Bloodshot eyes fixed intently on the Hunter before it.
Though the hunger gnawing at its belly incessantly urged it to devour the flesh and blood strewn across the ground, the Brute Tigrex was no Deviljho, no Monster ruled entirely by its appetite.
More than eating, it wanted to tear this despicable Hunter to pieces first!
As though steeling itself, it slammed both foreclaws heavily into the ground, propping up its upper body and tensing every muscle until its already massive frame looked even more imposing.
It drew a deep breath. In the next instant, a terrifying roar compressed the air into visible shockwaves that swept across the open ground beside the hot springs.
"ROOOOAAARRR!!!"
Waves surged across the hot spring, and gravel tumbled from the cliff face.
A roar like that could rattle the brain, briefly robbing prey of control over its body and leaving it at the Brute Tigrex's mercy.
Altaïr, however, had already prepared a counterstrategy.
The Disposable Earplugs were only a basic precaution against ruptured eardrums. As he forced the Monster back with a single slash, he drew his spirit and strength into a tightly concentrated stance.
Instant Slash!
The instant the roar erupted, he dissolved into a blur and surged forward.
The pale scythe blade, mottled with vermilion, cleaved through the onrushing wall of air.
The terrifying roar did rob him of control over his body for a split second, but he had already committed all his strength to the blade.
At that moment, it was as though the pale giant scythe had become his true body, while his own form was merely an inconspicuous ornament on its hilt, dragged forward by the weapon's momentum.
Blood sprayed.
The giant scythe easily cut through the relatively thin skin across the Brute Tigrex's chest and neck, carving open a wound with flesh curling outward.
The powerful electric current erupting from the blade sent the muscles in its chest into spasms, cutting its roar short. It staggered and shook its head.
Blood seeped from the Hunter's mouth and nose.
Without the Earplugs Talisman's protection, taking a Brute Tigrex's roar at point-blank range had inevitably injured him, but he was certain the wound he had inflicted was far worse.
Then I'll make sure you never get another chance to roar!
Discarding the feints and circling footwork he had used with the Dual Blades, Altaïr gave a low shout and strode forward, bringing the pale giant scythe down toward the Brute Tigrex's head with all his strength.
The Brute Tigrex, enraged by its own instinctive retreat moments earlier, swung its claws almost simultaneously with the Hunter.
The pitch-black Wyvern Claw and pale scythe blade collided in a burst of sparks and crackling arcs of electricity.
The powerful current pierced the Brute Tigrex's mineral-rich scales and seared its flesh, while the Monster's vastly superior strength numbed the Hunter's hands and tightened his chest.
Amid the sharp ring of the impact, each recoiled half a step, evenly matched.
Neither paused nor hesitated before launching another attack at the other.
This was a clash between two relentless attackers, each certain that they would emerge as the final victor of this bloody struggle.
A Wyvern Claw swept upward from below, aiming to disembowel the Hunter.
Altaïr promptly raised his blade and executed the Tempered Spirit Blade, angling the weapon to deflect the Brute Tigrex's claw swipe. Riding the direction of the impact, he pivoted into an upswing with the giant scythe.
The blade met the Monster's gaping maw as it snapped in close.
The scythe's edge lodged between the Brute Tigrex's jawbones with a crisp series of cracks.
"ROAR!"
Undeterred, the Brute Tigrex lunged forward to bite. Its immense mouth, lined with dagger-like fangs, opened beyond ninety degrees, intent on swallowing the Hunter along with his weapon.
Altaïr swiftly withdrew his blade, pivoting and sliding several meters backward. The massive jaws snapped shut with a "CLACK!" less than a meter from his face.
After biting nothing but air, the Brute Tigrex drew back its head and neck for another attack. The Hunter seized that fleeting opening, sprang forward, and swept his blade up toward the Monster's lower jaw.
Foresight Slash!
The razor-sharp tip of the scythe tore open a wound beneath the creature's chin. As Altaïr moved in and out of range, his Spirit Gauge built and his momentum rapidly mounted.
The excruciating pain in its lower jaw disrupted the Brute Tigrex's follow-up attack. Unlike a Hunter, it had no formal training in Weapon Arts, but its superior combat instincts told it that it had already lost this exchange. Continuing the close-quarters brawl would only bring it further harm. It had to break the deadlock.
It ducked its head, accepting a bleeding cut across its skull from the Hunter's scythe, then drove all four limbs against the ground and leaped back roughly two body lengths.
Seeing it retreat, Altaïr did not rush forward to close the distance.
The gap between them was nearly forty meters. It would take him at least several seconds to reach the Brute Tigrex, and by then the Monster would likely have another attack prepared. More than likely, a head-on charge would be waiting for him.
He breathed out softly, angled the giant scythe at his waist, and entered an Iai stance.
Admittedly, using this weapon for an Iai Slash was awkward. It was called a Long Sword, but it was really a giant scythe and did not even have a sheath.
Even with his extraordinary coordination, it had taken him quite some time to work out how to unleash the proper effect and power of an Iai Slash with this "sword" without first cutting off his own hand.
After leaping back to a safe distance, the Brute Tigrex let out a habitual roar. Then it dug its claws into the ground and gave a powerful shove.
Several boulders hurtled toward the Hunter like cannonballs.
Altaïr narrowed his eyes. An ethereal sheath, existing only in his imagination, flashed around the scythe. A streak of blade light shattered one of the boulders flying toward him.
The moment the flying rocks were dealt with, he raised his scythe again and returned to his concentrated stance.
He did not believe the Brute Tigrex had endured his attack and forced itself to leap backward merely to throw a few rocks.
Sure enough, as the obstructing dust and stone fragments cleared, the Brute Tigrex was already roaring with its maw wide open, less than twenty meters away and charging straight at him.
Using flying rocks as a feint for its charge?
Altaïr's pupils contracted. His nerves drew taut as bowstrings. In that state of extreme concentration, the entire world seemed to collapse into a single point at the center of his vision.
Twenty meters, ten meters, five meters...
Now!
Altaïr unleashed Instant Slash again and flashed sideways.
He was not foolish enough to collide head-on with a Brute Tigrex charging at full speed. Only Isis would try something like that.
His target was the narrow gap, less than a person's height, between the Brute Tigrex's forelimb and the ground!
From the Brute Tigrex's perspective, the Hunter simply vanished. Then searing pain tore through its forepaw and ribs as its flesh was cleaved open.
The two swept past each other.
Altaïr turned and swung his blade. In response, the Spirit energy lingering in the Brute Tigrex's wounds erupted, ripping them wider and dealing a second burst of damage.
Its charge missed, and one foreleg had taken a heavy blow. The Brute Tigrex lurched violently as its center of gravity shifted.
Against a normal Tigrex, that strike would have been enough to make it stumble and fall. This Brute Tigrex, however, displayed athleticism and balance far beyond the base species.
It followed its violently tilting center of gravity into a roll, dispersing the momentum of its charge while turning around at the same time.
The movement was a little clumsy, but its ability to turn a disadvantage into an advantage in an instant amazed the Hunter. No, it shocked him.
Powerful claws dug into the ground again as the Brute Tigrex roared and launched another charge at the Hunter behind it.
Altaïr simultaneously raised his blade into the opening stance for Instant Slash.
With the Talisman's support, the technique's preparation time had been reduced to less than one and a half seconds.
It required little preparation, consumed no Spirit Gauge, and could be chained repeatedly as a high-speed advancing maneuver. Of every Weapon Art he had mastered, it was the one best suited to countering charge attacks, even consecutive ones.
Let's see how many times you can charge in a row...