"Demon Mode!"
Leon dashed forward, dodging a sweeping tail swipe, and slashed both blades against the Barroth's right leg.
BOOM!
The tail slammed down, instantly obliterating a massive anthill.
The entire slope shuddered as sand and stone erupted into the air.
Flying debris happened to strike the cart, causing the boulder sample to slide out of place...
"That's the whole point of the quest, meow!" Dumpling shouted, grabbing a scholar who had collapsed in terror. "Ahhh! Stop staring, meow! Follow me, quickly!"
He nimbly caught the snapped rope, and the three humans and one Felyne strained to hold the boulder in place.
After securing it back onto the cart, Dumpling and the panicked scholars worked together to push it toward a nearby crevice.
Panting heavily, the Felyne peered through the gap and prayed, "Hang in there, rookie, meow..."
On the other side, Leon was locked in a grueling battle.
He had already downed a Dash Juice, a Demondrug, and an Armorskin, but the Barroth's mud-caked hide was simply too hard. His Wild Hatchets couldn't penetrate its defense.
Every strike rapidly drained his sharpness, forcing him to stop and use a whetstone between bouts.
'I need to go back and swap weapons...'
Before starting the mission, Leon had already studied the potential monsters at the Ecological Research Center.
He knew that dealing with a Barroth was easiest with fire-element weapons. It just so happened that the Flaming Hatchets made from Anjanath materials were Fire-element Dual Blades.
He had to return to the temporary camp to switch them out now.
Leon had tried putting weapons into his spatial ring before, but it hadn't worked, perhaps due to insufficient capacity.
Therefore, like any other hunter, he had to keep his various weapons in the supply box at the camp.
After all, carrying them all at once would only hinder his movements.
With that thought, he hurled a Flash Pod.
BANG!
The Flash Pod exploded right in front of the Barroth!
A blinding white light flared like a sudden thunderbolt, causing the monster to roar and thrash its head in frustration, stumbling and stomping blindly in place.
"Now's my chance!" Leon took a deep breath, forcing himself to ignore the aching muscles and the weight of his gear.
He rolled out of the fray, circled behind a rocky hill, and sprinted toward the southwest camp.
Fortunately, the straight-line distance wasn't too far.
Stones tumbled and dust flew as Leon ran at full tilt. Along the way, he experienced firsthand the rugged, uneven terrain of the Wildspire Waste.
Coupled with the sweltering heat, Leon's stamina was draining fast. He pulled an Energy Drink from his pouch and downed the yellow liquid, instantly restoring his energy.
Since arriving in this world, Leon had mostly hunted in the cool shade of the Ancient Forest. This sudden shift to the dry, scorching Wildspire Waste was still something he hadn't quite adjusted to.
Meanwhile...
Dumpling and the three scholars had hidden the cart behind the crevice and blocked the entrance with rocks.
"Stop shaking, meow!" Dumpling pressed his ear against the rock wall to listen. "The Barroth seems to have backed off, meow... No, it's still too dangerous. We need to hide deeper inside, meow!"
One scholar asked timidly, "D-Deeper? We're practically crawling into an ant's belly..."
Dumpling grabbed the scholar's collar and barked, "Would you rather be trampled by that mud monster, meow!?"
He carefully led the three deeper into the crevice. After passing through a narrow tunnel, they reached a small, naturally formed cave. The walls were covered in strange rock algae and blue-green spores that glowed faintly in the dark.
Dumpling finally stopped. "We'll wait here. The rookie will take care of that mud monster soon, meow!"
Gasping for air, Leon scrambled up a slope and finally spotted the campfire and tent of the temporary camp.
He pulled the Flaming Hatchets from his equipment box and restocked his consumed potions, items, and traps.
With everything ready, Leon headed back to the battlefield!
***
Schrade Village.
The Vice-Chief sat quietly at a wooden table. Ever since Leon left Astera, he had been keeping a close eye on him.
Although his performance at the Arena had exceeded everyone's expectations, that alone wasn't enough to become a legend.
The Vice-Chief, Reip, was the paternal uncle of Chief Raymond—meaning he was Retos's great-uncle.
Due to his defeat at the Arena, Retos was currently limited to assisting with village affairs and couldn't go to Astera to accept quests.
Consequently, Reip had arranged for Retos to go to sea with the village hunters. Besides mapping new routes, they were to explore unknown islands.
This was a tradition of Schrade Village. To prevent the extinction of their clan, they would always search for safe havens in advance.
It was precisely because of this foresight that they were able to evacuate the Kingdom of Schrade so quickly when the Fatalis disaster struck.
'The Red Star...'
'Does it really have something to do with Demon Mode?'
As Reip was lost in thought, a burly man pushed the door open and reported respectfully, "Vice-Chief, we've received word. The Fifth Fleet of the New World Research Commission will arrive in seven days. Should we..."
Reip was clearly uninterested in this matter and cut the man off, asking instead, "Any news of the Chief?"
The man replied, "Not... not yet..."
Reip leaned his head on his hands and whispered, "It's been six months... Where on earth did you go?"
Silence fell over the room once more.
After a moment, the burly man broke the silence. "The Research Commission is following Zorah Magdaros this time. Should we start preparing?"
"Zorah Magdaros?" Reip looked up and turned to the man. "Are you sure?"
"Certain!" the man replied. "Someone from the scouts at sea has returned. They said this... this Zorah Magdaros is even larger than the ones in the past..."
Hearing this, Reip sank into thought. He stood up and asked, "Has Nergigante appeared as well?"
Nergigante was the Elder Dragon slayer known as the "Extinction Dragon"—an Elder Dragon that preyed upon its own kind.
Typically, Elder Dragons were monsters capable of defying the laws of nature and causing sudden disasters.
But Nergigante was different. While it couldn't command the elements, it possessed incredible regenerative abilities.
It would hunt Elder Dragons and use them as food.
"Not yet," the man replied.
"It will come eventually..." Reip's graying beard made him look weathered, but his expression was full of anticipation.
'If an Outsider can defeat Nergigante, perhaps they really can drive away Fatalis!'
Confused, the man could only advise, "Vice-Chief, I think we must make thorough preparations. If we let 'it' hatch, then..."
"Don't worry. We have guarded this place for generations; we will never let that thing out." Reip sat back down and commanded, "Before the Fifth Fleet arrives, you must find the Chief as quickly as possible!"
"Yes, sir!" The man turned and left.