"I wonder if those people got away." Gordon stuck out his tongue and licked a drop of sweat that had trickled to his lips. The salty, bitter taste made him frown.
He was thirsty, and his breathing had grown heavier.
Several mangled Blue Velociprey corpses lay scattered around him. They were reinforcements summoned by the Blue Velociprey King, and the nimble, cunning creatures had given him no small amount of trouble.
Tempered by countless quests, he could now handle attacks from several Blue Velociprey at once with ease. The scattered pieces of their corpses and his undamaged armor were ample proof.
But the situation was still far from promising.
Driven and directed by the Blue Velociprey King, the Blue Velociprey that kept arriving were severely draining his stamina.
Every hunter knew that when hunting a Blue Velociprey King, or the leader of any other Bird Wyvern, Fanged Wyvern, or Fanged Beast pack, allowing it to summon companions was a cardinal mistake.
Nobody liked fighting outnumbered.
That was why, when rescuing the caravan earlier, Gordon had chosen to eliminate the two Blue Velociprey accompanying their leader on its hunt first, rather than "take down the leader first."
As the leader of its pack, the Blue Velociprey King summoned its kin with a roar. The process usually took several seconds, and under normal circumstances, the hunter fighting it would intervene in time to interrupt it.
That was often the key to successfully hunting monsters of this kind.
Since the battle began, the Blue Velociprey King had successfully summoned companions twice. This was not because Gordon had been careless, but because he had deliberately allowed it.
With wounded people in tow, the caravan could not retreat very quickly, and its ability to resist monsters was almost nonexistent. As a fellow human, Gordon had to consider their safety.
Although he had already instructed Porkchop to accompany and escort the caravan, if several Blue Velociprey discovered and surrounded it, even Porkchop would struggle to protect everyone.
By allowing the Blue Velociprey King to summon its companions, he could draw the Blue Velociprey in the surrounding area here. He would have to work a little harder, but the caravan and Porkchop would be safer as a result.
It was something he could do to help, at least.
Gordon swung his blade, killed the last Blue Velociprey, and bared his teeth at the Blue Velociprey King.
Wearing me out won't be that easy.
The Blue Velociprey King moved cautiously, always keeping a short distance between itself and Gordon. The massive steel blade that so easily slaughtered its companions filled it with apprehension.
Seeing that all its companions were dead, the Blue Velociprey King leaped backward, raised its neck, and prepared to summon more Blue Velociprey to help it fight.
This time, however, Gordon did not let it.
Nearly an hour had passed since the caravan began its retreat. The Blue Velociprey King's roar was unlikely to carry that far, so there was little point in continuing like this.
Then it's your turn!
Exhaling a long, hot breath, the hunter charged forward with his Great Sword.
Gordon's decision to let the Blue Velociprey King summon companions twice had established something of a pattern in its simple mind. It had not expected him to attack so decisively this time.
The hunter swung his Great Sword, sending a powerful, heavy slash toward its shoulder. The Blue Velociprey King knew that if it tried to withstand the blow, it would lose at least one foreclaw.
Forced to cut off its roar, it leaned back in alarm, trying to evade the downward slash.
Having anticipated its reaction, Gordon drove his left leg forward with all his strength, extending the reach of his downward slash by nearly half a meter.
Steel struck scales. The sounds of scales shattering and tough hide and muscle tearing reached Gordon's ears, confirming that his blade had found its mark.
Unfortunately, he felt no contact with bone through the tip of the Buster Sword. It seemed the blow had only inflicted a flesh wound on the Blue Velociprey King, without damaging muscle or bone beneath.
"Graaah!" The wounded Blue Velociprey King let out an agonized shriek.
This was the first time it had been injured since becoming the pack's leader.
The unfamiliar pain reminded the Blue Velociprey King, now accustomed to directing its kin on hunts, of the days when it had been an ordinary Blue Velociprey-charging into battle itself, fighting other monsters, and competing for food and territory.
Its enormous crest turned scarlet, as though soaked in blood. With another furious roar, the savagery and strength that had lain dormant within its body awakened once more.
It was not merely the brains of the pack, but its sharpest claws and fangs!
The Blue Velociprey King leaped backward again, but this time it was not distancing itself from danger. It was preparing.
Upon landing, the Blue Velociprey King lowered its body, every muscle tightening like a fully drawn bowstring.
Then it sprang high into the air, hurtling down toward Gordon like an enormous stone launched from a catapult.
Its scarlet talons, over half a meter long, carried the tremendous force of its descent. Their destructive power was staggering. A direct hit would inflict serious injuries even through a full suit of armor.
Back when Gordon used a sword and shield, dodging would have been his only option against such an attack.
Now, with the Buster Sword in his hands, he could meet it head-on!
He hefted the heavy Great Sword onto his shoulder, settled into a lunge, and lowered his center of gravity. The strength in every muscle flowed together like streams converging into a great river.
This was the Great Sword's most essential move.
Clumsy and slow, yet possessed of unparalleled, overwhelming power-the three-stage Charged Slash!
First stage, second stage, third stage! His accumulated strength reached the point where he had to release it, or risk injuring himself.
At that very moment, the Blue Velociprey King's leaping attack reached him.
"Haaaaah!"
There was no room left in his mind for a single stray thought. Boundless fighting spirit surged like a mountain torrent, finally bursting through the dam and pouring out in a roar.
In an instant, the cold, heavy Great Sword shifted from absolute stillness to explosive motion, trailing a faint red glow.
The howl of steel slicing through the air, the Blue Velociprey King's furious roar, and the clang of metal colliding with talons rang out together, playing a savage, primal symphony of battle among the hills.
Countless sparks flew as its talons scraped across the blade.
An immense, almost irresistible force traveled through the hilt into Gordon's arms. The Buster Sword nearly slipped from his grasp.
Gordon clenched his teeth and forced himself to hold steady in his wide-legged lunge. The steel teeth beneath his greaves, designed to grip the ground, plowed through the turf and left two deep furrows.
Opposite him, the Blue Velociprey King landed unsteadily and nearly toppled over.
There was no true victor in this clash.
Although Gordon had withstood the blow, the Blue Velociprey King's talons had still torn through the steel plates of his breastplate, leaving a wound roughly half an inch deep from his chest to his left ribs. Blood poured from it.
The skin between his thumbs and forefingers had also split from the violent impact. Blood quickly soaked the nonslip cloth wrapped around the hilt, while veins bulged along his thick arms as they trembled.
Gordon was badly wounded, but the Blue Velociprey King had fared even worse.
Of the six talons on its two hind feet, two had snapped off at the base, and the others had sustained varying degrees of damage.
More serious than its broken and damaged talons, however, was the wound on its right foot.
During the collision with the Buster Sword, the hooked blade had slipped past its talons and sliced across its right foot. It had not only cut through hide and muscle, but also severed two vital ligaments at the heel.
Now the Blue Velociprey King could barely put any strength into its right foot. Running and jumping were difficult, and even walking left it stumbling.
The outcome of the battle had begun to grow uncertain.
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