Aside from its ghastly, bloody, and terrifying appearance, the most unusual thing about this mutated cow was its size.
From a distance earlier, it looked a full 3 meters long, but its height didn't seem to have changed much, or perhaps it was slightly taller than a normal cow, at 1.5 meters.
Other mutations included its long, bloated belly, which looked like it was about to burst. Some veins and blood vessels were visible.
What was inside?
Unknown.
Even its horns had grown long and large, like two sickles.
"Kaito, how about I back you up? My Electromagnetism can control some metal fragments to attack it, and even generate lightning to paralyze it!"
"That's a good idea, but I need to gauge this mutated cow's approximate strength first."
Kaito shook his head, refusing.
Perhaps because they were getting closer to the city, the air had a slight sour stench.
Reluctantly, he put on his gas mask and hood. Kaito then got out of the vehicle, opened the door, and aimed the shotgun directly at the cow.
'Alright, first, let's test its defense.'
'Let's see what's inside that bloated belly!'
Crack——!!
With practiced skill, Kaito fired the shotgun. The steel ball shot out and quickly hit the front of the cow's belly.
...
The steel ball didn't penetrate its weakest point, the belly. Instead, it just dented slightly before bouncing off lightly.
Although the cow let out a pained cry, it seemed more enraged, raising its front legs, ready to attack.
"It seems... this gun isn't very useful."
Kaito sighed helplessly, tossed the shotgun back into the vehicle, and used his ability to form a long, straight rock sword in his right hand.
Its appearance was similar to a Void Greatsword.
It was definitely heavy, but since it was created with his own ability, it felt as light as a feather to Kaito.
However, maintaining this state required consuming stamina. Otherwise, weighing at least fifty kilograms, Kaito wouldn't be able to swing it freely.
"Phew... Come on!"
His martial skills were not restricted. Even though he had become an ordinary person again, before gaining power, Kaito had always lived as an ordinary person!
He took a step, sprinting a hundred meters as fast as he could, then raised the long, straight rock sword high.
The mutated cow also charged like a truck.
At the moment of impact, Kaito leaped high and brought the sword down in a powerful slash.
He aimed a full-force swing at the cow's head.
Clang—
Disgusting flesh flew out. Under the strike of the long, straight rock sword, the cow's head was only cut a few centimeters deep before the impact jarred Kaito's hand.
"I knew your head was hard, but I didn't expect it to be this tough..."
A normal cow's head would have been sliced in half by this sword. Having only cut a few centimeters deep, Kaito had to pull the sword out quickly and then leap left to dodge the cow's horn attack.
Ssssshhhh—!!!
After dodging the attack, he stabbed directly into the bloated belly.
It wasn't easy to penetrate; there was great resistance. He also felt the sword hit something hard inside.
A calf?
Unclear.
Maybe, maybe not. But with this blow, the mutated cow let out a pained wail.
Then, enraged, it continuously charged at Kaito.
...
Kaito had herded cows when he was younger and understood some of their attack patterns.
It was like bullfighting; as long as he dodged left and right when it charged, he could avoid it.
When he was a child, he had almost been hit by a suddenly enraged old cow, but his survival instinct made him dodge several times consecutively, and he finally escaped by climbing the terraced fields on the mountain.
He later learned that the cow had been bitten by a snake, which was why it went crazy.
Now...
Even without the enhancement of martial skills, Kaito could easily dodge.
With martial skills enhancing him, while dodging the attacks, he also continuously slashed the cow with his sword.
Again, it was too hard.
Except for the weakest belly, other areas with bones were abnormally hard.
And its vitality was incredibly high.
"Die——!!
Swoosh——!!!
Finally, with a leaping jump, he decapitated the mutated cow. As the head fell, Kaito stood there, breathing heavily.
Wearing the gas mask and protective suit, after just a few minutes of fighting, he was drenched in sweat and had difficulty breathing.
"Kaito! Are you okay!!"
Misuzu and the others rushed over. Some patted him gently, while others took disinfectant and towels from the vehicle to wipe the blood off him.
"I'm fine, just a bit tired."
Kaito took a long breath, not daring to remove his hood or gas mask.
After stopping Sephie from helping to wipe him down, he walked alone in front of the cow's belly and used the rock sword to cut it open.
When the belly was opened, Kaito sighed inwardly.
Inside the cow's belly were two calves. Also, below its heart was a crystal about the size of a soccer ball.
"System, can you tell me what grade this crystal is?"
...
"Alright."
It was normal to get no response; after all, this wasn't Kaito's own system.
Although surprised that the crystal wasn't stained by any blood or dust, Kaito still dug it out and examined it carefully.
So the question was, how to use it?
Soak it in water to drink, or just bite into it?
Sephie used disinfectant to wipe the blood off his hands again until it was clean. Then everyone returned to the armored vehicle.
"This is the first crystal we've obtained. It came from the mutated cow, located below its heart, seemingly symbiotic with it."
It was possible that there was also a crystal in the head.
But the cow's head had been mostly smashed by Kaito earlier, and no crystal was found.
Of course, depending on the species, the location of the crystal might vary.
Since there was no relevant information available now, Kaito just casually placed this crystal, which was strangely clean, in the compartment.
After being dug out, it didn't get stained by anything. Even if thrown in the dirt, it would come out clean.
"Let's go. Only after we reach the city and find some human survivors can we get relevant information."