Chapter 121

Chapter 121: Hunting the Behemoth

A section of the fortress wall had collapsed.

At this rate, the Transcendent-Grade Monster suspected to be a Behemoth might breach the Outpost entirely.

'There are plenty of strong Hunters here, so even a Transcendent-Grade Monster would eventually be taken down, but still, a fair number of buildings would be destroyed in the process.'

Repairing the fortress wall alone would be a massive undertaking.

Therefore, preventing damage to the buildings inside the Outpost township was absolutely essential.

It was fortunate that the fortress wall had been there to buy us time. Without it, the Outpost would already have been reduced to ruins.

After assessing the situation, I spoke to my companions.

"I am going to open a portal to the collapsed section and the nearby wall top."

"Got it."

As soon as I opened the portal, Neville, Benny, and Santos stepped through immediately.

Shortly after, Eriksson came up to the rooftop from the guild headquarters as well.

"I just go through this portal?"

"Yeah, go in and stand by for now. Where is the Sword Saint elder?"

"Gramps is the patrol team leader today, so he is probably already at the scene."

"That makes sense. Then let's go."

Eriksson stepped through the portal.

I followed right after.

The view that greeted me after the transfer.

'It is not just one......'

Behind the Behemoth, there were nine more monsters that appeared to be High-Grade and Highest-Grade.

The monsters eyed us warily as we emerged from the portal.

I looked at the Behemoth.

It resembled something like a cross between a black puma and a water buffalo, and its height appeared to reach nearly seven meters.

Then came a shout from below the collapsed wall.

"Seon-u, you are here! I apologize for failing to hold the wall!"

The voice belonged to the Sword Saint elder.

"An attack by a Transcendent-Grade Monster is like a natural disaster, so please do not worry about it! Are there any casualties among the guild members?"

"There are minor injuries from falling off the wall or being hit by debris, but no serious injuries or fatalities!"

There were wounded, but at least the absence of serious injuries or deaths was a small relief.

"Let us try to hold off those monsters with just our guild first!"

"Understood!"

It had been a while since I had encountered a monster this tempting.

Therefore, the Behemoth absolutely had to be taken down by our guild.

That was the only way we could claim the spoils entirely for ourselves.

If other Hunters in the Outpost helped with the hunt, we would have to split the loot.

'Of course, our guild does hold the right of first claim.'

Both the duty to defend the Outpost and the right of first claim on any monster that attacked it belonged to our guild.

"I will strike first! Please follow up after that!"

I opened Acresia.

Currently, the monsters were clustered behind the Behemoth.

Aiming at the center of that group, I fired off two stored Hell Fires through Ashley.

Seeing the incoming attack, the monsters tried to dodge.

BOOM!

But those that failed to evade in time were swept up in the blast.

Two of them had their entire bodies scorched, and three suffered severe burns to their legs or flanks.

"Now!"

As the monsters' formation crumbled from the Hell Fire, Eriksson, Neville, and Benny leaped down from the wall and launched their assault.

The monsters were being pushed back one-sidedly.

Then.

-GROOOH!

The Behemoth let out a thunderous roar toward the sky.

The eyes of the retreating monsters turned red, and crimson mana surged across their bodies.

Their strength and speed increased dramatically, and they began clashing evenly with my companions.

'The monsters have gotten stronger. Did it force them into Frenzy?'

Fitting for a monster that bore the epithet of Tyrant.

I began harassing the Behemoth with Steel Ball release.

On the ground, the Sword Saint elder charged through the gap in the collapsed wall and attacked the Behemoth head-on.

CLANG! CLANG!

The Behemoth's hide was so tough that the Steel Balls failed to penetrate and bounced right off.

'On top of that, it is wrapping itself in blue mana for protection, so its Defense is considerable.'

This was the first opponent that Acresia's Steel Ball release, now at Ancient S-Rank, had failed to affect.

The Sword Saint elder also blocked one of its massive forepaw swipes with his sword and was pushed back a considerable distance.

'It is strong.'

It felt stronger than both Fenrir and Ashley.

At this level, it might well be at the very top tier even among Transcendent-Grade monsters.

Then the Behemoth stomped its feet, as if trying to force its way through the collapsed wall.

Santos, who had descended below the wall, planted his massive shield in front of it and stood his ground.

"Santos! Blocking it head-on is dangerous!"

At the Sword Saint's shout, Santos spoke from behind his massive shield.

"......It is fine! I formed a Sovereign's Bond with Seon-u, so I have gotten stronger! I also have the shield Maxim made for me! I will absolutely not let it breach the wall!"

Maxim had crafted a weapon for each of the guild's senior members.

He had told them to use them well in defending the fortress wall.

For Santos, he had made an enormous shield standing two meters tall.

He said he had used an extremely valuable and durable material for it.

On top of that, Santos activated his Iron Wall skill.

The already large shield's defensive coverage expanded even further.

Then.

CRASH-!

The horn and the shield collided.

SKRRRCH!

Santos was pushed back by the Behemoth's charge.

His feet sank deep into the ground.

Yet he refused to yield, holding firm.

In his stance, there was an unmistakable will to never let the creature past the wall.

And seizing that opening, the Sword Saint elder and I attacked the beast.

'If Steel Ball release does not work, then I will use edged weapons.'

A released dagger embedded itself in the Behemoth's flank.

As expected, no matter how formidable its defenses, high-quality weapons with sharp edges could cut through.

I followed up by releasing swords, spears, and various other weapons to deal further damage.

Meanwhile, the Sword Saint elder had been slashing apart the opposite flank while Santos kept the creature pinned.

"KUOH!"

The beast thrashed in pain and retreated.

No matter how powerful a Transcendent-Grade Monster might be, there was no surviving a coordinated onslaught.

At that moment, sparks crackled between the retreating creature's two horns.

"Seon-u, watch out!"

Among elemental monster attacks, the most dangerous were poison and electricity.

Poison was inherently deadly.

Electricity was nearly impossible to dodge because of its sheer speed.

The Behemoth then released the electrical charge it had gathered toward the sky.

It was as if a bolt of reverse lightning was striking upward from the ground into the heavens.

A moment later.

CRACK-BOOM!

The reverse lightning that had shot skyward came crashing back down toward me in the blink of an eye.

There was no dodging this.

In that instant, the life-threatening danger triggered the built-in shield of my Magical Armor.

ZZZT-CRACK!

The shield absorbed most of the lightning's force before shattering.

Thanks to that, I managed to endure with nothing more than a tingling sensation.

'The Magical Armor has saved my life multiple times now......'

I was not the only target of the lightning.

Santos raised his shield toward the sky to block it, minimizing the damage.

The Sword Saint elder had anticipated it and dodged entirely, escaping unscathed.

The reverse lightning the Behemoth had launched had split into three bolts as it came down.

Seeing that we were all still standing, the beast grew agitated and slammed both forepaws into the ground.

In that instant.

RUMBLE!

The earth began shaking violently, as if an earthquake had struck.

Santos lost his footing and fell.

The Sword Saint elder staggered as well.

Fortunately, I was still on top of the wall where the vibrations were weaker, so I managed to hold on.

'After the Lightning Attribute, it is using an Earth Attribute ability too.'

The Behemoth advanced while keeping the ground trembling.

At this rate, the other two would be overwhelmed.

'This is not the time to hold anything back.'

I released the magic I had stored through Ashley.

Two Hell Fires, one Lightning Storm, and dozens of Ice Arrow volleys.

The Behemoth's body was scorched and bleeding all over.

'Even this is not enough to bring it down.'

The earth tremor had stopped, but the Behemoth was still standing on all four legs.

Its tanking power was extraordinary.

In that case, absorption was the only option.

I leaped down from the wall and landed beside the other two.

"From now on, I am going to absorb that monster. Please support me."

"Understood!"

"......Got it!"

I opened Acresia and activated the absorption skill against the charging beast.

It dug all four feet firmly into the ground and resisted.

'Its massive body must be the reason it will not budge at all.'

A height that appeared to exceed six meters.

Enormous, wide-set feet with a massive surface area.

It was actually backpedaling against the pull with those four legs.

Then I would target the legs.

While maintaining the absorption skill, I split Acresia into smaller segments, opened them, and released spears at its legs.

THUNK!

Even with a spear buried deep in its thigh, it barely flinched.

The Behemoth continued to backpedal.

In response, the Sword Saint elder and Santos moved to the rear and attacked the Behemoth from behind.

'Its resistance is considerable.'

Even the Sword Saint elder's sword strikes could not cut deep enough to deal a critical blow.

On top of that, the Behemoth seemed to have regenerative abilities as well. Its mana rippled, and its wounds began closing.

'In terms of tanking power, it is the best among every monster I have ever faced.'

If Ria had not been pregnant, could she have beaten the Behemoth in a one-on-one fight?

Probably not easily.

Ria excelled in agility and sharpness rather than raw power and destructive force, so dealing a critical blow to the Behemoth would have been difficult for her.

The Behemoth would not have been able to match Ria's speed either, so it would have come down to a battle of who exhausted their stamina first.

But there was no point wishing for Ria, who was not here.

We had to handle this with our own strength.

'The Behemoth must have a limit to how long it can hold out too.'

We were also in the middle of a tug-of-war over who would exhaust their stamina first.

'I am starting to run low on mana.'

In the past, I would have had to risk my life in this kind of absorption situation, bracing for mana depletion.

But now.

GULP! GULP!

I could just pull out Mana Potion Juice from Acresia and drink it to replenish my mana.

I had over two hundred bottles in stock.

'Rin, thank you.'

Thanks to my dutiful daughter, the problem of mana shortage was a thing of the past.

'Should I drink that too, while I am at it?'

That being.

[Highest-Grade Ether Arcana Elixir] [Blessing of Dexterity Effect: All stats increase by 5 (non-stackable). Recovery from all status ailments including injuries, curses, and poisoning. Temporarily increases Mana stat by 50%.]

The Highest-Grade Ether Elixir I had once given to Ji-young.

The ingredients used were: Highest-Grade Potion Ingredient, Glace Mushroom, Mandragora, Royal Jelly, Applecherry, Dungeon Wild Grape, and an Inner Core.

The Inner Core, which had a three-month Cooldown to produce.

On top of that, this time I had also added Arcana Mana Herb extract, and the result was a new buff: a temporary 50% increase to the Mana stat.

'I had been saving it without drinking it, just in case something like this happened.'

It was a good thing I had held onto it.

I drank the Elixir.

[All stats have increased by 5.] [Mana stat increases by 50% for 2 minutes.]

My existing Mana stat of 221 rose by 50%, reaching 331.5.

The duration was an extremely short two minutes, but as my Mana stat surged, the absorption skill grew even more ferocious.

The Behemoth, which had been swatting at the Sword Saint and Santos as if shooing away mosquitoes, now planted its feet into the ground and focused entirely on resisting.

It concentrated all the mana that had been wrapping its body solely into its feet.

As a result, the wall of mana vanished, and its torso's Defense weakened.

"Elder, now! Finish it off!"

"Understood!"

The Sword Saint elder drove his sword into the beast's nape.

And then.

"I will help too!"

The owner of that voice was none other than Ji-young.

Having arrived at some point unnoticed, Ji-young rushed in and thrust her spear into the beast's neck.

The blade sank deep.

'Come to think of it, Ji-young has the Penetration skill.'

Penetration, the counter skill against monsters with high Defense.

Ji-young's stats were at S-Rank level as well.

With the sword and spear of two S-Rank Hunters piercing through its neck.

Then.

"Grrk......!"

The Behemoth trembled violently, then rolled its eyes back.

THUD!

It collapsed to the ground.

I halted the absorption and approached the Behemoth.

The Behemoth showed no movement whatsoever.

It was completely dead.

Before long, cheers erupted.

"YEAAAH-!!"

I turned around to find the Hunters residing in the Outpost watching from atop the fortress wall.

I waved to them once.

'This is not the time for that.'

Eriksson, Neville, and Benny were still fighting the remaining group of Highest-Grade and High-Grade monsters the Behemoth had brought along.

But when I checked on their side, there was no need to help.

With the Behemoth dead, the Frenzy wore off the remaining monsters, and the three of them made quick work of the stragglers.

'I should absorb the Behemoth's carcass right away and head back. Ria must be worried.'

Lately, all of my attention had been focused solely on my wife, Ria.

She was at thirty-five weeks of pregnancy, after all.

The day the baby would be born was not far off.

Rather than extracting a Transcendent-Grade Magic Stone from the Behemoth, reassuring my anxious wife came first.

As if sensing my feelings, Acresia did not express any desire to Devour the Behemoth.

'Good thing Acresia is not being greedy this time.'

This time, rather than Devouring it to gain a skill, I wanted to obtain the Transcendent-Grade Magic Stone and the meat instead.