The clash of claws and roars reverberated across the foggy cliffs. The air itself seemed to vibrate with the force of the battle. Mistwing Drake cut through the mist in blinding streaks of silver-blue, its wings shimmering like liquid metal as it dove again and again, forcing the hunters to scatter. Below, Obsidian Fang thundered forward, each step shaking loose rocks from the ridge, its spiked tail carving deep gouges into stone.
The hunters were caught between two apex predators, their very survival hinging on more than just strength.
Hunnt skidded to a halt on the gravel, his gauntlets sparking as they absorbed a swipe from the drake's claws. His breath came hard, sweat dripping down his jaw. Agility versus brute force. Two predators with opposite styles—and yet together, they created a perfect storm. His mind raced, calculating.
We can't last like this. We need to control the rhythm, divide their pressure.
"Listen!" Hunnt's voice cut through the chaos. "Elara, keep Mistwing occupied from a distance! Corwin, hammer Fang's movements—slow it down! Pyro, distract them both when you can, use SnS to flank! I'll strike whenever an opening appears!"
The others nodded without hesitation, their trust in Hunnt absolute.
Elara shifted position, bowstring taut. She leapt to a higher ledge with Soru, her Observation Haki tingling faintly as Mistwing's shadow blurred overhead. Her first shot sailed past its wing joint—close, but the scales deflected it. She narrowed her eyes, focusing harder. Feel the intent… not just the movement. The next arrow whistled through the air, clipping the edge of the drake's left wing membrane. Mistwing shrieked, banking wider than before.
Corwin braced his feet on the uneven ground. Armament Haki rippled faintly along the surface of his hammer, the weight of his will fusing with steel. With a roar, he brought it down against Obsidian Fang's foreleg. The impact shook the ground, splinters of obsidian-scale flying, though the beast still towered unshaken. Corwin ground his teeth. "Thicker than Ravagerak… but it'll crack eventually."
"Keep it moving, hammer-man! Nyaah!" Pyro chirped, darting across the battlefield. His SnS flashed in precise cuts along the brute wyvern's ankles, the hits shallow but enough to sting. The little Felyne twisted with Kami-e, sliding under a tail swing that smashed boulders apart, then sprang up to rake at Mistwing as it swept low. His Observation sharpened his timing, letting him anticipate the monsters' split-second shifts.
Hunnt exhaled sharply, eyes darting between the two predators. Mistwing dove, its claws a blur. He met it with a reinforced punch, gauntlets ringing against scales, the impact sending sparks and shockwaves across the ridge. Before the drake could retaliate, Obsidian Fang's tail swept in a brutal arc. Hunnt's body blurred with Soru, vanishing just as the tail shattered the ground where he'd stood.
The battlefield rang with chaos—claws on stone, hammer on scale, arrows whistling, Pyro's yowls echoing. But amidst the noise, Hunnt began to notice patterns.
Mistwing always banked left when sunlight caught its eyes. Fang's tail swept immediately after a roar, delayed by a half-second pause. Their aggression was overwhelming, but not random.
He grinned, despite the blood dripping from his knuckles. "We adapt as we fight!"
Elara caught his look and nodded, understanding. Her next shots targeted the drake's favored dive angle. The first arrow skimmed past, but the second lodged into the thinner scales at the wing joint. Mistwing faltered mid-dive, shrieking in pain as its arc widened, slower now, easier to predict.
Pyro saw his chance. He zipped under the brute wyvern's bulk, slashing with SnS before darting out of reach. "Nyaahaha! Come on, big rock-face, chase me!" Obsidian Fang stomped after him, its massive tail thrashing wildly. The delay between roar and swing was there again—Hunnt saw it clearly.
"Corwin, now!" Hunnt roared.
Corwin didn't hesitate. His hammer, reinforced with Armament, swung in a devastating arc. It connected squarely with Fang's knee joint. The sound echoed like breaking stone. The brute wyvern staggered, its massive body tilting. Dust and shards of obsidian flew. For the first time, its rhythm broke.
Mistwing dove to defend its territory-mate, but Hunnt was already in motion. He launched himself with Soru, fists coated in Armament, and struck the drake's side mid-swoop. The impact cracked against scale and muscle, throwing sparks as the gauntlets rang like bells. Mistwing screeched, twisting higher into the mist, slower now, less precise.
The hunters' rhythm sharpened.
Corwin hammered Fang's movements, locking it down. Elara's arrows pinned Mistwing from the sky, each one guided by her Observation, forcing the drake into predictable flight paths. Pyro darted and twisted, his small form weaving between claws and boulders, distracting, taunting, forcing mistakes. Hunnt anchored it all, fists blazing, driving into every opening the others created.
They flowed like a single machine, Haki binding their awareness together. Observation sharpened their timing, Armament reinforced their strikes, and their weighted training allowed them to endure where once they would've faltered.
Hunnt ducked another tail sweep, rolling with Kami-e, then sprang up to deliver a crushing punch into Fang's jaw. Blood trickled from his split knuckles, but the black sheen of Armament flickered faintly over his fists. He clenched tighter, pushing the pain aside.
"I won't let them control the field!"
Elara loosed another arrow, the shaft burying deep into Mistwing's wing joint. It screeched, wobbling as it tried to maintain altitude. Corwin's hammer slammed again into Fang's knee, forcing the brute to kneel briefly, bellowing in rage. Pyro slashed at its face before darting back with a triumphant yowl.
The hunters' adaptation was working. Slowly, the predators showed strain—Mistwing's dives less precise, Fang's movements slower, its tail swings less sharp.
Hunnt's chest heaved as he stood at the center, fists raised. "This is working… we're starting to understand them." He wiped sweat from his brow, eyes burning with determination. "Keep it up!"
The ridge echoed with another roar, the fog swirling wildly around the titans. The battle was far from finished, but for the first time, the hunters weren't just surviving—they were shaping the fight. Tactical awareness had become their edge, and the monsters had yet to realize the hunters' true potential.
The hunt was turning.