He still remembered the information, or rather, the advice given by that senior Dual Blades user from the Desert Fins, the Cephalos's weak points were its neck, abdomen, and back.
As a light weapon, the Sword and Shield's destructive power was on the weaker side. To deal effective damage to a Monster of the Cephalos's size, or even larger, one had to target its weak points.
The back was too high to hit, making it difficult to attack successfully unless the opponent was knocked down. The abdomen was protected by ribs and a layer of fat. Although the flesh was soft, with the length of the Hunter's Dagger, it wouldn't be easy to directly damage its internal organs.
Therefore, he locked his target onto the Cephalos's neck.
Altaïr sped up, using his small size and fast speed to his advantage as he circled toward the right side of the Cephalos's neck.
But the Cephalos, as a creature that had survived natural selection and successfully thrived, even to the point of becoming a plague, in the cruel Great Desert, naturally wouldn't have such an obvious weakness.
As if sensing the hunter's objective, its head turned along with the hunter's movements, its flat, wide, triangular head blocking most of Altaïr's attack angles.
Altaïr didn't give up. Just as the Cephalos's neck had turned nearly ninety degrees and its finned, webbed feet began to move, bringing its body around in the direction he was circling...
Altaïr suddenly stopped, reversed his direction, and charged straight for the left side of the Cephalos's neck, which was now completely exposed from behind the protection of its triangular head due to the twisting motion.
The Cephalos was too slow to turn back. In the blink of an eye, he was right upon it.
Altaïr lunged forward, his blade slashing out, successfully leaving a bloody gash on the left side of the Cephalos's neck.
The Cephalos's counterattack followed immediately. With a twist of its flexible spine, its triangular head swept toward him like a shovel.
If that blow landed, he wouldn't be cut in half, but it was entirely possible he'd be sent flying, break a few bones, or even lose his ability to fight on the spot.
Fortunately, Altaïr was prepared. The instant before the Cephalos's head swung to sweep at him, he raised his arm shield in front of him, kicked off the ground, and hopped back, narrowly avoiding the attack.
The Cephalos's rough skin scraped across his shield, leaving a scratch mark as if from a file.
Without a shred of hesitation, the moment Altaïr landed from his backhop, his legs acted like springs. He tensed his muscles and Achilles tendons, harnessing the momentum, and in the next instant, he lunged forward again.
Now!
By swinging its head for the sweep, the Cephalos had practically delivered the right side of its neck to the front of Altaïr's blade. Seizing this fleeting opening, Altaïr swung his sword a second time.
Advancing Slash!
The timing was perfect, and with the added force of his forward leap, this slash cut far deeper than the previous simple one.
After the blade broke through the scaly hide and sliced into the muscle, it even sent back a hard sensation, meaning the tip of the sword had momentarily touched the Cephalos's neck bone.
The Cephalos let out a miserable shriek and staggered back half a step.
According to Altaïr's usual habits, he should have immediately pressed the attack at a time like this. But under the strange influence of his previous attack rhythm, he didn't strike out right away. Instead, he pulled his arm back, tightened his core, and gathered his strength.
Logically, this was a completely different concept from the Great Sword's Charged Slash. The so-called charge of a Sword and Shield was more of a form of rhythm control. But in that instant, through Altaïr's unconscious coordination, he incorporated the charging technique of the Great Sword, which gathered the strength of his entire body.
Because the Sword and Shield was too light and small, it was difficult to completely "suppress" this power. In just a second, he felt this power was about to escape his control.
"Hah!"
With a low shout, he unleashed his attack.
The first thing he swung was not the blade in his left hand, but the shield on his right arm.
The face of the shield smashed into the tip of the Cephalos's snout like a hammer, knocking its head aside. Immediately following was the charged blade from his left hand.
Despite being a Sword and Shield, a weapon known for its dexterity, he swung it with a sense of immense power. This single strike nearly sliced off the shovel-shaped sensory organ on the side of the Cephalos's head.
The attack was not over yet.
As he twisted at the waist, the blade swung back in the opposite direction. His right arm shield followed the momentum of the sword and struck again, swinging upward from below like an uppercut to hit the Cephalos's jaw, knocking its head back.
Its vital throat was thus exposed before Altaïr's eyes.
There was no need for any hesitation. The final horizontal slash swung across the Cephalos's throat.
The gushing blood took the last of the Cephalos's strength. It could no longer even let out a cry of pain as its massive body, comparable to an Aptonoth's, collapsed to the ground.
Perfect Rush!
Having ended the battle, Altaïr regulated his breathing.
This was the first time he had successfully executed a complete Perfect Rush in actual combat. He had even incorporated a bit of the Great Sword's charging technique into the process, elevating the combo's power to another level.
The feeling of executing it all in one go was simply marvelous.
BOOM!
On the other side, amidst the unique roar of a Wyvern's Fire, the other Cephalos, a charred hole blown through its chest, also fell to the ground.
Altaïr subconsciously turned his head to look, only to see Nuri and Asa also staring this way in a daze.
Less than half a minute had passed since the three of them had launched their assault.
To support Altaïr as quickly as possible, Nuri and Asa had used every means at their disposal. They thought they had been fast enough; Nuri had even used his Wyvern's Fire, which had just finished its cooldown.
But they never expected that Altaïr, using a Sword and Shield not known for its power, would finish even a few seconds faster than their two heavy weapons combined.
"This is fucking unreasonable!" Asa blurted out after a brief moment of shock. "How the hell did you do that, kid? Don't tell me that Hunter's Dagger of yours is actually a high-grade weapon that just looks like one?"
Even though they had long since confirmed that Altaïr's weapon was the most common, most basic Ore Series Sword and Shield, at this moment they couldn't help but wonder if their eyes had deceived them before.
"A fluke," Altaïr said, flicking the blood from his blade and sheathing his weapon.
He wasn't being modest. Successfully executing the Perfect Rush in the fight just now, and a charge-enhanced version at that, truly had a large element of luck and coincidence to it.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be able to kill a Cephalos outright with a single combo.
Thinking of this, he drew his weapon again and began to practice the motions, trying to commit the feeling to his mind and body before it faded.
If he could master this move, it might become his "trump card" for a long time to come.
"Damn it, look at you acting all cool!" Asa folded up his Heavy Bowgun and walked over, cursing playfully.
Nuri, who was calmer and more experienced, let his gaze linger for a long while on the Cephalos corpse in front of Altaïr.
There were only four or five wounds in total, all concentrated on the Cephalos's neck and head. Not a single one was "ineffective"; every strike had sunk deep into a vital spot.
This couldn't be explained away as mere "luck"; at least, he didn't think so.
Taking a deep look at Altaïr, who was looking down and lost in thought, Nuri had a strange premonition.
This rookie before him, the youngest in the entire Rangers team, would probably grow into someone truly formidable in the future.
Pulling his laughing younger brother away from Altaïr's side, Nuri said in a low voice, "Don't bother him. Little brother Altaïr probably had some sort of realization during that last fight.
Sajji, you go to high ground and keep watch. The two of us will hurry up with the carving."
"Oh, okay!"
By the time Altaïr returned from his deep thoughts, Nuri and the others were nearly finished with their carving.
He quickly walked over to help. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Nuri waved his hand. "Having a breakthrough in battle is a great thing. How was it? What did you feel?"
Altaïr mulled it over. "It's hard to say. If the situation allows it later, can you leave the last Cephalos to me?"
"Sure."