Chapter 266

RUSH!

Zeke dashed toward the forest.

Qiongqi shrieked as it chased after Zeke. It smashed through the sturdy trees with its front paws, pursuing him relentlessly.

Zeke intentionally maintained a distance just out of reach, luring Qiongqi as he sprinted toward the dwarves’ trap.

It was then.

KAAAAAAK!

Zeke knew exactly what this cry signaled.

He spun around and created a shield with the Sacred Brazier, deploying a defense.

SHWAAAAA!

A shield of light materialized in front of Zeke and his party.

Just then, Qiongqi spewed gray smoke toward Zeke.

RUMBLE!

The milky gray smoke spread through the forest, and all the grass and trees it touched turned to stone.

The smoke Qiongqi exhaled carried the Curse of Petrification, which turned living things to stone.

However, the shield of light Zeke had created repelled the Curse of Petrification.

Seeing its attack nullified, Qiongqi let out an enraged shriek.

Then, the beast spread the wings on its back and prepared to fly up.

Being an extremely cautious and cunning creature, it seemed ready to flee the moment it realized its petrification curse was ineffective.

At that moment, Zeke gave the signal.

“Aaron!”

Aaron, who was hidden on a rocky hill overlooking the forest, fired his sniper rifle at Qiongqi upon receiving Zeke’s signal.

THWACK!

A bullet filled with compressed air, which Zeke had given him earlier, fired from the magic gun and struck Qiongqi squarely between the eyes.

THUD!

Qiongqi, which had been about to fly away, was struck by the bullet, and its head snapped back violently.

Grrrrrr—

Staggering backward, Qiongqi barely regained its senses. It then made a fierce expression and tried to find what had attacked it.

Just then, Aaron fired a volley of shots at the beast.

WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!

Qiongqi turned its body sideways, blocking the bullets with its back. Although the bullets were powerful, they couldn’t pierce Qiongqi’s tough hide.

KAAAAAA!

Its eyes glowing, the beast, which had been trying to fly, bared its fangs and roared as if enraged by the bullets flying toward it.

Just then, Zeke unleashed a sword strike at Qiongqi.

KABOOM!

As the sword strike exploded against its body, Qiongqi’s fury reached its peak.

KAAAAAAAA!

Qiongqi spread its wings, raised its feathers stiffly, and began to shake its body.

SHWAAAAA!

A gale erupted around Qiongqi’s body, and its feathers shot out in all directions.

The hard, shuriken-like feathers, each the size of a grown man’s torso, flew in unpredictable directions, sweeping through the area.

“Get down!”

Zeke’s party members ducked as low as they could, avoiding Qiongqi’s feathers that swept around them like a whirlwind.

Jason tried to block the incoming feathers by raising an earthen wall, but the sharp quills sliced through both the ground and the wall.

“Haaat!”

CLANG!

Fortunately, Clone swung her mace and batted away an incoming feather.

Zeke shouted to the party members, who were each dodging in their own way.

“Get to your positions while I hold it back!”

As he shouted, Zeke activated the Field of Wind Power to block the incoming feathers.

In that opening, the party got up and moved to the spot where the trap was set.

Left alone with Qiongqi, Zeke continued to lure it by launching sword strikes, ensuring it wouldn't flee.

Forgetting its earlier attempt to escape when its petrification failed, Qiongqi instinctively advanced, trying to catch the target that was attacking it.

“This way! Come and get me!”

Zeke turned again, luring Qiongqi with his Flight Step technique.

Once he was out of the forest, he could see the trap site the dwarves had prepared in advance.

‘I have to pin this cunning beast down right here.’

Zeke stood in the spot where Rick and Arin, the intended bait, were supposed to be.

The others, hidden nearby, held their breath and waited for Qiongqi to arrive.

CRASH!

The colossal Qiongqi charged toward Zeke, uprooting and tossing trees aside as it came.

KAAAAAAK!

The beast, thoroughly provoked, charged recklessly toward Zeke.

In his past life, when his master had hunted it, the creature had been so good at fleeing that it was difficult to catch. But this time, the taunt seemed to have worked perfectly, as it was rushing toward Zeke’s position without any regard for its surroundings.

Zeke held Roland and stood facing Qiongqi.

In that instant, Qiongqi leaped into the air and once again spewed its petrification smoke toward Zeke.

FWOOOSH!

The smoke billowed around Zeke’s body.

This time, Zeke activated his Curse Reflection skill.

The petrification smoke was then offset by the skill and dispersed.

Qiongqi slowly walked into the area where the smoke had been thickest.

Unlike ordinary monsters, Qiongqi doesn’t just eat its prey. It turns them to stone first, then devours the soul held within. That is why only soulless, petrified bodies are left behind wherever Qiongqi has been.

Thinking its power had worked properly this time, Qiongqi approached slowly to devour Zeke’s soul.

Just as it was parting the thick gray smoke to find Zeke inside, something shot through the haze.

SHWIIING!

A strike from Roland, imbued with the power of the Sacred Brazier, slashed Qiongqi’s neck.

Because the Sacred Brazier’s power suppressed demonic energy, the wound, which would have normally recovered, did not heal.

KAAAAAAK!

Sensing danger, Qiongqi immediately spread its wings to fly away.

At that moment, the dwarves and fish-men revealed themselves on the hill above.

“Now!”

FWASH!

A giant trap flew through the air. It was a net woven by the fish-men, which the dwarves had modified into a massive trap capable of catching Qiongqi.

The giant net unfurled over the head of the ascending Qiongqi, capturing its body.

KAAAAAAK!

The ensnared Qiongqi twisted its body to escape, but hook-like protrusions all over the net caught on its wings, preventing it from getting free easily.

Simultaneously, the fish-men threw the harpoons they had prepared at Qiongqi.

SHUNK!

Harpoons attached to sturdy steel chains flew from all directions and embedded themselves in Qiongqi’s body.

“Everyone, hold on tight!”

The dwarves and fish-men grabbed the steel chains connected to the harpoons, holding Qiongqi in place.

Just then, Nerissa, who had been waiting in the back, activated an ancient spell.

KIIIIING!

Instantly, the netted Qiongqi writhed in agony, and water began to gush from its mouth and nose.

Krrrrrk! KAAAAAAK!

Nerissa had used her ancient spell to summon seawater inside Qiongqi’s body.

Qiongqi shrieked in agony as it vomited water endlessly.

KAAAAAAAAA!

Watching the struggling Qiongqi, Zeke equipped Hercyon and gripped Roland.

WOOOONG!

The Blade of Purification, emitting a golden aura, shimmered on Roland’s edge.

Zeke leaped into the air and rushed toward the disoriented Qiongqi.

From his sword, the Infinite Sword Art, infused with a golden aura, unfolded.

Infinite Sword Art Technique

Second Form

Giant Dragon Slash

WOOOOONG!

The Blade of Purification unleashed a strike that could slay a great dragon, splitting Qiongqi’s body in half as it passed through.

KRRRRRRT!

Qiongqi, which had been vomiting seawater, was trying to tear through the net with its sharp claws when its body was split in two by Zeke’s sword.

Keeeeeeek—

Qiongqi let out a final scream and collapsed.

THUD!

Because it was so colossal, a huge cloud of dust rose as its body hit the ground.

Zeke looked at the fallen Qiongqi and let out a small sigh.

‘Caught it more easily than I thought.’

Considering this was an Abnormal Species that his master had needed to use a Triple Spell to catch, this was a fairly easy victory.

As the beast was full of cunning tricks, Zeke did not let his guard down and approached it slowly.

He then took out chains and wrapped them around Qiongqi’s body.

Only when there was no movement after its body was tightly bound by the chains could Zeke finally feel relieved.

‘The reward for using Gluttony on one of the Four Perils should be quite large.’

He couldn’t use Gluttony on the monster in front of everyone, so he planned to clean up the area a bit and then slowly devour it in parts.

But just then, Zeke’s energy sense picked up something strange.

‘What is this?’

Instantly, he raised his head and looked at the sky. Something that looked like a giant bird was hovering in the air.

Zeke focused his ocular power to identify the entity, and his face hardened.

Zeke shouted to his comrades.

“Everyone, get down!”

As he yelled, he deployed the Sacred Brazier to create a giant shield.

A moment later, something fell from the sky.

RUSH!

Feathers as hard as daggers rained down.

CRACKLE!

The hard feathers embedded themselves in the shield of light Zeke had deployed, creating cracks. Because the feathers were imbued with demonic energy, the cracks widened even further.

Zeke focused his strength and shouted for the others to get away.

The dwarves, fish-men, and the rest of the party quickly moved.

The moment the party had taken cover, the shield shattered, scattering a shower of light in all directions.

At the same time, a huge cloud of gray smoke was scattered from the sky. Zeke raised his sword and swung the Purification Blade at the smoke.

WOOOONG!

The golden aura purified all of the petrification smoke, leaving only a milky haze to disperse.

KAOOOOOOOOOH!

Another Qiongqi, hovering in the air, let out what sounded like a furious shriek.

‘Don't tell me there were two of them?’

When he hunted with his master, there had definitely been only one.

It was unbelievable, but the creature currently gliding through the air was unmistakably a Qiongqi.

The beast slowly turned, circling around toward Zeke's position.

Then, it opened its mouth wide toward Zeke and unleashed a torrent of black lightning.

KRA-KA-KOOM!

As the black lightning rained down everywhere, Zeke rolled away to dodge, gritting his teeth.

‘So it's that one. The one my master fought!’

It was undoubtedly the same beast that had been both cunning and strong.

Only after Zeke rolled to safety did the Qiongqi cautiously flap its wings and land on the hill.

However, the creature's body was much smaller than when Zeke had seen it in his past life.

It looked to be about half the size of the Qiongqi he had just caught.

It crouched down, looking down at Zeke while scanning its surroundings, as if checking for any potential traps.

Zeke gripped Roland and aimed it at the beast.

‘The trap should have been used on this one. To think it would use the other one as bait.’

The Qiongqi blinked, looking back and forth between Zeke and the fallen Qiongqi. Then, its human-like face contorted before it suddenly broke into a wide grin.

KAGAGAGAGAK!

Its human-like laughter was bone-chilling.

Only then did Zeke realize that this beast had intentionally sent the other Qiongqi this way.

‘Did it scheme to send its rival, with whom it shared a territory, here to die so it could take over the whole area?’

It seemed that this Qiongqi, which had been overshadowed by its larger counterpart, had cleverly used Zeke's party to take care of its rival.

After laughing for a good while, the beast wiped the smile from its face and came down the hill. It then began to slowly approach the dead Qiongqi.

Zeke held his sword and watched cautiously to see what the beast was doing.

It was an incredibly wicked creature; one wrong move and it might escape, making it difficult to catch.

‘If I can't catch this one here, I might have to give up on this archipelago.’

In the middle of their standoff, the Qiongqi suddenly threw its head back toward the sky and let out a long cry.

WUUUUUUUU!

It was a completely different cry from the other Qiongqi.

Surprised by its sudden action, Zeke followed its gaze and looked up. He could see something flying in from the sky.

‘What's that?’

To his surprise, monsters resembling beetles were flying in, clutching the bodies of beast-type monsters in their legs.

WUUUUUUUU!

As the Qiongqi cried out once more, the insect-type monsters released the beast-type monsters they were holding, dropping them from the sky.

FWOOOOSH!

The monsters dropped from the air, falling to the ground at high speed.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The monsters that landed poorly had their heads smashed or their limbs broken.

While some of them couldn't get up, most recovered quickly with the unique regenerative abilities of monsters and rose to their feet.

‘This is insane...’

He knew that Abnormal Species could command other monsters, but this was the first time he had seen one set a trap in this manner.

Dozens of monsters that had been dropped from the sky had soon surrounded Zeke.

Zeke held Roland and aimed it at the approaching monsters.

KAAAAAAK!

As the Qiongqi shrieked from behind, the monsters charged at Zeke all at once.

CRACKLE!

Mere monsters were no match for Zeke.

Clad in Hercyon, Zeke was like a wolf leaping into a flock of sheep, swinging his sword wreathed in the Sacred Brazier's flame and wiping them all out.

And while Zeke was dealing with the monsters, the Qiongqi quickly darted forward and burrowed into the body of the dead Qiongqi.

Summoning dozens of monsters was for no other reason than to create this opening.

Having finished off all the monsters, Zeke realized what the beast was trying to do.

‘This bastard is trying to absorb the dead Qiongqi!’

Zeke hurriedly raised his sword and activated the Purification blade.

WOOOONG!

The dead Qiongqi's body suddenly lurched, and the sound of its skeleton twisting could be heard.

KRRRRUNCH!

“Haaaaaat!”

Zeke surged forward, unleashing a sword strike filled with a shimmering golden wave toward the Qiongqi's body.