Merit stood still after dealing with a few of the ants, his senses still sharp. The entire planet seemed calmer after his intervention, but the disturbance in the air hadn't ceased, not even a little. Fighter jets still roamed the skies, eventually getting blown up by alien ships.
Again, Merit spams Heaven's Gaze and shoots them down.
A loud rumbling suddenly echoed from above, shaking the atmosphere and sending faint vibrations through the ground.
He frowned, tilting his head up toward the sky.
"Ah. The ship and its fighters," Merit muttered. "I'd completely forgotten about them. That's where the portals they keep beaming them down." His eyes narrowed as he thought of his next steps. "Looks like I'm going to take a trip to space."
A slight hesitation crept into his thoughts. 'Could my body handle the cold, airless expanse?' he wondered. 'Could I even breathe out there?'
"Well," he muttered, smirking faintly, "only one way to find out."
Merit crouched slightly, energy building up within his legs. The air around him rippled faintly, and in the next instant, he shot into the sky like a bomb detonating, the sheer force of his takeoff breaking the sound barrier.
A massive shockwave rippled outward, shaking nearby buildings and sending debris scattering in every direction.
Within seconds, he was soaring through the upper atmosphere, the air thinning rapidly as he climbed higher. The temperature plummeted, frost forming on his body before immediately dissipating as his natural energy burned it away.
As he broke free of the planet's gravitational pull, the expanse of space unfolded before him; a vast, infinite black canvas dotted with distant stars.
And then he saw it.
Merit stopped mid-flight, hovering in the vacuum of space as his eyes fixed on the colossal structure looming far ahead.
It floated roughly 200,000 miles away, the same distance as the moon, and its sheer size was mind-boggling—as big as the moon itself.
The ship was unlike anything he'd ever seen. It wasn't a sleek, futuristic design as depicted in sci-fi movies, but something grotesque and horrifying; an organic mass twisted into the shape of a ship.
Its hull appeared to be made of a strange, pulsating material, black and slick, with ridges and grooves resembling the exoskeletons of insects.
Protrusions jutted out like jagged claws, some curling and some pointed outward, giving the ship a distinctly predatory appearance.
Veins of sickly green light coursed through its surface, and it pulsated faintly, almost as if it were alive.
Massive openings along its sides spewed out smaller ships, tiny in comparison, like swarms of gnats pouring out of a hive. Each carried ant-like creatures, beaming them down to the planet below.
Merit's jaw tightened as he took it all in. The scale of the ship made him feel small, almost insignificant. For a brief moment, he wondered if he'd bitten off more than he could chew.
Shaking off the thought, he took a deep breath—or at least, he tried to. It wasn't necessary.
His body had already adapted to the vacuum, automatically shutting off his need for oxygen and relying instead on pure energy consumption to sustain itself.
A semi-invisible aura enveloped him, distorting his figure as it shifted fluidly around him, forming a sort of protective barrier.
"Guess that answers that," he muttered, flexing his fingers. "Alright, Mer. Let's see what you've got."
With no air resistance or gravity holding him back, Merit shot forward at a speed far greater than he anticipated, streaking through the void like a comet.
He approached the ship in seconds, nearly slamming into its grotesque hull before stopping himself just in time.
Hovering just outside the massive structure, he took a moment to study it up close. The surface was even more disgusting than he'd realized.
Strange, organic growths covered it, some oozing with greenish-black liquid. The entire ship seemed to pulse faintly, as though it had a heartbeat.
Merit wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, this is definitely worse than I imagined."
Without hesitation, he activated Intershift Ghost, his body shifting into an intangible state.
This ability, a perfected form of something called Half-Ghost, allowed him to phase through any matter while remaining fully clothed and able to interact with objects when he chose.
His form fluctuated faintly as he floated through the hull, passing through layers of alien flesh and metallic plating until he emerged inside the ship; the interior was even more unsettling.
The walls and ceilings were covered in the same organic material as the exterior, shifting like living tissue.
Weird, glowing veins crisscrossed the surfaces, carrying what looked like luminescent green fluid to various parts of the ship.
The air was humid and thick with an acrid, metallic scent, though Merit didn't need to breathe it in to know it was toxic. The ship wasn't just a vessel; it was a living biome where everything could be interacted with.
Small ant-like creatures, swarmed everywhere, just like the ones on the planet's surface. They skittered across the floor, and even leaped between structures with ease.
Some were slightly larger than the ones Merit had encountered earlier, and their movements were more deliberate. Their bodies emit faint clicks and screeches here and there as they communicated with each other.
Further in, Merit noticed massive, hulking ants, not much larger than the "A-rank" monsters he'd fought earlier.
These creatures seemed more intelligent, their glowing eyes scanning their surroundings with a sharpness that suggested they weren't just mindless drones; same could be said for the bigger ones clicking and screeching.
They guided smaller ants, issuing orders through strange, chittering sounds.
'So, the big ones just aren't stronger,' Merit thought, observing their interactions. 'They're smarter, too. Looks like they're running shit down here.'
None of the ants paid him any mind. In his intangible state, he was effectively invisible, and he moved through the biome unnoticed.
As he wandered deeper into the ship, Merit's thoughts turned to their purpose.
'What are they doing here? The planet has resources, sure, but this feels… excessive. If they wanted resources, they wouldn't need this many troops. And why were the big ones surrounding that kid? What's their endgame?'
Hours passed as he explored the complex and long interior of the ship. He passed through chambers filled with eggs, each one pulsating faintly as if ready to hatch. They were the size of soft balls.
Some rooms housed strange, glowing pods that seemed to act as stasis chambers for bigger ant hybrids. Others contained what appeared to be experimental labs, though their purpose eluded him.
Merit eventually found himself at the entrance of a massive chamber. It loomed ominously before him, its towering doorway shrouded in shadow.
A faint, pulsating light that illuminated the ship seemed to dim as he approached, as though the very space recoiled from what lay inside. With a cautious step forward, he crossed the threshold.
The chamber was enormous, larger than any space he'd seen within the ship. The walls, composed of the same grotesque organic material as the rest of the vessel, pulsed faintly.
Veins of bioluminescent light twisted through the surface, casting a yellow glow that flickered intermittently.
In the center of the chamber, atop a grotesque, raised platform, was a sight that turned Merit's stomach.
The ant queen sat enthroned, her swollen, grotesque form the centerpiece of the nightmare. Her belly was monstrous, a sagging, pulsating mass that spilled over her legs and covered them completely.
It was so massive it sagged onto the platform and beyond, folding grotesquely as it stretched outward. The sheer size was mind-boggling easily as large as an average apartment.
The flesh of her abdomen rippled faintly, glowing veins running across the surface like a network of sickly green lightning. Every now and then, a soft, wet squelching sound echoed in the chamber, followed by a sickening "pop" as a basketball-sized egg was expelled from behind her.
Each egg landed in a growing pile, slick with some kind of fluid, where smaller ant-like workers scurried to collect them and place them into the massive mound that towered behind her.
Merit's gaze shifted upward to the queen herself. Her humanoid torso protruded awkwardly from the top of her grotesque belly.
Her skin, pale and disturbingly smooth, contrasted with the patches of glossy black carapace that stretched across her shoulders, arms, and thighs.
Her face was a grotesque parody of human beauty—almost delicate, yet marred by sharp, insectile features. Her glowing yellow eyes shimmered with malice and a strange, unnerving intelligence.
But it was what she was doing that nearly caused Merit to retch.
One of the hulking ant creatures, who are all easily 12 feet tall, stood beside her throne, its massive form radiating raw power. From its abdomen extended a thick, tube-like appendage, pulsing faintly as it connected to her mouth.
The queen leaned forward, her lips sealed tightly around the tube, her throat moving rhythmically as she drank deeply from it.
The sound was obscene, a grotesque mix of slurping and gurgling that echoed throughout the chamber. The tube throbbed with each pull, as though alive, and a faint greenish fluid flowed visibly through it, disappearing into her throat.
After several long moments, the tube suddenly trembled, and a loud, powerful hissing noise erupted from it, like a pressurized hose releasing its contents. The queen didn't flinch.
Her throat bulged grotesquely as she swallowed the rush of fluid, her chest rising as the liquid seemed to pool within her.
Finally, with a wet "pop", she pulled the tube from her mouth, letting it dangle limply. A thick trail of the viscous fluid dripped from her lips and onto her ample chest, where it pooled slightly before sliding down her pale skin.
She wiped her mouth lazily with the back of her hand, then brought her fingers to her lips, licking away the remaining fluid with a satisfied hum. Her glowing eyes shifted, locking onto Merit as though she had been aware of him the entire time.
"Oh?" she said, her voice smooth yet dripping with mockery. "And who might you be, little human? How did you squirm your way into my domain?"
Merit raised an eyebrow, fighting the bile that rose in his throat. His gaze flicked to the eggs popping out behind her with sickening regularity, then back to the grotesque scene before him. He forced himself to maintain his composure, though his stomach churned violently.
Letting his Intershift Ghost ability fade, Merit became fully tangible once more. He tilted his head, his tone dripping with dry sarcasm.
"I caught a flight," he said, pointing vaguely behind him. "Didn't realize Delta Airlines had a stop at alien hellships. Guess I'm the only passenger."
The queen's lips curled into a sinister smile, revealing sharp, glistening teeth. She leaned back slightly, her swollen belly rippling faintly with the movement. Another egg popped out behind her with a wet squelch, and she didn't even flinch.
"A comedian," she purred, her tone laced with amusement. "How… quaint."
Merit smirked, taking a step closer. The faint distortion of his aura rippled around him, but the queen didn't seem fazed. If anything, her glowing eyes narrowed with interest.
"You know," he continued, his voice casual but laced with underlying disgust, "I've seen some pretty fucked up things today. But you? You take the cake. Or, should I say… the egg? That's neither here nor there."
The queen let out a low, throaty chuckle, the sound reverberating through the chamber.
"How delightful," she said, her voice filled with condescension. "A human with spirit. It's been so long since I've seen one of your kind up close. You look quite capable."
She gestured lazily to one of the hulking guards, who shifted slightly but didn't approach. "You're bold, little human, I'll give you that. But tell me—how did you get here? My guards are quite thorough."
Merit shrugged, his smirk unfaltering. "Oh, you know. Walked through some walls, took a scenic route. Your ship's decor? Really not my style, by the way. Perhaps, you should do less with the organic shit and more with silk and lights. Hang a couple of posters up like the kids nowadays. You know?"
The queen's smile widened, her sharp teeth glinting in the eerie light. "You're insolent," she said, her tone growing colder. "But that's to be expected. Your kind always clings to arrogance when faced with their own insignificance."
She leaned forward, her glowing eyes boring into him. "Tell me, human. Do you understand where you are? What you've walked into?"
Merit's smirk didn't waver, though his gaze flicked briefly to the pulsating eggs behind her, the hulking guards at her sides, and the grotesque mass of her swollen belly.
"Oh, I've got a pretty good idea," he said lightly. "But you know what? I'm starting to think I should've knocked. I almost threw up. My bad."
The queen's amusement faded, replaced by a glimmer of irritation. She leaned back against her throne, her lips curling into a sneer. "You think yourself clever," she said, her voice low and dangerous. "But you're nothing more than a speck of dust beneath my notice."
Merit's smirk grew wider. "Funny," he said, crossing his arms. "I was about to say the same thing about you."
The tension in the chamber thickened, the air crackling faintly with the queen's rising anger. The hulking guards shifted again, their glowing eyes locking onto Merit as their mandibles clicked ominously.
But Merit didn't flinch. If anything, he looked almost bored.
"Well," he said, his tone casual, "this has been fun. But I think it's about time we got to the part where I kick your ass."