The Hunters kept tracking their target throughout the day, deep into the night, and on until dawn.
They followed the Shen Gaoren's footsteps from the edge of the volcanic mountain range into its depths, continuing toward the most dangerous core area.
The Shen Gaoren seemed tireless, never once breaking stride. The only blessing was that the giant moved slowly.
The Hunters could easily find a relatively safe, secluded spot to rest for a few hours, or even sleep off their fatigue before resuming the pursuit, without losing their target.
Doing so, however, could easily cost them vital information.
To keep everyone well-rested enough to enter battle at a moment's notice without interrupting their surveillance of the Shen Gaoren, Altaïr ultimately decided to split the team.
He formed one group with Morgan and Erik, while Isis, Nymera, and the Professor made up the other. They would rotate between tracking and surveillance duty in four-hour shifts.
They had just completed a handover. "Everything's normal. Nothing happened!" Isis reported to Altaïr. Erik exchanged a few words with the Professor, and the two teams changed places.
The tracking itself was simple but monotonous.
Using the rocks along the mountainside as cover, they would walk for a while, stop for a few minutes, then walk again, repeating the cycle. All they had to do was carefully control their distance from the target; nothing else demanded their attention.
In truth, they were now in an extremely dangerous hunting ground. Monsters on the level of Rathalos and Tigrex appeared here frequently.
Perhaps the mountain-sized Shen Gaoren was simply too intimidating, or perhaps they had ventured too deep into the volcanic mountain range, but they had not encountered a single Large Monster. The journey had been unexpectedly peaceful.
Erik repeatedly requested permission to observe the target at close range, but Altaïr denied him every time and strictly ordered him never to move ahead of either himself or Morgan.
Left with no choice, Erik clutched his drawing board, staring at the target as his charcoal pencil sketched and scribbled across the page. As he worked, his feet unconsciously began carrying him forward again.
A sharp swish cut through the air as a Throwing Knife struck the rock wall less than twenty centimeters in front of him.
Erik shuddered from head to toe and turned to meet Morgan's cold stare.
Morgan walked over, pulled the knife free, and slipped it into the pouch strapped to his thigh. Then he held up the two fingers he used to throw it, pointed them at his own eyes, and finally pointed at Erik.
I'm watching you.
Erik was speechless.
Both men had delicate, refined features and slender, feminine builds, but their personalities were polar opposites.
For the irrepressible Erik, encountering the stern, unsmiling Morgan was like meeting his natural predator.
"Boss." Sajji sidled up to Altaïr. "Don't you think that Shen Gaoren's pretty docile? It just walks around without running or jumping. How about letting Hakucho fly me up to its head, meow?
"Right on top of that giant dragon skull. That way, I'll see anything that happens right away. It probably wouldn't even..."
Before he could finish, Altaïr's expression darkened. He grabbed Sajji by the scruff of his neck, lifted him up, and tossed him over beside Erik. "Morgan, keep an eye on these two."
"All right."
Morgan's icy glare made Erik and Sajji shrink back, neither daring to say another word.
Altaïr raised his binoculars and resumed observing the distant target.
The Shen Gaoren still looked calm and harmless, but as the only Hunter on the team who had actually fought a super-massive creature, Altaïr never let his guard down.
He knew all too well that once a Monster of this size became enraged, even a casual swing of its limbs could cause astonishing destruction.
What the hell was this thing trying to do...
"Altaïr!"
The shout from behind broke Altaïr's concentration. He turned around.
Morgan also fixed his icy gaze on Erik, who had called out. If Erik was about to make another bizarre request, Morgan was determined to teach that infuriatingly carefree pretty boy a lesson.
"I've found something!" Erik raised his drawing board, his expression alight with excitement.
Altaïr raised an eyebrow.
Erik's greatest weakness was his lack of self-control. Once something caught his interest, he tended to ignore his surroundings and do outrageous things.
Even so, why did the Professor, a renowned scholar, continue to keep him at his side?
Because despite his obvious flaws, Erik possessed a talent that ordinary scholars lacked.
"What did you find?" Altaïr asked directly.
Erik held the drawing board high, carefully circled around Morgan, and hurried over to Altaïr.
A map folded into a small square was clipped to the board, with lines and numbers scribbled all around it as though Erik had been calculating something.
"Listen carefully. Thump, thump, thump... Start timing now! Thump, thump, thump, thump... Can you hear it?" Erik asked excitedly.
Morgan drew closer with a puzzled look. Altaïr was equally baffled. "Are you timing the intervals between its footsteps?"
"But we timed those earlier. The intervals vary, so there isn't any pattern..."
"That's wrong!" Erik cut him off. "The Professor proposed a hypothesis earlier, and we spent a long time testing it!
"The Shen Gaoren's footsteps aren't random. Quite the opposite, its gait follows an extremely precise pattern. It walks on four legs, right? We labeled them Leg One, Leg Two..."
"Get to the point."
"Fine... The Shen Gaoren isn't like us humans, walking on only two legs, left then right. Nor is it like a galloping horse, with all four feet striking the ground once per cycle.
"It takes sixteen steps to complete one cycle!
"As long as we identify the first step in the cycle, we can accurately calculate how long one complete cycle takes!"
"And then?" Morgan pressed. "That 'discovery' isn't all you've got, is it?"
"Of course not! The Professor and I confirmed that last night. He said there was no need to tell you because he knew you wouldn't care!" A hint of resentment crept into Erik's voice.
"So you've found something new based on that?"
"Yeah! By measuring the duration of a complete gait cycle, we can calculate the Shen Gaoren's movement speed with precision.
"Now, look at the route we recorded on the map. It seems as though the Shen Gaoren is heading straight for the volcano's core area, doesn't it?"
"Isn't it?"
"Its direction has been changing. At first, it was headed straight for the Latio Active Volcano, but it gradually veered toward the mountains to the west..."
"How do you know it wasn't aiming for the western mountains from the beginning?" Morgan pressed.
"Because of its speed." Erik's expression turned serious. "Its pace has remained steady and precise, like clockwork, but it accelerated several times. Each burst of acceleration coincided with a change in direction.
"The Professor's theory was right! It's chasing something!"
"So it's chasing something..." Altaïr repeated the scholar's conclusion under his breath, then looked up. "If it really is chasing something, can you estimate where that thing is?"
Erik shook his head. "We can only infer that whatever it's following set out from the Latio Active Volcano and headed west. Calculating a more precise direction or speed isn't so easy.
"After all, the volcano isn't flat ground. Once you factor in the terrain, there are far too many variables."
"We aren't solving a math problem," Altaïr interrupted again. "I don't need an exact answer.
"Just show me on the map. Draw the route you think 'that thing' took."
Erik looked conflicted, but under Altaïr's urging, he finally drew a line across the map with his charcoal pencil.
"Sajji."
"Boss! What is it, meow?"
"You and Hakucho set out immediately. Follow this line and scout out whatever the Shen Gaoren is chasing.
"Hakucho is a conspicuous target, so there is a risk of attack. Stay sharp."
"Got it, meow!"
Bored out of his mind after being stuck beside Erik for so long, Sajji immediately spread the glider on his back and picked up a rocket launcher.
Hakucho seized the handle at the top of the glider. With a piercing cry, the Felyne and the Halk took to the air and accelerated toward the western part of the mountain range.
(Translated by yourtl.app)