The dwarf Senshi feared the Griffon.
No, to be precise, he feared "what it revealed."
It is common knowledge that Dwarves are a race passionate about mining and forging. Although not every single one is a craftsman, they do indeed rely on large mineral veins to establish their settlements. This gives Dwarves a commonality with nomadic peoples who follow water and grass:
Their social structure is relatively loose. Ranging from tens of thousands to as few as hundreds or even dozens, any group can become an independent community.
The internal hierarchy among Dwarves is distinct, perhaps even more so than among Elves. Sometimes they are incredibly united, but other times they fight fiercely among themselves, causing various small groups to gather and disperse repeatedly.
Senshi once lived in a large settlement. Later, internal strife broke out, and he, along with several companions, rallied around an old man and escaped. They were a standard small wandering band—only six or seven people.
But they lived happily!
Working odd jobs everywhere while mining and exploring, dreaming of getting rich... their days were shabby, but internally, they were harmonious.
One day, while exploring, such a group accidentally discovered a magnificent underground ruin. It looked resplendent—even the pillars and floors were gold-plated!
Unable to resist the gold, the Dwarves were immediately tempted. They ventured deep inside without adequate preparation or sufficient supplies, and as a result, they lost their way.
It is inconceivable for a Dwarf to get lost underground. At first, everyone thought they would find the way out quickly. It wasn't until a companion was attacked by a monster that they realized this wasn't a simple ruin, but an activated Dungeon!
The Dwarves did not lack courage, but they lacked experience and supplies. While fleeing from the monster's pursuit, they struggled to survive within the Dungeon. If there had been a calm person like Laios in the team, the result might have been entirely different, but regrettably, there was not.
They soon fell into a desperate situation with no food. At such a time, a "choice" should have been made to prioritize those with combat ability, but the team's leader insisted on giving the precious food to Senshi, who was still a child.
Finally, the food ran out completely. The remaining three began to turn on each other. The young Senshi was overwhelmed with terror. In the end, what he waited for was the leader bringing back "monster meat," while the corpse of the other companion was nowhere to be seen...
The leader soon died from his severe injuries. Senshi survived for a time on the "monster meat," eventually discovering the Dungeon's shifting patterns by chance. He successfully left that place and encountered Orcs... Many years later, when he returned to the surface, the environment was completely different!
He didn't know where he had entered the Dungeon, nor could he find the marks left back then. He only knew he had arrived at a completely strange small island belonging to a human kingdom.
Later, Senshi settled here, making a living in the shallow layers of the Dungeon. Until six years ago, when the Dungeon entrance was excavated by humans and the small island gradually prospered, he had already been here for fifty or sixty years!
The reason he began researching monster cuisine was that he harbored doubts and fear in his heart. He wanted to find the "monster meat" he ate back then... Was it really a monster, or was it...
That experience from the past influenced everything about him. If he didn't unravel this mystery, he would never be able to find peace in his life!
And the monster that attacked everyone back then—the leader had asserted it was a "Griffon"!
So, all these years, Senshi had always wanted to encounter another Griffon, to see if the taste of the meat matched that of the past, and thus judge what exactly...
Reasonably speaking, Senshi should feel happy right now. After all, his long-cherished wish finally had a chance to be fulfilled. But in reality, he was unusually shaken and flustered, as if that cowardly boy from the past had returned.
He was afraid!
What if the Griffon meat was different from the "monster meat"?!
What if...
"Oh, oh! I see it!"
Chilchuck, having climbed a tree, shaded his eyes with his hand and shouted loudly, "It really is a monster, and it's not small either... Hmm... but it doesn't seem to be a Griffon. The hindquarters are a horse, not a lion."
"We hit the jackpot!"
Laios stared blankly, his joy evident on his face. "It's a Hippogriff! A Hippogriff, which is even rarer than a Griffon!"
"Is it necessary to be that excited?"
"Brother really loves monsters, doesn't he~"
A Hippogriff?
Not a Griffon?
Senshi's heart suddenly relaxed, followed by a surge of shame.
He was, in fact, afraid to face the truth.
"Hippogriffs are flying monsters with excellent vision. If we move around on the island, we'll definitely attract its attention. It's best to deal with it first."
A thread of glistening saliva flowed from the corner of Laios's mouth, which he wiped away without a trace.
"Shuro said his hometown has a traditional dish called 'Sukiyaki' made with horse meat. I wonder what a Hippogriff tastes like..."
These guys just want to eat it, don't they? Everyone looked at him coldly, the same thought flashing through their minds simultaneously.
"Although Laios has selfish motives, what he says makes sense." Unexpectedly, Ryu actually spoke up in support of Laios.
Marcille calculated for a moment. "There are six of us, and three can use magic. We can split into groups and hunt the Hippogriff from different directions."
"Do we have to split up? Hippogriffs are very fast."
"If there are too many people, it might not dare to come over and attack, right? Let's cast defensive magic on everyone first to avoid being killed instantly by the Hippogriff."
"Marcille, dealing with a Hippogriff that way won't work."
Laios spoke with assurance. "If the prey is encased in a hard shell and cannot be killed with a beak and claws, raptor monsters like Hippogriffs, Griffons, and Rocs will use another method of execution."
"What?"
"Dropping them to their death."
"!"
"This isn't like inside the Dungeon; the sky has no height limit. They can fly to an altitude of over a thousand meters and then drop their prey. No living creature can survive that kind of impact."
Laios explained this to everyone quite happily. "By the same logic, everyone needs to be careful of falling objects from high altitudes. The Hippogriff inherits the horse's strength and can take flight carrying an object weighing hundreds of kilograms. The power of it dropping down is comparable to large-scale magic."
"Falling to death or being smashed to death... I kind of want to back out."
Chilchuck shuddered. With his body size, the Hippogriff would grab him with perfect accuracy!
"As expected, we can't separate! I look much more delicious than Laios; the Hippogriff will target me!"
"Hmm..." Laios was also quite troubled.
Inside the Dungeon, flying monsters were invisibly weakened due to the terrain, but outside, the sky was wide and open. Hunting such a raptor would not be easy.
Ryu's eyes flashed, and he smiled. "How about this? You five form one team, and I'll form a separate team alone. That way, the Hippogriff will prioritize attacking me, right?"
"No!"
Falin objected. "That's too dangerous for you!"
"It's fine, trust me." Ryu flexed his muscles. "I'm very strong."
"But..."
Falin started, then suddenly realized that apart from her, everyone else seemed to agree with Ryu's words, showing no worried expressions on their faces.
"Brother? Marcille?"
"Oh right, Falin doesn't know yet."
Laios patted his sister's head. "That Red Dragon that ate you was defeated almost entirely by Ryu alone. His skill is better than all of us combined. I'm afraid even Shuro can't compare to him. If we act with him, we might actually hold him back."
"He is a purely rational person. He won't say things like 'We are companions, I can't let you take risks alone.'"
"Quite the opposite. He is the type who, in a total wipeout scenario, can quickly make the choice to minimize losses, calm to the point of being incredible."
"Eh? Really?"
Although Falin had seen Ryu in action on the way back, when he truly unleashed his power, she was still digesting inside the dragon's stomach.
"Don't worry, Falin. We can't let Ryu go completely unprepared either."
Marcille walked forward and tapped her staff on both of Ryu's shoulders. "Feather Fall... You're better at defensive magic than I am, so cast that on yourself too, Ryu~"
"Okay!" Falin was full of motivation. "I'll add all the protection buffs I can as well!"
Ryu walked alone through the sparse woods, not feeling nervous in the slightest.
[Monster Slayer] made him very clear about the Hippogriff's attack methods, and he was confident he could pierce the opponent's fatal weakness the instant they made contact. To him, this matter would not be any more difficult than killing the Red Dragon.
On the other hand, his thoughts were subtly different from Laios's:
He wasn't actively hunting the Hippogriff because it was a threat or because he wanted to taste it.
Quite the opposite—Ryu was acting alone to ensure the Hippogriff would "die without proof"!
Ryu knew everything about the dwarf Senshi's past and his inner demons. He also knew that Senshi actually harbored a misunderstanding:
The monster that attacked them back then was not a Griffon, but a Hippogriff!
The two monsters looked very similar in the dark, and the dwarf leader wasn't a monster expert, so he misidentified it.
The meat that allowed Senshi to survive back then was indeed Hippogriff meat, not the corpse of a companion.
Although the Dwarves had internal strife, it hadn't reached the point of killing each other. The friendship toward companions and the protection of the young (Senshi) persisted until the very end!
This was a very touching story, absolutely not a dark fairy tale~
—But in the original work, Senshi learned all this and was thoroughly absolved!
If Ryu killed the Hippogriff now and brought the meat back, Senshi would be surprised to find it was the taste from back then, thereby dispelling his inner demons just like in the original story.
His life would be complete... but would that be a good thing for Ryu?
The answer was no...
His System Card wasn't for farming bonds, nor was it for saving the world. It was for obtaining returns by "changing destiny."
If he wanted to become stronger, he had to wantonly change the characters' lives!
To be honest, his various actions before weren't "pure good" either; he simply exercised restraint and bias when making decisions, not guiding events toward the worst possible direction.
But Senshi...
Even if he didn't know the taste of Hippogriff meat, it would merely leave a thorn in his heart; it wouldn't plunge his future life into a predicament.
And now, Ryu only needed to bear a tiny bit of moral pressure to easily alter this event that decided Senshi's fate, obtaining the corresponding Destiny Coins...
He extended his right hand and gripped the cold, hard gun body. A slender sniper rifle was pulled out from his backpack.
Hunting a Hippogriff wasn't easy for adventurers in this world because this type of monster was fast and liked to nest in high places. Whether using bows or magic, it was difficult to match the opponent in attack range and accuracy.
But for Ryu, this was completely trivial:
Whether modern technology or Cyberpunk, there were high-precision, high-range, high-power sniper rifles. And the effect of [God's Left Hand] allowed him, who originally had professional-level shooting skills, to leap to the level of a sharpshooter like the "White Death"!
A Hippogriff? Relying on this gun produced in the Cyber era, which could automatically calibrate for wind deflection, there was absolutely no possibility of missing such a large target!
He didn't even need to aim for the head; he only needed to hit the limbs to injure it and scare it away—for this, he even had to switch to lower-power bullets.
If he killed it directly, there was a possibility Laios would snatch the corpse. But if he drove it away, with the world so big, who knew where it would fly to? Laios and the others wouldn't have the time to search for it.
As long as Senshi didn't come into contact with the Hippogriff, Ryu would get his Destiny Coins!
SCREECH!!!
A sharp whistle pierced his ears. Ryu's gaze focused. He immediately flipped over and climbed a large tree overlooking the surrounding area. Resting the long gun on his shoulder, the muzzle traversed a third of the horizon, having already found the Hippogriff circling in the sky.
This monster must have already known that "guests" had arrived on the island, but it showed absolutely no nervousness. It was as composed in the sky as a monarch patrolling its territory.
This was normal, as a flying monster of its size no longer had natural predators. Occasionally there might be fiercer sub-dragon types, but they couldn't catch up to its speed at all.
As for adventurers, they would only have a chance to counterattack when it initiated an attack.
Unless one actively entered a narrow space, the Hippogriff always held the initiative!
(A minority of mages could control familiars to attack the Hippogriff, but not many could do that.) It would never imagine that someone held a "crossbow" in their hands with a projectile speed exceeding the speed of sound!
"Lock!"
Having locked onto the opponent's flight zone, Ryu finally turned on the scope. The shooting assist system had already helped him automatically calibrate. The area of the hind legs was quite large.
Now, he only needed to gently pull the trigger, and the Destiny Coins would be his...
Finger inserted into the trigger guard, crosshairs overlapping—
Senshi? Hippogriff?
In this instant, his fingertip suddenly twitched slightly, and his eyes held a millisecond of hesitation...
Refocusing, he fired decisively:
The scorching bullet left the chamber, tracing a beautiful arc. Amidst the ripples of vacuum oscillation, it penetrated the eye socket of the unsuspecting Hippogriff, flying out the other side carrying blood and brain matter!
Whoosh!
The Hippogriff instantly plummeted like a falling rock, crashing into the forest and startling a flock of birds.
"..."
Ryu looked down at his right hand expressionlessly. A self-mocking smile gradually rose on the corner of his mouth, followed by a slight shake of his head.
He didn't hear the sound of Destiny Coins dropping, but the atmosphere around his entire person felt significantly fresher and brighter~
"It seems I'm still not seasoned enough... Forget it."
Hippogriff Sukiyaki should be pretty tasty too—he thought to himself.
________________________________________
Get rewarded for helping with our community goals!
🎯 Reward for all: +1 bonus chapter at 50 Powerstones.
🚀 Tier Reward: Help us reach 20 members for +5 chapters on all stories!
👻 Join the crew by searching Ms. Medusa on (P). You know the spot! 😉