Fighting, getting wounded, gathering materials, forging equipment, and fighting once more... The hunters of the Fifth Fleet were rapidly adapting to the New World and the alien environment of the Ancient Forest.
This continued until the day several hunters returned covered in wounds, reporting the discovery of multiple piles of mangled, unrecognizable corpses.
"Ugh, aibo!" Looking at the carcass before her—so ravaged it was impossible to tell what creature it had originally been—Erin couldn't help but pinch her nose, her brow furrowing deeply. "This definitely isn't the result of normal predation!"
She had seen the remains of monster hunts in the field and the carcasses left behind after territorial disputes. But this... "wreckage" was the only word for it. There wasn't a single intact piece left.
Kill, but do not torment—as strange as it sounded, predation between monsters was usually driven by the goal of killing as efficiently as possible. Once the prey was dead, the attack ceased, and everything thereafter was subservient to the simple goal of filling one's stomach.
Even a monster as cruel and violent as the Seregios, which loved to trample its prey with its talons during combat, wouldn't continue to "flog the corpse" after the kill.
Furthermore, the vast majority of monsters would retreat to their nests to rest once their bellies were full, avoiding unnecessary combat or the risk of injury. This held true even for creatures with violent temperaments and massive appetites, like the Anjanath.
Not every monster was a Kushala Daora. Even for the largest Brute Wyverns, the amount of meat they could consume in one sitting was limited, and a single full meal could sustain them for at least a week.
This was precisely what startled Erin and Karl. According to the reports trickling back from the Fifth Fleet hunters, they had discovered multiple piles of these unrecognizable, ravaged corpses in less than a week.
It was hard to imagine what kind of monster would feed so many times in such a short period. The meat on every corpse had been gnawed away as much as possible; it was clear the predator had eaten in a frantic rush, as if the food might vanish if it didn't consume it immediately.
The remains lying before the two of them were exceptionally shattered, as if some gargantuan entity had slammed into them with raw, brute force, then dragged them across the ground for a considerable distance. The earth had been plowed into a deep furrow, and scattered fragments could still be found seven or eight paces away from the main site.
Greed.
The two could practically taste that emotion. It was like a hog rushing to its trough, savagely tearing at the prey, pushing forward with such momentum that it had to shove the food into its mouth while still moving, only to immediately and impatiently begin the next hunt.
The wreckage was covered in bite marks, and even the bones had been crushed into splinters. Identifying what monster the victim had been was an impossible task for Erin. Furthermore, several white spikes of varying sizes were embedded throughout the tattered remains. They were stark white and slender; they looked like thorns, but their arrangement was wrong, and their placement didn't match the shell protrusions of any known sauropod-like monster.
It looked like some sort of macabre meat skewer. It felt a bit irreverent to say, but that was the first thought that popped into Erin's mind.
"Mm." Nodding in agreement, Karl knelt beside the carcass. With a solemn expression, he reached out to touch one of the white spikes.
Crackle!
It wasn't an illusion. The moment Karl's finger brushed the white spike, a bolt of black and red lightning jolted his fingertip. It felt like being seared by a branding iron. His brow twitched slightly, but he didn't pull back. Instead, he pulled the spike from the remains and held it up to his eyes for a closer look.
"Is that—Dragon energy?!" Having memorized all sorts of classified data, Erin immediately recognized the nature of that lightning. She lowered her voice and added, "And the concentration is incredibly high!"
"Strong," Karl said, his face grim.
He didn't possess the vast knowledge of a scholar; he simply had the experience of hunting countless monsters. Because of this, he could sense a monster's strength and threat level through pure instinct.
"You're right. And these aren't spikes from some monster's hide at all." Erin took the white object from Karl, her eyes locked onto every edge of the shard. Her gaze followed its contours, and the more she looked, the more certain she became. "This is a tooth!"
She looked up, losing her usual ditzy demeanor.
"It's definitely a tooth. Heavens, a broken tooth left in a prey's body contains such intense Dragon energy? Just what kind of monster is this?!" Erin said seriously. "We have to report this to the Commander immediately. A monster like this will turn the entire forest upside down! Everyone is in danger!"
"Mm."
Karl offered no objection.
Karl and Erin's team weren't the first to return to the Resource Center. Several hunters had arrived before them, reporting massive, brutal predation marks across different regions. While the scales varied, the nature was identical—crushing attacks with clear destructive intent.
It didn't even look like simple foraging anymore; it looked like a purge. A cleansing of its territory, where the "trash" to be cleared was any living creature still moving within its domain.
As more samples were brought back, and more white, broken teeth accumulated on the desk, the Commander's expression grew increasingly heavy.
"It seems you've all realized it." Glancing at the two of them, the Commander set a collection tube down on the table. Without any preamble, he said, "All confirmed intelligence points to a familiar figure. I didn't expect to see it again here in the New World."
"It?" Erin asked curiously. "Is it a monster we know?"
"Indeed. A Deviljho." The Commander didn't keep them in suspense. He held up a sharp white tooth, lining it up against the light for everyone to see. "And judging by the high concentration of Dragon energy left on the remains, it is very likely a Savage Deviljho."
It was time to demystify the Deviljho!
The Elder Dragon Observation Deck was no longer what it had been fifty years ago. The kingdoms and Guilds of the Old Continent had never stopped advancing over the last half-century. One should never underestimate the intelligence network of the Research Commission; the human nations of this world were quite united, and no one would hoard information of this magnitude for themselves.
Yes, the Deviljho was indeed at the absolute peak of the food chain below the Elder Dragons. It possessed a nearly infinite appetite and mobility. Through eating alone, it could deal a blow to an ecosystem no less devastating than a natural disaster. It would even stay in one place until it had literally eaten every large organism it could find before moving on.
It could artificially create an ecological wasteland, requiring the local environment at least a decade or more to recover—or perhaps it would never recover, forced into a different ecological state entirely.
If it weren't for the lack of Elder Dragon blood and the fact that its physical characteristics didn't meet the criteria, the Deviljho would have joined the Elder Dragon table long ago. Even so, scholars often compared the Deviljho to special monsters like the Rajang.
They were compared because they were both powerful enough that their strength far exceeded the boundaries of ordinary monsters.
—But if you weren't an Elder Dragon, you weren't an Elder Dragon.
A rather shocking fact was that in Moga Village, a Deviljho's stomach was considered a very rare local specialty that could be traded freely. For a hunter, buying one of these stomachs was like opening a "mystery box" or a gacha; there was a high chance of finding rare materials from other monsters that hadn't been digested yet. Because of this, it was easy to get hooked. It was said some hunters specialized in collecting these stomachs, turning the "unboxing" into a unique form of entertainment.
The only regret was that the stomachs were far too rare to let anyone indulge to their heart's content, and every time one appeared, the price was bid up so high that ordinary hunters couldn't afford it.
...Doesn't that make the Deviljho feel a bit less intimidating all of a sudden?
When hunters faced Elder Dragons, they generally fought with the goal of repelling them. But when facing a Deviljho, they fought with the intent—or rather, the necessity—to kill. Because if a hunter couldn't stop a Deviljho, the village or town they protected would be destroyed.
Even if the village was lucky enough not to be discovered, the environment they relied on for survival would be razed. Mass death and ecological imbalance would follow. Thus, the Guild always took a proactive stance: if a Deviljho was found, it was to be exterminated immediately, regardless of the cost.
The faster the kill, the smaller the loss.
And hunters' subjugation of Deviljho had almost never ended in failure; they always ended with the monster's death.
Beyond that, some Guilds in the frontier even went so far as to raise Deviljho in captivity, artificially controlling their hunger to cultivate special individuals like the Savage Deviljho. Yet, performing such a feat with an Elder Dragon was unthinkable.
Well, or rather, people had thought of it and even tried, but they all failed, leading to even greater losses under the wrath of the Elder Dragons. Thus, such things became a taboo subject regarding Elder Dragons.
Unquestionably, the Guild had sufficient knowledge of this ecological destroyer. It was no wonder the Commander could lock onto the target so quickly based on the integrated intel. The Deviljho was indeed strong, but it hadn't reached that other realm of power. Therefore—
"You and Aiden will form a squad to hunt it down," the Commander issued the quest, his gaze lingering on Karl for a second. "Aiden already has experience hunting Deviljho. With your combined strength, there shouldn't be any issues."
Aiden was the real name of that "sunshine" hunter; "Ace Cadet" was merely a title.
"Huh? Us?" Aiden pointed a finger back at himself.
I'm supposed to go fight a Savage Deviljho?
"Yes. Ordinary hunters can't even offer assistance when facing a monster of this caliber. Well? Do you have the confidence?" The Commander offered a small smile.
"Yes."
Before the Ace Cadet could say anything else, Karl nodded and accepted the task.
"Hunting a Deviljho? The Commander thinks a bit too highly of me... he even said I should guide you..."
As they moved through the forest, following the massive footprints and the broken teeth embedded in the trees and rocks on either side, Aiden shook his head and grumbled incessantly.
"Back then, I was still very green and made a lot of mistakes. We only won that fight thanks to my Master's guidance and the help of my comrades... Besides, didn't they say this Deviljho is a special individual? If that's the case, my experience is even less useful."
The Savage Deviljho's footprints were enormous, wider than both of Aiden's feet placed side-by-side. The depth to which they sank into the ground indicated the creature's staggering weight. Following the trail, they occasionally found gaps in the tree trunks where the monster had collided with them.
The wood had already begun to crystallize, but the shape of the gouges remained—deeply embedded in the trunks with clean, smooth breaks. It required immense force to cause such an impact. There were even massive bite marks with several white, broken teeth still stuck in the wood.
If one thing was certain, it was that this Deviljho had plenty of teeth; otherwise, it couldn't sustain such a rate of loss.
"You shouldn't say that. It's always good to know more about the Deviljho—like its attack patterns, its temperament, and so on... Right, aibo?"
While gathering these traces and the mucus left behind by the Deviljho, Erin looked toward Karl as she spoke. As for Karl... he simply nodded.
The silent powerhouse was just like that.
"Attack patterns? Let me think." Aiden rubbed his chin, his pace never slowing. "First off, watch out for its teeth. Its mouth can open incredibly wide, filled with rows of fangs that grow all the way to the outside of its lips and constantly regenerate."
"Oh, right! It loves to bite you directly. When it puts its full weight into a pounce-bite, the force is massive. Even heavy armor won't hold up; it's the kind of hit that snaps bones. Oh, and the Deviljho's saliva will corrode your equipment, lowering your defense. You have to be careful, Karl," Aiden warned. "Honestly, it's not much different from most Brute Wyverns—it relies on its powerful physique to crush its enemies. Don't get hit, don't get pinned—you should know all this, right?"
It was basic knowledge, a piece of cake for the elites of the Fifth Fleet.
"Understood," Karl answered solemnly. He suddenly turned his head toward the north. "There's a monster fighting."
Karl wasn't the only one who heard the commotion. Two distinct, loud roars mingled together, followed by the heavy, dull thud of something massive crashing to the ground. Immediately after, a series of dense explosions rang out—Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground vibrated rapidly and slightly. The luminescent crystal powder beneath their feet shook, and blue light-dust scattered into the air. A foul wind suddenly tore through the forest, buffeting their faces. The group had to immediately cover their noses and mouths to prevent the crystal dust carried by the wind from being inhaled.
Aiden's hand was already on the hilt of his blade. Today, he hadn't brought a ranged weapon. He turned slightly, placing his other hand on Sophia's shoulder and half-pushing her back two steps. At the same time, he looked toward the source of the sound—there, the canopy was shaking violently under the pressure of a powerful shockwave. Blue light pulsed rhythmically, as if something gargantuan was rampaging through that patch of forest.
Karl stood at the very front, refusing to retreat. His right hand already gripped his hilt.
Asterion's Great Sword was ready.
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