Chapter 258: Diablos, I Will Definitely Be Back! (Fifth Update, Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

‘When they mention the fire dragon and the horned dragon, they must be referring to Rathalos and Diablos, right?’

‘The only path left for us is to hunt those two monsters and stand atop the ecosystem…!’

Standing beside the bun-haired receptionist, Song Ren accepted the quest targeting Diablos from the two available tasks.

‘Could you please stop using the word “us”? From start to finish, you’ve never lifted a finger during any dragon hunt—you’ve only dragged me down. When that old grandma saved you during the Odogaron fight, you burst into tears, swearing you’d never act recklessly again. I’ve saved your ass countless times, yet you keep doing the same damn thing!’ Song Ren couldn’t hold back his grumble inwardly as he stared at the bun-haired receptionist.

At first, he’d thought this receptionist might actually be a great helper, but she turned out to be nothing more than a useless eater of food and drink!

Ever since meeting her, all she did was eat.

Sometimes, when returning briefly to the wilderness, he’d catch her sneaking around his storage chest, mouth full of something. Even a fool could guess she was stealing food.

In that moment, Song Ren recalled Nebula Games’ promotional material for Monster Hunter: World, where Chen Xu’s official Weibo account had posted introductions to various dragon species.

He remembered there was one monster nicknamed the ‘Gluttonous Tyrant’—a creature with insatiable hunger, something like Deviljho.

This bun-haired receptionist was basically a Deviljho cub—eating nonstop!

Of course, if eating were all, it might be tolerable. But worse, she was an Expert Monster Attractor.

Small Jagras, Large Jagras, Legiana, Odogaron—why don’t you summon Deviljho next time and really spice things up?

After accepting the quest and eating a Felyne Canteen meal, Song Ren arrived at Wildspire Waste, the hunting ground of Diablos. He glanced at the bun-haired receptionist beside him and sighed deeply.

A useless eater of food and drink!

When would he ever encounter a truly capable NPC Hunter teammate?

‘Fine. Just stay put at base camp and don’t cause me any trouble—that’s all I ask,’ Song Ren muttered, releasing a sigh filled with disappointment and frustration as he looked at the receptionist.

He replenished all his Antidotes, Potions, and other supplies, then set off to track Diablos’ whereabouts.

After circling Wildspire Waste for a short while, Song Ren quickly triggered a cutscene.

A dragon-like creature, fully armored and walking across the sands, approached head-on.

But it wasn’t Diablos. It was Barroth—the thick-skinned, mud-slinging monster from before.

At that moment, the entire expanse of Wildspire Waste began to tremble violently.

Nearby Hatebirds scattered into the sky in panic.

The Barroth ahead seemed to sense something as well, its expression shifting to fear as it glanced around wildly, attempting to flee.

But in the next instant, the ground beneath the Barroth shattered.

A massive creature burst up from beneath the earth!

Amid rolling clouds of dust, the creature’s huge in size form could barely be made out.

This was the largest monster Song Ren had ever seen, second only to Zorah Magdaros. Even Nergigante and Rathalos from before paled in comparison.

Barroth had seemed massive, but next to this beast, it was just a pushover.

Its massive body was crowned with two thick, elongated horns. Its armor resembled solid rock in hardness.

Its tail split into a forked shape, resembling a hammer, giving it an imposing aura.

As Song Ren stood in awe, the Barroth was instantly slammed to the ground and subjected to a brutal Rubbing Sound by the underground behemoth.

Despite struggling fiercely, the Barroth was no match for this colossal predator.

Then, the Diablos’ claws began pawing the ground. Amid rising dust, both Barroth and Diablos vanished from view.

Ahead, the sand began collapsing into a Burrow. The in-game Hunter scrambled desperately to climb out.

But the quicksand kept pouring in. In the end, the Hunter fell heavily into an underground nest.

Rising from the sand, the Hunter coughed while surveying the cave.

Sand continued to trickle down from the entrance, forming a curtain of sandfall that enclosed the Hunter.

Through the haze, the fallen Barroth lay motionless nearby.

Elsewhere, scattered bones littered the ground—unidentifiable remains of unknown creatures.

Then, the sandflow stopped.

Inside the Burrow, Diablos, having just slain the Barroth, clearly noticed the unexpected intruder.

Turning its head, Diablos fixed Song Ren with a hostile glare and unleashed a deafening dragon roar.

Under the sheer force of the roar, the in-game Hunter clutched his ears and staggered, stunned by the soundwave. More sand rained down from above.

‘Holy crap! Isn’t Diablos a vegetarian? Why the hell is it so fierce?!’

Staring at the Huge in Size Diablos, Song Ren was completely Stunned/Overwhelmed. Now he finally understood one thing:

Yes, Diablos was vegetarian—but being vegetarian didn’t mean it wouldn’t kill!

The Barroth was just minding its own business, walking peacefully—what had it done to deserve this?

Diablos erupts from underground and obliterates it in one move.

If it wanted to eat the Barroth, fine—but you’re a cactus-eating herbivore! Why so aggressive?

The world is beautiful. Can’t we just spread more love?

Song Ren stared at Diablos, utterly bewildered.

This Diablos was just too damn big!

He seriously doubted that the Odogaron, which had given him such a hard time earlier, wouldn’t be flattened into a Meat Patty with a single slap by Diablos.

‘Stay calm! Song Ren, you’ve got this!’

‘A vegetarian Diablos—it’s just intimidating in appearance! Big body, weak to菊花, hairy, weak to fire. This Diablos must be extremely sluggish. And against Huge in Size monsters, as long as you target its vitals, you can win!’

Song Ren hyped himself up, recalling general boss-fighting strategies from Dark Souls.

Just then, the Diablos roared again and charged straight at him, ready to eliminate the intruder who dared enter its nest.

Accompanied by Diablos’ furious roar, even from a distance, the in-game Hunter instinctively covered his ears and entered a stun lock.

After roaring, Diablos paused for a second, then charged forward with heavy, pounding steps.

‘Holy crap! Why start with a Dragon Charge right away? And the damage!’ Song Ren was stunned as he watched his Hunter get launched into the air from a failed dodge.

Previous dragon charges hadn’t been particularly devastating.

For example, the Barroth that Diablos had just killed—its charge was all thunder and no lightning.

But this Diablos’ Dragon Charge was entirely different.

It truly made Song Ren feel what real brutality meant.

One hit and half his health bar was gone!

Fortunately, his Palico companion triggered a skill and kindly produced a honey bug for health regeneration out of nowhere.

Quickly scrambling to his feet, Song Ren approached and pressed the interaction button, pulling out a dagger to slice open the honey bug and replenish his health.

Meanwhile, in the distance, Diablos began pawing the ground again and charged forward fiercely.

But this time, Song Ren was prepared.

With a nimble rolling, he dodged the Dragon Charge and swiftly drew his Long Sword from his back, slashing hard at Diablos’ tail.

Thanks to maximum sharpness and a bit of luck, the attack didn’t Deflect, but the damage value revealed just how thick the hide truly was.

On the second strike, Song Ren heard a sharp ‘ding’—a clear Deflect.

But in the next moment, Diablos swung its thick tail, sending him flying.

His health bar reminded him of the Half-Life feeling he’d experienced playing Dark Souls.

Through continuous attacks, Song Ren managed to identify Hitzones on Diablos where the Long Sword could deal effective damage.

But the problem was—was this Diablos’ behavior due to Nebula Games’ AI performance, or was the monster simply designed this way?

Song Ren felt as if every single part of Diablos was capable of attacking.

There was simply no way to get close.

Tail swings, rear-leg kicks, and sudden Dragon Charges—it was impossible to find an opening.

Stay just a little too far, and Diablos would launch another Dragon Charge.

Even a glancing hit would drain half his health bar.

And Diablos had another deadly trick: burrowing underground, then charging beneath the surface to attack.

Dodging this move was extremely difficult.

Even rolling wasn’t foolproof.

One moment of inattention, and he’d be launched skyward, taking even greater damage than the Dragon Charge—another half of his health bar gone.

Occasionally, when he managed to circle behind Diablos into its blind spot, his Long Sword strikes didn’t hit weak points or deal normal damage.

Instead, they clanged against the hard armor, triggering the Deflect mechanic and dealing only single-digit white damage.

The ‘ding-ding-ding’ sound was pleasant enough to listen to—but he really didn’t want to hear it!

After ten minutes of relentless combat, Diablos remained full of vigor.

Song Ren estimated the total damage he’d dealt—probably no more than six or seven hundred points.

And most of that was likely from his Palico companion.

His own role? Dodging Dragon Charges and kiting to drink Potions.

And Diablos had one more move: the dragon roar.

Compared to the roar of Anjanath, Diablos’ roar was absolutely awesome.

Facing the fierce Diablos, Song Ren took a deep breath.

He had to admit it—he was in serious Trouble/Difficulty. This was the strongest opponent he’d ever faced.

High health, high attack, high defense, relentless aggressive intent, and a massive attack range.

In every aspect, Diablos was just too powerful.

‘Alright, Diablos, you big bastard, I’ve seen through all your moves!’

‘You just wait there and don’t run! I’ll come back with teammates to settle this!’

‘If you’ve got the guts, stay right here!’

‘Diablos! I Will Definitely Be Back!’

Song Ren declared in the fiercest tone he could muster.

At the same time, four large words appeared on screen:

【EXHAUSTED AND COLLAPSED!】

Two more updates coming later~

(End of Chapter) <>