CH23:APPOINTED LEADER.

Blake, Luke, Nadia and the rest of the Gorilla Hunters were all posted on the tree tops as they waited for Blake's instructions on how and when they were to strike. Looking at the state the Molerdillo, Blake was able to learn of its weak points and formulated a way for them to take it out as quickly as possible and hopefully not lose anyone.

"EVERYONE!!," He called out while drawing the beast's attention towards him, "THIS CREATURE'S WEAK POINTS ARE ITS JOINTS. HIT FOR ITS LEGS FIRST. WE'LL TAKE THE CLAWS OUT ONE AT A TIME."

The Hunters jumped out of the trees and started taking the beast by surprise. A few of them distracted it from the back while Blake and a few more went for the first leg.

*SLASH**SLASH**SLASH*

Without hesitation, they sliced away as hard and as fast as they could, allowing them to quickly sever the one leg.

*SRAAAWWL*

The beast let out a mighty, painfully cry as it fell to the ground. Seeing that it was badly injured and had no way of escaping, it decided to go on the offensive.

"Looks, it's changing forms." One of the Hunters shouted as they watched the beast curl itself into a ball layered with the hard, protective armor.

"It's going on the defensive." Nadia said as they all surrounded the beast at a safe distance. "Maybe if I cut it, it'll budge and give us an opening."

With her left leg at her front and her right stretched back, Nadia turned her lower back slight with both hands tightly gripping the sword. She jerked it three times, allowing more of the green crystal's energy to course through and make the blade sharper. "HYAA!!"

*BOOM*

A great shock wave followed by a gush of wind, steam, and stray crystal energy rapidly scattered all over as a smoke cloud generated. It slowly disappeared and allowed everyone to see whether the girl's hit did any damage to the beast's armor.

"Wha…what the!!"

"It did nothing."

"It didn't even cause a crack on it. What the heck's this thing made of."

"Blake," Luke spoke "What should we do? We obviously don't have the man power for this."

"It's wise for us to fall back." Blake responded. "Look, a kill like this can do a lot for you guys but it isn't wise for us to waste so much energy on a beast we're clearly not prepared to fight. Let's head out now before more come after…."

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!!" One of the Hunters warned as he came running from an even deeper section of the forest. His sword was completely juiced out and the crystal in it was nothing but an empty glass ball. His body was bruise, his eyes torn, and fear written all over his face where what all the others saw.

*SGROAAAHHHRRR*

A roar so powerful, so loud, and so frightening instilled the fear of God into all the teen Hunters that saw their comrade running towards them. Each one of them pulled out their analyzers and got ready to scan whatever being made that sound.

"DON'T BOTHER. IT'S NOT IN THE BEAST DATA BASE!!" The Hunter shouted as he came to a temporary stop. "I already scanned it. The analyzer has no information. We have to get out of here before its….."

"FIRE!!" The Northern part of the forest from which the screaming Hunter came running from earlier immediately caught fire as a thick cloud of flames burst through the trees and turned them into charcoal. About half a dozen of those standing close got engulfed and burned to death immediately while a lucky few got to walk away with only third-degree burns.

"Look, it's the beast." All the Hunters watched in fear as a humanoid silhouette walked through the flames like it was nothing. So far, the only thing they saw was a human shape with long claws, powerful legs and a thick, partially long tail that swayed from left to right. It's eyes glowed a violent red color as it scowled at all the Hunters.

"EVERYONE FALL BACK." Blake ordered and immediately, all the Hunters started to run. Most of them removed the crystals from within their swords and used them as energy boosters so they'd be able to run for a long distance and not grow weary. Others leaped from tree to tree as they'd occasionally looked back at the beast.

"What is that beast?" Luke wondered.

"It must be on the king tier." Nadia replied as they saw the beast speed walk towards the Molardillo and pierce its hand through the armor like it was butter. "Whatever it was, we cannot even think of trying to battle it. We're too weak."

"And it's too intelligent." Blake thought to himself as the last thing he saw the beast do was eat the crystal of the Molardillo. "That must be a Lord tiered beast, maybe even demon."

The remaining Hunters got to escape quickly and live to tell the tale, thanks to Blake's command and the Molardillo which seemed to be the beast's main target.

*SGROAAAHHHRRR*

----------------------------

The surviving Hunters returned to the factory where Kenny and other Gorilla gangsters patiently waited for their arrival. However, as they saw the young hunters return, their hearts grew heavy at the sight of seeing how a few of them were missing and majority were injured.

Kenny quickly sent some of his people to assist the weakened Hunters while gathering medical supplies to treat those who needed it the most.

"Judging by the state most of you are in, I'd say you encountered a high tiered beast, correct?" Kenny asked while he and other Gorillas treated the young Hunters.

"We were attacked, sir." Nadia replied. "At first we saw an intermediate beast and thought we'd take it down together but then….we were attacked by another."

"Well, didn't you use your analyzer?" He asked. "There's a reason we give you people those things. What's the point if we do so when you're not even going to do so?"

"We encountered a new breed." Another teenage male Hunter replied. "We all scanned it and learned that it has never been seen nor discovered before. We didn't stick long enough to gauge just how strong it really was, thanks to that guy." He pointed at Blake who was busy trying to help others.

Kenny walked over to Blake, looked him dead in the eyes and smiled while saying, "You did a good job leading your comrades and getting them to safety."

"No, sir." He sighed. "We suffered casualties. Kids died today and we don't know what we'll tell their parents. We lost about six of them. Their bodies must be burned right now or even eaten." Kenny, Blake, and the other Hunters went over what the beast looked like and tried painting a mental picture for their leader so he'd assign them the next step they were to take.

"So, what do we do now, sir?"

"Yeah. What's the next step forward? We need to plan these things more often, rather than just going in blind folded."

"This young man, Blake, will be the one in charge of the Hunting expeditions from now on." He replied. "However, it's too dangerous with that beast out there. We don't know just how dangerous it is and what tier it could be. As of now, you'll all be escorted by the Major Gorilla Hunters. Blake will take charge and lead."

Kenny abruptly gave his commands and left the Hunters confused at the factory. As soon as he left, they all turned their attention to Blake, who was also shocked by the sudden responsibility he was given.

'I thought I'd have to work to get to higher ranks.' He thought to himself. 'This is a huge win for us. With me in charge of the Hunters, and Dezhong in the inner circle, we'll be able to find that pass to Neveah in no time.'