I'm sitting next to Diablos's body, my back resting against it. I look at my left arm—it has healed a bit, but it's still hard to move. I lift my head and gaze at the cloudless blue sky.
"... My whole body hurts," I mutter as I get up with some difficulty. Looking into the monster's eye, which is still bloodshot even after death, I say:
"Well... it'd be a waste not to eat you now."
…
[Skills obtained: [Large Horns], [Double Mace Tail], [Natural Plates], [Quick Digging], [Powerful Roar]Accept: YES/NO]
…
Narrator's POV
A couple of hours after Chryssia ate Diablos and left—
"Did you find anything?" asked one hunter as he stared at the ground.
"No trace of anything," replied another hunter beside him.
"Should we report it?"
Both hunters fell silent as they looked at a severed Diablos horn.
"How many monsters have you seen that could rip off a Diablos's horn?"
"A better question is how many monsters can fight a Diablos and live to tell the tale," answered a third voice.
One of the hunters looked at the newcomer and asked:
"What did you find?"
"Something fought a Diablos and gave it a real battle. I found signs that the Diablos dug multiple times and some blood. If I had to guess, the Diablos and another monster started fighting where I investigated, made their way here, and the Diablos lost a horn. Then the fight continued elsewhere."
The group of four hunters had found the severed Diablos horn by chance. And although Diablos was the alpha of the Wildspire Wastes, it wasn't impossible for one to lose a horn—especially during mating season.
The problem was twofold: first, it wasn't mating season, and second, the horn wasn't broken—it had been ripped out from the root.
So, upon seeing the horn, they split into four directions. The first two hunters found nothing. The third found signs of a fight.
"Come! Quickly!" they heard the fourth hunter shout from the distance, and they headed in his direction.
As they approached, they saw the hunter standing beside a mound of sand, staring ahead without blinking.
"What did you find?" asked the female hunter.
The last hunter didn't respond or look away—he simply pointed at what he was seeing.
The other three said nothing either; they knew their companion wasn't very talkative.
They walked up to his side, and when they saw what he was staring at, they also fell silent and opened their eyes wide.
For several seconds, no one said a word—until one of the hunters finally muttered:
"Well... now we know where the horn came from."
What they were looking at was the half-eaten corpse of a Diablos, partially covered with sand, making it resemble just another dune in the desert.
…
"After an investigation, we discovered the Diablos's cause of death. Despite the severe wounds, they weren't what killed it—it was an unidentified poison," said the head of the investigation team.
"Unidentified poison...? How many poisonous species even live in the Wastes?" asked the commander's grandson.
"Personally, I think we should focus on the fact that something ate half a Diablos—bones and all," added Lyra.
After finding the Diablos's body, the group of hunters returned to Astera to report their discovery.
This meeting is the result of that.
"What if it was Zorah Magdaros? He could easily grab a Diablos with one hand and take a bite, and maybe break a horn by accident in the process," suggested the handler.
"No, it couldn't be Zorah. As far as we know, he's not venomous—at most, he emits ash clouds, but that's not the same kind of toxin the Diablos suffered from," the Guild Master clarified.
"Also, based on what we found in the area, the Diablos put up a fight before dying. If it had encountered Zorah, it likely would've run away. Plus, whatever ate it wasn't that big. Instead of a single massive bite, there were multiple smaller ones," added the head of investigations while adjusting his glasses.
"...Do you think it might be related to the spines I found last time?" asked the Hunter.
Everyone fell silent at that possibility.
"It's a possibility, but we didn't find any spines in the area. Though... I have another theory," said Lyra.
The commander looked at her and said, "The Phageris?"
"The Phageris."
"If it's not one problem, it's another," muttered the Guild Master, shaking his head.
"If that's true, then we're still in the same situation—Zorah's vanished to who-knows-where, and the Phageris is doing whatever it wants… wait, since when can the Phageris use poison?" asked the commander's grandson.
"The Phageris, in the few encounters we've had with it, has shown new traits—from increased defenses to a developing ability to use a variant of the Nitro element. We simply don't know all of its abilities yet," added the head of research.
"Can a monster really have that many different abilities?" asked the handler. The commander looked at the head of research, who returned the glance.
"In the Old World, there's a species of flying wyvern called Espinas that can use fire along with poison and paralysis. So a monster having multiple traits is rare—but not impossible," said the Guild Master.
"*Sigh* Since this information only adds more theories about this new monster, we'll continue with the same plan. So get to work!"
"Yes!" they all replied in unison.
"May the Sapphire Star guide you."
{Sorry for the lack of chapters, I had to take summer classes and, once they ended, I went on vacation with my family.
I'll try to publish more consistently from now on.}