BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground quaked as Bazelgeuse's scales detonated like raining bombs, each explosion tearing chunks out of the forest floor.
The thunderous chain blasts were deafening—so relentless that they all but announced the failure of their capture mission.
But Bai Chen wasn't one to leave empty-handed.
He clenched his jaw, pulling two empty Monster Balls from his belt.
"We've come this far…" he muttered, eyes glinting.
"It'd be a crime not to try."
In the chaos of fire and falling debris, he hurled both balls toward the retreating Rathalos and Rathian.
Red light flashed—two towering wyverns were engulfed and swallowed into the spheres.
Both balls hit the ground, rolling and trembling.
Bai Chen held his breath.
One shake.
Two.
Three—
Click.
…then the lights burst open again.
Both wyverns broke free, battered but defiant, roaring in unison.
Bai Chen sighed in frustration, reaching for his last Capture Ball.
His thumb hesitated over the smooth surface.
That final sphere was meant for Basarios—the Rock wyvern.
He exhaled slowly, lowering it back to his belt.
"Forget it," he said under his breath.
"Catching a Zinogre in that madness was already a miracle."
The Sword Master landed beside him, cloak singed at the edges.
"We're pulling out," he said curtly, grabbing Bai Chen by the arm.
The Fire Wyverns, realizing an even greater predator had arrived, spread their wings and fled.
Only the captured Ajanath, lying motionless nearby, remained behind—still enduring the falling inferno from Bazelgeuse's bombardment.
By the time they withdrew to a safe distance, both men were coated in dust and sweat.
The Sword Master spoke first, voice heavy.
"I owe you an apology. I lost focus during the fight. Had I been quicker, you might have caught those two wyverns."
Bai Chen waved it off.
"It's fine. I did bag a Zinogre today. That's more than enough—and there'll be plenty of chances to catch them again later."
He meant it.
The disappointment faded as quickly as it came.
Zinogre was the rarest prize of all—an apex predator with lightning coursing through its veins.
"Once Lusamine boosts our Monster Ball production," he added with a grin, "I'll come back for them."
The Sword Master nodded slightly.
"Next time you plan to capture something, call me. I'll assist."
"Appreciate it, Master," Bai Chen said sincerely.
Getting a personal promise from a hunter of the Sword Master's caliber was worth more than any loot drop.
Still, Bai Chen smirked inwardly.
"Having him help me catch normal monsters would be overkill," he mused to himself.
"Next time, I'll make sure it's something worthy of his blade."
The Sword Master didn't notice Bai Chen's inner grin.
He merely gestured toward the forest path.
"Let's return to camp before the next beast decides to join the fun."
By the time they arrived back at the upper camp, Lana and the Master Smith(tinkatuff) were already waiting.
The latter waved eagerly when she saw him, soot still streaking her pink hair.
Though not a fighter, her hammer never left her back.
At only level 28, she would've been in mortal danger had she joined that battle—so Bai Chen had wisely left her to assist Lana with the wounded.
Lana trotted forward, tail swishing.
"Welcome back, meow~"
"How are Raymond and Rob?" Bai Chen asked at once.
Lana's ears drooped.
"Not good, meow…"
Rob's leg was shattered beyond repair—he hovered between life and death.
Raymond fared better, lucid but badly wounded; he'd need at least a month's rest before he could hold a blade again.
As Lana finished her report, the tent flap burst open.
Raymond staggered out, his upper body wrapped in clean white bandages, face still pale but alive.
"Master… Bai Chen…" he rasped, voice low but firm.
Bai Chen frowned slightly.
"You should still be lying down," he said.
"Strictly speaking, you're not out of danger yet."
Raymond straightened despite the pain, bowing deeply to both rescuers.
"Thank you!" he said, voice trembling. "If you hadn't come when you did, we'd be corpses in that tree hollow!"
Bai Chen lifted a hand.
"You should be thanking the Commander. He sent us."
"Then I'll thank him in person," Raymond said earnestly.
"I swear it."
He'd brushed shoulders with death—men rarely walked away from that unchanged.
"Rest up," Bai Chen smiled. "When you're healed, we'll share that drink you promised."
"Deal," Raymond said, forcing a small grin. "It's on us."
"You said it."
Lana and a pair of Palicoes gently ushered him back inside.
As Bai Chen watched them go, he felt a quiet heaviness settle over him.
The hunter's life was a gamble—every mission could be their last.
You never knew which roar, which shadow, or which explosion would be the end.
If they'd arrived even ten minutes later tonight, he'd have been carrying home two bodies instead of two survivors.
Later that night, Bai Chen and the Sword Master sat by the campfire, flames dancing between them.
The Palicoes were grilling meat over the open flame.
The air was thick with smoke, fatigue, and relief.
The Sword Master broke the silence first.
"That ball of yours—and those vines. Are they… magic?"
Bai Chen chuckled softly.
"Of course not."
He unhooked the sphere from his belt, tossing it lightly in one hand.
"This is technology—a creation from the Master Smith's world. It lets you store living monsters inside and carry them safely."
He demonstrated by casually pointing it at the smith.
A flash of red light—and she vanished into the ball.
Another click, and she popped right back out, puffing her cheeks.
The Sword Master just stared for several seconds.
"…A miraculous tool indeed," he muttered finally.
"As for the vines," Bai Chen continued, "that's not magic either. It's the power of nature itself."
He raised his right hand.
A faint green light bloomed in his palm, swirling with life.
He reached down and touched a sprouting bud by his foot—
In seconds, it unfurled into a delicate flower.
"That's… my own talent."
The Sword Master sighed, shaking his head with a wry smile.
"The world's moving faster than I can swing a sword."
Then his gaze drifted to the shimmering object on Bai Chen's wrist—
The Z-Ring, still faintly pulsing with stored energy.
He remembered that blinding flash when Bai Chen unleashed his last strike against Rathalos.
"That bracelet," he asked. "Is that another part of your… 'nature power'?"
Bai Chen followed his gaze and smiled faintly.
"No, that's something else. It's called a Z-Move. Another gift from the Smiths' world. Care to try it?"
"Me?" the Sword Master blinked, shaking his head. "I'm not suited for your strange gadgets."
"Come on, no harm in testing it," Bai Chen insisted, unclasping the ring and holding it out.
"If you can master it, it might give you a whole new edge in combat. You saw what it did—I punched through a Rathalos's backplate with it."
He was genuinely curious now.
Would a native-born hunter—someone without system support or hybrid power—be able to wield a Z-Move?
Or was that ability bound to him alone?
The Sword Master hesitated, eyes flicking between Bai Chen's confident grin and the gleaming Z-Ring.
"This isn't… disposable, is it?" he asked cautiously.
"Not at all," Bai Chen reassured. "Use it however you want—it won't break, and you can't run it dry."
The older hunter exhaled slowly, then reached out—
—and took the ring.
For the first time in years, the unshakable Sword Master felt a flicker of childlike anticipation.
"Very well," he said quietly. "Let's see what this 'Z-Move' of yours can do."
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