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It seems like the one hiding is not refusing the approaching enemy.

Its roar is so mighty that it shakes the airship.

Despite not having wings, it truly looks like an S-Rank Monster soaring through the sky. I have no idea how it’s flying, but if I kill it and chop off those tentacles, could I make wings and fly too?

“Luke. What are we going to do now?”

“We’re going hunting.”

“So how?”

“We hit it hard. We kill it. Done.”

“…Is that really it?”

What else could be more important than that in hunting?

“Wasn’t there a method?”

“Who knows?”

“………”

You know it’s ridiculous to talk to me, right? I don’t have any information about this S-Rank Monster other than its location.

I don’t know what kind of attacks Balarain uses or what it looks like. It makes no sense to ask me to come up with a plan.

Not only Balarain, but also Leviathan and Skana, we’ll have to hunt them all without any plan just like this. How can you say such things already?

“Luna, I think we’re in deep trouble.”

“I think so too.”

“Oh come on, it’s just a bit tough.”

“Is the strategy meeting over?”

The dwarf said.

“It seems that thing isn’t in the mood to wait.”

Following his thumb, I spotted something dragging lightning from three pairs of tentacles. The lightning was connected to a storm cloud behind it.

“That’s going to kill us for sure.”

Of course, I’m not among them.

There was no time to wait.

– Rumble!

Lightning flashed from the storm cloud, and Balarain shot the lightning into the sky. Is it struggling to see because it has no eyes? Normally, that’s what I would think, but having watched various creations in my past life, I immediately recognized that this was some kind of attack.

I hastily retrieved a long sword made of iron from my inventory. Then I quickly jumped to the top of the sail.

“Human lightning rod!”

I raised the iron long sword high over my head with both hands.

– Bang!!

Suddenly, a massive lightning bolt struck from the clear, cloudless sky. It was so huge it changed the color of the background as it fell right towards me.

Sure, it looks a bit foolish, but it’s better than a hole being made in the airship and crashing down. I have a skill, so there’s no way I’m dying from this.

“Luke! Are you alright?!”

“No! Not really!”

Even if the damage is reduced, the sensation of being electrified isn’t pleasant at all. The only times I’ve felt electric shocks were during static electricity and physical therapy.

“Damn it! Block that!”

While I was shivering from the shock, Balarain immediately launched its next attack. There was something white flying around it, wrapping it up somehow.

It swooped down at high speed and soon hovered over the airship, stopping in front of the three except for the dwarf and me. Everyone got into their battle stances, but their movements froze in shock at the bizarre phenomenon unfolding next.

The white, ghostly figure began to take shape gradually. It transformed freely without any restraints.

“………!”

In front of Luna stood a beastwoman who resembled her.

“M-Mother…?!”

In front of Riche stood her deceased mother.

“E-eh? Who are you?”

In front of Yui stood someone she didn’t even recognize.

The monster closest to the sky, Balarain, possessed the ability to summon the souls of the dead.

Even though they knew it was definitely the dead, the appearance of their beloved ones hesitated their attacks.

But that wasn’t the shocking part alone.

“…Luna?”

“Riche? Is that really you…?”

The apparitions, initially thought to be fake, spoke as if they were alive. Luna’s hand gripping her sword began to tremble, and Riche stepped back.

“Why am I the only one who doesn’t recognize someone?!”

Of course, there were also those who were not familiar figures.

This ability was more malicious than any demon or demon creature encountered before. At least what they showed was all an illusion.

‘So, this is what qualifies as an S-Rank Monster.’

Looking at Balarain’s reaction, I caught sight of it grinning widely as if its mouth would tear open. Perhaps it was because it only had a mouth on its face that made its grinning even more pronounced.

If it started like this, I could only imagine how annoying the other two would be. Regardless, it was immensely amusing. I didn’t struggle through all that just to not feel this kind of emotion.

“Hey! Just kill them! Your parents are dead!”

They knew better than anyone that their parents were dead, so why were they being affected by this? No matter how much they think this way, dead people can’t come back. Hurry up and send them back to where they belonged.

“E-eh…?

“Riche! Dodge!”

The moment I spoke, the two women’s bodies trembled, and they suddenly lunged at Luna and Riche. From their words, it didn’t seem to be according to their will.

“See! Because we’re delaying and not killing them, we’re getting controlled again!”

In contrast, Yui killed the person in front of her without any repercussions. Was the person who emerged before her truly a stranger? They didn’t say anything until they died.

If you have no precious people, it seems anyone can come out like Yui.

It seemed Luna and Riche snapped back to reality upon hearing my words and immediately entered battle mode.

No matter how much they seemed to know the figures, they didn’t look like people since they were semi-transparent ghosts.

However, true to their nature, they showed that physical attacks wouldn’t work at all. For instance, Luna’s dagger simply passed through the ghost. It was only after using her magical wind attack that she could sever its neck.

Riche also burned the ghost to death. The ghost itself must not have been very strong, as it fell weakly. Watching the burning dutiful sons kill their parents without hesitation made Balarain’s smile falter.

Having already ceded two turns, it was our turn now.

“Luna! Drop me down on top of it!”

To attack, we needed to get closer. But I couldn’t fly in the sky. Even if I could jump, if I made a mistake, I’d end up falling, and when I woke up, I’d be saying, ‘This is an unfamiliar ceiling.’

Luna flew me up toward Balarain. However, it wasn’t just watching; it spewed some kind of slime from its mouth, trying to knock us down.

– Bang! Bang! Bang!

With the explosion sounds echoing from behind, the cannon fired shot down, negating Balarain’s slime.

It wasn’t an ordinary cannonball flying; it was a magic cannon shooting various attribute projectiles, just like what I saw back when facing the Colossal Machine before.

The slime was countered by all sorts of magical projectiles.

Though the airship was not built for hunting, it had basic defensive and offensive measures since there were flying-type monsters around.

Using those, the dwarf successfully filled his role. Thanks to that, Luna and I made it right above Balarain.

“Should I drop you here?”

“Yeah, that’d be perfect.”

Without hesitation, Luna let go of my hand. My body fell rapidly under the influence of gravity right above the monster.

I planned to stab down with my great sword, but just as I landed—

– Slip!

“Whoa?!”

As soon as I landed on its back, I slipped on something gooey and sticky underneath me.

‘What is this?’

Thud.

I landed on my rear and looked back, finding a slimy substance covering Balarain’s body. It seemed to be its defense mechanism.

‘So this is what they mean by softness overcoming strength or something?’

Until now, I had encountered monsters with hard scales or muscular forms. So to hunt them, I had to deal damage that surpassed their defense.

It was my first time encountering one that used softness as its defense, so I had no idea how to deal with it.

‘How about I just swing at it?’

 

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