Chapter 53: An Unexpected Reinforcement

The Barroth has a stocky build and thick carapace; this body structure grants it tremendous explosive power, high durability, and considerable stamina.

In contrast, its agility is inevitably compromised.

After the Dragon Carriage missed earlier, the Barroth charged another thirty or forty meters before coming to a complete stop, and its turning speed is not fast; this is where my chance lies.

Having realized this, Aolang quickened his pace and charged the opponent.

The furious Barroth seemed not to expect that this small thing, barely taller than its lower leg, would dare to charge it, and its reaction was slightly delayed.

By the time it snapped out of it, Aolang was already less than half a body length away from its front.

The Barroth let out an angry roar, raised its head, and rammed forward.

Such a ram is far faster than charged attacks like the Dragon Carriage, but for an agile Hunter, there is still ample reaction time.

One second before the shovel-like head shell was about to reach him, Aolang dropped low and slid, ducking under the Barroth's attacking head, moving beneath the Barroth to a position near its chest and belly.

In such a spot, weapons like the Great Sword are hard to fully deploy, but the One-Handed Sword is different; he had ample space to swing the blade, which was still shorter than his arm.

Sliding Slash!

Rising without any pause and wasting not a shred of Inertia, Aolang swung the blade in his left hand, slashing diagonally at the Barroth's chest.

He learned this move from Senior Sai'er; integrating the attack into the dodge and displacement makes it extremely practical.

However, the instant the blade struck, he sensed something was wrong.

It was not the hardness of hitting rock that would bounce the blade back; to be honest, he could not even be sure if he had truly struck the Barroth's body.

That thick layer of mud armor clung to his blade, making the attack difficult to penetrate; the sensation was like striking soft mud with a single slash.

I must bypass the areas covered in mud!

He rolled to adjust his position, dodged the Barroth's front-limb swipe, and after rising, struck again.

This time, he aimed at the Barroth's knee joint.

The mud will shed; after its previous movements, only about half of the Barroth's body actually had mud armor attached, and areas like the joints, which move frequently, had even less mud armor.

This strike finally felt like a solid hit, yet the effect was still poor.

Setting aside the external mud armor, the Barroth's own carapace and skin are hard and thick enough, far surpassing monsters like the Yellow Velocidrome King.

His slash was not light, yet not a single drop of blood appeared.

This means his attack failed to penetrate the Barroth's defense!

"So hard! If I had known I'd have to fight this, I should have prepared a more powerful heavy Weapon earlier."

Aolang muttered silently, but he also knew this was just a meaningless complaint; he couldn't just whistle, and have the Weapon fly over to him on its own.

What he should truly consider now is how to exhaust this big fellow's stamina and create an escape opportunity.

Sensing the heat from behind, Aolang rolled once more, dodging the Barroth's low-head bite.

The chest and belly area is still too dangerous; after finishing the roll, Aolang surged forward in an arrow-step, ducking between the Barroth's legs to a position beneath its tail.

Rising, he delivered two more slashes, striking the Barroth's inner thigh and then its tail; the defense here is indeed slightly weaker, giving Aolang a glimmer of hope.

The Barroth roared and turned hastily.

The Hunter's position is its attack blind spot and also its visual blind spot; with a creature burrowing between its legs to attack, even if the attack is harmless, it makes the Barroth uneasy.

The Barroth's reactive response delighted Aolang.

He would only have a headache if the opponent stood motionless like a mountain; since it reacted, it proved his choice was correct.

He can keep circling behind and Zhou Xuan with the Barroth, continuously exhausting the latter's stamina until the Barroth feels tired and reveals an opening!

Although the risk is great and any single mistake could cost him his life on the spot, he has finally found a viable escape route!

"Whoosh—!"

A whistle sounded nearby; distracted for an instant by it, Aolang was nearly stepped on by the Barroth.

Quickly adjusting his stance and raising his Shield, Aolang could spare a sliver of attention to glance with his peripheral vision toward the direction the whistle came from.

He originally thought it was Shaji, who was worried about him and had secretly left the Caravan to help, but that was not the case.

The newcomer was another Hunter.

The night was dim, and there was no time to examine closely; he could not even tell if the person was male or female, but judged the person's identity as a Hunter from the Long Sword slung diagonally on their back.

After giving the warning with the whistle, that person quietly approached from the Barroth's visual blind spot.

Aolang, who originally thought a safe escape would count as a great victory, now felt his thoughts stir.

Unable to see the Equipment clearly, he could not judge the other's strength, but since that person dared to join the battle without hesitation, it proved they were at least not a one-star rookie; their Hunter rank was likely higher than his own.

If it were a Three-Star Hunter, coordinating to drive off this Barroth should be quite secure; if it were a powerful Hunter of four or five stars or even higher, lying down right now would be perfectly fine.

But to be honest, the possibility of the other being a high-rank Hunter is not great.

If it were truly a strong one capable of easily suppressing the Barroth, they would have just charged in and launched a fierce assault; there seemed no need to sneak around like this and even signal him to coordinate attention...

Regardless, the fact that they are willing to help is already something to be grateful for; how could he be picky?

Aolang began to attack actively, drawing the Barroth's attention from the front to create an opportunity for the unfamiliar Hunter approaching from the rear flank.

That person's reaction was also swift; realizing Aolang was pinning down the target, they immediately quickened their pace and arrived behind the Barroth in the blink of an eye.

With no intention of slowing down, at the optimal attack position just three or four meters from the Barroth, that person took a huge step forward to plant their feet firmly, while drawing the blade.

"Hah!"

Amidst a light shout clearly from a female voice, the Hunter's Long Sword descended like lightning in a vertical slash.

A textbook-perfect Draw Step Slash.

The momentum of the charge was converted entirely into the power of the sword swing; the blade path was firm and straight, without a single deviation.

The Dragon Bone-forged blade cleanly pierced the hard armor and tough hide, carving a narrow cut nearly one meter long from the Barroth's tail to its thigh.

"Gwoah!"

The sudden, excruciating pain caused the Barroth to let out a cry of agony, interrupting the ramming attack it was halfway through.

"Beautiful!" Aolang couldn't help but shout praise; seizing this opening, he pulled his sword-wielding left arm back and tensed his body.

After a brief second of charging, he leaped forward, swinging the blade in his hand, and struck the Earth Dragon squarely on its side of the face.

But unlike when hunting the Yellow Velocidrome King, the Charged Slash that could knock the Yellow Velocidrome King reeling and stumbling back barely made the Earth Dragon's head shift even slightly when it landed on its face; the force rebounded, nearly knocking the sword from his grip.

The rhythm was broken; Aolang had to abandon his plan to execute a Charged Fatal Combo. The Earth Dragon was not the Yellow Velocidrome King; the two differed completely in size, strength, and body durability—they were not on the same scale!

Aolang clicked his tongue and prepared to change tactics.

The unfamiliar Long Sword User attacking from behind the Earth Dragon also noticed the situation here; she immediately called out, "I'll hold the front! You guerilla the weak points!"

"Good!"

The other's voice was surprisingly young, but Aolang had no time to pay attention to such things at that moment.

He once again used a Sliding Slash via a slide tackle to dodge the Earth Dragon's counterattack, circling to its rear, while the Long Sword User dragged her Weapon diagonally, moved to the front, and swung her Long Sword to block the Earth Dragon as it tried to turn.

The two launched a new round of attacks in sync.