Monster Hunter Gathering

Nie Chiwu didn't hesitate. He earnestly asked Kazuma to help him deal with the targets he had on hand. Then, despite Kazuma's roar in the assembly voice chat, he put on his invisible suit and sneaked into Mitakihara Middle School, which was full of young boys and girls...

It was still afternoon and school had not yet ended, so Nie Chiwu easily sneaked in and followed the guidance of the winged lion to find the basement with the witch's barrier.

"call……"

Looking at the witch's barrier emerging in front of him, Nie Chiwu took a deep breath, took out a bunch of Dispelling Fruits from his backpack, hung it around his neck, ready to use the Dispelling Fruits to eliminate the effects of the Mad Dragon Virus at any time.

According to Winged Lion, the witch's barrier is now filled with a high concentration of the Mad Dragon Virus, and if he goes in, he will definitely be infected by the Mad Dragon Virus.

Therefore, Nie Chiwu could only try his best to overcome it and prevent his mad dragon disease from breaking out after being infected.

"I'm ready."

Nie Chiwu took a deep breath and then entered the witch's barrier. As soon as he entered, the black fog in the sky pressed down directly towards Nie Chiwu.

The overwhelming black fog was so thick that it was choking. Even though Nie Chiwu covered his mouth and nose immediately, he still inhaled a mouthful of black fog mixed with the Mad Dragon Virus.

The feeling of dryness and heat spread from the lungs to the limbs, and the Crazy Dragon Virus instinctively began to absorb nutrients from the surrounding area, stimulating and attempting to drain the host's vitality.

After Nie Chiwu sensed this, he immediately stuffed a dispelling fruit into his mouth.

"Cough cough..."

Nie Chiwu covered his mouth and nose as he walked through the Mad Dragon Virus, and soon he discovered a hint of gold from the black fog.

In the twisted witch's barrier, the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon's wing claw that was transforming into the Heavenly Dragon and its golden horn were particularly conspicuous.

When Nie Chiwu approached, he realized how serious the injuries on the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon were.

The right wing claw that had transformed was still intact, but the left wing claw was almost completely broken, and the tearing scars were about to tear the entire wing claw apart.

The Chaos Black Dragon's body still had claw marks so deep that the bones could be seen. The blood inside its huge and terrifying body had dried up, but no new tissue had grown to fill the wounds.

There was a scar on the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon's neck caused by a bite. Even Nie Chiwu could feel the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon's weak breathing leaking out from the bite wound on its neck.

"As expected of a young ancient dragon... its vitality is truly tenacious."

Nie Chiwu stood in front of the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon, his Adam's apple rolling up and down involuntarily. He quickly took out the recovery medicine from his backpack and carefully sprinkled it on the wound on the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon's neck.

The rich vitality contained in the recovery medicine quickly seeped into the body of the Chaos Black Dragon. Like nectar falling into dry land, the wound on the neck began to slowly recover.

Seeing that it was effective, Nie Chiwu took out a few more bottles and sprinkled them on the wound. After the wound on his neck was almost healed, Nie Chiwu stuffed the dispelling fruit and secret medicine into the Chaos Black Dragon's mouth.

The purpose of dispelling the fruit is to alleviate the Mad Dragon Virus that is also effective in the Chaos Black Dragon's body. As for treating the wound on the neck first, it is to ensure that the medicine can be swallowed normally by the Chaos Black Dragon.

The secret medicine and the fruit of dispelling evil were very effective. The Chaos Black Dragon, which originally looked almost exhausted, began to grow new granulations in its dried wounds. Even the wing claws on its back, which were almost completely torn, began to slowly recover.

The Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon began to revive, but what followed was the pain caused by the conflict between the two forces in its body. This pain made the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon restless.

Nie Chiwu pulled the witch out from the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon and threw her to the Winged Lion for care. Nie Chiwu put his hand on the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon, hoping to calm its emotions a little.

After feeling the touch on its body, the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon finally realized that the one next to it was not the Tianhui Dragon that almost killed it, but the tiny life that had fought with it before.

Therefore, the Chaos Black Dragon stopped struggling, lowered its head and silently endured the pain of the conflict of power in its body.

"..."

Nie Chiwu placed his hand on the Chaos Black Dragon with a somewhat gloomy expression, feeling the rhythm inside the body of this ancient dragon larva... or should we say, a sub-dragon species.

The blood is still flowing tenaciously, and the heart, which was beating slowly before, begins to beat stronger after being replenished with energy.

It would be fine if... it wasn't the carrier of the Mad Dragon Virus, or the Chaos Black Dragon.

At least its existence is not so incompatible, and it does not have to endure such pain.

"You smell like regret."

The Winged Lion approached Nie Chiwu and said, "What are you thinking about now?"

"I'm wondering if there's a way to have the best of both worlds." Nie Chiwu paused. "A way to allow it to survive and coexist normally with nature."

"It had clearly transcended its original instinct as a Black Eclipse Dragon, seeking something higher within that instinct, but in the end, its fate was locked in this... painful state."

"If it were a monster, simply disrupting nature, our relationship would be simple," Nie Chiwu said, looking at the Chaos Black Dragon. "But it's resisting. It's even actively retracting its scales. Its intellect understands that it's the source of a disaster and is resisting it."

"Under these circumstances, how can it be considered a mere hunting target?"

Nie Chiwu sighed: "But I can't think of a solution. Winged Lion... Can you save it?"

"I don't know anything about these monsters," the Winged Lion replied bluntly. "If it's the humans I know, they're just recreating a body formed by magic."

"But before we can fully understand this kind of creature, all we can create are inferior imitations like the original ones." The Winged Lion said meaningfully, "Didn't you feel this when you defeated me in the maze?"

"It seems that I don't have miracles or magic around me." Nie Chiwu sighed deeply: "Miracles... are such a luxury."

"I like it too." The winged lion smiled. "If you ask me to evaluate it, I think... its taste should be somewhat similar to Tanjiro's."

"...What you said makes me even more reluctant to let it face such a terrible fate." Nie Chiwu reached out and touched the platinum dragon horn that grew from the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon's right forehead. "It's truly... a life like a hero."

Rearranged the plot

I reflected that I had raised the bar too high this time and my writing skills were not up to par. This chapter failed, but it has come to this point, so I can only bite the bullet and continue writing.

Let's see if the next battle can be written better. I'll turn it down a bit next time.

………………………………………………%…………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 392 Before the War

Nie Chiwu did not hide the fact that he had found the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon.

After Nie Chiwu returned to the temporary base in Xiaoyuan City with this news.

The hunters also learned that the Chaos Black Dragon was staying in the witch's barrier.

"It was seriously injured?!"

One of the reasons why Altair came here as an aid was to find the Chaos Black Dragon, and now he seemed particularly excited after hearing the news about it.

She only now realized that the Chaos Black Eclipse Dragon was so close to her.

Altair originally wanted to go directly to find the Chaos Black Dragon, but was stopped by Nie Chiwu.

"Ahem..." Nie Chiwu, wearing a mask, coughed violently several times before speaking, "It's best not to go now. I've already treated its injuries with secret medicine, but the problem is still there."

"It hid within the witch's barrier for a reason, to prevent its scale powder from spreading. Now that it has transformed into a Chaos Black Dragon, it can't even control itself from emitting scale powder."

Nie Chiwu explained that the Chaos Black Dragon itself is in an irreversible state. In such a situation, the power of transformation and the body that cannot transform produce a fierce conflict, so the Chaos Black Dragon can now spread scale powder outward uncontrollably.

If it weren't for the witch's barrier, the Chaos Black Dragon's scale powder would have probably infected the entire city.

"Let it rest inside the witch's barrier for now. It's in very bad condition."

Nie Chiwu calmed Jun Ji's emotions, and then focused his attention on the upcoming Witch Night and the Tianhui Dragon that might appear with the Witch Night.

The extreme weather brought about by Witch Night has now become apparent, and the sudden change in climate has caused departments in Mitakihara City to consider whether to start evacuating.

On the other hand... Nie Chiwu also learned from other people that the magical girls who were deceived by Kyubey and rushed here from other areas have begun to arrive one after another.

"Is everything okay? Although the overall strength of the magical girls isn't particularly strong, their abilities are quite diverse..." Nie Chiwu asked with some concern, then noticed, "Huh? Where's Kazuma?"

"Actually..." Laos scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "When Kazuma and I were doing research, we discovered something."

"Kazuma's theft seems to be effective against magical girls and soul gems as well..."

A question mark appeared on Nie Chiwu's face: "Magical girl... and the Soul Stone?"

"Hmm." Laos scratched his head. "Captain, you know that when a magical girl is far away from the Soul Stone, she will lose control of her body."

“But, when Kazuma uses his stealing skills, he can sometimes steal the Soul Gem directly from the magical girl—”

"--And sometimes, the magical girl's body is stolen from... the Soul Gem. I think this may be because both can be considered the main body of the magical girl, just like the Dullahan and its head." Laos began to speak excitedly: "So I think that in a sense, magical girls can actually be considered a kind of monster transformed from humans, and then..."

"Don't say that in front of the magical girl. Don't blame me if you get hit by the light cannon." Nie Chiwu looked at Laos who had a somewhat anthropomorphic expression and sighed.

Although stealing the body of a magical girl away from the Soul Gem sounds a little strange, it is at least certain that Kazuma is a natural nemesis to the magical girls here.

After all, the magical girl's soul here is encased in a gem.

"Let's get ready to fight back." After confirming that Kyubey would not have any impact on Mitakihara City for the time being, Nie Chiwu focused on the preparations.

But Homura Akemi, who had already noticed the change in the weather, immediately rushed towards Nie Chiwu after school.

While rushing here, Homura Akemi always felt a little surprised.

Not only did she not notice any trace of familiars or witches along the way, she also didn't find any Kyubey or Homura Akemi, who should have been everywhere like cockroaches.

When Homura Akemi found Nie Chiwu, she discovered that Nie Chiwu was squatting next to a wooden box with a mask on, fiddling with something.

Just as Homura Akemi approached and was about to speak, she saw that Nie Chiwu's pupils were faintly emitting a purple-red light, and purple-black lines were faintly visible along the blood vessels under his skin.

"What's wrong with you?" Homura Akemi looked at Nie Chiwu and asked, "Why are you..."

"It's Xiao Yan. I'm checking the inventory to see how many materials and ingredients are left." Nie Chiwu pulled the mask on his face and said, "This is the Crazy Dragon Virus I told you about before. But I've already taken the Elimination Fruit, so there's no problem for now. I should be able to overcome it soon."

"Mad Dragon Virus..." Homura Akemi looked at Nie Chiwu, who was clearly showing signs of abnormality. "Is this the Mad Dragon Virus you mentioned, the one that Tenkai Dragon would emit? Have you already encountered Tenkai Dragon?"

"No, this is another dragon's Mad Dragon Virus." Nie Chiwu pinched his brows. "Witch Night should be coming soon, and the residents of the city should be notified to evacuate soon."

"How about letting Mami and the others help protect the residents then?" Nie Chiwu suggested, "Find them something to do so they won't be distracted and get into any accidents. After all, Mami is quite fragile mentally."

"You... take good care of them." Homura Akemi looked at Nie Chiwu with mixed feelings.

In the past reincarnations, Homura Akemi struggled alone for an unknown amount of time, trying every possible way to change things, until in the end, the only person she could care about was Madoka.

But this time, Homura Akemi felt like she had suddenly switched from Hell Mode to Simple Mode, and this Simple Mode even seemed to come with a tutorial.

"Because I'm the captain." Nie Chiwu raised an eyebrow. "Monster Hunter: The Two Capitals and Thirteen Provinces... ah, no, all these big and small matters, I can't help but be responsible."

"But we're not hunters, are we?" Homura said, "Only Madoka has joined you."

"The same goes for the hunters' families! I've already said we're a legitimate organization!" Nie Chiwu raised an eyebrow. "You can't compare us to a black-hearted company like Kyubey. Look, we provide food and accommodation, and we also provide equipment and training to improve our skills. We can be said to be the conscience of conscience..."

“…I should be very grateful to you, but why do I just feel weird after you said all this?” Homura Akemi sighed deeply.

Chapter 393 The Beginning of Witch Night

That night, the disaster alert finally made it impossible for the officials of Mitakihara City to ignore it any longer.

The news of the evacuation quickly spread throughout Mitakihara City, including Madoka's family, who also received the news that they had to evacuate to the gymnasium.

After hearing about the abnormal weather conditions, Xiaoyuan was obviously nervous and her hands clenched her clothes tightly, but she still followed her parents and brother to the shelter for the time being.

The small shelter was crowded with people from Mitakihara City, and the dark clouds sweeping across the sky also proved the danger of the disaster.

If... no one can stop Witch Night, there is no doubt that the disaster brought by Witch Night will directly destroy Mitakihara City.

It is precisely because of this that Madoka becomes a magical girl again and again in Homura's reincarnation.

Even later, when the accumulation of cause and effect on Madoka's body was enough for her to kill Witch Night, the overly powerful force still caused Madoka's Soul Gem to be unable to withstand it and shattered, eventually leading to her death.

But the reason why Xiaoyuan was nervous was not because of this.

But it was because... she knew that Homura and the other members of the hunting group were preparing to fight to save the people here.

But Xiaoyuan is standing here now and can't do anything.

As a hunter, her strength was not enough to deal with such a disaster.

But she can't become a [Magical Girl].

The hunters... and Homura, they did so much just to avoid such a fate.

Xiaoyuan was also thinking that maybe it was really as Nie Chiwu said, she should save the help she received and use it to help other people who were going through difficulties when she had enough strength in the future.

But the feeling of waiting like this is like a tiny flame, slowly burning in the heart, bringing constant pain.

"Madoka, you're here!"

When Xiaoyuan was standing at the window sill of the stairs in a daze, Xiang had already found Xiaoyuan there. He ran over with joy on his face and said to Xiaoyuan: "I finally found you, you..."

As soon as Xiang opened his mouth, he saw the not-so-good expression on Xiaoyuan's face, so Xiang's tone became a little more cautious: "Are you okay?"

"I...I don't know." Xiaoyuan lowered her head and felt a little lost: "Xiaoxiang, have you seen the seniors?"

"They're all here," Xiang responded. "The Grand Commander told us to keep them here as long as possible to protect the residents, although I also want to go and help the Grand Commander and the others."

"By the way, Kyoko is helping out, as well as Sayaka..." Hibiki continued to say to Madoka, "Even though the Grand Commander and the others are here, the disaster warning this time is very serious, so the residents are in a bad mood..."

"Since the Grand Commander has given us the task of protecting the residents here, we can't just sit there and do nothing." Xiang clenched his fists: "I'll go help later! We definitely can't let the people here continue to feel so depressed!"

"I...will go help too." Xiao Yuan clenched her fist and said, "Xiao Xiang, thank you. The disaster here is obviously not your fault, but you still work so hard to come and help."