A Promise Between Worlds

by CrafterofTales

When Emma's life hangs by a thread, a mysterious entity offers her a chance to free her family from the Demon World. The catch: she must participate in a competition between people from several worlds, and enter numerous events for the promised wish. Meeting those of other-worldly abilities, she is a child not only relying on smarts and tenacity, but her heart as well.

9. Trap, Capture, Release

Chapter 9: Trap, Capture, Release

It was midday, though impossible to tell while they were within the mountain, time remained consistent through the changing colors of the Sun Stones embedded in the ceiling stone, the main light source of the entire valley. Beastly noises and chirping of exotic creatures tirelessly rang throughout the countless canyons, as well clashes of horns and swords, claws and magic, teeth and bare fists, and so on, locked in battle between monsters and competitors, a personal embrace between life and death, or any else.

And hiding within the secret meadow where young small creatures of elemental abilities live happily together, Garou managed to teach the troublesome Poochyena how to shake hands, already tamed the wolf-pup after its earlier nibbling attempt that was hardly a bother to the dark hunter, no matter how much those little fangs actually do pinch for others of much less durability or pain tolerance. The Poochyena understood at once who the alpha here was.

Laying on his side, supporting the side of his head with his hand and elbow against the ground, Garou continuously played with the Poochyena, the little wolf-pup playfully flailing among the grass for the silver-haired competitor's hand that danced his fingers in prickling prodding for the wild Pokémon. The human-monster's thumb repeatedly captured and gnawed by the smiling, furry little rascal.

His gilded hunter eyes diverted for the huddled three children who were not so far out of earshot. The children were sitting upon the grass in a discussion for their next course of action regarding their hunt for more stars, the Growlithe, Eevee, and Shinx settled beside each child as the rest of the wild Pokémon played around them.

They determine today to be the day they must gather their stars, else they will have to hustle on the final day, which is tomorrow. So they plotted, like middle-schoolers in a group project determine to win this scavenger hunt.

"We can use the banana fish meat as bait, and use the Trap Card to capture any monster that might come for it," Emma gave her idea. "And if the Banana Fish meat still has some poison left, it might affect whatever monster that might come and eat it, and we'll be able to capture it easier. It might be dangerous though, since it'll probably go wild in reaction. I think that's when the Trap Card: Sticky Webs will be the most useful."

"Sounds good," Killua agreed, "We'll hide out of sight and wait until something comes up. When the Trap Card activates and the monster is trapped, we can take it down right then and there."

"We should have other traps set up, just in case any monster walks around the Trap Card," Gon suggested with a point of his finger, "Like a few snares trap maybe. It won't take long to make them, I just need some ropes. We can go collect vines or whatever we can find."

"I can help you with that!" Emma eagerly offered. "I still have that fishing net, we can use it for the trap!"

"Then we better get going while it's still bright," Killua said. "Let's work on making that snare trap and then find the best spot where we can set the bait."

Emma and Gon nodded and they stood up. The Growlithe wagging its tail as Gon petted his head, "We're going out for a little while. Stay here with your friends, we'll be back."

Able to understand Gon, the Growlithe barked affirmatively. The Shinx purred as Killua strokes its soft back. He would not say it openly, but he's becoming to like the little electric-type creature. The only pets his family had were the guard dogs that were monstrous in appearance and huge in size, such as Mike who is always stationed by the gates. Killua liked the guard dogs, but he had always been interested in having a cat for their cool, sleek behavior.

The Eevee's front paws were pressed against Emma's legs, bouncing lightly on its hind legs. She reaches down and held hands with the brown fox Pokemon. "We'll be back as soon as we can. Stay safe, okay?"

Releasing the Eevee, she then turned her head for Garou who had been remaining watchful of them. "You should come and help us too," she suggested kindly.

Garou paused his tickling of the Poochyena, allowing the wolf-pup to harmlessly chew the side of his hand without qualms. His eyes return to the biting creature, a blank look on his face. "I told you before," He said, "I won't help you with your hunt. You kids sound like you know what you're doing anyhow."

He lightly shook his hand the Poochyena's little fanged-mouth latches onto. The wolf-pup yips as it drops to the ground, cutely tumbling to its side but recovers quickly, back up to its four-legs as Garou stands up. "I guess it's time I go out and find my own stars too."

His fingers pressure the back of his waist and he stretched with a mild sigh, then pointed at her, "By the way, can I borrow that tracker?"

Emma thought to convince the young man to travel with them longer. Gon and Killua might hesitate, and she understood their caution, but this is a dangerous place and they all have a common purpose to win the Preliminary, so surely they should stick together and help each other. However, she was caught off guard by his sudden request. Not a demand which would have been problematic, even as she was confident that he truly wasn't as bad of a man as she first made him out to be. This tracker was a gift from her friends the Ogres after all.

"Hold on," Killua steps up, putting up a stopping hand towards Garou, his narrowed gaze and the dark hunter's instant glower at their immediate eye-contact. It was evident that although they have ceased fire, it was not a treaty that will extend beyond the Preliminary, therefore, they should naturally be distantly adverse with each other. "We need this tracker with our hunt. Besides, why should we help you with your hunt?"

"Cause I'm being nice enough not to drop kick you in the head, kid," Garou reminded him with a dark scowl.

"We agreed to lead you to Beast Valley, and that you wouldn't fight us for the rest of the Preliminary." Killua already suspected that Garou might have stuck around for as long as he did for two reasons, one they have the Tracker that can identify any monster within a certain proximity, and two, they have the Support Card that can transport them out of this place if need be.

Garou turned to face them fully, a sullen glare at the young assassin.

"If you think you can stick around just to use what we have that'll help us pass the Preliminary, forget it," Killua calmly declared as Gon went to his side, evaluating the exchange attentively, "That wasn't part of our deal."

If it can be helped that this guy won't steal their vital assets that can not only guarantee to capture their stars, but also their survival and way to escape this place at once, then Killua will do what he can to stand his ground, to look out for his friend Gon and their only guide Emma. It was nice enough that he was able to look out for the girl, but Killua won't take that as an immediate interest to trust the person, he wasn't as empathetic or willing to give people a chance as Gon and Emma were. Not with the kind of person this was. So for Gon's sake, he'll have to be the one with a firmer foot here.

"I don't think you get it," Garou stated lowly, "You kids owe me for losing my stars. Letting me borrow that tracker will help make up for that."

"Are you going to give us an extension to our deal if we do that?" Killua asked.

"No. You two are still gonna get it," Garou declared to both Killua and Gon. "Maybe in the next round, I'll take pity on you kids, but you're not getting off any easier."

He'd been dealing with a broken ankle and a pained stomach for days now, Garou certainly wouldn't be so generous in forgiveness after that. They were kids, but not weaklings, and he was the Ultimate Evil who challenges those that proved to be otherwise, people who should expect to face strong and dangerous opponents if they think to participate anything without knowing the hurt of potential and absolute defeat. These kids should have known the consequences the moment they entered battle with him, and landed decent enough blows that actually harmed him. So naturally, those strikes that were meant to hurt, should be answered likewise.

Emma looked at both individuals that were in a glaring match with each other. She waved her hands at them, "Guys, stop! Let's not argue with each other, okay?"

Hoping to appease both persons, she turned for Killua and quickly ran up to him and Gon. "Killua, I know how you feel. To be honest, I'm kind of hesitant. It was a gift from the leader of that clan we met, Connor's father. He welcomed me to his village and has been so kind to me. This was the last gift I've received from, and I want to make sure I take good care of it."

"Then don't give it to him," Killua flatly told her. "You can't honestly tell me that you've forgiven him after coming after me and Gon. He even nearly hit you with that rock he kicked!" And although Killua was unable to see the result of that rock hitting whatever surface it struck, he visually judged the projectile and determine the weight of it enough to break her nose if it had hit.

Emma glanced back at the awaiting Garou who had his hands at his hip, a "well?" widening look in his eyes when they met hers. "I know that," Emma said to Killua, "I haven't forgiven him really. I just don't think we should fight each other and get anyone anymore hurt over it. It's not like I'm not still mad, I'm just trying to think this logically over my feelings. I'm not disregarding how you feel or how Gon feels, all I'm asking is if we can find a way to move past that so that we can focus on what's ahead of us, and get there with as much less trouble as we can."

Killua's face softened. Hearing her reasoning, it was surprisingly sound. Still, they can't just hope that Garou would be willing to do so, the dark hunter was holding a grudge after enduring their attacks after all.

"Killua, he has been keeping his promise so far," Gon spoke up. "Maybe we should help him get his stars."

"As if! He told us he wouldn't help us with our hunt! So why should we help him?" An un-denying point Killua brought up.

Emma took a brief moment considering his response. "You're right," she said simply, and then walked back to Garou.

"Hey! What are you-?! Guh...!" Killua growled under his breath, hanging his head back. Gon watched Emma approach the oldest teen curiously, yet also carefully considerate of their friend and what she intends to do.

"Hey Garou," Emma said to the young man when she was in front of him, three feet away from him, as if she has no sense of self-heed to his lean-muscled figure and limbs that have crushed bones and gushed blood from others. Garou lowered his head to look at her.

"If you can help us with our hunt," Emma said, "I'll let you borrow the Monster Tracker."

"What?!"

She and Garou heard Killua shouted, but promptly bid him no mind as they continuously regarded each other. Garou leaned his upper form forward slightly, his head tipping to the side. "I never said I would, just that I wouldn't crush you brats right now."

"Yes," Emma agreed, "but even though we did lose your stars, you do also owe us a favor."

He puffed out his lips and spat air of disbelief, barely containing the urge to laugh, "I owe you a favor? You got your head scrambled sometime ago?" This daring little miss who stole his stars and then lost them the next minute, then having to rediscover them only to give them away willingly?

"You did attack us, even though my friends told you that we weren't looking for a fight," Emma told him, "Honestly, I'm still angry at what you did. Even though we were watching over you, we were only passing through."

Perhaps that thrown rock that narrowly missed her head was meant to scare them, or test their mettle. Perhaps he was just merely asserting himself against other competitors. Maybe Gon and Killua were right to be wary and reactive, but perhaps they were too eager to further ignite a fight between them and the young man. Though startled, she had not been harmed, though he was antagonizing, he had not been overtly harmful at first.

Whatever the reason, Emma was certain that no one had to fight each other, and she was proven of this person's true character when he decided to spare her of any severe harm, from himself, or from that snake monster he prevented from killing her.

"I owe you for losing those stars, but you also owe us one for coming after us," Emma tells him. "So if I let you borrow the tracker, you have to help us with our hunt."

"You're pretty bold if you think you can just make changes to our deal like that," Garou squatted down to her level, arms in front of his knees and hands limped with scuffed knuckles, his intimidating frame hardly dwindled. Emma remained unfazed and unwavering to his piercing stare.

"I'm open for re-negotiations, and add on to our deal," Emma said, "The Monster Tracker was given to me as a gift. It's also what's been looking out for me and my friends this whole time. If you can prove that you'll take good care of the tracker, then I'll let you borrow it, but you have to help us first."

She then added, "Its also not guarantee if we'll be able to get our five stars. We'll probably still need the tracker for its map and ability to analyze monsters. You can still borrow it if you'll help us today, but we probably have to come with you to keep hunting for more stars."

"Demanding little runt, aren't you?" Garou snidely remarked. And the nerve of her too.

"They're not demands, you get something out of it too," Emma told him, "If we do manage to lure in a monster, we can even share it with you. I can also promise you that once we get all our five stars, we'll use the Transport card to get all of us out of here."

He stared for a moment, his expression unreadable. He looked aside then, a low sigh through the nose, like a muffled growl of a beast in pondering. "...I'm not hunting with you. You kids seem capable enough to do that yourself."

"Then you can help us set the traps, and watch us from nearby," Emma proffers. "I'll still lend you the Tracker then."

He long regarded her once more, "...Alright. But I'm not gonna share with you kids. If it looks like you can't handle whatever monster you lure in, I'll step in, but then that makes it my prey, and I don't share what's my prey. I won't give a single piece to any of you kids."

He raises three fingers, "Three minutes, that's all I'm giving you. Any longer than that, and I'll steal your prize."

An even exchange to her additions of this revised deal of theirs. Emma thoughtfully expressed his conditions. If the monster does turn out to be too much for them to handle, it would be nice for them to have this person's help, although the result of that would be their hard-earned efforts to be entirely snatched from them, and with this, it would still apply her lending him the Tracker.

"Only if you have four stars today," Emma counters. "If we happen to come across another monster and you get a fifth star from it, then you really won't need to use the Tracker."

"Maybe..." He concurred. It's all about getting points, but at this rate and only one day left for them to achieve five stars, it might be best that he doesn't overexert himself. He's still not at one-hundred percent yet, so he might keep himself at the safe zone for now. If he does get his five stars today, then he's all set, which means that his chances are increased if he does decide to follow these kids on their next hunt.

"Oh, and one more thing," Garou added, pointing at her, "You try to trick me or anything else you do to get rid of me, you know what happens, and you'll be the first to answer for it. Got it?"

She thought for another moment about their revised agreement, continuing cooperation of assured achievements to their common goal for the Preliminary, "...Okay. It's a deal."

He put his hand down, then starts for the way out of this area, "Let's get moving then."

He stops at a persistent pinching feel at his heel, he looked to his feet, where he spotted the lingering Poochyena teething the bottom of his shoe. He picked up the pooch by it's back and set it aside.

"Sit."

The Poochyena seated in compliance, Garou patted its head and resumed his way to the entrance they came through. Emma takes another long, wondering look at him before hurrying to her friends.

"We've been listening," Killua said with a disgruntled scoff. "Honestly, that guy... threatening to steal our next monster. I told you he'd be trouble."

"He wants to win just as much as we do," Gon reasons.

"Yeah right, he just wants to be a jerk!" Killua said bitterly, inserting his hands into his pockets.

"Well, at least we have extra hands now to make more traps," Gon optimistically responded and smiled at Emma. "Good job, Emma. You know, you're a really good negotiator."

"You think so?" Emma asked, she does recall having to be mainly the one to settle disputes between her siblings, it's been second nature to her ever since.

Gon nodded, "Come on. Let's hurry now." The sooner they can achieve their stars, the sooner they will secure their place in the Competition Between Worlds before tomorrow.

Agreeing, Emma and Killua carry their individual backpacks. "Right!" Emma said enthusiastically, "Let's go!"

/.\

They left the hidden area and all their befriended adorable Pokemon, the children assuring their return. Emma takes lead once again, tracking and maneuvering new areas through the thick lush forest, all the while they've gathered vines and other materials made of fibers to use for their snare traps.

After a while, they found a spacious clearing in the forest, near the edge of the valley cliffs, where the extension of the canyons could be seen miles away, and all its wonderous, dangerous creatures traversing among it over the deep depths that lead only to pits of blue darkness, and what other unknown creatures that could await there.

The children decided to set their trap here, starting with the thin vines they've collected all this time. "Do you know how to make a rope out of this?" Emma asked Garou who was still keeping himself distant from the three children, but not by a lot. He was given a handful of vines, and was observing them blankly.

"Sure." He said, taking two long pieces of the vines, "I took art class in elementary."

He demonstrated his knowledge of craft by easily twisting and turning the vines together, an action done so easily for what he had not done in years. It may have been a while since, but he was always good with his hands, he might as well been the only decent crafter at that place, but people were more impressed with whatever mess Tacchan was doing, that they didn't even care how much he stole the art supplies from the other kids, even taking parts of others artwork just to make his own.

Emma also demonstrated her adept and quick making of the vine rope, as did Killua and Gon. "I've always loved doing arts and crafts with my family," Emma said in idle conversing with her friends and the wolfish competitor. "We'd even made each other bracelets out of yarns."

"Aunt Mito and I did that too," Gon told his memory. "It took a couple of tries for me to get it right. It was good practice for setting up snare traps for the animals living at the island."

Gon looked over to see Killua doing well-crafted rope-making with the vines, "Oh wow, you're really good at this, Killua. Did you ever made bracelets too?"

"No," Killua answered before a shot of memory passed his mind, "Well... Maybe one time." He recalled the well-tangled bracelet he made out of colorful yarn, two bracelets in fact, with one he gifted to them, but since he was forced to forget that person, he also forgot the meaning of that bracelet he wore, and thought nothing of it when his mother asked him for it and he gave it away without hesitation or knowing. "I don't have it anymore though."

"We can make another one for you then!" Emma suddenly suggested.

Gon immediately agreed, "Yeah! We'll make one for you too, Emma!"

"You know we don't have time to play around, right?" Killua reminded them, halfway finishing his rope.

They later made each other bracelets anyway. All three bracelets for each of the children, with Emma and Gon giving one to Killua much to his own hidden embarrassment, and finishing making their ropes for the snare traps that Garou helped with as well.

They set up the snare traps then, putting them near the trees and hiding the hoops under leaves. Gon advised Killua to place the Trap Card: Sticky Webs at somewhere in the middle of the clearing and hid it underneath some dirt and leaves. A brief flash of a circular holographic shape spread for a few feet against the ground, so that even if whatever comes would not step directly on top of the card, if it's close enough, it will activate.

Emma places a cloth bag at the center of the clearing and releases its corners, exposing the sashimi slices of the Banana Fish meat while Garou watched her attentively from aside. He catches a whiff of rich fragrance from the Banana Fish meat, no doubt any animal would want to come and have a taste of it. The little girl stood up and patted her pants from the dirt.

"Okay, everything's set," she determined, and looked at Gon and Killua who nodded. Now all that was left to do is hide and wait, and if any of these children knew the process of hunting, or seeking out a target that Garou himself is also aware, patience was the ultimate key here.

And so they hid out of sight, settling behind the bushes as Garou watched them afar, sitting upon a tree in observance. He made his word not to help these children in their hunt, so they were on their own from now on, at least until otherwise. He was honestly curious to see what these little runts can do together.

Emma remained attentive to her Monster Tracker for any monster presence that might come within the vicinity, but she'd also kept her focus on the area that was right in front of them, kneeling behind the bushes in silence as Gon and Killua were near. If and when the monster arrives, they shall surround it at once with her bow and arrow at hands and whatever Gon and Killua may use to completely subdue the monster. And so they waited.

And waited they did.

Few hours felt to have passed. Normally most people would begin to feel tired or irritatingly agitated for something to happen, especially children. However, Gon is a professional hunter, Killua is a professional assassin, both held experience in waiting for the right moment when they may expect to take their targeted prey.

Emma is an exuberant child, but knew when patience is in order, and when she must take her time for everything to go accordingly. Garou is a hunter of his own right, having been well-disciplined in the art of patience, knowing when to bide himself time until the moment comes for him to shine, and brutally take down all those he targets whether they or he himself is ready or not. For now though, he shall see what these children can do together.

The Monster Tracker alerted Emma then, a monster presence was detected to have entered the fifty-meter vicinity. She looks down at the screen at once, "There's a monster coming from the west."

Gon and Killua readied themselves. Emma tracks the monster movements across the screen, and frowned, "It's... moving weirdly."

"What do you mean?" Gon asked her.

"It's kind of zig-zagging, like a snake or-"

Her eyes widened at a change in the monster's position, "It's suddenly close." As if it just slid its way over.

Garou, who had been calmly observant with his back leisurely against the tree bark, suddenly felt heightened at a closing presence he instinctively sensed, evident enough when he heard the trees rustle loudly by the abrupt strong gust.

Emma gasped out, "It's behind us!"

A large shadow fell over Garou and he stood up, eyes looking behind him and up to the sky. "Oh shoot-!"

The children looked back. Garou jumped out of the direct way of a huge elongated figure crashes its large head through the bushes of the tree and he grabbed it by the end of its tail. Emma, Gon, and Killua ran separate directions - Gon and Killua to the left and Emma to the right - as the creature fell towards them, knocking down several trees and crushing woods.

Garou pulled himself by the monster's tail and threw his knee, striking the lower worm-like body and with enough force to have it pushed over where the children were stationed at, and tumbled over to the clearing. He lets go of the tail and was thrown to the other side of the clearing, barely reached the ground he dug his fingers into and stopped himself just at the edge of the cliff.

The monster slid across the ground momentarily and wormed around to the side of the curved clearing. A vicious roar escaped the massive mouth of its shark-like teeth with two wide fangs, its wings like fins that retracted back into the side of its body, dark red scales with a white underbelly that had stem-like warts. It had barely missed hitting the children if not for their immediate reaction, and Garou's act to push it away.

[Monster Identified] Emma's Monster Tracker announced, [Crimson Splitjaw].

The Crimson Splitjaw bounced across the ground a couple of times before recovering quickly, it's fat body slithered to the edge of the area, and with its open huge mouth, takes a chunk of the ground that the Banana Fish meat was placed upon, tearing the bait apart with its hundreds of teeth.

"It was flying?" Emma registered. No wonder the movements of the detected presence were so strange, it had been soaring across the sky when it caught the scent of the Banana Fish meat. This was a severe oversight, she should have considered their next monster to be one that could fly, they would have been more prepared for that, and with that feetless body and enormous size, none of their snare traps will work on this creature, let alone held it for long as it can easily knock down trees. Could the effects of the poison even affect such a creature of that size?

What's more, the unprecedented way of movements of their lured monster that wriggled upon landing, it rounded the area rather than through it, missing their planted Trap Card. Gon and Killua had also realized this. They both had considered the possibilities of what monster may arrive; sizes, durability, speed, strength, but they did not consider the monster's way of mobility. This bait and lure tactic, which Killua had known, was a gamble in itself, the same way of getting a random prize from the slot machine. But the children remained calm, it was unforeseen, but a hunt was never guaranteed to go as they hope. They simply have to readjust their plans and adapt to the situation.

Then another problem had revealed itself, in the shape of that dark hunter who had just managed to prevent himself from falling out of the cliff. Gulping down the Banana Fish meat that was a small portion for its large body, the Crimson Splitjaw turned its over-sized head for Garou, and steadily slithered towards him as he climbed up from the cliff's edge and stood up.

"Huh? Oh, you want to get a piece of me first, you damn lizard-slug?" Garou assessed the coming creature, and he enters a fighting stance, "Fine by me. I'll slaughter you."

"Hah!"

A small fist punched the side of the Crimson Splitjaw and knocked it aside into slamming its body against the tree, a pained bellow from its massive mouth of vicious teeth. Garou looked on surprised. Gon had abruptly come out of hiding and ran up to the monster, throwing a heavy-impact from such a little hand.

"This is our hunt!" The boy shouted, a message meant for the silver-haired dark competitor to hear. "We're not letting you have it!"

A rustle from the top of the tree and a figure jumped to the air. Overhead and near the monster with frazzled white hair, Killua threw his several-ton yo-yo with a sharp whizz of the string, slamming the toy against the Crimson Splitjaw's head.

"Don't try to undermine us!" Killua joined as he fell closer to the monster. Electrical energy discharged from his hand as Gon reared his fist back and clenched over his knuckles.

"Because we're professional Hunters!" They loudly declared.

The pale, electrical ignited hand slammed against the scaly skin of the Crimson Splitjaw. An ear-piercing sheer cry from the Crimson Splitjaw, trapped and tangled in the powerful lashes of Killua's Lightning Palm that the hairs of Garou and Emma stood up, the girl watching from the bushes while holding her bow and arrows. In waiting, watching and trusting how things will unfold by those boys of amazing capabilities.

The monster was stunned by Killua's attack, unable to move from its place. "Jan!" Gon's fist pressed against his other palm, power builds up in his hand that made Garou's stomach churned in unpleasant remembrance. "Ken!"

Standing right beside the stunned Crimson Splitjaw that was several times his own size, he threw his fist for it. "GUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!"

A great power unleashed by the knuckles of his Nen-infused fist, it punched the side of the the Crimson Splitjaw, igniting a high-pitch, monstrous scream in pain. Its body was forced to the center of the clearing.

Emma held her bow in a hope-filled clutch, Please hit it. Please. Please-!

The Crimson Splitjaw crashed and bounced for a few times, breaking small chunks of the ground and slid across the dirt. A sudden contact shone between the back of the Crimson Splitjaw and their hidden trap, a glow unearthing from the covering leaves and dirt over the concealed card.

[Trap Card Activated: Sticky Webs]

A web-shape silhouette appeared beneath where the Crimson Splitjaw's landed. As the creature wriggled it's whole body with a bruised side and steaming scales lingering with static, it tangled within the appeared web of the activated Trap Card, and after instances of harsh flailing, was soon coated by the strings of substances that sticks relentlessly to its whole form, gradually halting its movements as the Crimson Splitjaw struggles to break free.

"They did it!" Emma cheered, happy at the success, but it was not over yet. They must now collect their stars from the beast, which means they must completely subdue the creature.

That applies to the only logical option, however, Emma had previously proposed another solution.

"You want us to let go of whatever we capture?" Killua had asked her this when they were traveling through the forest, after leaving the Secret Garden of their new-found friendly little creatures.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it lately," Emma told him and Gon. "If all we need is to get a piece of the monster, then we don't necessarily have to kill it. Right?"

"That's a good point," Gon said. "Actually, when me and Killua were hunting for our first star. The first monster we caught, we managed to break off its horn first, and it turned into a star before we were able to take it down. It was this big monster bull we both went out to hunt for a village full of starving people. They were the ones who told us about Support Cards, and even gave us one card that we've later used on another monster."

Gon smiled at Emma, "I had the same idea that you did. It did kind of felt wrong to just kill a monster and leaving it there, so after we've managed to hold down the second monster, I got Killua to agree letting it go after getting two pieces from it, and they were still able to change into stars."

"But we can't do that with every monster we hunt," Killua said. "For one thing, it's a lot less of an issue if we deal with the monster first, and we at least have one less enemy to worry about, otherwise we might accidentally come across it again."

"I wouldn't want you guys to endanger yourselves," Emma quickly asserts, "If it's to protect yourself then it can't be helped, but... well, it's like this. The Frenzy Boar I first hunted, I kept its hide so that it would keep me warm at night, and eventually gave it to our friend Connor as a gift of thanks for taking me into their village and helping me as much as they did. We're also going to use the Banana Fish meat as bait, and I even still have its poison needles on me just in case. If whatever we hunt we ended up killing, I would rather not have it all wasted."

"I doubt that guy behind us will be okay with it," Killua looked back at the following competitor behind them by fifteen feet. His head perked up with interest at whatever discussion the children were quietly exchanging. "You can't convince him with everything."

"It wouldn't hurt to try, and besides, it's our monster we're hunting for. He's letting us go for that, as long as we can get a star from the monster and keep up with his terms," Emma stated factually. "We shouldn't need to always kill, even if its to get our stars. Unless it's to protect yourself or someone else."

Killing to survive. Eat what was earned or given generously, in order for one to continue living. Emma remembered when Sonju had told her this; All of nature's bounty should be treated with respect and honor, not to indulge so greedily, without just cause, or even for the sport of it if only to just leave it to waste. Not for reasons that would defend oneself, but the most ludicrous and insulting reason that simply, because they can. He said it as if he was recounting a past memory or person he knew aside from Musica. A person of selfishness and cruelty.

Recalling those words, Emma had wondered if perhaps Sonju, in his life of longevity, he might have known or met that certain demon in dark clothing, a truly demonic personality, accompanied by a one-eyed monkey on his shoulder.

"I think its worth a shot," Gon said. "Unless whatever monster we find, we can bring it back for those little monsters to have, but I think they're all vegetarians. I once offered Growlithe-" as Emma had told him earlier, the name of the tiger-pup's species identified by her tracker, "- some of the steaks the Kijin gave us, but he didn't want it, and found some berries to eat instead."

Killua looked to consider, "Look, if it's possible, and if whatever monster we lure in isn't that much trouble, then fine. We'll let it go after we get our stars from it."

Emma smiled happily. Gon especially looked at his friend proudly. Proud that the assassin would allow options involving a life, rather than the simple answer that has been marred into his being since birth, the long years of training torched into his body that he has been breaking free from since his formed friendship of the young Hunter by his side. Killing was all Killua has ever known, but since meeting Gon, he has proved himself that he was more than that. That he was capable of more than just that.

But he also knows that he might be the only one among them who will not hesitate to make the hard decision if called for it, something that neither Gon or Emma will likely make. For that, if the monster will be an obvious threat, he will ensure to end its life. Just the same as for that silver-haired competitor behind them. If Garou will make true to his word later down the road, he will fight to kill if that is what this competition and others will entitle.

The Crimson Splitjaw was cocooned in a layer of web strings, its struggle was slowed as it could not find any more freedom, nor strength to break free after suffering from Gon's Jajaken. Gon takes a breather as Killua landed and walks to his side. "Alright! We caught it!" Gon said with exuberance.

Happy at the sight of their successful capture, Emma starts to move out of the bushes. They ought to hurry and gain a star before the Crimson Splitjaw were to recover and gain enough stamina to break free from the web. It was uncertain how strong the Trap Card was to hold down the big monster for long, so they should not waste any time. With the way it is subdued, they should be able to take a piece of its scales without so much trouble. Then if the Sticky Webs can be proven to be easy to slice off, they might allow it to go freely after ensuring their own distance, hidden selves and safety.

She had just stepped into the clearing when her tracker suddenly beeped, stopping her at once. She quickly grabbed and examined the screen.

Her eyes widened in shock. What?! But that's-!

Garou leaves his stance, watching with a mild impression as Gon and Killua steadily grow closer to the captured Crimson Splitjaw, "Professional Hunters huh? Wonder if I could be... Nah, I don't need anyone to lecture me how a hunter should be."

Those boys were decent fighters, he noted. Not to his level of course, but they have good teamwork. It was obvious enough that Gon's power takes time to unleash, leaving him defenseless and for anyone fast enough to interrupt his charge. In the meantime, Killua would distract the enemy, and with whatever power he used that felt most certainly to be an electrical shock, he would stun the enemy long enough for Gon to finish up powering his fist to throw against any target.

An ability that relies on another, which means if they were alone, they would not be as effective in battle. Guess he knows how he can defeat them once he makes due of their rematch the next time they crossed each other. That white-haired kid seemed the most tactical, and overall, might be the most dangerous - though that boy in green should not be taken lightly. That stun-grasp attack Killua attempted was ineffective against Garou, so he would be no problem, just needed to be more careful around.

"Everyone! There's another monster here!"

They were all startled when they heard Emma, her face urgent as she ran entering the clearing, bringing them this news.

"Where-?" Killua started to ask. She immediately answered before he could finish.

"It's right here! Right where we are!"

When she looked at the map of her Tracker, she didn't understand at first. Excluding the presence of Garou and the Crimson Splitjaw, there was a third presence that suddenly appeared in the middle of the grid map. Not something that just entered within the fifty meter range, but a monster's presence that just appeared out of nowhere, detected in the near middle of the clearing.

She had looked above them, but there was no monster seen in the sky. Furthermore, the movements of the monster was much more steady than it did for the Crimson Splitjaw due to it taking flight in the beginning. The third detected presence in her map had then continued to move for the center, passing the monster, her friends and the silver-haired yound man, the continuing towards the edge of the cliff.

If the monster was not above them, yet was not seen in the clearing, then that means-!

"It's underground! It's coming for you, Garou!"

Garou perked up, and his focus shot for the ground he stood, waiting to feel with his feet of any creature about to emerge. He heard a deep growl that breathed at his back and a chill traveled up his back. Sudden darkness fell over his figure that stretched further across the clearing. Terror enveloped Emma's eyes, Gon and Killua gawked openly in widened shock. He threw his head back, looking up at what was glaring down behind his whole being.

Unknown to any of them, there had been an entrance to an underground cave at the side of this cliff, it was wide with many jagged upside-down rocks that made into a mouth of a giant monster with crooked teeth. Climbing through the entrance of the cave and up to the cliff, disturbed by the noises and mild quaking at the surface that had been bothersome enough, a massive, long snake-like creature with dark purple-black skin, long and wild white hair around its head of a terrifying, monstrous look of a reptilian-like thing, showing its rows of red teeth, a hiss-growl sipping through its open square shaped lips.

Three round, yellow reptilian eyes that stuck out as if they were each a snake of their own, examining the small preys that stood at the surface. It's massive claws of blood-red nails clenched the side of the cliff with a crushing force, becoming nothing more but pinches of dirt in its grip as it clung to the edge

A Devil Serpent. A far larger one than the one the children witnessed Garou had hunted, one that the Monster Tracker Emma held to identified with updated information. What was Garou's most difficult beast to defeat, that was really a runt compared to others of its own kind. A Demon Devil Serpent.

"Oh crap..." Garou uttered in a quiet voice and eyes aghast, his skin trickled in a contained unsettle as he looked up to the tower behind him. He has seen bigger monsters, but this one had such a wild-presence to it, there was no capability of human-like intelligence that at least the monsters of his world were capable of. No sense of thought behind those round, reptilian eyes, only pure wild instincts driven by its vicious nature, and drooling red teeth that savored the sight of the petite prey in its perspective.

Gon could not control his tremble at the sight of the massive beast, barely retreating his feet back as his instincts screamed at him to immediately flee. Killua latched onto his nerves, but his years of cold discretion in the job of assassination did not prepare him to face such a terrible and enormous beast, containing a shaking utterance behind his clenched teeth. He and Gon had never dealt with anything like this thing, the closest they have to experience a wild beast was the monsters on Greed Island, but even those monsters were simply mischievous creatures meant to train Gon. The Chimera Ants couldn't even compare to the size of this.

Emma stared in appalled, so in fear that she could hardly move at all to even physically quiver at the presence of the enormous monster that surpassed the size of that Greymon, and might have been equal in size of that titan she once saw in that forest where the Kijin lived, but certainly much greater in length with its long serpent-like body that poked out from the edge of the cliff. Even the Wild Demons were not this big, they might as well have been bears as opposed to this building-size creature.

Two of the Devil Serpent's creepy yellow eyes directed at the slow retreating children, the third one looks down at Garou. A roar erupted from the monster, a horrible tremor-causing sound that sends the children's hands up to cover their ears, terror shot at the pit of their stomachs. The monster dunked its head for Garou, its mouth wide open to eat him whole.

Garou immediately dashed forward. Gon and Killua quickly ran aside as they prepped their minds to fight this creature. Gon yells for Emma to run, but saw what she held in her hands.

"GET DOWN!" Emma screamed. She had switched her bow and arrow with her rifle, intuitively believing that this monster cannot be struck down by mere arrows, and she must save her gifted Enchanted Arrows of very limited ammo for when it is truly needed. Steeling her frantic heart full of fear, she steadied her raised arms, her eyes emptied of all uncertainty and terror. She locked sight with the three eyed Large Devil Serpent, and pulls the trigger.

A rapid fire of multiple bullets shot from the barrel of her rifle. Surprised that the hunting rifle was actually an automatic weapon, Garou instantly ducked his head and sprinted to the side, though she ensured the bullets would never hit him, keeping her arms steady as bullets pierced through the eyes of the Devil Serpent. The Devil Serpent's head snapped back and it roared out in pain, shutting three of its eyes closed as its face and throat was struck with hundreds of bullets.

"Let's go! Now!" Emma shouted for the rest of the group. They must rethink their approach with the unprecedented presence of this massive monster.

Seeing this chance to retreat momentarily, Gon, Killua, and Garou ran from the Devil Serpent. The monster serpent crawled over from the edge of the cliff, wriggling itself from the number of bullets its tough skin was enduring. One yellow eye propped open with droplets of blood, and spotted its gun-shooting attacker. It slammed its claws against the ground that cracked under its pressure and hustled for her direction.

A dreaded sensation tackled her as she already started to run, looking back at the Devil Serpent who had its sights on her. "Emma!" Gon came to her at once, pushing with her for the trees.

"Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist!"

Garou turned his feet and launched himself, his open-palm attack struck the Devil Serpent from one side of its face. A series of quick thrashing that sliced and carved into the skin of the monster, blood spurted from its open wounds. A terrible holler came out of the Devil Serpent's mouth, and giving Gon and Emma the chance to take hiding behind the trees at the edge of the clearing.

The Devil Serpent changed its target to Garou. The side of its long body whipped across and to the center of the clearing, striking the trapped Crimson Splitjaw that released a growling screech. With the sticky substance of the web the Crimson Splitjaw was cocooned in, the trapped monster became an unwilling passenger of the Devil Serpent as it instantly stuck to the lower side of the Devil Serpent's long body.

Garou sprinted across the clearing as it avoided the head of the Devil Serpent that chased after his form. When the three-eyed serpent lunged its head for him, Garou leaped up, a high jump of inhumane feat, and landed upon the head of the Devil Serpent.

"Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!"

An onslaught from his fists that flowed like water yet fired like fists, beating down the skull of the Devil Serpent whose brain could feel the weight of his relentless impact. The Devil Serpent writhed itself, shaking its head to remove Garou, rolling itself to crush its attacker. Garou jumped and landed upon the long large body of the three-eyed massive serpent, and ran across it like maneuvering on foot over constantly shifting hills.

From a certain distance beside the trees, Emma observed the huge creature with a heart beating of trepidation, and amazement of the close-combatant that was moving all around the body of the Devil Serpent within such daring proximity. She had also witnessed their captured Crimson Splitjaw be suddenly picked up by the skin of the bigger beast, though that was now the least of their worries.

"What should we do?" She thinks to herself out loud. "Garou's already fighting it. This is also our chance to get our stars, but with a monster like that..."

When she had fought against Lewis, she was able to determine what sort of demon that was, and would do next to a certain point. She could correctly predict his next move, and even accurately assume his mindset based on the sort of character she was able to decipher through Lucas' account of the Demon. That was because Lewis was a Demon with independent thoughts, a personality, with a certain pattern to his behavior and methods of hunting cattle children. He was an individual she could analyze, and her only miscalculation was that she underestimated the extent of his cunning nature and durability.

This monster, however, was a wild creature, unpredictable and purely chaotic. She cannot be certain what to expect from it, it was essentially like fighting wild demons, only much bigger and wider in length. Based on the damage it took from Garou and appearing to still suffer from it, it was not a monster that could regenerate, so they may have a shot. However, she was still unsure of what other ability it may have, if it was poisonous or if it could spit fire as she witnessed that Greymon do. She has to consider everything, and make sure that none of them will be killed-

"We can do this."

She turns her head to Gon, his eyes light with calming, resoluteness. "We came all this way so that we would get our stars. This might be our one and only chance until tomorrow."

He offered his hand to her, "It'll be alright. As long as we work together, we can fight it!"

Gon was right. Emma knew this. If they don't make use of this opportunity now, then they would be less assured of their total entrance to this competition, and risked losing their chance to help the ones waiting back home. Settled by his encouragement, Emma grabbed Gon's hand in a reassured squeezed, "Right. Let's beat it together!"

Killua dashed around the clearing behind the trees, eyeing the battle between monster and human monster as he attempts to put together a plan in his head. That thing has our monster stuck to it's side, unless me and Gon are willing to risk ourselves just to get even one scale or hair from either of these monsters, we have to kill this monster right now.

As Killua considered his options, Garou ran across the wobbly black road the Devil Serpent's long body made, "How about this then?!"

The fighter revved his fists of baring fang-like fingers and punched the side of the Devil Serpent's throat several times at once, a strike that jerked the flexible neck of the Devil Serpent and it roared pain. He jumped from another curled section of the Devil Serpent and jumps for the head once more.

The Devil Serpent's mouth shuts close. The cheeks of the three-eyed serpent suddenly puffed, and at the sight of it, memory resurfaced form Garou's previous battle with the Devil Serpent runt. He widely panicked, "Oh shoot-!"

He lost momentum on purpose and curled back, a wallop of green liquid shot out from the monster's lips, barely passing Garou's front as he felt the intense heat and nasty scent of the spit. It splashed against the several trees at the edge of the clearing, and in an instant, the wood and leaves, and even some parts of the ground as well, melted into nothing but deteriorating chunks, eaten away by the burning green liquid that seared a putrid smelling steam.

"Acid?!" Killua shouted has he looked around a tree, "Damn! I don't think even our Ken can protect us from that."

Garou drops to the lower section of the Devil Serpent's throat, using as leverage to leap and return to the clearing where he resumed his sprint around the monster. The Devil Serpent chased after him with its acid dripping, blood colored teeth.

A barrage of bullets attacked the side of the Devil Serpent's face and the monster recoiled. Emma emerged from the bushes and fired consecutive rounds from her assault rifle, keeping herself distant and garnering the Devil Serpent's attention. It turns its head for her until it felt another powerful punch struck its body.

"Hey! You're still dealing with me! I want some attention too you know?!" Garou taunted the creature. Rather than turn the monster turn its head for him, two of its three wriggly eye slithered and bend over its head. Finding Garou, it swung its the lower section of its body for him. Surprised, Garou quickly brought up his arms and knees in defense and braced the slam of the monster serpent's tail. Bearing the hit, he grabbed the tail and flip himself over as the tail smashed through several trees of the forest's edge.

The Devil Serpent's other eye looked at the girl who glared defiantly at the massive monster, endless infliction from her flesh piercing bullets and launched its head for her. However, a hook suddenly caught the skin of the Devil's Serpent's eyelid, and heaved the eye of the monster.

Gon revealed himself to the creature then, pulling the eye with his fishing rod to focus on him, his presence having been concealed by Zetsu, "Now Emma!"

She shot at the hooked eye of the Devil Serpent, directly into the pupil. A pained shriek from the monster as Gon waved his rod and expertly released his hook from the eyelid of the Devil Serpent, now blinded with its blood in one eye. Enraged, the Devil Serpent swung its long body for the children. Gon quickly picks up Emma, arm around her waist, and backed away from the attack as another heavy hit strikes its shoulder area, delivered by Garou's kicks. Furious of the level of pain and annoyance it was being given, the Devil Serpent shuts its mouth, acid traveled up through its throat and its cheeks were filled.

A yo-yo was thrown over its head, spinning around its extended eyelid, and tied in a tightening clutch of the string that yanked down the eye of the Devil Serpent, disrupting its focus to spit out its acid at the three humans on the field.

Killua, standing from the branch of a tree, tossed another yo-yo for the face of the Devil Serpent. A direct hit to the nostril and the Devil Serpent spilled its acid, drooping down burning green liquid to the front of its body. It flailed its head in agony, pulling Killua along by the string of his yo-yo until he retracted the yo-yo, both of them into both his hands, rolling himself onto the clearing and sprinting away to avoid the spray of acid.

Garou had stepped-climbed to the head of the Devil Serpent, a short jump that had him come down like a missile.

"Tiger Fang True Fist!"

Into the eye of the Devil Serpent, he struck his fingers into its pupil and it writhed. A terrible power from his attack that deeply pound and twisted a part of its flesh and seeped into like teeth, a move that he took for himself from fighting another martial artist in his world, one out of many others.

"Mountain Cordillera Road Fist!"

He delivered another strong punch with his other fist, another adopted move that could crush a road made of concrete, smashing into the Devil Serpent's face and it monstrously screamed in pain and fury.

A violent writhed from the Devil Serpent as it roared tremendously, a part of its long body entangled by the Sticky Webs that held the unwilling passenger of the Crimson Splitjaw. The ground shook immensely by its struggle, cracks of the earth expanding throughout the area. Gon held under Emma's arm to help her keep her balance. Killua bared with the trembling environment of the fussing movements from the furious Devil Serpent as it attempts to recover from the hits.

Garou landed upon the long body of the serpent, jumping to each curled section. "Not done yet!" He ferociously declared. "Water Stream Rock-!"

Before he would dish out another onslaught of his moves, the Devil Serpent slammed its tail into the ground. An instant crush through the surface, the entire clearing cracked into a crumble.

The Devil Serpent and the surprised Garou upon it sink into the broken earth. Emma, Gon, and Killua staggered as the cracks of the trembling ground quickly extends to below their feet. Emma felt the instant drop of her feet as she fell along with the rest of the broken ground chunks. But a sudden handle under her arms and lift of her body pushes her to the edge, and she barely grabbed on in time.

"Hold on!" Gon told Emma as he fell along with the rubble.

"Gon!" Emma shouted his name in horror. Looking down, she watched as Gon found quick footing upon the fallen rubble - while they they still falling - and made it to the ground safely. She felt to sigh in relief, but her mind took attention to the entire clearing, the area including the cliff had collapsed. She saw however that Killua had thrown a yo-yo that rounded and tied around a tree, catching himself just in time, and she too wanted to feel relief, but now that leads to their fourth member, who had fallen along with the Devil Serpent.

"Damn!" Killua, looking up at Emma. "You alright?"

"Yeah! But Gon and Garou-!" She exclaimed worriedly.

He looks back down, "They're fine. Garou's still fighting that monster. I'm heading down."

He pulled the string of his yo-yo and it released itself from the tree, then dropped down he did, a height that even she would thought twice to try to achieve, though could clear from one cliff to the next that was several feet away, this was an entirely different level. But she did not wish to hang on any longer while leaving her friends to themselves down there.

Looking below her feet, she finds a ledge she could make a safe drop to. Accustomed to climbing up and down of a steep hill-like layout of the rock land section at Gracefield, Emma pressed the tips of her shoes against the exterior of the wall, and lets go of the ledge. She slid down the rough surface that gradually grew darker, and landed upon the ledge.

She was inside the underground cave. So this is where the Devil Serpent came from, Emma understood at once and then diverted her attention to the source of noise. Below her, she see the Devil Serpent, violently struggling its whole body that pounded against the walls of the cave. Its blood and acid scattering all over itself. She sees Garou was still upon it, clutching tightly. A sprinkle of the acid had dripped onto his back, instantly burning small holes into his black shirt and searing his skin. Emma gasped, but noticed that Garou didn't seem to be in absolute pain from it, maybe miffed by the looks of it, but he simply withstood the burning as he continued to hold onto the Devil Serpent.

She saw Gon and Killua maneuvering around the jagged obstacles of the fallen pieces that made into large boulders. Jumping from one tip to the next to reach the Devil Serpent. Her attention returns to the fierce monster when she saw its swinging tail. The splatter of acid dripped to the edge of the Sticky Web cocoon of the trapped Crimson Splitjaw. It burned through the threads instantly, and from the Devil Serpent's single swing of its tail, launched the Crimson Splitjaw aside, towards Gon and Killua.

Gon! Killua! Emma watches as the boys managed to dodge the launched Crimson Splitjaw, and hurriedly steps down from the ledge, sliding lower to the rubble covered ground.

"Oh great..." Killua muttered. In front of him and Gon while the fuss between the Devil Serpent and Garou resumed far behind them, the Crimson Splitjaw had been freed from its web restraints. The acid that fell upon it agitated the skin of the Crimson Splitjaw, and rustled with its worm-like body for the Hunters.

They prepared to defend themselves against the Crimson Splitjaw when Emma had arrived, firing at the freed monster with her rifle and distracting the lizard-slug. Gon and Killua took her support to their favor. From the ground he stood, Killua leaps over the Crimson Splitjaw while Gon took to the side. Emma halted her firing when she saw the boys move.

A yo-yo was thrown from Killua's hand, striking the back head of the Crimson Splitjaw. After him, Gon threw a strong punch to the side jugular of the monster, knocking it back close to the cavern wall.

"Are you guys okay?" Emma ran to them, her eyes upon the Crimson Splitjaw.

"Yeah," Gon said. "This guy is really tough though."

Killua agreed with a nod. "It might have a regenerative ability. We can try knocking it through the edge," he points to the sharp jaw of the cave's opening, the view of the other canyon far in front of them in faded view. "But this thing could fly. Maybe if we ripped off one of it's wings, it can tumble down without problem. The only thing is its got it hiding right now."

And that wasn't the only problem. They have to figure a way how to defeat the Devil Serpent as well. Killua wasn't sure just how strong Garou was, but he has shown moves that even he admitted were incredible, but that Devil Serpent was no joke.

Speak of the aforementioned monster, they heard and felt a great tremble behind them. "Watch out!" Emma warned and sprinted out of the way, Gon and Killua quickly following along.

The Devil Serpent slithered across the rubble-covered cavern floor. The front of its mouth pushing Garou, his hands grabbing the top of its blood teeth and his toes against the bottom ones. The Crimson Splitjaw avoided the direct incoming monster serpent, but the whip of its slithering body had knocked it back against the wall. The Devil Serpent reached to the edge with Garou the first to feel the air of the outside, below him was the dark descent that could not be seen for miles.

He looked down to it only once. It was a drop he honestly didn't want to know if he'll survive, especially with whatever awaits down there. He feels the closing pressure of the Devil Serpent's mouth, trying to closed its sharp teeth and Garou in between. When it felt it struggle, the Devil Serpent settled to simply melt its target, regurgitating yet another acid that could be seen rising from the back of it's tongue.

"Damn your breath sticks," Garou casually said. "Sorry, but I ain't interested in being anyone's food. Let's see you try getting a bite out of me."

Clutching the Devil Serpent's red tooth in each hand tightly, he forced his fingers to closed. An instant crack, and immediate break. The teeth shattered in his hands. The Devil Serpent was startled, and the, intense sharp pain shot to his gums that suffered broken fangs, it breathed out its blood-curdling scream that tackled Garou's front form, a sip of its acid leaking out. He withstood against the deafening scream and flipped himself over just in time to avoid the acid.

"I'm taking you out now. Got it? I don't hunt monsters," He landed at the back of the Devil Serpent's head, "But for today, you're my prey."

Now become his food.

He bared both hands that flowed into fast motions like rushing river streams. The memory of his brutal fight against his teacher and his teacher's brother - masters of their own individual martial arts technique, two of the greatest Martial Artists of his world, joined to defeat the persisting and already battered Hero Hunter. A devastating combined technique between the two old men that took Garou everything he had to not fall unconscious and possibly die from it.

A technique that required two fighters to unleash, for it was impossible to impose by one person.

But Garou did not held himself down with such declared limitations. Imagining the two fighters as one in his head, he threw his unforgiving fists forward fantastic speed.

Cross Fang Dragon Slayer Fist!

A session of truly devastating attacks, deep cross-cutting and relentless punches all at once in an unbelievable feat no other martial artist in his world could accomplish, trailing down the flesh of the Devil Serpent's long body the further he ran, his punches like cannonballs that pierced into the beast and creating gaping holes, his thrusts like sharp swords that sliced the sleek exterior of the three-eyed serpent, where the pink meat of the serpent monster could be seen. It was a move that defeated the previous runt Devil Serpent Garou had came across, a move meant to be the killing blow several times over.

A horrible pained cry that shook the whole area, the Devil Serpent braced the killing blows with tremendous endurance as several wounds were made most of its body. Fury and anger colored its eyes and body with splattered blood, searching for Garou who was still traversing upon its body, passing by the knocked down Crimson Splitjaw, a single extended wing slipping through, flapping uselessly as it did not have the room to take flight.

Gon and Emma openly showed their amazement at the move demonstrated by the dark hunter. Killua only remained attentive to the severely wounded monster as it struggled to retreat itself from the edge. This is our chance!

Emma caught onto this as well as soon as she reverts her attention to the Devil Serpent. But she looks up at the sight of the Crimson Serpent that quickly wormed its way over the body of the Devil Serpent.

An idea bloomed in her head. Lowering her rifle, she reaches the side of her pants. "Gon! Killua! Above us!"

They looked in time to see the Crimson Splitjaw leap from the body of the Devil Serpent, and with its wings expanded, soared down for the children. Garou had just reached the tail of the Devil Serpent when he looked back. His eyes widened, "Oh shi-!"

His speed burst for them, but as he did so. Emma pulled out her four-barrel pistol, instantly clicking to the desired barrel, and pulled the trigger just as Gon and Killua took to the front to attack.

The bullet struck the Crimson Splitjaw's bottom, Killua pushes Emma aside as Gon jumps left. The bullet exterior had broken apart, and bursting out, long strings of unknown substances spread across the Crimson Splitjaw's body, once more entangling it in yet another goop trap. The substance had also touched the skin of the flailing Devil Serpent, the long body having struck the Crimson Splitjaw once again, and once more, the Crimson Splitjaw was stuck to its side.

"Gon! Garou! Push it off the cliff!" Emma shouted.

Garou stopped just as he was beside Gon. The boy took regard of her words and immediately understood before Garou did. "Got it! Let's go, old guy!"

A vein popped the side of Garou's neck as Gon hurries to the back of the Devil Serpent, "I told you I'm eighteen!"

"Sorry! I forgot!"

"I'm going to hit you so hard in the head next round..."

Garou started for Gon's direction, but noticed the Crimson Serpent still struggling, although the sticky substances has it trapped against the body of the Devil Serpent, its head was not covered by the net, and it reached out for Emma and Killua.

Garou sharply steps back to them as Killua stands against it up front. An arrow shot into the head of the Crimson Splitjaw and it staggered its attempt to eat them.

"We're fine!' Emma told Garou, holding her bow and ready to shoot the next arrow. "Go now!"

Her words had Garou realized himself. A short second of hesitation, he turns, his sight of Emma and Killua lingered before he dashed for the end of the Large Devil Serpent. I'm not helping, I just want to get rid of this serpent already. There was no time to openly complain. They either deal with this monster now, or not. He decides to hurry it up, and said nothing in response.

He rushes to the back of the Devil Serpent. Emma fired another arrow that carved the cheek of the Crimson Splitjaw and zipped past it. Killua threw both his yo-yos, and they slammed against the Crimson Splitjaw's face, forcing it back to the body of the Devil Serpent. The Devil Serpent had then gained itself enough grip at the side of the canyon they were on, raising its head and looked back.

"Jan!"

Gon was there at the lower end of its body, fist reared back to his side and showing his shoulder. Further beyond the boy, Garou stood at the end of the Devil Serpent's tail, a deep intake of its breath, his body lowered with his hands against the ground, his knees bend and one leg stretching further back, foot pushing the gravel.

The Devil Serpent sensed imminent doom, and it did the only thing it knew it must do. Acid rises through his throat.

Garou sprinted forward, like a bullet-train, he skips each curled section of the Devil Serpent's body as its cheeks puffed once more. Before Gon would reach the second word of his growing power, the fighter instantly reached the face of the Devil Serpent, facing the exposed reaction of genuine shock from the beast, his face intent for its demise.

"Ken!"

"Tanktop Blow!" A move he copied after the defeat of his first ever S-Class hero to hunt, Garou punched straight into the forehead of the Devil Serpent. Its brain slammed against the back of inside its skull. The shock of his powerful strike had it gulped down its acid back to its stomach, and the Devil Serpent was pushed back.

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!"

Gon struck the lower half of the Devil Serpent, a powerful force that traveled all across the long massive body of the Devil Serpent. In truth, it was no different from the punches Garou inflicted save for his latest devastating killer moves, but it was enough power for the Devil Serpent to be forced beyond the cliff of the cave entrance, and could not hold on, nor did it have a lucid enough brain to try.

Killua lifted Emma, his arm and shoulder under hers, and jumped to avoid the whipped long body of the Devil Serpent that smacked against the cavern wall, dragging the Crimson Splitjaw along that let out a futile roar. The Devil Serpent, along with the Crimson Splitjaw, fell together into the abyss between the canyons, their horror-driven roar echoed through the valley, until it became nothing more than just an echo the further they descended into the depths of darkness.

Hopping back down, Killua releases Emma and together, they looked below over the cliff of the cave, seeing the silhouette of the terrifying monster faded within the black deepness of a see-less bottom. Garou drops beside them, causing the children's head to turn to him, and watched as he approached their side. His eyes directed towards where the Devil Serpent fell, and crouched to look below. Gon soon joins them, a hurried approach that slowed into a walk, looking at Garou and his friends, and then eyeing down the seemingly bottomless pit.

...

...

...

...bam. A faint sound of a body finally hitting the distant ground.

They looked down at it for another moment, seeing a few feathered winged creatures passing by below them, and finally retreats back into the cave.

"We did it..." Emma uttered out quietly, looking to Gon who looked her way. A smile appearing in his face as her stars to bloom as well. "We did it!"

Emma hopped towards Gon hugged him at once. Her heart fluttered with astounding relief and joy. He returned her gesture happily and with an even wider, teeth-showing smile. "You guys were amazing! Seriously! You, Killua! You two are like the strongest kids ever!"

Killua inserts his hand into his pockets, a small show of his own smile of relief. It certainly was a close one.

"You helped us a lot too, Emma," Gon told her. "It's too bad that we didn't get our stars though."

"Easy for you to say."

The children turned to Garou. In his hand, he showed him a single piece that was the size of his palm, the blood-red tooth he managed to keep a hold of. "I got mine."

"Oh! You did!" Emma released her hug of Gon. "That's great! I'm really happy for you!"

Garou hummed at the brightly expressed girl, and looked at the piece of blood tooth until a glow enveloped it. Shrinking the tooth, the monster piece transformed into a gold star. "That makes four..." He was getting back on track. One more and he'll pass this Preliminary.

"Darn..." Gon said with a frown, "And we used that Support Card for that first monster we've lured in. I'm sorry," he apologized to Emma, "I really wanted to help you get your stars today."

An abrupt recall in her eyes, Emma looked at the other end of the cave and suddenly jogs to it, passing Garou as he watched her curiously.

"Where are you going?" Killua asked her. They watched as she stopped by a wall and scours the ground. They followed her and observed in wonder whatever she was doing. She suddenly stands up and turns back to them.

"It's alright! Look."

The looked at her showed hand. "Ah-!"

In her small hand was the second arrow she had fired at the Crimson Splitjaw, and with the arrow, a single red scale was stuck to the tip of the arrowhead that had a strange black substance to it. "I've used some tar-glue the Kijin Clan gave to me while they were helping us get well-prepared for our journey. It was from a girl who liked doing art, she gave me this in a tiny jar, and said that if I ever wanted to draw something, I can use this to stick leaves onto it and make a picture."

She scratched her head, "I thought it was sweet, and it wasn't that much to carry so I accepted it. I thought of using it while we were waiting for that Crimson Splitjaw, so it put it on a few arrows just in case we might need to run away, but still be able to get a piece of the monster while we're at it. But then all that stuff happened with that serpent monster none of us were expecting, I couldn't really find the right moment to just use it. Getting stars would have meant little to me, when I first needed to make sure to help all of you. I'm kind of upset though that I only got one scale from that monster."

"That's really clever though!" Gon commended her. "Now you and Garou have four stars! Just one more stars and we'll enter the competition officially!"

"Really wished you'd mention something like that before though..." Killua stated.

Emma looked down sheepishly. "To tell you the truth, I had the idea just moments ago. I kind of got a little bored waiting so I just fiddled some stuff in my backpack for a little bit."

"Hm. Well, it worked out well enough for you anyway. It turned out to be good thinking."

Killua looked up to the mountain ceiling sky. An orange hue emitting from the surface, "Whoa... Guess there is a time-zone inside this place. Must be from those light stones."

"Which means it's going to get dark soon," Gon understood. "Let's hurry back to that hidden field then."

The children nodded in agreement as Garou examined above them. "Starting tomorrow," Gon started, "We'll get our fifth star for sure."

"We'll need to really hustle then," Killua stated. "We were never told specifically how long we have for the last day. It could be that we'll have until sundown tomorrow before we should all have our fifth stars by then, and whether that means we have to be at a certain gathering spot. Which means we'll need to keep that Travel card safe if we ever need to get out of this place fast."

Emma agreed, "Right. Let's all get back and have a good rest. Good work today guys. We'll work even harder tomorrow!"

"Osu!" The boys affirmatively cheered.

Garou regarded the children with a blank, observant look. Guess these runts really are something. Even that girl, for her lack of power that failed to compare to himself and even to those boys, with her bow and arrow and that automatic weapon on her - who gives a kid what's practically a machine gun? - she had her wit and clever tricks under her sleeves, especially with that four-barrel pistol on her. He wondered if there were other effects her bullets could do.

"Mister Garou?"

Emma addressed him then, he looked directly at her. "How many times do I have to tell you? I ain't old, and forget formalities. Just Garou is fine."

"Ah. Right... I just want to say that you were really incredible."

He blinked at her.

"Really. You were really strong. I've never seen martial arts before, so watching you fight the way you did," she paused for a bit, struggling to find the words that came in so many to describe her witness of his abilities. "You were really cool."

He stared at her then. A slight purse of his lips that took her words in consideration and his eyes sparked with a sense of amusement. He held his hips and leaned forward somewhat to look just above her eye-level, tilting his head slightly, "Aren't I?"

She nodded. "You were basically superhuman. Actually, I'm still wondering if you are human. You are human, right?" It could be that her tracker was undergoing an error for this particular person, she honestly felt that he was human, and so far, aside from his incredible fighting abilities, he'd never shown any physical monstrous attributes that would identify him as a monster, something that Emma would only understood if she sees it for herself.

He took a moment to answer, turning for and walking towards the wall before he did, "You seem to be a smart kid. I'll let you figure that one out."

He proceeded to jump from one ledge to the next, already at the top and back from where they had fallen from. The children watched as the man waited by the edge and they faced each other.

"I'll admit, he's good at fighting," Killua said. "We really dodged a bullet letting him come along instead of us fighting."

"Yeah. But to be honest," Gon said, looking at his hand which he clenched, "It actually makes me feel excited. There really are strong competitors here in this competition, and who know what other strong people we might meet."

What started off as his vindictive feelings towards the dark hunter, has now blossomed with the intrigue to face such a strong opponent. To better himself, and to prepare for the future that awaits them. To think that such a strong opponent will keep his word of payback against himself and Killua, his nerves shook inside, a sense of fear meshed with exhilaration that a boy of endless wonder could only experience.

Emma's expression dwindled as she was reminded of the deal between the boys and Garou. Do they really have to keep their word at this point? After helping each other this far? Maybe she can convince Garou to rescind the promise for Gon and Killua.

The children started their climb up and out of the underground cave, Gon carried Emma to help speed up the effort, and there they met with Garou once more, waiting for their presence.

He really is just going to stick by us, Killua cannot tell if he should see the bright side of this, for the amount of strength this guy could inflict when they really need it, or if he should only be even more worried. Seeing the happy accomplishment of today's efforts that Gon and Emma were expressing, Emma gaining her fourth star and Gon having to see that happen, he decides to deal with this thought another time.

Together with succeeding children of today and the leading dark hunter they were allied with, they head back to the hidden field where their friendly little monster friends awaits.

Thus concludes Day Six of the Preliminary.

Emma: 4 stars.

Gon: 4 stars.

Killua: 4 stars.

Garou: 4 stars.

---

A/N: I would like to make a correction to Garou's knowledge of Pressure Points. Apparently, there is a move he knows called the Pressure Point Killer Fist, though it has so far not been seen yet, none that I know of anyway, so to fix this, I can reason that while Garou is aware of Pressure Point and hitting the right spot can stop the person's nerves to cross the rest of the body, like say he grabs the arm and that arm suddenly loses the ability to move, though I imagine there must be a reason why he does not use this move often, that being:

1. There have to be certain conditions met.

2. The person might have a unique body that won't guarantee this move to be a success, like perhaps the person has too buff of a body or is mechanical like Genos.

3. It might have been a too dangerous move that can actually kill a person he did not intend to kill.

Or

4. He HAS been using it, it just doesn't work that often and either he has yet to fully master it, or like two, the target of this attack has too strong of a body.

What I can also imagine is that while Garou is familiar with Pressure Points, he likely has never seen a technique that can cause a person to explode after touching said point. That's a whole new and overall terrifying terrain Garou has stumbled upon, but with his previous knowledge of the Pressure Point Killer Fist, he might use it as a first step to mimic the Hokuto No Shinken, though only to a minimal degree, and a higher chance of success would be if he personally sees the technique done, so he may need to watch Kenshiro fight another person and watch the Hokuto No Shinken in action for him to adopt the technique at its considerable percentage of power.

I really hope all of you enjoyed this chapter. It took me THREE days I think, to really decide how should this chapter go, from wanting to shorten it to deciding the chapter to just flow naturally no matter how long it would be. I will just have to push the next planned section of this chapter for the next chapter!

Then I have to consider all the fighting moves and ways of defeating the Crimson Splitjaw and the Devil Serpent. Kind of felt the need to apply Emma's proof of cleverness even though that tar-glue did came out of nowhere. But it's late and I'm tired and I want Emma to shine rather than be outshone by these stronger characters. So yeah, rewriting for days and night, rearranging moves section with another, hopefully I haven't looked over anything and if something does seem strange, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I'LL FIX IT TOMORROW!

Anyway, it was nice tying it all together and finally reaching the final product of this chapter. It's not perfect but I did it and I'm proud of that. Hopefully all of you readers will enjoy it too!

Thank you so much for liking this story! I'm really moved to hear some reviews believing this story should have more recognition. It makes me feel so happy of my writing and idea. I know this story has been pushing me off from writing and continuing my other stories, and with this month being the last month of my college spring session (moved to online due to everything that's happening. Stay indoors folks!), I'm just so happy to start this story which makes me excited for the adventure that will unfold and for what our characters will undergo next!

I have ideas on pending folks, but I must utilize them well that will make me feel happy with it, and feel proud to post it for all of you to read and tell me your thoughts about it. I adore reviews, they make me feel inspired. Please leave some that are both kind but also honest. Thanks for reading! Stay safe everyone!