Catching the potion Andrew tossed over, Number Nine glanced hesitantly at Anby. Only after Anby gave a slight nod did he pour the liquid into the mouths of the two fallen members.
As the potion went down, their pale faces quickly regained a healthy pink hue. The sheer potency of the medicine made the three of them stare with wide, astonished eyes.
Even the med-pods back at the research institute, built with lost technology, couldn't possibly possess such powerful healing capabilities for injuries this severe.
Twiggy, who had been anxiously watching the potion's effects, was also in disbelief. Having specifically studied biology and medicine, she understood the terrifying power of this potion's healing ability far better than the other three, who were merely surprised.
"I'll help you!"
With the critically wounded now stabilizing, Anby finally felt a sense of relief.
Andrew, equally relieved, prepared to charge in, sword in hand. Anby immediately followed suit. Unlike her other teammates whose stamina was nearly depleted, she still had plenty of fight left in her.
Seeing that Anby was in good shape, and remembering her impressive skills from before, Andrew nodded in agreement.
"When the monster attacks me, make sure you don't interrupt its attack animation. As for a weapon, use my dagger for now."
With that, he tossed over the hunter's dagger he always kept tucked into the back of his belt.
Anby, expecting a small knife based on the name, caught it with a reverse grip, only to find herself holding a blade nearly as long as her own longsword, but with a wider body and a thicker spine.
"A da... dagger?"
To Anby, at least, this thing was definitely not a dagger.
But Andrew, already rushing toward the monster, had no time to answer. Anby gave the blade a couple of swings to get used to its center of gravity, then immediately dashed towards the monster's other flank.
As Andrew and Anby charged out, the monster, already on high alert and scanning its surroundings, instantly noticed them.
Its eyes fell on Andrew, the one who had severely injured it before, and it flew into a rage. It planted all four limbs on the ground, the spike on its chin pointing straight ahead, and with a powerful stomp, the dragon charge began.
Its massive body, combined with its accelerating speed, made the Ethereal look like a thousand-ton dump truck hurtling straight for Andrew. Every footfall shook the ground, making it difficult for even Belle, who was controlling Eous nearby, to keep her footing.
Amidst the thunderous tremors, Andrew stood his ground, perfectly calm. The tachi he had drawn from his back was now sheathed at his left hip. He leaned forward slightly, his right hand gripping the hilt, ready to strike. Explosive power gathered in his right arm.
After landing two quick strikes that reopened the wound she had painstakingly created with her previous barrage of attacks, Anby had immediately backed away when the dragon-like Ethereal began its charge.
Watching Andrew face the dragon charge head-on, she worriedly held back, remembering his instructions not to interrupt.
Just a second before man and beast were about to collide, Andrew violently swung his right arm, drawing the tachi. A spinning slash, imbued with the full power of the draw, slammed viciously into the dragon's head. A long streak of light from the horizontal slash cut through the air, appearing before the stunned eyes of the Silver Squad members.
The fierce blade's light, pale white with a hint of crimson, looked as if it could slice through space itself.
"Iai Slash!"
Its dragon charge interrupted by the single strike, the great dragon tumbled to the ground, carried by its own momentum. The terrifying inertia that could have crushed any obstacle was now working in Andrew's favor.
Even after falling, it slid for more than ten meters, carving a path of rubble from the crushed buildings beneath it that led straight to its prone form.
The combination of the slash and the slide had left the scales on the Ethereal's left side shattered. As it struggled back to its feet, it let out a roar at Andrew, a sound mixed with both fury and fear.
It didn't understand. The Ethereal it had encountered before was supposed to be invincible. It had fled to another Hollow and was even using that Ethereal's form. It should have been perfectly safe, so why was it beaten to the ground again in just two hits?
Refusing to accept it, it rose again and charged furiously at Andrew. At this point, it had eyes for nothing else, not even caring that Anby was continuously inflicting wounds all over its body.
Seeing the Ethereal was ready to fight to the death, Andrew was completely unfazed by any counterattack it might muster.
After all, he'd hunted the original monster for seven days straight. This copy's combat skills and physical prowess were worlds apart from the real deal. Even without the Blazing Light Tachi in his hands, Andrew could still beat it down with ease.
"You really think I was just watching the show all this time? I've already figured out your shoddy imitation!"
Fighting this Ethereal was like fighting a juvenile Furious Rajang that hadn't eaten a Kirin horn to enter its second-stage Super Saiyan form after you've already beaten a Fanged Beast. While still a formidable opponent, the whole process felt remarkably effortless and casual by comparison.
Watching Andrew hold his tachi horizontally, effortlessly repelling the Ethereal's swiping claws with terrifying strength, and then swing the massive blade, delivering lightning-fast slashes that left behind a swathe of bone-deep wounds.
As a final, massive spinning slash landed, the monster's right claw flew off. In that moment, a seed of admiration for Andrew—and for his profession as a blacksmith—was planted in Twiggy's heart.
This admiration was just like the one she had always held for her captain, Anby. It was a yearning for a brighter future and for the kind of strength that could protect others.
Unbeknownst to Andrew, Twiggy had just developed a profound and secret misunderstanding about the blacksmith profession.
Looking at the Ethereal, now beaten to its knees and unable to resist, Andrew turned to Anby, who was starting to pant from her constant attacks, and said:
"You want the final blow? Before that, though, I need the dagger back. I have a big use for it right away."
Hearing Andrew's question, Anby was a little confused.
"The Silver Squad didn't contribute much during the fight. The honor of landing the final blow should be yours."
"No, no, no, I don't care about that superficial stuff. The main thing is, the material I need to carve is on its chest. If you cut the Hollow on its head, I definitely won't have time."
And most importantly, if it wasn't dead, the carved materials would just count as damage instead of being stored in the System's item box.
With that said, Andrew took the hunter's dagger back from Anby and eagerly ran over to the monster's chest, ready to go. The light shining in his eyes was much brighter than when he had first seen the Silver Squad.
Although she still had no clue what Andrew was thinking, Anby, who had been following his commands and coordinating with him throughout the fight, chose to comply once more.
As her longsword pierced the Ethereal's Hollow and split it in two, Andrew immediately began carving without a moment's delay.
Belle, who had been recording from the sidelines, wandered over to watch the furiously busy Andrew.
"I really don't get you. Why do you always wait until the monster is dead to carve materials?"
Andrew didn't stop his work as he answered, quickly carving a large, intact piece of hide from the Ethereal's body, which was already starting to dissolve back into a liquid state upon death:
"You can't put it like that. Carving alive and dismantling are two completely different concepts. They represent fundamentally different things. Even if it's a monster, it's best not to cross that kind of line."
While that was certainly one of the reasons, the most fundamental one was actually:
If the monster wasn't dead, the System couldn't register the forcibly removed parts as storable materials.
-
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