Seeing the distance between the Scarlet Armor Beast and Anxi'er rapidly close, Gordon let out a strange cry and quickly chased after him.
Archers, with their relatively light armor, are very vulnerable when facing monsters at close range. Protecting them and preventing monsters from getting close is the duty of fellow Great Sword Users.
Gordon was genuinely worried about Anxi'er getting injured by the Scarlet Armor Beast's Attack Up. Putting himself in Anxi'er's shoes, it was hard for him to imagine how a Heavy Bowgun User, carrying a heavy Heavy Bowgun and struggling to even walk, could possibly dodge the impact of a fast-rolling Scarlet Armor Beast.
They were less than thirty meters apart, and at the Scarlet Armor Beast's rolling speed, there wasn't even time to fold up the Heavy Bowgun and run!
However, Anxi'er showed no sign of panic. As a Heavy Bowgun User who hunted alone year-round, if he couldn't handle such a small situation, he would have long since been buried in a monster's maw.
With a movement so fluid it was almost imperceptible, he took a larger magazine from his equipment belt. After changing the magazine and pulling the bolt to chamber a bullet, the Scarlet Armor Beast was already less than ten meters in front of him.
Anxi'er decisively pulled the trigger. Smoke billowed from the Heavy Bowgun's muzzle, and a dozen sparks exploded on the rolling Scarlet Armor Beast, whose speed visibly decreased.
He was using Lv3 Spread Ammo. This type of ammunition was incredibly powerful at close range. Due to the heavy magazine and the fact that this exploration mission was not primarily for combat, he only brought one magazine.
But that was enough.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Anxi'er pulled the trigger repeatedly, and large amounts of fine Spread Ammo fragments covered the Scarlet Armor Beast like a downpour, constantly slowing him down, while Anxi'er slowly moved to one side.
By the time the Scarlet Armor Beast reached him, its rolling speed had decreased to an acceptable range. Anxi'er easily dodged the rolling charge with a nimble side-step.
Gordon, who had been running frantically, also slowed down and breathed a sigh of relief.
He exchanged a glance with Anxi'er, then stepped forward again, blocking the Scarlet Armor Beast, which had stopped rolling and unfolded its body to resume a crawling posture, making it easier for the latter to adjust his position.
The Scarlet Armor Beast, whose Attacks had repeatedly missed and who had sustained injuries, shook its plump body, then lay down.
Gordon, who had already rushed to the Scarlet Armor Beast and was about to draw his Great Sword for a slash, immediately turned and ran back upon seeing this.
No matter what kind of monster, whether familiar or unfamiliar, if you see it making some strange movements, immediately pulling away is always the right move—this is almost certainly preparation for some special Attack Up from the monster.
Facts proved this to be true.
As the Scarlet Armor Beast lay down, large plumes of yellowish, foul-smelling gas sprayed from the glands on its abdomen. Gordon, who had already pulled back a few meters, immediately held his breath and further retreated to avoid the spreading gas.
Even so, Gordon still felt his limbs tingle slightly, which made him feel a bit fearful.
These yellow gases were clearly more than just foul-smelling; they also contained paralyzing toxins!
The Scarlet Armor Beast, having finished spraying the paralyzing stench, was clearly somewhat fatigued, and viscous drool slowly dripped from the corners of its narrow mouth.
Since the paralyzing gas had not yet dissipated, Gordon did not dare to approach for a while, but Anxi'er, who had already adjusted his firing position, did not have this concern.
One bullet after another accurately and rhythmically embedded themselves into the damaged parts of the Scarlet Armor Beast's carapace. The Scarlet Armor Beast roared, wanting to approach the Archer to counterattack, but was always stopped by Gordon.
The Giant Scissors in Gordon's hand were also not to be underestimated. Deep slashes appeared on the weak and broken parts of the Scarlet Armor Beast's carapace, and the flowing blood drained its stamina every second.
Ever since he discovered that Anxi'er's shooting was exceptionally precise, often grazing him but never accidentally injuring him, Gordon no longer deliberately gave way in the line of fire. Anxi'er could always find suitable firing gaps anyway.
This behavior, if done in front of other Archers, might have caused them to curse, but Anxi'er curled his lips.
In his opinion, this was a sign of Gordon's trust in his shooting skills.
With the Great Sword User suppressing and attracting the monster head-on, and the Heavy Bowgun User shooting from a distance and heavily damaging the target, the Scarlet Armor Beast became increasingly weak under their tacit cooperation, which seemed as if it wasn't their first time working together.
The only thing that caused them a little trouble was the Scarlet Armor Beast's long tongue, which was also covered in paralyzing toxic saliva.
This tongue could shoot out more than ten meters, almost hitting Anxi'er, who hadn't had time to adjust his position.
Fortunately, Gordon reacted quickly. The moment the long tongue stuck to Anxi'er's wrist guard, before it could be pulled back, he lifted his Great Sword and cut off the Scarlet Armor Beast's long tongue at the root, resolving this not-so-small crisis.
With a final weak hiss, the Scarlet Armor Beast fell before the two of them.
Zhu Pa scratched his ears in confusion. He felt like he hadn't even found an opportunity to act, so how was the battle already over?
"Are you going to carve it or am I? Just a heads-up, my luck isn't very good," Gordon said with a smile, shaking his Giant Scissors to remove the blood.
"You do it, you do it." Anxi'er's tone was noticeably more casual than before.
He wiped his wrist guard, which was covered in the Scarlet Armor Beast's viscous saliva, with a handkerchief, looking disgusted, while muttering softly, "Who wants this guy's materials? They stink to high heaven!"
Gordon shrugged. He didn't care about the smell of monster materials. Although he didn't plan to make any equipment from the Scarlet Armor Beast's materials, being able to sell them for some money was always good.
The Scarlet Armor Beast's carapace, claws, and so on, could all sell for a few hundred Z.
After collecting the materials, Gordon walked towards Anxi'er and asked with a smile, "Young Master, how much ammunition do you have left?"
Anxi'er didn't mind Gordon's playful address. He threw the dirty handkerchief into the nearby Melted Lava Lake, glanced at the magazines on his equipment belt, and said:
"The Spread Ammo and Armor Piercing Grenade are all used up. There's still one Piercing Bullet magazine, one paralyzing bullet magazine, and quite a bit of normal ammunition left, enough for another battle of that intensity."
"You bring all sorts of special ammunition, but only one magazine of each? What's up with that?" Gordon complained, puzzled.
"For trajectory testing. In high-temperature volcanic environments, the trajectories of different ammunitions vary slightly." Anxi'er didn't brush Gordon off this time.
"Alright. So, are we continuing to explore and gather, or are we heading back to the village now?"
"Up to you." Anxi'er put away the heavy ore crystal nova. "Anyway, my main goal is to familiarize myself with the terrain. If you feel you haven't gathered enough ore, we can continue gathering for a while longer."
Gordon hefted his satchel, felt there was still plenty of space and weight capacity, and said, "Then let's gather for a bit longer. Since we're already here, let's maximize our gains."
"Alright." Anxi'er expressed no objection.
If any hunters who had teamed up with Anxi'er before saw this scene, they might be very surprised—this guy was notoriously arrogant and difficult, and no one had ever seen him so agreeable.
Gordon took out his water skin and took two gulps of water.
Even with the effect of the cold drink, the volcanic cave, filled with Melted Lava Lakes, was still uncomfortably hot. He took out his map, looked at it for a few times, and suggested:
"Going up the western passage will lead us to the surface slope of the volcano's southern foot. It should be relatively cooler there, and there are also a few marked mining spots on the map. We can go check them out."
"Southern foot, huh?"
Anxi'er pondered, "That guy seems to have records of appearing in that vicinity. Okay, we'll go there."
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