Chapter 52: The Mud Truck

Aolang was certain he had never heard such a roar, meaning it was not any monster he had ever faced.

He grabbed the nervous caravan leader, speaking quickly: "Besides the Dog Dragons, some large monster is nearby. I cannot determine what it is, nor am I sure I can repel it.

You do your best to calm the Herbivores and hide here. I will deal with the Dog Dragons, then try to lure the large monster away.

If you see me fire a red Signal Flare, it means I have failed, but I will do my best to stall it and buy you time to escape.

Leave the cargo here for now; consider retrieving it after you are safe."

Aolang had already offered the best solution; as the employer, the leader could not ask for more.

"Be careful, brother," Karim said softly.

Aolang nodded and ran out of the Camp with Shaji.

The primary goal now was to eliminate the Dog Dragons, for it was almost certain they had come for the Caravan.

As for that unknown large monster, it was best not to provoke it; perhaps it was merely passing through and had no intention of attacking the Caravan.

Aolang comforted himself with these thoughts.

But he actually understood that the probability of coexisting peacefully with that large monster was low; after all, that roar just now did not sound like the temper of a gentle beast.

Following the direction from which the Dog Dragons' howls had come, the Hunter and Elu arrived at the swamp they had passed earlier; sure enough, those Dog Dragons were right there.

Aolang quickly crouched down, simultaneously pressing Shaji's head down as well.

Because that unknown large monster was here too...

Borrowing the dim moonlight, the monster's true form was finally revealed before their eyes.

About thirteen or fourteen meters in length, its body structure was compact, its mud-caked carapace extremely thick; combined with that massive, shovel-like head, even without having encountered it personally, Aolang immediately recognized the monster's identity.

— Boruborosu (Angil), a Beast Wyvern monster inhabiting deserts and swamps.

Since it often lurked in swamps and had the habit of wrapping itself in semi-solid mud to enhance its defense and protect itself, people in the Desert regions called it "Child of the Swamp".

According to books and field guides, although the Angil was a monster that fed on termites and insects, it was irritable and possessed an extremely strong territorial instinct.

It would attack monsters invading its territory without hesitation, and would not fear even large Flying Wyverns like Fire Dragons or Angil.

Clearly, those Dog Dragons that had come here following the scent of livestock were also viewed by it as invaders.

It roared, planted its shovel-like head on the ground, exerted force with its powerful hind legs, and charged at those screeching Dog Dragons like an out-of-control giant mine cart, rumbling forward.

One male Dog Dragon, unable to react in time, was scooped up and flung away.

Its body traced a high arc, crashing onto the rocky ground dozens of meters away, its limbs twisted into a grotesque shape; without even a single cry of pain, it was completely lifeless.

The other Dog Dragons screamed and leaped aside to dodge, but that Angil clearly had no intention of letting them go so easily; it swung its head sideways, flipping another one, then immediately whipped its hammer-like long tail, smashing a Dog Dragon that had dodged to its side-rear against the rock wall.

Those two Dog Dragons, though not instantly killed like their companion, were broken and shattered, lying on the ground groaning; their death was merely a matter of time.

Witnessing the horrific state of their companions, the last Dog Dragon turned and ran without thinking, but its running speed was obviously no match for the Angil charging at full speed; in an instant, it was caught and knocked over.

Immediately, the Angil opened its huge mouth, which did not resemble that of an insect-eating creature, and bit down hard on the back of the last Dog Dragon, then twisted and whipped its head.

With a crisp "Crack!", that poor Dog Dragon had its spine bitten clean through and lost its breath.

In just over a minute, all four Dog Dragons were wiped out.

From a distance, the Hunter and Elu swallowed their saliva in unison; this beast was too fierce...

Having dealt with the invaders, the Angil tossed the Dog Dragon corpse from its mouth aside, then slowly turned around, its small eyes protected by a solid head shield turning toward them.

It was over; they had been discovered.

Aolang's mouth tasted bitter; the plants by the swamp were basically all withered, offering little cover. He and Shaji were retreating quietly, yet they never expected the battle to end so quickly, and the Angil, having turned its head, saw them directly.

If only he had known, he would have stayed inside the Camp and not come out; the Angil, having eliminated the Dog Dragon pack and seeing no other invaders, might have simply burrowed back into the swamp to sleep, so why had they fallen into such a predicament?

"B-Boss, what do we do, meow?" Shaji stammered.

Aolang thought quickly; a direct confrontation could only be the worst option.

The Angil's danger rating in the Guild was three stars; this did not mean that because it was one level higher than his Hunter rank, it was completely impossible to attempt.

The main issue was that its carapace was far too thick, combined with a second layer of armor-like rotten mud shell; breaking its defense with the Hunter Dagger in his hand was too difficult; if he were using a Great Sword of equivalent tier, or a heavy weapon like a Great Hammer, he might be able to try.

If he could not fight, then naturally he had to run.

The Angil should not have yet discovered the Caravan's existence, or perhaps due to the scent of the Herbivores and camels, it mistook the Caravan for a harmless herd of Herbivores or something similar; therefore, he absolutely could not lead the Angil toward the Caravan.

In the one or two seconds while he thought, the Angil dug its hind legs into the ground and emitted a low, muffled roar from its mouth; this was the precursor to an imminent attack.

With no time to hesitate, Aolang made his decision, speaking lightly and quickly: "Run separately; it will most likely chase me. If you successfully break away from the battle, circle back to the Camp to protect the Caravan; I will figure out how to escape myself."

"Understood, meow!"

The human and the cat sprinted off in separate directions.

Just as Aolang predicted, the Angil prioritized locking onto him as the target, as he was larger in size and appeared more threatening.

It lowered its head, its hind legs exploding with acceleration, and initiated the Dragon Carriage at full sprint.

The fate of that male Dog Dragon earlier made him understand that this was a move absolutely not to be met head-on; otherwise, neither the Small Round Shield on his right arm nor the Yellow Speed Dragon Set on his body would save him.

But he did not rush to dodge; dodging too early would give the monster room to adjust its attack path, and against monsters with high combat intelligence, he might even be pressured into a guard-break state.

Thus, he suppressed the instinct to dodge immediately, continued sprinting at full speed along his original path, and constantly looked back, repeatedly confirming the distance between himself and the Angil.

Only when the distance between the two was reduced to less than ten meters did he suddenly dive sideways.

"Boom—"

The Angil, charging at full speed, rolled past him and continued charging another thirty or forty meters before stopping.

Seizing this opportunity, Aolang had already climbed to his feet and changed direction to continue sprinting.

Feeling mocked, the Angil launched another charge; in terms of straight-line sprinting speed, the Hunter, with strides many times smaller, could not compare to it.

Aolang was quickly caught up to; at the last moment, he once again dodged this potentially fatal strike by diving.

The Angil glared with its blood-red small eyes, turning around again; the steam from the vents on its head spat out white vapor; the consecutive misses of its attacks had completely ignited the fury in its heart.

Aolang's breathing was also somewhat disordered.

Except for the direction of the Caravan Camp, which he could not go, the surrounding terrain was very flat and lacked obstacles; this was extremely disadvantageous for him, who was more agile but whose sprinting speed could not match the Angil.

If he kept running with his head down like this, the moment his stamina failed and he made a mistake, he could very well be gravely wounded by a single strike, or even killed on the spot.

It seemed he could only fight.

Aolang worked hard to steady his breathing, raised his blade and shield, and watched his furious opponent with wary eyes.

Engage at close quarters, create an opening, and look for a chance to break away.