The Apex Zinogre pressed its advantage with unrelenting ferocity. In its frenzy there was no thought of restraint, no conserving stamina, no consideration of wasted effort.
In its world now, there was only slaughter!
[Boom!]
With its massive horns thrusting forward, a Diablos erupted from beneath the earth, charging as if to impale the rampaging Zinogre mid-sprint.
But in the very next instant, Zinogre twisted its body in an almost exaggerated motion, raising its palm high. With a frenzied roar, it swung downward at terrifying speed, smashing the side of Diablos's skull and breaking its subterranean charge head-on.
Its lightning-wreathed tail followed through in a sweeping arc, striking the still-unsteady Diablos and sending it crashing more than ten meters away.
With its hate redirected, Zinogre abandoned the battered Glavenus, lunging instead at the Diablos. Its forelimbs pinned the beast down before it could rise, and its jaws snapped toward the spine at the base of Diablos's neck.
[Thud!]
A dull thud rang out as the Apex Zinogre's head snapped to the side, a blade mark carved across one of its ear-like yellow horns, now streaked with black-violet corruption.
The Huntsman landed squarely on the Diablos, his boots pressing against its back like a small earthen mound. From there, he swung his greatsword in a broad horizontal arc, cleaving once more across the Apex Zinogre's face.
Seizing the brief opening caused by the beast's pain, the Huntsman rolled swiftly, sheathing his weapon as he leapt down from Diablos's back.
Before he could even steady himself, instinct led him to scan the monsters' movements mid-dodge—only to glimpse an azure silhouette sweeping across the sky.
The greatsword was drawn again in an instant, its edge raised in a defensive stance before him.
A heartbeat later, a blazing fireball descended, striking squarely against the Apex Zinogre's back as it moved to continue its assault on Diablos. The explosion scattered a cluster of Thunderbugs into the air.
The sudden strike loosened the Zinogre's crushing grip, giving Diablos the opening it needed. With a violent shake of its head, the brute rammed upward with its massive horns, shoving the Apex Zinogre away before quickly retreating to create distance.
The Huntsman, his greatsword absorbing the blast's heat, rolled aside without pause, careful not to be caught in the deadly crossfire between monsters.
By now, the nearest Tempered Azure Rathalos had swooped down from above. On the ground, the recovered Tempered Glavenus advanced from one side, while the Huntsman closed in from the other—together surrounding the Apex Zinogre.
Meanwhile, Diablos burrowed rapidly beneath the earth, ready to launch another devastating charge at any moment.
The Apex Zinogre's scarlet eyes swept over its encirclement. Yet far from fear, its frenzy only deepened. With a drawn-out wolfish howl, the Thunderbugs swarmed and flared again, wrapping its body in violent surges of electricity.
Black miasma, eerily like the Frenzy Virus, seeped around its form. The creature's charged shell, once glowing gold, was now wholly tainted black-violet.
And with that, the battle ignited once more.
The Apex Zinogre raged with what seemed like inexhaustible stamina—leaping madly, lashing its tail, slamming its claws, and unleashing storms of lightning.
The attacks from the other monsters struck true, but they seemed to do little real harm.
The Tempered Azure Rathalos raked its claws down the Apex Zinogre's back, only to be jolted by the violent surge of electricity. It nearly gave the Apex Zinogre the opening to swat it from the sky—until the Huntsman intervened in time.
In his hands, the heavy Blazing Wing moved like a longsword. Whether striking or recovering, his motions carried almost no delay.
At times, he even raised the great blade diagonally, slamming his shoulder into the Apex Zinogre's hind leg to break its balance.
What should have been a clash of monsters turned, inexplicably, into the Huntsman's personal showcase. The duel's true focus had shifted—now it was Huntsman versus Apex Zinogre.
The proud Tempered Azure Rathalos, the Tempered Glavenus, and even the burrowing Diablos—had somehow all been relegated to supporting roles!
Together, the three monsters posed less of a threat to the Apex Zinogre than a single hunter did.
As the battle wore on, the Huntsman fully adapted to the Zinogre's combat style. With monsters distracting, restraining, and soaking blows, he carved deep wounds into its body.
And thanks to the Azure Rathalos's intermittent fire, each burst absorbed by the Huntsman's blade kept its sharpness honed to a razor's edge.
By then, other monsters, drawn by the chaos, had begun to converge on the scene.
Watching the bizarre fight unfold below, Aki couldn't help but recall the Admiral—how, when facing the Rajang, that seemingly small frame had unleashed such overwhelming power.
So, without hesitation, she too joined the supporting side. Under Logan's influence, Aki had long since learned never to refuse an easier way of fighting.
...
The battle against a monster in its Apex state was destined to drag on endlessly. When a creature's body was pushed infinitely close to its limits, it would undergo a kind of transcendent evolution. Along with its physique, its defenses would reach an absurd level.
Even the sharpened draw-slash of the Tempered Glavenus could only cleave partway through the armored forelimb of the Apex Zinogre. That alone was proof enough of just how terrifying its defenses were.
To break through such armor, the Huntsman had no choice but to channel power into every strike. The stamina this consumed was plain to see. If not for Blazing Wing having been upgraded twice over the past two years—and being able to maintain its sharpness at the highest level—he would already have been forced to retreat, looking for an opening to sharpen his weapon.
Even so, after fighting like this for an entire day, the Huntsman still felt fatigue creeping in.
Normally, a hunt lasted one or two hours at most. During that time, either the monster could no longer endure the exhaustion or injuries and would flee, or the hunter's stamina and supplies would run out, forcing them to retreat and resupply.
Once scouting, trap-setting, use of the environment, pursuit, and tracking were factored in, a proper hunt of a high-ecological-tier large monster would often stretch to nearly a month. That was the standard rhythm of the hunt.
This was why most hunter assignments were for expulsion rather than slaying. The difference in time and energy consumed was incomparable.
Now, after a single day, the Huntsman had already used up all the Ancient Potions and other supplies he had brought.
But looking at the Apex Zinogre—still in a frenzy, as though it possessed endless stamina—the Huntsman could only disengage for the moment. He let the other monsters keep it occupied while he slipped to a relatively safe corner, where the logistics personnel who had been watching from afar rushed over with rations and Ancient Potions.
At that moment, the Huntsman felt a twinge of regret. He should not have been so arrogant as to come without a Felyne companion.
Palico could share some of the pressure during combat, coordinate attacks, and buy hunters the time needed to use items. With one at his side, his endurance would have been far greater.
Soon, with the descent of a wingdrake, the logistics personnel quickly delivered the supplies they had long prepared.
The Huntsman wolfed down a ration. Though the mix of medicine and food tasted awful, it was specially prepared to work with a hunter's digestion, swiftly replenishing lost stamina.
After safely stowing the Potions and Ancient Potions, he drank down a Demondrug and an Energy Drink.
He gave the logistics personnel a thumbs-up, nodded, and then turned back toward the battlefield, once again seizing control of the fight.
The battle stretched from day into night, and from night into day again.
If not for the wide terrain of the Wildspire Waste—and the bright moonlight of that night—combat would have been even more troublesome for the Huntsman.
Against an Apex monster, lacking a Wystone was far too great a disadvantage. The Huntsman had fought his way to this point relying purely on his own strength.
The scholars of the New World Research Commission were indeed elites, but they had too few samples and lacked the resources of the Old World, where entire institutes dedicated solely to the Frenzy Virus could be established.
It was simply far too unrealistic to expect the Wystone to be researched twenty years ahead of time.
Fortunately, the monsters in this battle were, for the most part, high-ecological-tier subspecies and tempered individuals—all driven by an unshakable will to fight.
Roaring without fear, they hurled themselves forward one after another, determined to bring down the Apex Zinogre.
Blood, fire, blades, and lightning became the symphony of the battlefield.
Massive rocks of the wasteland crumbled, the ground split apart, mingled with crimson blood and torn flesh.
Once their initial bursts of energy had been spent, the clashes between monsters devolved into pure, brutal hand-to-hand carnage.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---