Rather than modify their own nets, the villagers modified and sewn together multiple nets to create new ones. Although the nets and the act of dragging the river were illegal, the hunters would be the one doing it and all fishes caught would be released afterward.

It did not stop the villagers from being worried about the damage to the river habitat, but it still beats leaving the monster alone. The next problem was the lack of militia, with the village being small and barely self-sufficient, the only figures of authority in town were the mayor and a single official doubling as bailiff and guard. Because of this, a few men with knowledge of how to operate carts were conscripted for the operation, leaving the hunter free to operate the weapons or engage the behemoth.

With all things ready, the operation is about to begin, but Dalene, the one who came up with it, know there are some very obvious flaws to his plans, mainly due to the lack of manpower.

He looks at the wires, they do seem solid, but from what the mayor said, it jumped back in the water with a spear stuck in its body and got rid of it. If the beast has a lot of flab or extra layers of skin, it might just ignore the damages and rip away the barbs. What if it jumps over the net and flees…?

He sighs, there is simply nothing he can do about it. He calls the other.

- We’re starting, get in position.

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After separating by about half league, the two groups dragged the river using the carts to pull the nets. Now they only a few hundred feet away and have yet to see the beast. It took a lot longer than they had originally estimated, due to the necessity to free the fishes caught on a regular basis. After all, killing the fauna isn’t really the goal, and worse, it could get them arrested.

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One hundred and fifty feet and still no sign of the creature, it either means it is avoiding the net or was outside our range, to begin with.

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Fifty feet, Arc and Chris are walking of both sides of the river, ready to intervene if the beast comes out. Belina and Dalene are at heavy crossbow, ready to shoot. Due to the wire, they will have to reload manually, so more than ever, every shot count.

Suddenly something pulls the carts away, and despite the drivers immediately operating the brake levers and the horses, they are still moving backward. It stops just as suddenly as it started and something jump out of the water. It has a mud-like color, just as the villager said, and despite its appearance resembling that of an eel, it has stocky legs and a head similar to that of a catfish.

It immediately attacks Chris who is armed with a spear, she throws a stab, but its movements are neither those of a four-legged creature nor a snake, making them hard to predict.

Instead of piercing right into the neck, the tip of the spear slides on the side of the head doing no visible damage.

- There’s some sort of mucus, it’s very slippery.

Scream Chris.

With the carts are secure, Belina who had enough time to reorient the crossbow, shoots. The bolt penetrates the flesh and the behemoth jump to the side, before rolling on the ground.

Despite the monstrous fish ripping the bolt, there almost no blood seeping from the wound. It is just as Dalene had feared, the behemoth heavy layer of flab is protecting its internal organ.

Dalene changes its target to the creature’s neck and the gill-like opening. It might not be enough to deal a fatal hit to the monster, because it probably has two respiratory systems, but at least it won’t be able to remove the barbed bolt without damage.

Dalene shoots but the animal jumps toward Chris, who use the opportunity take a swing at its eyes while jumping to the side to avoid the charge. During that time Belina has almost finished reloading and Arc is halfway done crossing the river.

Once again, Chris attack has failed, the damage only extended to some sort of membrane protecting the monstrous fish’s eyes. Nevertheless, the creature is trying to keep an eye on Belina and Chris at the same time, it has clearly understood the danger posed by the crossbows, but dares not leave an opening to Chris by charging at the cart.

It changes its tactic, rolling to the side while trying to hit Chris with its tail. Due to the unpredictable attack, the vanguard finds herself forced to jump over the creature and lose her footing. It does not escape the attention of the monster who use this opportunity to run toward Belina’s cart, apparently, it has decided it was the greatest threat.

To bad for it, the crossbow has already been reloaded, and the straight charge makes it an easy target. Belina unsure of the creature anatomy decides against shooting the skull and instead target its open mouth. The bolt pierces right through the lower jaw and digs itself into the ground.

The pain combined with the wire imbalance the creature, and it crashes into the wagon. The violent impact throws Belina down on the ground.

From the other side of the river, Dalene us the temporary stillness of the eel-like monster to shoot it in the gill. Now pierced by two bolts, it has become impossible for the creature to retreat, unless all four carts along. Although, not knowing that, the monster makes an attempt at fleeing, rolling once again to get rid of the pesky bolts.

Bad move though, because it becomes entangled, losing even more mobility.

But the behemoth has learned, now it faces Chris with its mouth closed, only attacking her with its tail or by attempting to ramming her. Arc attacks from behind, judging that in his current position he won’t be able to cut deep enough in the creature’s neck, he chooses instead to use the blunt side of its polearm to deal a heavy strike on the top of its head, hoping to at the very least, concussion it.

But without a line of sight, the creature manages to dodge the attack by a hair, and instead get cut slightly by the polearm spear point.

Now that they are getting a good look at its face, it appears the behemoth has two pair of eyes put close together, probably to allows it to look over and below the surface while it swims.

Chris tries once again to target the eyes but end up giving another glancing blow due to the slippery skin and the creature low profile.

But it’s only a matter of time, with each move it becomes more entangled. Belina has gotten up, and is right beside the cart, looking for something among the fallen baggage. The driver, on the other hand, is nowhere to be seen, having run away a long time ago. She takes out a flask of burning gel but Dalene who knows her well scream from the other shore.

- It’s an unknown creature, don’t burn it!

Enraged, she put the flask back and kick the cart to vent her frustration, then takes out a small repeating crossbow, load it with heavy bolts and wait for an opportunity.

The behemoth is getting tired, despite it four eyes and its great peripheral vision, it cannot keep all four enemies in sight, and every attack aimed at one target become an opportunity for the other three.

Desperate, it tries to jump at Belina, which he assumes to be the least dangerous target, forgetting how untangled it has become. Instead of jumping, it falls flat on its belly and before it has time to move away, the blunt side of the polearm hits it hard on the skull, giving it a concussion.

It is enough of an opportunity for Chris to stab it right in the eye.

- I finally got you bastard!

Dying, and despite having its brain pierced, the creature still manages to throw a tail sweep at Arc, who jumps back but lose its footing due to the slime covering the area. Belina who has been unable to shoot until now, use that last attack has an excuse empty the whole crossbow reservoir in the dead creature’s face despite the others calls to stop.

Tired, the hunters sit down and relax, waiting while Dalene calls the drivers back.