Chapter 131. Artpega Unibicorn
「The target entity has been selected. Species name, Centaurides.」
「The target entity does not wish for a species transformation.」
「Attempting evolution while maintaining Astral Code (Horse-99) and Astral Code (Human-82).」
「Analyzing the target’s actions, mindset, traits, environment, and personality.」
Inside the egg lay the sleeping Centaurides.
Her form trembled slightly.
She retained the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse, just as before.
She was preparing to accept a new power and Astral Code.
The power flowing within the egg grew stronger, starting to affect the Centaurides inside.
「A free spirit and noble nature have been detected in the target.」
「Attempting to add Astral Code (Horse-515).」
「······.」
「Partial success.」
「The ability to manifest wings has been acquired.」
The horse body of the Centaurides.
Vibrations ran along her spine, and new bones and muscles began to form beneath her skin.
Gradually, her skin split, revealing the skeletal structure of wings.
Over time.
Feathers started growing, one by one, and soon, a magnificent pair of wings was fully formed.
Astral Code (Horse-515).
They were the wings of a Pegasus.
「The target’s pure will has been detected.」
「Attempting to add Astral Code (Horse-707).」
「······.」
「Partial success.」
「White fur begins to grow.」
「A unique white weapon bound to the soul has been generated.」
Pure white fur covered her horse body.
A white weapon materialized in her hand.
And an aura both pure and mysterious formed around her.
Astral Code (Horse-707).
It was the body and weapon of a Unicorn.
「Impurity has been detected in part of the target’s inner self.」
「Attempting to delete Astral Code (Horse-707).」
「······.」
「Deletion failed.」
「Astral Code (Horse-707) is retained.」
「Attempting to add Astral Code (Horse-414).」
「······.」
「Partial success.」
「A black horn emerges.」
Energy gathered at the center of the Centaurides’ forehead.
Her skin swelled at that spot, and the base of a horn began to form.
At first, it was in a soft cartilage state.
But as it hardened into keratin, the fully grown horn turned pitch black.
「Part of the body has been consumed by darkness.」
The Centaurides’ hooves and some parts of her body also turned black.
Astral Code (Horse-414).
It was the darkness of a Bicorn.
As the power of the Bicorn settled in.
The Centaurides gained the power of duality and balance.
She could control both light and darkness, good and evil.
She could harmonize opposing forces and cross the boundary between reality and illusion.
「The target desires Astral Code (Demon-6974).」
「Attempting to add the seduction ability.」
「······.」
Astral Code (Demon-6974).
It was the Succubus Code, summoned by her desire to seduce Kang Geon.
Just as the code seemed to be naturally added,
「Direct interference from Astral Code (Fox-777) has occurred.」
「Kyuu!!!」
「The addition of Astral Code (Demon-6974) has failed.」
The Melody Fox, who had been lurking around the egg, sensed something amiss and directly intervened in the evolution, disrupting the code.
In the end, the Succubus Code was deleted.
「The target’s creative passion and artistic inspiration have been detected.」
「Attempting to add Astral Code (Creator God-45).」
「······.」
「Partial success.」
「The ability to paint has been acquired.」
The power of creation settled at the tips of the Centaurides’ fingers.
She gained the ability to release various colors from her fingertips and manifest the images she painted into reality.
It was an evolution and enhancement of her ability to cross the boundary between reality and illusion.
「Analysis complete.」
「Fusion successful. A new Astral Code has been established.」
「Divinity is being bestowed.」
「The entity evolves into a composite being.」
Inside the egg.
The entire body of the Centaurides was enveloped in a radiant light.
And within that light, the essence of her being began to reconstruct.
***
Cracks appeared on the egg.
From the gaps, a blinding light leaked out.
Soon, the egg shattered, and the fully transformed Centaurides slowly emerged.
【Pururu】─Ooooh! Here she comes!!
【Mysticism】─😃 My heart is pounding!
【Yumi】─I’m really curious to see what she looks like.
【Mir-Stin】─I cleared my schedule just to see this.
【Luna-chan】─I’ve been waiting since morning too. ><
【Bubble Bubble】─I hope it’s another evolution.
【Rizenova】─Don’t get your hopes up too much. Sometimes it’s just a species transformation, and the danger level stays the same, you know.
As the assistants eagerly anticipated the outcome.
Finally, the fully transformed Centaurides revealed her entire form.
【Mysticism】─😮 Wow! She’s even more beautiful than before!
【Yumi】─Whoa··· she’s so elegant and seductive.
【Luna-chan】─She’s gorgeous! ><
【Mysticism】─She looks like she had plastic surgery! Her face is totally different! 😶
【Pururu】─For real, she used to look kind of gentle, but now she looks a bit arrogant. To put it nicely, she has a cold impression.
【Rizenova】─Hmm. Overall, she looks similar to before.
【Mir-Stin】─Not at all! She’s completely different! She has wings now! And her horn is longer and sharper!
【Pururu】─The structure is still similar, though.
【Pururu】─But her body seems longer than when she was a Centaurides? Both the horse and human parts look more stretched out.
【Bubble Bubble】─Her weapon changed, and her hair color is different too. What else is different?
【Pururu】─Even the color of her tail changed.
【Yumi】─Her tail, wings, and hooves are black, but her horse body is completely white.
【Pururu】─Anyway. Hey, Geon, did she evolve or what?
“She did. Her danger level has increased. She’s SS-rank now.”
It was clear she had evolved.
Her danger level had risen.
She was now classified as SS-rank.
And judging by her appearance.
It seemed like no species transformation had occurred at all.
Unlike Kino, Centaurides probably had no significant dissatisfaction with her original form.
Having completed her evolution, the Centaurides slowly and meticulously examined her transformed body using the Irises.
［Ooh. So this is my new form···!］
Her tone and voice hadn’t changed.
Perhaps because of that, despite her altered appearance, she didn’t feel entirely unfamiliar.
“How is it? Do you like your new look?”
［Yes! I love it! I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said I’ve reached the pinnacle of beauty! I can’t wait to show it off to my brothers!］
【Pururu】─She really said that out loud.
【Mysticism】─😠
【Mir-Stin】─Honestly, she’s so pretty. I might fall for her, and I’m a girl.
The Centaurides expressed her gratitude to the Melody Fox.
［I never expected to evolve so suddenly··· Melody Fox, I’m truly grateful! I will repay this debt someday!］
［Kyufufu.］
As Melody beamed with pride.
Merino suddenly popped in and spoke to the Centaurides.
“Congratulations. Since I took good care of your egg, you can call me Mama from now on.”
［Ah. So Merino was the one who took care of me while I was asleep. Thank you! But I’ll pass on calling you Mama.］
“Too bad···.”
Even after that.
The Centaurides happily wagged her tail, staring at her reflection with a satisfied expression for a long time.
It seemed she was genuinely pleased with her current appearance.
［What do you think, Explorer?］
“About what?”
［My appearance. Does it make you feel the urge to mate now?］
“Not really···.”
［···Are you saying you don’t like the way I look?］
“No. I like it.”
［Then please mate with me.］
“Stop talking nonsense. Let’s test your abilities now.”
After shutting down the Centaurides’ nonsense.
I immediately decided to test her new SS-rank abilities.
［Boing-boing. I’ll help with the ability testing.］
【Pururu】─When did that sucker get here?
Together with Omega, who had just arrived through the warp device.
***
The evolved body of the Centaurides.
Among its features.
The blackened parts were influenced by the Bicorn.
The whitened parts were influenced by the Unicorn.
The wings seemed to be from the Pegasus, Omega speculated.
And all the creatures Omega mentioned were monsters I knew of.
“Seems like they’re all related since they’re all horse-types.”
［Indeed. Even if they’re entirely different species, if their Astral Codes are similar, they can influence each other during evolution. Boing-boing.］
【Pururu】─So she’s a hybrid
.
【Mysticism】─😮
【Yumi】─I kind of get what a Unicorn and Pegasus are, but what’s a Bicorn?
【Mir-Stin】─It’s the opposite of a Unicorn. Unicorns like the pure, but Bicorns prefer those who are impure. They detest virgins who refuse to procreate, which is a natural biological process.
【Yumi】─Ah. So it’s a monster that’s the opposite of a Unicorn. But how do you know that, Mir?
【Mir-Stin】─If you read a lot of manga and novels, you naturally learn these things.
【Rizenova】─Hmm. Combining creatures that can’t coexist··· quite a paradoxical being, it seems.
【Bubble Bubble】─Yeah. How did a Unicorn and Bicorn fuse?
【Luna-chan】─It’s so fascinating! O_o
In any case.
We completed the ability testing with Omega’s help.
Since Omega was surprisingly knowledgeable about creatures, her assistance was very helpful.
To summarize her abilities briefly, they were as follows:
A weapon that could deal significant damage to the impure.
An ability to grant protective barriers to the pure.
A horn that could inflict severe damage on the impure.
An ability to bestow powerful buffs on the impure.
Wings that granted high-speed flight.
Additionally.
Both the horn and weapon had purity detection abilities.
They could assess factors like the number of partners, frequency of intercourse, and instances of sexual contact.
It was truly a useless ability.
［Explorer, you’ve never had any experience, have you? Huhu.］
【Pururu】─Oh.
【Luna-chan】─Hoeee!
【Bubble Bubble】─Phew.
【Mysticism】─😋
【Yumi】─Gasp.
【Rizenova】─I haven’t either.
【Pururu】─Of course, you wouldn’t. 😂
【Mir-Stin】─I’m also waiting until marriage.
［Your heart is quite pure too. You once said you had a crush, but it seems you didn’t truly love them. Based on my analysis, your feelings at the time didn’t reach the level of love; they were still in the stage of mere affection.］
“You really know too much··· Stop using your ability, it’s embarrassing.”
［Oh, I’m sorry.］
Lastly.
There was one more important and core ability.
It was the power to turn paintings into reality.
She could release various colors from her fingertips, paint in midair, and make the painted images real.
In other words, it was essentially the power of creation.
After completing the ability testing.
I gave the Centaurides a new name, Artpega Unibicorn, and immediately updated the Monster Guidebook.
—
Artpega Unibicorn
– Actual Danger Level: SS-Rank.
– Current (Nerfed) Danger Level: A-Rank.
– Abilities: Materialization of paintings.