This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange-Chapter 593: Mecha?

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kain finally let some of the tension bleed from his shoulders. No matter what form Aegis ultimately took on, a 5-star System rating was still much better than anything Kain had achieved for him up until now. Therefore, this new form had to be good.

The System was extremely annoying, infuriating, rude, stingy with rewards, and borderline a scam for some of its overpriced items and services. But despite all of its many faults, Kain still trusted its judgement.

System: "..."

Zzzzt—

"Ouch!"

A jolt lanced through his head like an electric shock, and Kain flinched back from the pain.

'I'll add overly sensitive and incapable of handling feedback to that description,' he grumbled, massaging his temple from the pain.

The light around Aegis dimmed. In moments, the dazzling brilliance obscuring Kain's view gave way. Then Kain finally saw it.

Aegis…well, hopefully Aegis… assuming that Aegis' consciousness wasn't consumed by whatever the relic had thrown at him.

Where once there had been a towering, two-story juggernaut of uneven rock and dirt, now stood something completely different—a manmade weapon more than the golems seen in nature. Sleek. Flexible. And terrifying.

Obsidian armour curved around a frame that looked almost humanoid, laced with thin, glowing black-violet veins. Gone were the cracks and uneven plates. This was no longer a chunky boulder given arms and legs. It was something engineered. Polished. Deadly.

And in the center of its chest was a smooth black and violet stone. It looked similar to the cores of traditional golems, except for the colour, but Aegis' core had always been a microscopic one capable of free movement—his greatest advantage when compared to traditional golems. And through their bond, Kain could tell the Aegis' true self still remained microscopic.

'A decoy core?'

But no. This 'core' seemed to have a greater purpose than to serve as a decoy. The center of it pulsed faintly—A black, ominous energy that sent a chill down Kain's spine.

Abyssal energy—or at least something very similar to it.

Kain's brows furrowed as he stepped forward. He opened the System panel with a mental flick, eyes immediately scanning the full updated entry for Aegis System Profile:

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Nickname: Aegis

Species: Chrono Executioner

Once a guardian of ancient stone and earth, it mutated under the influence of Abyssal energy. He is now a living weapon forged under the pressure of resisting invading Abyssal energy from an Contaminated Source Core. Now he no longer merely resists Abyssal corruption, but more easily bends the Abyssal energy to his command. His obsidian form is laced with abyssal conduits, allowing him to absorb or inject Abyssal energy stored in its core to any creature that makes physical contact

Quality: Diamond

Spiritual Power Grade: Green freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Type: Microorganism (Bacterial)

Attribute: Earth, Abyssal

Skills

X – Abyssal Foundation (Passive): The Executioner passively generates a protective mantle of crystallized abyssal stone over time. This shell is invisible unless struck. When an attack would deal fatal or critical damage, the Blackstone Mantle absorbs the hit and then fractures outward in a retaliatory wave that scales off the blocked damage. The mantle reforms slowly, but can only trigger once every few minutes.

SSS – Corrupted Geoform: Retaining its ability to manipulate stone, Aegis can now shape rocky structures and reshape his own body with not only surrounding materials, but also solidify the power of corruption emitted by others into a stone for its own use and healing. However, this process momentarily increases its abyssal aura, which can be disorienting to allies. With the infusion of a significant amount of abyssal energy and/or materials from a freshly dead creatures, a temporary construct with consciousness may have a chance to be formed.

SS – Abyssal Suppression: Aegis now exerts a passive suppression field against all abyssal and semi-corrupted entities. The radius has doubled. Within its area, abyssal healing is impaired, and the ability of Abyssals to give orders to low-level Abyssals is impaired. Entities with unstable cores may explode from internal pressure under prolonged exposure. This ability passively corrupts the battlefield, making average plant-like lifeforms unable to grow for a period of time and may also make most normal creatures psychologically unstable under prolonged exposure.

SS – Abyssal Flows: Abyssal energy can be efficiently absorbed or transferred from one entity to another using Aegis as a conduit.

A – Earth's Grudge Vein: Aegis merges with the terrain, embedding spiritual veins into the land itself. These veins create "zones of denial" where enemy contracts cannot be summoned or healed. In areas saturated with abyssal blood, these veins grow exponentially, acting as traps and burst damage nodes if triggered.

System Rating: ★★★★★ (5-stars)

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Kain circled around him slowly, eyes narrowing with quiet awe. The way the seams shifted with movement, the layered armour adjusted without sound—it was like watching a living machine.

"...You look like a damn mecha unit," he muttered. His inner child from back in his previous life was screaming with joy at having his sleek and powerful 'Transformer.'

Aegis' head turned.

And then his eyes opened.

Aegis' eyes opened slowly.

Not the familiar amber. But not violet, gold or red either.

Perhaps all the colours had cancelled out one another, because Aegis' eyes were now an eerie solid white.

Solid white and glowing—void of pupils, and almost eerie. A far cry from the warmth in his previous amber ones.

But although the colour was a little unsettling, the familiarity in the gaze was not.

It was still him.

Still Aegis.

Kain could feel it through their bond. The same quiet loyalty. The same grounded strength.

He let out a soft breath, the corner of his mouth twitching upward.

And finally, Kain allowed a faint smile to tug at his mouth.

"Five-stars," he echoed. "You look like you earned every damn one of them."

With this evolution, Kain would soon usher in his second blue-grade spiritual creature.

Queen floated up behind him, her wings still dimmed from exhaustion, but her antennae gently pulsing with curiosity. Bea—her mental pressure receding—tilted slightly, scanning Aegis' new form. Even the Vespid guards took cautious steps forward, but were still intimidated by their allies new aura.