigil, as always, keeping watch over the horizon.
"…Huh?"
Far off in the distance, dark clouds gathered and rolled in.
It wasn't just a weather phenomenon.
She wasn't the only one who noticed it.
["Level 1 danger detected! Level 1 danger detected! Repeating: Level 1 danger detected!"]
A Wave.
A legion of monsters and beasts had once again begun advancing toward the Ark.
"Everyone to your positions!"
Upon hearing Imosha's urgent command through the comms, the soldiers of Red-17 scrambled into action.
[Kieeeeeee!!!]
[Kiek, Kiek!]
War had begun.
Although the Ark had faced countless such battles before, there was no denying that each one was a battle for survival.
Boom!
Ka-ka-kang!
Explosions erupted everywhere.
The howls and roars of beasts and monsters echoed.
A fierce battle unfolded.
In the midst of the chaos, Second Lieutenant Imosha heard something over the comms that made her doubt her ears.
["This is Red-3 Gate. An unidentified individual is engaging monsters near the border adjacent to Mount Noah. Currently identified equipment includes a Heavy Machine Gun and an Anti-Behemoth Rocket Launcher."]
Hearing the report, Imosha instinctively knew.
Carl Marcus.
He was fighting for Ark.