|Hinoa — Kamura's Quest Maiden|
Oooh~ This dango combination is good. Yamogi is getting better at making dango. She is not on Miu's level just yet, but she is getting there. The peach dango combined with the mint dango makes the taste balanced and releases the hidden flavor of the grape dango.
I hum a little as we go through the pathway to the Yukumo Village.
It takes two days for us to arrive there. It usually takes a day for hunters to arrive there, but because we are a caravan filled with steel, it takes another day to arrive.
We are about to leave the Shrine Ruins area. We even spent a night in the Shrine Ruins area. Usually, we use the underground camping base just outside the Shrine Ruins area, and we need to go fast to reach that place before the sun goes down. It usually results in our wagons breaking when we reach Yukumo Village, but now… Now we can use the same wagons to return to Kamura.
After spending the entire day in the Shrine Ruins, I now know that Lord Omnevis is telling the truth. No monsters shall attack us. We see them looking at us in the distance, but they look at us now with hatred like before.
They look at us with curiosity.
It is as if something makes them change. I know it is related to the appearance of Lord Omnevis, but I don't know how he did that. I know the researcher back home will go insane when I tell them about this news.
"Hinoa, we are about to leave the Shrine Ruins region."
I look at Sakura, my fellow hunters, and smile. I swallow the last dango and put away the stick to be thrown later.
"Understood. I will stay on top of the wagon and watch for monsters."
"Thank you."
Lord Omnevis' territory is the Shrine Ruins, and we are about to leave that region. We don't know if his influence reaches outside of Shrine Ruins, and we don't want the monsters to attack us now.
I hum a little and make sure nothing gets near us. However, it does not take long before I see something in the distance. I focus a little and shout.
"Incoming! Kulu-Ya-Ku! Alpha-type!"
Alpha-type is a designation we give to a monster that is bigger than its species' average size. They are stronger, faster, and durable than average.
I take my bow and take out a Power Coated arrow from my quiver. When the Kulu-Ya-Ku reach my range, I nock my arrow and let it fly.
I can hear the roar of pain from the monster, but I see she keeps running. I continue to fire my arrows while the others move. Sakura is the first one to greet the monster. She slams her tower shield and holds her ground against the incoming monster.
Kulu-Ya-Ku slams its head on her shield and is stunned for a moment. Without wasting any time, Sakura thrust her lance and attacked the stunned monster.
We are also attacking Kulu-Ya-Ku. I take out the bigger arrow and use the natural power of my bow to charge my attack. It glows after a few seconds, and I can feel the strain on my hand. When it reaches the limit, I release it.
When my arrow hits the monster, it explodes and makes the monster stagger from my attack.
I release a sigh and watch the others dash forward to exploit the stagger. Urako, a hunter that uses Dual Blades, charges toward the Kulu-Ya-Ku. She moves her blades at blinding speed, and the effect of her blades makes it explode after she hits the monster a certain number of times.
To the side, Ena uses her Light Bow Gun and hits the head. Each of her bullets hit a headshot. It also helps with Sakura binding the Kulu-Ya-Ku using her silkbind.
We move as one and make sure the monster does not get close to the caravan. Kulu-Ya-Ku is not the strongest monster, but she manages to cause some damage to Sakura and Urako. Lucky for us, the monster falls before she can cause more damage to our bodies and equipment.
I get down from the wagon and walk toward the monster. Urako is already prepared to take all the material we can use, while Sakura prepares to burn the boy so as not to attract other monsters.
When I reach them, I look at Ena and say,
"Do you think it is weird?"
"What?"
"The Kulu-Ya-Ku… She keeps running at us instead of focusing on fighting."
Ena blinked for a second before saying.
"You are right. She keeps running… You don't think…"
"Yes. Something bigger is chasing after her."
And as if the world hears us, I immediately hear a loud roar from where the Kulu-Ya-Ku come from.
"Incoming! Alpha guaranteed! Shield formation!"
I roar and enter a formation to defend against the incoming monster. It does not take long before we see the monsters. I widen my eyes as an Apex Zinogre lands not too far away from us. I know she is Apex Zinogre because of her golden fur and greenish-blue scales.
It roars once again and dashes toward Sakura. She manages to block the attack, but her body cannot handle the impact, sending her flying.
I curse a little and look at the caravan leader.
"Go and hide! Go to the massive boulder we passed. There are small entrances that let all of you hide. Let the wagon outside and only take the food and water."
Without wasting time, the caravan leader moves while we stay and fight.
With the others fleeing, I take a low stance, throw all the arrows on the ground, and start to do a quick draw. One by one, my arrows hit the Apex Zinogre, but she kept moving, and I could see Sakura start to struggle.
I widen my eyes when I see the Apex Zinogre charging her attack. I take out a bottle with a wirebug inside and dash toward Sakura. I throw the wirebug that coils around her and pull her away from the Apex Zinogre.
It is just in time as I see the Apex Zinogre release a massive beam of lightning from her mouth. However, I widened my eyes when she immediately jumped toward the two of us and did a forward flip.
I can see the Thunderbugs on her body buzzing with power, boosting her natural lightning even more.
We tried to move away, but we were too slow and her attack hit us. I grit my teeth as my body gets electrocuted and stops moving. The Apex Zinogre roars and prepares to do another charged attack. Sakura manages to resist the paralysis and stand between me and the monster.
There is only one thing I can do at this moment. I start to pray.
"O Lord Omnevis… Please hear my plea and help us."
I don't know if he will hear me, but I can only hope. I hope that he hears me and saves us from this disaster.
I can only watch in horror as the Apex Zinogre releases a massive blast of lightning. Sakura manages to block it and hold her ground, but I know she cannot last. Urako roars and tries to attack the weak point of the Apex Zinogre, but she ignores her by releasing a shock blast that throws her.
Ena unleashes a barrage of ammunition, but she ignores all of them as she keeps the blast coming. I can see Sakura's shield start to break, and she starts to lose ground.
However, something appeared from the sky as if all hope were lost. I can see a massive dragon, a unique dragon with a unique body—one of a kind, a dragon that is quadruped and doesn't have any humanoid traits.
Lord Omnevis is here, and he looks angry.
He roars and bites her neck, shaking her around before throwing her away. I can hear Lord Omnevis's roar making the ground tremble, but the Apex Zinogre does not move and roars back at him. She gathers her lightning and prepares to attack.
However, before she can even attack, Lord Omnevis appears in front of her and punches her in the face. Before she can even do something, Lord Omnevis moves so fast that I don't see him move from one point to another.
It is as if he teleports in front of the Apex Zinogre. He uses his claw, tearing apart the scales on Apex Zinogre's face and throwing him to the ground, creating another massive crater from the impact.
He bites her, and I can see the spike on Lord Omnevis's back form into a cannon. It gathers a massive amount of energy and releases a powerful blast that punches through Apex Zinogre's head and even creates a deep hole in the ground.
Lord Omnevis stays on top of her for a few seconds before he looks at me. I immediately get up when the effect of the paralysis has gone.
I quickly bow to him and say.
"Thank you for rescuing us, Lord Omnevis."