If it had been a Great Wild Boar King, or a Blue Velocidrome, the damage inflicted by Gordon and Oshura would have been enough to kill them.
But for the King Yian Kut-Ku, which was much larger, had stronger defenses, and was far more resilient, this was still not enough.
Although its body was covered in knife wounds and bullet holes, in reality, apart from that initial Sleep Cut, all other wounds were shallow surface injuries, only causing it pain and blood loss, but not playing a decisive role in the outcome.
Fortunately, the Hunters were not in a hurry; in fact, "grinding down damage" was the norm when hunting large monsters.
At this point, Oshura had already loaded her fourth Lv3 Normal Ammo magazine; she had only carried five such magazines in total, amounting to sixty rounds of Lv3 Normal Ammo.
If all of them were used up, she would only be able to use the slightly less powerful Lv2 Normal Ammo.
"Bang, bang, bang."
Taking advantage of the King Yian Kut-Ku's fatigue, Oshura quickly emptied the magazine; a twelve-round capacity for Lv3 Normal Ammo was already quite generous for a Light Bowgun, but it still wasn't enough.
Dexterously replacing the last Lv3 Normal Ammo magazine in the monster bird's wrath, Oshura's gaze involuntarily flickered to the end of her utility belt, to the magazines with red markings.
—Fire Bullet.
This special ammunition, made primarily from gunpowder grass, would burn intensely upon hitting its target, making it very effective against monsters like the King Yian Kut-Ku, which had long fur and feared fire.
However, recalling the miserable sight of the King Yian Kut-Ku's scorched fur at the end of previous hunts, and Gordon's suggestion on the way to the wetlands, Oshura hesitated for a second.
Ultimately, she tugged at her ammunition belt, pulling a Lv2 Normal Ammo magazine into an easy-to-reload position.
As for Fire Bullet, she would wait until it was truly necessary.
On the other side, for Gordon, a Great Sword User, there was no such dilemma as Oshura's; his only concern at the moment was the sharpness of his Burst Blade.
Bloodstains and fat would dull an otherwise sharp blade.
The intense battle with the King Yian Kut-Ku had been going on for some time, and he could distinctly feel that the Burst Blade's hook-like claw no longer cut into the monster's fur as smoothly as before.
Gordon really wanted to find an opportunity to take out his whetstone and sharpen his blade to restore the weapon's sharpness, but the King Yian Kut-Ku was currently in a fatigued state, its movements becoming sluggish, which was the best opportunity for Attack Up; sharpening the blade would just have to wait.
Perhaps it was due to continuous injuries making it furious, or perhaps the half-burnt nitrated Mushroom it had just eaten took effect; the King Yian Kut-Ku, which had been panting, suddenly stood upright again.
After a furious roar, it actually regained its energy.
It pounded its chest several times with its claws, then propped itself up with its arms and hunched over, spewing hot gas mixed with a pungent stench and sparks from its mouth in a fan-shaped spray towards Gordon.
Gordon had already sensed something was wrong when the King Yian Kut-Ku began pounding its chest.
When a monster makes unusual movements, it is usually preparing for some special Attack Up; this is common knowledge for Hunters.
So, he put away his weapon in advance and began to retreat.
But even so, the King Yian Kut-Ku's extremely wide-ranging scorching breath still burned his left arm; the Refined Ore Set's alloy armor offered almost no defense against such high-temperature gas.
Gordon felt as if a bottle of boiling water had been poured on his left arm, and the intense burning pain made him let out a muffled groan.
He could feel the King Yian Kut-Ku's gaze locked onto him; at a time like this, he absolutely could not reveal that he was injured, otherwise, the opponent would surely seize the opportunity to Attack Up.
"It's just some minor burns."
Gritting his teeth and enduring the sharp pain, Gordon tugged at the corner of his mouth, then once again drew his Burst Blade and actively charged towards the King Yian Kut-Ku, which had just finished its breath Attack Up.
The King Yian Kut-Ku clearly hadn't expected that this damned Hunter in front of it would be "unscathed" after its breath Attack Up.
It was truly exhausted; the blood flowing from its wounds had drained too much of its stamina, and if this continued, it might not be long before it truly fell.
"Hoo-hoo!"
Waving its arms to force the Hunter back, the King Yian Kut-Ku let out two intimidating low growls, then turned and, with an agility unsuited to its size, climbed the rocky mountain and fled towards the distant rainforest.
Twenty meters away, Oshura's offensive still hadn't stopped.
A series of crossbow bolts chased the fleeing King Yian Kut-Ku, firing continuously until the magazine was empty, only then did she unhurriedly take out a paintball and load it into the monster bird's wrath's crossbow barrel.
A brief aim, then fire.
"Splat!"
The special dye, emitting a strong odor, burst open on the King Yian Kut-Ku's back.
This paint-bullet was the crossbow version of the paintballs commonly used by Hunters to track monsters; with it, Hunters no longer needed to worry about losing track of a monster.
Confirming that the King Yian Kut-Ku had gone far, Oshura immediately put away her monster bird's wrath and jogged over to Gordon's side.
"Are you hurt?"
Gordon grimaced and nodded, "Yeah, my left arm got scorched by the scorching breath, but it shouldn't be serious."
Oshura's expression immediately turned serious, "Quick, take off your wrist guard and let's look; your metal-type armor has the worst resistance to high temperatures and flames."
With Oshura's help, Gordon removed his still somewhat hot left wrist guard.
Sure enough, his left arm was already covered in blisters, and in two places, the skin had even been peeled off by the metallic armor plates.
After a careful examination, Oshura breathed a sigh of relief.
"You retreated quite timely; you were only scorched by the high-temperature gas at the edge of the breath, so the problem isn't very big. Did you bring recovery medicine?" Oshura said, pouring water from her canteen onto Gordon's left arm to cool his skin.
"I brought it, I brought it."
Gordon took out the recovery medicine, gulped it down in one go, smacked his lips feeling it might not be enough, and then drank another bottle.
The recovery medicine's efficacy was as satisfying as ever; after two bottles of recovery medicine and a few minutes of rest, Gordon felt the burning sensation on his left arm's burns significantly reduced.
Even where the skin had broken and bled, tender pink new skin had grown.
Oshura, meanwhile, stood by with a small knife, helping Gordon pop the blisters; under the continued effects of the recovery medicine, these popped blisters would soon dry and fall off, and there was no need to worry about infection.
Another few minutes passed.
Gordon moved his left arm; the burning sensation had completely disappeared, replaced by the itchiness of new skin growing. He nodded with satisfaction, "That's about it."
Oshura also wasn't overly worried.
For Hunters who constantly roamed the Hunting Field, fighting various monsters, this type of skin burn was no different from a scrape; after all, a couple of recovery medicine and some rest would heal it.
After re-equipping his wrist guard, Gordon half-crouched, resting his Burst Blade on his thigh, and began to sharpen his weapon.
"How about it, do you need to go back to the Hunting Camp to rest?" Oshura asked, sitting cross-legged with her arms crossed.
"No way, letting that guy rest for a night would be like starting all over again, wouldn't it? Once I sharpen my blade, we'll catch up and finish it off in one go." Gordon said, somewhat fiercely.
Oshura smiled at his words, "That's the spirit we need! Let's go! Let's take it down before the sun sets!"
--+--
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.
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