Chapter Fiveteen Part 2: "Cheating [Outwitting Opponents]"

Path of Fallen Beasts.

"Miss Vieze! Master Radu! There's something strange!" Yelled Ran, now in a crouching position, in the middle of observation using a Felyne-sized pair of Binoculars.

As they are still locked in position, simply turning their heads away from the seemingly unending horde of Bullfangos is not an option.

"Just state what is strange!" Yelled Radu, his Maverick spewing bursts of blue and yellow colored shells. Likewise, Vieze utilizes the high voltage contained within the blade, making small cuts at the beasts' neck, thus effectively sending that current into their nervous system. With the fallen bodies acting as fort, the two stood as a vanguard for the smaller figure behind.

"There's something...black? -flowing from the direction of Phantom Waterfall!"

Hearing that, the two's attention finally shifted.

"That isn't possible! The Jho, as well as Dusk was in the Fallen Woods right now!" Croaked Radu in confusion, pointing to the thick stream of black particles creeping up the cliff.

"But the stream from there is thicker! Could it be whatever controlling the Jho hiding in there?"

The two suddenly came to realization: that was also one possibility.

Then, if they can kill-or destroy-anything that lies behind the bridge, can they help Dusk defeat the Jho?

The decision was made in a flash.

"Who will go? One of us must stay here, defending the Launchers and activating it when Dusk gives the signal." Said Radu, re-counting the number of bullets he have left. Darn it, must've spent too much on those ants. Only one Pierce and the pair of Wyvern Fire left, noted him while reloading. If only I can restock-

"Hey cat." "What is it, pervert-in-full-body-Khezu-suit?"

Despite the situation they're in, Vieze can't resist the urge to laugh hearing that conversation and thus spat out some saliva in a mundane attempt of keeping a tensed expression.

He IS wearing that underneath his Gypceros Set.

"Darn it. Can you go through that mess and fetch me my bullets in the Supply Box?" "-depends on what you're willing to pay. And oh, no more Felvines."

"Crimson Seabream or Hairy Tuna. Pick one." Offered the Gunner, keeping aim on two nearby gigantic boar-like creature which squealed, making threat at the gunner. He brought it down with another dose of Sleep Shot.

"Those two plus Goldenfish Brew and Pink Caviar." Bargained the Lynian.

"Rip-off!" "Take it or leave it, nya." Answered the small creature, already performing stretching movement.

The three of them know that there's no other option other than that plan, so while mumbling words of annoyment, he agreed.

"Miss Vieze?" "Got it."

She held the blade horizontally, readying for a stab. Meanwhile, the glow strengthened.

"Just as you know, nya." Said the purple-colored Felyne, readying for crouching-start. "I was once known as Yukumo Senpuu (Yukumo's Whirlwind)."

"Pierce through!" Yelled Vieze, lunging forward. As the blade's glow reached its blinding climax, a bolt of thunder was shot from the tip of the blade, striking everything in its path; in this case, the Bulldrome horde. Few moments later, the white afterglow gradually cleared from their eyes leaving a large amount of slightly charred bodies; the purple-colored Felyne has already took off.

Meanwhile, Radu eyed something on the cliffside. It was a loose boulder held by some thick brances. Must've been from the landslide earlier?, thought him as a plan formulated in his mind.

"Vie. Did you think the Yukumo villagers would be mad if I temporarily make this route a dead-end?" He said again, eyes signaling to that boulder's direction.

Vieze quickly grasped his intent. After all, they often Hunted together if there's any occasion, unlike Dusk who prefer to do it alone.

"I'll apologize with you then. But wouldn't it affect the Launchers set on the wall?"

"We can still make it with only the ones set on the cliffside. If things go for the worst, I can probably carry one or two pipes on my shoulder and set them off manually. They're basically Digger Shafts with two-phase acceleration, and Gandart made the first propulsion fuel detachable." He pointed to the nearest Launcher, and Vieze noted that at the end of the metal tube there's a part that can be unscrewed.

"But wouldn't that...damage your body?" Asked the concerned girl. "If you tried it, probably the knockback would throw you few yards. And if you rested the back against stone or something, it would block the exhaust, making the temperature rise and the charges contained inside explode."

Vie shivered from fear, imagining what would happen to one activating the fuse.

"So it's either that, or we waited for Dusk. I don't expect he stick with the original plan after all these...what did he call it? Unknown variables?-keep popping one after another-"

Radu throws another mean look to Vieze, but the latter didn't seem to notice, given his face is still contained within the rubbery Gyp hide.

"I got it nya!"

"Good work...no!"

Ran returned with a satchel full of new cartridges...but tailed by more than ten Jaggias. Seeing that, Vieze acted quickly and throws a Flash to the ground-

A bang later, and the group of Jaggias' course of running veered everywhere: some crashed to the rock wall, some jumped off the cliff-

But one in particular is heading on a crash-course with the Launcher's simultaneous launch trigger. "Shit!" Radu fumbled, the cartridge with Pierce Shots slipped from his hands due to sudden movement. He'll not going to make-

STAB.

And in the next moment, a freshly-deceased Jaggia corpse was nailed by its neck to the rockwall by a glowing, unusually curved nail.

Vieze has thrown her Violet Line as a last-ditch resort.

"Huh. If you have that much accuracy, you should try using Bowguns." Praised Radu, now picking up the fallen cartridge, while Ran restocked the bullet cases on his strap-on holder. "Remember, Hairy Tuna, Crimson Seabream, Goldfish Brew and Pink Caviar! Mmm, I can already taste them..." Said the Felyne, licking her lips in anticipation.

Radu's shoulders drooped. That feast would set him back a couple hundred Zennies.

Although he was planning to make Dusk pay for it later, by the way.

After a loud explosion, a local man-made landslide occurred on Path of Fallen Beasts, blocking the access from Abandoned Village. Radu can blow that rubble anytime using Crags, but the beasts would have a rough time passing that.

"We'll leave the Launchers with you then. Hopefully it will not be what we are expecting, but..."

"No problem nya! In fact, if I can defend these Launchers, my points on Danna-sama's eyes will rise! And we will have hot, steamy-ufufu gehehe..."

The two decided to leave the Felyne deep in her delusions, and reminding Dusk to keep his guard on all times when Ran is nearby later.

Phantom Waterfall.

Thankfully, their prediction missed the mark. There wasn't a dragon-made-god or anything like that here.

But something else did. Namely, a strange thick darkness emanating from the top of the tree at which Dusk collected the Narga Scales.

"I guess...the source for all that black-misty-thingy are up there?" Asked Vieze, her Violet Line, retrieved with much difficulty considering how deep it was embedded, now held in ready stance.

The fact that there's two lairs full of six-legged creature nearby didn't help to calm down her tension. In fact, cold sweats has decorated her pale face.

Radu half-expected she would skewer whatever creature moving on the background, given how stiff her movement looked. He didn't want to get...impaled on accident, so he walked slowly and as careful as he can not to make any sudden movement.

Strangely enough, the expectation of them getting surrounded by gigantic, acid-spitting ants turns out to be unproven. The nests are destroyed, seemingly from the inside. Did whatever controlling those beasts has already mobilized the Altaroth swarm? Or, maybe the ones from before was from those nests?

A strange wave of fear emerged from the corners of Radu's mind. He always have this kind of panic attacks when losing his exceptional sensing ability; it was just like walking through woods in the middle of the night with a single stick of candle: you can't see further than the light allows, and god helps if somehow the wind blows the candle off. Most of the time he can fight that back using self-reassurement, but this time it's nagging at him strongly.

The amount didn't quite match.

Even if those two 'nests' are actually one, with different exits, the number of Altaroths is far too little.

A nedium-sized nest can contain more than three hundred workers. Judging from the surface area covered by the swarm from before, he can safely say that there were less than two hundred individual Altaroths attacking him on the narrow Path before.

So, where's the remaining neopterons?

"Wait."

Radu aimed his right-hand Maverick, which is loaded with Pierce Shots.

He can't explain it, but he can just feel something was wrong.

He pointed the gun at the dried tree, pulled the trigger...

And there was greenish liquid splattered where the projectile pierced the wood. It was not sap.

"! They had invested the tree!" Yelled Radu, switching his weapons' ammunition. Using the newly-retrieved Fire Shots, he showered the tree with highly volatile compound which burns near the temperature of melting iron.

The ambush strategy has been thwarted. If they climbed the tree without suspecting anything, by this time their body would have been torn to pieces from the vice-like mandibules. But fortunately for them, whoever devised the trap didn't take the probability of someone burning down the tree so…

With snap, crackle and pop, the hundred-years old tree snapped into two. Nauseating smell from burned Altarouth body filled the air, along with the smell like incense being burned-

Strange, Radu actually felt this aroma familiar. Like he's been exposed to it many times before…oh, he feel a little light-headed?

! So that's why the Sleep Shots didn't work on them! They have developed tolerance by-

"! Move back Vie! They probably have ingested Sleep Herbs before hiding inside the trunk!" Yelled the Gunner, ejecting the magazine containing Pierce Shots and reaching for the fewer than 10 Crag Launchers-

He fired one on the ground just below the broken tree after aiming.

THOOM!

The surge of energy from chemical reaction between volatile compounds displaced the air containing the narcolepsy-inducing smoke, clearing it away. But the substance has already absorbed into their body-

"…now I'm…sleepy…" whispered Vie, looking ready to drop and sleep on the spot, using the Violet Line sheath as walking cane. Meanwhile, Radu who has been taking medicine from the ingredient for a long time only feel a little light-headed, which he remedied by smacking Maverick's barrel against his thigh.

"I think the blast finished most of those creepers…" He said, detaching the left-over parts from the launcher and reloaded the Pierces again.

The upper part of the tree has fallen to the side, blocking the hole leading to the caverns. They didn't have anything to do there, though-and that also means that the Jaggis cannot pass, so it was a bit of a luck that it did.

Moreover…

"Is this it?"

A strange black lump was rolling towards his direction.

Darkness was flowing…no. Pulsing from that object was pure darkness. It was so dark that even 'darkness' can't describe it properly. Void. A gap in the environment. Yes, that is what it could only be.

He jumped back when that darkness tried to climb his greaves, and released few shots on the object. Those Pierce don't even leave a scratch, figuratively speaking.

"Vie? Wake up. We have something-a Part to break."

Fallen Woods.

"Grah!"

It's no use, Fangless. No matter what you try, you will not able to defeat me.

The voice coming from the reanimated Jho's corpse was stained with tone of disrespect and mocking, but he could care less.

His 'sword' needs to be sharpened. But not too much, lest the blade would be shavped down too much.

His joints was screaming from pain of being abused with movement near-exceeding limits of human while bearing load greater than the usual.

His armor was dented in several places, including the helmet. He nearly get beheaded by a bite attack due to an Altaroth grabbing his legs.

He has reached the state of ultimate exhaustion. Not even the most concentrated Power Juice can do any good for him now.

But…

Something told him that this was not the time for giving up.

It was not a voice. It was not even a sound. Not a thought, not a memory, not a sensation, not anything.

But it burned inside him. Lighting up his body. Clearing up the fog of doubt.

Could this small flame of his erase the darkness that has engulfed the world around?

He didn't know. More like, he could care less.

He once again tightened his grip on the battered sword.

No time for self-reflection.

He have a match with a God. Right now.

Another stomp coming from above. Using the smallest movement available to dodge for saving stamina, he slid his feet sideways, releasing a upward slash between the creature's toes.

As it has been throughout the match, the black particles gathered into the wound, sealing-no, rejoining the two halves.

Even the cut tendon from before was repaired using the same method. The match was stuck in a stalemate: Dusk can injure the Jho as much as he liked, but it would be healed immediately by the black particles.

But there are things that can break the equilibrium, like the fact that Dusk was -in every sense other than an unverified claim that he bears the soul of an Elder Dragon- a human. Like everyone else, his stamina is not bottomless...well, nearly rock-bottom now.

Not to mention his weapon is in shambles. Forget sharpening, he can already see cracks on its main body.

"Please hold on for a few attacks..." He grumbled to himself, giving the altered remains of the Golem Blade a quick tap. You can still be useful, he murmured.

Have you rested enough? There has not been a Hunter that can entertain me like this in the past few hundred years...

"Oh yeah? I'm flattered. Now can you drop dead?" Said Dusk jokingly.

I'm fascinated with your jest, but no. Now, Fangless Dusk, bearer of Rahzhilkes' Soul, show me the dance of Hunting that the puny humans has developed while I'm sealed!

"Cheh!"

And thus the showdown [dance] of life and death resumed for the two.

Meanwhile,

Phantom Waterfall.

"Break that, you say..." Said Vieze, watching the strange egg-shaped object resting on the ground continued to spew forth black particles. "Do you already have any idea how to do that? And more importantly, is it safe for us to be near it? If the story was true then whatever that thing is, it could control beasts...would us human, in one sense, also a beast?" Asked Vieze, taking precaution by putting her handkerchief before her mouth and nostrils.

Radu, however, retorted with a question. "True, we may be beings that can be considered beasts-of Knowledge, it is. But if it do can control us, why didn't it do it from the start?"

Vie looked at him blankly-she didn't quite understand.

"This is only my hypothesis, but this black fog...is something akin of a imitation nervous system. It connects-, no, hijacks beasts' body, enabling that being to use them as it was part of its own body. However..."

He walked to the object and gives it a mean stomp.

Vie shrieked lightly seeing that, jumping back and readied her sword for whatever coming.

...

Silence.

Only a steady stream of black particles continued to be produced from said item soundlessly.

"...either this mist can't do anything-even sensing us- without a suitable host, or it was tricking us." He said, continued to put his body weight on the foot he's using to step.

"Us Humans are strange creatures. Instead of going for stability of quadruped, we travelled the path of upright locomotion. Even if there's also beasts with opposable thumb to grasp object, the ability to use tools with it was our greatest achievement. We can do this naturally because we have learned it since our birth-"

"Then..."

"The final conclusion is: it probably can invest human, but couldn't control it due to differences. Think writing right-handed when you usually did left-handed." Concluded Radu, picking up the 'egg'.

"But this doesn't instantly guarantee our safety; that black something did enter our body... Also, those Altaroths hidden in the tree may not the final trap set for us, so stay vigilant." He said, pointing his gun to a nearby stone wall-made from the watered-down version of Charmstone and sprayed bullet on it. Before long, a small crater opened.

Radu took out few fresh Sap Plant growing nearby and stuffed it on the crater-

Then jammed the black egg-shaped thing into it. The sap glued the object onto the rock wall, steadying it for some punishment.

"So. One will try to break this, while the other stayed watch. Who will try first?" He asked again, ejecting the empty magazine and reloaded using the strongest Pierce on his inventory- "-let me say something first. Longsword users are suited for one-by-one close-range combat whereas a Gunner...well, especially a DualGunner like me can take on several beasts at once from range. That, combined with the fact Sap Plant-based glue will decompose under high temperature..."

Vie nodded. "I understand. Guard me, my knight." Said her, half-joking.

But Radu took that seriously- "-I thought your personal knight in shining armor-both figuratively and not-was Dusk?"

-and Vie suddenly let's out a slash with speed that Radu's eyes can't follow. All that he can see is that a line...a violet-colored streak was tearing the space before him.

Now he truly realized the reason why Dusk named the weapon held in the girl's hand 'Violet Line'. No, it's not only because the color of the blade-

If Dusk was known as 'The Creator' due to his ability to make pieces of arms and he was known as 'Ivory Rain' for his tendency to...go trigger happy-

Vie was known as Swordswoman of Light. The title was given because the speed of her slash was so quick that normal people can't see her sword travel-they can only see the afterimage of a white glint from the Lightcrystal embedded on her sword as a cutting edge.

Now, Kirin Horns are a rare Material known for its ability to generate electricity when swung. The researchers speculate that this material act like solidified wool, gathering static charges from friction with air. Thus, the larger the distance it travels on air, meaning more friction the stronger the charge would be.

But they overlooked something-or maybe, the requirement was so unreasonable that they deemed it as impossible.

There is a way to increase friction without adding the distance travelled.

The keyword was resistance, relativity and speed.

If you move your arms underwater, you will experience resistence, yes? Because you forced the material to shift aside, allowing the object which is your hand move around.

Try to move your hand faster. You'll notice that the water is heavier.

Why is that?

Because in order to move faster, you will need to move more particle. In theory, the amount of the particle should be the same, but let's don't forget one important thing that is speed of the flow.

You displaced the water. They moved aside.

But it was not instaneous. The water needed time to flow. Thus, if you moved your hand more quickly you will be trying to displace not only the amount of water needed to fill the space that your arm was once before, but also the water flowing TO the very same space.

The same thing prevented Radu's tribe from making a Sailer that is both large and fast.

So if you can move a weapon made from Kirin material quick enough through the air to make it experience that phenomenon...

"Dammit Dusk, you gave Vie-"

Radu can only shield his eyes when a localized lightning coming from the blade struck that black-colored object repeatedly.

Fallen Woods.

"?"

It was faint, but Dusk could hear something. And so did whatever god residing in the Jho's corpse.

It was like thunder, yet too weak to be one. Also, it comes from the direction of Phantom Waterfall above them.

Heh. So she actually used Violet Line properly this time, noted Dusk to himself.

Earlier, there's also repeated explosions coming from the direction of the Path where the Shafts are placed.

Kazehana, riding on the air current far above informed that both Radu and Vieze was now trying to do something to an item embedded in a rock wall.

For a second...

Dusk can feel it. The tide is being reversed.

Whatever the two are doing right now, certainly was something that can cause the immortal god to-even if for just a second-freeze in fear.

"Hey, eyes down here." Said Dusk cheerfully when the Jho glanced a peek to the cliff directly above them. Before the Jho can even shift its eyes back on him, he was already running towards it-or to be precise, the already healed tendon: he has a suspicion to be cleared.

Trakkk!

A crisp sound was made by the 'blade' upon contacting the scab-like formation of black particles, shattering it back into fog-like state. It dispersed for just an instant before again solidifying-

But that instant was enough.

"So. You can't truly 'heal' the injuries, after all. You only patched them temporarily, just like a stitch." Said him, checking the condition of the weapon. The cracks was getting wider...

"And if the part has been completely detached from the body, you can't reattach them, since this black thingie lack the power to move things by itself: the so-called recovery are limited to the wounds appearing on the borrowed body." Said him again, grinning widely beneath that cracked helmet.

Suppose that was the truth. What good can that piece of knowledge gives you? Asked the God with another mocking tone.

"Oh, I assure you-"

He jumped back and pulled a rope hidden beneath the half-rotting leaves-

"-that much gave me more chance in winning."

SSSSSHHHHCCCCHINK!

With a distinctive sound of metal scraping each other, three straight metal blades, much like the bone one he is using right now emerged behind the Jho-piercing though its tail.

Following that, two more blades, taken from Carbalite Greatswords emerged from the first's side, closing in before its body could react-

-and severing a good length of said body part.

"-gotcha." Said Dusk in the midst of a ear-piercing wail, in which the Jho teethered out of sudden shift in balance.

Guillotine Trap. Another overspecialized trap that he suggested to the Guild as way to instantly kill a dangerous beast-or at least lowering its combat capability without needing to dispatch valuable Hunters. It was rejected because the unwieldy size and the amount of resource needed to create one was simply too much, not to mention transporting and setting it already a hassle in itself. Dusk-with the help of Gandart dissasembled several weapons in the store's stock to create one, yet they could only produce because of the rapidly approaching time limit.

"If you can't heal parts that has been detached from your body, then that's all I have to do: severing all limbs until you, the mighty god, was nothing but a giant trunk crawling on the ground."

HOW DARE YOU, A MERE FANGLESS-!

"Correction. You did said a little while back that I held Rahzhilkes-that is, another God's soul." Rebutted Dusk, making an angry snarl escaped the Jho's gritting fangs.

Crap. Me and my loud mouth are at this again... Groaned Dusk at the back of his mind.

He detached the near-broken blade by splitting the hilt lengthwise by some kind of mechanism, and replaced it using a new metal blade in a same outline taken from a secret compartment inside a rotting tree trunk next to the switch.

There are some difference, though.

The new blade was made from the lump previously meant to make a Heavy Bang, so it was colored disticntively red. And yet there's a speck of green in the midst of the blade: a weight, made from a lump of Dragonite was set in something akin to rail travelling the entirety of the blade's length. And there's some kind of a spring below the contraption.

It was made borrowing one of the numerous designs in the Crimson Code: the Dragonite weight can travel freely on the blade following the centripetal force, thus increasing the weight behind each attack while keeping the blade light.

"That's enough for practice. Honestly, I'm a Greatsword user...learning how to use Longswords in the midst of a Hunt is very hard." He said, opening the mouth piece (that was as thick as a fist!)-and downed some kind of potion while cautiously watching the Jho tries to grasp its new center of gravity.

"So, round two?"

He jumped forwards before the one residing on the corpse can respond.

Phantom Waterfall.

"*pant* *pant* MOU!"

It was expected that she would be irritated. After all, those numerous amount of slashes and lightning strikes didn't leave anything on the object else than making some of the particles lost their ability to float and fell to the ground as jet-black dust.

But Violet Line's edge was slightly chipped. Given it was made from a Kirin material- just how tough this thing is?

"Maybe even a Lao's stomp would not affect this..." Said Vieze in exhaustion.

"-not necessarily." Said Radu, after tracing his fingers on the 'powder' scattered on the ground below.

Why did these...particles fell down? And even if the stream passed upon it, why didn't they followed that?

Something must be affecting the particles so it lost the ability to somewhat stay afloat. But what? Is it Thunder-element attacks?

He rubbed his fingers together. The medicine effect's wearing off, so doing that equals grating his skin with a sandpaper-

Withholding the pain, he focused on the weight and texture of said material. "...this is...?"

"Well? What was it?" Asked Vie again, now dejectedly observing her damaged weapon: it was not even a week since she received it, and it has already been broken. In a way, it was her personal record...

While Dusk undoubtedly can fix that, she still-

"Oi. Stop daydreaming there and give me a push." Said Radu, loading some strange cartridge into the Twin Maverick.

Vie has seen the code written on that thing before: it was when she was accompanying some Heavy Gunner raiding Khezu's lair, full of their Whelps. Just one shot obiliterated that nest into lumps of charred bodies...

And now Radu loaded TWO of them.

She paled.

"R-r-r-radu what are you think you-"

"It was probably weak against heat." He said, recalling the instructions Dusk has written for him.

"Huh?"

"The black dust on the ground. Your Violet Line creates a miniaturized lightning strikes just before, didn't it? So it was either the heat from the lightning or the current that made them falls like that. And if that egg-shaped thing mas made by the same material like the dust..."

He held the Twin Maverick side-by-side and steeled himself for the knockback.

"Then won't a double dose of Wyvern Fire obliterate it?"

"-wait wait wait wait!"

The logic behind that reasoning was sound, but to actually-

He didn't wait until Vieze's small hands supported his back; in their line of work, even a second can made difference between walking out in your armor intact or leaving a hunt in a casket.

He lightly pulled the trigger-

And instantly regretted his own decision.

Fallen Woods.

The goddess of hunt (if there was one anyway) was smiling on him right now. Because the shift on its center of gravity, the Jho's movement has become somewhat sluggish...

Using the new blade, Dusk pranced around the battlefield, occasionally letting out slashes aimed at the creature's legs. The Demondrug-Mega Powerjuice mix he drank just now has revitalizes him-

At the price of full-body muscle pain tomorrow, should he survived. Darn it.

"Those black mist-like thing may be able to seal wounds, but can it replace the function of bones? You know while a Brute Wyvern's legbones are exceptionally strong, Jho's leg bones was one among the densest bone third of all known species only from Uragaan and Gravios?" He said, slipping between the legs.

The safest place when confronting large beasts was actually near them. Especially against Brute Wyverns. Especially, against a Jho.

Because the reduced body weight from autophagy, the moving corpse's weight was not enough to trigger the Quake Stomp.

Because the tail length has been cut down, the Tail Slap loses some of its usual edge, not to mention range of attack.

Because he was weaving his way around the Jho's legs, the Jump-and-Pin attack could not be performed.

And finally, because a Jho's head can't bend more than 30 degrees downward without the aid of its tail, even with the neck-breaking stunt, it can't perform the most dangerous move: Breath Attack due to the pressure on the windpipe and esophagus.

Clang!

With each contact from the blade, the gap widens, and so the black particles continues to be poured there, in a useless attempt to repair the wound-

PSHUUUUUUUUUUUU!

From the top of the cliff, a loud sound akin of natural gas venting out could be heard. Did he used the Wyvern Fire? Thought Dusk, noticing that again the Jho's head jerked upwards.

Then-

"As I had said before-"

He jumped back and revolved once, holding the blade in a position akin to a bat, before lowering it so it was extended horizontally-

-the green weight got caught in the centripetal force produced by that motion, traveling toward the blade's tip-

He finished that move by stomping to the ground, putting as much force he can exert into that single attack-

CRACK.

He broke both the blade AND severed the Jho's ankle with that attack.

"-your opponent is me!"

At the same time,

Phantom Waterfall.

His arms, his face, his chest and abdomen felt like they're on fire despite covered by two layers of armor. It might have some relation with the fact that both material shares the same weakness against heat, but-

He was getting pushed back-no. Blasted off might be suited more in this condition.

The drag mark forming below his greaves proved that he has traveled more than two meters from his starting position.

And there's still over a half of that solid block of fuel left.

Goddammit goddammit goddammit goddammit!

His entire arm was on severe tension. His wrist, elbow and shoulder joints felt like it was going to come apart...not to mention his waist. And that even after following Dusk's instructions.

Should he tried to shoot it free-style without proper stance, there's no doubt he's going to thrown away off the cliff.

"-nggggghhh!"

Now that's a cute voice you're letting out wait what was I'm thinking about!? Protested Radu, still concentrating the crazy firepower to the now glowing object-

He can see the surface started to distort under the heat. It's working!

"VIE! After the Fire ended, give it a final slash with your Hunter's Dagger! The edge was made from Lightcrystal, right!?"

"-nggghhhhh!"

"-is that a yes or no!?"

The distance between the object and Radu again grows. If this continued, the exhaust's force and heat would be reduced before reaching the object-

"-nggggwuah?!"

Vie suddenly loses her balance due to Radu's back shifting. He inches forward, while forcing his screaming muscles and joints to comply-

"-as soon as I give you a signal, jump behind that stone."

"Hweh?" Asked Vie, holding her nose which been hit when she fell-

"-my arms are starting to give out so..."

His stance started to distort.

A quick simulation runs in Vie's head.

Arms giving out would equal loss of control that leads to stray shot combined with huge recoil equals...

"Three."

"Wait wait wait wait!"

"Can't. Two."

"-I said waiiiiiit!" She screamed, while jumping behind a rock nearby-

"One-!"

-it was, even worse than Agnaktor's Circling Fire Beam.

Led by the recoil from continuous expulsion of burning fuel, Radu's arms, and in turn, body, was twisted in a deadly pirouette. All while still showering its surrounding with a steady stream of fire capable of welding metal plates together.

He continued to revolve, at times clockwise but with a sudden jerk it shifted to counterclockwise, at times spinning horizontally yet there's also times when the flaming line seemingly slices the sky into two.

Before long, the Fire ended.

Twin Maverick's barrels glowed red-hot. There's no doubt it would need some serious maintenance afterwards...and the Ludroth Sponge bullet won't cut it.

Vie peeked from behind the rock she's using for cover-

And completely taken aback with what she saw.

Lines. Burnt mark was etched into the ground. It was nearly a miracle that the suspension bridge made from interwoven tree roots was unharmed from that-

"So you can control it, after all." Said Vie to her partner, lying face-down on the exact center of that destruction.

"Ooooh...*urp* I'm so gonna kill that Creatorrr..." Moaned Radu, making Vie sweatdropped. At least he was fine... She thought.

She diverted her gaze to the wall, previously containing a black egg-shaped object.

Now that wall has some kind of unique wave pattern etched out from it. In the middle of that pattern is the said object, now partially melted and glowing red from the heat it was subjected to just like a ready-to-be-forged lump of iron.

There's absolutely no trace of black particles from before around that 'egg'.

"Go. Finish *urp* it. And remove my helmet afterwards, I'm gonna hur-*urp*!"

Do your best holding it in, Radu... Thought Vie, removing her Hunter Dagger from its sheath, holding it in reverse-grip.

"I'll help you as soon as I finished with this."

Yet something hidden in the patch of unharmed shrubbery behind Radu would say othewise.

It jumped without sound, landing its claws laced with toxin in the gap between Radu's chestpiece and his helmet, paralyzing his body in that instant.

Only his hazy mind can move.

That wasn't supposed to be here! Dammit, Vieze-turn back!

But that words never left his mouth.

The bird wyvern, clad in sand-brown sneakily moved...

Back to Fallen Woods.

Rather than limping, 'crippled' would be the perfect term to be used describing how bad the Jho's condition was right now.

"Shall we end this now? You have no means to upturn this-"

Who said I don't have anymore hand to play?

He can almost see a disturbing smile on that Jho's tattered face. A sudden sense of dread filled the back of his mind-

Dusk!

A certain voice resounded in his head. Kazehana!? That means-!

"You son of a-!"

He looked to the cliff-and in the next instant, his body was cutting through the air with an outstanding speed, breaking through the barricade of trees along with excruciating pain-

The Jho has executed its Chin Shove, and it connected perfectly with no defensive manuever whatsoever from Dusk.

"GHAK!"

More than the crushing pain on his body, the safety of his friends is what occupying his brain-

Please be on time-!

Phantom Waterfall.

The creature lowered its stance, still tiptoeing to avoid the Huntress' detection. Meanwhile, the paralyzed Radu which can't even avert his eyes from the soon-to-occur tragedy tried his best to regain control-

The crested beast leapt into the air.

The crunching sound of sand alerted Vie that there's something wrong.

But she can't defend. Since her Dagger already in mid-swing.

The neurotoxin-laced claws are certain to hit its quarry-

TSEEEEEEEER!

If not for a brown shadow suddenly plummeting from above.

With a sickening 'squelch' sound of something soft being crushed, a bluish-colored metal stake which only tip was solid to lessen its weight was driven straight through the Gendrome's body, effectively halting its projected trajectory of collosion.

The carrier of said item fluttered her wings few times in the air, before an upward gust brought her back into safety.

"That's...the Carrier Hawk from before? But why...?" Said Vieze, looking at the figure which gradually disappeared behind the thick stormcloud- undoubtedly summoned by Amatsu herself.

"Hrrk."

"Hmm? Did you say something, Radu-"

The occasional twitching of his body immediately informed her that the Gendrome has affected him with paralysis. The toxin's effect usually short-lived due to the warmth of mammal's body quickly degenerates the compounds, but it can last up to half an hour if used in older climate-making assassination with that substance a common find in northern parts of the world.

And since the effect usually short-lived (also, attempts to concoct antidote for it that mostly done in warmer climate failed because of the rapid decomposition, while in older climate the ingredient for antidote are hard to procure), finally nobody bothered to do anything, just like the case of Vespoids stings.

After a full minute, his ability to speak returned.

But the first word that he spat out weakly was-

'Idiot!'

Village Remains.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The strange gait exhibited by the Jho was caused by the unbalance in the distribution of body weight and the obvious stump in place of its left foot.

Yet, Dusk can't laugh at that because he's currently at similar predicament.

The pain coursing through his body was so severe even with the thick armor he's wering right now; the fact that Kazehana has saved Vie's life has lessened the pain for a bit out of simple happiness, but he still can't move his body properly.

That one attack nearly made him faint out of pure pain. Not to mention it was packed with enough power to gouge out a huge portion of the ground like a child shoveling dirt.

So much for your bravado, commented the God. "Shut up. At least my preparations is better than your scheming." He groaned under his breath; the conversation was actually held using non-verbal (telepathic) means, and thus forcing his pained ribs produces little to no effect.

He tried to pull himself together...

But strength was not complying to his calling.

The Jho was getting closer to his body.

Meanwhile,

Path of Fallen Beast.

She wanted to help his Master.

Her paws, grabbing the Binoculars was shaking.

Truthfully speaking, she has the means. All around her are frightful weapons- Shaft Launchers.

One hit from said metal stake can probably pierce past a Basarios shell. And the explosion afterwards can tear out scales from skin, shells from meat and in turn tissues from bones.

The only reason that she haven't activated any of said device was its accuracy. It has the ability to crush BOTH the Jho AND Dusk should she fired it.

She wanted to help.

But she slapped herself to stop the urge.

After all-

At the same time,

Lost Waterfall.

"Why 'idiot'?" Grumbled Vieze, helping Radu to stand since the neurotoxin effect still lingered. From that fact alone she knew that the Gendrome was not regular-not only it appeared outside its supposed habitat of desert, the length of paralysis-which supposed to be lower than ten minutes, especially considering Radu's partial immunity of said toxin from regular use-further reinforced that probability.

"Distraction...Dusk...break...the object!"

He's trying his best to convey the message by breaking it into points.

"So-"

After considering every possible translation of said words, she chooses to take the literal meaning:

"That was just only a distraction meant for Dusk! Break the object now!"

She raised her hand in which a gleaming Hunter Dagger and turned her body-

But the space in the wall was empty.

"Eh?"

The object, glowing red-hot was not there. Neither was the dead Gendrome.

Instead, a faint smell distinctive of charred flesh and fat assaulted her nostrils.

A thin trail of black mist-like substance was flowing from the cliff's edge.

Radu croaked out a very strong cursing word; that's how big Vie's-no, THEIR blunder was.

They have failed to destroy whatever object that is, responsible for producing the black mist-like substance.

"We...must go down...to assist him!"

Radu pushed away Vie's supporting hands and took off his bracers, exposing his (quite fair) skin. It was still trembling wildly.

Without even a second of hesitation he sunk his teeth into it.

Vie lets out a shriek.

He removed his bloodied teeth and tried to hold his hand still. The shaking was still there, but has been reduced considerably from what it has been.

"Come on. Dusk or not, he's in danger."

Vie has no time to imagine what kind of expression Radu's currently making beneath that Gypceros Helmet-but there's absolutely no chance that it will be his usual aloof one.

He cocked the Twin Maverick and aimed the right one for a tree branch in the distance. With a 'phut', a strange black mass ejected from its barrel.

Maybe because it was not an aerodynamic object, or because the amount of gunpowder was calculated only for the sole objective of sending the cut Ludroth Sponge out of the barrel, but said object landed in a slightly deviated trajectory to the left.

He pulled the trigger for the right one and the projectile veered top-right.

He cursed again. He already know this is meant to happen if you did such crazy stunt of exposing a supposedly delicate object to ridiculous levels of abusive treatment, but for it to happen at critical time like this-

He usually made fun of Dusk for having terrible luck. But now he pitied him so.

"We must assist Dusk quickly. Since we have blocked off the path from Blue Slopes and Waterfall Cave, the only way left is travelling through Hotarubi Lake OR the Jaggia-infested Waterfall Stream."

"Let's take the quickest path!" She rushed downhill before Radu could mutter out another word.

"Now what's the Yukumo slag for this? Ba...bakouple?" Said Radu, wincing out a smile despite the burning injury beneath the gauntlet.

Village Remains.

Since they didn't meet either Dusk or the Jho on the Fallen Woods, the two opted to search the next area.

What awaits them was a bone-chilling view.

Dusk was there, sprawling on the ground. Although she can't make out WHAT armor he's wearing right now are made from, she's sure that figure in thick armor was him.

And the Jho was also there, its body was in tatters but still managed to stand just before his figure. Its jaw opening with an unnatural width, spelling certain death sentence-

And that gaping jaw closed with Dusk's body trapped in-between.

That heavy snapping sound made time seems to froze at that very moment for a while.

Vie almost fainted at that sight, if not for a searing white-hot rage exploding from the center of her soul.

The Violet Line let's out a blinding glow that even permeated through its scabbard-it seems the blade 'reads' Vieze's killing intent-

But as soon as she reached for the weapon's hilt, Radu's hands stopped her-also, covered her mouth tightly so she won't be able to scream in protest.

She glared him with a possibly-death-inducing gaze, of which he shook his head.

Does that mean...they can't help Dusk?

Yet Radu took out a small bullet from his pouch. It was...a smoke signal bullet?

Vie was perplexed by his action.

She turned again to the seemingly satisfied Jho which roared in triumph.

But then she noticed something.

Instead of a shocked expression, Radu's face is...unnaturaly calm? At least, it wasn't the expression of a man that witnessed his friend swallowed whole.

Was there anything-

"!"

She remembered then that a Jho didn't chew their prey, instead swallowing it whole and left the digesting to their gastric juice which is extemely acidic.

Since she saw Dusk sporting an unnaturally thick armor just before, could he possibly anticipating this?

Or...

Did he get swallowed on purpose!?

With a tensed expression, Radu loaded the BLUE smoke signal bullet and raised one of the Mavericks until it pointed to the sky.

"Come on..." He muttered, his other hand still holding on to Vie's hand-

Thump!

A dull, restrained explosion inflated the Jho's stomach for a moment, sending white smoke out of its mouth and nostrils-

Along with a humanoid figure drenched in strange ochre-yellow liquid which made a sizzling sound.

The figure pulled something, and something was shed-

"RADU!"

He jumped back while the Jho choked and coughed. It inhales deeply in preparation for executing the Breath Attack-

But nothing save than a spray of murky cream-colored liquid came out.

"Heh. Failed?" Said Dusk in a relaxed tone, pulling out the failed-to-be-purged piece of Ludroth Sponge dripping with a strange, thick amber-colored substance from his armor.

The Breath Attack-the most dangerous thing a Jho could use was, in essence, a spray of its blood combined with stomach acid in gaseous form. No, to be precise its fumes.

A Jho's body temperature is always high, because the rate of metabolism far exceeds even those of Bird Wyverns. Some even witnessed droplets of rain evaporates as soon as it rolled down on its hide.

But did you know that in every living creature, its surface temperature will be always lower than its core temperature?

If that so, how hot would it be inside of a Jho's body? And how hot can it rise upon Raging?

The answer is: hot enough to make its own blood boils.

A Rage puts beasts in a overdrive state on which their bodily function would be pressed to the very limits. There are many examples of moves that could be observed on a Raging beast, but not on their usual state.

And a Jho's breath attack was one of those moves.

It was performed by contracting its abdominal muscles so the gastric acid that have been turned into fumes from the high internal temperature refluxed into its esophagus and launched it as an aerosol by mixing it with air exhaled rapidly from its lungs. During the process, the mixture will corrode any structure it passed through, blood vessels included; thus giving the characteristic blood-black color to the gas.

What did Dusk done to prevent this, then?

He simply gave the Jho the cure usually meant for gastric ulcer.

"Did you know that you can neutralize acid by adding base on it? And that you can use chalk to turn a swampland into fertile plantation?" He answered lightly.

The theory behind that was so simple that even a ten-years old farmer's child probably has learned it, but the execution would be something else. How would you coax a Jho to digest chalk, anyway?

Thus Dusk turned himself into a 'pill'.

Beneath that bulky armor which surface lined with Bnahabra wings-a material known for its resistance against both acid AND Dragon-element attacks, he has packed active chalk powder-the one which will produce heat upon contact with water, provided by Lagun and another layer from gunpowder for his escape. Beneath those layers, there's another which comprised of Ludroth Sponge soaked in Honey-not only it was shock-resistant for neutralizing the zero-distance blast, it can also negate the remaining acid when he purged the armor.

Beneath them was the armor he's wearing right now.

The DualGunner briefly nodded before pulling the trigger, sending a pillar of blue smoke high on the air before dragging the dumbfounded Vieze back to Hotarubi Lake entrance, on which the figure followed suit.

Path of Fallen Beasts.

"! Nyaha, as expected of my Master nya!"

The Felyne immediately jumped from the spot she's been observing and stomped on the control panel, opening it and revealing lines of colorful buttons.

"Lay waste to the land beneath!"

She slammed her paws at random.

The Launchers around the Felyne activated, sending a volley of Shafts high into the black stormcloud.

"It's up to you now, Amatsu-sama!"

Somewhere above the stormcloud.

The figure of a heavenly dragon floats still, overseeing the events from the eye of the storm.

Rahzhilkes' reincarnation-the Fangless which goes by the name Dusk, has proposed a...preposterous? No, outrageous? No, no.

Insane. Yes.

Using himself as bait to seal the Jho's most feared ability? Planting explosives as safety net should the main plan failed?

Asking a God to participate in said plan?

She can only stared the messenger-Hayate-in disbelief after hearing that.

Yet she must admit that it was 'his' style. They also managed to seal The Dark One using the same kind of reckless plan so...

Why not?

The metal stakes he called 'Shafts' has exhausted their first charge of gunpowder, reaching the height normal projectiles can't. Soon the gravity of this planet will claim them back, coupled with the second stage charge-will transform those metal rods into rain of steel and fire.

But she has something to do before that happened.

The issue with the Shafts was their accuracy. Since the flight-path was parabolic in shape, the chance of it actually striking the target was low even with no offsetting wind.

And there was where her power is needed.

She moved, swimming gracefully on the skies in a perfect circling movement, gathering the Shafts that has veered off-course into one bundle of iron spears with her power over wind.

One-by-one, the spears' end lit up, releasing themselves from the wind's hold. Few zoomed here and there due to disturbance caused by other Shafts' exhaust, but she again guided them by tightening the circle, sending down mightly spiraling gust of wind-otherwise known as tornado.

Guided by that force, all of the Shafts are now on target.

She could only imagine what kind of face the other God would be making right now.

With this, can I pay for the lives that has been lost because of me?, she thought.

No. Surely not.

Her part was not over yet. Spreading the sails wider, catching more wind, the tornado intensified and creates an impenetrable walls of mighty gale.

Hotarubi Lake Shore.

Just as they saw numerous amount of iron stakes took off into the sky from Path of Fallen Beasts, Dusk-now in some kind of strange armor made from metal plates over Jaggi material instructed the two to hide inside a metal shell-shaped object. Radu chugged something from a flask before jumping in, dragging Vie with him.

After the two went in, Dusk jumped suit and locked the object from inside.

"What-" "-we will have a long talk after this, Vie." Cut-in Dusk, now crouching uncomfortably inside the 'shell'. It was made to accomodate Radu and Dusk, so the addition of a third person made the already cramped space even smaller. Not to mention Violet Line created a diagonal obstacle so they must twist their body around it.

The silver lining is-thankfully Vieze's body size was not bigger than she was right now. Otherwise-

"Second stage ignition confirmed! Brace for impact in 3..."

"Impact!?"

"-2-"

"Close your mouth else you'll bit your tongue!"

"-1-!"

She can hear numerous swooshing noise-

Then-

...

Few moments later.

"Goddammit goddammit goddammit!" Groaned Radu, few moments later, forcibly opening the 'shell'-

And stumbled face-first into the lake.

And proceeds to puke in that position still.

"I swear I'm going to shoot you dead some day...he groaned with a pale face to Dusk.

They has been tossed and turned and shaken and rolled inside the shell-shaped portable shelter after being blasted away by something other than the explosion, since they didn't hear anything. The 'shell' itself was secured to four points using sturdy Dragonite chain, it seems. Three of it has been yanked off by something, possible the turbulence from the explosions-

"What happened, really-Eh?"

Vie expected a view of mass destruction where everything was burned away and nothing was left unturned, but...

Nothing has changed from the time they entered the 'shell'.

No, that's not right.

She can smell the scent of gunpowder and burning wood. Also burnt grass.

Also, there's a wall of wind before her. It was a localized tornado, so to speak.

Unbelievably, the grass' blades beside them was not even swaying.

"Mugetsu! You can release the wind barrier now!" Yelled Dusk to the skies.

Immediately those scents grows thicker and a wave of hot air assaulted her skin when the tower of wind vanished. Vie looked upward and froze when a large, white serpent-like beast appeared from the thick black clouds, dancing while tracing a circle on the skies above.

"You two, stay here. I will check-"

I say.

"!? That's not possible- it's still alive!?" Yelled Dusk, looking towards the blazing fields.

The heat haze disturbed his vision. The flickering flames illuminated a large mass in the midst of a barren land full of craters. It was not shaped like a regular Jho anymore, since obvious holes has been punched through its body, not to mention it lacked anything lower than its neck.

Only a head remained. A half, split open head of a Deviljho.

But it continued to 'speak'.

It has been too long of a time since a Fangless reduced a body I controlled directly to this state. In fact, save for that one Hero which interfered with me over few hundred years ago, you are the only one, the God said.

As usual, your tenacity is the only thing worth mentioning, spat Mugetsu from her throne at the skies.

Don't forget my scheming. Now, where are we?

"Your loss?" Asked Dusk, readying the broken blade-as the spare blade was stashed safely in the depths of Fallen Woods, this one should do. After all, what could a severed head do?

No. I believe we're on a draw.

Something-a creature appeared from the curtain of flames.

At its back was a strange spear of which only the tip was solid, and the shaft was hollowed until it could be viewed as framework.

At its chest was a black lump that appears to be permanently merged with its body. The burn marks around it, as well as the fact that its hands was reduced to a charred stump told them that it must picked that lump while it was still at blazing hot temperature.

The two recognized it as the Gendrome that has escaped with the black-colored object.

"Darn it! Vie-don't let it reach the Jho!" Yelled Radu, pushing himself up, flicking the full-auto on and pressed the trigger-

The bullets went EVERYWHERE but the target. Her throw fares no better outcome, the Violet Line falls just short from the Drome's body.

As Mugetsu started inhaling for its Water Cutter attack, tendrils of black particles extended from the object, reaching for the Jho's head.

At the instant the two made contact, a soundless explosion occurred, putting out the fires and made the surrounding turned dark all of a sudden.

Something is happening.

The center of the strange darkness, the Jho's head is moving. No-it's growing!?

What!?

I don't have much thing to do while I'm sealed, so I thought about...creative ways to use my power, answered the other God.

The Jho's body...is being rebuilt.

It was slow at first, but after restoring the ribcage, the pace of the restoration picks up, and in no time an entirely black-colored Deviljho with glowing red eyes and black smoke rising from its neck stands tall before the three.

"Oi. This is just a bad joke, right?" Said Radu, the Mavericks dropped from his hands.-

Now. Let us begin the next round, said the God while producing a ear-splitting roar.

ZN-OUGA here with an update!

Well, first things first. MONSTER HUNTER 4 is out! Yesss! You can battle Magara! More yeaaah!

There's an adult form of Goa named Shagaru Magara, which is the final boss of the offline mode. Err, yay?

Many PM-ed me about the possibility of me creating Goa's design based on Miogaruna's (from Monster Hunter ORAGE manga by Hiro Mashima) larval form, and I will give my statement that yes, I did. I also mentioned it when submitting the design to Capcom, but the subspecies-or rather the adult form was not of my work. Derivative work? I dunno, please contact them for it-

Now that those beasts (with addition of the Rath Unknown Species otherwise Zelreous) has been made reality by the MonHun team, maybe anyone could guess the ending of this fanfic? No? Already read the original one? No? Stay tuned then for the Yukumo Arc conclusion next update!

I really, really have to stop playing MH4. Lack of sleep from hunting and Magara equipment farming and...

3D motion sickness from all that jumping and shaking.

Okay, now about the story. Because Fanfiction ate the intended spaces between the paragraphs, I inserted '-' signs. For what?

There's a style of writing named 'meaningful pause'. To build up tension; to express emotion and thought between action. I'll edit the earlier chapters later with this format, so stay put!

Also, for the questions 'where did the theories used in this fic originated from?', it was from my own reasoning. As I explored Monster Hunter universe more and more, some kind of ideas about 'how this thing work under normal laws of universe' would be popping right-and-left. For some people these would only pass as purple prose, but there are also others that said it was a good guessing attempt to divulge the secrets behind a monster's physiology or anything else.

Oh, my 3DS has finished charging. Time for another Hunt then!

ZN-OUGA, signing out temporarily.

~ 19th September 2013 ~