1325

It was a while after the fight against the Lao Shan Lung. After managing to save the town from destruction, the dawn hunters became more popular than before.

Eventually, they received a request, alongside many other hunters. There had been an outbreak of the frenzy virus atop Heaven's Mount. Hunters were being called in to deal with the frenzied monsters, to prevent the virus from spreading too far.

"If any of you think it's too dangerous," Olivia explained "Then we can just not take the quest. Frenzied monsters are dangerous, after all."

"It'll be fine, right?" Allen replied "I mean, with that many hunters, there's no way we can lose."

"Don't say stuff that'll just jinx us." Beatrice pointed out.

They boarded an airship taking them to Cathar.

The village above the clouds was certainly a unique sight, yet not all of them appreciated it.

"Why's it so damn cold up here?" Maria asked.

"Cause we're high up." Troy answered.

"But there's no snow or anything, so how is it this cold? Seriously, is this not bugging any of you?"

"Not really." David replied "What, are you really that affected by something this minor?"

"No, I don't care, I was just observing it. And in the first place, I wasn't asking you, I was talking to..." She scanned around, before her eyes settled on Nate.

"Why am I the target here?"

"You know why."

"No, I really don't."

"Cause you're weak." Doug explained.

"Well yeah, but- wait no I mean no, I disagree with that, it's not true, no way, but even if I was weak that has nothing to do with my ability to withstand cold temperatures, right?"

"Well…" Went Maria.

"I guess." Went David.

"Maybe." Went Lock.

"Not really." Went Doug.

"Ok, that's enough bullying Nate." Olivia interrupted them. "We actually came here to do something, remember?"

"Oh yeah." They all went in unison, causing Claire to give a sigh of "How did you manage to forget?"

All the hunters present made their way to base camp. In total, there were at least fifty of them. The groups split off in different directions, each taking a different part of the mountain.

The objective was simple. To eliminate all frenzied monsters present.

"Found some, over there." Lock noted. The rest turned to where he was pointing, seeing a pack of Ioprey with purplish appearances. Their leader had also been infected.

Doug rushed straight at them, cutting into the group.

"Don't get so far away from us!" Olivia yelled, running behind him with the rest of the up-close fighters.

They quickly tore through the pack. The Ioprey went down without much fight, leaving just the Iodrome. It was difficult to surround it without hitting each other so David, Doug, Troy and Beatrice fought it while the others stayed at a distance.

Despite its increase in fighting power, the Iodrome still wasn't able to do much to fight against them. Before going down, it charged for David. He responded by trying to knock it away, but before he could the bird wyvern's jaws bit down on his arm. It was then knocked away, finally being killed.

"Oi, isn't this virus passed on through bites and stuff?" Allen asked.

"Yeah." Olivia replied.

"Then doesn't mean he's at risk of getting infected too?"

"Nah, it'll be fine. For whatever reasons, it's different for humans. If he just keeps fighting, he'll be fine."

"Huh, that's weird."

"Yeah. But no time for that, we've got more to deal with." She looked over at the two Congalalas approaching.

"Split up, five against each!" Olivia yelled "Claire, Nate, Lock and Doug, take the one on the right. The rest of you go left!"

The two groups took on a target of their own. The fight was tougher than before, but they were able to overpower them.

The monsters were finished off without much damage, but the group did find themselves feeling tired afterwards.

Not giving them a chance to rest, even more frenzied monsters approached.

"I know there's an outbreak and all, but isn't this way too many?" Nate asked.

"Everything on this mountain must be infected by now." Claire thought aloud.

"Yeah. I thought that it wouldn't be this bad, but…" Olivia muttered, before switching into a more commanding tone of voice "The virus has already spread to this many monsters. If it gets off this mountain, it'll be a disaster… so, for a better tomorrow and all that stuff, let's stop it, no matter what!"

The dawn hunters let out a yell in unison, charging at the enemy.

The battle felt endless. No matter how many they took down, new enemies kept appearing.

It wasn't as though they were up against a coordinated force. The frenzied monsters would attack anything in their line of sight, including each other. Tactics were their one advantage. Olivia and Allen kept yelling out orders, guiding the hunters to narrow victory in each fight.

When the monsters had been cleared out, they advanced through the mountain.

This repeated, until they felt a change in the atmosphere. Things had gone quiet. It was unnatural.

Doug's head turned to face something the rest couldn't see.

"Something dangerous is nearby. Behind that wall."

The group raised their guards.

"Let's wait for it to come to us," Allen ordered "then we'll surround it. So just keep your eyes on this corner-"

His words were cut-off by the wall next to him breaking down. Chunks of rock flew everywhere.

The rest slowly turned to face the beast. Before they could process what it was, time unfroze.

Unable to guard in time, Allen was slashed at by the creature's claws. It cut deep through his chest. The monster then landed and swung its tail, knocking him out of sight down a cliff. Blood flew through the air.

David's eyes widened, but he was unable to shout anything. The rest stood in shock, as the Zinogre howled.

Nate's gaze was caught by something behind the monster, through the gap in the wall it had created.

"Aren't those… the bodies of hunters!?"

No one knew how to respond.

The Zinogre felt different to normal. It wasn't just abnormal like the others with the frenzy virus, it was beyond that. A purple mist surrounded its body.

Olivia finally spoke.

"This isn't something we can deal with! Everyone run! Quickly!"

The group tried to flee, but before they could, the Zinogre instantly closed the distance between them.

Time froze for another moment. All they could do is watch as its claws slammed down right where Olivia was standing.

Her chest was cut through, just like Allen's, but the monster wasn't done. Successive strikes, leaving her unable to do a thing. The group had no idea what to do.

Claire yelled and tried to stab it, but the monster dodged out of the way. With that roar, the group unfroze. A desperate attempt to resemble a counterattack began.

Regardless of whether it would actually accomplish anything, the cornered animals continued their charge.

David brought his sword down, but missed. As the Zinogre slid out of the way, it saw an opening to charge at him. He raised his sword, the block not doing much to prevent the damage.

Even though he took heavy damage, this presented another chance. He swung his sword down with everything he had, finally managing to cut the beast.

But… nothing happened. He could feel it. Whenever he cut something normally, he could feel that the enemy was in pain. But here, there was none of that. The attack had no effect.

The gamble hadn't paid off in the slightest. But the Zinogre wasn't done yet.

A fulgurbug hit David. He found himself unable to move anymore. This left him unable to even attempt to block the next bodyslam. The wolf's shoulder slammed into his body at full strength, leaving him unable to even think. The Zinogre then flipped over, slamming its tail into the ground, crushing him.

David stared upwards as his vision returned. He was surprised to still be able to think, but that was about the extent of what he could do at the moment.

Multiple things had definitely broken, even if he couldn't tell what. Around him, he heard the sounds of battle, though they grew increasingly faint.

"Ahh… so this is death?"