For any Hunter, tracking monster footprints is a fundamental skill.
Peach-hair Beasts, with an average weight exceeding 200 kilograms, are not adept at climbing trees, which undoubtedly greatly reduced the difficulty for the Hunters to track them. Gordon and Oshura quickly found the next set of footprints, confirming the direction these Peach-hair Beasts had taken.
The rest was much simpler.
While Gordon cleared the path ahead, he continuously tracked the footprints left by the Peach-hair Beast group. As an Archer with more acute senses, Oshura was responsible for guarding the surroundings, preventing other large monsters from intruding.
Zhu Pa was dispatched by Gordon to conduct an advance reconnaissance of the rocky mountain where the Peach-hair Beast's nest was located.
Today's Zhu Pa was no longer the novice Hunting Cat who could only follow its master, providing slight support and standing guard while Gordon carved monster materials.
Now, its experience, skill, and combat ability were all sufficient to shoulder the heavy responsibility of a scout.
Gordon hoped it could ascertain in advance how many Peach-hair Beasts were active near the nest, and most importantly, whether the King Yian Kut-Ku was in the vicinity.
As long as this information could be obtained, the subsequent hunt could be strategically planned, rather than being a chance encounter battle.
Soon after Zhu Pa left the team, Gordon and Oshura discovered the tracks of the Peach-hair Beasts they were pursuing.
These pink-haired gorillas, which stood over a person's height when upright, were now leisurely sprawled beside a giant anthill, using their razor-sharp long claws to dig into the anthill and excavate termites to eat.
"One male, three females, four in total. What do you think?"
Gordon, hidden behind a large tree covered in vines, turned his head to look at Oshura behind him, his hand on the Burst Blade's hilt indicating his stance.
Oshura grinned, bringing the monster bird's wrath, which was slung over her back, to the front, then made a "do as you please" gesture.
Both had the same idea: although these four Peach-hair Beasts hadn't provoked them, they wanted to clear obstacles for the subsequent hunt for the King Yian Kut-Ku, and also to practice their coordination before the formal hunt began.
They could only apologize.
A hint of bloodlust appeared in Gordon's eyes. He twisted his neck, and with a crisp crackling of bones, he charged towards the four Peach-hair Beasts.
"Ooh!"
"Roar!"
Gordon's hostile actions predictably ignited the Peach-hair Beasts' fury.
These short-tempered gorillas, who often actively attacked humans, beat their chests, letting out threatening roars, and then bared their proud claws.
The leading male Peach-hair Beast charged at the forefront. It stood upright, its raised claws making its physique appear even larger.
Facing the rapidly approaching Hunter, it leaned forward, its sharp claws carrying the force of its massive body pressing down, seemingly intending to tear the Hunter who dared to disturb their meal into pieces.
Gordon neither dodged nor retreated. Maintaining the distance, just as he was about to enter the Peach-hair Beast's Attack Up range, he swung down the Burst Blade from his back with a vertical slash.
Thanks to precise distance control, the Peach-hair Beast's full-force Attack Up missed, while the heavy and incredibly sharp Burst Blade in Gordon's hand solidly struck the Peach-hair Beast's shoulder.
Flesh splattered, leaving a huge wound on the latter's black belly.
The strongest of the few Peach-hair Beasts was instantly critically wounded!
"Oh, I didn't realize, you usually seem so polite, but you're so ferocious when hunting?"
Oshura, leaning back and holding up her crossbow, chuckled. Her finger, encased in a wrist guard, was already on the trigger, and the bolt in the chamber was ready to fire at any moment.
Ahead.
Gordon knew that with just one more horizontal slash, he could easily kill this Peach-hair Beast.
That last strike was definitely fatal; even if he left this one alone, it would die in a few minutes from massive blood loss and internal organ prolapse.
If he were hunting alone, he would have decisively followed up with that strike, but now, he directly sheathed his weapon, accelerating his steps to bypass the wailing, fallen male Peach-hair Beast, and charged towards other targets ahead.
"Bang, bang, bang."
Three continuous and rhythmic explosions rang out. Gordon knew that Oshura in the rear had opened fire.
Three crossbow bolts instantly shot into the wound of the critically wounded male Peach-hair Beast. The horrific beast's howl abruptly ceased, and Oshura cleanly finished it off.
"Very smart, you didn't foolishly focus on just one." Oshura's lips curved upward. She gently tilted her neck, bringing a female Peach-hair Beast, farther from Gordon, into her scope.
The trigger was pulled.
"Bang, bang, bang"
One crossbow bolt after another, accompanied by flashes of fire, smoke, and the tearing shriek of air, shot out from the monster bird's wrath's exaggerated crossbow head, bursting into bloom after bloom of blood on the targeted Peach-hair Beast.
Judging the direction of Oshura's shots from the corner of his eye, and confirming that her target was still far from him and her line of fire did not overlap with his.
Gordon unhesitatingly swung the Great Sword in his hand towards the Peach-hair Beast in front of him.
This Peach-hair Beast was clearly startled by the instant death of its companion; it leaped back, seemingly having no intention of fighting Gordon head-on.
This resulted in Gordon's Attack Up missing.
But it didn't matter. Changing his footwork, engaging each joint layer by layer, he gradually guided the excess inertia generated by the Great Sword's missed swing, transforming it into his own momentum, integrating it into his next Attack Up.
"Whoosh!"
The unavoidable Peach-hair Beast howled and launched a counterattack, but there was no need to compare its claws, tens of centimeters long, with the Hunter's nearly two-meter-long steel great blade.
After a few moves, the Peach-hair Beast's head was severed, and its headless corpse fell limply into a pool of blood.
At the same time, not far away, the Peach-hair Beast targeted by Oshura also lost its life, covered in bullet holes.
In less than half a minute, only the pitiful last Peach-hair Beast remained of the original four.
Just then, Gordon and Oshura, with remarkable "tacit understanding," simultaneously ceased their attacks.
"..."
"..."
Gordon couldn't help but turn around, spreading his palms to Oshura and craning his neck, making a "What's up with you?" gesture, only to find that she simultaneously made the same expression back at him.
Actually, Gordon's thought was simple: the Peach-hair Beast's size couldn't completely "hide" him; if he rushed in, he would inevitably block the line of fire and affect Oshura's shooting.
And Oshura's thought was equally simple: since only one monster was left, Gordon alone could easily handle it, so her continued shooting would undoubtedly only increase risk and be completely pointless.
Instantly realizing each other's thoughts, both rolled their eyes simultaneously.
Forget it, I'll do it myself.
Gordon no longer hesitated and charged straight ahead. Oshura, having the same thought, also decisively pulled the trigger.
A volley of crossbow bolts whizzed past Gordon's ears, almost grazing them. He had to immediately stop to avoid being accidentally hit, and Oshura also quickly ceased her rapid fire.
"..."
"..."
Damn it, this guy and I have absolutely no chemistry! X2
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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