"Is that thing an Estrellian?" Serl set his shield and gripped his sword, warily watching the monster's aggressive eyes.
"No doubt about it." Altaïr had also drawn his weapon. "But it's larger than the one we Captured before. Its shell color, and the whole feeling it gives off, is completely different, like the difference between a Mosswine and a Bullfango."
Kagetsu cautiously shrank behind Serl. "Look at those insects! The shell fragments wrapped in the map the Cohoot brought back earlier, they have the same texture as these insects' shells!"
As an Insect Glaive user, her focus was a bit different from the others.
Altaïr couldn't help but recall the Professor mentioning that there might be individuals with a higher degree of maturity within an Estrellian flock.
Could this creature before them be an Estrellian that had left its juvenile stage and entered the next life stage?
Sheila had similar suspicions, but she was clearly considering more than the Hunters. "We can split our forces; so can the Estrellian flock. It's halting us here to cover its companions' movements.
"The area where Nymera was attacked is still far from here. The one that attacked her is likely another–"
The monster, suspected to be an Estrellian, naturally wouldn't let the Hunters keep talking. The Felynes, highly sensitive to vibrations, sensed something wrong. Sajji suddenly cried out in alarm.
"Watch out underground, meow!"
Alerted, the Hunters instinctively side-hopped or rolled away to dodge.
At the same moment, several vicious insects with sharp head-horns burst through the ground, shooting upward as if trying to split them in two from the crotch up.
The elderly Sheila was a beat slow to react. Luckily, Athos responded in time, pulling her aside to the ground, sparing her from injury.
However, the ferocious insects' attacks didn't stop there; they immediately charged at the Hunters nearby.
These vicious insects were far more aggressive than the Star Butterflies they'd seen before, but the two were essentially the same species in nature.
Given the skill of Altaïr and Serl, dealing with their attacks wasn't difficult. They swung their blades, cutting the insects around them into scattered fragments.
Although Kagetsu wasn't adept at direct combat, she was still a 3-star Hunter. She wasn't helpless against a bug roughly the size of a Vespoid. She dispatched the insects attacking her with a few blows of her glaive, then urgently looked toward the group's only non-combatant, Sheila.
Thankfully, Athos was as reliable as his owner, guarding Sheila's side the entire time. He brandished his Felyne Sword to finish off the vicious insects that tried to attack the scholar.
With her hair somewhat disheveled, Sheila shouted, "Directing aggression! It might be a Subspecies within the Estrellian flock, something akin to a 'Soldier Ant'!"
Seeing its probing Star Butterflies taken out, the Estrellian Subspecies roared and lunged.
Its roar lacked the near-human emotion and intelligence of an Estrellian hatchling's cry; it sounded exceptionally frenzied and violent.
Serl took the initiative, stepping forward to meet it. He raised his shield to parry the Estrellian Subspecies claw swipe, then swung his sword in a backhand slash at its shoulder and neck.
Gauging the force of his opponent's attack and the dull resistance of blade cutting into flesh, Serl dealt with the onslaught while rapidly assessing his opponent's true strength. This thing is a quadruped. Compared to the Zinogre he had hunted before, its muscle strength is slightly weaker, its carapace hardness about the same. The real problem is those strange insects attacking with such agility, right?
Having formed a rough judgment, Serl called out to stop Altaïr, who had circled to the Monster's flank and was preparing to launch a fierce assault. "This one was left behind to cover the retreat, too. I can handle it! You keep chasing!"
Altaïr's movements paused.
Earlier, the Professor had shared his hypothesis with him. The Professor believed that the Estrellian herd had a leader, the very one that attracted the Yian Kut-Ku and directed the herd's movements.
He had instinctively assumed the creature before him was that leader. If that were truly the case, defeating it would end everything.
But Serl, and Sheila's words just now, reminded him: this creature before him resembled less a leader, and more a Soldier Ant of the Estrellian herd.
Which meant, while it was buying time against them, the real target was likely getting further away.
"Understood!" No time to hesitate. Altaïr immediately activated Demon Mode and sprinted at full speed.
The Estrellian Subspecies locked in battle with Serl let out a roar, flinging several black Star Butterflies to pursue Altaïr, who was attempting to break away.
Sajji, close on Altaïr's heels, let out a "Meow!" and hurled a Flash Pod.
Under the blinding burst of light, the pursuing Star Butterflies tumbled to the ground one after another. Even the Estrellian Subspecies, which had been turning its head to lunge after Altaïr, was left dazed and disoriented.
Seizing this opportunity, Kagetsu commanded her Kinsect to sip essence from the Estrellian Subspecies. After enhancing her own mobility, she chased after them at full speed.
Sheila also broke into a run at the same moment.
However, at her age, there was no way she could possibly keep up with those two young people, who were known even among Hunters for moving like the wind.
Her thinking was clear: since she couldn't match their speed, she wouldn't hold them back.
Staying here would only get in Serl's way, so she planned to catch up with the Hunter parties ahead and call them back to help.
The worst-case scenario was that the Hunters couldn't catch up or locate the Estrellian herd, letting them slip away, and the entire operation would yield nothing.
But if they could concentrate their forces and Capture this Subspecies individual at a different life stage right in front of them, it would at least secure a baseline for this operation.
The Guild could gather more intelligence, and when the Estrellian herd surfaced again, they could make more targeted preparations.
Under the cover of Sajji's Flash Pod and Serl's all-out interception, Altaïr and Kagetsu successfully broke away. The two sprinted at full speed for nearly a kilometer before Altaïr's pace began to slow.
He had relied on Demon Mode to unleash such high speed. Charging all the way here, his stamina was starting to flag.
Seeing this, Kagetsu gritted her teeth and quickened her steps, finally managing to catch up behind him. "Damn, you can run! An Insect Glaive user like me, wearing no armor and boosted by Kinsect essence, almost got left in your dust!"
As she spoke, she tossed Altaïr a bottle of golden potion, simultaneously pulling out one for herself and chugging it down.
"Mega Dash Juice?" Altaïr continued running while glancing at the bottle in his hand.
"Yeah, Wide-Range's effect is never as good as drinking it directly... No more holding back! The Guild's footing the bill anyway!"
"Thanks." Altaïr didn't stand on ceremony and downed the exceedingly expensive potion. Mega Dash Juice, refined from Dash Extract repeatedly distilled from Gypceros and Royal Ludroth, blended with several rare medicinal herbs, produces an effect that ordinary Dash Juice spread through Wide-Range simply cannot match.
The ache of built-up lactic acid in his limbs vanished completely. Altaïr halted, drew several deep breaths, and instantly felt power surging through his entire body.
He popped a ration into his mouth for good measure. Altaïr felt so invigorated he could sprint all the way back to Loc Lac.
"Don't push yourself if you can't keep up. With the situation this urgent, I'm not waiting." Altaïr spoke, then activated Demon Mode once more. His form nearly dissolved into a blur of afterimages as he shot forward at full speed.
"You son of a–?" Watching Altaïr's retreating back, Kagetsu ground her teeth. "You think my Kinsect essence boost is just for show?!"
With that, she too stretched her legs and gave chase with everything she had.
Just as the two were dashing one after the other toward the target area, a yellow flare suddenly arced into the night sky several kilometers away.
Unlike a red SOS flare, yellow flares were generally used for marking positions.
What's more, this flare hadn't launched straight up into the air but was clearly angled in a deliberate direction, obviously meant to indicate a heading.
Mid-stride, Altaïr looked up, staring at the distant flare as it drifted slowly down through the sky. He froze for a single second.
The signalers obviously couldn't be Olivia's group; even if they'd encountered no obstructions at all, they couldn't have gotten that far yet.
As for who had fired the flare, there hardly seemed any need to guess. Without hesitation, Altaïr changed direction and raced at full speed toward where the flare was falling.
"As expected of you, the scouting expert who rides dogs and tracks birds!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)