The Hunt for Behemoth (1)

This was going to be anything but an easy fight.

Of all the enemies I'd faced since regressing, Behemoth was the strongest and most dangerous of them all.

Before the regression, that monster shrugged off an army of the world's mightiest warriors charging in all at once — and still could not be brought down.

What I was doing right now might well be pure arrogance. Maybe I was just a little stronger now, maybe I'd gained some transcendent opportunity — and maybe I was simply staring up at a wall I could never climb.

But.

It had to be done.

If I couldn't take Behemoth down now, far more people would pay the price later. And above all, was I really supposed to stand by and watch the Iron Blood Monarch acquire such a magnificent servant?

"You really think we can win this…?"

"No. I could die out there."

"How can you say that, even now…?"

Seong Ju-ah must have thought I was joking. For a moment she wore a look of exasperated disbelief as she stared at me — then her face slowly hardened.

"Oh…."

It was the obvious truth. There hadn't been a shred of playfulness in my voice just now.

"That's exactly why it has to be me."

When I took on Behemoth, the worst case ended at "I might die."

When anyone else did, it ended at "they definitely would."

It wasn't that I was itching to make some grand sacrifice. Looked at objectively, this was simply the right call.

Besides, I'm the only one who knows anything about Behemoth.

All that prying I'd done into the creature back then was finally paying off.

"So, Ju-ah — you just focus on what you can do."

"Then… forgive me for being shameless, but please hold out a little longer."

She pulled out her phone, her expression grim with resolve.

"Just don't die."

"I'll do my best."

I certainly had no intention of dying easily. Not before I'd brought down the things that stood even above that lizard.

Fortunately, Japanese Hunter Bureau staff already stationed in the area had swiftly evacuated the civilians. Once the evacuation finished, a barrier would be erected immediately to shrink Behemoth's range of movement.

Until then, someone had to keep the creature pinned in place.

Which, of course, was my job.

As a small mercy, Behemoth hadn't strayed far yet. The crown-like apparatus bolted onto its head seemed to be scrambling its mind.

Then that's the window I strike through.

I closed in on the creature's position and loaded an arrow of flame onto my spearstring of killing intent.

Blood Soul Arrow ()

Four fiery bolts streaked out and struck home — but that armored hide shrugged them off without so much as a scorch mark.

"Tch. As expected, it's no use."

Behemoth's hide was, by its very nature, a repository of supreme defense, durability, and magic resistance. Even before the regression, that impervious shield had turned back the vast majority of attacks thrown at it.

First, I have to strip away that absurdly thick shell.

I kept firing Blood Soul Arrows in steady succession — and sure enough, it annoyed the creature enough that its head swiveled toward me.

"GRRAAAAAAH!"

The moment those murder-filled eyes fixed on this spot, the air itself seemed to grow heavy. Any ordinary hunter would have collapsed on the spot from that alone at this range.

"Over here, you overgrown ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lizard."

I gave a lazy little wave — and Behemoth's maw clamped shut. With an almost bored, chilling gleam in its eye, the creature began to gather power.

Kuuuuuung…!

Violet mana swirled into its jaws, compressing into something dense and lethal.

Dragon Mana (Dragon Magic)!

Just as the Knight of Heavenly Ruin had warped his aura into living blood, dragons too had reforged their mana into a power suited to their own nature. That power was called Dragon Mana.

"Grrr…!"

The ultra-compressed mass of Dragon Mana was loosed in my direction in a single breath.

An amalgamation of savage, unimaginable force — one that no calculation could predict. Instinct told me everything I needed to know: take that head-on, and I would evaporate so completely there wouldn't even be a corpse left.

"Damn it…!"

I hurriedly poured mana into the Guardian's Vambrace.

The golden shield deployed just in time, and beyond it a devastating impact came crashing down.

KKWAAAGAGAGA!

The dragon's breath scoured the entire area into wasteland.

[The activation of 'Protection' has ended.]

When the shield dissipated, an empty laugh escaped me before I could stop it. Everything around the spot where I'd been standing had been wiped from existence — not even a trace remained. As if a colossal meteor had come down from the sky.

"That power is completely insane."

Now I understood how all those Chinese hunters had been annihilated.

I'd wanted to save Protection for when it truly mattered. Losing the shield this early stings.

Still, it wasn't a total loss.

I looked up at Behemoth and saw it breathing hard. Even a creature like that couldn't fire blasts of this magnitude back to back. And right now, on top of everything, that crown — a containment device the Descension Cult had presumably built to enforce their control — was keeping it from holding onto its sanity.

It won't be able to wield its Dragon Mana properly.

Even pre-regression Behemoth couldn't chain its Breath attacks together. In its current, imperfect state, it would be even worse.

"I'm settling this now!"

Onto the energy of the storm,

Misty Shadow Step () — I layered fog-shrouded footsteps.

Wind God Step () — a footwork that moved as if treading upon the wind itself.

Riding the storm as my own momentum, I leapt into the empty air and closed to spear's length.

No time to test its nerve.

From the very first blow, I would give everything I had.

Fwaruk!

The spear transformed as Karma Flame coiled around it.

"Flame Soul Moon Blade ()…!"

What did it matter how hard that hide was?

I would simply cleave through its origin itself.

Crimson energy deepened and gathered at the spearhead.

Nameless Spear Art () — Tiger's Calamity Reign ()

The rending spear carved a descending arc straight for Behemoth's torso. The armor that had seemed untouchable split open, and dragon blood began to seep out drop by drop.

"KAAAARGH!"

It had to be the first pain of its life. In the world the creature had come from, nothing had ever been able to pierce that hide.

"Krrgh!"

I tightened my grip on the spearhaft. I had already used Baekho's Fang twice today. Every strike past this point meant one fewer card left to crack through that defense.

I have to drive it as deep as I can!

Only then could I even begin to talk ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠about slaying this thing.

"Krruuuuh!"

I poured every scrap of concentration into the attack alone.

KKWADUDUK!

The hide over its torso was splintering, my spearhead slowly tearing through flesh and muscle — and then,

"GRRAAH—!"

The creature released all of its mana at once, erupting in a violent shockwave.

A mana-release technique that amounted to little more than a full-body thrash. As a rule, higher-order dragons almost never used it — only hatchlings were known to flail it about like a tantrum.

An adult Behemoth used Mana Shock?! And me…?

I hastily vented my own mana to counter the blast, but too late.

"Kgh—?!"

When a giant throws a tantrum, it becomes a catastrophe. The shockwave rang through my whole body, and a tremendous force slammed into me. Blood surged up from somewhere deep in my dantian.

"Kulleeuk!"

While my body was locked rigid, Behemoth's massive forepaw came down on me.

…WHUMP!

I was driven straight into the ground. A searing ache spread slowly across my back.

"Krrgh… kehhk…."

It had taken everything I had just to stay conscious. No elaborate technique — it had simply vented mana and hit me with a paw, and yet my whole body ached as if it were about to shatter.

Thank god I raised [Sturdy Bones] to A-rank before coming.

Otherwise, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠falling apart somewhere along the way would have been entirely unsurprising.

I opened a subspace pocket and downed a top-grade potion in one gulp.

"Whew."

My A-rank potential body drank the potion's power deep into itself. The injuries and pain volatilized, if only a little.

"KYEEEAAAARGH!"

I tilted my head back toward the sky and saw Behemoth rampaging in agony, blood streaming from the wounds my spearwork had carved into it.

It's probably never been wounded that deep before.

Well, I'd never been beaten quite this ragged since my regression either. Let's call it one hit apiece.

Just then, Seong Ju-ah's voice rang through my head.

"Oh? How did you manage that?"

"Worst case… I wouldn't call it that. Yet."

Strictly speaking, I was the one bleeding more. But I'd cracked through Behemoth's hide, even if only a little — and that mattered. It meant there was now a path for my attacks to reach it.

Still, the barrier doesn't make anyone safe.

To Behemoth, a human barrier was nothing but paper to be torn through. So I had to finish this before the creature so much as glanced outside it.

"KAAAH—!"

The creature roared and vented mana, and Ju-ah's voice was swallowed mid-sentence. So it could drown out a simple communication skill just by howling. What a convenient creature indeed.

"Fine. Got it."

I'll give you my undivided attention.

With a twisted grin, I pushed a wholly alien power out of my body.

"Come forth, Dantalion."

The Demon Duke's power seeped through my entire body. My second card for piercing Behemoth's defense.

With Demonification's power…

I could bore straight through this beast. My target was the torso, still dripping fresh blood. If I could plant all three spears there, slaying Behemoth might actually be within reach.

KWAAANG!

I kicked off the ground hard and soared skyward once more.

Kung-kyak, kung-kyak!

My heart pounded furiously. Stimulants flooded from my brain, feeding vitality into every limb.

Focus.

I honed my senses to their razor's edge and drove the lance forward with everything I had.

Hell Three Spears () — the first thrust.

First Spear: Demon Mountain ()

The black energy coiled at the lance's tip wedged itself into the crack in the hide and sank deep.

"KYYAAAARGH!"

No time to breathe. Unfurl the second spear, stack the wounds—

"…?!"

That was the moment.

The instant I felt a familiar, crushing presence bearing down from above me.

I snapped my head up — and saw Behemoth, its mere sight enough to summon dread, with something crammed full in its jaws.

Violet Dragon Mana.

It can use that already?

And now that I looked — Behemoth's horns had grown larger. The color of its torso had deepened, and above all, its entire frame had expanded.

Don't tell me—

This thing has been growing all along?

No — impossible.

Even for a higher-order dragon, this growth rate was abnormal. Growing noticeably mid-battle was something no natural process could explain.

Pajijik!

Right then, the crown flashed and flickered, and a golden energy poured into Behemoth's body. Its horns swelled larger still, and the light in its eyes sharpened into something feral.

"So that's it…!"

Only now did Behemoth's behavior begin to make sense. An individual long past the hatchling stage using 'Mana Shock' — its movements strikingly instinctual, unlike any true higher-order dragon.

The cult is forcibly forcing this hatchling Behemoth to grow.

So that was how they'd managed to dominate such a monster — through a cheap trick like this. If I'd laid eyes on pre-regression Behemoth even once, I would have known instantly: this creature was still only half-grown!

"Damn… it!"

The explosively grown Behemoth loaded its jaws with Dragon Mana. There was no room to dodge, no time at all. Even if I pulled Lir out of my shadow now, that Breath would reach me first — it was obvious.

The moment its maw finally gaped open—

"O Queen of the World's End! Lend me your wind, to blow away the evil that would do harm to us!"

Someone's prayer rang out across the battlefield.

"Banana Leaf Fan ()!"

And in the next instant—

HUUUUUUUUNG!

A monstrous wind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠erupted and engulfed Behemoth. The creature staggered, momentarily losing its footing — and at the same time, the wind snatched me up and hurled me far away.

Just as I thought I was going to be flung clean off the battlefield, the wind's direction shifted with sudden precision, and I came to a soft landing at someone's side.

What met my eyes was a face still as vividly beautiful as ever.

"Yamamoto-san! Are you all right?!"

Ayase Karin, a colossal fan in her hands, was gazing at me with wide, worried eyes.