49 – Pack Hunting
“I’ll take the lead! Don’t be afraid and follow me!”
I ran in the direction that Evi pointed and shouted to the members.
The herbivore corps had no morale or camaraderie yet, but fortunately, Kahso and Niyor moved and everyone followed them well.
It seemed like a brilliant choice to appoint someone with recognition as the leader.
As I thought that and increased the speed without pressure, Kahso, who lightly caught up, tied his rabbit ears and asked.
“Commander. What are you planning to do?”
“Hmm?”
Kahso’s question made Niyor show doubt as well.
It was a natural reaction since I pushed the herbivore race beastmen into battle out of the blue.
I had no intention of hiding the plan anyway, so it would be better to tell these two in advance.
I hid Pii in the breastplate and answered them.
“The real purpose of our herbivore corps is not the harvesting work.”
Of course, I didn’t intend to abandon the harvesting work.
If the herbivore race beastmen were reluctant to join the battle, I couldn’t force them, so I had to do that at least.
But I had no intention of being satisfied and ending with just training the support troops.
My real purpose was to instill flexibility in the stubborn Blue Moon.
I pointed at the members who followed behind and continued.
“We protect the Blue Moon even if we break the tradition. To do that, we train warriors with flexible thinking. That’s the real purpose of creating the herbivore corps.”
After finishing the speech, I increased the speed and ran ahead.
I couldn’t expect everyone to have the same flexibility and initiative as Evi, so I planned to focus on training those who voluntarily followed.
“So that’s how it was.”
“Hmm!”
Fortunately, Gahso and Niyor followed me without much fuss.
The mother-in-law’s insight was undeniable, and they even seemed to show some enthusiasm.
I had no idea what criteria they were selected for, but judging by their reactions, I could expect some feats from the herbivore corps.
I chuckled and put more force into my mana breathing.
“There’s a monster over there!”
Soon, a wide open field appeared and a huge monster revealed itself.
It had wings and walked on four legs, resembling a western dragon.
The monster had just finished hunting, and was tearing apart another monster.
It was ferocious enough to hunt a monster bigger than itself.
I could tell at once that it was a top predator in the jungle ecosystem.
“It’s a Heraldic Dracai!”
Following Eby’s report, the soldiers who were behind me stopped and hesitated.
The Heraldic was known as the most powerful among the monsters, and fear seemed to spread among the soldiers.
As expected, it was too much to send the soldiers into action right away.
The risk was too high, and I didn’t want to give such an order either.
Then I had to show them an example first, as planned.
I stopped the soldiers and grabbed the starter cord of the chainsaw and shouted.
“Today, you learn!”
I gave the soldiers a standby order and ran out.
The soldiers shouted something from behind, but I ignored them and focused on my mana breathing.
A vast field of short grass.
Breathing in the natural mana in the air, I ran into the hunting ground prepared by the jungle.
[Gaul! That monster is different from the others!]
“It’s all the same when it goes into my stomach.”
It was my first time hunting a Heraldic, but I learned the strategy from Siz, so I thought I could manage somehow.
The more I thought, the more I hesitated.
I asked Pii for support magic and pulled the starter cord.
“Pii, I’ll leave the support to you!”
[You crazy bastard!]
With a rumbling sound, the chainsaw engine came to life.
At the same time, the Heraldic Draca, who was enjoying its dinner, turned its head toward me.
Its yellow eyes glared at me through the red scales. It smelled me and reacted to my presence, getting up.
We stared at each other for a moment, then it roared and charged at me.
– Krrraaa─!!
Its arm-thick fangs closed in on me in an instant.
I also lowered my body and sprinted with all my might.
Like Nior did, like a charging bull.
I wrapped my whole body in wildness and rammed into it.
– Kwagaaang!!
The deer horns on my helmet pierced its jaw, making a loud noise.
A growling sound comes from right in front of me. My legs slide along the dirt floor, buried in the soil.
Even though I raised my physical abilities to the maximum, I couldn’t stop him.
I barely straightened my waist, which felt like it was about to break, and barely managed to not fall out.
– Craaack─!!
He opened his huge mouth to swallow me up.
I stepped back and stood firmly on the ground.
Like Ivy did, like a leaping rabbit.
I wrapped my sharp wildness around my legs and kicked his chin.
– Thud─!!
The kick hit his lower jaw.
His wide-open mouth snapped shut with a loud noise, and his red scales cracked and blood spurted out.
He must be in a lot of pain, even if he doesn’t know it.
I didn’t give him a chance to rest and jumped into his arms. Then I gathered mana again and prepared for the next attack.
This time, the target was his chest.
I used the speed of running and drove a knee strike into him.
– Thoom!!
From Noble mtl dot com
– Karaak──!!
A distorted roar of pain pierced my ears.
He still had the leisure to scream even though I kicked him with all my strength.
The impact was less than I expected.
It seemed difficult to hunt with only punches and kicks.
I wanted to set an example for the members who were watching, but the Heraldic Draca didn’t seem like an opponent who would give me any leeway.
Then I had to face it with full force before things got out of hand.
I clenched my teeth and gripped the trigger of the chainsaw.
At that moment, the creature that was swaying heavily spread its wings and jumped back.
– Puhwak──!!
An untimely storm swept in and dust obscured my vision.
Whether it judged that the close combat was disadvantageous or not, it was because the creature flapped its wings and flew up.
I kicked the ground and ran out as soon as I grasped the situation.
Since there was a possibility that the creature would fly away and escape, I intended to inflict a meaningful injury to make it easier to chase.
But that seemed to be a completely wrong decision.
What I faced when I ran out of the dust was a hot flame that covered my sight.
“Kruk!!”
It was the strongest attack of the winged monster, Breath.
The creature landed on the ground after creating some distance and spewed out all of its flames.
I was late to react because the dust had blocked my sight.
It was not a situation where I could avoid it, so I turned around and crouched as much as possible.
I blocked the heat of the Breath with my back and tried to protect the beep that was hidden in my chest.
– Hwaruruk──!!
Soon after, the Breath engulfed me and the air burned.
It was a blazing fire that pushed his body forward with tremendous force.
Fortunately, he was wearing a spirit armor made of spirit wood and blessed by Trias, so it didn’t catch fire.
But no matter how spirit armor it was, it couldn’t completely block the heat of the breath.
The armor heated up by the fire and the inside started to get hot like an oven.
He knew he wouldn’t last long like this.
“Ugh!!”
He had to get away from the breath right now to survive.
But it was almost impossible to dodge as Heraldic was watching him.
He couldn’t even breathe because of the fire, and the longer he waited, the worse the situation got.
Then the only remaining option was the fastest solution: a frontal breakthrough.
He had to pierce through the fire and plunge his chainsaw into its mouth.
With that in mind, he stood up in the fire, using his chainsaw as a shield.
[Ouch! Hot!!]
At that moment, Pi, the spirit in his chestplate, twitched and screamed.
He tried his best to block it, but the heat of the breath seemed to penetrate inside.
It’ll be over soon, just hang in there.
As he started to run with all his might, natural mana burst out from the chestplate where Pi was.
Soon, the green mana of Pi seeped into the spirit armor, and the sound of water evaporating was heard, weakening the heat of the breath.
Pi, who belatedly realized the situation, seemed to use his support magic in earnest.
[Eek! I can’t hold on for long!]
Thanks to Pii’s full support, I was able to relax a bit.
At this rate, I should be able to kill that Herculean bastard somehow.
I charged forward, facing the breath head-on.
Then, an unexpected voice came from the front.
“Boss! I’ll join you!”
My figure piercing through the flames looked somewhat dangerous.
I don’t know when he ran over, but Gahso shouted from the side of the monster spewing the breath.
Soon after, he stood next to the giant monster’s head and stomped on the ground.
He seemed to be ready to unleash the full power of his rabbit legs.
“This is how you kick!”
With a shout of spirit, blue mana soared like lightning.
At the same time, the monster’s head was pushed down and the breath changed direction to the sky.
My vision went dark as the brightness changed suddenly. The air rushed around me with a strong wind.
At that moment, a rumble passed by both sides of me, who had paused for a moment.
“Ugh!!!!”
It was the cowmen, including Niyor.
Eleven cowmen ran past me and charged at the monster.
They looked like a herd of angry bulls.
Blue mana trailed behind the cowmen’s tails.
The monster, which was staggering, was pierced by the horns in an instant.
– Kwang! Kwoong! Kwaaang!!
My charge was different from the one I had done before.
The monster that was pierced by the horn of the beastmen kept rolling forward even after it fell to the ground.
Its scales shattered, its flesh caved in, and it was tossed around without any resistance.
It stopped only after it rolled to the end of the field.
“Please hurry and confirm the kill! The rest of you, focus on putting out the fire!”
Soon after, I heard Evi’s voice and several rabbitmen ran out like arrows.
Then they started to mercilessly stomp on the head of the dazed monster.
Bang! Bang! With the loud noise, the monster’s head was buried into the ground.
The relentless stomping continued even after the monster stopped breathing.
They were supposed to confirm the kill, but they looked like they were killing without confirming.
“Mr. Gaul! Are you all right?!”
As I stared blankly at the scene, Evi came up to me and asked anxiously.
I wanted to ask him instead.
Are you guys okay? You seem a little crazy.
I lowered my chainsaw and asked Evi.
“What the hell is going on? Why are you guys acting like this?”
Evi glanced at the situation of the monster.
Then he scratched his cheek and answered sheepishly.
“Well… All the members ran out as soon as they saw the Breath. They must have mistaken that Mr. Gaul was in danger.”
It was a bit dangerous, but not enough to warrant any help….
I looked at the members with a flustered feeling that I couldn’t hide.
– Bang! Crash!
The sound of the ground shaking continued to be heard even then.
The crazed Toins were still stomping on the monster’s head.
It felt like they had awakened something that shouldn’t be touched.
It was a bit scary when laughter was heard from somewhere.
“Ebiya… tell them to stop already.”
“Ah! Before that, can I go and kick it once too?”
“……”
No. It wasn’t a bit scary.
These guys were pretty scary.