TL NOTE: Starting from this chapter, two name changes are in effect.
Yuwan → Clawdia.
Scarlet Blade → Crimson Blade. Similarly flagged as a canon technique name. I had changed it assuming Altaïr was inventing it from scratch and the name would feel more personal, but again, the official translation stands.
Thanks to Kazuki_Ohira for the report!
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"wi–"
A Vespoid wandered aimlessly through the forest. Compared to the desert regions where resources were scarce and the temperature difference between day and night was extreme, the warm and stable Ancestral Steppe was clearly more suitable for various insects to survive.
Suddenly, a glob of mucus shot out from the shadows of the trees, landing accurately on that slowly hovering Vespoid.
The mucus gummed up the Vespoid's vibrating wing membranes; the irritating buzzing stopped abruptly, and losing its ability to fly, the Vespoid plummeted to the ground.
"Zhi-ge-ge-ge–"
A strange, low laughter echoed in the forest as another glob of mucus landed on the twitching Vespoid, firmly pinning the struggling insect down.
Immediately following, an orange-red figure swung out from among the branches and vines, landing with a leap beside the immobilized Vespoid.
The appearance of this Monster was far too strange.
In terms of overall physique, it resembled a giant monkey, yet it wasn't as bloated or burly as a Congalala.
Its torso was lean, its limbs slender, and it had a long, powerful tail. Excluding the tail, its body length reached five meters; including the tail, it exceeded eight meters, placing it firmly within the category of large Monsters.
However, the strangest part was its face. It had a pair of exaggeratedly large ears which, combined with its triangular face, was likely the reason its name contained "fox" elements.
Besides the ears, it had a nose that curved like an elephant's trunk and could swivel flexibly. The mucus that had pinned the Vespoid was actually snot sprayed from this nose.
Large ears, round eyes, a long nose, combined with naturally upturned corners of the mouth and a fox-like triangular face, gave this Monster called "Kecha Wacha" an inherent sense of the comical.
Like a mischievous child admiring their own graffiti, it swung among the vines, circling the mucus-trapped Vespoid once before extending its long tail tipped with hook-like bony spines, scooping up the Vespoid and bringing it to its mouth to crunch, juices splashing everywhere.
But at that moment, a bipedal creature stepped out from the forest, coming to a halt twenty or thirty meters away.
The Kecha Wacha stopped eating, tilting its head to stare at this uninvited guest.
Unlike most large Monsters whose first reaction upon seeing an intruder is to attack, there was no anger in the Kecha Wacha's eyes, only curiosity and playfulness.
It had seen this kind of creature before.
These bipedal creatures were very interesting. They traveled with Aptonoth, carried many novel and fun things, and weren't particularly dangerous.
It loved scaring them and then watching the fun sight of them fleeing in a panic.
Now that such a "toy" had appeared before it, how should it play with him? Pin him to the ground with snot? Or circle behind him, cover its face with its ears, and scare the life out of him?
Facing the Kecha Wacha, Altaïr couldn't guess what the strange thing was thinking, but he felt an inexplicable sense of annoyance.
Normally, as a Hunter, one shouldn't walk so brazenly in front of a Monster. Stalking behind it for a sneak attack while the Monster is unaware would be the correct choice.
The reason he didn't do so was because a Kecha Wacha's hearing and sense of smell are extremely sharp. In a forest full of fallen leaves, trying to bypass a Kecha Wacha's perception for a close-range sneak attack was impossible.
As for the other reason, it came from Jara's suggestion.
Though that chubby guy gave off an impression of being lazy and unreliable, facts proved his tactical planning was the real deal, otherwise, Altaïr wouldn't be wearing this Tigrex hide coat.
According to his advice, one should avoid fighting a Kecha Wacha in dense woods or areas thick with vines; such places are the Kecha Wacha's home turf. It's best to lure it into an open area to trade blows.
As for how to lure the target, generally, one would rush up, land a few hits, and then find a way to run once the target is enraged.
However, according to Jara, dealing with a Kecha Wacha this way makes it easy for the monster to "lose interest." To firmly grab their attention, there's a better way than a direct attack.
While the Kecha Wacha was considering how to toy with the human, Altaïr moved first.
He spread his arms and flailed them wildly, then performed two rolls on the ground. After standing up, he began shouting and hooting, though what he was yelling was anyone's guess.
Faced with this mysterious behavior from the Hunter, which could be taken as either provocation or madness, the Kecha Wacha didn't get angry; instead, it became extremely excited.
It tossed the half-eaten Vespoid carcass aside and jumped down from the tree.
Mimicking the Hunter, it flailed its arms, flipped and hopped, then swung its nose and opened its relatively small mouth, letting out a "Zhi-ga-ga-ga" cry.
It seemed to be imitating the Hunter's shouting, and also seemed to be laughing out loud.
The moment the Kecha Wacha opened its mouth wide, Altaïr suddenly raised his left arm and fired a pre-loaded paintball.
At a distance of twenty or thirty meters, the Slinger's accuracy was high. The paintball shot accurately into the Kecha Wacha's mouth, and pungent pink paintberry juice splashed all over its mouth and body.
"Ga-zhi-zhi-zhi!!" Suddenly attacked, the Kecha Wacha shook its head violently, spitting as it tried to get rid of the strange and stinging paintberry juice.
However, the dye used to mark the location of large Monsters isn't that easy to spit out; the scent would remain for at least a dozen hours.
Altaïr pointed at the Kecha Wacha and laughed loudly, then turned and ran.
According to the Hunter's Notes, the Kecha Wacha loves pranks; if it successfully tricks a person or another Monster, it gets very excited.
But only a few experienced Hunters know that, conversely, if it gets pranked itself, the Kecha Wacha becomes incredibly angry.
The Kecha Wacha, which had been playful just a moment ago, now had eyes turning from yellow-green to red. Heat puffed from its nose and mouth as it let out a strange howl and chased after him like a mad thing.
Noticing all this, Altaïr couldn't help but marvel at how effective the strategy recommended by Jara was. Should he expect anything less from the man who once kited a Tigrex across several mountains until it literally died of exhaustion?
The Kecha Wacha's movements were very agile, and with the woodland being its home turf, the Hunter was overtaken before he could run very far.
However, the Hunter wasn't worried. A Kecha Wacha isn't a Tigrex; being caught was fine.
The difficulty of hunting a Kecha Wacha never lay in the combat itself, but in the fact that this guy is too flexible and easily kites the Hunter around.
Now, through a prank, he had successfully provoked the Kecha Wacha into attacking him proactively. Thus, the hunt was already half-successful.
Facing the incoming Kecha Wacha, Altaïr suddenly stopped and turned, drawing his sword from its sheath and revealing human fangs.
The Hunter sidestepped the incoming claws and twisted his body, swinging his arm for a backhand slash that struck the Kecha Wacha's elbow.
Without thick carapace or scales for protection, the Iron Gospel easily carved a bleeding wound on the Kecha Wacha's forearm.
"Zhi-ji–" The Kecha Wacha let out a cry of pain.
But the Hunter's offensive would not stop there. Just as the Overhead Slash landed, Altaïr followed immediately with a Thrust, aiming straight for the Kecha Wacha's face.
Realizing the "claws" of the bipedal creature before it were also sharp, the Kecha Wacha didn't dare be careless. It hung from a branch with one arm to stabilize its body while swinging its long tail to counter.
The thrusting Long Sword was parried by the Kecha Wacha's long tail, but Altaïr did not leave an opening because of it.
His muscles, tensed slightly like springs, stored the impact transmitted through the sword hilt and immediately released it, forcibly turning what would have been a staggering recovery into an Overhead Slash similar to a Hammer strike.
"Clang!"
The Hunter's blade and the Monster's tail hook collided again, ending in a stalemate.
This guy's movements are surprisingly flexible.
Altaïr let out a soft "tsch." "Then let's see who is faster."
With a low shout, Altaïr entered Demon Mode, raising his hand for a Crimson Blade Slash. The flashes of the two sword strikes overlapped almost perfectly; the first Rising Slash knocked away the Kecha Wacha's flexible long tail, and the second Vertical Chop successfully cut another wound into the Kecha Wacha's tail.
"Ji-ao!"
"Incoming shell, meow!" A familiar meow came from the distance.
Altaïr retreated immediately. The next second, orange-red firelight exploded on the Kecha Wacha.
Scattered sparks ignited the Kecha Wacha's thick, fine fur. Fearing fire, the Kecha Wacha shrieked and fell to the ground, frantically slapping at the places on its body where the fire had started.
Altaïr gave a smirk, taking the opportunity to sheathe his blade and continue moving.
After this brief exchange, he had roughly gauged this Kecha Wacha's strength. As long as he could lure it to an open area, hunting it successfully would not be a problem!
(Translated by yourtl.app)