Leon's pupils constricted, and he rolled to the side and back almost by instinct. The Jyuratodus's massive frame slammed down with a deafening crash, kicking up a tidal wave of mud right where he had been standing!
"Boom—!"
Mud exploded and debris flew everywhere.
Before Leon even touched the ground, he forced his body to twist mid-air. His toes tapped the surface of the water, allowing him to use the momentum to widen the distance again.
His chest heaved heavily. The Pulsar Hatchets trembled slightly in his hands, their thunderous glow like lightning waiting for the moment to strike.
"It's enraged..."
The Jyuratodus's eyes glowed with a murky orange light. Viscous mud flowed between its scales, and its gills flared outward as it let out a low, gurgling growl that sounded like a bubbling hot spring.
It braced itself once more, opening its maw to lunge at Leon, spitting out a high-pressure stream of mud.
Leon stepped forward, activating Demon Mode once again!
He sidestepped the mud stream and transitioned into a Demon Flurry Rush, rapidly closing the gap with the Jyuratodus.
"Demon Reverse Slash!"
"Demon Twofold Slash into Demon Sixfold Slash!"
With this sequence, the damage peaked instantly.
The electricity from the Pulsar Hatchets crawled across the scales like thunderous serpents. The Jyuratodus let out a pained roar, its entire body shuddering violently as the surrounding mud was blown away by the impact.
Leon pressed the advantage, initiating again with a Demon Flurry Rush before following up with a Left Roundslash to reposition.
At the same time, the Jyuratodus suddenly whipped around, its tail sweeping out to create a crescent-shaped wave of mud.
Leon narrowly avoided the wave.
Despite fighting in the bog, Leon's speed wasn't hindered in the slightest. His agile footwork kept the Jyuratodus's attacks from ever finding their mark.
"Your attacks are a bit too predictable..."
At that moment, as if it understood Leon's words, the Jyuratodus dived back into the mud. Unlike before, it dived deeper this time, leaving the water's surface eerily still.
Seeing this, Leon's gaze immediately turned solemn.
*—It's gone?*
He lowered his body, his fingertips lightly touching the surface of the water.
The surroundings were deathly quiet. There wasn't even a ripple in the mud, as if the Jyuratodus had never existed at all.
'It dove that deep? Is it planning an ambush?' Leon narrowed his eyes, sensing a dangerous aura.
A second later.
Several small mud mounds suddenly bulged at the edge of the pond, followed by a 'glub-glub' of rising bubbles.
Leon whipped his head around, only to find three separate spots in the center of the pond bulging simultaneously.
"Three of them?!" Leon's pupils shrank as he kicked off the ground, rapidly retreating.
However, the moment he moved—
Boom—!
Three waves of mud erupted almost simultaneously, instantly creating a pincer formation.
Leon realized something was wrong the moment he landed.
...Those two weren't fakes, they were—
"Gajau?!"
Gajau were small monsters that lived in ponds. Leon never expected they would actually coordinate with a Jyuratodus.
Before Leon could fully process this, he felt a tremor beneath his feet!
'Crap—!'
The Jyuratodus's tail swept in with heavy force. Leon had no time to dodge and was struck squarely in the chest.
Thud—!
Leon was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, slamming hard against the rock wall. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
"Guh..." Leon pushed himself up from the ground, his ears ringing and his vision blurred.
His armor was caked in mud, making his body feel heavy.
The Jyuratodus didn't press the attack immediately. Instead, it vanished beneath the surface once more, plunging the entire pond back into a deathly silence.
The cooperation between the Gajau and the Jyuratodus was beyond Leon's expectations; there were no similar records in the Ecological Research Center's data.
Dragging his trembling body, he slowly backed away until his back hit the rock wall, where he quickly downed a Potion.
The bitter liquid slid down his throat and into his body. Leon closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
*I need to stay calm...*
Leon slowly looked up, his eyes regaining their clarity. He had already constructed a complete blueprint for a counterattack in his mind.
'The Gajau are just a distraction... I just need to wait for the Jyuratodus to attack.'
With that thought, Leon placed another Shock Trap at his feet. Although a monster's resistance to the same status effect would increase, he needed to control it first.
A few seconds later—
Bang!
As expected, multiple points in the pond exploded. The Jyuratodus lunged out from beneath the water for a surprise attack.
Click!
The Shock Trap at his feet triggered instantly. Electricity transformed into a lightning net that rapidly climbed the Jyuratodus's body.
Bzzzt—!
The Jyuratodus let out a pained shriek as its massive frame stiffened. Its limbs twitched violently, and even the nearby Gajau were caught in the radius, floating belly-up to the surface.
Leon took a deep breath and activated Demon Mode once more!
The lightning of the Pulsar Hatchets erupted completely, turning into a blur of light as he stabbed toward the Jyuratodus's exposed throat!
"Blade Dance! Blade Dance! Blade Dance!"
The greatest and most direct source of damage for Dual Blades was the Blade Dance while in Demon Mode.
Dozens of consecutive slashes fell like a starburst!
Every strike left scorched electrical marks. Lightning poured into the monster's body through the gashes, and as the Jyuratodus's struggles grew more violent, cracks finally appeared in its mud shell.
"Right there!" Leon's teeth clenched as he leaped high into the air with his Pulsar Hatchets, slamming them into the cracks in the gills!
Boom!!
Electricity exploded like a tidal wave. The Jyuratodus fell into severe spasms, its giant body rolling violently as it lost strength in half its side.
It finally broke free from the paralysis and let out an angry roar, but Leon had already retreated to safety.
Before his eyes—
The Jyuratodus's back was ravaged, several Gajau lay twitching on the shore, and the pond water had long been churned into a murky battlefield.
A second later.
Leon flicked his wrist, launching a Flash Pod into the air—
Bang—!!
A brilliant white light erupted, exploding over the surface of the pond like a small grenade!
The Jyuratodus was instantly disoriented, its head spinning from the flash.
Leon didn't give it a chance to breathe. He fired his Clutch Claw, hooking onto the Jyuratodus's head.
Using the pull of the cable, he launched himself into the air—
"Mid-air Spinning Blade Dance!"
Electrical arcs fell like a waterfall; lightning wove a net of light.
The Pulsar Hatchets acted like a meat grinder. Leon spun through the air in a whirlwind of slashes, each electric trail carving deep into the monster's flesh!
Thunder and roars intertwined like a localized doomsday storm—the final duel between hunter and beast.
The electrical energy reached its peak. The tips of the Pulsar Hatchets suddenly burst with a blinding white light as Leon descended like a meteor!
Crack—!!!
The Pulsar Hatchets struck the center of the Jyuratodus's skull, splitting the bone apart as the fracture instantly spread down to its spine!
The next moment.
The Jyuratodus's entire body shuddered violently as it let out one final roar!
Boom—!!
Its massive frame crashed into the mud. The resulting shockwave pushed the pond water outward in every direction, sending mud flying into the air as the remaining Gajau were tossed onto the shore.
Leon knelt on the ground, completely soaked.
Before him—
The Jyuratodus's corpse sank quietly into the water, leaving only broken scales swaying in the ripples. The orange light in its eyes had completely faded.
[TARGET SLAIN: JYURATODUS]
[DING! TRAIT TRIGGERED: LONE WOLF]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 800]
[LEVEL: LV.6 (11400/12000)]
[EXTRA MATERIALS GAINED: AQUA SAC X2, JYURATODUS FANG X2, JYURATODUS FIN X2, MONSTER BONE M X4, JYURATODUS SCALE X6, JYURATODUS SHELL X6]
The sunlight behind him finally pierced through the thick mist, spilling over the mud-stained Leon.
He never imagined that a hunt for a Jyuratodus to craft a water-element weapon would end up being so grueling.
Gajau actually helping a Jyuratodus?
'This information... I need to report this to the Ecological Research Center...'