Chapter 347: Rendezvous.
“It seems like things aren’t going well over there.”
Watching the distant shore, where flickering flame light could be seen, the Team Leader furrowed his brow.
They didn’t even have time to respond to their signals.
“Speak up, what should we do?”
The Master Swordsman was already rubbing his hands together in preparation.
“Hmm.”
A green mushroom was pulled out from a waist pouch. Everyone knew what it was.
Heart-acceleration Mushroom, which literally sped up one’s heart rate. They relied on a potion made from tiny fragments of it for their journey, greatly increasing their movement speed.
When paired with smoke bombs for cover, hunters could burst into an extremely fast retreat.
But they could also join the fray, even if an ocean lay between them. Aren’t they swimmers?
The group exchanged glances, taking the pre-divided Heart-acceleration Mushrooms from the Team Leader’s hand, diving into the sea, and using all four limbs to paddle through the water, rapidly swimming towards the opposite shore.
As the opposite shore drew nearer, the situation there became clearer.
An unknown monster had attacked them.
Without hesitation, the four leapt into the battlefield, relieving the pressure on the hunters ashore.
The Team Leader scanned the people on land. Non-combatants were evacuating. One bald youth who hadn’t evacuated but wasn’t carrying any weapons stood out particularly.
On his body hung the orange flag of the Survey Corps.
Their gazes met briefly, landing on each other’s flags before detaching. In that instant, both understood each other’s identities.
Seeing the man who resembled a Golden Lion slightly step back from the battle circle, the Team Leader moved forward without regard for danger, quickly explaining the current situation and handing over command.
Upon receiving command, the Grand Team Leader turned back to assess the situation. With the Master Swordsman entering the battlefield, the situation had significantly improved.
The second-phase team hunters weren’t amateurs either. Among them, a female bow user wielding a golden diamond-shaped greatbow had an extraordinary posture.
In the distance, the cannon adjusted its firing angle. The ropes connecting the stranded ships were cut, allowing two free ships to slowly circle the battlefield in formation, aligning the cannons’ angles toward the center of the battlefield.
And that monster, the Grand Team Leader’s gaze locked onto it tightly.
A quadrupedal ancient dragon with dual wings, typically sized, but unlike the Flame King Dragon or Steel Dragon, it lacked elemental armor. It also didn’t spew toxins like the Crimson Dragon.
Its only means seemed to be its robust body.
Are there ancient dragons that don’t harness the power of nature?
Yes, the Old Mountain Dragon, Peak Mountain Dragon, Heroic Mountain Dragon, but those are all super-large ancient dragons.
The monster before them didn’t have such a size, but…
The broken spines regenerating, the dark scales swallowing all attacks.
This was clearly an ancient dragon focused on brute strength and toughness, not unleashing firefields, not stirring up windstorms, nor creating intense poison miasma, allowing them to tangle with it unprepared until now.
He also saw the weakness beneath the monster’s rampage, recalling the ravaged coast. Before attacking them, this monster must have been fleeing while injured.
It seemed, the situation was becoming clear.
The hymn of humanity is the hymn of courage!
The Grand Team Leader rejoined the battlefield, trusting the compatriots he had never met.
“If only that hunter who ended the Black God were here, we might actually have hope.”
The Deputy Team Leader’s gaze fell on a swordsman wearing a Female Fire Dragon set, unsure if it was him.
The initial hunt against the Black God was a guild secret mission. He only heard bits and pieces because he participated in the investigative corps to understand the personnel involved. Only hunters who joined the extermination squad knew the full details.
“What kind of monster material is this weapon forged from?”
In a passing moment, the Master Swordsman curiously asked the female bow user.
He noticed how easily the silk threads of her bow were plucked, yet the arrows shot with immense force.
“Queen Mantis, a newly discovered monster.”
An arrow whizzed past the Master Swordsman’s head, the shaft breaking against the giant black horn of the monster, but the arrowhead managed to dent it slightly.
“I see.”
The Master Swordsman nodded, crouching low and sidestepping the monster’s claw strike, feeling the fierce wind rush past his eyes. Dragging his greatsword, he flipped in the air, unleashing a powerful Upper Sweep Slash that struck the monster’s jaw, cutting a long wound across its scaly hide.
The elusive female bow user had already slid beside him, seizing the opportunity to stab an arrow into the wound at close range.
With its head knocked back, the monster let out a painful roar, swiping down with a claw. Though it failed to crush the bow user into meat paste, she stumbled backward.
The monster tilted its body, seemingly planning to flatten the nearby hunters with a side-press.
The Master Swordsman rolled aside, dragging his sword as it swept horizontally during the roll. This attack wasn’t strong, but it stopped the monster’s crushing motion.
The hunter who landed on his butt rose, using his greatsword to block the monster’s sudden swipe, stumbling backward.
“Bang~”
A weak round hit him from behind, exploding and scattering life dust, giving him a slight push forward. He swung his sword, severing a spine regenerating on the monster’s elbow.
He increasingly felt the monster’s weakness. Upon closer inspection of the dark scales, numerous scars could be seen.
“Tsk, shaky hands.”
A short blade pierced toward a scar, but the hand holding it trembled.
The Grand Team Leader withdrew the short blade, probed it, then snapped off a nearby spine, trying to use it as a makeshift weapon. However, when the spine collided with the black scales, it shattered instantly.
By his side, the burly Shān Máo wielded a large sword, every swing drenched in sweat and rain, solidly smashing against the black spines. His greatsword bounced back, leaving marks on the black spines.
The monster swiped at the Grand Team Leader, including the Shān Máo within its limb’s range.
The Grand Team Leader dodged, while the Shān Máo swung his greatsword hard, colliding with the incoming limb and flying out, only to be caught by the Grand Team Leader.
“Pull back!”
Unbeknownst to them, the Deputy Team Leader had already climbed aboard the previously stranded ship, shouting at the hunters from the Ballista Platform.
Because he saw another ship had fired a signal, indicating its cannon was locked onto the monster!
As he spoke, he shot a massive harpoon-tipped crossbow bolt, precisely striking the base of the monster’s wing, halting its forward charge.
The hunters supported each other, swiftly withdrawing from around the monster.
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Cannonballs flew out amidst roaring flames, the explosions completely enveloping the Extinction Dragon.
“Roar!”
The Extinction Dragon screamed, struggling to break free from the bombardment.
But just then, the second ship took advantage of the suppression to confirm its firing angle, launching heavy cannonballs.
After the bombing ceased, seeing the monster toppled over, the hunters cheered and charged again.
“Roar!”
A furious roar erupted. The violent wind pressure from its flapping wings sent many hunters flying, leaving no time for those still standing to prevent its ascent.
The Master Swordsman and others looked up.
The Extinction Dragon spread its wings against the dark clouds, its back facing them!
Chapter 348
