Chapter 28: Just a Bigger Yellow Velocidrome!

"Smarter than I expected." Aolang put away the whetstone.

If the Yellow Velocidrome King lost its reason in rage and charged in head-first, that would be the best possible outcome for them.

Ordinary Yellow Velocidromes could still squeeze into the gaps between the giant skeleton's ribs, but the Yellow Velocidrome King could not squeeze in—this bone cover was like a safe cage for it.

The hunters hiding inside the cover could dart out at any moment to attack it, while it could only watch helplessly from outside the cage, or stick its head in and take the beating.

"It's calling for companions meow, shouldn't we go interrupt it meow?" Sea Thorn stared at the Yellow Velocidrome King howling with its head raised not far away, asking with a slightly tense expression.

Every hunter knew that when hunting a pack leader like the Yellow Velocidrome King, stopping it from calling companions was of utmost importance.

A one-on-one duel with the Yellow Velocidrome King, versus having to split attention during the fight to deal with Yellow Velocidromes ambushing from all sides—the danger levels were entirely different.

Logically, the moment the Yellow Velocidrome King prepared to call companions, they should have rushed in to interrupt and stop it, but for some reason Aolang simply watched.

"Go!"

Sea Thorn was still confused when Aolang suddenly left the bone cover, charging toward the Yellow Velocidrome King not far away.

"Meow meow?!"

What's with this reaction being several beats late?

It didn't think Aolang would zone out mid-combat; if that were the case, he naturally had his reasons for acting this way.

Demanding a detailed explanation from Aolang at this moment was unrealistic, so Sea Thorn could only speed up to match his pace while pondering the reasons behind his actions.

Actually, following the logic, Aolang's purpose wasn't hard to guess.

Letting the Yellow Velocidrome King call companions, yet interrupting midway—what would be the result of doing so?

—Some of the closer Yellow Velocidromes would be called over, but the number shouldn't be too many.

Sea Thorn looked up at Aolang's back as he charged to the Yellow Velocidrome King's front and launched his attack, finally understanding the key to all this.

A Yellow Velocidrome pack's total rarely exceeded twenty, since with too many, the resource density of the desert zone simply couldn't feed that many mouths.

They had already dealt with nine; considering the maximum pack size, the remaining Yellow Velocidromes should be around ten.

With that many Yellow Velocidromes coming at once, even with the bone cover at their backs, they'd have a hard time coping, and could only find a chance to break out as previously planned, running to the rocky area to fight a guerilla battle.

But if they let the Yellow Velocidrome King call some over first and took the chance to eliminate them, then the remaining portion wouldn't pose much of a threat, and subsequent tactical options would become more varied.

"I see, as expected of you meow!"

Aolang borrowed momentum with a quick stride, swinging his sword in a slash that struck the Yellow Velocidrome King's chest.

This spot wasn't covered by large scales, and the freshly polished alloy blade easily broke through the somewhat softer scaled skin here, opening a wound nearly thirty centimeters long.

Such an injury meant little to the Yellow Velocidrome King; it still intended to continue its cry, calling for companions.

Aolang smiled upon seeing this, his arm swinging rapidly in coordination with his body, follow-up slashes erupting one after another, cutting four or five intersecting wounds across the Yellow Velocidrome King's chest area in succession.

"Squeak—!"

This time the Yellow Velocidrome King finally couldn't take it anymore; it stopped its cry, leaping back to open a distance of six or seven meters, lowering its body and warily watching the seemingly unremarkable opponent before it.

Aolang worked his wrist, slightly sore from the burst of exertion, and once again took the initiative to charge.

Letting the Yellow Velocidrome King call companions was strategy, but the window before the other Yellow Velocidromes arrived was also the best time to engage the lone Yellow Velocidrome King.

Compared to ordinary Yellow Velocidromes, the Yellow Velocidrome King's advantages lay in its size and more developed venom glands—the former meant greater attack power and longer jumping distance, the latter represented more intense paralysis toxin.

Apart from these two points, the Yellow Velocidrome King's attack habits weren't really much different from ordinary Yellow Velocidromes—close-range lunging bites, long-range pounce-jumps, varying back and forth but never straying from these two moves.

For a Novice Hunter, hunting a monster like the Yellow Velocidrome King, the greatest difficulty lay in overcoming the psychological fear.

Having no fear of the Yellow Velocidrome King to begin with, and having the methods of dealing with Yellow Velocidromes deeply ingrained through countless subjugation missions, Aolang was confident he had at least an eighty percent chance of suppressing his opponent in a one-on-one duel.

Facing the relentless hunter charging toward it, the Yellow Velocidrome King roared angrily, opening its bloody maw and raising its body.

Sticky paralysis toxin coated those hollow fangs like a snake's; if that bite landed solidly, let alone a human, even a sturdy herbivore would be paralyzed on the spot.

But no matter how powerful an attack, if it couldn't land, it was meaningless.

The instant the Yellow Velocidrome King opened its mouth and raised its head, Aolang had already prepared to respond to the attack.

To play it safe, he didn't raise his shield to block like he did against ordinary Yellow Velocidromes; instead, he adjusted his stride, sliding to the Yellow Velocidrome King's flank the moment the attack came.

The Yellow Velocidrome King's bite met empty air, and Aolang took the chance to swing his Hunter Dagger, slashing twice at the side of the Yellow Velocidrome King's head.

The Yellow Velocidrome King cried out in pain, twisting its head to snap at the hunter.

From this alone, one could see the Yellow Velocidrome King's combat experience and reaction speed far exceeded those of ordinary Yellow Velocidromes; Aolang was glad he hadn't been careless and greedy for hits, but had stepped back and jumped away immediately after those two slashes.

The Yellow Velocidrome King's bite met empty air again, and a small drop of paralysis venom splashed from between its teeth onto Aolang's cheek.

Even though his face had no wound, just that tiny bit of venom seeping in through his pores gave him a slight tingling sensation on his skin.

This further reinforced his determination to absolutely not get bitten; otherwise, any advantage could be thrown away in an instant.

Sea Thorn also launched its attack at this moment.

It jumped onto the Yellow Velocidrome King's thigh, and while the Yellow Velocidrome King's attention was completely drawn by Aolang at the front, it kept climbing upward, reaching the Yellow Velocidrome King's back in just a few moves.

The violent reaction of that Yellow Velocidrome when it had climbed onto its back earlier had given it inspiration.

Due to its size, its attack hit-points were low, only able to slash at the Yellow Velocidrome King's shins and tail, and the restraining effect it could provide was very limited.

But if it could climb onto the Yellow Velocidrome King's back, everything would be different.

Creatures in nature were extremely wary of attacks from behind; if something crawled onto their back, even just a "harmless" Elu, it would make them instinctively tense.

The Yellow Velocidrome King was no exception; the moment Sea Thorn steadied itself and hadn't even had time to draw its sword to attack, the Yellow Velocidrome King suddenly spun around, trying to shake it off.

Sea Thorn quickly abandoned the thought of drawing its weapon; it lay flat, its claws gripping tightly into the gaps between the Yellow Velocidrome King's scales, anchoring itself to avoid being thrown off.

The Yellow Velocidrome King turned its head to try to bite, but the length and flexibility of its neck seemed insufficient; no matter how it twisted, it couldn't reach, so it could only keep jumping, spinning, and thrashing its body, no longer caring about the more threatening enemy in front of it.

"Gah ya!"

"Meow—! I won't be shaken off by you meow!"

Watching the Yellow Velocidrome King jumping about in agitation, Aolang couldn't help finding it a bit funny, and also felt somewhat relieved.

If he were using a heavy weapon like a Great Sword or Great Hammer now, it would probably be hard to find a suitable opening to attack, but a One-Handed Sword was different—a One-Handed Sword was best suited for guerilla fighting.

Aolang dodged the long tail that occasionally whipped past him while searching for an opening, suddenly closing in to deliver a slash to the Yellow Velocidrome King's body.

Just one slash, never greedy for more, then immediately retreat and seek the next opportunity.

Before long, several fresh bleeding wounds appeared on the Yellow Velocidrome King.

The situation looked excellent; if this continued, the Yellow Velocidrome King would soon succumb to fatigue from continuous bleeding and high-frequency movement, and that would be the perfect moment for him to launch a fierce assault!

Just as Aolang was making this plan, a piercing shriek accompanied by chaotic, skittering footsteps approached from afar.

The Yellow Velocidrome King's reinforcements had arrived.