Star Rank Hunter Chapter 95

Original and most up to date translations are posted at volaretranslations.

Chapter 95: Clash

Inside the jungle, Dias opened the subspace container in his hand and replenished everyone’s ammo.

Normally speaking, subspace containers were unstable on planets that were below the habituality rank. Therefore, it was only on habitable planets that subspace containers were more frequently seen and used. On the other hand, the user would have to shoulder various degrees of risks if they opened their subspace containers on planets that was at habituality Rank B or below. But still, Dias took the risk. If they did not replenish their bullets now, they would have little time to do so when the fight started. Luckily, the subspace container had opened rather smoothly, and although there were some level of impact and instability, at least they managed to take out the supplies.

“Lieutenant, those things aren’t just coming from one direction!” Xiao Shang said in alarm.

The scanner displayed yet a couple of dots. A second scan and parametric cross analysis confirmed that it was those those life forms with horny skin on their head area.

The beasts had surrounded Dias and the others in a pig’s head formation, and they were either planning to encircle and annihilate them or… force them into a certain location behind them.

“They’re forcing us to move backwards!” Xiao Shang said.

That’s right. If they were planning to encircle and annihilate them, then why would they only approach them in a pig’s head formation?

If they’re forcing them backwards, then what exactly was waiting for them at the back? They did not know, but it would definitely be more dangerous and disadvantageous to them.

Therefore they cannot retreat! They were already in a crisis now, and if they fell back, then they might find themselves standing at death’s door or even pass right through it!

It would seem that these things were intelligent far beyond their imagination. With their ammo replenished, the armor piercing bullets should be enough to take care of all of them with some solid aim. However, these fellows moved even faster than before as if they were the grim reapers themselves looking to claim their lives.

Bang!

The bullet struck and penetrated the hardened substance that made up the horny-skinned creature’s skin, entering its head.

It was a lot easier now that they were killing the creatures in one shot, but because there were too many enemies, the distance between the two sides was still shortening.

The group was somewhat confident of their chances even though they were only twelve facing down more than three hundred of those fellows. At the very least, the situation wasn’t too dire just yet.

But just as they had this thought the alarm rang again, and this time their hearts sank the instant they saw the things that were displayed on their scanners.

Yet another group of unknown creatures had shown up behind the horny-skinned life forms. They had terrific speed, and they did not move in a straight line.

Even more unusual was the fact that these unknown creatures had maintained a pig’s head formation even as they zigzagged to avoid their shots.

It didn’t take long before everyone saw the creatures running behind the horny-skinned creatures through the Farsight system. They were bigger than the horny-skinned life forms. Discounting the thorns behind their backs, the horny-skinned life forms were about a meter tall, but these new life forms were at least twice as their size.

If they were to say that horny-skinned creatures were partially protected, then this new group of enemies was fully protected!

It was yet another damnable group of enemies with ‘armor’, and the level at which they were armored made them far more difficult to deal with than those horny-skinned creatures that were only armored around the head and part of their torso! Their bodies were fully covered in a hardened red-and-black substance that looked like crystals, and they looked a little bit like leopards on the outside.

Cary fished out a different type of bullet. This bullet looked very similar to armor piercing bullets, but its color was different, and there was a special label imprinted on every one of these bullets.

Bang!

The bullets hit one of the big guy, penetrating the hardened substance of its surface and entering its body. Then it exploded. Blood sprayed out of the creature’s mouth, and much of the hardened red-and-black substances were blown away due to the internal shockwave. However, its body looked fine on the surface and was not blown into pieces. Of course, even though it looked fine, its internal organs were completely destroyed, so after twitching a couple of times it lost all signs of activity.

When its kind saw this, they sped up even further with high nimbleness and leap range and more skillful running. It was very hard to lock down and shoot them. The two shots Cary fired later on missed and hit the tree trunks instead, and the explosions caused by them did not affect those creatures too much. As long as it wasn’t a direct hit, they would not take much damage even if the explosion happened right beside them. The hardened skin on their bodies was enough to protect them from this level of explosion.

The horny-skinned beasts at the front ran even faster since the red-and-black monsters were right behind them.

The horny-skinned beasts were the cannon fodders to attract the group’s firepower and die first. The monsters at the back numbered about twenty or so, and this was just their apparent numbers. Dias wasn’t sure if there were more of them hiding beyond their scan range, or even lying in wait behind them. Up to this point, the only red-and-black monster that was killed was Cary’s. It was incredibly difficult for them to defend against both types of life forms at once.

The two sides drew closer and closer to each other.

“Fall back for the moment! Delay them! The commander and the others will come over and support us soon enough!” Dias roared. Right now he too had no way of dealing with this kind of offense. If they did not make a tactical withdrawal and find a suitable cover to defend themselves in, it would become very difficult to kill the enemies when they closed in on them. The monsters at the back could probably kill them with a single swipe.

Should they climb up a tree? Unthinkable; to do that would be no different from committing suicide. Even the thickest trees could not resist those claws, not to mention that judging from the way the creatures moved they could climb trees as well. In fact, they might even be a lot nimbler on trees. What about hoverboards? They brought them alright, but they didn’t dare to use them. They could only fly above the jungle, and judging from the creatures’ leaping power, they could reach a certain height as long as they used the tree trunks as stepping stones. Moreover, a lot of birds had gathered on the sky above the jungle before they realised it. They could only see their shadows whisking by through the gaps between the tree leaves, but the moment they went up they would most certainly be attacked from all sides. A human was in no way nimbler than those big birds in the sky, and to go up there would only invite a quicker death.

Although there might be an even more difficult circumstance waiting for them at the back, they did not have a choice. At this point, they could only proceed without a plan and improvise when need be as they waited for reinforcements from the rear.

Boom——

Someone used their shoulder cannon. Although a shoulder cannon was more destructive, and its killing power was definitely a lot more stronger than bullets, the effect it had on the big guys was not too encouraging. The reason for that was the terrain and environment they’re in. This was a jungle, and there were thick and tall tree trunks everywhere. Moreover, those big fellows were both acute and fast, so it was really difficult to actually lock onto them. The destructive power of the energy shell when it hit a tree trunk could at best damage the horny-skinned beasts to a certain degree, but on those big fellows, the damage was mostly superficial. At best, it blew off only some hardened skin. That being said, wiping out some of the horny-skinned beasts at the front with the shoulder cannon did relieve quite a bit of pressure from the group’s shoulders.

Three quarters of the horny-skinned beasts at the front were eliminated, and the monsters at the back were not yet dealt with. They could not handle them with just twelve people alone.

One of the big guys running at the back ran into the trapper plant with red and white flowers while dodging bullets, and it tore the plant in half instantly with its two claws. This gave the group an even clearer picture exactly how difficult it would be to fight these creatures in close combat. Even a rank A genotype would not dare to fight them head on without a weapon, not to mention that the creatures had the number advantage on their side as well.

Ba Dao’s two extra pair of hands played an effective role in this battle. While his aim might not compare to the others, it was still additional support. Cillin’s rapid fire killed most of the horny-skinned beasts in his area, and it should be within his comrades’ ability to handle the last of them.

Cillin switched bullets and aimed his muzzle right at the big fellows behind the horny-skinned beasts. These beasts had incredibly acute awareness, and they had only grown more vigilant after watching Cary killing one of their kind with a single shot. They were very sensitive to being targeted at, and they would dodge out of the way before a shooter had the chance to pull the trigger.

Bang!

A gap burst open on a big fellow’s head. Its red and black hardened skin scattered everywhere as it rolled twice on the ground due to inertia and became completely still. It didn’t even feel any sensation of being targeted at; it was just running and running and suddenly it was shot and killed out of nowhere.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three rapid shots followed, and three more red-and-black creatures collapsed to the ground.

When Cillin had killed a total of seven, the remaining horny-skinned beasts and the big guys in hardened skin finally reached them.

Zzzt——

Sparks appeared when their extended wrist blade cut against the big fellows’ skin, showing exactly how tough the skin was. Although the blade did manage to sink through, the wound was still too shallow. Unless they slashed again at the same spot, they could be torn apart and still do no real damage to the enemy.

The ultra low temperature condenser and flamethrower were not really effective either. Their surface defense was simply too good. Thankfully, Cillin had taken out seven on his own, and adding that to the one Cary killed at the beginning there were now only fifteen of these beasts left.

The horny-skinned beasts did not stop to fight and instead continued to sprint away, so the group only needed to face these fifteen big guys.

Although they were all wearing protective suits, the group was still pretty quick at dodging attacks. They dodged as they sought out points of attacks.

Perhaps it was because Cillin had dealt them the greatest damage, but three beasts had chosen to attack him.

Using the rebound force of his wrist blade clashing against their bodies, Cillin leaped up to the air and shot a bullet right into a charging big guy’s mouth. The impact of the bullet’s explosion caused countless numbers of its hardened skin to be blown away, and dark red blood and bits of its innards gushed out of its mouth.

Cillin did not stop after the first shot. After avoiding the beast that attacked him from his back, he stepped on a tree trunk, twisted his body and jumped swiftly out of the way before firing yet another shot at the beast pouncing at him from the side. The chain of movements were so swift that even Dias would find himself hardpressed to move to such a degree while still wearing a protective suit. The big guy’s feet was up in the air, which was why it could not make an instantaneous evasive action to avoid the shot.

He withdrew his wrist blade at fired three small hooks at the same time (T/N: Suddenly it’s ATTACK ON TITAN) that fasten around the surrounding tree trunks. He twisted around the tree trunk, turned and fired yet another shot, hitting the beast that was just about to attack him perfectly.

Dias, who was brawling with a big guy himself roared on the inside, the kid took down three on his own before I could even kill one!

After he finished dealing with the three beasts, Cillin caught an opening and killed another for Xiao Shang. The mistake it made was to throw Xiao Shang away at this timing, hence giving Cillin an exploitable opportunity. If the two parties had been too close then it would actually be difficult to open fire.

“Cillin, go and help Cary! Two of the beasts were attacking him!” Xiao Shang roared.

Since Cary was the first to have killed one of their kind, these big fellows had labeled both him and Cillin as threats to be dealt with. Cillin was the biggest threat, so they sent three of their numbers to deal with him. The next biggest threat was Cary, so they sent out two of their numbers to deal with him. The remaining number were just enough to fight the rest of the group one on one.

Cary?

Even if that guy was pushed too hard by the two beasts and retreated further back than the others, but he couldn’t have possibly walked out of the scanner’s range, could he?

Cary was incomparable to Cillin In terms of agility, so the only thing he could do was to avoid being caught by the two beasts in a pincer attack. But even then, the guy couldn’t have withdrawn so far back that not even a shadow could be seen, could he?

Chapter end