Trojan Horse

The Brain Eater spent most of its day in contemplation.

The subject of contemplation was always the same.

Getting stronger.

Though it happened an unimaginably long time ago, the memories of its kindred dying, unable to stop the otherworldly invaders, remained vivid.

Though it had become incomparably stronger since then, it was still not enough.

‘I must become even stronger.’

It needed to transcend mortal limits and reach the realm of transcendence.

For that purpose, the Brain Eater hunted countless prey and consumed their brains.

Wooong.

Until recently, it could endlessly grow stronger just by consuming the brains of intelligent beings, but lately the Brain Eater had hit an enormous wall.

Its current methods couldn’t overcome this wall.

To surpass the wall, it needed what one might call enlightenment.

But perhaps as a side effect of growing strong too easily due to its racial traits.

The Brain Eater couldn’t even begin to grasp how to obtain this enlightenment.

After much deliberation, the Brain Eater’s conclusion was simple.

Contemplation.

Though it split and stretched every minute and second thinking about how to become stronger, the method to gain enlightenment and overcome the wall remained unknown.

Woooong!

Having consumed massive energy using all its brain’s processing power for calculations, the Brain Eater sent a signal to the humans to bring food.

A few days ago, it had punished them for being late with brain delivery.

Perhaps because of that?

As soon as it sent the signal, glass containers filled with brains started arriving through nearby tubes.

Though it felt intense hunger, the Brain Eater first carefully inspected the brains and glass containers using telekinesis.

‘Humans cannot be trusted.’

Despite promising that it would protect humans from external threats in exchange for them providing brains, they had betrayed it repeatedly.

Though it had overlooked this due to the advantage of receiving stable brain supplies without the hassle of finding humans itself, if they kept up these tricks, it would truly teach them a lesson next time.

Wooong!

An ordinary brain.

After finishing its inspection, the Brain Eater used telekinesis to open the glass container and place the brain inside onto its main body.

Shwak!

Woong! Woong! Woong!

After inserting tentacles into the brain and sucking out its contents, the Brain Eater let out cries of joy.

Though it had eaten countless brains until now, it never got tired of consuming them.

This was because it could vividly feel the memories and emotions contained within the brains.

For the Brain Eater, consuming brains was both a meal to replenish energy and entertainment to stimulate its monotonous daily life.

After slowly savoring the first brain, the Brain Eater immediately extended its tentacles toward the next one.

Happy memories, sad memories, joyful memories, frightening memories, painful memories.

While savoring various memories and emotions, the Brain Eater lifted up the final brain.

A bit insufficient.

Just as it was contemplating whether to request more brains, the Brain Eater’s eyes caught sight of a human figure.

Shwak!

No one could enter this place without its permission.

Anyone who entered would be immediately killed and made into a snack.

The Brain Eater pressed down on the gray-haired human with telekinesis and swung its legs.

Wham!

The Brain Eater’s dozens of eyes widened.

The human caught its attack with one hand without moving a single step from their position.

And did so while under telekinetic pressure, without a single scratch at that.

“Wow, Mr. Yuseong. Isn’t this item too overpowered? The strength is one thing, but the shock absorption option is just…”

Woong! Woong!

Though the human said something, the Brain Eater ignored it and calmly analyzed the situation.

Strength that didn’t match her build, movements that defied physics, and beyond that, an unidentifiable enormous energy could be felt.

A formidable opponent.

Having made its judgment instantly, the Brain Eater put the final brain it had been holding into its body and drew up its telekinesis.

Drrrrrr!

As telekinesis concentrated in one spot, space shook and distorted.

Overwhelming pressure that could crush even a great mountain pressed in from all directions.

However, Alice, far from cowering, drew a lightsaber and charged at the Brain Eater.

Pzzzzt!

The lightsaber Alice swung pierced halfway through the telekinetic shield before being deflected back.

Hundreds of formless blades created with telekinesis flew at the defenseless Alice.

Alice blocked the Brain Eater’s attack by spreading a pair of metal wings behind her back to wrap around herself, then swung the lightsaber again at the deeply cracked telekinetic shield.

Wooong!

The Brain Eater was shocked.

Though it had fought countless enemies until now, those who could chip away this much of its telekinetic shield with just two attacks could be counted on one hand.

Having revised its evaluation of the human before it upward, the Brain Eater half-closed its eyes and concentrated its consciousness.

Pssss.

“…Phew.”

Seeing things around the Brain Eater turn to dust and scatter, Alice swallowed hard.

She had heard it was strong but didn’t expect this level.

But Alice didn’t back down.

If she retreated now, the plan would be ruined.

[Dragon Heart output increased to 40%]

[Stage 2 Limit Release]

[Combat Mode Activated]

She wouldn’t go all out.

If the Brain Eater saw her as a serious threat and went all out, things would get troublesome.

She needed to make it think she was an opponent it could handle leisurely, someone it could subdue while protecting the facility.

‘My role is just drawing attention.’

She needed to draw as much attention as possible to make the Brain Eater focus on her.

The metal wing feathers stood on end as white light began gathering at their tips.

And the moment Alice pulled the railgun’s trigger, hundreds of light beams were shotgunned toward the Brain Eater.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lasers, railgun, small missiles, plasma rounds, magic, magic power cannon.

Numerous attacks collided with the telekinetic shield causing violent explosions.

The Brain Eater narrowed its eyes while glaring at the human glimpsed through the explosions.

Though her close combat power was strong enough to nearly cut through the telekinetic shield with just two sword strikes, her ranged attacks were flashy but not very dangerous.

If it blocked their approach and fought at range, it could definitely win.

Wooo…

Just as it became confident in victory, the Brain Eater groaned at an inexplicable dizziness.

This was a sensation it had never felt in its life.

Even when drawing out telekinesis beyond its limits, it hadn’t felt like this.

‘Did that human do something?’

Given the circumstances, it couldn’t think of any other possibility.

The Brain Eater drew up its concentration to strengthen its telekinetic shield.

This should be enough to block any attack.

However, that belief didn’t last long.

Wooong!

Pain beyond imagination!

The Brain Eater screamed with all its might at the bizarre sensation like something was kneading its brain.

Something was wrong.

This wasn’t an attack from outside.

The Brain Eater moved one eye that had been focused on the human to look down at itself.

Wooooo!

The Brain Eater couldn’t believe its eyes.

Countless black tendrils were wrapping around and digging into its brain, tearing it apart.

The Brain Eater let out a scream mixed with shock and dismay at this unimaginably shocking sight.

Bam! Bang! Boom!

It barely regained its senses at the impact that shook the telekinetic shield which had faltered in confusion.

Though it didn’t know what those were, it knew they couldn’t be left alone.

The Brain Eater hastily raised its legs.

It planned to cut away part of its brain to eliminate those unidentified black tendrils.

But the Brain Eater’s intentions couldn’t be realized.

Because Alice, who had approached unnoticed, caught its swinging leg.

“You noticed too late.”

Alice moved like lightning to block the other leg.

The Brain Eater let out high-pitched cries while continuing to attempt attacks, but couldn’t succeed even once due to Alice’s defense.

‘If it notices the situation, it will try anything to eliminate me. If it tries to harm itself, stop it no matter what.’

Recalling Yuseong’s request, Alice firmly closed her mouth and drew up her strength.

Frame made of lightweight but indestructible special metal, artificial muscles made of special materials whose tensile strength temporarily increased when infused with magic power, and finally adding the monstrous strength from Tyrant’s arms, they threw a full-power punch.

Crack!

Wooong!

The scythe-like leg couldn’t withstand the force of Alice’s fist and bent at an odd angle.

Realizing this method wouldn’t work, the Brain Eater changed tactics and tried to remove the black tendrils by pulling out bundles of tentacles from its brain.

‘Seems it noticed.’

Yuseong felt regret upon sensing through Eye of Truth that something was interfering with the thorny vines.

Though he had mostly taken control of the Brain Eater’s brain, since its structure differed from human brains, he needed more time to analyze it to properly deploy the Puppet skill.

‘It’s fine. This much is within expected range.’

Operation name: Trojan Horse.

A simple plan to deliberately get eaten by the Brain Eater disguised as an ordinary brain, then use the Puppet skill to dominate the Brain Eater.

But the process was far from simple.

Magic power was needed to deploy the thorny vine skill that formed the base of the Puppet skill.

To dominate the Brain Eater’s enormous brain required creating many thorny vines, but Kim Ganghyeon only had 25 points of magic power.

Use Infinite Origin Force to convert spirit power to magic power?

Infinite Origin Force, no, almost all mental techniques were based on the body’s meridians.

In other words, it was impossible to deploy Infinite Origin Force with only a brain remaining.

‘Good thing Alice was here.’

Over the past few days, Yuseong had made every effort to find a way to deploy Infinite Origin Force with only a brain remaining.

It would have been impossible alone even after hundreds of days, but Yuseong had Alice.

With an artificial brain possessing computing power surpassing supercomputers and Eye of Truth, Alice finally found a way to deploy Infinite Origin Force using only the brain after hundreds of millions of simulations.

‘Having come this far, I must succeed!’

A plan for a mere human, and only a brain at that, to dominate a being approaching transcendence.

Anyone who heard would say it was impossible, but Yuseong didn’t give up.

He had already overcome four walls of impossibility to get this far.

Then there was no reason he couldn’t overcome one more.

Yuseong deployed the Puppet skill with all his might.

Seuruk.

Woong! Woong! Woong!

The Brain Eater, which had been screaming from the pain of its brain being torn apart and senses going haywire, desperately tried to gather its wits.

It would truly die if this continued.

“Ah?!”

A sharp cry escaped Alice’s lips.

Because the island suddenly lost buoyancy and began falling.

Regardless of Alice’s panic, the Brain Eater withdrew the telekinesis holding up the island and scanned its brain.

‘Found it.’

The source of all the tendrils.

Having found the foreign substance lodged deep inside its brain, the Brain Eater immediately extended bundles of tentacles toward it.