First Official Mission - Part 2

"Forward!"

As the magical beasts approached, the hunters on site began to act. Some adopted strategic formations to maximize their effectiveness, the mages stayed in the rear casting spells, the archers fired arrows enhanced with mana, and the support classes boosted their companions’ abilities.

For a rookie in the field like me, seeing a scene with so many techniques and movements was astonishing, and we couldn’t afford to fall behind.

The magical beasts we were now fighting were called Lizhards, humanoid monsters with reptilian appearances. Unlike the Tuskens, these were even capable of using melee weapons, so caution was necessary.

"Clang!"

"Ugh, these things are disgusting…" Yu muttered after blocking the sword of one of them.

After that, he deflected the weapon with great force and cut its head off with movements so fluid it was hard to distinguish them. Another Lizhard tried to attack him from behind, but after spinning his spear at incredible speed, he struck the beast’s jaw with the shaft; then he turned to me.

"All yours, Touka!"

I quickly aimed at the magical beast, and with the click of the trigger, the bullet shot out with great force, piercing the monster’s chest, which writhed in pain, until a second bullet to the skull finished the job, and its corpse fell to the ground.

"That thing is really strong…" Yu added, astonished.

I continued shooting the surrounding monsters. My bullets hit their heads or chests, almost always causing lethal damage. However, eventually, my magazine emptied, and I had to reload—just as a Lizhard tried to attack me from behind, but Yu intercepted it quickly.

"Th-thank you!"

"Don’t worry about the monsters! You shoot, I’ve got your back!" he replied before running off to continue fighting.

It was true. Unlike before, now I had someone fighting alongside me. Additionally, the civilians had been evacuated, and the rest of the hunters were advancing impressively. The only thing I had to focus on now, as Yu said, was shooting.

After reloading my rifle, I returned to the battle, this time more effectively because I didn’t have to worry about anything else. Monsters that previously fell after two bullets now dropped with just one shot to the skull, leaving them no chance to even get close.

I also sensed monsters trying to attack me from behind, but as Yu said, he intercepted them and didn’t let any reach me.

The battle continued like this. The number of monsters was enormous, but thanks to everyone’s coordination and effort, their numbers gradually dwindled until none remained.

We had finished the horde, but there was no time to relax.

"Hey, where’s the boss?" a hunter asked from a distance.

If we didn’t take down the boss monster, the lesser monsters would keep appearing indefinitely. Normally, this isn’t a problem because the boss always comes with them, but now there was nothing. In fact, the field was eerily quiet.

Murmurs filled the field, everyone nervous about the strange situation, and then someone drew our attention.

"Over there! There’s the boss monster!"

Just as they said, in the distance, the shadow of a huge monster could be seen through the fog. All the hunters prepared for battle, but as the beast drew closer, everyone started to worry.

This dome was supposed to be rank C, so…

"What is a rank A beast doing here?!" they shouted from afar.

The monster was quite tall and had a humanoid figure, but with long, massive arms it also used to walk; it was muscular, and its body seemed covered by a very tough armor; it had a long tail with dorsal spikes running even up its back; it didn’t seem to have visible eyes; and, as if that weren’t enough, it had enormous, sharp claws. A true rank A magical beast—a Jawer.

Faced with the monster, which approached with seemingly clumsy steps, many hunters, likely novices, rushed to attack the magical beast. However, its grotesque jaw opened in an attack stance, and it leaped with great force and speed, crushing a large number of them with its massive arms.

Its speed was incredible; I don’t recall ever seeing anyone move like that during this mission.

The shocking and brutal scene terrified the other hunters who had advanced, screaming at the top of their lungs as they watched their comrades being slaughtered by their recklessness. However, the screams didn’t last long, as the Jawer continued attacking, even devouring anyone who got close. Its jaw opened horizontally in a terrifying manner, just like the armor of its face, revealing a multitude of large, grotesque eyes, and a massive tongue shot out to snare its prey.

"In formation, now!" one of the hunters commanding his team shouted.

All the hunters prepared their formations, casting spells and boosting their teams, but I couldn’t move. It was the first time since entering the academy that I had seen such a brutal scene. My hands trembled, and I felt cold sweat trickling down.

"…Is this the end for me?"

"Touka, calm down."

"But…!"

"If you give in to panic, you won’t attack properly," Yu said, readying his weapon. "Things haven’t changed; I cover you, and you shoot."

Seeing him so confident was reassuring. I tried to calm myself as he said, but it was difficult. My breathing wouldn’t settle, and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

"Tell me… can we really do anything against that thing?"

"Yes," he replied confidently. "Just be careful and don’t let your guard down."

Once the magical beast finished off the first group, its attention shifted to the rest, and, as with the previous team, it charged at great speed. Luckily, the mages reacted quickly and together deployed a barrier that stopped the attack, but not for long; the monster struck the barrier a few times and broke it, though it bought enough time for the mages to cast a powerful spell that hit the beast’s face, stunning it in the process.

Seizing the opportunity, the armed hunters imbued their weapons with mana and ran to attack the monster, but its armor was so tough that only a few could leave a mark.

Additionally, the beast quickly recovered and started moving violently, trying to push away the hunters attacking it. Without stopping, it aimed at the area with the most targets using its arms, and though they managed to dodge by jumping aside, it was futile after the next attack—the beast struck with its tail, sending them all flying.

The mages tried to cast more spells to attack, but the Jawer noticed and ran toward them. He wasn’t going to give them time to finish their incantations.

"Touka, ready your weapon!" Yu shouted before running.

The beast lunged at the group of mages to devour them, but Yu intercepted it, striking the side of its head with his spear, diverting its trajectory and knocking the monster down. Yet, despite the heavy blow, the Jawer quickly got up to attack again, opening its jaw along with the face armor.

"Now!"

Hearing the signal, I aimed and fired straight at its head, but due to the beast’s constant movement, the bullet only hit one of its eyes, leaving it slightly disoriented, which Yu exploited to leap and strike it with his mana-charged spear, knocking it down with a single hit.

It really does have incredible strength.

"Everyone, this isn’t the boss monster!" he shouted. "Move forward and find the real one, I’ll stay to buy you time!"

"Are you crazy?! That’s suicide!"

"If you don’t, more monsters will appear and corner us!" Yu replied. "Don’t worry, I’ve got someone covering my back!" he said, looking at me.

"But…"

"Also, I get stage fright. I get nervous if too many people see me fighting, you know?"

Yu’s completely out-of-place comment left all the hunters dumbfounded, going from tense and terrified to irritated by his carefree attitude. This guy is never going to change…

"…Alright!" the lead hunter exclaimed. "Let’s go, the sooner we find it, the better for them!"

The area slowly emptied, leaving only Yu and me against the Jawer, which was already starting to get up after the previous hit.

"Yu… can we really win?"

"Of course! I just didn’t want to draw more attention than necessary, it would be problematic."

Definitely, I think you’ve already done that with your carefree attitude.

"RAAAARGH!"

The magical beast roared, signaling its return to the battle. Yu and I readied our weapons and took our positions, and after dodging the monster’s claws, the combat resumed.