The [One-Horned Gumaredgeb Abomination] was a rare and highly valuable creature, primarily for the single horn that sprouted out from its forehead. The horn in question was prized as an alchemical ingredient as well as a material for making weapons intended for those who possessed magical powers in a close combat class. Weapons made while incorporating fine shavings of the beast’s horn would channel mana far more easily and smoothly, greatly enhancing such a warrior-mage’s prowess in battle.

Unfortunately, it was known as a tough and dangerous beast, with the majority found being in their fourth tier, which necessitated either large parties of higher level third-tier combatants or at least a couple fourth tiers to hunt them down safely. They were also more common in the demon lands, and the one in the dungeon Alissa was currently at was one of the very few such creatures known to spawn in their third tier.

As for the beast itself, it was a formidable foe in most every aspect. Its hide was tough and durable, enabling it to downright ignore most physical attacks, while it also possessed a strong Mind and Soul, which made it just as durable against magical and soul attacks. The beast’s defenses were compounded by its unbelievable vitality, as records stated of such beasts still trying to bite at their killer even after decapitation.

The only known way to kill the beast for good was to remove its horn from its forehead, which in turn required immobilizing it first, a task that was far easier said than done.

A [One-Horned Gumaredgeb Abomination] possessed many weapons. Its strong, hoofed legs were solid and its kicks were little different than being bludgeoned by massive maces, perfectly capable of crushing even [Knights] in their armor. Those same legs provided it with great mobility, which made it all the harder to catch.

Naturally, the rows upon rows of sharp fangs in its maw weren’t for show either, as they were perfectly suited for tearing flesh apart, and the beast’s jaw was so powerful that its bite had been documented to pulverize heads within helmets without missing a beat. In a way, the lethal venom it possessed and injected through some of those teeth was pretty much little more than overkill.

The long, tenebrous tail tipped with a claw was another of the beast’s natural weapons, the limb capable of not only twisting around and constricting people to death, but the slender claw that tipped it was just as capable of tearing flesh apart as the beast’s many fangs.

And yet none of these were the reason the [One-Horned Gumaredgeb Abomination] was feared.

No, the main reason the beast was feared was the most prized part of its body, the long horn that grew out of its forehead. Just as the horn made for excellent material for anything that needed to channel mana through them, the beast used it as a conduit to strike with its own Mind and Soul, most known for delivering deadly beams that disintegrated anything along its path as well as shockwaves that target the soul and disorient its prey.

Its acute senses also meant that sneaking up upon the beast was a difficult task, unless one happened to be blessed with a skill that allowed them to travel while completely concealing every sign of their existence like sound and smells at the same time. Alissa’s skill happened to be one such skill, however, which was how she and Ethan managed to get so close to the beast while remaining undetected.

As such, to call the beast surprised when they popped out into existence right next to it was an understatement.

Alissa’s strike – reinforced by four active skills all at once as well as the various buffs she had cast on her – landed exactly where she aimed for, in the crook of the joint between the beast’s hip and thigh, and pierced so deep that the entire broader spearhead of her weapon sunk into the beast’s flesh, only stopped by the guard behind the spearhead.

It was exactly what she wanted, using the broader head of the spear to create a larger, bleeding wound while at the same time hopefully severing some of the tendons that connected the leg to the hip and thus hobbling it. The combined damage from her stab and the accompanying skills made the beast give out a strange bellow – almost like the sound of a crying infant that was ridiculously hoarse – of pain even as she pulled her weapon out from the now profusely bleeding wound.

She then immediately tucked herself low and rolled towards the left as an iridescent beam of light from the tip of the [One-Horned Gumaredgeb Abomination]’s horn swept across the space where her head used to be just a moment ago, the beam blazing until it struck a tree in the distance and toppling it as a chunk of the tree’s trunk just vanished.

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Alissa’s quick reaction allowed her to avoid the beam, though, with only the tips of her swaying hair caught – and smoldering – in its wake.

Ethan arrived and smashed the hammer end of his pollaxe against the back of the beast’s knee the next moment, deftly transitioning into a roll after his strike and avoiding the strike of the beast’s tail that was aimed for his face. He rolled underneath the beast’s own torso and stood back up in one smooth motion on its other side.

Then when the beast wanted to turn to face him he activated [None Shall Pass] and shield-bashed the thing from the other side, the forcefield emanated by the skill forcefully slapping the side of the beast’s ovine face as it tried to turn his way but failed. At that point Ethan used his [Taunting Cry] to focus the beast’s attention towards himself, which was a superfluous act.

He had the beast’s attention and rage in full already, as evidenced by another disintegrating beam that took a chunk off the rim of his shield. At least the shield had held for a brief moment and allowed him to get out of the way, though.

Alissa made herself known once again at that precise moment, as the bladed spearhead sank deep into the base of the beast’s tail, landing another painful – if nowhere near fatal due to the beast’s tremendous vitality – injury that caught its attention. Its attempt to swipe at Alissa with its tail-claw was deflected by a deft movement of her shield, however.

The two young [Heroes] stuck to the sides of the [One-Horned Gumaredgeb Abomination], towards its back, where the beast had difficulty aiming its devastating beam. Their proximity also meant that a strike from the beast’s tail became their main worry, but at the same time, the beast had to take care not to hit itself by accident, as Alissa pointed out by pushing a tail strike into the beast’s own flank the next moment.

They whittled at the beast with painful, but not fatal jabs from the relative safety of their position. Their surprise attack had achieved its target, as the beast’s right leg had been hobbled by their strikes and the beast could only limp around with difficulty, directly removing its known agility out of the equation. As for putting it down, neither of them had such lofty fantasies, as that was what the rest of their party was for.

As Sir Inolet often told them, when it came to dealing with huge, dangerous enemies stronger than themselves, there was no room for individual bravado, and teamwork was the key to the hunt.

While the beast was distracted by Alissa once again jabbing at the base of its tail – she had landed enough blows that by now said tail was moving notably slower due to the damage it had taken – a deluge of projectiles beset it from the other side. The rest of their party managed to close the distance without being noticed and made use of the beast’s preoccupation with the two of them to launch another surprise attack.

Arrows, crossbow bolts, and thrown javelins stabbed into the beast’s left side, with one of the arrows even accurately piercing the left-side eyeball on the beast’s face. A moment later, the snap-crack of Joshua’s lightning bolt joined the fray, the bolt nearly as thick around as an arm by then, striking the beast on its left flank, near its hip joint and leaving a blackened scorch mark that radiated in electric patterns through the vicinity.

The beast bellowed once more, both in agony and despair this time. Joshua’s blow had practically crippled its other leg and rendered it immobile, even if the way its trunk-like legs were constructed meant it managed to keep itself upright even with both legs crippled. The beast even launched another disintegrating beam towards its hidden tormentors, and Alissa heard a scream of pain that was abruptly cut short, though she did not recognize the voice.

That was when the rest of the party – only sixteen of them instead of eighteen, she noted – burst out from concealment and rushed the beast, knowing that its disintegration beam took some time to charge before it could fire once more. The beast gave another shrill bellow that echoed in their ears at that moment, using its soul attack to disorient them to buy itself time.

Alissa and Ethan, as well as Joshua and the rest of the [Hero’s Companions] and [Hero’s Associates] were unaffected. Leda had given them a buff that would protect them against soul attacks within a certain range once, before Alissa and Ethan embarked on their sneak attack. She only managed to buff nine people with it, but she herself, Silvia, and Bronwen had particularly high Soul stats and were thus more resistant to soul attacks to begin with.

While they weathered the storm unbothered, however, most of the newcomers to their party grasped their ears and fell as they were hit by the soul attack. One new member from the Royal Guards in particular even bled out from all the orifices on her face and looked particularly horrible. The party had no time to waste for them, however, as they converged on the wounded beast instead.

Various implements of war struck the [One-Horned Gumaredgeb Abomination] before it could react. Osmond accurately landed another arrow into the beast’s central eye, and when the beast tried to lower its head to bite on someone, Ethan slammed the flat side of his shield against the side of its face just moments before Bronwen and Glenn did the same from the other side. The three of them pressed hard against the beast’s head and kept it locked in place between their shields.

Nadine plunged the blade of her greatblade deep into the base of the beast’s neck, while Moira carved a deep wound with her halberd. Maribel dove below the bulky neck and rapidly landed several slices against the lower part of the beast’s throat, while from the other side Alissa and Silvia stabbed their spears into the same area.

Even with their whole party working together, it still took them another minute of struggle before they successfully decapitated the beast, and even then, the blinded, beheaded head still attempted to bite at them, forcing Ethan and Bronwen to press down on it using their shields to keep it immobilized. Nobody wanted to be stupidly bitten and poisoned to death at that junction of the fight.

At the same time, the others worked together to wrench the beast’s horn off its forehead, with some of the digging into the base of the horn and attempting to break the connection while the others kept wrenching it side to side with brute force. It took them another five minutes of strenuous physical effort – fortunately the beast’s ability to use magic had been cut off after it was beheaded – before they finally wrenched the horn off and ended the beast’s life for good.

“Splendid work, everyone. You did much better than expected this time as well,” praised Sir Inolet as he walked towards them while clapping his hands slowly.