Chapter 269: Shouldn’t We Have a Hunt Battle in the Dungeon? (2)

As expected, the hunting battle process with Cha Yuri proceeded quite fiercely until the midpoint.

Cha Yuri, who used a mix of area-of-effect magic and quick-attack magic, could basically kill monsters in a much faster way than my hunting speed.

Conversely, I caught up to Cha Yuri’s points by stealing her prey as much as possible while increasing my own score.

The fierce battle in the forest terrain was narrowly won by me catching more, but after the hunt in the following field area ended, Cha Yuri became slightly more dominant.

It must be because it was an open terrain, making it a bit easier to use area-of-effect magic than in the forest. She also seemed to have started responding little by little to my steals.

Since we hunted in the same terrain, we could roughly infer each other’s hunting results to some extent, so Cha Yuri would have also expected to some extent that her results had become more than mine.

Even the fact that victory couldn’t be guaranteed if she didn’t compete with all her might until the very end.

“Haa, haaaa….”

“Hoo, if you’re tired, why don’t you give up? Thanks to overusing quick-attack magic, your mana seems to have been considerably depleted….”

“That’s ridiculous, Haa, Mahat!”

Along with an irritable reply, she took out a mana potion from the bag hanging at her waist and chugged it.

Seeing her go to such lengths, she seemed really determined to win.

“Oh, raging wind, pay attention to my call….”

Immediately after chugging the mana potion, Cha Yuri prepared a large-scale area-of-effect magic towards the water’s edge without any warning.

As could be seen from that sight, her competitive spirit, felt right beside me, was truly amazing.

Since I teased her like that, saying I won every time or ‘try pushing me out sometime’ against someone like this, how could she not be upset?

Cha Yuri’s words, ‘I’ll break my arrogant mouth this time for sure,’ seemed to be 100% genuine.

Of course, even so, I too have no intention of holding back until the very end and will thoroughly engage in the match.

After using enchantment magic on the Dwarf-made spear taken from my subspace pocket, I thrust it straight into the center of Cha Yuri’s area-of-effect magic.

The spear of flame, which began to burn as soon as it left my hand, pierced into the center of the area-of-effect wind magic.

“……!”

As soon as she saw my action, Cha Yuri made a flustered expression, but her area-of-effect magic had already left the staff and was extending outwards.

Cha Yuri’s magic, which collided with full force against my spear of flame, afterwards became a large blaze and mercilessly attacked the monsters.

‘Swoooosh…!’

‘Crackl, snap….’

Amidst the flames, the cries of sea vipers or giant kraels quite tickled my ears.

At the very least, with this one blow, I must have caught up by about ten.

“The monsters are burning nicely in my ‘flame magic’.”

“You, you…!”

“In the forest and fields, I couldn’t bring myself to use it because I was afraid it would spread into a forest fire, but by the water’s edge, it’s a different story.”

If the conditions were right, I could use her large-scale area-of-effect magic like my own magic in this way.

At this reappearance of a surprise tactic, Cha Yuri trembled and shook her body.

“You must have forgotten that I always just swing a greatsword around, but surely I told you last time that I can use magic too, right?”

“……Cowardly.”

“Then you too, Cha Yuri-ssi, could just not use area-of-effect magic, right? If you did that, I wouldn’t be able to counter in this way.”

“…I was thinking of doing just that anyway.”

At the same time as those words, starting with her quick-attack magic immediately extending from her hand, the hunting battle at the final battleground by the water’s edge continued.

Since then, in the fierce hunting match with slight back-and-forth, around the time when the number of monsters killed by her and me became roughly similar.

A single monster, that seemed likely to decide today’s match, appeared from beneath the water’s edge.

‘…………!!’

Sandstone Sentinel.

A giant reptile monster with the appearance of an alligator wearing a turtle’s shell.

Its low, massive roar tickled my and her ears.

“It seems that guy is today’s final monster.”

“An A-rank monster is worth 10 points, right? It’s a pretty suitable one to decide the match.”

“Fortunately, the Sandstone Sentinel appeared. If it had been like this, it would have inevitably been Cha Yuri-ssi’s defeat.”

“…Who are you calling out?!”

Around the time we were having such a conversation, today’s final monster, bursting out from the water’s edge, began to charge at us as soon as it saw us, letting out a roar full of rage.

She and I prepared our respective weapons and formulated a plan on how to approach today’s final prey.

Its thick shell, armed with rocky protrusions and thorns made of sandstone, apparently showed no gaps to dig into, so ultimately the part we had to aim for was its head and limbs sticking out.

That part too, like an alligator’s head, would be hard, but at least it would be much more effective than brutishly smashing the shell.

The moment I gripped my sword tightly and was about to charge at it, Cha Yuri’s wind magic was cast towards its right front leg.

“Oh, wind of the heavens, respond to my call!”

Along with the quickly chanted incantation, the blade of storm extended from her staff instantly severed the Sandstone Sentinel’s right front leg, and the monster’s body, losing its balance, tilted slightly to one side.

‘………!!’

It let out a scream mixed with anger and pain at being allowed to attack.

While the monster’s attention was focused on Cha Yuri, my body moved towards the Sentinel’s left front leg.

The Damascus steel greatsword held in my hand pierced the tough outer layer and succeeded in stabbing the inside.

‘………!!’

“Uwaaak!”

Letting out another scream, it wildly swung its left leg, sending me and the greatsword flying into the air.

Along with a breakfall technique, while preparing to land on the ground, a refreshing breeze wrapped around my body and gently lowered me to the ground.

“…Be careful.”

Whether she had forgotten that this was a hunting match, she seemed to have the leeway to use magic on me even during the battle.

“How sweet of you, Cha Yuri-ssi.”

“…Sh, shut up.”

Perhaps wanting to hide her blushing face, Cha Yuri pulled her hat down a little deeper at my thanks.

The chance for her to repay the favor of me saving her from almost falling onto the ground came sooner than expected.

‘Thwip!’

A sandstone thorn shot out from the Sandstone Sentinel’s mouth and flew directly at Cha Yuri, so my body moved in front of Cha Yuri, who was intending to block it with a wind barrier.

With a clang sound, the monster’s attack hit my greatsword and bounced off.

And immediately after, strange words, whether they were thanks or not, I couldn’t tell, were heard from Cha Yuri behind me.

“…I could have blocked it with the wind barrier too.”

“Slowing it down might have been possible, but probably blocking it completely would have been difficult.”

“I know, …so, thanks.”

Even if I hadn’t intervened, Cha Yuri, being an A-rank mage, would likely have just ended up falling or sustaining minor injuries, but still, it’s best not to get hurt at all from the beginning rather than falling and getting hurt.

Even though it was a competition, ensuring the safety of the woman I love was a completely separate issue.

Meanwhile, the Sandstone Sentinel’s front legs, which had been cut and stabbed once, slowly regenerated, and it returned to its four legs, beginning to charge towards us once again with all its might.

“In this manner, it will probably take all day. …Now, only two hours are left for our reservation.”

“Let’s just cooperate and finish it quickly. Let’s count the match only by the number of monsters killed so far.”

“…That sounds good.”

Leaving without properly enjoying the dungeon we rented even after making a reservation would be a shame for both me and Cha Yuri.

We once again agreed to cooperate and deal with the final monster quickly.

“Can you use that thing again?”

“What thing?”

“You know, the one where you enchanted a spear with fire magic and threw it.”

“Ah, that? I can, but what do you plan to use it for?”

“…You’ll see.”

Well, Cha Yuri must be saying that because she has her own ideas.

Following her words, I was prepared to use a magically enchanted thrown spear anytime.

Anyway, the spear could just be taken from my subspace pocket and thrown when needed, and it was enough to use the enchantment magic at the precise timing, matching that moment.

The problem was that it would be burdensome for Cha Yuri, the mage, to handle the monster’s aggro until the opportunity came to land a decisive blow.

With my greatsword stored in my subspace pocket, I immediately lifted Cha Yuri, who was standing right there, up with both hands.

“Hyaht?!”

“I’m not a shield-bearer like Hye-eun, so I can’t block monsters like that head-on. Instead, my footwork is fast, so until the opportunity arises, I’ll excuse myself for a bit while carrying Cha Yuri-ssi.”

“Ah, I know…”

Given the situation, Cha Yuri didn’t complain about being carried in a princess carry this time.

Holding her body like that, I ran around the coastline, avoiding the Sandstone Sentinel’s attacks.

“When will we attack?”

“If we wait, the opportunity will come.”

Like a mage with a long hunter career, Cha Yuri answered confidently with experienced eyes.

Trusting her words while dodging the monster’s attacks, that opportunity soon arrived quite quickly.

‘Gaaaaaah….’

The Sandstone Sentinel opened its mouth wide towards us, preparing to fire sandstone thorns once again.

This seemed to be the opportunity Cha Yuri mentioned, as she looked into my eyes and then delivered the following words.

“When my magic finishes, immediately follow up by throwing the fire spear.”

At the same time as those words, Cha Yuri was chanting the spell and unfolding her magic.

By this point, I too somehow had a rough idea of what kind of plan she was thinking of, so instead of answering, I nodded.

Placing Cha Yuri on the ground, I took out the Dwarf-made spear from my subspace pocket and finished preparing to throw it along with flame magic.

“…Oxygen Flow!”

The oxygen wind magic flew towards the monster’s mouth, which was opened wide.

Following Cha Yuri’s magic, my spear, not yet burning, closely followed its path.

The wind magic spell and a spear were directly swallowed into the Sandstone Sentinel’s opened maw.

‘……Ga…ak?’

The monster’s bewildered voice, not yet knowing what had occurred, was followed by a loud explosion from inside its body.

…After that, it was a sight that would be pointless to describe, so I will omit it.

Because it was a sight that anyone who saw it could be sure couldn’t have survived without dying instantly.

“…That wasn’t exactly a pretty finish.”

“Now, there isn’t much time left. Quickly start the dismantling before the reservation time ends.”

“…Yeah, well. We have to do it, I guess.”

The fact that they are thinking about the remaining time in the dungeon even after seeing this gruesome sight.

It was the moment that made me seriously reconsider the desires of the female hunters in this world.