Chapter 15

Today, I stood here in the outskirts of an evacuated city in the United States, surrounded by countless humans that I've never met.

There were hundreds of people here, that's for sure, perhaps even a thousand people.

At first, I was kind of excited to see so many of them gathered here, all shared one purpose; to free our world from the Red Dragon and all monsters that would, in time, wreck our world to bits. I felt a slight brush on my back. I turned around, expecting Will to be standing next to me, only to see more soldiers briskly walking past the crowds of volunteers. I mentally kicked myself… "You left him behind, remember? You thought Will was a chicken for not coming along…" Only then did I realize how lonely I was among these thousands of men and women.

Older people, likely those who organized this whole 'liberation/retaliation' mission, stood on whatever objects they could to give the volunteering fighters directions.

I approached the center of the area. Within it was people, hunters to be exact, dressing in dangerous-looking armors and carrying with them all sorts of weaponry, both archaic and modern. One glance at them was all it took to intimidate me and made me envious. Those weren't just cosplays, you know, those were genuine armors and weapons made out of actual monster parts.

Eventually, the order to move in was sounded. We were grouped by the dozens, shoved either into trucks, armored military vehicles, or told to march on foot. I had no idea why would some people were told to walk into the city instead of being loaded into extra vehicles, but then something else caught my attention.

Standing around the city borders were other Elder Dragons, patiently waiting for the inevitable conflict; some were familiar to us Monster Hunter gamers while a few others were new. A Teostra made itself comfortable as it sat in a ruined and overgrown city park. A Kushala Daora oversaw us from the top of a half-destroyed office tower, flapping its black wings once in a while. An Amatsu hovered above a cracked highway, slowly dragging the storm clouds behind it closer and closer. A Velkhana, the new flagship monster that we never got to fight, stood proud near the city's frozen welcome signs.

And then there was the Alatreon, bold and dauntless, eyeing each one of us as if judging our worthiness in challenging the Red Dragon.

Some weird spectators, those Elder Dragons were, but I was grateful for their passiveness.

"There are many of you here today… Have you all come here to challenge me?"

A thin growling voice, no louder than a whisper, swept across our minds. People looked left and right to find the source of the voice, but I felt it coming straight from the center of the lair. It must be here somewhere…

A few minutes later, people at the front began to shout, their fingers pointed at a place I could barely see from where I stood. I made my way to where they were, so did dozens of apprehensive hunters.

There it was. The Red Dragon.

Standing like a king in a forsaken lair.

Was this the location where the rumored supercomputer brought those monsters to our world was made? Was this place really the remains of Harvard University complex, or was it merely looked like one?

I then found myself swept by the crowd of soldiers, hunters, and gun enthusiasts as we quickly moved into various positions, ready to battle Smaug and all the monsters it enslaved under its wings.

Look at them, wielding all kinds of tools and weaponry that I've never seen before. Revolvers, assault rifles, sniper rifles, dual blades, longswords, broadswords, short swords, great swords, hammers, lances, javelins, crossbows, and even tanks and helicopters to intercept flying wyverns.

I was too busy admiring those awesome toys that I nearly miss the moment where the Red Dragon stood on its hind legs and bellowed. That was it, the roar that marked the beginning of a huge battle. Within a moment's notice, small creatures of various shapes and colors ran forth from nooks and holes around it, intent on mincing us to bits. From where I stood, I could make out monsters like Jaggis, Baggis, Velocipreys, and Maccaos among others, yapping and baying with intense hunger in their eyes.

I and a few others yelled warnings to the fighters at the front so that no monster could attack them by surprise.

"On your right, two Jaggis hiding behind that black sedan!"

"Genpreys are coming, seventy meters at your left!"

"Over there, those green lizards, aim at their heads and keep them away from our archers!"

As much as people hated being yelled at, at least they knew they could use some help spotting where the little critters were coming from. Yeah, yeah, those monsters weren't little per se, but compared to the rest of the Red Dragon's army, they were still smaller and easier to kill. All you needed to do was shot or stab them in either their heads or their chests. A single well-placed shot from a sniper rifle was all it took to kill the small monsters, really. Even our archers knew better than wasting their larger arrows at those things.

The small monsters were fast and nimble, but even they couldn't withstand being shot by a high calibre round, and even as they did manage to break through our defenses once in a while, one hit from a sharp or blunt weapon ensured that we remained on top. I was barely holding back my eagerness to help.

Soon, the smaller monsters were all dead or fled the ground zero altogether. The younger combatants yelled victoriously after beating the horde of small monsters while the older ones confidently declared that we'd destroy the Red Dragon and all its followers in no time. The time for our victory is nigh… or so they said. But I knew that wasn't the end.

We were celebrating too soon.

"Admirable… You all show great potential… But even that must be put through a test…"

Tch, we should've known Smaug would distract us using the smaller creatures to buy itself time.

The people at the front bellowed rowdily, taunting the Red Dragon to send in more monsters to kill. Well, what a fool they were, for the damn thing obliged and sent a bigger horde of creatures. Monoblos, Congalala, Daimyo Hermitaur, Great Jaggi, Velocidrome, Great Jagras, Lagombi, Volvidon, Odogaron, Nargacuga, and all kinds of monsters that needed to be beaten with things bigger and stronger than the standard AK-47 rifle or the Winchester shotgun to keep the odds even. Thank God these monsters couldn't fly or simply preferred to mostly stay on the ground.

I supposed it was my time to shine.

As I made my way to the front line, I and many others unsheathed our weapons, be they awesome or boring, sharp or blunt. The archers joined our snipers on higher grounds, where their longer and more potent arrows could be used to great effect.

A sole Velocidrome strayed a little too far from the rampaging horde, just perfect for me to show off a bit!

By staying close to the ground, I was able to swiftly approach the monster and delivered deadly swipes to its legs with my sword, wounding the creature and tripping it so that I and a few gunners could attack it. Silly me, I should've gone for the head instead of the legs. The damn thing kicked me away and scrambled to its feet to retaliate against the people with guns who stupidly forgot to use their tougher toys. While its was distracted, too busy snapping at the poor fellows, I got up and jumped at the Velocidrome, aiming my sword at its head and killing it.

"Interesting maneuver…"

I stopped to catch my breath. Roars and barks behind me signalled the arrival of more monsters.

Woah, a Monoblos, a Diablos, and a Hermitaur?!

Oof, inwardly I was thankful to have so many people fighting here with me. I let the guys with the bigger and stronger weapons deal with the Diablos and the Hermitaur, because this Monoblos over here was kind of small. A juvenile, maybe? I didn't care. I had one other person backing me up, but we didn't stop to introduce ourselves.

The guy who was with me, wielding something like a war axe, threw a small bomb at the Monoblos. It wasn't enough to hurt it or break its horn but with its attention divided between the two of us and its original target, we were able to go toe-to-toe with it. The axe guy struck the monster at the head, hoping to break the beast's horn to weaken it, occasionally jumping aside to avoid the Monoblos' ramming or stomping. I busied myself with attacking the monster's legs like I did with the Velocidrome; since axe guy was already taking care of the head, I suppose I could help him by tripping the monster, if only I knew what I was doing. The thick scales protecting the monster's legs meant that what I did was pretty much a fool's errand.

The Monoblos, realizing that I disturbed it one too many times, spun around and exacted its reprisal on me, only to be interrupted by a heavy shell fired by a tank. Sorry, buddy, but if my sword couldn't reach you, then the tank's shell would.

The young Monoblos wasn't the only one to fall, for more monsters were heavily injured by tanks and helicopters firing at them from all over the place. Monsters without any kind of shell or carapace like the Nargacuga or the Lagombi were dealt with fairly easily, leaving the tougher but slower beasts unable to dodge salvos of gunfire, arrows, and bombs… or were they cannonballs? I didn't stick around to see them as I was too busy battling the Monoblos. The damn thing just wouldn't stay still!

More tanks fired, accompanied by helicopters providing cover fire, and half a dozen more monsters dropped dead, among them was a Rajang beating down its unfortunate victims.

Eventually, the Monoblos lied still on the ground with its horn broken and wings shredded. I wanted to thank the axe guy, but he already left, so I took my leave as well to assist other fighters.

"Good, very good… Now pay attention…"

Excuse me? Pay attention to what? I didn't have time to observe whatever presentation Smaug had in mind, partly because I took my sweet time shoving my sword down a Great Jaggi's throat, killing it in one blow, and partly because two guys were struggling to get a Great Jagras off their backs and I wanted to help. I dashed past big muscular guys and their equally big toys and approached the struggling couple, just in time to throw a rock on the Great Jagras' head, temporarily blinding it in the eye. The creature lashed out wildly, angered that one of its eyes stopped working. With its two victims successfully escaping to safety, I used the opportunity to impale it in the mouth just like the previous Great Jaggi; I simply didn't have time for theatrics.

The green beast kicked me off its head as my sword was dislodged from its mouth. Blinded, injured, and rapidly losing blood, the Great Jagras found itself at the mercy of my sword and I continued hacking its green scaly body and tail to bits. The couple who managed to escape came back, astoundingly, to help me finish it off. I thanked them for their help before continuing to beat the crap out of other monsters… until I saw it.

It was a laser beam. A fricking blue laser beam coming straight from Smaug's hideous maw which singes the ground with intense heat, leaving burn marks and seared corpses of monsters and humans unfortunate enough to be caught in it. People started screaming in fright and I felt my legs froze in fear.

"More, you say…?"

Another laser beam came, this time targeting a bridge where snipers and archers used their advantageous position to pick the monsters at their discretion. The laser's super high temperature relentlessly punched through the bridge's solid material, splitting it in half and forcing our men and women up there to retreat as the bridge collapsed.

I looked up at the monster as it shifted, for it then stood up and motioned for the flying monsters to join in on the carnage. Rathalos, Rathian, Remobra, Yian Garuga, Legiana, Seregios, and many more flew at high speed to battle us. Fire, ice, or poison rained down on us as the flying monsters descended from the sky. The Red Dragon had yet to participate in the battle directly but its display of power, however briefly, terrified our fighters. Both sides were suffering great losses, but it seemed that the monsters slowly gained the upper hand.

"Hey, come here!"

Somebody just whispered to me. I turned around to see some fighters in their 20s gesturing at me to come closer. Interested, I approached them in their little hideout.

"You see that red monster over there?"

I nodded briskly.

"If that thing really was the leader of these monsters, then we got to kill it. We had to end the fight as soon as possible; there's no way we could win a war of attrition like this."

Wait, were they thinking what I was thinking?