Quack, quack, quack...
A vague earthquake cloud covers the spot where the thunder left off.
It may have been daytime, but with the thick dark clouds covering the sky, the pouring rain, and the frantic lightning, it felt like night.
Vikir pushed his way through the sharp leaves of the Sword Forest.
He had been following Madame's trail since last night.
It was common knowledge that if it rained during a hunt, the chase would be abandoned. It's common sense to abandon a hunt when it rains.
But even in the midst of this heavy rain, the tracks of Madame's movements remain unmistakable.
Half-melted chunks of meat lay everywhere.
They appeared to be part of what Madame had eaten and vomited up, but I didn't bother to examine them to see what kind of meat they were.
Everywhere, Madame's mucus and feces blow into the water, creating a foul odor.
Thick hairs that felt like black needles were scattered throughout the area, and the grass and trees around it were blackened and dried up.
There's no reason we can't follow the trail.
The hound advances, following the path of death indicated by the dead trees.
Vikir recalled the Madame's identity once more.
When they first met, she had buried herself completely in the blackness of the water.
So it's impossible to know the exact shape of her body.
Even the warriors of Balak, who had suffered under her tyranny for so long, had no idea what she looked like or even what kind of creature she was.
Only their chieftain, Aquila, was able to give them a glimpse of her identity, based on faint oral accounts.
"... Certainly, it's hard to tell what species we're dealing with based on the tracks.
Traces of crashing into and crushing logs or rocks like land war monsters, flying across rivers or high valleys like birds of prey, traces of digging tunnels like underground monsters… … The biological characteristics of all monsters are all mixed.
What's even more impressive is that it climbed up a rock wall with a slope of more than 90 degrees.
A cliff so high that even birds can't climb it. Madame scrambled up it.
Vikir looked up toward the top of the cliff, hidden by clouds.
It looks like he'll have to climb this high to meet Madame.
"... But first, I need to get ready."
Vikir stared up at the cliff for a moment, then turned on his heel.
A quick glance around the cliffs reveals that they're shaped like isolated mountains.
It stuck out like a sore thumb in the flatlands.
Most likely, the Madame was nesting in the higher ground.
Vikir made a quick assessment of her location and turned away.
If he fought now, he would lose, and he would barely survive, let alone win.
Now that he knew where his opponent was, time was on his side.
Vikir slowly moved away from the cliffside.
Trying to gauge how high this sheer cliff could possibly be.
* * *
Vikir arrived at a swampy area quite a distance from Madame's nest.
The first thing Vikir did upon reaching the edge of the swamp was to scatter the bundle of straw he had been carrying in all directions.
He had been sweating profusely as he made his way through the jungle, and his scent had soaked into the straw.
The wind blew the straw, carrying his scent, everywhere.
Now, due to the nature of convection that circles the swamp, Vikir's scented straws will scatter, enveloping the entire swamp.
They will be carried by the wind deeper into the swamp.
Not only would it be impossible to pinpoint Vikir's location, but there would be room for her to feel surrounded.
...Who would feel that way?
"The master of this swamp."
Vikir raised his head and stared into the center of the swamp.
Suddenly, a log floating on the surface sank deep.
And something huge began to crawl out of the swamp through the thick water.
Danger Rating: A+
Size: 9 meters
Found in: Ridge 8, Red and Black Mountains
-Named 'Infinite Regeneration Dragon'.
A giant amphibian-like beast that lives deep in the swamps.
It has strong territorial instincts and a gluttonous appetite, devouring everything that enters its swamp.
They are feared by humans because of their unkillable ability to regenerate from any wounds.
It has ruled this swamp for a very long time.
An old, giant salamander emerged.
Its entire body is covered in smooth skin and sticky slime.
In its mouth were the arms and legs of several natives of unknown tribe.
Vikir recognized him at a glance.
"That was Mushuhushu's rival, I suppose?
There was a great snake named Mushuhushu who had recently fallen prey to Beelzebub.
That snake's rival was this giant right in front of him.
The old salamander stretched out his body, growing larger and more powerful as he aged.
[hiss-]
The old salamander's head swiveled to look for the intruder in its territory, but it couldn't pinpoint a direction.
That was because Vikir had sent the straw he had been gathering into the wind, and at the same time smeared mud all over himself to cover his scent.
[grrrr... shhhhhhhhhhhhh!]
The bog salamander clucked its tongue and continued to crawl across the swamp.
Vikir briefly considered fighting it, but quickly dismissed the idea.
His capture of Mushuhushu the other day was luck in many ways.
He had lost his territory to the floods and had been swept away, so he had lost a lot of stamina, and to replenish it, he had eaten at an uncharacteristic pace, leaving him sluggish.
The hunt had been a relatively easy one, as we'd ambushed him while he was tired, full, and sleepy, and Aiyen had helped.
But not now.
The old salamander was moderately hungry and very uncomfortable.
Besides, isn't it a monster so strong that it's on par with Mushuhushu?
If I were to fight him, I couldn't guarantee 100% success.
Even if I could win moderately, there was no point in wasting my stamina in a place like this, considering the fight with Madame that would follow.
'Except... there's something I can do with him.'
Vikir waited until the salamander was completely out of the swamp.
And there was something else he was aiming for.
The straw he'd sent into the wind earlier wasn't just to hide his location.
It was also to lure in "some dangerous creature" that might be lurking just beyond the wind's reach.
"...It's almost time to come out.
Vikir thought as he carefully followed the salamander out of the swamp and into the woods.
Then.
The response came.
As Vikir's scent drifted across the jungle on the wind, the creatures began to respond.
Minotaurs, ogres, trolls, and other large creatures responded.
But none of them dared to enter the old salamander's territory. They could only salivate at the outer borders of the realm.
...But.
Wee wee wee!
Just one.
There was one creature that had no fear of the old marsh salamander and barged into his territory.
weeeeeeng!
An ominous sound of flapping wings.
It was an extremely eerie sound that made even the most powerful salamanders cringe.
Then, as the old salamander left the swamp and entered the forest in search of Vikir, something huge appeared in front of him.
It was like a dark cloud, very tall, very wide, and very vast.
It moved about, elongated like a snake, and soared upward.
Vikir was familiar with this strange, shapeless creature.
Danger Rating (Individual) : D
Danger Rating (Swarm) : S
Size: 3 mm
Found in: Red and Black Mountains, Ridge 9
-Nicknamed the 'bone-sucking mosquito'.
Not much is known about it except that it sucks bone, not blood.
It was not a single giant, but a swarm of many smaller ones.
Wee wee wee wee wee!
Mosquitoes flew in swarms, clinging to everything around them.
Even the salamander, which had traveled quite a distance from the swamp.
Vikir looked at the mosquitoes and thought.
"They are terrible things."
These mosquitoes were worse than the ones people usually recognize.
Normal mosquitoes stick their long, straw-like proboscis into flesh and drink blood.
But it wasn't human blood that these mosquitoes craved.
It was bones.
They poke their long, pointed snouts into the bodies of their prey and suck out the bones, much longer than the average mosquito, and their victims lose all the bones in their bodies.
What's even more horrifying is that... these mosquitoes only suck on bones, leaving behind skin, flesh, blood, and intestines.
The old salamander then proceeds to show us in real time what happens to those who get caught by these dreaded mosquitoes.
[Shhhhhh!?]
The old salamander freaked out.
He squirted mucus all over his body to ward off the mosquitoes' attacks, and he tried to turn and run back into the swamp.
But the mosquitoes were much quicker to react.
Attracted by Vikir's scent, these mosquitoes cling to the salamander's body, causing it to die and harden its mucus, while the late arrivals use the corpses of their companions as footholds to sting.
Soon, the mosquitoes begin to suck out the salamander's bones.
Swish, swish, swish.
The fluid from the mosquito's saliva is exactly what dissolves the salamander's bones and turns them back into liquid.
The salamander tries as hard as it can to get back into the swamp, but the fire spreads it a few meters from the water's edge.
It had lost all its bones to support its weight.
The mosquitoes continued to swarm the swamp long after they'd eaten all the salamander's bones.
Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!
That is, until Bikir started a fire and used the smoke to scare away all the mosquitoes.
The mosquitoes disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.
Vikir finally emerged from the swamp.
He burned some wet leaves, just in case, creating a thick cloud of smoke.
"...Smoke."
Vikir looked around and nodded.
The bone-sucking mosquitoes were terrifying.
Each mosquito was small and weak, but the danger level of the whole swarm was far beyond common sense.
Vikir turned his head to look at the swamp.
The salamander had fallen to the ground just two meters from the swamp.
Surprisingly, it was still alive.
The bones in his body were gone, and he was shivering, but he was still breathing, thanks to his tough skin and life force.
Of course, it was obvious that its miserable existence would be short-lived, as it was nothing more than a watery shell.
"...."
Vikir reached out and touched the salamander's body once.
Flesh and blood oozing from the tough hide, intestines floating around.
Now he was nothing more than a bag of blood.
"Good. Well made. That should be enough."
Vikir tugged on the still-breathing salamander's tail.
As the mana of a Advance Graduator passed through his body, he was able to pull the body of this huge monster.
What's more, the old salamander's body was lighter because its bones were gone.
[Swoosh! Swoosh-]
The salamander made a bizarre noise every time it was dragged, but it could do nothing about it.
The lungs and other organs in its body were now all mixed up, so it couldn't even make a sound.
Only thick tears dripped from his eyes.
"Consider this your karma for eating so many humans."
Vikir's eyes are cold as he drags the salamander, a giant bag of blood and intestines.
It had been a short preparation, a rather long one.
Now that everything was in place, there was only one thing left to do.
To meet the Madame, and to kill her.
Then I will leave the jungle, and Balak, with all the debts of my heart.
A return to Baskerville, Ironblade.
It will not be a long one.