Altaïr's group returned from this Hunt with ample materials from infected Monsters, and the Alchemists at the Frenzy Virus Research Institute used them to produce a large quantity of Wystones.
The Cluster Heavy Bowgun Squad and Kamura Village's local Hunters were finally able to join the operation.
And they would not be the only ones. The hidden sources of infection were likely far more numerous than anyone had initially anticipated, and more Gore Magala would be born as time passed. Without advance countermeasures, the outbreak zone would expand exponentially over the coming months.
Acting in his capacity as Guild Manager, Hojo sent requests for assistance to towns and villages around Kamura and across the Western Continent, calling on their Hunters to help locate and cull infected Monsters.
The first to respond was Elgado Outpost, the Kingdom's base.
Elgado Outpost stood near the Citadel, another disaster zone affected by the outbreak besides the Flooded Forest. The Knights of the Royal Order stationed there would assist the Cluster Heavy Bowgun Squad members dispatched to the area in purging infected Monsters.
Kamura Village's Hunters split up, eliminating infected Monsters while searching for and confirming the whereabouts of high-risk targets such as Rathalos.
With the aid of Cohoots and Palamutes, the Kamura Hunters demonstrated mobility and reconnaissance capabilities far beyond those of Hunters from other regions.
A few, more than a dozen, then dozens... As time passed, the territories of more and more infected Monsters and high-risk targets were marked.
Kamura Village's limited manpower clearly could not deal with every target in a short time. The information was therefore sent across the Western Continent by Cohoot, along with the newly refined Wystones.
More and more Hunters joined the organized culling effort against infected Monsters, especially the high-risk targets that could become hidden breeding grounds.
Only by destroying those Gore Magala embryos before they were born could the Hunters prevent a true, full-scale Frenzy Virus outbreak.
Hunters throughout the Western Continent sprang into action. Naturally, Altaïr's group of four did not remain idle.
After scouring the depths of the Flooded Forest countless times, the Meowcenaries finally found a lead. Altaïr and the others rushed to the scene as soon as word reached them.
As it happened, the squad that found the clue was familiar to them. Lichens's squad had provided intelligence support during Altaïr's Zinogre Hunt.
—--
At a camp deep within the Flooded Forest, Altaïr leaped from his Palamute's back and strode toward Lichens, who had been waiting for some time.
"Where is it? Where did you find it?" With no time even for a greeting, Altaïr immediately asked the question on everyone's mind.
"It's in here, meow." Lichens lifted the lid of the item box, revealing what the squad had stored inside.
It was a pitch-black sheet of membrane no larger than a coffee table.
It was extremely light and thin, reflected almost no light, and had ragged, tattered edges. It resembled a piece of silk weathered for many years. A stiff breeze could have torn it apart without anyone even touching it.
After finding it, Lichens and the others had sent word back by Cohoot along with a small sample.
The Institute Director and the other scholars confirmed that it was biological tissue from a Gore Magala, most likely a shed piece of wing membrane.
Altaïr's gaze lingered on the wing membrane for several seconds before he pressed, "Where did you find it?"
"About ten kilometers north of here, meow. The situation is a little complicated. It would be better to see it for yourselves, meow."
"Then let's move."
With no time to rest or regroup, the Hunters mounted their Palamutes and followed Lichens toward the site where the wing membrane had been discovered.
—--
It was a stretch of fertile, damp woodland. Altaïr glanced up at the branches and leaves forming a canopy so dense that it blotted out the sky, and a thought suddenly occurred to him.
Could the Gore Magala responsible for the Flooded Forest outbreak have used this lush vegetation to evade the Meowcenaries' and Cohoots' aerial reconnaissance?
"It's just up ahead, meow." Lichens's voice pulled Altaïr from his thoughts.
The group urged their Palamutes over a creek. After they had gone a little farther, the dim surroundings abruptly opened into the light.
The Hunters could not help holding their breath.
What on earth had happened here?
Across an area of more than ten thousand square meters, the forest looked as though a tornado had swept through it. Large swaths of trees lay toppled, the earth had cracked and split, and shifts in the terrain had even cut off and diverted the stream.
Lichens, who had been leading the way, pointed toward the devastated area. "We found the wing membrane right there, meow. We think something attacked the Gore Magala, meow."
The Hunters dismounted from their Palamutes and cautiously surveyed the surroundings.
"A storm and an aerial attack." Altaïr ran a hand over the exposed grain of a fallen tree's broken trunk. "This was no natural disaster, and an ordinary Flying Wyvern could not generate wind pressure on this scale. The attacker may have been an Elder Dragon."
"It was a Kushala Daora," Isis said suddenly.
She quickened her pace, walked to the edge of a large crater that looked as though a cannon shell had blasted it open, and crouched down. "These spiraling grooves look as though a rotary cutter bored through the ground. They were left by a Kushala Daora's breath attack."
"Have you encountered a Kushala Daora before?" Morgan looked at her in surprise.
"I've never seen one myself." Isis shook her head. "But there are similar marks on the walls along Battle Street in Dundorma. Amos took me to see them once, so I remember."
"There are frequent records of Kushala Daora appearing in the Flooded Forest," Nymera added. "The same goes for the Jungle. The species seems to favor lush environments."
"Frequent...? Are Elder Dragons really that common around here?" Morgan could not help asking.
Nymera gave him an awkward but polite smile. "Perhaps. They do appear a little more often here than in the Old World."
"But why would a Kushala Daora attack a Gore Magala? Could it have been a territorial dispute?" Isis frowned as she examined the fallen trees around them.
The devastation did not look like the result of a casual attack. It resembled a full-force, indiscriminate bombardment.
Altaïr studied the storm-ravaged woodland thoughtfully, and a faint smile suddenly appeared on his face.
Isis was the first to notice his change in expression. "What are you grinning about?"
Morgan, Nymera, and the others also looked toward him.
"Only that a few questions have finally been answered." Altaïr suppressed his smile, making no attempt to keep them in suspense. "I had been wondering about this. The Shagaru Magala's reproductive capacity is immense, and the Frenzy Virus wreaks astonishing damage on an ecosystem.
"The greatest problem is that it is nearly impossible to eradicate completely. As long as even one infected host remains, another Gore Magala could be born and the scourge could return.
"The Shagaru Magala at the heart of the outbreak keeps learning from experience and concealing itself. It even deliberately delays the virus's outbreak until its population has grown.
"Faced with such an unreasonable creature, it is astonishing that Hunters have nevertheless managed to destroy each one, time after time, and enjoy years of peace before this latest outbreak. That is genuinely hard to believe."
Altaïr paused briefly, sweeping his gaze across the storm-ravaged forest. "Now I see that humans are not the only ones trying to solve the problem.
"Shagaru Magala and Gore Magala alike move with extreme caution, terrified of revealing their whereabouts. We Hunters are not the only ones they are hiding from."
Isis understood just as quickly. "You mean other Elder Dragons are hunting them too?
"But didn't the Institute Director and the other scholars say there are almost no records of Elder Dragons contracting the Frenzy Virus?"
"Whether the virus can infect them is beside the point." Altaïr shrugged. "Imagine that a flea-ridden rat suddenly scurries into a house you have kept spotlessly clean.
"If you leave it alone, it will keep producing litter after litter. Wouldn't you pick up a broom and swat it a few times?"