The roar of wind at Altaïr's back made his scalp prickle.
He was not reckless enough to place complete trust in a Monster that had ambushed them only hours earlier. Just as the Lolo Gougarf feared the Hunters might join forces with the big-mouthed Monster against it, Altaïr feared the two Monsters might turn on them together.
The boulder whirled like a cyclone, its force rivaling the high-speed swings of a Duramboros's tail hammer. Even a glancing blow would shatter bones and tear sinews in an instant.
He was about to call for Isis to retreat.
"Waaahhh!!!" The boulder cyclone accelerated as the Lolo Gougarf at its center suddenly unleashed a thunderous roar.
Altaïr was taken aback.
Given the Lolo Gougarf's intelligence, it had to know that surprise attacks were most effective. Yet that roar sounded almost as if it were declaring, "I'm about to attack!"
Was it warning them to keep their distance?
Altaïr found that hard to believe. Would a Monster really cooperate with humans in good faith?
Normally, such cooperation was impossible. In the brutal natural world, the concept of "trust" barely existed.
And yet... perhaps there were exceptions. A pair of massive horns he remembered only from childhood rose in his mind.
"Incoming! Fall back!" Altaïr shouted.
With all her Ammo spent, Isis leaped aside. The unknown Monster also sensed the danger and tensed its limbs, ready to spring backward and open up some distance.
Altaïr had no intention of letting it escape so easily. He dashed in, his blade flashing, and cut off the Monster's retreat with a flurry of strikes. The instant it swung its claws at him, he used Foresight Slash to slip backward and widen the gap further.
"Now!" Altaïr found himself imitating Isis and shouting at the Lolo Gougarf.
"Waaahhh!!!"
The Lolo Gougarf whipped one arm upward, abruptly disrupting the fast-spinning boulder's balance and sending it soaring high into the air. The taut strands of silk nearly dragged the beast itself into the sky.
At that moment, however, it threw its body backward with all its might, using the powerful muscles in its arms and back to wrest the boulder under control.
With one final spin, the Lolo Gougarf took a long step forward and hauled the boulder into a sharp downward arc just as it nearly tore free of the silk. It slammed into the mysterious Monster's back like a falling meteor.
As though an enormous frog had been stomped flat, the Monster spewed blood, mucus, and stomach fluid from its mouth.
Even if the blow had not killed the Monster outright, it had surely left the creature half-dead.
The Lolo Gougarf released the silk, roared furiously, and pounced. With its powerful arms raised like a pair of bladed hammers, it mercilessly battered the Monster's head. Blood and chunks of flesh flew in every direction, accompanied by the crisp crack of breaking bones.
The Hunters watched in awe, instinctively backing away rather than be drawn into a battle that was clearly more than a simple territorial dispute.
Sensing that its life was in danger, the unknown Monster planted its powerful foreclaws against the ground and tried desperately to rise, only for the Lolo Gougarf's furious blows to hammer it back down.
It gave up trying to rise, lifted its already deformed head, and bit down on the massive claw descending toward it.
Its jaws closed with enough crushing force to shatter stone. The Lolo Gougarf howled in pain, but the agony did not drive it back. Instead, it inflamed its savage nature even further.
Its other enormous claw seized the Monster's upper jaw, heedless of the curved, hooklike fangs slicing into its palm and sending blood streaming down. The Lolo Gougarf roared with all its might as it tried to tear its opponent's jaws apart.
It had underestimated the strength of the Monster's bite. Even with all its strength, it could not pry the creature's mouth open. The enormous maw, reeking of blood, slowly closed.
If this continued, it would fail to tear the Monster's mouth apart, and both its own claws would be crushed as well.
Just then, a faint, cold gleam flashed across the unknown Monster's neck.
The Long Sword slid into its sheath with a soft click. A deep gash opened across the exposed vital point on the mysterious Monster's neck as it remained locked in a struggle with the Lolo Gougarf, and blood erupted like a fountain.
The slash had also severed several tendons connected to the Monster's jaw muscles.
The Lolo Gougarf felt the pressure on both its claws suddenly ease. It howled and unleashed all its strength at once.
Flesh and muscle tore with a sickening rip. The mysterious Monster's entire lower jaw came free along with a broad sheet of skin from its neck, and spraying blood dyed the surrounding ground red.
Despite its astonishing vitality, the unknown Monster still did not die immediately. Without its lower jaw, it raised its head and neck and loosed a silent howl.
In the next instant, the Lolo Gougarf grabbed the finlike tissue on either side of its head and viciously slammed its skull into the ground.
What followed was a relentless, seemingly endless barrage of savage blows.
Once. Ten times. Too many to count. Blood, pulped flesh, and shattered teeth flew everywhere. Only when the creature's head had been reduced to a shapeless mess and its twitching body finally went still did the frenzied Lolo Gougarf sit down, panting heavily.
"Whoa." Isis peered out from behind her upright Large Shield.
The shield's surface was splattered with bits of flesh and brain matter, which would be a nuisance to clean later, but she was still grateful for it. Without the Large Shield in front of her, she would have had to wash her entire set of armor instead.
Altaïr winced. He would be the one washing the entire set of armor.
He looked at the Lolo Gougarf, which was also drenched in blood and breathing heavily with its head bowed. For a moment, he was unsure how best to proceed.
Their main reason for joining the fight had been to gather more information about the unknown Monster.
They had learned something of its movement patterns during the battle, but the real prize was its corpse. Close observation and dissection could yield a wealth of critical intelligence.
The problem was that Altaïr did not know whether approaching the corpse now would provoke the Lolo Gougarf.
They had fought side by side moments ago, but the two sides were far from friendly. Besides, the creature seemed highly volatile.
They could drive it away by force, but that would be a last resort.
After a moment's hesitation, Altaïr remembered the claw from the Lolo Gougarf juvenile that he had stowed away that morning.
He had thought the coincidence unlikely, but the savage way this Lolo Gougarf had just beaten the unknown Monster to death made him question that assessment.
Simply producing the claw now would look suspicious. Altaïr considered his options, then approached the unknown Monster's corpse.
His movement caught the Lolo Gougarf's attention. Just as the Hunters did not trust it, it had not fully lowered its guard around them either.
Using the Monster's corpse as cover, Altaïr tossed the claw he had found that day into the pool of blood beside it, then made a show of retrieving it. Holding the claw in his hand, he walked toward the Lolo Gougarf.
The Lolo Gougarf rose to its feet and watched him warily, but its gaze soon fell on the curved claw in Altaïr's hand, barely ten centimeters long.
Its panting ceased, and the wariness in its gaze gave way to a dazed look.
Unease tugged at Altaïr as well. The claw did not necessarily belong to one of this Lolo Gougarf's young, and the unknown Monster was not necessarily its true enemy.
Then again, both might be true.
That was the allure of revenge. In large part, it was a form of self-gratification.
He tossed the juvenile's claw to the Lolo Gougarf. As it clutched the claw and let out soft, whimpering sobs, Altaïr backed away several steps.
"This should keep it from interfering while we examine the Monster's corpse, right?" Altaïr muttered to himself.
Isis came up beside him, slapped him firmly on the back, and chuckled. "Come on, if you want to do it, just do it. Why make up so many excuses?"
Altaïr did not reply. He turned and walked toward the Monster's corpse.
Isis lingered for a few more seconds. Just as she was about to leave, the Lolo Gougarf suddenly stiffened and rose to its feet.
It pricked up its ears and listened for a moment, then gave a low growl that drew the Hunters' attention.
Morgan, who was keeping watch, reacted at once. He turned to Clawdia beside him. "Can you smell anything?"
Clawdia rubbed her nose. "The corpse stinks too much, meow. I can't smell anything else, meow."
"Wooah! Wooah!" The Lolo Gougarf roared twice more, then cocked its head toward the Hunters in an almost human gesture.
When the Hunters still did not move, it beckoned to them with one hand, then limped off into the forest.
Isis and Morgan looked to Altaïr. He had already drawn his Carving Knife to examine the corpse, but now he frowned in thought.
In the end, he put the knife away. "Let's follow it first."
(Translated by yourtl.app)