"Boom! Boom!" The Piercing Crab Heavy Bowgun thundered without pause.
At point-blank range, bursts of Spread Ammo struck the Monster's orange carapace like invisible hammers, blasting out one shallow crater after another.
The thick blade of the Glavenus Gunlance, no less formidable than a Great Sword, easily shattered the Monster's defenses. Its muzzle roared as the Wyrmstake Cannon drove deep into the target.
Theo's Nerscylla Sword and Shield slipped precisely through gaps in the carapace, allowing the sleep toxin coating its blade to disrupt the Monster's nerves.
The Tyrant Blade [Solar Eclipse] blazed with gathered Spirit as Altaïr plunged it into the Monster's gaping maw, driving the blade straight to the hilt.
With its rock carapace broken, the crab Monster could do little against the Hunters' one-sided assault.
Shedding the heavy coral reef rock had made the crab Monster faster, but it still fell far short of posing a real challenge to the 4★ and 5★ Hunters present.
Its size, the hardness of its carapace, its speed, and its reactions were all comparable to those of Large Carapaceons such as Daimyo Hermitaur.
It might have held an advantage in strength, but not by much.
Overall, its threat level fell somewhere between 3★ and 4★. Given its absurdly thick and nearly impenetrable rock carapace, however, the Guild would likely classify it as a 4★ threat afterward.
Its opponents, meanwhile, included two 5★ Hunters and two 4★ Hunters.
When Altaïr tore his blade free from the Monster's maw in a torrent of crimson blood, the crab Monster finally collapsed, unable to rise again.
Still cautious, Morgan approached, leveled the Piercing Crab at the Monster's head, and repeatedly pulled the trigger until he had emptied an entire magazine of Spread Ammo into it.
When the corpse did not move, he folded and stowed the Heavy Bowgun. "Confirmed dead."
"Time to carve!" Isis's eyes lit up as she drew her Carving Knife and fixed her gaze on the enormous crab claws.
Altaïr stopped her. "Hold on."
It was obvious that she had no interest in the Monster's carapace materials. She was heading straight for the crab meat.
"Remember the spore sacs that covered its body at first. Remember the toxic filth it sprayed at you. Do you still have an appetite?"
Isis frowned, hesitated, and then answered honestly, "A little."
Altaïr stared at her in disbelief before snapping, "No eating it! Its entire body was covered in spore sacs and mycelium. Who knows how many spores and toxins might still be in the meat? I don't even intend to carve any materials from it yet.
Getting the carcass out of here will be a major undertaking. This cave is also full of mold dust and spore mist, and I don't know how long our face coverings will hold up.
We've confirmed that the target is dead. That's enough. Let's head back and bring the scholars with us later. Meowster and the others will definitely want to see this thing."
"Agreed." Morgan nodded. "Judging by how it responded to our attacks, this Monster's carapace is about as tough as that of a Large Carapaceon such as Daimyo Hermitaur or Shogun Ceanataur.
"Materials at that level aren't much use to us anymore. There's no reason to risk a fungal infection or waste more energy here."
"All right." Isis looked dejected.
Theo grinned. "How about another piece of Alchemy Food?"
"No!" Isis shook her head vigorously.
After one last look at the plump, oversized crab claw, Isis reluctantly put away her Carving Knife. She fell in step with Altaïr and the others, climbed out of the cave on the rope, joined the Village Chief waiting at the entrance, and set off on the return journey.
The journey back covered somewhere between ten and twenty kilometers, no great distance for Hunters, but running the whole way after a Hunt was still exhausting.
The seemingly tireless Village Chief was already talking about convening a meeting of every department head.
The Hunters, meanwhile, planned to wash up as soon as possible, then head to the galley for a large meal to recover from the battle and the long round trip.
—--
They had barely boarded the ship when Meowster stopped them.
Meowster circled them, sniffing at their armor, and asked warily, "Where have you been, meow? You smell like mold, meow."
"It's not mold," Isis answered honestly. "It's a fungus that lives symbiotically with a Monster. Whenever the Monster moves, it sprays spores and things like that."
At the words fungus, symbiosis, and spores, Meowster's fur stood on end. "Fungus? Symbiosis? Spores, meow?! What in the world did you run into, meow?!"
Isis gestured with her hands. "How do I put it... a giant crab, basically? Anyway, it's a Carapaceon. Ah, I can't explain it very well. How about I draw you a few pictures later?"
Ever since everyone had praised her drawings, she had gained some confidence in her artistic skills.
"A giant crab? A Carapaceon, meow?" Meowster stared at her in surprise.
The Hunters took turns giving Meowster a rough account of what they had encountered. His expression finally eased, though his tone remained irate. "You jumped into a cave without knowing what was inside, and you're damn lucky it wasn't anything too dangerous. Count yourselves fortunate, meow.
Anyway, all of you, wash with limewater first, then have the physician give you antifungal medicine. Have you no idea how dangerous fungal infections can be, meow? Keep this up and you'll end up with mycelium filling your lungs. Then you'll be done for, meow!"
After pulling on a mask, Meowster herded the Hunters toward the medical bay with a kick for each of them. He spared neither the Village Chief nor Sajji and Clawdia, even though none of the three had taken part in the fighting.
From their account, the fungus did not seem highly contagious. At the very least, no fungal carpets or mycelium had spread through the cave where the battle took place.
Even so, this was not something they could take lightly. If the fungus could parasitize humans and then spread throughout the expedition, the resulting disaster would be far worse than the expedition merely stalling halfway through.
Once the physician took charge of the group, Meowster turned the matter over in his mind but remained uneasy.
He summoned Nymera, who was still on leave, and asked her to take him back to the cave on Hibiki so he could inspect it himself.
Nymera was reluctant, but she understood the gravity of the situation and agreed.
—--
Hibiki was easier to persuade. The promise of a tasty meal ended his objections, and a little over half an hour later, the Palamute had carried Nymera and Meowster to the mouth of the cave where the battle had taken place.
The trip took that long only because Meowster had called for several stops along the way to check whether the fungus had spread to nearby plants or animals. Otherwise, Hibiki would have covered the distance even faster.
At the mouth of the pitch-black cave, Meowster took out the filter masks he had prepared and handed one to Nymera before putting on his own. Nymera and Meowster then descended by rope to the cave floor.
As he studied the brightly colored corpse of the crab Monster, Meowster's thoughts raced. As a senior scholar of the Wycademy, he possessed knowledge far beyond that of an ordinary person.
He was certain that this creature had never appeared in any field guide or research paper. The Hunters' confirmation that it had red blood alone overturned the academic world's accepted understanding of Carapaceons.
In other words, this was an entirely new species, distinct from any known Carapaceon. Whether it could even be classified as a Carapaceon remained uncertain. Its similar appearance might simply be a case of convergent evolution.
Its symbiotic relationship with fungi and its habit of wearing coral reefs were both unheard of. Calling it a treasure trove of new knowledge would be no exaggeration.
And then the Hunters had gone and brutally killed it. You Hunters certainly work fast, meow.
Meowster scratched his ear in irritation, then carefully began collecting samples with the test tubes and glass bottles he had brought.
He collected coral reef rock covered in fungal hyphae, spore sacs, spore samples, and samples of purple slime suspected to be venom. There were more valuable specimens than he could count.
While Meowster worked, Nymera approached the corpse and examined its damaged shell.
The sight of the enormous crab claws surprised her slightly. Isis had not thought to drag one back?
Nymera moved around behind the corpse and suddenly froze.
A massive crack split the crab Monster's shell across its back. The cavity beyond it was utterly empty, holding nothing but red body fluid that had yet to finish draining away.
"Doctor? Doctor?"
(Translated by yourtl.app)