MHGA Chapter 264 — Battle with Kirin, Part Two
Even though the Transparent World allowed him to instantly perceive the actions of Muzan, when facing a powerful and unfamiliar creature like Kirin, Tanjiro often found that while he could sense the movements… the actual outcome was completely different.
That's exactly why…
Kairo Retsu had told Tanjiro to familiarize himself with battling the Kirin as much as possible.
Kairo Retsu understood well the strengths and characteristics of each Hunter.
Among all the Hunters present now, some were suited for flexible and adaptive combat, some for upright and direct clashes, and others had their own unique fighting styles—mostly honed through their personal growth as Hunters.
As for Kairo Retsu himself… he didn't have any of that.
No skills like Kazuma's. No breathing techniques like Tanjiro's. No other specialties… Kairo Retsu didn't even have particularly high learning aptitude in battle.
Back when they fought Kokushibo, the other swordsmen grew rapidly through the heat of combat. Kairo Retsu alone made little progress during the fight.
But fortunately, Kairo Retsu believed he had decent adaptability. No matter the situation, a Hunter must always be able to find a path to success from among countless possibilities.
Just like now.
After rolling to dodge another thunderbolt from Kirin, Kairo Retsu suddenly noticed that the next bolt didn't come down immediately.
When he looked up, he saw Kirin standing at the center of Arasaka Tower, breathing heavily, long strands of saliva dripping from its mouth unchecked due to its intense exhaustion.
This was the first time today that the Hunters had seen Kirin pause its attacks out of sheer fatigue.
They had finally worn down Kirin's stamina to a critical point.
"That really wasn't easy."
Kairo Retsu took advantage of the pause to gulp down huge breaths, recovering his focus. Then, he swung his Insect Glaive and took up a battle stance again, locking eyes on Kirin.
At this moment, Kirin's azure horns were already marked with many wounds left by the Hunters. The mythical beast, which should have been elegantly roaming lush fields and meadows, now stood atop a concrete high-rise—frantic and disheveled.
This was the inevitable result of ecological imbalance… If things continued like this, Kirin, desperate to replenish its energy, would surely do even more damage to this world.
"About… five more minutes?" Kairo Retsu checked the time and began silently counting down in his mind.
"As expected… For Hunters of our level, taking on a Kirin is still just a bit too much." He muttered, "Once this mission is over, we have to become Hunters truly capable of slaying dragons… At the very least, we need to upgrade this gear to High Rank."
"As for the Kirin…" Kairo Retsu steadied his heart and looked at the monster. "I have to admit… the power of Elder Dragons is still a little too far out of reach for us."
"Being a Hunter… really isn't that easy." A somewhat helpless expression crossed Kairo Retsu's face. "We're running out of time."
In each generation of the games, the protagonists always seem to be effortlessly completing quests to hunt monsters and taking on a wide variety of slaying and repelling missions.
But… monsters are not weak by any means.
In truth, most Hunters need to give it their all just to deal with regular monsters. For more powerful ones, they usually stay far away. Many Hunters can only handle small monsters.
As for Elder Dragons… missions related to them are usually limited to investigation or repelling operations—and even then, success isn't guaranteed. Hunters capable of facing them are rare.
Kairo Retsu flicked his Insect Glaive. His Kinsect, already prepared, channeled the Elder Dragon extract it had gathered into his body. In an instant, the power of the extract lit up all three buffs on the glaive, granting Kairo Retsu a surge of strength.
After taking a deep breath, Kairo Retsu lowered his body and sprinted toward Kirin.
Kirin, still panting heavily, resumed its furious lightning strikes with its azure horn.
Perhaps due to the damage sustained by the horn, the bolts that rained down around Kairo Retsu now crackled irregularly in erratic patterns.
But Kairo Retsu dragged the tip of his Insect Glaive along the ground, using the metal as a lightning rod to divert part of the current away from himself—allowing him to continue charging Kirin head-on.
His eyes were locked onto the azure horn atop Kirin's head. That was his target.
He knew full well that, as a Hunter of his current level, he was not strong enough to repel or slay an Elder Dragon. But as the Guild Hall's Commander—as a Hunter who had chosen this path—Kairo Retsu refused to back down without leaving a mark.
"At the very least! I'm taking that horn!!"
A blaze of defiance ignited in Kairo Retsu's eyes. "We have to prove that all our fighting and effort meant something!!!"
"So hand over your horn, Kirin!!!!!!" Kairo Retsu accelerated once more.
Kirin seemed to sense the challenge in the gaze of this insolent biped, and the Elder Dragon was enraged.
Electric light surged at the tip of its azure horn and burst into slashing bolts of lightning. Blinding arcs of current danced between its horn and the storm clouds above—as if trying to strike down the overconfident Hunter and reduce him to ash.
But in that critical moment, Kairo Retsu activated the pneumatic device on his glaive and launched himself into the air with a burst of high pressure—barely evading the horizontal lightning slash released by Kirin. Yet the follow-up thunderbolt descending from the sky was impossible to dodge.
"I… am a Hunter!" Kairo Retsu twisted his waist mid-air with raw strength and hurled his glaive like a spear—its extended form flying straight toward Kirin, infused with all the might he could muster.
The weapon aimed directly at Kirin's eye.
Struck in the vital point, Kirin was forced to turn its head aside. And in that brief moment—when its head was exposed—a grappling claw latched onto Kirin's cheek, yanking the airborne Hunter directly toward the Elder Dragon's body.
"This technique is called… Ear Piercer!!!!!!"
Kairo Retsu grinned savagely as he clamped his legs around the lightning-charged body of the Kirin. He held a Sonic Bomb in each hand—and smashed them against Kirin's ears.
Then—
Kairo Retsu gripped Kirin's azure horn with both hands, mounted its back, and pulled with all his might.
"BREAK FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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