It's been several hours since we began our search of the rock pile.
　We were attacking rocks all over the place and going deeper, but we still couldn't find our objective, Lupes Rexx.

''Hah, I can't find it at all.''

'You still haven't found it after taking down all this...'

　I've already killed over 100 Lapis.
　There were some individuals bigger than me, but those ended up being ordinary Lapis as well.
　They should be attacking relatively large rocks with priority......I guess they are a rare species, but this is the first time they haven't come out this far.

''It's tough........Ugh, I have to go to sleep soon, my body.......''

It's not even time for you to go to sleep yet.

I'm just tired from moving around today.

You'll get plenty of sleep when you're done, so hang in there.

Ugh....

　Luna leaned against me as she went limp.
　Even though I had her up early in the morning, it should still be too early for her to sleep.
　Maybe it's the steady exploration work that makes her tired, unlike usual, but I want her to work a little harder.

Mmmm, it's rock salt again. I'm looking forward to using it.

''Huh, no gems are falling off at all on my end. This is finally my third one....

　Unlike Luna, who was in low spirits, Noor and Sisha returned to the hunt still full of energy.
　Noor's motivation is really encouraging when food is involved.
　Sisha is also hunting for the gems, but this time she picks a small orange gemstone with her fingertips and lets out a sigh.
　So far I've gotten one gemstone in the rough, Noor got four, and Sisha got three.
　I can't eat them, so I'll give them to you," said Noor, handing me all of them, but so far only the size of a fingertip has fallen off.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find something that's a little bigger for you.
　And I'd like to pick out a gemstone of a color that goes well with it, but which color would be best?
　Sisja said she wanted to give Luna a yellow or red gemstone.
　The color that would go well with Esther would be around transparent diamonds or red?
　I'm not familiar with that sort of thing, so I don't really get it!

　As I was troubled like that, Luna, who was leaning over, looked at Sisha and the others and opened her mouth.

'Noor and the others can afford to do this kind of steady work, can't they? It's hard for me.'

It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for. It's easy to enjoy this kind of hunting, where you can enjoy drop items, compared to that.

'Right. Come to think of it, you haven't done that since Luna was summoned.

Hmm?　What is that?

　When Luna asked if she was curious after being called that, the Nolls started talking about the magic stone forced march.
　Luna was listening to that story with great interest, but by the time she finished listening, she was hugging Sisha with a blue face and trembling.
　Is it enough to make you react like that?

'How horrible I'm sure I'd collapse in a day if I did that from morning to night.

'Don't tell me you're confident there.... Well, I'm working on not having to do that now, so don't worry.

''That's right. These days, Okura-san and I have been collecting magic stones whenever we have time.

'Sisha, Heihachi, do your best for me.

I'd be grateful if that meant I didn't have to do it, but...

'I can only hope so. I wish I could help....

　No matter how much I want to play mess, both Nol and Esther were in a bad situation once.......
　As for me, I don't want to do that as much as possible, so now I'm hunting with Sisha in addition to my normal hunting.
　With the disappointment of the BOX Gacha, I'll definitely pull out my eyeballs next time I get a gacha!

Forget about the magical stone, we have to finish the matter at hand.

'Yeah, right. But still, if you can't find it after taking down all this, maybe it's not springing up now?

'Oh, by the way, the lights aren't gathering and the demons aren't springing up like they usually do.

'The demons here may take a while to spring up.

Oh, so that's how the demons come to life.

　Noll was right, in order to focus on collecting the magical rocks from now on, I have to finish this request first.
　However, even though I've searched this rock pile for a long time, I still haven't found Lupes Rex.
　I still have some more places to look for it, and there's still some time before sunset, but I'm not sure I'll be able to find it before the end of the day.
　If this continues, we may have to come back tomorrow to look for Lupe's reptiles.
　If that happens, I'll go to the mountains on the other side...

●

　After that, I searched around the rock pile for a while, but eventually the sun was setting without finding Lupeslexus.
　I was beginning to think that I couldn't explore any further, but at the last place I came to, I found a strange object.

'Huh?　Okura-san, there's a trail similar to the one that was at the place you came up.

Hmm?　Oh, it's true. You mean you've been fighting in the back here too?

Mm, there are traces of it over there too. They seem to have done it quite violently, don't they?

　There were square rocky knolls dotting the flat area, all of which had crumbled on the surface here and there.
　As if something had been hit with tremendous force, a crater had formed and the surrounding area was cracked.

What is this?　There's a lot of holes here and there.

That's a lot. Most of them are already crumbling.

　Inside, there is a rock that looks like it's 10 meters high, but half of it has collapsed and is covered in cracks.
　Such a large rock was not meant to be so large, it must have been attacked with a very strong force.

''Was there ever a battle so fierce that it became this big?

Maybe this is where Lupeslexus springs up.

'Then let's get on with it. I don't want to have to come back tomorrow.

　I don't know if this is where Lupeslekes springs up, but we're out of time anyway.
　We don't have time to move around and look for more today, and if we don't see any Lupesleks after exploring this area, we'll go home.

　After thinking that and searching around........

Hmm, I guess he's not here after all. Or rather, I feel like there aren't many lapis themselves around here.

There were so many before you got here. What is the matter with you?

　In the end, I didn't find it.
　Rather, we hit the rocks and there's not even a mimicking lapis.
　Isn't this place completely out of place........haha, I'll give up for today and see you tomorrow.

'Heihachi, how about that one?'

Hmm?

　I was about to suggest that we should go home, but before I could, Luna called out to me, tugging at the hem of my clothes.
　She was pointing her finger at me, so I looked in that direction and saw a small mountain of rocks rising up from the ground about 7 or 8 meters high.

It's not a rock, it's a small mountain. And it's not just a rock, it's a small mountain, and it's one with the ground.

''But I'm curious that it's that unharmed. I guess we could try and see if it's a demon, right?

"Hmmm, let's give it a try then.

　The other ragged square rock piles have also risen from the ground and become one with the pile of rocks, but the pile of rocks that Luna pointed to has no scratches on it at all.
　It's suspicious if you ask me, but.......according to the receptionist, Lupes Rexx isn't that big.
　It's only slightly larger than the larger lapis, so it should be about 3 meters long at most.
　Well, it's worth a try, so let's check out this small mountain one last time, shall we?

　That's why I decided to leave a distance from the target rock for a moment to confirm it, and then activate my Centimeter Turbra to attack.
　I gather up the silver liquid that overflows from the crystal on my shoulder into a long, thin square shape and eject it while reminding myself to get hard.
　The chunk of silver that said flying with great force hit a small pile of rocks and.............................popped. It broke apart and flew off while scattering the liquid.

　.........eh?　Why?　As they all looked at each other, the rock pile in front of them vibrated and began to transform, crushing the rocky ground as their feet and hands began to pop out.

''Wait, are you serious?!''

It's not even a little big...

Gu, that's Grandis...

　The centavra is broken again, you bastard!　I wanted to scream, but that's not the point!
　It's not true that it's just a little bigger than lapis!
　Well, it's still slow since I just started working, so I'll get back to the status in the meantime.

　------.
Lupesleks species:Lapis
　Level: 65
　HP: 45,000
　MP:0
　Attack Power:3500
　Defensive Power:9000
　Agility:90
　Magic Resistance:30
　Unique Ability Mimicry
　Skills Grounding　
------

　
　Why is there a guy like this everywhere we go... well, he doesn't have a lot of stamina and is well within the range of being able to defeat him.

　There's no point in continuing to be baffled, so we immediately set out to defeat this guy.
　Luna throws the spear as usual with a fast attack without question.
　However, the spear is popped when it hits the surface and flies away into the distance while spinning around and around.

"Tch, it's hard. My spear can't get through.

"Then I'm on to you. Yeah!

　Unless you use skills, you can't damage this guy physically right now due to his status.
　So it's still Estelle's magic that I'm relying on.
　Immediately she opened her book and began to strike a sphere of fire magic, a sphere of fire, while raising her staff.
　When it landed one shot and exploded, Lupes Rex turned his huge body upside down.
　

　Immediately after thinking that, Lupes Rex, who was on his back, held a nearby 3-meter-long rock with his hand in the same position as before and threw it towards us.

''Whoa!　Avoid!

　I picked up Esther and left the scene, and soon afterwards a horrendous sound echoed around the area behind me.
　It looks like Noll and the others have scattered and evaded, so they are safe.
　Looking at the spot of the fall, both the rock that was thrown and the ground that it hit were cracked, creating wounds similar to those on the surrounding small mountain.
　This wound on this rock pile, I knew it was caused by this guy!

Hey, they're throwing rocks at me!

I thought it would be dull and targeted, but you can't be too careful.

　While we were evading it, Lupes Rex again picked up the rocks and threw them at us one after another.
　The rocks were flying at me with a bang as they chased after me, who was running around, as if they were aiming at Estelle, who had done particular damage. Give me a break!
　At this rate, Estelle won't be able to attack because she won't be able to aim, either.
　The only person whose damage can pass through is Estelle, so we have to do something about it.......There's also the idea of having Nol and the others use their skills, but that's a last resort, so let's go with the high road pattern when dealing with the big guys first.

''Nol!　Cut that guy down!

Yes, sir!

　The action speed delay by Noor's Regi Erythra stops her from moving, and I finish her off from there in one fell swoop.
　In response to my call, she bravely heads towards Lupes Rex, who is throwing rocks around.
　However, she noticed Nolu coming towards her and stopped throwing the rock.
　Then he retracted his limbs and curled up, and a red aura filled his entire body, and he suddenly began to spin on the spot, accelerating and rolling at once.
　The knoll that was heading towards him hurriedly applied the emergency brake and began to spin around and run away.

''Ko, it has rolled over!　You'll be crushed!

Averted!　Averted!

　The target is still Esther, or maybe it's still rolling and coming towards us.
　It's not a matter of whether there's a rock on the way or not, it's just going to be smashing through.
　We met up with Noor, who escaped in the meantime, and were chased around by Lupes Rex, who wore a red aura.
　Estelle tried to stop him by creating a stone wall with magic on the way, but it was shattered into pieces as soon as it hit him and didn't even stop him.

　
　

''Leave it to me!''

　When we heard Luna's supreme voice, a crimson flash of light shot out from a distance from us.
　Then it hit Lupes Rex, and the flash pierced through from right to left as its massive body seemed to get blown wide open.
　The pierced Lupeslex rolled on as it was, but its red aura disappeared and it began to wobble forward, finally hitting a small pile of rocks and stopping its movement.

'Now!　Eeeeee!

　Taking that as an opportunity, Esther waved her wand while being held by me and started shooting fireballs one after another.
　After about 10 rounds were fired, cracks started to appear in the curled up Lupes Rexx, and in the next moment it shattered into pieces and turned into particles of light.

''Huh, you frightened me...''

"Ugh, I'm sorry I can't help you, sir...

'It's good that you got it down safely. But I didn't expect it to be that big, though.

　It wasn't that much of a hassle, but I'm tired all at once....
　I knew it wasn't worth living to be chased around by a big, bulky demon.

　When I was relieved to have defeated it safely with a breath, Luna, who was at a distance, approached me.
　Then she puts her index finger to her mouth and turns her greedy eyes on me.

'What's going on?'

Heihachi, blood, please.

Oh, oh. Just give me a minute to wash up.

　
　After washing my hands with the water from the water bottle because I got dirty from the hunt, I hold out my fingertips to Luna and let her suck the blood.
　The same as before, she looks up at me and sucks my blood and it makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong.

It's a big one, isn't it?

''Oh, so that's the Demon Yuan Stone. I was told it was big enough to hold...

They're so big. I wonder if Lupes Rex is an individual too?

'It's worth all the effort to see such a big one!

　It looks like Nol has retrieved Lupes Rex's drop item while I'm making him suck blood.
　A stone shaped like a large white tablet............................Is this the Demon Yuan Stone?
　It was said to be of a size that could be held with both hands, but it's more than one meter long and has a decent amount of width.
　
　At any rate, I was able to collect what I wanted, so I guess I'll just go home for today.