After letting out a grotesque shriek, the enormous monster ignored everyone else and began heading straight toward me.
I calmly recalled its attack pattern and prepared to face it.
The Broadsword lodged in its body had only been meant to draw its attention.
I’d never expected it to inflict a fatal wound in the first place. Though it was probably irritating the creature a little.
About seven seconds had passed since its last lightning attack, so the next one would come soon.
The white horn of the creature, which had fixed its gaze on me, began to shine brilliantly.
“It’s dangerous! Dodge!”
Perhaps because she had already seen the attack several times, Senior Sian seemed to realize what it was about to do.
I had also blocked the attack several times, so I knew its power well enough.
A direct hit was more than enough to knock out an ordinary person.
It wasn’t impossible to predict where it would strike and evade it.
But there was no reason to go out of my way to dodge.
That lightning was the easiest means of bringing the creature down.
“Senior Conrad!”
As the white streak of light flew toward me, I immediately cast two spells of different attributes.
One was Arcane Magic, and the other was Light Magic.
Magic Barrier, an Arcane spell, could be used from the Second Circle onward, but Luster, a Light spell, could only be used from the Fourth Circle onward.
That was why unlocking the Fourth Circle before the Hunting Festival had been so important.
Just before the lightning extending from its horn reached my body, a composite spell of Arcane and Light Magic activated in front of me a step faster.
My unique magic, which I had named Magic Reflection, deflected the creature’s Thunderburst.
More precisely, it did not merely deflect the attack. It reflected it straight back at the monster that had fired it.
The creature wore a blank expression for a moment when it saw its own lightning flying toward it.
“Skree...?”
It might have been a mutant capable of electrical attacks, but its body was still that of an Owlbear.
A Great Owlbear’s body possessed no resistance to electricity whatsoever.
“SKREEEEEECH...!!”
The monster shrieked grotesquely in pain as its own attack struck it.
This was the first time I had attempted Magic Reflection in this life, but it activated just as well as I had expected.
An ordinary mana barrier would only absorb or disperse an incoming magical attack.
But adding the Light spell Luster created a composite spell with an entirely different effect.
The smoothened surface of the mana barrier could reflect any magical attack that struck it back along its incoming path.
It was an extremely versatile technique. I could return an attack directly to its caster, or adjust the angle and use it to take down an entirely different enemy.
“Skree.... Sk...”
Even after being struck by an electrical attack it had no resistance against, it was still a Great Owlbear.
Thanks to its formidable durability, a single lightning strike had not been enough to kill it, and it rose again to attack me.
That meant I had to prepare a second Magic Reflection.
“Careful! It’s coming again!”
The moment its horn shone white, a flash faster than sound rushed before my eyes.
“SKREEEEEECH...!”
But if it attacked the same way, I only had to counter it the same way.
“SKRAAAAAAGH...!!”
The second reflected lightning strike pierced through its body once again.
It must have already been in tremendous pain from the first Magic Reflection.
There was a good chance the Thunderburst that passed through its body had burned it from the inside out.
A high-voltage current had pierced through its entire body twice, so it was only a matter of time before it stopped breathing.
“Ggh... Kek....”
I could have simply waited for it to collapse, but there was no harm in making certain.
With that thought, I took an arrow from Senior Sian’s quiver lying on the ground.
My Broadsword was already lodged in the creature’s waist, so I needed a suitable substitute.
As expected of equipment used by Senior Sian, her quiver was filled with high-quality arrows made from bush clover wood.
I selected one and gripped it by the end opposite the arrowhead.
“Grrrrrr....”
The Great Owlbear seemed to have recovered somewhat from its wounds and began moving as though it intended to stand again.
It appeared to have lost all hostility toward me and the others, turning its feet in the opposite direction as though it meant to flee.
But I could not release such a dangerous specimen back into the Demon Forest.
I held the arrow in my right hand after coating its arrowhead with a suitable amount of Giant Boa venom.
With the staff in my left hand, I formed a trajectory out of wind magic.
A straight path that would carry the arrow directly into the creature’s body.
‘WHOOSH!’
The arrow left my fingertips with the sound of wind being cut apart, flying in a beautiful arc as though it had been loosed from an actual bow.
Before long, the finishing blow buried itself precisely in the Owlbear’s left eye.
“GROOOOOOOOAR...!!”
One long roar.
Its head reared up one final time.
Then the Owlbear lowered its enormous body to the ground.
“........”
“........”
“...It’s dead.”
After a brief silence, Lulu confirmed that the creature’s presence had vanished along with its life.
With that, the battle we had to fight in today’s Hunting Festival was over.
“You killed that thing...? All by yourself...?”
“As expected of Senior Conrad....”
Senior Sian’s gaze shifted from the Great Owlbear to me, and it seemed to contain not only astonishment, but even awe.
Stella murmured my name with a similar impression.
It was the moment the winner of the Hunting Festival was decided.
***
Several minutes passed after the Owlbear that had annihilated Senior Sian’s party fell.
The party members who had lost consciousness from its attacks began waking one by one.
“Ugh, I’m tingling all over from head to tail....”
“Ah, I can’t even move a finger.”
“I really thought I was going to die....”
By an incredible stroke of fortune, everyone seemed to have regained consciousness without losing their lives.
However, the aftereffects of taking a high-voltage current head-on still lingered heavily in all of them.
I took several bottles labeled paralysis antidote from my bag and placed one in each member’s mouth.
“They’re paralysis antidotes. Swallow them straight down.”
I had originally prepared them in case Stella or Lulu was struck by one of the Great Owlbear’s stray attacks and collapsed.
Still, using them this way was perfectly in line with their intended purpose.
There were four people who had been struck down by the Owlbear’s lightning.
The four paralysis antidotes I had brought, including the extras in case of an emergency, each found an owner and fulfilled their purpose.
“Senior Sian, open your mouth too.”
“Ah....”
She seemed a little embarrassed to accept medicine directly from my hand.
But since she could not move her body on her own, there was no other choice.
All she could do was obediently open her mouth and swallow the bitter liquid poured inside.
After I fed an antidote to every member of Senior Sian’s fallen party, they began recovering and sitting up one by one within minutes.
“Whew, I thought I was going to suffocate from frustration!”
“Thank you for helping us. We nearly ended up as bear food in the depths of this forest.”
“Thank you for saving us, Conrad.”
The students from the Department of Spearmanship, the Department of Swordsmanship, and the Department of Archery each offered their thanks.
“...Thanks. For saving us.”
Senior Sian did so last.
“And I’m sorry. We pulled a cowardly stunt by stealing your prey.”
“Well, what does it matter? It wasn’t exactly against the rules.”
Joining a battle already in progress and stealing the prey without permission would have violated the rules.
But taking the prey before the battle began did not technically constitute a rule violation.
Of course, everyone would probably agree that it was somewhat cowardly, but if even that much were forbidden, it would have been difficult to hold a proper competition.
Unless someone committed blatant cheating or broke the law, the Hunting Festival was usually judged entirely by the spoils brought back from the hunt.
Trying to regulate every detail beyond that would have been an ordeal for the academy as well.
“We managed to get back on our feet, but continuing the hunt from here will be difficult.”
“My whole body’s still tingling too~! There’s no way I can swing a spear like this~!”
“...It seems our Hunting Festival ends here.”
Senior Sian’s party members, now conscious and upright, each expressed their disappointment with bitter expressions.
Even so, they did not look as though they had lost everything in the world.
They had nearly died once and been rescued, so they ought to be grateful that their heads were still safely attached to their shoulders.
Senior Sian’s party was a group of students who understood the value of their own lives.
“Since things have turned out this way, we should at least repay the juniors who saved our lives.”
“Pardon?”
The male student, who appeared to be a third-year from the Department of Swordsmanship, pointed at the fallen Great Owlbear’s carcass as he spoke.
“What were you originally planning to do with that enormous monster’s corpse?”
“After one of our companions dressed it on-site, we planned to return with only enough evidence to prove that we killed the Mutant Great Owlbear.
“Its horned head should be sufficient proof. If we have room, we might take some of the hide and claws as well.”
I answered while gesturing toward Lulu, who was sitting beside me.
From the very beginning, the sole purpose of this Hunting Festival had been to kill the Mutant Great Owlbear.
Making some money from its materials was only a secondary concern.
Besides, Senior Sian’s life—the most important thing—was safe, so the rest no longer mattered much.
“You’re saying you plan to leave all those materials behind in the forest?
“Isn’t that a waste? You could get at least a three-digit sum in gold coins for it.”
“It is a waste, but what else can we do? We couldn’t afford a Size-Adjustment Pouch.
“And if we cling to something minor until night falls, the Hunting Festival will end.”
Once the Hunting Festival ended, bringing back even the largest and most dangerous prey would be meaningless.
Since I also had to consider Stella’s score in the Hunting Festival, I had no other choice.
I could not change the priority of our objective just to earn another dozen or so gold coins.
Just as I was thinking that and had half given up, an unexpected statement came from the Department of Swordsmanship student.
“I’ll help you. I’ll help carry that enormous carcass out of the Demon Forest. I may not look it, but I’m confident in my strength.”
As he spoke, the senior from the Department of Swordsmanship showed me one of his arms, displaying a thick forearm that looked as though it had been trained for more than a decade.
“Will you be all right? It hasn’t been long since you recovered from the paralysis.”
“Moving nimbly is difficult, but using my strength will not be a problem.”
The leopard beastfolk from the Department of Spearmanship and the female student from the Department of Archery also raised their hands and spoke.
“I-I’ll help too! It’d feel rotten to take your help and just walk away!”
“I’ll help as well. I may not be as strong as the seniors, but I can still contribute what little strength I have.”
I felt deeply grateful to all of them for saying so.
It was certainly not a bad offer.
If we could bring back the Great Owlbear’s entire carcass intact, we could sell every part of it for a considerable price.
The complete hide of a mutant monster in particular traded for so much among collectors that people said it was worth whatever price the seller named.
It was only natural that their kindness left me feeling a little excited.
Of course, if I wanted Senior Sian’s party members to help carry the monster’s carcass, I first needed the permission of Senior Sian, their party leader.
“Everyone has offered to help, so what do you think, Senior Sian...?”
I had only meant to ask briefly whether I could borrow her party members.
But Senior Sian had already disappeared from beside me.
I looked around in confusion for a moment, and when my gaze reached the fallen Great Owlbear, Senior Sian and the enormous monster entered my view together.
She was already tying sturdy straw rope around the Great Owlbear’s entire fallen body.
“We don’t have time to spare, Junior Conrad.”
She was as brisk and decisive as ever.