After slaying the Pukei-Pukei within the old abandoned ship, the group spread out across the forest in several parties in order to try and locate the remaining monster escapees as well as the Elder Dragon that was still out there in the forest.
"I get that we had to split up to cover the forest more quickly, but wouldn't that make it a little risky because the Monsters could hunt us down in our groups too?" G. Aqua asked.
"No. It makes more sense this way." Goblin Slayer noted. "Smaller groups means more mobility. I don't know much about these beasts other than they're dangerous… so prioritizing them by looking for them in groups is the best idea."
"He's got a point. Other than Tigre and Aura, we don't know much about monsters from those Monster Hunter worlds." Raphtalia said.
"Well during the World of Light incident awhile back, there was that one monster some of us encountered. I think it was called Rathalos." Al said.
"But that was just one monster. Have you encountered any other after that?" Cobalt said.
"Well no, but it's better to have some information then none at all." Al said.
"Besides, there's no guarantee what we're facing isn't even a Rathalos." Goblin Slayer said.
"True, but while we were at the Arcane Library, I managed to copy some info from some books on various creatures in the multiverse including ones like the Pukie-Pukie." Mari said.
"You are a strange, strange girl." Cobalt said as he stopped the group. "I heard something."
Peeking from the bushes, they saw a large ape-like beast standing on its tail as it was plucking fruit from the trees.
"Hmm...let's see…" Cobalt said looking through the book Mari had copied. "Here it is. Bishaten. A fanged beast. An omnivore but mainly prefers fruit."
"But what's with the beak on its face?" Ajna asked.
"Hard to say...but it needs to be brought down." Raphtalia said.
"She's right. This is a monster that escaped so it needs to be slain." Cobalt said.
"Yeah, let's go." Al said.
"Understood." Goblin Slayer said.
They charged at the monster, who quickly took notice as it started tossing some of its fruit at them.
"Watch out for that fruit!" Mari warned. "It could poison or paralyze you if it hits!"
"Understood." Raphtalia said as she cut through the incoming fruit.
"Slice off its tail! We can catch it off guard if we take it off its balance." Cobalt said.
"Gotcha." Al said, dashing in and cutting off the Bishaten's tail with her scythe.
It howled in pain as it fell right on its back.
"It's off guard. Go in for the kill!" Raphtalia said as she jumped and punctured the beast's hand as Al pierced the other one.
"Down you go!" Goblin Slayer said, piercing the monster's throat as it let out a howl before it fell lifeless to the ground. "Two."
"Nice kill, GS." Zephyr said.
"For a guy who spends his whole life killing goblins, you sure can adapt to other creatures." G. Aqua smiled.
"I learn fast." GS said. "You need to if you want to survive."
"That makes two monsters. Meaning we either have one or two left." Cobalt said.
In another part of the forest, another group watched as a strange serpent-like monster swam in the nearby lake, devouring any animal foolish enough to get too close.
"Ick...what is that thing supposed to be?" Kazuma asked.
"A Somnacanth. Apparently it's a leviathan monster that induces sleep in its prey before devouring it." Theo said, looking through a monster guide book.
"We can...clearly see that." Sectonia said, watching the animal fall asleep as the monster ripped it apart and ate it.
"Better be careful around this thing, make sure we're not next." Toya said.
"If we get too close to it, it's bound to put us to sleep. Best we kill it from a distance." Legolia said.
"Right. Aim for its throat, that's where the pouch that holds the sleeping powder is." Theo said.
"Good thing we read up on this thing on the way here." Cheetah said. "It's weak to lightning, and is immune to everything else except fire."
"Best to use long range attacks and magic then like Legolia said." Eze said.
"I'll take the first shot." Legolia said as she drew a Shock Arrow from her quiver and aimed at the Somnacanth's throat. After a moment of preparation, the elf let her arrow fly, the projectile hitting its target, causing the monster to thrash. "Direct hit!"
"Get ready for this, Thunder Flare!" Eze casted as the Somnacanth was encased in an orb of bolts and was struck multiple times. It roared in anger as it started firing quills at them as they ducked behind the rocks.
"Looks like it's really mad now. Unfortunately, we can't risk our physical fighters getting close, lest they be put to sleep… Wait, a minute… That gives me an idea." Sheena said as she takes out a seal card.
"I get what she's trying to do now…" Toya muttered. "Hey, Poison Ivy, think you can deal some damage on this thing?"
"I'll manage what I can." Poison Ivy said.
"Alright then. That's all we need to hear. T. Seal: Lightning!" Sheena said as she imbued Poison Ivy's plants with electricity. "Himeno, Toya, I hope you two know what you're doing."
"Here goes." Poison Ivy said as she sent electric-imbued vines at the creature as Himeno and Toya started to charge up.
"Here we go!" they both called out as they sent electricity down the vines as they jolted the large leviathan as it roared before going belly up in the lake.
"Whoo! Nice one!" Jesmon said.
"Yeah...now let's drag it out so we can harvest it." Theo said.
"Uh...I'd give it a while...least until the electricity in the lake dissipates." Kazuma said.
"Oh, right… Kind of forgot that water makes a very good conductor for electricity." Sheena said.
Elsewhere in the forest…
"Hmm...well well...looks like we finally managed to catch something in the snare we set." Riolu said, looking at one of the traps his group set up.
"Wait...this seems way too small for some huge monster." Aelita said, noticing some of the footprints.
They hurried over to the snare to see a small black and white cat creature struggling.
"Hey, what's the big idea here?" it called out.
"Oh...it's a Melynx. A low ranking monster that steals." Tigre said.
"Whoa...the smuggling boss. Look, we didn't know we were crossing Harlequin's turf. We just figured with him dead and all...it was easy pickings." he said.
"Aww… He looks so cute." David said.
"Yeah, this guy is clearly a judge of character. I'm sure he wouldn't mind letting free a cute little guy like me." he said, giving David the big eyes.
"Come on, don't make me choose." David said, trying to resist the cat's cuteness.
"David, take five." Tigre said, grabbing the rope. "So...you were working for the smugglers, right? That means you know what they were smuggling."
"Uh…." the creature said.
"I'll cut you a deal. If you tell us what they were smuggling...not only will we free you from the trap, but we'll also see about escorting you back to civilization." Tigre said.
"Uh...fine. Fine!" he said before Tigre cut the rope.
"Now...talk." Tigre growled, scaring the creature.
"All right. Geez. Look. The job was easy. We smuggle monsters from a world in the Beast Universe and go to the Darkness Universe where they could be sold on the black market and get rich, especially considering a number of them were trained professionals. But...when we were passing through here...one of our beasts blasted a hole through the ship and we crashed. I was the only one who survived. So I decided to...uh...appropriate from the chaos the monsters caused." he said.
"You mean you stole from the villages they destroyed." Tigre said.
"People call it different things." he said.
"Dude, those beasts are very dangerous. Who could possibly believe they can be tamed?" David asked. "Oh wait… I can think of a few people."
"I knew that but the crew didn't." he said.
"Listen you...what were they transporting?" Tigre asked as he lifted the Melinx by its feet.
"Uh...A Pukei-Pukei. A Bishaten. A Somnacanth. And...a Kirin." he said.
"A Kirin? Isn't that one of those Elder Dragons we read up about?" David asked.
"Yes. Makes sense. Kirin have many different parts on their bodies that fetch very high prices in the right markets." Tigre said. "So of course that's the monster they captured."
"But according to records, the Kirin is supposed to be among the most passive and peaceful. What would they want with that?" Jesse asked.
"Horn, hide, mane, tail...any parts of these fetch high prices on the black market." Tigre said.
"That sounds horrifying to think about, though. That Kirin must've been really scared." David said.
"Truth is, Kirin are very unpredictable. At one point, they could be calm, other times, they could be aggressive like most Elder Dragons." Tigre said.
"I heard from Princess Twilight once that there exists a negative opposite to the Kirin, called Nirik, creatures of pure fire." Hope said.
"Not sure if that's a real thing, that's basically Kirin spelled backwards." Glimmer pointed out.
"As it stands, we know the identity of our Elder Dragon. As such...we need to find and exterminate it." Tigre said.
"Yeah… Put the scared thing out of its misery." David said.
"And this little guy's gonna come with us to find it." Mermista said. "Cant have him steal anything off it."
"Agreed, Mermista." Garnet nodded. "Let's be sure to keep a close eye on our Melynx friend."
"Come on. You can trust me." the Melynx said looking innocent.
5 minutes later…
"Oh…" he sighed as he was stuck in a pet carrier.
"Sorry little guy, but we can't have you stealing anything off a creature we're gonna claim prizes from." Hope said.
"Or off of us." David said, scratching the Melynx's head a bit.
"Don't patronize me, sir. I am an honest businessman...er...cat." he said holding a seashell necklace.
"Is that one of my necklaces?" Mermista asked.
"Uh...no?" he said.
"Gimme that." Mermista groaned, snatching it back.
"Alright. Now, let's go find us a Kirin." Kaibara said.
They headed towards a mountainous part of the forest as storm clouds began to gather.