Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe

Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe – 36

EP.36 Extermination of Pests

The current commander of the Kapteri tribe had dispersed his subordinates across five planets, instructing them to remain hidden. This was to increase their numbers and prepare for the future.

Here, they wouldn’t be discovered. No dangerous events would occur. Although the area was within the influence of powerful gamma rays and energy storms due to the aftermath of a supernova, this was not an issue for the Kapteri tribe, who were specialized in radiation and space environments. They just needed to endure for several decades.

…That was what they thought.

It appeared on the planet they had hidden on, at some point. A massive shadow emerged, blocking the intense light caused by the supernova’s aftermath. Its size was so immense that it covered the entire planet.

Amazingly, it was moving. Its tentacles extended from its gigantic body, writhing here and there, while its enormous, blood-red eyes gazed down at the planet.

“Kkik… kkeugeuk.”

The moment the commander of the Kapteri tribe met those red eyes, he thought, ‘Ah, the end has come for our species.’

An absolute end that could never be defied. An unimaginably deep abyss. An inevitable death was staring at them.

The Kapteri tribe froze in place. Normally, upon sensing a crisis, they would all enter a state of alert and either engage in battle or flee into space to find another safe place to reproduce. But they couldn’t move.

The commander couldn’t even issue an order to move. No, it wasn’t that he couldn’t; it was that it would be meaningless. His instincts as a living being told him there was no way to escape from that thing. No matter what they did, it would be futile. The moment they were discovered, their annihilation was certain.

The moving end of the world, the eyes of termination. All they could do was wait. It simply stared down at them without a word, but it was merely toying with them. The moment its curiosity ended would be the end of the Kapteri tribe.

Just as they were thinking that,

Kiieeeeeng─

“Geueeek!”

“Geuek!”

“Kraaaak!”

Suddenly, the commander’s head began to ache intensely. It was an extreme pain he had never felt in his life. It felt as if dozens of tiny Kapteri tribe members were madly burrowing and gnawing inside his head. The pain was so severe that he wished he could just die.

Not only the commander but also the other Kapteri tribe members seemed to be experiencing the same pain, as they all screamed and rolled on the ground.

It wasn’t hard to realize that it was the doing of the massive entity before them. It could kill them instantly but chose to toy with them instead. Out of mere curiosity, it inflicted terrible pain upon them.

‘Just kill us already…!’

The commander of the Kapteri tribe wanted to shout this, but he couldn’t utter a word.

It wasn’t just because of the excruciating headache. The despairing realization that speaking would be utterly futile also sealed his lips. They could only hope for a swift and painless death.

#

Oh, that won’t do.

Considering the crimes you might commit in the future, you deserve at least a thousand years of suffering… Hmm, but is it right to punish you for something you haven’t done yet?

No! Think about the countless space species and planets you’ve harmed over the centuries. Consider this your punishment!

Yes, even when I used to catch mosquitoes or flies, I would torture them alive, channeling the anger from all the pests that had ever bothered me. I’d cut off their wings or snouts, making sure they stayed alive to suffer as much as possible.

Well, I don’t know if those creatures felt pain, but honestly, I think pests like mosquitoes and flies deserve such treatment. So do you. You deserve this!

Moreover, since you’re an intelligent species, you’ll definitely feel the pain. That’s even better.

“Keeek!”

“Kieeek!”

Hmm, it seems the fragile larvae are barely hanging on with just a bit of mental collapse.

Well, considering the mental contamination caused by directly witnessing my true form, it’s impressive they didn’t die immediately. The resilience of pests, indeed.

Since there are so many of them anyway, let’s take this opportunity to eliminate all the ones scattered across the other planets and leave only the ones on this planet where the commander is.

There were too many larvae, and they were bothersome, so I decided to let them all die. I would take only a few survivors, including the commander, and imprison and torment them.

…Hmm, but am I being too cruel? Honestly, as an Outer God, this level of cruelty is somewhat expected, but I still feel a twinge of guilt due to my human ethics. Even though they are cosmic pests, is it right to torment them this much when they haven’t harmed me directly?

…Then again, what ethics do I need to uphold when I’ve already created life? As an Outer God, what could they possibly say to me? It’s not like other Outer Gods would criticize me. If anything, they are worse than me. I once glimpsed some information about Nyarlathotep’s experiments and dissections on living creatures from another universe… If I could vomit in this form, I would have.

Anyway, I’m actually being quite kind by dealing with these nasty pests. I’m probably doing a great favor to my cosmic friends by exterminating an entire species of space cockroaches.

Crack— Crunch!

First, I annihilated the four planets completely overrun by the Kapteri tribe, along with all the Kapteri on them. I then confirmed the death of the larvae, which were bleeding from every orifice. I captured a few surviving evolved forms and the Kapteri tribe commander, imprisoning them in a giant insect collection container. The container was about 10 kilometers in size, large enough to accommodate even the building-sized Kapteri.

Now, I would torment them just enough to keep them alive. To prevent any accidental escape that might harm the elves, I placed them in a separate subspace. By slightly distorting the space of the universe… Okay, a perfectly isolated subspace was created, where no external influence could reach except his own.

Another source of amusement was added to my collection, along with civilization simulations and space opera dramas. Helping the Galactic Union friends and gaining entertainment—what a wise way to live as an Outer God.

#

It created a vast, transparent space and imprisoned the surviving dozens of Kapteri tribe members, including the commander.

“Krugh… Kieek…”

As they were confined within the space, the excruciating headache vanished. However, trapped in the narrow space, they were transported somewhere unknown. They couldn’t tell where they were. It was pitch-black darkness, with no starlight, radiation, or gravity. It felt like an empty void. No, even a void wasn’t devoid of the energy that filled the universe. But here, it was truly ’emptiness’ itself. A space where nothing could be felt.

The only things present were the massive transparent case, about 10 kilometers in length, that imprisoned them, and the dozens of Kapteri tribe members inside it. They could do nothing but remain helplessly trapped within. In this void of no energy and no sense of time passing, the Kapteri tribe began to tremble in fear. They had no idea when or where it would return to inflict pain upon them again.

They wished it would just kill them quickly. They envied the larvae whose brains had melted and died, and their kin who had perished along with the other planets. As they shivered in terror, thinking this,

[Shall we start with some cold torture? I wonder at what temperature you’ll freeze?]

A voice directly entered their minds.

“Keeek!”

“Kieeek!!”

Just hearing that voice made the Kapteri tribe members writhe in agony, their six legs twitching uncontrollably.

The voice felt as if it was directly drilling into their brains, pounding them relentlessly. Even though it was merely conveying words, the pain was unbearable. But that was just the beginning. As it had said, the cold torture began, and the surroundings started to grow colder.

The Kapteri tribe could survive in the vacuum of space, enduring extreme temperatures. However, the problem was that this place went beyond the absolute zero of space. The temperature dropped even lower. Theoretically, at absolute zero, the entropy of a substance becomes zero, meaning the temperature cannot drop further. But here, such laws did not apply.

The motion of molecules came to a complete halt. All physical movement ceased. It was a state of complete freezing. In this absurd phenomenon, defying the physical laws of the universe, the bodies of the Kapteri tribe began to freeze. It wasn’t just freezing; the molecular motion stopped entirely, causing the material to solidify and start to disintegrate.

From the edges, everything slowly stopped, and the sensation of everything gradually collapsing was something they couldn’t even feel. They couldn’t comprehend what was happening to them. It was a space where everything had come to a halt.

[Oops… Maybe that was a bit too much.]

Yet, even in such a state, its voice was heard clearly. And immediately after,

“Kehk! Guh… urgh…”

“Ugh… ugh…”

The surrounding temperature returned to normal.

At that moment, the molecules began to move again. The biological clock started ticking, and the frozen, disintegrating bodies regained their sensations. The unimaginable, excruciating pain was like having their bodies petrified and shattered into pieces.

Even the shattered fragments of their bodies sent signals to their brains, causing an unbearable agony that felt like their brains were burning. More than half of the Kapteri tribe died from shock, unable to withstand the pain. These beings, known for their extraordinary vitality, were killed by the unbearable agony.

The surviving Kapteri tribe commander thought to himself,

“This is impossible. I can’t endure this. Do I have to repeat this torture until I die?”

Considering the previous comment, “That was a bit too much,” it was clear that the intention was to torment them without killing them. This was unbearable.

The Kapteri tribe commander, thinking desperately, forced out a voice that didn’t want to come out and begged,

“Oh, great and mighty being…! I will be your faithful servant… Please, please release us… Free us from this pain…”

He wept, pleading desperately for their release.

Of course, the sight of a massive, grotesque crustacean-like creature begging in a pitiful, whining voice was more likely to evoke disgust than sympathy.