Chapter 27: The Apex of the Demon King Beasts

"Finally, much better!"

Lin Yu hummed a tune as he drove the GUTS team's large pickup truck, which he hadn't returned. He was already far away from the GUTS base, TPC. With one hand on the steering wheel, he seemed to be in high spirits. He had every reason to be. The successful cultivation of Zetton meant that his strength had increased by more than just a little. In this chaotic world, he finally possessed the power to protect himself. While he still found boss-level entities and certain powerhouses tricky, he could take it one step at a time!

Moreover, there was still a fragment of the Eternity Core inside Zetton!

[Eternity Core Fragment: A piece fallen from the incredibly powerful, supernatural Eternity Core. Those who are recognized by it can achieve incredible evolution through this fragment!]

[Of course, one can force its use without being recognized, but it will consume the fragment's power immensely and may lead to a rampage or even alienation!]

As this description appeared, Lin Yu looked thoughtful. "Being 'recognized' is like Trigger, who can transform into Glitter Trigger Eternity. Not being recognized is like Carmeara, who was consumed by the Eternity Core and turned into a monster. But since Zetton is a monster already, forcing it would likely result in the same outcome as the description: loss of control and unknown mutations."

"Zetton, are you recognized by the Eternity Core?" Lin Yu opened the game, looked at Zetton, who was already on the Monster Star, and asked.

"Zet-ton!"

Oh, well, it was ignoring him. Lin Yu twitched his lips but didn't say anything. If it wasn't recognized, so be it; it didn't matter. Worst case, he could use it as fuel to evolve into Hyper Zetton!

Beyond that, there was another reward for killing those subterranean monsters. Lin Yu flipped his free hand, and a handful of yellow soil appeared in his palm. It was the reward for killing the four subterranean monsters—Earth Element!

It was roughly the size of a loaf of bread. Despite being soft soil, it was dense and held its shape perfectly, without even a speck of dust falling off. It felt remarkably heavy.

"So heavy!" Lin Yu frowned, hurriedly activating his Ultra Telekinesis to support the earth, preventing it from crashing into the car. Otherwise, the large pickup might have been crushed!

"A lump of dirt this small weighs at least several tons! The density is incredible!" Lin Yu clicked his tongue in amazement, recalling the item's description. Earth-type monsters would see a significant boost in strength after consuming it, and if his earth-type monsters in the game ate it, their cultivation progress would also skyrocket.

For example, the Sadola, Telesdon, Gudon, and Detton he had killed. Not to mention other famous earth-type monsters like the subterranean monster Pagos from the original series, the monster prince Gomora, the Gakuma brothers from Tiga, Golza, the subterranean holy beast Shepherdon from Ginga, the Earth Dragon Denryu from Gaia, and the subterranean armored beast Zugakong from Blazar.

"Looking at it this way, this item is even more valuable than I thought! And... by fusing the power of Maga-Orochi, the Earth Element can transform further! An earth-type monster that consumes this transformed Earth Element will evolve into an Earth Demon King Beast! Maga-Orochi exists in the Orb TV series, where Five King also appeared! If I can cultivate Maga-Orochi, this Earth Element could effectively create a formidable underling for it."

Lin Yu muttered to himself and stowed the Earth Element back into his game inventory. It was too heavy to hold for long. He reflected on the plot of the Orb TV series and the lore regarding Maga-Orochi and the Demon King Beasts. Maga-Orochi was the pinnacle of all Demon King Beasts, known as the "Great Demon King Beast." It was a monster whose hunger and desire were said to be eternally insatiable. It originated from the mysterious "Monster Galaxy." Its initial form was an egg known as the "Calamity Soul," which would attach to a planet, absorbing its life energy to hatch. In Orb, Maga-Orochi used Earth as its blood bag.

In terms of combat power, Maga-Orochi was not to be underestimated. It had three stages: egg, larva, and adult, similar to Hyper Zetton. The egg only absorbed energy, and the larva, while not exceptionally powerful, was still formidable. It was sealed by Zoffy—whose power in the New Generation era was incomparable to his Showa-era days—and later defeated by Orb’s Thunder Breastar form. Its adult form, however, surpassed all of Orb's forms and was only defeated by a barrage of attacks from the "Ancestral Ultra Cards." Truly, the adult Ultimate Maga-Orochi was a genuine boss-level threat!

Furthermore, Maga-Orochi’s power was unique; it could combine with various elements to give birth to Demon King Beasts. In the original story, its power combined with Earth's elements to create six Demon King Beasts: Light, Dark, Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire. Among them, the most eye-catching were the Dark Demon King Beast Maga-Tanothor and the Earth Demon King Beast Maga-Grand King. Both were major bosses—one fought Glitter Tiga, and the other fought Super Taro!

Of course, neither Maga-Tanothor nor Maga-Grand King possessed the true strength of the original Gatanothor or Grand King. Because the monsters born from Maga-Orochi’s power fusing with elements only took their appearance and some skills and characteristics; their strength was still tied to Maga-Orochi's own power. They were essentially just "skins."

If Maga-Orochi could create a Steel Demon King Beast like Maga-Gilbaris or a Wood Demon King Beast like Queen Monera, they wouldn't truly possess the strength of the originals. If they did, they wouldn't have been easily soloed by Orb. The Demon King Beasts were generally stronger than average monsters, but they weren't overwhelmingly so. In the Showa era, the difference would be akin to that between a Choju and a regular monster. The reason the Ultras sealed them rather than killing them—aside from plot requirements for Orb to defeat monsters and gain items—was that, as the show explained, the Demon King Beasts had a significant impact on the unstable environment of Earth. Killing them would cause major problems for that Earth.

"I can't miss out on Maga-Orochi. I must find Golza and Melba as soon as possible to let Five King level up! As for the reason those four subterranean monsters went berserk eight kilometers underground, I'll leave that to GUTS to investigate. No time to lose, I'll go find Melba and Golza now! With Zetton's teleportation, I can do a lot of things. I'll start searching from the Mongolian Plateau!"

Lin Yu muttered, accelerating the car. He couldn't wait.

Just then, a familiar figure appeared in front of the car. The person’s face still seemed to bear the faint, wide-tread marks of a 285-width tire. He wore an expression of pity, arrogance, and condescension—the very picture of pretension.

"You see! Humans are foolish. They don't appreciate your efforts; instead, they fear you and drop bombs on you! You killed their high-ranking officials; they will never trust you! Since that's the case, why not become an ally of us Kyrieloids? Let us become gods who tower above humanity, teaching them like cattle! When the time comes, I will prophesy that you and our Kyri—hey, stop the car!!"

"BOOM!!"

The heavy pickup truck rolled over him once again, and Itabashi Mitsuo was pinned under the tires. His face now bore two intersecting tire marks—one faint, the other clear, caked in mud and grass.

"This piece of junk car is getting harder and harder to drive. It shakes uncontrollably just going over a curb," Lin Yu complained nonchalantly.

"..."

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!! I'm going to kill you! I must kill you!!"