Nakarkos had vanished.
At first, the Hunters suspected that it had merely burrowed underground to lie in wait, hiding from the artillery bombardment while looking for a chance to launch a surprise attack.
Just like Diablos and other burrowing Monsters.
However, a creature of that size could not move underground without making noise. By pressing their ears to the bones and listening for sounds beneath the ground, the Hunters quickly confirmed that Nakarkos was moving away.
Soon, even the last sounds of digging faded away. Immediately afterward, a torrent of seawater gushed from the enormous pit at the center of the nest.
The atoll was rocky and could not have been excavated so easily.
Nakarkos appeared to have deliberately built its nest over a vast sinkhole that led directly to the sea, then sealed the opening with bones and its glue-like, viscous bodily fluid to create the seemingly flat nest.
Whenever danger arose, the Monster could dig through the bones and escape into the ocean.
Nakarkos had not used this "emergency passage" during its previous departures from and returns to the nest, so the Hunters had overlooked the possibility while planning their tactics. That oversight had given the Monster a chance to flee.
Everyone's expressions turned grim.
Nakarkos was an aquatic Monster. Trapping it in the nest had been difficult enough, and only the Airship's heavy bombardment had allowed the Hunters to corner it.
After suffering such a serious setback, the Monster clearly would not show itself again so readily.
Worse still, who knew which way Nakarkos would go after diving into the vast ocean?
Unlike land, the sea preserved no footprints or trails. Unless the Monster surfaced of its own accord, finding it would be like searching for a needle at the bottom of the ocean.
Nakarkos generally surfaced only to feed. The next time it appeared, news would likely follow that another village had vanished...
The rope ladder descended beside the silent Hunters.
The Professor bellowed from above, his voice far too powerful for a man his age. "Why are all of you still standing there? Hurry up and climb aboard!"
Snapping back to their senses, the Hunters hastily climbed the rope ladder, and the Knowledge Seeker rose into the air.
—--
Back on deck, Altaïr had expected everyone else aboard the Knowledge Seeker to be as disheartened as the returning Hunters, but that was not the case.
The crew adjusted the ship and hauled ammunition, busy without falling into disarray. On the observation platform, scholars scanned the sea through telescopes and periodically called out reports.
They looked less like a team whose operation had failed than one hurrying toward the next hunting ground.
Altaïr quickened his pace and approached the Professor, who was issuing course corrections to the helmsman. "Professor, we..."
As though he had already guessed what Altaïr was about to say, the Professor raised a hand to interrupt him. "The situation isn't that bad. Look at the sea at one o'clock."
Altaïr paused in surprise, then looked out to sea as instructed.
It was the latter half of the night, the darkest hour. Dark clouds obscured the already faint starlight, leaving the vast sea pitch-black.
Yet in the direction the Professor had indicated, a patch of seawater shimmered with a faint, dark-blue glow.
The light was extremely faint, like an oil slick floating on the surface. It would have been difficult to make out in daylight, but anyone who looked closely could see the glow in the darkness.
"That's..."
"...Nakarkos's blood and bodily fluid." Impatient as ever, the Professor finished for him. "The Monster is badly wounded, with injuries from head to tail. After the Monster submerged, seawater began washing blood and bodily fluid from those wounds. Nakarkos's bodily fluid contains a faintly luminescent component. You must have noticed that in the nest as well."
Altaïr nodded. Without the faint points of light staining the bones and providing them with the most basic illumination, the Hunters would never have chosen to Hunt at night in such conditions.
"So we haven't lost Nakarkos's trail. Keep the Knowledge Seeker at its current altitude and follow from high enough that the Monster can't make out the ship clearly. The moment Nakarkos surfaces and comes ashore, we'll attack again. We shouldn't have to wait long. You only need to look at the number of bones in that nest to understand the creature's enormous appetite and digestive capacity. The Monster is badly wounded and urgently needs nourishment. At that size, fish alone won't stave off hunger, so Nakarkos should resume Hunting very soon."
"What happens after daybreak?" Altaïr pressed. "We won't be able to see that glowing blood in sunlight, will we? Our daytime attack wounded Nakarkos badly enough that it must have lost plenty of blood, yet we saw nothing on the surface. And given an Elder Dragon's regenerative ability, most of the wounds may already have begun to clot and heal by morning. Once the sun comes up, if we try to track the Monster again..."
"You are quite right. And this is where Nymera deserves credit." A faint smile creased the Professor's wrinkled face. "She was the first to realize that Nakarkos was burrowing away under cover of the gunsmoke, and she fired a One-shot Binder just in time."
"A One-shot Binder?"
"Yes. We anticipated that Nakarkos might break through the encirclement and escape, so we prepared for that possibility. We modified several One-shot Binder rounds with thinner, lighter, and much longer ropes. The rope ends weren't fixed to the Ballista bases; each carried a buoy instead. The deployed buoy is floating behind the glowing trail on the surface. It isn't conspicuous, but at least we can see it. We'll use the buoy to track the Monster during daylight."
Altaïr exhaled in relief.
As long as Nakarkos did not notice the buoy, the Monster would have a hard time slipping away.
"You've all exhausted yourselves over the past two days. Hurry up and get some rest. We'll call you if anything happens," the Professor told the bloodstained Hunters.
Knowing the importance of maintaining their physical condition, the Hunters wolfed down a few bites of dry rations before retiring to their quarters.
Altaïr briefly wiped down his weapons and Armor, then collapsed onto the narrow bunk without even taking the time for a bath. He fell into a deep sleep.
Half-asleep, he mumbled a single line.
"Is the buoy's rope long enough...? I hope that thing doesn't dive too deep..."
—--
When Altaïr next opened his eyes, it was already noon the following day.
After washing up, Altaïr made his way to the deck.
Unlike the cloud-filled sky of the night before, brilliant sunlight now shone through the blue water, leaving the sea crystal clear. To keep Nakarkos from realizing that the Knowledge Seeker was following, the ship had climbed to roughly five hundred meters.
Just as the Hunters had expected, Nakarkos's blood trail was effectively invisible in daylight.
There was good news, however. The water in this region was remarkably clear, and the abundant sunlight allowed them to see Nakarkos's massive silhouette moving beneath the surface.
At the gunwale, Altaïr watched the shadow in the sea for a while before murmuring, "You can see it pretty clearly..."
"The Professor says Nakarkos probably stays near the surface because it makes foraging easier. In warm waters like these, medium and large Sea Beasts prefer the resource-rich upper layers."
"Serl?!" Delighted, Altaïr spun around.
Using a crutch, Serl hobbled toward Altaïr, his body wrapped in more bandages than Altaïr could count and one arm held in a splint.
"I really owe you this time," Serl said with a smile. "I owe you my life."
"We can't really take the credit," Altaïr replied, casting an amused glance behind Serl. "If a certain someone hadn't dragged everyone along and rushed us the entire way, we would have reached the coast at least a day or two later. By then, any clues would probably have been long gone."
Serl paused, looking puzzled.
Behind Serl, Francesca stormed over. "Damn it, I take my eyes off you for one second and you're gone. Get your ass back to bed!"