"That girl, Isis, has excellent control," Minoto remarked softly as she bounded from branch to branch, following the fight.
"That move looks a little like Blast Dash, but it's much harder to pull off."
"Mm." Maki wore a conflicted expression. "I'd thought that boy would probably end up carted, but now that this girl has joined him, I'm starting to think they might actually complete the Hunt."
Minoto gave her a cold look. "What? Are you still thinking of interfering?"
"I wouldn't go that far." Maki waved a hand.
She had genuinely considered luring over something else to raise the stakes for the two young Hunters, but in the end, she decided against it. Minoto was watching her, after all.
"Let's keep watching."
—--
The heavy blade of the Glavenus Gunlance carved a deep gash into the left side of Espinas's neck. Isis landed on both feet and immediately raised her shield, settling into a guarding stance.
As expected, Espinas could not see clearly on its left side after losing that eye. It immediately twisted around and swept its tail across its left flank.
The instant the venom-spined tail struck her shield, Isis timed a forward shove to neutralize part of the impact and complete an Insta-Block. She then whipped the Gunlance up and brought it down in a heavy overhead smash.
Espinas roared and turned its head to snap at her.
On its right side, Altaïr immediately intensified his assault. With Crimson Blade Slash, Tyrant Blade [Heaven Swallower] blurred into a cascade of afterimages that struck Espinas's head again and again, forcibly interrupting its attack.
Espinas swung its head back to retaliate, but Isis followed with a Full Burst that blasted its already bleeding wounds into mangled flesh.
The two Hunters pinned Espinas between them, one on either side. Before long, fresh wounds covered its body.
Espinas realized that if this continued, it would be driven into a corner. It had to fight for its life.
It roared furiously and tensed its body to protect its vital points. While taking the Hunters' attacks on its back and wings, it began gathering strength.
The motion was far too obvious. After Hunting so many kinds of Large Flying Wyverns, they recognized it at once as a Tackle.
Altaïr and Isis immediately broke off their attacks and sprang backward.
A Tackle threw the attacker's full strength and body weight into a lateral body check. It might look unremarkable, but its power was astonishing. A direct hit would break bones even through Armor.
After retreating more than ten meters, Isis began to slow down.
A Tackle normally covered very little distance, often barely carrying the user forward and rarely reaching more than a few meters. Under ordinary circumstances, she had no reason to retreat any farther. Besides, the Large Shield she held up as she backed away severely obstructed her view. She wanted to stop and see what her opponent was doing.
On Espinas's other side, Altaïr noticed that something was wrong first. Wasn't this Tackle taking far too long to prepare?!
"Something's wrong! Keep retreating!" he shouted to warn his companion.
Although she had not yet seen the situation clearly, Isis trusted her companion's judgment.
Still backing away, she quickly leveled her Gunlance, engaged the muzzle-brake lock, and rested her finger lightly on the trigger. If necessary, she could use the recoil from shelling to open the distance in an instant.
"ROAR!!"
With that furious roar, Espinas hurtled sideways.
The Hunters' expressions changed. This was no conventional Tackle! If anything, it was closer to a charge launched sideways!
Espinas charged to its left, intent on eliminating the enemy in its blind spot first.
Isis had managed to retreat only a little over twenty meters before it caught her in the blink of an eye. She was glad she had prepared in advance. With the venomous spines covering the Monster's body almost in her face, Isis pulled the trigger hard.
"BOOM!"
The shell blast lifted her feet from the ground and hurled her nearly thirty meters backward in an instant.
Even that did not seem quite far enough. The massive Espinas caught up in only a few strides. Although the momentum of its charge was almost spent, it suddenly swept out its left wing and forcibly extended the attack's reach.
Isis's feet touched down, but before she could steady herself and assume a guarding stance, she had barely raised her shield over her body when the wing sent her flying.
Its wing claw and venomous spines raked across the face of her shield, producing a teeth-jarring "screech."
Isis fought to adjust her posture in midair, tucked into a landing roll, and tumbled several times to bleed off the impact. Then she sprang swiftly to her feet, her eyes locked on her opponent.
Without breaking stride after sending Isis flying with its extraordinarily long-range Tackle, Espinas launched another charge almost immediately.
Facing the dark green Monster hurtling toward her, Isis's gaze sharpened.
She had two sensible choices. The first was to plant her feet, raise her shield, and take a guarding stance. In truth, however, she was not confident that she could withstand Espinas at full speed. Even if she held her guard, the enormous difference in weight would still send her flying.
The second was to use shelling recoil to propel herself away again. She could evade one charge that way, but Espinas had already shown that it could chain repeated charges. Her Glavenus Gunlance used Wide shelling and could load only two shells at a time. She had just spent one, leaving enough for only one more rapid displacement.
So she chose a third option!
Isis drew a deep breath. Under Maki and Minoto's disbelieving stares and Altaïr's look of sheer alarm, she kicked off the ground with all her strength and charged straight into Espinas's oncoming rush.
"BOOM!"
Propelled by Blast Dash, Isis shot toward her opponent like a cannonball. Carrying the tremendous momentum of the technique and every ounce of her strength, she swung the Glavenus Gunlance forward with all her might.
The Gunlance's blade, far broader and heavier than that of an ordinary Gunlance, crashed head-on into Espinas's forward-pointing horn.
"Crack! Crack!"
More fissures spread across the horn. Espinas's head snapped violently to one side, breaking its charge.
But Blast Dash had carried Isis off her feet, leaving her with no purchase. Although she had successfully stopped the charge, the impact sent her flying once again.
She tumbled across the ground, planted both hands, and vaulted swiftly to her feet. Wiping the blood seeping from her mouth and nose with the back of her hand, she shouted, "I'm fine!"
Altaïr relaxed slightly, but he knew Isis was putting on a brave face. Espinas had sent her flying twice in succession, and stopping its charge head-on had subjected her to another brutal impact. However tough she was, she must have suffered considerable internal trauma.
At the thought, he forced himself to run even faster and managed to intercept Espinas before it could pursue Isis again.
"Heal up!" Altaïr shouted over his shoulder.
Isis nodded, spat out a clot of blood, and backed away.
To keep Espinas from pursuing his companion, Altaïr took the offensive. He closed in with his sword raised, targeting the left side of its face.
The head was Espinas's weak point, and its left side was now a visual blind spot. There was no better place for him to attack.
Altaïr let out a low shout, lunged forward, and unleashed a rapid Spirit Blade combo.
Badly wounded and drained by its last assault, Espinas reacted a beat too slowly. Only after several slashes had landed on its head did it open its jaws and snap at the Hunter in an attempt to retaliate.
Altaïr decisively used Foresight Slash to slip backward beyond the reach of its jaws. Without pausing, he sheathed his blade and settled into an Iai stance.
When its first bite missed, Espinas snapped at him again from the opposite direction. Altaïr caught the opening and drew in a flash, parrying its fangs as he swept a Spirit Roundslash across the side of its neck and surged into the blind spot on its left.
In only a few seconds of intense exchanges, Altaïr's momentum climbed to its peak once more.
Seeing the Hunter disappear into its blind spot, Espinas instinctively twisted its head and body, driving its horn upward from below.
At the same time, Altaïr rode the remaining momentum of his Spirit Roundslash into another leaping spin and turned to bring his blade down behind him.
Spinning Crimson Slash!
The sword, wreathed in crimson Spirit energy, collided once more with the rising horn. The cracks around the point where blade met horn continued to spread.
Altaïr had no intention of matching Espinas's strength. As the Monster heaved its head upward, his footwork crossed like a dance and spun him past the front of its skull. The deflected blade came around in a backhand cut toward Espinas's remaining right eye.
(Translated by yourtl.app)