77. Three Against the Beast
The Mechanical Baryonyx let out another loud screech. Its head turned toward Mayor Deri, who was still backing away, and then its massive body charged without giving him much time to react.
Mayor Deri tried to shift his position like before, but his feet were too slow in the muddy swamp terrain.
“Mayor!”
THUD!
Deri’s body was struck from the side and lifted off the ground.
He was thrown several meters before his back slammed hard against a tree trunk.
CRASH!
“UGH!”
Mayor Deri landed sitting in the mud.
The armor he was wearing absorbed most of the impact, but the blow still knocked the wind out of him. He coughed several times, struggling to catch his breath.
Rangga immediately released an arrow.
THUS!
The Baryonyx turned its head.
CRACK!
Its long jaws snapped shut directly on the arrow, crushing it.
“Ndre!”
Rangga grabbed another arrow.
“HEY, NDRE! SHOOT!”
But the Baryonyx’s attention had already shifted toward him, and the creature charged.
Rangga immediately jumped to the side as the long snout lunged at him, but the muddy ground made his footing unstable.
“DAMN—!”
WHAM!
The side of the Baryonyx’s body still slammed into him.
Rangga was sent flying and rolled through the mud. One of the creature’s hooked claws managed to swipe at him as it passed, tearing into his armor and ripping apart several sections of the protective layer.
“UGH!”
Rangga quickly rolled away before getting back up on one knee.
“ANDRE!”
This time Andre finally moved, His crossbow was raised and a bolt was loaded. But Rangga immediately noticed something was wrong.
The tip of the crossbow was trembling.
Andre’s hands were shaking so badly that his aim kept drifting from side to side.
“Ndre! Focus!”
Andre tried to aim.
“I-I’m trying!”
But his finger seemed unable to pull the trigger.
Meanwhile, Mayor Deri had forced himself back onto his feet. He coughed once, raised his shield, and then charged toward the Baryonyx.
“Mas Rangga! What’s its weakness?!”
Rangga froze for a fraction of a second. There was no time left to make excuses.
“Its arms!”
Mayor Deri kept running.
“What about its arms?!”
“The hooks have to move first!”
Rangga pointed toward both of the Baryonyx’s forelimbs.
“After it attacks, the mechanism takes too long to reset!”
Mayor Deri did not ask how Rangga knew.
The Baryonyx saw him approaching and immediately charged with its long snout.
Mayor Deri changed direction at the last second.
The snout passed right beside his shoulder.
He lowered his body and slipped directly underneath the Baryonyx’s arm range.
ZRRRAK!
The mechanism on one of the creature’s arms moved.
Its enormous claw opened like a hook before snapping toward Deri.
Mayor Deri immediately raised his shield.
DANG!
The hook slammed into the shield and pushed Deri several steps across the mud, but this time he remained standing.
The Baryonyx’s claw tried to return to its original position.
Its movement stalled.
“NOW, MAYOR!”
Mayor Deri immediately spotted the opening in the mechanism’s joint.
“HYAAH!”
His sword stabbed straight into it.
CRACK!
The blade pierced the gap in the arm joint.
Mayor Deri gripped the hilt with both hands and twisted with all his strength.
KRRRAAAAK!
Sparks erupted from the damaged joint and the Baryonyx immediately thrashed violently.
KRRRRAAAAAA—!
Its massive body jerked wildly, sending swamp water flying in every direction.
“Mayor, get back!”
Deri immediately pulled out his sword and retreated.
One of the Baryonyx’s arms was now hanging awkwardly. Its hooking mechanism kept opening and closing erratically while sparks flew from the damaged joint.
Rangga immediately raised his bow again and glanced at Andre.
Andre was still holding his crossbow with trembling hands.
“Ndre!”
Rangga pointed toward the damaged Baryonyx arm.
“Look! We can hurt it!”
Andre stared at the creature’s body, where sparks were now flying.
Rangga shouted again.
“Now help us!”
Andre finally took a deep breath and forced his hands to stop shaking.
He raised his crossbow and aimed at the Baryonyx, which was still thrashing from the damage to its arm mechanism.
“Ndre! Shoot!”
Andre pulled the trigger.
THAK!
The bolt flew wide and merely embedded itself in the tree behind the Baryonyx.
“Damn it! Calm down! Reload!”
Rangga immediately grabbed several explosive arrows.
He didn't wait for Andre to get ready and quickly aimed at the Baryonyx’s remaining functional arm.
THUS!
The first arrow struck the upper section of its arm.
BOOM!
The small explosion made the Baryonyx roar and instinctively move its hooking mechanism to deflect the next attack.
Rangga immediately released the second arrow.
THUS! BOOM!
The enormous claw moved again, opening and snapping shut rapidly.
“There!”
Rangga immediately noticed its movement beginning to slow.
“Ndre! The arm!”
Andre had finished reloading his crossbow.
This time, he held his breath and aimed at the arm joint that was still moving.
The Baryonyx raised its claw once more. The hooking mechanism opened, then was slow to return.
Andre pulled the trigger.
THAK!
The crossbow bolt struck the mechanism’s joint perfectly.
CRAAK!
The Baryonyx’s arm jerked violently.
“I HIT IT!”
Andre practically shouted, and Rangga immediately grinned.
“Nice!”
The Baryonyx went berserk.
Both of its arms were now damaged, and its massive body moved unevenly. It tried to stand upright while emitting a deafening mechanical screech.
KRRRRAAAAAA—!
But as its body rose, Rangga noticed something.
The protective plating on its chest shifted as well.
Whether because of the damage to both arm mechanisms or because its movements had become unstable, several plates on the Baryonyx’s chest opened, revealing a bright light from inside its body.
An energy core.
Rangga’s eyes immediately locked onto it.
“Oh, you’re screwed.”
He grabbed an explosive arrow and pulled the bowstring all the way back.
“Move, Mayor!”
Mayor Deri, who was closest to the creature, immediately moved away.
Rangga released the string.
THUS!
The arrow flew directly into the exposed section of its chest.
BOOOOM!
The explosion occurred inside the Baryonyx’s body.
The mechanical creature jerked violently, and the light in its chest began flickering erratically.
ZRT—ZRT—
Its massive body lost power and collapsed into the swamp.
CRUUUASH!
Water and mud exploded in every direction.
A few seconds later, the entire body transformed into particles of light and slowly disappeared.
Ting! Ting! Ting!
Several materials fell where its body had been.
Bio Filtration Membrane.
Enzyme Gel.
Bio Catalyst.
No one immediately went to collect them.
Rangga simply stood there, breathing heavily.
“Haaah...”
He lowered his bow.
“Damn.”
Mayor Deri also exhaled deeply before walking unsteadily toward a tree. He slowly leaned his back against the trunk while holding his chest.
The earlier impact still made breathing difficult.
“I thought... this armor made me invincible.”
Rangga chuckled while wincing.
“Armor, Mayor... Not a cheat code.”
Mayor Deri managed a small laugh, but immediately started coughing.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Don't laugh yet.”
Rangga had just realized that his own side was hurting.
He looked at the section of armor torn open by the Baryonyx’s claw.
The wound underneath wasn't too deep, but blood was still flowing.
“Damn.”
Rangga immediately remembered something.
He opened his inventory and pulled out some of the Blood Moss they had just harvested.
“Guess I'll test it.”
He crushed the red moss and applied it to the wound.
“Ah, damn, that stings...”
A few moments later, the bleeding from the wound gradually began to slow.
Rangga stared at it in amazement.
“Whoa... It actually stopped.”
Mayor Deri, still leaning against the tree, glanced toward him.
“The moss from earlier?”
“Yeah.”
Rangga showed him the remaining Blood Moss in his hand.
“That’s why you don't ignore weird-looking materials.”
Mayor Deri simply nodded. Meanwhile, Andre was still standing several meters away.
His crossbow remained in his hands.
He stared blankly at the spot where the Baryonyx had stood, then looked at the tree that had been ripped out of the ground by the creature’s bite.
Then he looked at another tree.
Then back at the loot on the ground.
“Bang...”
Rangga turned toward him.
“What?”
Andre pointed toward the uprooted tree.
“That thing earlier... It ripped out a tree with its mouth.”
“Yeah.”
Andre swallowed.
“There are monsters that big here?”
Rangga stared at him flatly.
“Dude, you're only realizing that now?”
Andre didn't answer.
Rangga then looked deeper into the swamp, where the forest grew darker and denser.
The smile slowly disappeared from his face.