"Smarter than I thought," Altaïr said, putting away his whetstone.
If the Gendrome had lost its mind in a rage and charged straight at them, it would have been the best-case scenario.
A regular Genprey could squeeze through the gaps in the giant skeleton's ribs, but the Gendrome couldn't. To it, this skeletal cover was like a safety cage.
The hunters hiding inside could pop out at any moment to attack it, while it could only watch helplessly from outside the "cage," or stick its head in to get hit.
"It's calling its pack, meow! Aren't we going to stop it, meow?" Sajji asked nervously, staring at the Gendrome howling with its head thrown back not far away.
Every hunter knew that when hunting a pack leader like a Gendrome, stopping it from calling its pack was of the utmost importance.
A one-on-one duel with a Gendrome was on a completely different level of danger compared to fighting it while also having to deal with surprise attacks from surrounding Genprey.
Logically, the moment the Gendrome started to call for its pack, they should have immediately rushed out to stop it. For some reason, however, Altaïr just watched.
"Go!"
Just as Sajji was feeling confused, Altaïr suddenly left the cover of the skeleton and charged toward the Gendrome.
"Meow-meow?!"
Why was his reaction a few beats too slow?
Sajji didn't think Altaïr would space out during a fight, so he must have had a reason for his actions.
It was unrealistic to ask Altaïr for a detailed explanation at a time like this. Sajji could only accelerate to catch up to him while pondering his reasoning.
In fact, if one followed that line of thought, Altaïr's objective wasn't hard to guess.
What would be the result of letting the Gendrome call its pack, only to interrupt it midway?
Some of the nearby Genprey would be summoned, but their numbers shouldn't be too great.
Sajji looked up at the back of Altaïr, who had rushed before the Gendrome and launched an attack, and finally understood the key to it all.
A Genprey pack rarely exceeded twenty members. After all, the resource density of the desert couldn't support that many mouths.
They had already dealt with nine of them. Assuming the largest possible pack size, there should be about ten Genprey remaining.
If that many Genprey came at them at once, they would have a hard time dealing with them, even with the skeletal cover at their backs. They would have to find a chance to break out and fight a guerilla war in the rocky area as previously planned.
But if they let the Gendrome call over a few first and took the opportunity to eliminate them, the remaining ones would no longer pose a significant threat, and their tactical options would become much more varied.
"I see, that's our Altaïr, meow!"
Altaïr used his forward momentum to swing his sword, slashing at the Gendrome's chest.
This area wasn't covered by large scales. The freshly sharpened alloy blade smoothly broke through the slightly softer scaled hide, opening a wound nearly thirty centimeters long.
Such an injury was nothing to the Gendrome. It intended to continue its call for its pack.
Seeing this, Altaïr smiled. His arm moved in concert with his body in a rapid flurry, unleashing a series of follow-up slashes that tore open four or five intersecting wounds on the Gendrome's chest.
"Gyaaa–!"
The Gendrome could no longer endure it. It stopped crying out, leaped back to put six or seven meters between them, and lowered its body, warily eyeing the seemingly unremarkable opponent before it.
Altaïr flexed his wrist, which was slightly sore after that burst of exertion, and charged forward once more.
Letting the Gendrome summon its pack was part of the strategy, but the time before the other Genprey arrived was also the best opportunity to fight the lone Gendrome.
Compared to a regular Genprey, the Gendrome's advantages lay in its size and more developed poison glands. The former meant greater attack power and a longer jumping distance, while the latter represented a more potent paralysis toxin.
Aside from these two points, the Gendrome's attack patterns were not much different from a regular Genprey's... pouncing and biting at close range, and leaping to attack from a distance. It never strayed far from these two moves.
For a novice hunter, the greatest difficulty in hunting a Monster like a Gendrome was overcoming their own fear.
Altaïr, who held no fear of the Gendrome to begin with and had committed the Genprey's tactics to memory over countless subjugation quests, was at least eighty percent confident he could overpower his opponent in a one-on-one duel.
Facing the relentless hunter charging at it, the Gendrome roared angrily and opened its bloody maw, rearing its body up.
Sticky, yellow paralysis toxin coated its hollow, snake-like fangs. If that bite landed, never mind a human, even a strong Aptonoth would be paralyzed on the spot.
But no matter how strong an attack was, it was meaningless if it couldn't connect.
The moment the Gendrome opened its mouth and raised its head, Altaïr was already prepared to counter.
To be on the safe side, he didn't raise his shield to block as he would against a regular Genprey. Instead, he adjusted his footing and, at the instant the attack came, sidestepped to the Gendrome's flank.
The Gendrome bit down on empty air. Altaïr seized the opportunity to swing his Hunter's Dagger, landing two consecutive slashes on the side of the Gendrome's head.
The Gendrome cried out in pain and anger, twisting its head to snap at the hunter.
This alone showed that the Gendrome's combat experience and reaction speed far surpassed that of a regular Genprey. Altaïr was glad he hadn't gotten greedy and had immediately leaped back after those two slashes.
The Gendrome once again bit nothing but air. A small drop of paralytic venom splattered from between its teeth and landed on Altaïr's cheek.
Even though he had no open wounds on his face, the tiny amount of venom that seeped through his pores made his skin feel slightly numb.
This only strengthened his resolve to absolutely not get bitten; otherwise, any advantage he had could be lost in an instant.
At this moment, Sajji also launched his attack.
He jumped onto the Gendrome's thigh and, while the Monster's attention was completely focused on Altaïr in front of it, continued to climb. In just a few movements, he was on the Gendrome's back.
The violent reaction of the Genprey he had climbed on earlier had given him an idea.
Due to his size, his attacks were limited to low points on the body, only able to strike the Gendrome's calves and tail, which had a very limited effect in restraining it.
But if he could get onto the Gendrome's back, everything would be different.
Creatures in the wild are extremely vigilant against attacks from behind. Having something climb onto their back, even a supposedly "harmless" Felyne, would make them tense up subconsciously.
The Gendrome was no exception. Sajji had just found his footing and hadn't yet had time to draw his sword and attack when the Gendrome abruptly spun around, trying to throw him off.
Sajji quickly abandoned the thought of drawing his weapon. He flattened his body, his claws digging tightly into the gaps between the Gendrome's scales to hold himself in place and avoid being thrown off.
The Gendrome tried to turn its head back to bite him, but its neck seemed to lack the necessary length and flexibility. No matter how it twisted, it couldn't reach him. It could only keep jumping, spinning, and thrashing its body, completely ignoring the much greater threat in front of it.
"Gyaah!"
"Meow–! You're not gonna shake me off, meow!"
Watching the Gendrome's agitated jumping, Altaïr couldn't help but find it a little amusing, while also feeling a bit fortunate.
If he were using a heavy weapon like a Great Sword or a Hammer right now, he probably would have had a hard time finding a good opportunity to attack. But the Sword and Shield was different; it was best suited for hit-and-run tactics.
While dodging the long tail that whipped past him from time to time, Altaïr looked for an opening, suddenly closing in to land a strike on the Gendrome.
Just one strike, never getting greedy, then immediately retreating to look for the next chance.
Before long, several new, bleeding wounds had appeared on the Gendrome's body.
The situation was looking great. If this kept up, the Gendrome would soon grow fatigued from the constant blood loss and high-frequency movement. That would be the perfect time for him to launch an all-out assault!
Just as Altaïr was making this plan, a piercing screech, accompanied by the chaotic patter of small feet, approached from the distance.
The Gendrome's reinforcements had arrived.