I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 290

The bone-armored dinosaur that appeared right after the stag beetle.

Overall, it had the shape of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, looking as though it was clad in armor made of solid bone.

It even seemed to be wearing a dedicated helmet, giving it a cool design. Something young kids would probably love.

Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung!

"Kwaaaaaah!"

The problem was that the damn thing was sprinting right at me.

True to a carnivorous dinosaur, the bone-armored T-Rex charged with its gaping maw lined with needle-sharp teeth.

Just in terms of height, I had to crane my neck upward, which radiated a terrifying pressure.

Kaang!!!

Right in front of my nose, the dinosaur’s giant jaws snapped shut. The crisp sound of metal clashing against metal echoed out.

Good thing I barely dodged by twisting my body; even with Body-Protecting Gangqi, getting chewed by those jaws meant bidding this world farewell.

Chwaaak!

But biting wasn’t its only weapon. The creature lashed out at me with its razor-sharp forelimbs.

Usually, carnivorous dinosaurs had sturdy hind legs and somewhat stubby forelimbs.

Wasn’t that the case for the cloaking dinosaur I met before? But this guy was different.

Its forepaws—especially the sharp claws—were heavily developed, turning them into deadly weapons.

’Stay calm. The fact that its movements are large and telegraphed hasn’t changed.’

Above all, its massive, heavy frame gave it one fatal flaw.

Namely, it was slow and sluggish. That was something not just I, but the rest of the party quickly noticed as well.

Hwiik!

While I dodged, Ludwig moved toward its hind legs.

Unlike other carnivores, even though its forelimbs were developed, it ultimately still relied on two legs.

Therefore, if we could disable those thick legs, subduing it wouldn’t be difficult.

Kkaang!

"Hmm?"

But an unexpected event occurred. Ludwig failed to slice through the hind leg.

Even with a Mythricon sword infused with aura, it couldn’t pierce the bone armor.

Kwaang!

"Khmm!"

The same went for Lackey. Originally, hard objects were vulnerable to blunt ’impact’.

Objectively speaking, Lackey possessed formidable martial prowess, yet his hit didn’t work properly either.

"Kwaaaaaah!"

Chwaaang!

However, while the exterior looked fine, it must have taken some internal damage.

Perhaps because a significant shock hit its hind leg, the bone-armored dinosaur roared ferociously.

It raised its massive hind leg, attempting to stomp on the group.

Fortunately, the movement itself was sluggish, so everyone managed to dodge safely.

’It seems to be way harder than I thought.’

Even a Mythricon sword infused with aura couldn’t cut through.

The only weapon left to rely on was the Sword of the Heavenly Demon, but I wasn’t sure if even this would work.

The stag beetle earlier and now this guy—every single one of them had insane defensive capabilities.

It seemed they had evolved their defense to the absolute limit just to survive in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

With armor like that, it wouldn’t get bitten by bugs, nor would ordinary injuries bother it.

"Lackey! Can’t you use that?!"

"What?"

"The technique that damages the inside instead of the outside!"

Kaang!

I barely dodged a bite from the bone-armored dinosaur and yelled at Lackey.

Creatures like this were usually soft on the inside. Didn’t I get thoroughly thrashed by the boss gorilla when I cockily relied solely on my shield?

Even if Lackey wasn’t quite at the boss gorilla’s level, his martial arts mastery should be in a similar ballpark.

Otherwise, he couldn’t have survived a wandering lifestyle out here.

"I can do it. But that thing is too big."

"Wait a second!"

The giant size was indeed a problem, but it was fine. Lackey’s help would come after my strike.

I poured aura into the Sword of the Heavenly Demon and bided my time. Simultaneously, the bone-armored dinosaur lunged with open jaws.

As its jaws were about to snap shut, I pushed off with both legs and sprinted forward.

My target was precisely its thick hind leg. I planned to aim for the relatively thinner ankle.

’Now!’

I swung the Sword of the Heavenly Demon with all my might.

The Sword of the Heavenly Demon, which had cut down countless enemies helplessly until now—

Kwak!

It got stuck. I aimed precisely for the ankle, yet the blade didn’t even sink halfway in.

Its defensive power far surpassed my expectations. I had no idea just how ridiculously hard this thing was.

Even considering I was holding a shield in one hand, this level of toughness was absurd.

"Kwaaaaaah!"

Shwiik!

Even that shallow cut must have caused the creature immense pain.

Hearing the rushing sound in my ears and seeing it pivot its body around its hind leg, I urgently raised my shield.

Before long, a massive tail filled my entire field of vision.

Kwaaang!!

"Keuak...!"

Taking this blow directly came with severe consequences.

Even with both my shield and Body-Protecting Gangqi deployed, a staggering impact breached through.

On top of that, I felt my body float into the air and launch far across the field.

Kwaang! Kwang! Kwajik!

It hit so hard that several trees were snapped helplessly as I crashed through them.

If I didn’t have Body-Protecting Gangqi, wouldn’t my bones have been shattered?

"Ow, man..."

However, the reality that my entire body was throbbing in pain didn’t change.

Even with Body-Protecting Gangqi, my physical vessel couldn’t fully absorb that momentum.

I barely gathered my senses and assessed the situation. Since I had been knocked away, the rest of the party would be fighting.

Kwaang!

Let me correct that. Someone came flying right next to me. It was Lackey.The source of this chapter is novelрing.com.

Apparently, just like me, he had tried targeting the hind legs only to get smacked away by the tail.

Still, he handled it much better than I did. He spun mid-air and landed smoothly on his feet.

Being a gorilla who spent his days swinging through trees, his sense of balance was top-notch.

"Glasses. My glasses..."

"..."

Regardless of his balance, without his glasses, his combat ability plummeted.

I helped Lackey find his glasses, and together we approached the dinosaur again.

"Kwaaaaaah!"

"Buooo!"

It was chasing Largo while drooling out of its jaws. Naturally, Largo was running for his life.

Ludwig was fiercely hitting the dinosaur, but to little avail. The armor was simply too hard.

’How the hell do I pierce that... Wait a minute.’

A brilliant realization suddenly struck me. It went back to when I got blasted away by the tail just now.

Even though I was wrapped in a Body-Protecting Gangqi far thicker than most, the blunt kinetic force had transferred right through.

Seeing that, the bone-armored dinosaur should be no different. Most decisively, its internal ’mucous membranes’ were very likely soft.

’To exploit that, I’d have to climb onto its head...’

Or it meant going inside its mouth. That was way too dangerous.

Still, I had a plan. I whispered to Lackey, who was putting his glasses back on.

"Lackey. I’ll attack its eyes somehow to distract it, so break its left leg in the meantime. You can do that, right? By the way, left from our perspective."

"It’s very thick."

"I managed to cut into the left leg a bit earlier. Aim right at that spot."

I gave Lackey instructions and picked up my bow and arrow.

Since Largo was drawing aggro so valiantly, I was able to buy some time.

Kgigik-

I nocked an arrow on the bow and concentrated. The dinosaur was still chasing Largo.

Like most dinosaurs, its eyes were tiny, but that was plenty. I was going to imbue the shot with aura anyway.

’Just a tiny bit...’

Piing!

Concentrating with absolute focus, I shot the arrow. It zipped through the air toward the dinosaur’s eye like lightning.

Ting!

"...What. Fuck?"

It flew accurately straight into its eye, yet made a metallic ting sound.

I strongly suspected that even its eyes were covered by hard bone membranes.

Kwaang!

Still, thanks to the explosion on its head, Largo was able to escape a crisis.

Furthermore, unlike the stag beetle, the dinosaur possessed ’hearing’.

"Kwaaaaaah!"

The blast noise alone was bound to leave it disoriented.

"Lackey! Now!"

Even before my command echoed out, Lackey dashed forward. His target was precisely the hind leg.

The ankle area that I hadn’t managed to cut completely through earlier.

Even a solid giant tree will fall if you chop at it a few times and kick it.

Following my instructions, he focused his fist near its left leg.

"Hup!"

Ujikkeun!

With Lackey’s short shout, the dinosaur’s partially cut left ankle snapped at an unnatural angle.

No matter how sturdy the hind leg was, once the bone collapsed, it couldn’t sustain its massive body weight.

"Kwaaaaaaaa!"

Kuuung!

The dinosaur stumbled and ultimately crashed into the ground.

Because of its immense physique, its fall alone generated a localized earthquake.

But it wasn’t over yet. After telling Lackey to step back, I loaded aura into the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.

Uuuuuung!!!

A whole damn lot of it. It practically became a giant blunt club of light.

Good thing it was the Sword of the Heavenly Demon; an ordinary sword would have overheated and shattered long ago.

"Euryah!"

Kwaang!

I slammed the aura club straight down onto its head.

Even clad in hard bone armor, it couldn’t withstand the kinetic shock, letting out a rough screech.

But I didn’t stop there. I slammed the club down repeatedly without rest.

Kwaang! Kwang! Kwaang!

"Kwaaa! Kwaaaaaah!"

Up until the third strike, it thrashed around in resistance.

Kwaang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

"Kwaaaaa..."

By the seventh strike, the internal damage reached its brain, and its screams grew feeble.

Kwaang! Kwang! Kwajik! Kwaddeudeuk! Udeuk!

Finally, its bone armor shattered into pieces, and suffering severe brain concussion, its entire body quivered uncontrollably.

Screams? Those had vanished long ago.

I bashed relentlessly to turn its head into utter mush.

"Huu. Huu. Huu."

"..."

I panted heavily. The words of our ancient ancestors were right.

’No tree will fail to fall after ten ax swings’—and true enough, its rock-hard head had been reduced to paste.

Completely pulverized. Its body was twitching, but that was just post-mortem spasms.

It was a crude method, but at the same time highly efficient. In fact, it was the only way.

"Ugh... Where on earth are these things coming from?"

I grumbled while massaging my sore arms.

First a giant stag beetle, and now a bone-armored dinosaur that even blocked the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.

Fighting just one was hard enough, but two had popped up back-to-back.The source of this chapter is novеlping.com.

"They are Hunters."

"Hunters?"

At that moment, Lackey, who had lived a nomadic lifestyle, spoke up.

He seemed to generally know what these things were.

"Roam without caring about territories. Fight, win, eat, grow stronger."

"Don’t ordinary beasts keep territories?"

[It’s the Forest of the Four Seasons, so nothing is unusual. Didn’t this gorilla live a wandering life as well?]

Cain answered my question. Come to think of it, it wasn’t weird.

Even the giant stag beetle was just an insect that had evolved in an abnormal direction.

It wasn’t strange for creatures to wander all over to grow stronger. That made them even more dangerous.

’Wait, having a territory actually means they’re even more dangerous.’

Establishing a territory meant possessing overwhelming independent martial strength.

Objectively speaking, these guys were all weaker than the boss gorilla.

There was no need to explain Bbareumbo. Since I could deal with all of these myself, Bbareumbo hadn’t even stepped in.

’If Bbareumbo ever has to step up, it means we’re in real deep shit.’

This was better. I let out a long breath and spoke.

"First, let’s clean up these..."

Deudeudeudeudeu!

Just as I was about to clean up, the ground vibrated yet again.

Swallowing my internal annoyance, I quickly readied my arms. The others did the same.

"Just in case, stay away from me. Most of them are likely coming for me."

"Understood."

I didn’t want to drag others into harm’s way for no reason.

After putting distance between myself and the party, I tried to predict who the next challenger would be.

’Judging by the short vibration interval, is it running towards us?’

It was definitely a land monster, not a flying one.

Given the rapid frequency of the shakes, it must be approaching at high speed.

’Wait, something’s weird. Why does the entire ground feel like it’s shaking?’

Usually, when vibrations shook the ground, the epicenter was clear.

You could locate the position through the epicenter, but right now it was different.

It wouldn’t be surprising if this were an actual earthquake.

"Lackey. Is there an earthquake in the forest...?"

Just as I was about to ask Lackey—

Puaak!

I felt something colossal erupting right behind me.

A giant shadow completely swallowed my body. Sensing it, I slowly turned my head.

"...Wow. Crazy."

A massive ’mouth’ was swooping down to consume me.

A terrifying mouth lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth inside.

"Kyaaaaaah!"

It was the start of Round 3.

Kwadeuk!

With me swallowed whole.

"Grylls!"

Ludwig was flustered.

First the monster suddenly erupted from underground, and then it swallowed Grylls in a single gulp.

Burrowing monsters were just as troublesome as flying monsters. Of all things, a creature like that had launched a surprise attack.

If Grylls had a skill to meticulously analyze subterranean vibrations, it might be different, but he lacked such a technique.

Ludwig and Lackey had pulled back, but because Grylls had distanced himself, he suffered this calamity.

’What is that? A mole?’

The overall shape of the monster that burst from the earth resembled a mole.

Forepaws equipped with sharp claws. However, it had no hind legs at all.

A truly grotesque form possessing only a torso and front paws.

’That mouth...’

Not to mention a mouth that covered its entire face. In terms of bizarre horror, it was on par with the Immortal Herb Colossus.

But regardless of that, the necessity to fight remained unchanged.

Especially since the moment that thing burrowed back underground, Grylls would be lost forever.

’Burrowing monsters sense vibrations.’

Just as Ludwig carefully tried to take a step forward—

"...Kuek!"

"?"

"Kueeeeek! Pueek! Puek!"

The mole monster began writhing in violent spasms.

Not only did it twist its body frantically, but blood spewed out from its mouth in gushes.

While Ludwig watched warily, wondering what on earth was happening, a change occurred in the mole’s gigantic mouth.

Ujijijik! Ujijik!

The mouth was being forcibly pried open. And the ones tearing it open were none other than two hands.

Soon, from within the slowly widening mouth, someone emerged.

"You mother... fucker!"

Chiiiik!

It was Grylls. A Grylls drenched from head to toe in crimson blood and gastric acid.

The sizzling sound of Body-Protecting Gangqi corroding from stomach acid was terrifying, but Grylls’s actions were far more brutal.

"Huuup!"

Jwaaaaak!

Grabbing the upper and lower jaws with both hands, he pried them open further until he ripped the mouth nearly 180 degrees apart.

Attacked from the inside out, the mole monster had no choice but to die instantly.

Swallowing Grylls in one bite turned out to be its fatal mistake.

"Ah, seriously. This feels fucking awful."

"..."

"Nobody’s hurt, right?"

Ludwig was completely lost for words.