Chapter 192: Didn’t Trigger
Right after the White Whale extermination operation began.
The hunters who’d risen into the sky poured out attack skills, desperate to hold the White Whale’s attention.
"Burning Spear!"
"Plasma Bolt!"
"Air Slash!"
Concentrated fire without a single break.
Battered from every direction at once, the White Whale seemed rattled, unable to get its bearings.
Watching from the ground, Elma thought back to what Walfred had told her just before the operation proper began.
’He said he’d climb as high into the sky as he could and then slam Titan Attack down on the White Whale.’
The skill Walfred had newly acquired.
[Titan Attack], the skill that traded brutal mana consumption for a huge boost to attack range and power.
Against an enemy as enormous as the White Whale, it promised real results. But it came with a fatal drawback.
’A thirty second charge time.’
Standing defenseless for thirty seconds in a fight with a monster was as good as suicide.
And a Boss Monster wasn’t stupid. There was no way it would fail to notice mana condensing for a full thirty seconds.
’Which is why...’
Walfred had chosen to climb as high as possible and charge the skill on the way back down.
That way the odds of being attacked dropped.
It was a plan that only worked in the opening exchange, while the White Whale’s attention was split. As risky as it was, the payoff would be just as certain.
’The problem is, other hunters could get caught in it.’
A fully charged [Titan Attack] had an attack radius of roughly 2,000 feet. A blow like that landing on the White Whale would send shockwaves everywhere.
So instead of throwing herself into the fight, Elma kept her eyes on the battlefield and focused on command.
So she could pull the hunters clear before Walfred drove [Titan Attack] into the White Whale.
And a little while later.
Flash!
From beyond the dark clouds blanketing the sky.
A single point of light flared.
The bluish glow rose high into the air, then began falling.
It was Walfred.
"...! All units, scatter!"
The instant she realized it.
Elma shouted until her throat nearly tore.
"Pull back, now!"
The cry rang out across every corner of the battlefield.
That was thanks to [Wind Sound], Aria’s support skill that carried a voice on the wind.
The hunters, hit with a sudden retreat order, looked briefly like they couldn’t make sense of it.
But only briefly.
"Fall back!"
"Everyone, move!"
They committed to the retreat immediately.
Not a single exception.
In a battle against a Boss Monster, the commander’s orders were absolute. Elma kept repeating the evacuation order.
"Get as far from the White Whale as you can!"
The hunters followed her instructions faithfully.
They stopped attacking and opened up distance fast. And the White Whale, which had been enduring the barrage, suddenly let out a savage roar.
[──────!]
A horrific voice that bored into their eardrums.
The shriek came like a blast of ultrasound, and it was drenched in rage. Rage at the hunters who’d pounded on it and then turned tail like cowards.
The White Whale opened its enormous mouth wide and lunged as if to swallow them whole.
And then.
"Wait, look up there."
"What’s that falling?"
"D-don’t tell me...!"
The hunters’ faces changed in an instant.
Because they’d finally seen it.
A blue light plunging from high in the sky, straight for the White Whale’s head. And the moment they realized it was Walfred.
"...!?"
They cleared the battlefield twice as fast.
Where before they’d backed away carefully, keeping the White Whale’s pursuit in check, now they ran flat out without looking back.
Elma and Aria on the ground rushed into the air as well, putting distance between themselves and the White Whale.
Meanwhile.
[───?]
Confusion filled the White Whale’s eyes.
They’d been so bold about hammering it a moment ago, so why were they suddenly scattering in a blind panic?
It watched them closely, and before long it realized something. Every hunter’s gaze was fixed on a point above its own head.
So the White Whale naturally followed their eyes and looked up.
And in that moment.
[───!?]
Its eyes went wide.
Because it spotted something screaming down at it from far, far above.
And the instant it saw the absurdly enormous ice hammer in the man’s hands, instinct told it that it was in danger.
Whoosh!
The White Whale beat its massive tail and swung itself around, trying by any means to dodge the attack falling out of the sky.
But.
Fwip! Fwip!
Before it could even finish turning.
The man closed the gap in an instant, like he’d teleported. Without giving it even a heartbeat to escape, he drove the ice hammer into its body.
CRAAAAAAACK!
A horrific roar that shook heaven and earth.
Walfred’s full-power blow struck the White Whale dead on. It screamed as its flesh tore and its bones shattered.
Crunch! Snap!
Its body folded almost in half.
Unable to absorb that mindless impact, the White Whale lost its buoyancy and dropped.
It smashed through the solidly frozen sea and slammed into the ground below.
Crrrrrash! Kabooom!
The frozen sea shattered with a deafening roar.
Its body punched through the massive ice sheet and dragged the unfrozen seawater underneath along with it. Watching, Elma was stunned.
"My God..."
Walfred had told her he’d attack the White Whale at maximum output, but she’d never imagined a single blow could be this powerful.
Her shock didn’t last long, though.
Elma snapped back to her senses fast.
"Now. Attack!"
Now, with its flight lost and its body driven into the ground, was the moment to bury the White Whale in damage.
The instant her order dropped.
The hunters shook themselves off and poured skills at the White Whale once again, fiercer than before.
---
The White Whale plunging toward the ground.
A body the size of a mountain collided with the surface, and the solidly frozen sea burst apart with a thunderous crash.
Rrrrumble! Kabooom!
Enormous shards of ice flew in every direction.
That ponderous mass punched clean through the thick ice sheet and finally reached the seawater that hadn’t frozen yet.
And.
Thunk!
The man responsible for bringing it down.
Walfred landed on top of the White Whale’s body.
He’d knocked it out of the fight with a single strike, and yet the look on his face wasn’t good at all.
’...Ice Shatter didn’t trigger.’