The crossbow's string snapped outward violently, sending the bolt hurtling toward the Beast at breakneck speed.

BOOM!

A massive explosion tore through the tunnel, sending a cloud of rock and snow billowing outward. The sudden flash of light brightened the neighborhood for a scant moment before it faded back to darkness.

Song's arm trembled violently before giving out under her own weight. The girl collapsed weakly onto my back.

Dropping my crossbow, I used a hand to support her before shifting her off my back and carefully lowering her to the ground.

"Hey, are you all right?"

No response. I flicked on a flashlight to get a proper view of her.

The girl kept shivering, her eyes staying open yet completely unresponsive. Even her skin had taken on a rather deathly pallor.

It certainly wasn't due to her burden. She'd taken her last shot about an hour ago. There was only one possibility that came to mind besides that.

'Essence exhaustion.'

Detonating a D+-ranked artifact while still being a novice wouldn't have done her meager pool of essence any favors. I already expected some degree of backlash, but had no idea about its possible extent.

Song had to have known about it as well, yet she pressed on with the plan regardless.

'Why?'

Still, this was no time for questioning, or even nursing her back to health. I hadn't gotten a kill notification for the predator.

Meaning somewhere down there, the beast was still kicking.

Hurriedly, I unclipped my cloak, laying it over her like a blanket before picking up my crossbow again. Leaning against the railings, I observed the aftermath of my work.

Whatever remained of the tunnel lay smoldering in a heap. It must have been load-bearing too, as a large portion of the stadium surrounding it collapsed as well.

Fortunately, it seemed Lily managed to make it out of the ordeal just fine. There was no message informing me that I'd lost a teammate.

Scanning the wreckage closely, I eventually found what I was looking for. Burnt, twitching, and unnaturally long limbs poking out of the rubble.

I checked the string of the crossbow. The material had already begun fraying, yet pulling on it, I still found enough strength for a proper shot.

Quickly sifting through my bag, I pulled out another crossbow dart, loading it onto my weapon.

Down below, both Maki and Racheal carefully approached the collapsed tunnel from both sides, swords drawn. Racheal's was wreathed in black-and-white flames.

They stood to the sides of the rubble, waiting for the monster to break out. Yet even after three minutes, the beast remained motionless. Maki was about to step even closer to examine it, only to be stopped by Racheal's raised hand.

The white-haired girl picked a pebble up from the ground, testing its weight a bit, before flinging it straight toward the pile.

The reaction was almost immediate. A limb shot out from the rubble, so fast I could only see its blur, and shattered the stone midair.

It didn't stop there.

The rubble suddenly exploded as the Predator pressed on, launching itself toward Racheal. The girl seemed to have expected this reaction though. She'd already thrown herself out of its path.

The figure crashed right where she'd been standing a mere second ago, sending a plume of snow high into the air. Fortunately, my worst fears didn't come to pass and the beast stayed down.

As the cloud gradually dissipated, I got a proper view of the damage I'd wrought on the beast.

A huge chunk of its right side was completely blown off, revealing only bleeding flesh and abnormal viscera beneath. Its right set of arms lay completely useless, with one blown off entirely, while the rest lay burnt and lifeless on the ground.

What's more, the rest of its body was covered in severe burn marks and bruises. Some from the explosion, some from the tunnel's collapse, and some from Racheal's flames.

Yet despite all that, the beast was still kicking. It snarled at both girls surrounding it, swiping its bladed tail threateningly if either came too close. Its functioning set of arms still worked to prop it off the ground, with one even raised defensively.

Regardless, the beast was already dead. The moment it lost its mobility, its fate was already sealed. We just had to safely kill it now.

I rested my sights on its wide back. Even though it wasn't restrained or distracted anymore, there was little chance of the Beast dodging a back shot.

Pulling the trigger, I sent a bolt hurtling toward the beast once more. The string of the crossbow finally snapped under my abuse as well, effectively rendering the weapon useless.

Still, that was fine. It had served its purpose.

The bolt didn't do much damage, merely lodging itself in the back of the creature, but it broke the creature's focus. Both girls ensured it paid dearly for that.

Metallic strings shot out from Maki, entangling its stalled tail; her blade followed soon after, instantly severing the tail from its weak stem.

Racheal moved at the same time, plunging her flaming sword into the exposed innards of the beast. She didn't stop there, as her flames suddenly roared, rising even higher in intensity as she pumped them into the beast.

By the time the monster was able to react, both girls had already stepped safely out of its range. Racheal's flames hungrily consumed the beast both internally and externally. With its body as damaged as it was, there wasn't much it could do to stem the flames besides rolling on the snow.

It was a doomed effort.

Soon enough, it grew tired of even that, weakly lying there as the flame slowly killed it. The only indication it was still alive was the dying whimpers it let out.

Racheal shot Maki a look.

[Hold it down.]

Metallic threads shot out once again, wrapping around the beast's head, and with a tug the girl pulled it down. The Predator didn't offer much resistance.

Then, like an executioner, Racheal strolled right next to it, raising her still-flaming sword high before dropping it down.

The blade got stuck in its neck, yet she didn't let that faze her.

She pulled it out before striking again, and again, and again, until the blade passed through completely, decapitating the Beast.

A long-awaited notification popped up before me.

[Noble Hunter, You have assisted in the slaying of a Matured Beast: Predator.]

[Bounty points: 223]

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