Monster Hunt: Notes from a Hunter

Without giving Lunastra a chance to readjust, Vaal Hazak spewed out another column of effluvium.

It's hard to define whether this attack counts as a breath attack, because in terms of pure destructive power, this "breath" couldn't even knock over a slightly thick tree.

Its damage comes almost entirely from the effluvium itself.

For ordinary creatures, being sprayed with highly concentrated effluvium, or even just getting a little bit on them, would be a huge problem.

Those tiny creatures that can't be seen with the naked eye would enter the victim's body through the respiratory tract, wounds, and even the gaps in their scales and skin, destroying the victim's bodily functions with extreme efficiency.

As long as Vaal Hazak was willing, the victim would weaken and die in a relatively short period.

However, Lunastra and Teostra clearly don't belong to the category of "ordinary creatures."

Before those microorganisms could even invade their bodies, they would be incinerated into ashes by the flames burning on their skin.

In the end, the only real effect of this attack was the slight physical impact, but this result was already expected by the hunter and Vaal Hazak.

Being able to interrupt Lunastra's attack was already a success, and incidentally knocking it back could even be considered a pleasant surprise.

On the other side, Teostra, who had been hacked a few times on the head, finally regained some strength.

Seeing another axe about to fall, it suddenly turned its head and used the horns on its head to block the axe's blow, roaring as it stood up.

Seeing this, Fuying immediately stopped her continuous attacks, turned around and retreated, transforming and disassembling her weapon into a sword and shield while thrusting the shield forward, just in time to meet Teostra's sweeping claws.

"Zzzt—"

Amidst the teeth-grinding scraping sound, the claws scratched across the shield's surface, leaving several white claw marks.

After precisely defending against the claw attack, Fuying changed her weapon form again, and delivered a counterattacking super burst, heavily smashing back.

Covered in blood, Teostra refused to be outdone, roaring and swinging its claws to meet the attack head-on. The axe blade collided with the giant claws, frost and dragon fire vying against each other, emitting a sizzling sound.

The two of them took a step back at the same time, evenly matched.

Fuying didn't continue to attack aggressively. She held up her sword and shield, watching her opponent over the edge of the shield.

Although she had once suppressed her opponent, that was mainly due to the advantage of a surprise attack. The opponent was a Teostra in its prime, and even she had to muster all her energy and be cautious.

Not to mention, there was also a Lunastra watching from the sidelines.

Fuying always kept some attention on Lunastra, but in fact, after Teostra successfully got up and launched a counterattack, Lunastra had already given up the idea of supporting its partner.

Although Teostra was often beaten by it due to temperament and other reasons, it was also very clear that Teostra's strength was definitely not below it. (Official settings do not say that Lunastra is stronger than Teostra)

It didn't think its partner would lose. What it needed to do now was to knock down this ugly guy in front of it!

Lunastra roared and lunged at Vaal Hazak, who was blocking its path.

Without even needing to really fight, just looking at their size, it was clear that the literally emaciated Vaal Hazak could not compete with Lunastra in close combat.

That mocking, low growl came from the depths of the effluvium again.

"gegegege"

Lunastra, who was already short-tempered and had a very high self-esteem, had red eyes and turned its head to spew a ball of dragon fire in the direction of the sound.

As expected, the attack landed in empty space, with no effect other than burning away a small amount of effluvium.

However, the effluvium in the cave was specially prepared by Vaal Hazak, collected and condensed for a long time, and was not so easily cleared away.

As the surrounding effluvium surged in, the area purified by the dragon fire was quickly replenished.

Lunastra couldn't see its opponent's figure, but Vaal Hazak always knew its movements, using the terrain to circle around it.

It tried to rise into the air, but the cave was too low, and its head hit the top of the cave as soon as its limbs left the ground, so it had to fall back to the ground.

For a time, Lunastra realized that if that Vaal Hazak insisted on avoiding battle, it really couldn't do anything about it, unless it cleared away the surrounding effluvium that obscured its vision in one fell swoop, otherwise it couldn't catch that slippery guy.

Then I'll burn everything to show you!

Enraged, Lunastra's body was filled with blazing flames, and even its eyes burned with scorching fire.

The eerie blue dragon fire gathered in its mouth. This time, it didn't aim at a certain direction in the effluvium, but lowered its head and aimed at the ground beneath its feet.

The ultra-high temperature flames spreading around would turn the surrounding ground into magma. It wanted to see if the fire-fearing effluvium could still survive in the high-temperature area covered by magma?

Just as the breath attack aimed at the ground was about to be spewed out, another column of effluvium attacked from the side, accurately hitting the side of Lunastra's head.

The power of this column of air was not enough to cause serious damage to Lunastra, but with continuous bombardment, it was still possible to stagger it.

Caught off guard, Lunastra swayed a few steps before finally standing firm, and the large-scale flame wave attack that was about to be completed was interrupted again.

Lunastra gasped for breath, unable to vent its anger.

From the depths of the effluvium, where its gaze could not penetrate, that strange laughter came again.

"gegegege"

Lunastra was almost bursting with anger, and its reason was almost swallowed by anger. It spread its wings wide and began to scatter scales.

The effluvium column shot again, interrupting its process of spreading scales, but it didn't matter. The scales that had already been spread would not fall to the ground immediately, but would continue to float in the air for a while.

After standing firm, Lunastra roared and continued to spread scales.

It planned to use a large-scale dust explosion. Even if it would be injured by using this trick in a closed environment, even if the cave collapsed, even if it was buried alive, it didn't matter.

I'll explode with you!

"Roar!"

A painful howl sounded, and Teostra's embarrassed figure emerged from the effluvium, staggering back to Lunastra's side.

A crimson figure walked out of the hazy effluvium.

Dark red bloodstains were frozen on the shield and sword. The 【Dragon Vein】 armor, which had drunk dragon blood, was completely awakened, and scarlet fighting spirit wrapped around it. The aura of taboo was released without concealment, continuously oppressing the nerves of the two elder dragons.

Even Lunastra, who was preparing to explode, regained consciousness under the pressure of this aura, cautiously lowering its body and roaring in vigilance.

The half-covered mask was retracted, and the eyes, transformed into golden vertical pupils under the influence of the forbidden aura, stared directly at the two elder dragons in front of them.

Vaal Hazak also revealed its figure from the effluvium behind her.

The bone wings covered with rotten flesh and hyphae were spread wide, so that its slender figure could appear larger.

"Enough, leave this place."

The sword cut across the ground, and the words with a strange echo reverberated in the cave.

Teostra and Lunastra stared at the hunter in front of them. They didn't understand human language, but they could understand the other party's meaning through emotions and aura.

—Retreat from here, and we will be at peace, but if you continue, we will fight to the death.

After a brief hesitation, the two elder dragons slowly retreated, leaving the small cave.