Whoever may be the Hunters (2)

A giant beetle wasn't much of an opponent when you had someone to take away its attention and a sharpshooter to constantly hammer at it with bullets. The only problem was that the martial artist housewife was the only one capable of taking away the attention of the beetle in her group, the other two hunters being knights who just didn't do enough damage.

As Sen entered the fray, that situation didn't change much. He was able to get some lucky hits under the hard 'armor' of the bug, but he was stuck dodging constantly as it tried to stab him and the other hunters. Its main horn wasn't being used, however, and someone found it strange.

"Healer! Focus on the martial artist and make sure to give her all the defense she can get! I think it's going to get messy once that thing starts using its horn." The sharpshooter yelled as he quickly took out his magazine, filled it with his very agile hands in a few seconds, and then put it back in. His bullets weren't doing much so he had to keep the quantity coming in absence of the quality.

Not one to put himself in too much danger, Sen stopped his random attempts at damaging the boss and observed his surrounding. Nothing inside the room would be of any use and the two knights couldn't do much except slash at the beetle's legs. They wouldn't be able to resist any blows so they had to stay under it. The martial artist was just punching the beetle on its face as hard as possible and Sen had to keep himself from smiling. He always admired how simple that path was. Just pure violence.

Fantasizing on a path wouldn't get him anywhere however, hence he quickly put on a plan. If he couldn't do anything substantial now, he would need to evolve during the fight, not after. The group might look like it was winning, but try to put up with the stamina of a mutant giant beetle, it wouldn't end well. He didn't know how he was going to explain what he was about to pull off, but it had to be done.

Suddenly though, his personal guardian angel spoke in his ears amidst the chaos surrounding him.

"I know what you are thinking of. Hmmm...You could simply make use of the status of your path. It is still unknown to the authorities after all. You can say that you were just trying random tactics until one paid off. I believe this sort of lie could get you far. My data indicates that humans would be quite inclined to believe this excuse if you were to add something else. Say that the result was a failure, even if it boosts you in this fight...." Before she could finish, one of the knights lost his footing and the beetle took advantage of that to launch one of its piercing armored legs at Sen.

So focused on what Vodka had to say he was, that he didn't even register the leg. An explosion sent him flying as the beetle screeched in what could be considered pain. Sen got back on his feet in an instant and shook the dust off of his outfit. He threw a look at the sharpshooter and his suspicions were confirmed. That had been the result of a skill curtesy of the younger man. It had obviously taken its toll on him and had been used on a leg, not the face. This made their situation worse.

Sen grit his teeth and put his plan into motion. Sprinting towards the beetle, he slid under another leg sent to impale him and even got another lucky hit, some blue-ish blood splashing all over his face.

As he got back right beside the knight with a goatee, he wiped the blood off and smiled awkwardly.

"This may seem weird, but I think I would be more useful here." He said to the knight who had no time to answer. The beetle moved away and was about to escape.

*BOOM!*

Its fangs flew away from its mouth and some more blood splattered over the already stained ground. Sen felt his entire body sweat as the heat in his area shot through the roof. He resisted the desire to look at what happened and simply adopted the same position as the knight beside him, even acting as though he had a shield in the form of his own arm, which earned him a raised brow and a face scrunched up in confusion.

However, the rest of the hunters had seen what happened, and the sharpshooter who was more than met the eye looked at the fuming housewife in surprise.

"...Tell me I am fucking dreaming....What the hell is this day? Two anomalies in the same hour." He muttered under his breath while shooting continuously. His handgun was starting to overheat, but he hadn't brought another so it had to hang on for now.

Seeing the state the martial artist that had smoke coming out of her body was in, the healer quickly cast the same defense boosting spell on her. Blood trickled out of her nose, she wiped it off. She closed and opened her destroyed right hand with great difficulty and winced as the wounds opened due to parts of her weapon stabbing into that very hand, started to bleed profusely.

"This fucked us both, but I have a feeling you are taking it worse than me." She said smugly as the beetle screeched once more. It was starting to get really furious at the resistance of the hunter before it.

Back to the hunters though, one of them had been breathing heavily, his eyes widened to the very limit after seeing the feat that the martial artist had just performed. The way she had just made some sort of last stand, gathering all of her magic in her fist and using it to shatter the exoskeleton of the beetle, had been quite the experience for him. He just wondered about one thing.

How was it that someone who was so under him shone brighter than he ever did in his entire life? Why was it that the martial artist just seemed so towering now? Even the one who had been nothing more than a mere porter was starting to appear more like a wild beast, using all he had to fight in a way he was not used to, for reasons only known to himself. The knights were being crushed inside their own armors but didn't look like they were ready to give up anytime.

They all formed a group, a team, a true one. Despite them being so close, he felt quite alone at that moment. There was only one thing on his mind as he lifted his staff to mindlessly launch another spell.

'Boss.....Hojosa.....How did you even survive that far!?'

He never wanted to feel so lonely in a life-threatening situation, never again.

His despair was not missed on Seneos who was battling with all he had not that far away from the healer. Said man was such a mirror of who Sen knew he still was, it made goosebumps rock his entire body. Maybe it was arrogance to see himself in someone supposedly much stronger in comparison, but he still did.

Yet this was about to change.

One of the beetle's legs finally gave in and the beast stumbled backward. The martial artist leaped at it with the last bits of strength she could muster and landed on its face, sitting on it with her fist raised up high in the air. A cold glare and a shattering blow later, the beast was trying to shake off the hunter, moving in all directions but getting sent down again and again.

All the while the weakest hunter in the room kept chanting something in his head, his mind focused on a single task. He had to get it, the path of the valorous!

His daggers were nothing more than scrap metal at this point and his left arm that he had used as a shield was limping on the side. A fire lit up in his heart, he felt the warmth, and this time it wasn't coming from the overpowered hit of the housewife. Every sound from the outside became muted to him, even the voices of his guide. His heart was beating faster than it did in the previous death encounter with Baem.

He didn't need to think about it too much, he knew what this was. He took a step back while crouching slightly. This was now or never!

He launched himself forward as images flashed before his eyes. He saw monsters among men, clad in armors not a single hunter he knew of could possibly possess. Treasures like humanity had never seen, at least to his knowledge. He saw swords that could cleave mountains in half, and he saw a warrior....A man of will, bravery, and resilience. A valorous knight in shining armor.

He put everything he had on his feet and jumped as high as he could. As the cold wind of the cave hit him, he took in the smell of the beetle's blood.....Coppery with a hint of something truly fool that would have made him gag a few seconds before. A rosy tint took over the natural color of his cheeks and he let out a toothy smile. He almost wanted to laugh to tears.

"[Path of the Valorous]"