"Well? Did you catch all that?"
"Mm-hm." She nodded. "That Bell-Borne Geochelone is the strongest Tacet Discord we've seen so far. Even the Dreamless we fought in the simulated space doesn't compare, and that was Calamity Class too."
Granted, the Dreamless had been limited by the simulation itself, unable to unleash its full power. But the Bell-Borne Geochelone's display left no room for doubt.
A battle against a Calamity Class Tacet Discord was a natural disaster given form. After its war with the Echo legion, the entire Bell-Borne Ravine and the surrounding Gorges of Spirits had been transformed into a frozen wasteland.
"Massive natural defense, and its ranged attacks are terrifying."
"Well, it's a turtle. High defense comes with the territory." He shook his head. "But that ranged firepower is absurd. At that level, ordinary people and regular Resonators are nothing but free kills no matter how many you throw at it."
Closing the distance against the Bell-Borne Geochelone would be a nightmare. Now that it was fully awake, even attempting an aerial approach through the Flight module would most likely end the same way as the Impermanence Heron, with them shot out of the sky before they got anywhere close.
And yet...
"Too bad for it. Distance doesn't mean anything to us anymore."
"And this thing has one fatal weakness."
By watching the Bell-Borne Geochelone battle the Echo legion, both Rovers had identified the Calamity Class Tacet Discord's blind spot: the one place its maxed-out ranged arsenal couldn't reach.
"..."
Abby stared at the two of them, then back at the Bell-Borne Geochelone, jaw hanging open. All three of them had watched the same fight. How had these two picked apart every detail while it had spent the whole time gawking?
A certain glowing butterfly observing from the sidelines shared a quiet thought of her own.
Shorekeeper: (As expected of them~)
"Then let's begin." Both Rovers spoke in unison. "The hunt starts now!"
Two walking Tacet Discord slaughter machines. One final hunt for the day.
And their target: the Calamity Class Tacet Discord, Bell-Borne Geochelone.
"GRAAAAOOOOH!"
The Bell-Borne Geochelone had already noticed them. It roared and struck first without hesitation. A water cannon powerful enough to bore through a mountainside lanced toward them both.
BOOM!
The spot where they'd been standing was annihilated.
But neither Rover was there.
Before the Geochelone could register confusion, it felt something on its shell. A faint, almost imperceptible increase in weight.
"Up here, big guy!"
"?!"
Both Rovers had appeared on its shell. The Calamity Class Tacet Discord flinched in shock, and the next instant it thrashed wildly, trying to throw them off.
They'd already driven their swords into the continent-sized shell and locked their grips around the hilts, anchoring themselves in place.
The spatial teleport had bypassed the three-hundred-meter kill zone entirely, the distance that would have let the Geochelone bombard them at leisure, and deposited them right on top of its back.
Together, they lashed out with spinning kicks at the ancient bell mounted on the creature's spine. Twin impacts. The sound split the sky.
GONNNNG! x2
"GRAAAAOOOOH!"
The bell's toll was joined by the Geochelone's scream, and a heartbeat later it unleashed a barrage of attacks that threatened to freeze the world solid.
"Panicking already? This is the weak spot, all right."
"And it's a total blind spot up here!"
Both Rovers grinned. During their observation, they'd noticed one critical detail: every single one of the Bell-Borne Geochelone's attacks struck everywhere except its own back. This was the one near-absolute safe zone.
And the ancient bell sat right on top of it.
The bell that also happened to be its weak point.
The two Rovers became bell-ringers. Bracing against the earthquake-like shaking of the shell, they hammered blow after blow into the ancient bell on the creature's back.
"We searched everywhere for its Whisperin Core and couldn't find it. The only possibility left is inside this bell!"
She pulled a massive greatsword from her Tacet Mark space and brought it crashing down on the bell. She was certain: the Geochelone's core, its weak point, was hidden inside.
He glanced at her with open admiration.
Unlike me, who only knows because I've fought this thing in the game, she's seeing the Bell-Borne Geochelone for the first time. And she figured it out on her own.
"GRAAAAOOOOH!"
The Geochelone rocked from side to side in agony, but it couldn't shake them loose. Its ranged firepower was devastating at a distance, yet in close quarters it had almost nothing, and as a turtle...
It physically could not reach enemies on its own back.
Calamity Class or not, that was a problem anatomy couldn't solve.
Gone was the ancient sovereign's composure from when it had crushed the Echo legion. Now it looked like a miserable old turtle being bullied by two wicked, shameless humans. If the Bell-Borne Geochelone could speak, it would have bellowed, "Get down here and fight me face to face!"
Her: (Why would we? Winning is winning.)
Him: (We respect victory. Nothing else.)
This wasn't some honorable arena duel. This was a hunt, two humans waging war against a species that was their natural enemy. And hunters had no obligation to wrestle their prey head-on.
Under their relentless assault, the ancient bell on the Geochelone's back crept toward the breaking point.
Then, in a surge of desperate resolve, the Calamity Class Tacet Discord let out a roar that shook the air itself.
Ice crystallized overhead and formed into a small mountain.
"Huh? Watch out!"
"What the... !"
The instant the iceberg plummeted, both Rovers teleported a hundred meters clear without a second's hesitation.
CRASH!
"GRAAAAOOOOH!"
A howl of pain. The massive iceberg missed both Rovers, but it slammed squarely into the Geochelone itself.
Even its own defenses couldn't fully absorb a Calamity Class attack. For the first time in ages, the Bell-Borne Geochelone felt pain. But at least it had finally gotten those two off its back.
"Tch. Ruthless turtle. It'll even hit itself."
Her eye twitched as she watched the Geochelone sway, clearly dazed from its own strike.
"But its Whisperin Core is finally exposed."
He stared at the massive core now laid bare. The falling iceberg had delivered the final blow to the ancient bell that shielded it. At last, the weak point of this mighty Calamity Class Tacet Discord was out in the open.