Battles between Hunters are often a dual test of skill and strength.
Like a choreographed pas de deux, both combatants must accelerate their movements to the limit and push their thoughts to the extreme.
Guns and swords clash, silver bullets fly, and they might exchange dozens of blows without harming each other, but once a hit lands, it's fatal.
Not long ago, Goki, who had just fought Old Hunter Gehrman, was deeply impressed by this—the Burial Blade was truly fierce.
Now, however, the battles between Abyssal Hunters are even wilder.
Clang—
A tremendous collision sound erupted as a heavy, dark greatsword and a gleaming silver harpoon clanged together, producing a deafening sonic wave that filled the entire probe.
Fine sand flew up, and the greatsword swept in like a storm, its blade cutting through the air with a sharp hum, like a mournful song.
"Let go, put down her weapon. You are not worthy to wield it."
Skadi was expressionless, her greatsword constantly twisting and turning in her hand, the special Aegir alloy continuously slicing through the twisted limbs that wrapped around her, like a hot knife cutting through butter.
"Your sword is heavy, Ishar-mla, you have caused Him to fall into slumber again. But it doesn't matter, you are the most special one, you should join us."
However, the "Abyssal Hunter" opposite, no, the Seaborn opposite, was even more troublesome.
Clang—
Another collision. The Seaborn tightly gripped the harpoon the Hunter used in life, relying on the weapon of identical material to withstand Skadi's tsunami-like swordsmanship.
At the Seaborn's hands gripping the harpoon, its tiger's mouth had burst open, but what flowed out was not crimson blood, but a mixture of red and blue, the exact same bodily fluid as the Terrorfish before.
The moment the bodily fluid touched the harpoon, even through the gloves, the Aegir metal was corroding the Seaborn's Physical Body.
As the transformation progressed further, soon, the Seaborn would no longer be able to tightly grip the harpoon.
But the Abyssal Hunter's memories remained; even assimilated by the Seaborn, the Abyssal Hunter known as "Archerfish" still retained its combat instincts, precisely blocking every one of Skadi's attacks.
At the same time, from its severed waist, precariously reconnected by the flesh and blood of a Terrorfish, sharp bone spurs and tentacles continuously extended, sweeping towards Skadi.
"You are not worthy to impersonate an Abyssal Hunter, you are far from it!"
Skadi could no longer tolerate the disgust in her heart; to her, the Seaborn was as repulsive as a zombie is to an ordinary human.
Her footsteps quickened once more, shattering the reefs beneath her feet, and Skadi lunged fiercely in front of the Seaborn, swinging her sword in a strike like a leaping wave.
Not far away, Goki clicked his tongue repeatedly.
"Wow, that's amazing, as expected of a super Terran."
From just now until this moment, in a mere minute, Goki had observed the battle between the two Abyssal Hunters and reached a conclusion.
Rashly intervening would definitely lead to a miserable death.
The highly trained special forces soldiers of Rainbow Squad were even inferior in physical fitness to some Ursus high school students; even the mobility of a five-speed headless monster was, at best, standard.
And Goki, this "nobody," currently possessed, at best, ordinary strength.
Unless, he leveled up dozens more times, and farmed hundreds of thousands of blood echoes.
The enemy before him, a former Abyssal Hunter, already possessed peak Terra strength, and he absolutely could not engage her head-on.
So, he stared intently at their battle, familiarizing himself with the Abyssal Hunters' dance-like killing methods, just as he constantly memorized monster attack patterns in Yharnam.
[Sigh, I originally wanted to raise my HP to forty first.]
Witnessing the storm-like battle of the two Hunters, Goki understood that unless he maxed out his vitality and strength, in front of them, the only difference would be dying in one hit or two.
[Nona Doll, I will use blood echoes to enhance my agility once, and exchange for a Hunter Blunderbuss, no, a Hunter Pistol—as for the rest, fill up the bullets.]
In his mind, Goki made his request to Nona Doll.
[Yes, kind Hunter, please close your eyes. I will guide the enemy's blood to strengthen your power.]
Nona Doll's gentle words came, Goki closed his eyes, the number representing blood echoes in his mind rapidly dropped, and he felt a completely new power strengthening his body, warm and comfortable.
When he opened his eyes again, a somewhat old flintlock pistol had appeared in Goki's hand, with a wooden grip and a metal casing, exquisitely crafted and well-worn.
Goki looked at the scratches on it and found his name—this was the one he had used before.
[Hunter Pistol: A workshop-made pistol, used for hunting.
This Hunter Pistol has a special design; its mercury bullets can be infused with the Hunter's fresh blood to increase damage against beasts.
The pistol has a faster firing rate than a blunderbuss, allowing for quick reactions when under attack.]
A nostalgic smile appeared on Goki's face.
"Hello there, old friend?"
Thump—
Another sword strike slammed down, pushing the Seaborn back a few steps. Skadi completely suppressed the Seaborn before her, not even using her full strength.
Just as she thought, even if it parasitized the Physical Body of an Abyssal Hunter, the Seaborn could not fully master the Abyssal Hunter's power, only make clumsy imitations.
"Impersonate? We are one, Ishar-mla—our blood flows in your body, we are the true sisters!"
From beneath the Seaborn's long pants, several tentacles suddenly shot out, stabilizing its retreating form like a tripod, but it remained calm and gentle, not angered in the slightest by the attack, still earnestly trying to persuade Skadi.
"Shut up, you are merely prey, even a few more of you would die—first learn to breathe on land."
The Seaborn's strange words made Skadi roll her eyes.
Flowing with the same blood? Nonsense!
Bang!
Skadi took a step forward, delivering another powerful strike, but this time with the most ingenious swordsmanship, deflecting the weapon that belonged to her comrade.
The silver harpoon spun high into the air, impaling itself in a nearby reef.
And the Seaborn's body was bent backward at an angle completely defying human limits by the immense force of the blow.
"Ah, you are still trapped in that pathetic vesicle, break free, from that meaningless shell."
The Seaborn's entire upper and lower body folded backward, and at its waist, which had been torn into two segments, the arm-like limbs of the Terrorfish snapped one by one, revealing the swollen cross-section of its body.
"Alright, stop the nonsense, just accept your death, killing you will be the end of it—I will clean up your flesh and blood completely, not a single trace will return to your disgusting kin."
Skadi was expressionless, continuing to raise her sword, slashing towards her deceased comrade.
Only by completely extinguishing its life force would the Terrorfish perish.
But soon, the Terrorfish's Physical Body regained vitality, and rapidly regenerating granulation tissue connected with each other, reassembling the Seaborn's folded body.
"Have you forgotten? What He said to you, He deeply loves us, and deeply loves you all—"
The Seaborn disguised as a Hunter was utterly sincere, still attempting to call back its blood relative.
And what He spoke of was not merely words.
The Seaborn's words seemed to carry some kind of magic, causing Skadi's movements to suddenly slow down.
"Wh—"
In her mind, something Skadi had deliberately forgotten seemed to slowly emerge at the Seaborn's call.
She remembered that in her last battle not long ago, she had slain that twisted existence.
But that giant eyeball, those twisted tentacles, had connected with her consciousness in that instant, and told her that phrase—
"He said—"
Her body gradually became stiff. The influence of that giant Seaborn still lingered. Skadi knew that the changes happening to her body were from that final battle, after killing the defenseless "Him."
She resisted with all her might, raising her greatsword, but it was not as easy as before.
And the Seaborn also opened its embrace. Beneath its originally fair skin, blue tendrils emerged, extending towards Skadi.
It spread its arms, like an insectivorous plant in pursuit of prey, or like a family member welcoming a sister's return.
"What are you talking about, mom! Gestalt consciousness is already a version gutter, what's so great about hive mind, please just die!"
And answering it was a dark shadow that suddenly burst out from the side.
The Hunter's trench coat flapped in the wind, and facing the Seaborn was a gaping muzzle.
The Flint on the hammer sparked, igniting the gunpowder and propelling the bullet out of the barrel.
Bang—
Then, the gunshot rang out like thunder.