CH 2

"Kieeeek!"

The weak point of the Skull Hound was essentially the same as that of the Hell Hound.

However, due to its massive size and thick skin that was incomparable even to the Hell Hound, one had to perform much more precise shooting to exploit the same weakness.

The size of the Skull Hound was so much larger than the Hell Hound that its weak point was still similar in size.

"Firepower is too weak."

Normally, the moment a bullet hit the left eye, it should have penetrated the Skull Hound\'s brain and killed it instantly.

However, the firepower was too weak.

"Well, there\'s no problem with that."

If one shot missed, one just had to shoot two or three more.

In the heavily defensive environment where ammunition was severely limited, it was a barbaric act that was unimaginable, but it was possible for me now.

"Kyao, Kyao!"

Every time the gun fired, the body of the Skull Hound chasing us trembled.

Click! Click!

The Skull Hound\'s teeth narrowly missed biting into the truck as they hit against it, but at that moment, a bullet hit its weak point.

"Ah-haack!"

"Shoot more!"

The M1 Carbine rifle that I was currently using had poor anti-beast capabilities.

It was not originally designed for beasts but just an old gun that was lying around somewhere.

In other words, if even one shot missed, I would be immediately torn apart by the ferocious Skull Hound rushing towards me.

"Whew."

My hand trembled.

It wasn\'t because of fear.

It was because of damn tetanus.

The boundary between life and death.

Even in the process of creating irreversible consequences with a single mistake, I maintained a surprising level of composure.

"Now."

I held my breath and pulled the trigger again as if time had stopped.

Tang!

The bullet\'s trajectory, even accounting for air resistance, hit the heart of the skull hound.

[Kieeeh!!!]

Finally, the skull hound stopped chasing us and turned around.

It chose to flee.

"We, we\'re getting away!"

"We\'re alive! We made it!"

As the skull hound and the accompanying hell hounds stopped chasing us, the remaining refugees cheered.

"This damn thing, Carl! I knew you could do it! You truly are the descendant of a great soul!"

"Great Carl Marcus!"

The refugees on the truck, including Kirilta, cheered my name.

Apparently, as expected, Carl Marcus had a fairly high reputation among them.

"Carl! Thanks for saving us!"

"Look! We\'re almost at Ark! We made it!"

Of course, my thoughts were slightly different from theirs.

"Turn the car around."

"What?"

Kirilta, who was next to me, exclaimed in a mixed voice.

"What nonsense are you spouting now-"

"I\'m going to catch that thing."

"What?"

The corpse of the skull hound was quite useful in various ways.

Therefore, it was too wasteful to simply leave it here as if it were already a half-corpse.

Especially if I was an outsider from outside Ark.

"Moreover, if we let it go like this, it\'s likely to become a big burden in the future."

If we didn\'t plan to catch the skull hound at all, it was a different matter, but if we tried to catch it, we had to catch it somehow.

There wasn\'t enough time to explain and persuade them about that fact, so I had no choice but to speak forcibly.

"This is ridiculous! You\'re saying crazy things!"

Kirilta spoke like that but moved quickly.

If we distanced ourselves further, it would become more difficult to catch the fleeing skull hound.

"Hey! Turn the car around! Great Carl Marcus wants to finish that guy off!"

"What?"

"Stop talking nonsense and turn the car around!"

Perhaps due to Kirilta\'s urgency or maybe due to Carl Marcus\' reputation, the truck soon turned its body.

Considering that the truck had just been running away for its life, it was a very surprising thing to do even if I had ordered it.

"This is insane...I must be crazy."

The faces of the refugees, like Kirilta, were ashen.

It was inevitable.

They had barely crossed the boundary between life and death, and now they were going back?

Even if I thought about it, it was an absurd suggestion, so if Carl Marcus\' reputation hadn\'t been a little better, it wouldn\'t have been accepted.

"This way!"

It was soon possible to find the whereabouts of the skull hound.

Even though some time had passed, the skull hound had not been able to run very far.

Because it had already suffered significant wounds to its eyes and heart, it couldn\'t move at the same speed as before.

[Kung, kheok...]

A wounded beast.

Originally, it was a target that shouldn\'t be rashly provoked, but I knew the skull hound\'s habit.

"If the skull hound\'s stamina falls below a certain level, it tries to transform."

Jjok, jjok-

As if to prove that fact, the skull hound\'s ribs had already pierced through the skin and the skin was tearing.

If I left it like this, the 8th rank monster type skull

Bang, bang!!

[Keeyyaaak!]

The Skull Hound let out a scream as it started running towards the truck I was riding.

Thump! Thump!

"Ah!"

"Oh, it\'s coming!"

With bones protruding all over its body and blood gushing out, the Skull Hound running towards me was nothing short of a messenger from hell.

"The wound of the heart."

The moment I pulled the trigger, having caught its weakness.

[Click...]

Along with the sound of laughter from somewhere and a strange sensation in my hand.

Clank, clank...

"What the..."

The gun jammed.

No matter who I was, this was something I had not anticipated.

[Kyaoooo!!]

"Damn it."

This is bad.

"Dammit! A knife!"

With Kuhilta\'s urgent cry, the Skull Hound arrived nearby.

At the moment I sensed my own death.

[Kick, kick...]

With the auditory hallucinations ringing in my ears once again, the Skull Hound\'s claws hesitated.

"...It stopped?"

For that moment, it was enough for me.

"Kuhilta!"

"Got it! Take this!"

I caught the gun Kuhilta threw and pulled the trigger towards the Skull Hound that had paused.

As I aimed for the vulnerable spot of the Skull Hound, which was moving on the truck, it was not difficult to hit its heart while it was still.

Bang!

After several shots rang out,

The Skull Hound, which spewed a fountain of blood from its heart, collapsed.

Kwung!

No matter how tough the leather of an eighth-class monster species is, it couldn\'t withstand dozens of bullets in the same spot.

[You have defeated the eighth-class monster species, Skull Hound (Elite).]

[You have defeated the leader of the Hell Hounds. You deal an additional 10% damage to beast species of ninth-class and below.]

"The souls of the unfairly departed may have been somewhat appeased."

[Ether Sensitivity has increased.]

[5 -> 6]

"Did we really catch it...?"

"It\'s not still alive, is it?"

"Damn it all! Knife! We had to catch this monster!"

Even as the Skull Hound finally fell and the refugees, including Kuhilta, cheered, I stood there for a moment, lost in thought.

"That laughter from earlier..."

It wasn\'t a human voice.

"Hallucinations."

I know what this is.

A penalty caused by insomnia and psychic abilities, including auditory hallucinations.

"That\'s what happens to Kal Marcus, a descendant of a tribe with Totemism faith. They listen to the voice of the soul and lend an ear to their words."

"Kal Marcus rebels against such tribal faith, but he loses sleep to the voice of the soul that comes to him every night."

However, there was a question.

"Surely, when I heard the second auditory hallucination, the Skull Hound stopped."

... Was it a coincidence?

"I have a guess, but I can\'t be sure yet."

There is nothing more foolish than trying to use something you are not sure of.

That\'s why I shook my head and approached the corpse of the Skull Hound.

"That."

"Huh?"

"Knife."

Kurilta made a puzzled expression and pulled out a knife from his waist, handing it to me.

"I\'m going to take everything."

"I\'m just borrowing it for a moment."

I approached the heart of the Skull Hound, which was bleeding, with the knife in my hand.

"... A knife?"

Kurilta, the owner of the knife, looked at me with an anxious expression or not, and I started to cut the heart skin.

Slice, slice...

"What are you doing now...!"

As I continued to cut the inside of the Skull Hound\'s chest, completely ignoring the surrounding gazes, I could feel a certain sensation at my fingertips.

"I found it."

I grabbed it as it was.

[Chirp, squish...]

And a demon appeared.

It was the bone parasite I was looking for.

"That...!"

"Knife! Let go now! We have to kill it!"

"No need."

The bone parasite.

It was a very dangerous demon at the moment, but it was one of the things that must be obtained in the early stages.

"Why do you need that...?"

Kurilta made a disgusted expression or not, but I put it in any rusty can rolling around in the vicinity and closed the lid.

As seen earlier, the bone parasite was a very dangerous demon, but because it had lost almost all of its strength due to its host dying just before, it was too weak to break through this can alone.

Of course, it will recover its strength over time, but it didn\'t matter as there would be a suitable equipment to contain the bone parasite when the time comes.

"There\'s a reason for it."

"Hmm..."

Although it couldn\'t be used right now, the bone parasite was very useful if you were a little prepared.

It wasn\'t one of the things that had to be obtained as a necessity in the defense clear.

"I got lucky."

To obtain the bone parasite, you must leave Ark.

Whether or not it was retrieved, there was almost no chance that the bone parasite, which lived parasitically next to the heart, would survive if the Skull Hound died from Ark\'s ignorant firepower.

In other words, to obtain the bone parasite, a suitable firepower and skill that can only aim for the Skull Hound\'s weak point were required.

"Let\'s go then."

"Huh, what? Okay then."

"Get that too."

As I pointed to the Skull Hound\'s corpse, Kurilta grumbled.

"... Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

Kurilta made a puzzled expression, but then realized that I was serious and nodded.

"You damn bastards! Move it!"

As we loaded the Skull Hound\'s body into the truck, we naturally ended up sitting in the loading compartment, which was cramped.

"... It won\'t suddenly come back to life, will it?"

"I\'m scared."

Kurilta tried to act casual, but his hand holding the gun clearly showed that he was tense.

The ensuing journey was smooth enough that the previous battle was hardly felt.

Whether it was because of the Skull Hound\'s body or not, there were no monsters that dared to run towards us.

Before long, Ark\'s walls appeared on the horizon again.

"...It really survived."

"It\'s Ark!"

The towering walls of Ark stood high, encompassing the vast and sprawling terrain that stretched for hundreds of kilometers behind the active volcano, Noah. It was truly a fortress like no other, earning its reputation as the last bastion of humanity.

Finally, after a long and treacherous journey, the sight of Ark was revealed.