Another breath attack!
Running away was pointless. The earlier fireball and fan-shaped breath attacks had already proven that the Espinas could spew its poisonous flames forty or fifty meters, if not farther.
Less than ten meters separated Altaïr from the Espinas. If he wanted to evade the attack safely, he had to do the opposite of what instinct demanded.
Altaïr dashed two steps forward and raised his arm to fire the Clutch Claw.
The metal claw shot out and sank into the wound on the Espinas's leg. Its cable reeled in at high speed, dragging Altaïr beneath the Monster.
He had no intention of using it to climb onto the Espinas. The venomous spines covering its body were not merely decorative.
Just before he crashed into its hind leg, Altaïr released the claw. Carried by his forward momentum, he drew his sword in a single slash and opened another bleeding wound across the leg joint.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Still somewhat disoriented, the Espinas launched three fireballs straight ahead before realizing that its counterattack had failed. Both Hunters had slipped beneath its body and reached its feet.
It gave an enraged roar, beat its wings, and leaped into the air.
Altaïr recognized the move and hurriedly warned Isis beside him. "Stomp! Watch out for the tremor!"
Less than two seconds later, the airborne Espinas brought its full weight crashing down.
"Boom!"
The instant its claws struck the ground, rocks shattered and a violent tremor tore through the earth.
Drawing on his earlier experience, Altaïr rolled and leaped in time, using Foresight Slash: Spin to evade both the stomp and the tremor.
He landed on his feet and looked anxiously toward Isis.
Burdened with a Gunlance, a Large Shield, and heavy armor, Isis could not roll and leap about as he did. Her only option was to plant her feet, brace her shield, and endure the impact head-on.
Yet a tremor surging up through the ground was not something a shield could block. The shaking could easily knock Isis down or injure her.
More importantly, the stomp was only one part of the Espinas's combo. Next, it would lower its head and bite while they were off-balance.
Altaïr gripped his sword with both hands, ready to block the attack for her.
To his surprise, Isis showed no sign of injury, and her stance remained rock solid. She even counterattacked before he could, bringing her Gunlance down on the wound in the Espinas's leg and sending blood spraying.
The Espinas's follow-up bite crashed squarely against her raised Large Shield.
How was her center of gravity so steady?
After a moment of astonishment, Altaïr realized that Isis's Zamtrios Z Armor Set offered exceptional tremor resistance. At last, that obscure advantage had found a chance to shine...
The Hunters' attacks from the blind spot beneath its body drove the Espinas mad with frustration. It beat its wings again and hopped backward, opening a gap of several body lengths.
"Its left eye is blind! Attack from its left side!" Altaïr shouted.
Isis nodded firmly and snapped her Gunlance through a Quick Reload. She was about to close the distance with Blast Dash when the Espinas launched a charge first.
"Dodge!" Altaïr bellowed.
The two Hunters ran in opposite directions, forcing the Espinas to choose one of them to pursue. If either ran into trouble, the other could provide immediate cover.
The Espinas locked onto Altaïr without the slightest hesitation.
Altaïr had fought it longer than Isis had. More importantly, he was the one who had blinded its left eye and hacked its head and neck into a bloody mess.
It was not about to forget that grudge.
Altaïr had expected as much. He activated Demon Mode at once and sprinted away at full speed.
This time, sixty or seventy meters separated him from the Espinas, leaving him enough room to escape the path of its charge.
The Espinas accelerated as it came, constantly adjusting its trajectory with the savage determination of a beast that would not stop until it had crushed Altaïr to pieces.
Altaïr pushed himself to his limit, racing toward the blind spot on the Espinas's left side and away from the axis of its charge.
"BOOM!" The Espinas thundered past.
Its left wing nearly clipped Altaïr, but at the last instant, he dropped into a slide and hugged the ground, narrowly avoiding the devastating charge.
The Espinas's assault was not over. When its attack missed, it skidded to a halt and wheeled around, already preparing to charge again.
This time, barely twenty or thirty meters separated Altaïr from the Espinas. His slide had robbed him of all momentum, and evading a second charge would be far from easy.
"Hey! Over here!"
At that critical moment, Isis's shout rang out.
Under normal circumstances, shouting could distract a Monster. But now that the Espinas hated Altaïr and had fixed on him so completely, a yell alone was unlikely to draw it away.
Fortunately, Isis had come prepared.
She held a small, furry creature high and squeezed its belly despite its frantic struggles.
"Mew!"
With a soft "poof," white smoke laden with unusual pheromones enveloped her.
The instinctive attraction overwhelmed reason, making the Espinas temporarily forget its hated enemy. Its lone, bloodshot eye fixed viciously on Isis. Once she saw that it had taken the bait, she whistled for the Palamute waiting nearby.
"I'll lead it to the vines!"
With that, Isis lowered her center of gravity and gripped the saddle. At her signal, the Palamute gave a low growl, dug its paws into the ground, and bolted away.
The Espinas roared furiously and raced after them.
Altaïr, who had already braced himself for impact, let out a relieved breath. He called over his own Palamute, swung into the saddle, and said, "That little critter really came through. Let's go!"
Isis wove nimbly through the dense forest on her Palamute.
The Espinas followed close behind. It was not as agile, but its immense strength and sturdy frame let it smash through tree after tree without losing any ground to the Palamute.
Altaïr trailed the Espinas by nearly a hundred meters. These specially raised Palamutes were seasoned enough to need no direction, so he used the ride to sharpen his blade and down a few combat tonics.
The next phase of the battle would be even more dangerous, but if they could weather it, their chances of completing the Hunt would rise sharply.
—--
After several minutes of pursuit, they reached a dense tract of woodland.
Massive trees with thick trunks grew throughout the area. Even the Espinas would struggle to break through them, which would severely hamper its movements.
Countless vines wound between the giant trees, and the spines covering the Espinas made it especially liable to become entangled. Combined with traps, the terrain should prove highly effective.
This was the battleground the Hunters had chosen in advance.
Isis dismounted from her Palamute and raised her Gunlance and Large Shield to face the enemy head-on.
The Espinas panted heavily. The wounds across its legs, head, and neck throbbed with pain, while the continuing blood loss steadily drained its strength. Even so, it remained far from truly weakened, much less ready to collapse.
Before the Espinas could make a move, Isis charged with her Large Shield raised. As it began to react, Altaïr rode out of the trees on his Palamute and slid to a stop directly in front of it.
The Palamute whipped its body sideways. Altaïr used the motion to launch himself into the air, bringing his sword down in a jumping slash aimed at the Espinas's remaining right eye.
To protect its last eye, the Espinas jerked its head aside and evaded Altaïr's Mounting Attack.
Seizing the opening, Isis braced her Gunlance behind her and pulled the shelling trigger. The weapon erupted with a deafening "BOOM!" Its recoil lifted her feet from the ground and hurled her straight at the Monster.
Carried by the explosive momentum, Isis brought the heavy blade of the Glavenus Gunlance down on the side of the Espinas's neck as its shells erupted at the same instant.
Shelling Charge!
(Translated by yourtl.app)