Transcendent Gene
Chapter 199: Legacy Guardian [5]

Chapter 199: Legacy Guardian [5]

When Gio moved through the sky, the eagle’s head followed him the entire way, spewing flames in his path.

Its movements were delayed as it had to respond to him. Luckily, such was the case, and the flames trailed him instead of waiting for him. Gio’s path upward was unimpeded until he was high enough to let go of his energy.

Bang!

He slammed down on the eagle’s head. All of a sudden, every mechanical part on the griffin’s back that Neriah activated trained its aim on him.

’So that’s why it was so loud,’ he thought with a wide smile.

And then his ears were filled with a hurricane of sound.

Vooooooom!

Countless laser weapons, some more physical ones, some that shot bursts of flame or other elements... The world was filled with so many different kinds of impacts that Gio almost didn’t know what to do with himself.

OOOOOOH!

He dropped himself flat onto the eagle’s head as the blasts flew over him. It shook itself from side to side, trying to throw him off, but he had too good of a grip on its feathers to fall to such a thing.

The wind whipped against his face and bruised his ears, but he gritted his teeth and held on until the air above him was clear.

’Now, this part...’

He stood up and ran forward off the front of the eagle’s head and landed on its beak.

OOOOOOOH!

He stumbled as it bellowed, its voice reverberating through his body. He almost fell off the beak when it opened, but he barely managed to keep himself on top.

WHOOOOOSH!

It felt like he was standing on the edge of a rushing waterfall that fell into the depths of the world. The gas and sparks that flew from the creature’s mouth to create its flame breath seemed like they didn’t have much pressure to them, but it was different when they were being spewed from directly under his feet.

They were torrents stronger than any river Gio had ever visited on Earth and lasted for seconds that felt like minutes.

The beast knew where he was. Even as it let its fire loose, heating up the beak he stood on, it shook its head from side to side and tried to throw him off of the slippery surface.

He desperately held onto the fur between its eyes, waiting for the moment its breath stopped.

And when it finally did, he allowed the sway of the beast to throw him into the air.

He fell only a few feet before grabbing the bottom of the eagle’s beak with one hand.

"Khhh...!"

His muscles bulged. His other arm went up to support him. With all of strength, he threw himself into the eagle’s mouth.

Bang!

Its beak snapped shut behind him. He just barely avoided being cut in half.

The darkness was pregnant, but the dampness and usual feelings of being inside a beast’s mouth were not present. There was a mechanical whirring along with the clunking of some machine being prepared.

Gio’s eyes narrowed as he charged down into its throat. Naturally, he only fell a few feet before he landed on a solid platform.

Bang!

He didn’t even look at it before attacking.

OOOO–

The bellow it released almost destroyed his ears before he slammed his fist into the speaker and destroyed it.

[Aura Explosion]

Booooooom!

Blue flares ripped apart the world. These machines were not made for defense, after all. They weren’t meant to be touched by outsiders at all, so there was no consideration for their safety.

Unlike the griffin’s hard metal flesh, these machines broke apart when Gio used all of his force.

Liquid sprayed all around him, filling the air with the smell of flammable liquids as the hose that carried them was disconnected from the machine. He let them drench his body as he kept attacking.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The darkness was colored blue.

Deeper and deeper he went, tearing apart all the machinery keeping him away from the creature’s internals. The entire throat was filled with mechanical parts that helped its head and neck function. Everything controlling its breath abilities and even his voice was contained here, and all of it was destroyed at his hands.

’Finally.’

After being forced to endure doing no damage at all for so long, it felt amazing to rip the creature to shreds. It could no longer cry out with the speakers in its throat destroyed, but Gio could almost hear its anguish in his ears as he dug his tunnel deeper and deeper.

[Siege Armament]

With one last push...

[Burst]

Boooooom!

...Gio carved a path into the same hollow abyss that Neriah entered only moments prior.

Clang!

His feet landed on metal scaffolding after a ten or so-foot fall. He looked around, sending Aether into his eyes to brighten up the environment.

’If nothing else, this is definitely impressive.’

It was a work of art in the shape of the machine. The middle of the beast’s body, which would usually be filled with fluids and organs, was mostly empty. The scaffolding that Gio stood on crossed the entire distance of its body and branched out several times to allow easy access to any machinery within.

From his vantage point, he could see the true scale of the machine he destroyed to enter the griffin. If he looked down, he could see the intricate set of moving parts that controlled the movement of its legs and the shifts in its torso and body.

It was a world of machinery that humans rarely ever attempted to reach. It wasn’t too advanced for them, but did they have a reason to create a mechanical creature like this?

How many decades went into designing this creature? How many decades went into enhancing its programming until its eyes and mannerisms became so natural?

Nobody was willing to put in that kind of research for something that wouldn’t bear any real fruits.

’Well, nobody I knew of, at least.’

Somebody was willing to put in the effort, and they left the fruits of their research in a place that only a single person was ever meant to reach.

That research was going to be destroyed before that single person could ever arrive in this place, and the reward meant for them would be taken as well.

Gio almost felt bad.

’I should try to learn more about the person who created this legacy.’

It was a thought in the back of his mind, but not one with much importance.

He had no clues to follow and no idea where to start looking.

If he wanted to find anything like that, he needed to reach the final room to see what was left for the successor.

Inevitably, this griffin had to be destroyed.

Boom!

A hollow boom resounded in the distance. The darkness was illuminated by flying sparks for a few seconds before returning to its normal state.

’That must be where Neriah is.’

She had already started tearing apart the enemy.

Without much thought, he rushed in her direction.

The hardest part of the battle was over. From the looks of it, there wasn’t anything with offensive capabilities inside the griffin’s body.

Gio and Neriah were free to cause chaos as they pleased.

It was a period of some much-needed stress relief.