NOVEL WEB Chapter 242: Stalking Crag
Beastly eyes that glowed a faint beige followed a black-haired young man and a black-furred wolf with a hint of amusement.
It stalked, and stalked…and stalked even more, seemingly more so for entertainment.
Whatever the beast was, it wondered: 'When would these two notice?'
It wanted to see its victims panicking, enjoying their trembling hearts and horrified actions.
Infinitely better if the prey acts as if they didn't notice the stalking beast, but makes a crafty move to escape.
This made the chase far more enjoyable for the Cragstalker.
Every time the human and wolf duo moved past its stalking range, it would stand up and break its camouflage, crawling eerily on fours more like a sloth with spine-chilling speed than an ape it resembled more.
The special crag on its back that changes colors depending on the environment swayed as it stalked its prey.
Hal and Loki, since around ten minutes ago, felt uneasy.
It was as though something was chasing them, but whenever they looked back to check, they would find nothing.
Hal even went so far as to summon his [Spirit Sparrow] to survey the surroundings.
But he found nothing.
The same thing happened three more times, and only then did Hal notice something.
He had seen the very same crag every time he looked back or checked the surroundings with his summon.
It was just that its position varied, sometimes "growing" on the edge of the mountain, sometimes on the safer side.
But then, he remembered: they'd never passed any crag while on the descent.
How could that thing suddenly be there?
Hal's heart began racing wildly, realizing a horrifying possibility.
No…
He was certain.
It could only be that monster…
'Sh*t! Sh*t! Why is my luck so rotten?!' Hal looked around, trying to find a survival path for Loki.
He remembered the surroundings somewhat, and just beneath them was the spot they had hidden in last night.
'It doesn't seem like it's going to attack us immediately…' Hal gulped, cold sweat streaking down his temple.
He pretended once more to summon the [Spirit Sparrow], making it fly higher than usual and pass the Cragstalker as it always had, seemingly searching for the nonexistent enemy.
Once again, the earthen monster was pleased.
'Good, good…' it thought in satisfaction, sensing the spirit summon's movements through the hypersensitive crag growing on its left forearm.
The Cragstalker was delighted even more as it noticed that the [Spirit Sparrow] circled the entire mountain before lowering its altitude, seemingly scouring the area for the threat its master was sensing, which it had long passed and missed.
This would count as one of the most exciting stalks for the earthen monster.
Oh, how sweet it would be when the two dumb creatures in front of it finally realized that the threat was just behind them all along, hiding in plain sight!
Unbeknownst to the Cragstalker, it had already been detected, and Hal was simply confirming whether the hiding spot was close.
It was.
The Spatial Distortion should still be active, as it would remain so for twenty-four hours if it wasn't destroyed.
There were still a few hours left, which was plenty for the current situation, since all Hal needed to do was shake off the Cragstalker, though he did not know how easy such a feat would be or if it was even possible.
Still, he would try.
He was far stronger than when he met the Stormshade back at the Luminous Runeforest.
He should at least be qualified to battle an A-ranked creature now, no?
"Loki, run to the hiding spot and wait for me there…" he whispered to his wolf companion, who immediately understood what was happening.
Slowly, the pup pulled ahead, seemingly scouting the path ahead before suddenly bolting off as fast as he could.
The Cragstalker was stunned. It had already been detected?
It didn't appreciate being fooled, usually fancying itself smarter than its prey.
The fact that Hal turned the next moment to face it only confirmed this fact.
Knowing that the jig was up, the Cragstalker revealed its full form, standing three meters tall and blocking the entire path.
It was significantly smaller than the Galewing Roc, and it couldn't fly.
Perhaps that was why it didn't dare move closer to the massive bird's territory.
Hal wasn't too familiar with the combat power of the A-ranked creatures, leading him to mistakenly assume that since the two were of the same rank, they were more or less similar in terms of battle prowess.
But as it turned out, some were at a glaring disadvantage when faced against another, and that creature types and elemental affinities mattered far more than he expected.
For example, he couldn't imagine the Stormshade defeating this Cragstalker any more than he could imagine the Cragstalker defeating the Galewing Roc.
But somehow, he felt that the Stormshade would have a better chance against the massive bird.
Probably because the Stormshade was of the lightning element and was far faster than the earthen monster.
Now wasn't the time to digest his realizations, though, as the Cragstalker hissed raspily in anger and slight embarrassment.
In the next moment, it crawled eerily towards him.
'F*ck! At least crawl properly!' Hal cursed, trying his hardest to resist the horror invading his heart.
Soon, the earthen monster arrived within effective range, summoning an Earthen Wall behind Hal, preventing him from dashing backwards.
It also fired massive Rock Bullets at the air to seal off that escape path as its massive forearms swung down in a hammerfist motion to smash its prey to meat paste.
Evidently, the Cragstalker was adept at hunting down humans, fully knowing their conventional forms of retreat.
Hal couldn't be farther from the word "conventional", however, and simply [Blink]ed past the earthen monster, reappearing behind it and counterattacking with a [Fireball]-[Glacial Shard] combo.
The Cragstalker smashed its own Earthen Wall to mere rubble.
Before it could turn, a roaring ball of flames and a massive, lethal shard of ice struck its back.
The ice shattered with a satisfying crack while the flames exploded in a blaze of pure devastation, temporarily blocking his vision as a gray smokescreen billowed.