Could it be a coincidence?
The thought flashed through the Hunters' minds, only to be dismissed at once.
It could not be a coincidence. The Yian Garuga had chosen its target with unmistakable precision. The attack had clearly been aimed at the trap on the ground.
After seeing it happen firsthand, attributing everything to chance would be more than wishful thinking. It would be sheer stupidity.
Their plan had been disrupted from the outset. As the team's commander, Altaïr rapidly considered several contingencies, only to reject them one after another.
The scars covering every part of the Yian Garuga's body made one thing clear. The individual known as "Deadeye" possessed extraordinary combat experience.
That experience had come not only from fighting Large Monsters, but Hunters as well.
Altaïr remembered the Guild Manager's warning. This very Yian Garuga had once killed a High Rank Hunter, and it was likely familiar with all manner of Hunter tactics and tools.
In that case...
"Hold it in place! Suppress it!" Altaïr barked as he turned and charged toward the target.
If tools were useless, they would overpower it with sheer strength!
"Understood!" Isis, who had kept her distance to avoid interfering with the trap operation, swung the Demon King Tyrant around and aimed its barrel behind her. The weapon was far heavier than an ordinary Gunlance.
She pulled the trigger. A deafening report thundered out, and she rocketed through the smoke toward the target.
Surprise flashed in the Yian Garuga's single eye.
It had fought plenty of these relatively small "bipeds." The weak ones died easily, while the strong ones had nearly cost it its life.
For that very reason, once it recognized the intruders, it immediately went on high alert.
This, however, was the first time it had seen one that could "fly."
But... it had never feared an opponent reckless enough to charge straight at it.
Deadeye beat its wings and used the momentum to spring several meters backward. At the same time, its wing claws, slick with fluorescent green venom, scissored toward the approaching Hunter.
The roles of attacker and defender reversed.
Isis had been about to sweep the area with shelling, but the retreat placed her in an awkward position. The distance Deadeye had created guaranteed that her attack would miss, while the remaining momentum of her Blast Dash carried her straight into the Monster's ideal attack range.
That innocuous retreat on a wingbeat reminded her of the times she practiced swordsmanship with Altaïr and he toyed with her using Foresight Slash.
Near the end of her dash and about to land, Isis had no choice but to keep swinging her Gunlance. She knocked one of Deadeye's wing claws aside and raised her Large Shield to block the swipe from the other.
They met in midair for their first clash. It looked evenly matched, but the truth was nothing of the sort.
Isis looked as though she were flying, but she was actually riding the recoil of her shelling. More precisely, she had fired herself forward.
The Yian Garuga, by contrast, could truly fly, and it was exceptionally skilled at it.
After turning the Hunters' own "Foresight Slash" against them, Deadeye never let its feet touch the ground. It hovered two or three meters above the earth.
Before Isis could regain her footing, it beat its wings again. Its slender body seemed to dance nimbly through the air, but every movement threatened death.
It flipped forward in midair, a maneuver characteristic of Rathalos and its kin, and whipped its venom-drenched, barbed tail down at the Hunter before it.
Altaïr, closing fast, cursed inwardly.
Hunters were accustomed to using their smaller, more agile bodies to outpace slower Monsters. Now the Yian Garuga was turning that same advantage against Isis.
While hovering, Deadeye moved with extraordinary speed and agility, far beyond even a heavily armored defender like Isis.
Fortunately, although Isis's combat style favored offense, she had never neglected her defensive training.
Whenever she returned to Dundorma, she made a habit of seeking out the old Instructor Altman for another beating.
Countless bruises and black eyes had bought her the quickest and soundest response in a crisis. She immediately dropped into a half crouch, drawing herself beneath her Large Shield as she braced it diagonally against the ground.
The massive, mace-like tail slammed into the Large Shield and made it shudder. Deadly venom sprayed in every direction but could not penetrate the barrier, filling the air with its foul stench.
She looked somewhat battered, but her defense held rock steady.
Peering past the edge of her shield, Isis locked her gaze on the airborne Yian Garuga. It had already corrected its posture after the somersaulting tail slam, and she silently assessed its strength.
Its power was considerable, but still fell short of a full-force blow from a Large Flying Wyvern such as Rathalos.
The tail slam had also drawn power from the somersault. Judging by that exchange, she did not need to fear being overwhelmed by brute force. Its absurd agility and speed were the greater threat.
With her judgment made, Isis stood and raised her Gunlance, preparing to use AA Flare and blast the hovering Yian Garuga out of the sky.
Deadeye had only just righted itself when it accelerated with two powerful wingbeats. In the blink of an eye, it climbed to around ten meters above the ground.
Isis ground her teeth.
At that height, an upward shelling attack was not entirely out of range, but both her Wide shells and Wyvern's Fire would lose more than half their power. She could not count on bringing the target down in a single volley.
To inflict effective damage on a target that high, they would have to rely on the Gunner.
"Morgan!"
"Blast it down!"
Altaïr and Isis shouted at the same time.
"Understood."
In the distance, Morgan had already locked onto the target from a sniper's stance. He answered quietly and pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
A brilliant muzzle flash erupted. The powerful recoil drove him half a meter backward as an oversized Bowgun round tore from the barrel and streaked toward the distant target.
It was a Supernova.
Driving a flying Monster into the air with a frontliner's ferocious assault, then having the Gunner shoot it down, was another common Hunter tactic.
Most Gunners would have chosen Sticky Ammo, but Morgan had loaded the far more destructive Supernova to accomplish this tactical objective in one decisive shot.
He did not merely intend to knock the Yian Garuga down. He wanted to blast it into a tumble and send it crashing to the ground!
This was the core of their operation. Whether they used traps, Wyvern's Fire, or the suppressive power of a Supernova, they needed to create a major opening by any means available, then press in together for an all-out assault.
Deadeye was indeed far stronger than an ordinary Yian Garuga, but that strength lay primarily in its technique and offensive ability. Its physical durability and stamina were not fundamentally superior to those of an ordinary member of its species.
If they found an opportunity to concentrate their power in one explosive assault, they might cripple it in an instant and decide the course of the battle.
The Supernova's distinctive shriek tore past Altaïr's ear. As he reached his attack position, he stopped and readied his sword, prepared to use Instant Slash the moment the target struck the ground and rush into close range.
Isis assumed a defensive stance where she stood, planning to launch a "Gymnastic" assault as soon as she had blocked the blast from the Supernova.
The Hunters, however, seemed to have misjudged the situation.
Deadeye had not climbed to evade Isis's counterattack.
It was preparing its next offensive volley!
Its shattered beak became an erupting volcanic crater. Countless searing fireballs spewed forth, instantly blanketing the broad area beneath and in front of it.
Deadeye's breath attack met the incoming Supernova round in midair. Its meteor shower of fireballs detonated the projectile before it could reach the Monster.
Blazing firelight and acrid smoke swallowed Isis.