Hyenas.A type of carnivorous beast found only in the southernmost parts of the Wildlands. These ferocious beasts fall into four species.
The small termite eaters known as Aardwolves,the brown thief-like ones known as Strandwolves, the striped scavenger ones who regularly eat the bones of the dead and the spotted ones, the aggressively large, smart ones that hunt in packs.
Many a maji experimented on the hyenas, producing creatures such as the Arkwolf, the Allocrotta, Iceyena ,the Pyrotta and the...Sandwolf. Again, maji are creatively uncreative at times. Either way, among all of hyena majimonsters, the Bultungin stands on the top.
Many maji called the creature heretical even by their standards, but the Argenti Bestia did not care. By combining traits from all four species, making use of a humanoid body structure, claws of runic silver and stitching it altogether with elemental and fury aether, the Bultungin was that lovely mix of ferocious killer and instinctual tactician that makes for an all-around deadly majimonster. Scholars say that a single Bultungin is able to fight four to one quite easily, with packs of three being able to take down entire cities.
Thankfully, the last known sightings of Bultungin was over eight hundred years ago, during the Fall. The chances of them coming back are very slim.
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[...that's what those remnants are turning into?!], I exclaimed as I stared at the empty husk of a Bultungin twitching, fidgeting and absorbing the surrounding aether. Before the eyes of my friends and my Dragon's Eye, the empty husk began filling its empty insides with aether, forming blood, bones and sinew. Honestly, it's kind of horrifying, like someone butchering an animal in reverse.
[Huh... normally the husk would fall apart after the accursed gets removed...unless we had grossly underestimated just how much blood he had drank during his hunting], Voxea explained.
[What]?
[A small caveat for the ritual we just used is that the accursed needs to have killed less than fifteen people. Something tells me that Boleros must've killed more people than investigators initially thought], Voxea flatly commented [And judging by this reaction...it was at least two dozen]!
[What does that mean]?
[It means that this is going to be one hell of a fight!], she answered excitedly.
"Heads up guys, we're about to in for a fight", I told my friends as the fog of war began to condense further. Sensing my weariness, Azalea entered a fighting stance.
Following our lead, Savina had Triton go front and center with his shield and trident drawn, Bori and Ulvor took up the left side and activated a technique that gave him rock armor, while Albina had her Cumulem, Cinnamon, take up the right side and casted a Wind technique that made itself move faster. In normal circumstances, our forces could be considered quite formidable and dominating.
As the last of our preparations were made, the spell circle holding up the Bultungin suddenly disappeared. The monster in question dropped from the wall and landed with unceremonious thud on the street, kicking up a small cloud of dust. Seconds that felt like hours passed by us as we tensed up in preparation for...whatever was going to happen.
The dust settled as the Bultungin just lay there unmoving, only for it to suddenly jerk an arm and press a metal claw against the ground. As the Bultungin pushed itself upward, a strange, soul shuddering laugh began to echo throughout the alley.
"Where is that coming from?", I asked, a little unsettled.
"Hyenas can mimic the laughter of humans...I guess this Bultungin is able to do so as well", Albina answered.
"It sounds like something that crawled from the darkest pits of hell", Bori commented.
"What's 'hel-" "GYAAAAAAAOOOOO"!
Our conversation got cut short as the Bultungin suddenly released a laughing roar and the fog of war went full force and overtook our senses.
Standing at full height, the Bultungin appeared to have become more muscular despite having its human host ripped out of it, it's claws somehow looking more cruel and menacing than before. Additionally, the silver mask that was stuck on its face had changed from looking like a human death mask, into proper armor covering its maw and face.
A moment later, its whole body began to glow orange as it began to laugh once more.
"Hahahahahahahaha hahahaha"
The next moment, I felt a piercing pain in my gut from Azalea as the beast man burst through our majimonsters.