Manuke FPS - Chapter 267

Four days have passed since the start of magic stone hunting on the labyrinth island. On the sandy beach set as the landing point, I shot all the hermit crab monsters—Pugroiders, then invaded the forest and chased the dog-type monster Hellgaze while heading to the caldera.

About 150 meters behind the map floating in my field of vision, a dot appeared along with heavy footsteps.

Judging by the sound, it’s a flame boar. Like the Elyman Boar, it uses its huge body to attack while knocking down shrubs. Even more troublesome is its special ability that seems to be a <Skill>. A burning flame-like pattern wriggles and spreads flames as it rampages around.

The flame spreading on the shrubs might develop into forest fire. But this labyrinth island is not only inhabited by fire attributed monsters――there are water attributed monsters too――the water keeper and water fox also inhabit this island.

According to the information I got from Sierra, I was advised not to hunt these two. Even inside the labyrinth, these two won’t attack unless provoked. After they regained their beastly instinct, they remained as a passive species. It is said that these two types, Water keepers and Water Foxes, control forest fires and extinguish them.

Even now, several small sounds can be heard following the flame boar.

The Flame Boar seemed to have noticed me and was heading straight towards me while knocking down the trees. Readying the ARX-160, I took a kneeling position―― directing the GLX-160 grenade launcher attached to the ARX-160 under rail toward the Flame Boar.

When I put my finger on the GLX trigger, the grenade launcher’s parabolic trajectory was displayed in my field of vision.

“――let’s see.”

The moment I saw the red fur of the Flame Boar beyond the trees――I aligned the trajectory with the Flame Boar and pulled the trigger. A 40mm NATO grenade was ejected with a sound of popping out air, speeding right toward the flame boar and landed right on its head.

Explosive flames erupted with the sound of an explosion, and the Flame Boar’s roar resounded――However, it wasn’t a weak beast that could be killed with just one shot. I slid the GLX’s barrel forward to eject the spent shell, and reloaded it with another 40mm NATO from the pouch on my waist. Sliding the barrel back――I pulled the trigger once more.

The second shot managed to stagger the Flame Boar, through its thick fur

Switching to the ARX-160 trigger, I waved the crosshair around the flame boar front legs and started spraying bullets.

Fighting in close range with a Flame Boar is extremely dangerous. I couldn’t grasp the range of the scattered flame, and it may end up burning my avatar costume. The flame may burn me, but as long as it’s not an attack that would kill me outright, I would be able to recover completely after a while with my natural healing ability.

However, it would be an unnecessary expense to burn the costumes in every battle. So I decided to stop its charge, shoot through its legs to block its movement, and kill it from a safe distance.

I kept shooting at its head and mouth, which I believed to be its vital points, until the dot that represented the flame boar disappeared from my map. All the while making adjustments so as not to overkill.

When the Flame Boar’s dot disappeared, multiple others approached, aiming at the corpse――the fire fox and the water fox. Its purpose is to eat the flames scattered by the Flame Boar and its huge body itself. I can leave the cleanup to them, but before that, I need to collect the magic stone――.

After completing the fifth day’s hunting, I returned to the base I had created on the Labyrinth Island. Nonetheless, using the large hole in the rocky mountain opened by the monster’s magic attack during the battle, I created a space inside where support vehicles such as LVTP-5 and Continental could be summoned――actually, scoops and so on. I just expanded and shaved with explosives.

In the midst of this, I rested my mind while taking a meal break, and obtained a temporary peace of mind away from the fight for life.

“How is it going over there?”

“In addition to the area around Amar, the mining town of Britra, and the mountain city of Baleira, the general guild of the three cities has issued a request for monster hunting and continues to be vigilant. What about Labyrinth Island? “

The Continental was summoned inside the hole in the rocky mountain, the entrance was hidden using fallen trees, vines, and mat rolls taken from a large shopping center. Now I’m talking to Ashley, who is in Amar at the moment, on my cell phone while drinking a soft drink in the living space.

“There are monsters roaming around at a frequency comparable to the lower layers of the labyrinth. Most of them are high-ranking fire-attribute species, and they’re all large.”

“Can you manage?”

“I think it’s not a problem for now. Because each individual is a superior species, they don’t flock, so they’re hunting safely at a distance. Of course, it’s not like there’s no problem…”

In reality, a group of Hellgaze approached me before I could kill one of them, so I had to end the battle as quickly as possible, collect the magic stones, and leave the area.

Hellgaze is a dog-type monster whose whole body is engulfed in flames, but it could not be killed with regular gunfire. I expected it to be the same undead type as skeletons and zombies, but since it was covered in flames, the position of the core magic stone could not be determined even in FLIR mode.

If it’s a normal adventurer party, they probably deal with it with water attribute magic and magic tools, which are the Hellgaze’s weak points, but even if you look at the current equipment and firearms lined up in the SHOP, there are no cheap and effective weapons. If I encounter one, I’m going to run away.

For the time being, it can be defeated by blowing everything away with C4 explosives or RPG-7, but the magic stones will be blown away somewhere without being able to collect them, and the consumption of CP crystal points is ridiculous. In addition, there were many of them because they formed a group, making them the most troublesome opponents.

“Hellgaze is a monster classified as an astral type even among the undead. Ghosts and wraiths are also mentioned in the discovery reports, but weak point attribute magic attacks are said to be effective in defeating them. However…”

“Yeah, that’s a no for me. That’s why I run away when I encounter it. Is there any other effective means to kill it?”

“Hmm, some adventurers use weapons with a wide-hitting surface to knock out the magic stones in their torso, but they need special weapons.”

“I guess that’s the only way.”

I also thought of this method. The undead moves with magic stones as their core. If you somehow separate the body from the core, at that stage the undead will revert back to a corpse. However, in Hellgaze’s case, the location of the magic stone is unknown. But if you have a weapon that could cover the whole thing, knowing the location becomes unnecessary――I don’t have that kind of weapon.

“If there is another way… Blow it away with a shock wave Skill?”

“That’s impossible too.”

I sunk my body into the sofa, looking up at the ceiling before covering my eyes.

“Fufu, then you have no choice but to run away. Don’t get caught”

“I’ll do that… Well, it’s time to go back to hunting. There are also monsters that only appear at night.”

“I’m glad we talked. I shall be waiting for your next call.”

“Yeah, me too. I’ll contact you again. Bye. “

After finishing the call, I finished my soft drink and left the Continental again.

Hellgaze also become more active at night. Since its body is engulfed in flames, its approach can be seen even from a distance. There are many ways to kill it, but this time it’s meaningless to collect magic stones.

Now then, let’s resume the magic stone hunt while chasing each other…