As Sajji fired the Incendiary Round, Nymera was lining up a shot to ignite the incendiary agent when Altaïr's sudden Midair Spinning Blade Dance startled her.
Morgan, positioned on the other side of the battlefield, reacted much the same way.
Watching Altaïr land lightly, flick the blood from his Dual Blades, then dash aside to sharpen them, both Gunners were so exasperated they nearly laughed.
Their attention immediately returned to the pitch-black Monster wreathed in flames.
The incendiary agent alone could not have set a living creature ablaze so fiercely. It came from a weapon built for Felynes, after all, and carried only a modest explosive charge.
The other critical factor was the scale powder coating the Gore Magala, especially its wings.
The scale powder was not particularly flammable, but its fine, fluffy structure resembled down. A few stray sparks might not ignite it, but the blaze started by the incendiary agent was more than enough.
Though the incendiary agent quickly burned away, the Gore Magala's scale powder provided abundant fuel, and the fire only grew fiercer.
The flames engulfing its body disrupted the Gore Magala's feelers, preventing it from locating the Hunters at once. It could only thrash blindly. The Blademasters could not close in for the moment, but the Gunners would not waste the opening.
Nymera held down the trigger, and the Rathalos Cannon's distinctive six-barrel rotary mechanism spun at high speed. The torrent of Flaming Ammo formed a brilliant line of fire that lashed the Gore Magala's body like an incandescent whip.
Morgan chose a more aggressive tactic. He advanced with Cannon: Calamity at the ready, taking Isis's place directly in front of the Gore Magala.
Less than ten meters separated them. For a Gunner, that was practically point-blank range.
The auxiliary gunpowder chamber was fully charged. Morgan raised the muzzle and pulled the trigger.
"Boom!"
Cannon: Calamity's muzzle snapped upward, and the recoil drove even Morgan's slight frame half a step back.
The Gore Magala took the blow as though struck by an invisible, colossal hammer. Its head whipped violently aside, and countless sprays of blood burst from its head and chest.
Empowered by Gunpowder Infusion, a Heavy Bowgun Hunter Art, each blast of Lv3 Spread Ammo struck with devastating force. Every shot made the Monster shudder violently and stumble backward.
The excessive recoil kept Morgan from firing quickly, but that was hardly a problem. Spread Ammo did not rely on rate of fire in the first place.
Even one shot every two or three seconds was enough to pin the target down with sheer firepower.
The real danger came when Morgan had to change magazines and his fire ceased.
He would never use such an aggressive tactic on a solo hunt, but in a team operation, someone else could cover the gap.
Nymera sprinted several steps before releasing a Wirebug. Using it as a pivot, she swung in an arc to position herself diagonally in front of the Gore Magala.
Morgan's magazine ran dry at that exact moment. The Gore Magala sensed the lull and began to lunge, only for a storm of Rapid Fire Flaming Ammo to crash down and force it back again.
Against a Gore Magala that had only recently hatched and torn its way free, this suppressive fire might have held it in check until the end of the fight.
This one, however, was an exceptionally powerful individual nearing the limit of its growth and already attempting the molt that would transform it into a Shagaru Magala. Its stamina and combat experience far surpassed those of an ordinary Gore Magala.
It covered its vulnerable head and chest with its massive Wingtalons and its dragon wings, which were still blazing fiercely, then lowered its head and charged without restraint.
The Gunners were forced to scatter from its path, but Isis refused to yield.
She had planted herself in the path of Diablos the Demon King, a creature thirty meters long. This "little one," barely more than ten meters long, would not scare her away.
She sprinted into the Gore Magala's path, slammed down her Large Shield, lowered her center of gravity, and settled into a Defensive Stance. Then she roared a challenge, inviting the Gore Magala to meet her head-on.
The pitch-black, grotesque dragon, flames coiling over its body, drew closer and closer. Isis was about to drive her shield forward and intercept it with an Insta-Block when the Gore Magala, seemingly robbed of its ability to sense the outside world, suddenly kicked off with its hind legs and vaulted over her head.
Acting on reflex, Isis raised her muzzle and fired two shells into the Gore Magala's underside as it passed overhead, but the blasts were not enough to stop its momentum. It escaped the Hunters' encirclement.
Worse still, the Flooded Forest was crisscrossed by rivers and streams. Within only a few strides, the Gore Magala splashed into that network of waterways.
Intelligent enough to understand that water extinguished fire, the Gore Magala immediately rolled in the shallows. It looked bedraggled and absurd, but the running water put out most of the flames across its body.
Only a little residual incendiary agent continued to burn stubbornly, far too little to inflict serious damage.
"Stop it!" Altaïr shouted. With a whistle, he summoned the Palamute that had been circling the edge of the battlefield.
As he vaulted onto the Palamute and raced after the Monster, he swapped Rosenzahn for Tyrant Blade [Heaven Swallower], the better weapon for pinning it down.
Already closer, Isis launched into Storm Rush. Demon King Tyrant came crashing down under her momentum and tore a bleeding wound across the Gore Magala's hind leg.
The fire going out was not entirely a setback for the Hunters. At least the Blademasters could now engage at close range.
Having witnessed the Hunters' methods, however, the Gore Magala had no intention of fighting them to the death. It ignored the sharp pain behind it and prepared to flee again.
Just then, Isis suddenly shouted, "Dango!"
"Mew!"
Dango, Isis's Stinkmink, usually did nothing but eat and sleep. He spent his days either burrowed inside Isis's clothes or sprawled atop Clawdia. He rarely even walked under his own power and had grown more than a little rounder. Now he poked his head out from the back of Isis's collar.
He gathered all his strength and released a mighty... burst of gas rich in special hormones.
The Gore Magala, already driven nearly mad by the urge to metamorphose and the evolutionary impulse it could not satisfy, stopped in its tracks.
A glint of dark purple light flashed where its eye sockets should have been. It turned with a low growl.
Any thought of escaping alive and planning its next move vanished from its mind. Now it wanted only to tear the Hunters before it to shreds. As the Gore Magala wheeled around, the naked malice and murderous intent pouring from it delighted Isis instead of frightening her.
She raised her Large Shield and drove forward to meet the Gore Magala's swinging Wingtalon.
The Wingtalon scraped across the face of the shield with a grating shriek that set her teeth on edge.
Just as Isis thought she had completely blocked the blow, dark purple energy flared. The Gore Magala triggered the scale powder clinging to its Wingtalon, and it erupted in a violent explosion.
The secondary attack caught Isis off guard, but her Defensive Stance held. The blast merely drove her back several meters, her metal battle boots carving two deep furrows into the soft earth.
She raised her head and stared over the rim of her Large Shield, an exhilarated smile tugging at her lips.
"Now that's more like it!"
She charged forward again and launched an all-out assault.
The Gore Magala was about to retaliate when it suddenly opened its jaws and cried out in pain.
At the Monster's flank, Altaïr lunged, crimson arcs coiling around his blade as it sank deep into the relatively soft flesh.
The Gore Magala swept one Wingtalon at him, trying to swat away the Hunter at its flank. Altaïr read the attack in time, slipped back, and answered with a Foresight Slash.
With every exchange, his Spirit Gauge steadily rose.
"Suppress it! Force it to stagger! Isis, seize the opening!" Altaïr roared as he launched another fierce assault.
The strength and heat resistance of the materials from Diablos the Demon King allowed Demon King Tyrant to withstand the highest possible chamber pressure. Meticulously forged by a master smith, the Gunlance could unleash Dragon Blast with enough power to decide a battle in a single blow.
Seize this chance while the Gore Magala is still caught on the threshold of metamorphosis. Finish it in one go!
* * *
Warhammer: Stars and Ants is another story you can read here on Webnovel. Thank you for reading.