POV: Narrator
The second explosion hit her with less force, but it still injured her. She stopped using [Alternate Form], losing speed in exchange for greater defense.
She rolled to her right to avoid the fixed ballista bolts. She dodged most of them, but a few—fired in a more scattered pattern—hit her.
Using her three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vision, she searched for the hunter, but failed to find him.
A hidden passage, she thought.
And tempting as it was to find him, she knew it wasn't possible.
They'll most likely blow up more bushes.
She kept running, dodging more bolts, and noticed that the cannons were about to finish reloading.
In response, she opened her mouth and fired a barrage of fireballs.
The hunters pulled back to avoid the flames—but they weren't the targets.
The fireballs slammed into the five cannons.
To Chryssia's surprise, they didn't melt or break apart; only the gunpowder already inside them exploded.
They're cannons meant to besiege giant monsters—very strong giant monsters that breathe fire.
The hunters could only curse and begin reloading the cannons again.
Chryssia heard someone shout what she assumed were orders and saw several hunters abandon the fixed ballistae, taking position beside the cannons with their shields raised.
Throughout this entire process, the ballistae never stopped firing, and several bolts even managed to hit her.
Chryssia ripped a bolt out of herself and removed its tip.
She opened her mouth and brought the arrowhead close to it.
No, I'd only be able to hit one of them—two if I'm lucky—while the others would take advantage of how badly wounded I'd be afterward.
She dropped the arrowhead and instead unleashed another barrage of fireballs at the hunters.
In response, some hunters jumped forward with their shields raised, blocking the flames.
Chryssia tried to get closer, but another explosion forced her to retreat.
When she recovered after rolling several meters from the blast, she noticed something.
The ballista fire had stopped.
She looked toward the ballista operators, but before she could see what they were doing, she had to dodge an arrow.
She barely moved her body, letting the arrow pass.
The next instant, she felt a wave of heat and kinetic force slam into her back.
It didn't send her flying, but it did knock her to the ground.
Before she could get back up, she felt an arrow strike her back—and then explode.
She roared in pain as her scales and muscles were violently torn away.
With a powerful burst using [Demonic Blood], she leapt away from where the arrow had hit.
Just in time—because moments later, another explosive arrow landed in the same spot.
These arrows have less explosive power than the hidden bombs, but they're still far more dangerous than normal ones. Why didn't they use them earlier? Were they trying to make me lower my guard?
Chryssia didn't have time to continue that line of thought—the bombardment continued.
She tried to evade the arrows, and while she managed to do so, the shockwaves still struck her.
Realizing her current approach wouldn't work, she tried something else.
Using [Ink Cloud], enhanced by [Cloud], she covered part of the battlefield with gaseous ink.
The hunters stopped firing once they lost sight of Chryssia.
The cloud was several meters away from the hunters' position, so Chryssia couldn't fully close the distance.
The cannons finished reloading. The artillery crews took position. The hunters raised their shields.
Several seconds passed in complete silence.
The hunters could feel sweat pooling down their backs.
Some had white knuckles from gripping their weapons so tightly.
Suddenly, several projectiles shot out from within the cloud.
They were aimed at the cannons. Some were stopped by the hunters, but several slipped through and struck the artillery crews of two cannons.
They looked at the projectiles—several small stones, thrown with enough force to be lethal.
A hunter shouted, and the ballista operators fired blindly into the ink cloud.
Even though the cloud spanned several meters, the explosions were powerful enough to disperse it in just a few volleys.
Chryssia didn't hesitate and charged toward the hunters in a zigzag pattern to avoid the arrows.
The arrows kept firing, trying to land a hit. The artillery crews didn't have a clear shot, so they didn't fire.
Chryssia was struck by several explosions she paid no attention to—she was only a few meters from the hunters' position.
Though the hunters were nervous seeing her so close, to Chryssia's dismay, they stopped firing.
She hesitated when she noticed no one was shooting anymore—but it was already too late.
She stepped on an electric trap placed at the base of the elevated position and was instantly paralyzed.
Before she could understand what had happened, she heard the sound of cannons firing.
Only three of the cannons still had artillery crews operating them.
The first shot grazed her head, tearing off part of her crest.
The second struck her left arm, shattering the bones.
The third hit her stomach, destroying several organs.
The final shot ripped her free from the trap. Even so, she had no chance to recover, as the last thing Chryssia saw was several explosive arrows falling down on top of her.
…
The hunters slowly approached with their weapons raised.
They stopped a few meters away from Chryssia.
Up close, they could clearly see her condition.
Her entire front side had been torn apart or burned, with no visible scales remaining. Her lower jaw had been ripped off. A large portion of the right side of her head was missing, exposing part of her skull.
Only a small part of her crest remained near its base. Her left arm was bent at an unnatural angle, and she was missing her right leg from the knee down.
On top of that, she had lost the newly acquired membrane entirely.
"Is she dead?" one hunter asked, doubt in his voice.
"…It's impossible for anything to still be alive after this. Not even an Elder Dragon would survive this," another said with more confidence—though he didn't move any closer.
One hunter stared silently at Chryssia, guard raised, as if expecting her to stand up again.
A lancer gathered his courage and poked her with his spear.
To the hunters' shock and horror, Chryssia moved her hand slightly.
Those who had relaxed raised their guard again, and the lancer stepped back.
No one spoke for several seconds, but when there was no further movement, they relaxed a little.
After another long moment of silence, a hunter finally spoke.
"What do we do?"
The hunter who had never taken his eyes off Chryssia answered:
"Prepare the equipment to transport her—and have someone go ahead to notify Astera."
{I hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and I wish everyone a prosperous year ahead}