Chapter 15: Apex

I pulled the string and sent a firework to the sky. Now, we only need to wait for the Palicoes to come from the ship. I sit next to the corpse of Basarios while my weapon sits to my right. I decided to take a blunt weapon like a hammer for today's hunt because Basarios have a scale that looks like stone rather than a regular scale.

It has been two months since I got the notice from the Company about a new threat coming, but so far, there is nothing. This should be the month the new, more powerful monster comes.

The mission from Hinoa still looks normal.

I shake my head and look at myself and my partner. For the past two months, we have grown quite a bit. My body gets stronger and is already past the limit of human physical power. Not only that, but I also have learned all the fighting styles in Monster Hunter.

The highest mastery is still the Heavy Bowgun, followed by Long Sword. Master Utsushi is the one training me in all kinds of weaponry. He truly deserves the title of a master because he can use all kinds of weapons to the point he can beat a veteran with their weapon instead of his favorite weapon, Dual Blades.

The [Martial Talent] is truly a blessing for me. It let me get close to Master Utsushi in terms of physical power and fighting style. I will catch up to him in a few more days of sparring. However, I'm still quite far away from Elder Fugen. He is an old monster.

As for Tsukuyo, because she is my waifu, she also grows stronger at an incredible speed.

I snap from my thoughts when I see a group of Palicoes arrive with a cart. I smile at them and help them put the monster into the cart. I see an owl fly toward me while we get the monster's corpse to the ship.

I frown a little and let it land on my hand. The owl turns around and shows me a scroll on its back. I take the scroll and open it. I frown a little when I see the scroll is from Hinoa. My frown grows deeper when I read the content of the letter.

I look at the captain of the ship (a blue Palico) and say.

"Captain, who fast the ship? We have an emergency situation."

"E-meowr-gency situation?"

"Yes. An Apex Arzuros has been spotted near the village. However, what makes matters worse is that the people are busy at the frontier because another rampage is coming."

I can see them widen their eyes, and the captain nods his head.

"We can use the emergency machine, meowster! It will take us back home in less than an hour."

"Good."

I put my hand on the corpse and store it inside my pocket dimension.

"Huh? Where is the body?"

"Don't worry. It is safe. We need to go back quickly."

The captain nods, and we quickly go back to the ship. I mount Hina and carry Kuku and the rest of the Palicoes on my back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|3rd POV|

Hinoa and Minoto try their hardest to defend the village while the rest of the hunters make sure the bigger number of monsters do not come to the village from the frontline. However, even when they try their hardest, they are not a match against an Apex monster like the Apex Arzuros in front of them.

Minoto pants as she holds the shield and her lance while she looks at the Apex Arzuros coming at her. However, before the apex monster can get close to her, Hinoa fires a massive arrow and throws the Apex Arzuros away.

However, while the arrow does quite a lot of damage, it makes the Apex Arzuros even angrier. With a powerful leap, the Arzuros appear in front of Hinoa and swing its arm. The Wyverian female screams in pain as her body flies through the air, and her weapon snaps into two at the might of the giant bear-like monster.

"Sister!"

Minoto screams and runs toward her sister. However, before she can start running, the four Arzuros coming alongside the Apex Arzuros charge Minoto, headbutt her with all their might, and throw her away.

Minoto can only watch helplessly as the Apex Arzuros run toward Hinoa and are about to kill her with their sharp claws. However, before it can hit her, Terry appears and kicks the Apex Arzuros with all his might.

Terry lands in front of Hinoa and says to his partner.

"Kuku! Hina! Take Hinoa and Minoto away! I will take care of these animals!"

"Yes, meowster!"

Terry looks at Hinoa and gives her a smile.

"Don't worry. Leave the rest to me."

He can see her weakly nod before she gets carried away by Hina. Terry snaps from his thoughts when he hears the Apex Arzuros roar and charges toward him. He removes his Shield and Lance to block the incoming attack, throws them away to his pocket dimension, and switches with a Long Sword.

Terry uses his wirebug to the air and takes him with it. A second later, he swings down his weapon, and a second later, a dozen mini-explosions happen. The Apex Arzuros get stunned for a couple of seconds. It did not do much, but it was enough for Terry to switch to Heavy Bowgun.

He loads his gun with Sticky Ammo and fires two of them in quick succession. Terry quickly jumps away when he sees the Apex Arzuros lunge at him. The Apex Arzuros roar and try to swing its arms at Terry, but before it can do that, the sticky ammo explodes, and once again, it creates a good enough shockwave to make the monster lose its balance.

Seeing his chance, Terry switches his weapon to a hammer and uses the wirebug to get above the Apex Arzuros and swing his hammer down. The hammer hit its target, making the Apex Arzuros fall.

Terry takes out his Dual Blades, ties the wirebug into the blade, and stabs it to the ground. He then quickly jumps over the Apex Arzuros and stabs the second blade to the ground. He knows it will not do much, but it will be good if it holds the Apex Arzuros for a few seconds.

He takes out a Wyvern Ammo and starts to charge it. Terry can see the Apex Arzuros struggling on the ground, but after four seconds, it can get out of the trap. However, it was enough for Terry as he used his second wirebug to jump to the sky and press the trigger.

A second later, a massive explosion hit the head of the Apex Arzuros. However, instead of a stunned monster as he hoped for, the Apex Arzuros roar, and its body releases a blood-red aura.

The monster swings its hand and hits Terry, throwing him away.

Terry shakes his head and sees that his armor is gone from that single attack. He looks up and sees the Apex Arzuros continue to roar, and the minion it brings also gets the same blood-red aura.

"Balls"