Faced with the Hunters charging straight at it, the Chaotic Gore Magala leaped backward to put some distance between them.
This retreat was not born of fear.
Aside from its virus-laden scale powder, its most formidable weapons were its Wingtalons, which were far thicker than its limbs.
Their reach was considerable, allowing them to strike enemies beside and even behind its body, but they were unwieldy against opponents pressed close to its face.
It had withdrawn to bring the Hunters within their ideal attack range.
Altaïr and Isis immediately grasped its intent. They needed to stay as close to their opponent as possible. Only then could they seize the initiative.
Isis raised her Large Shield, held her Gunlance diagonally behind her, and charged.
She did not use Blast Dash to close the distance. Their brief earlier exchange had shown her that this Gore Magala, caught midway through its metamorphosis, possessed exceptional reflexes and remarkably agile limbs.
Taking flight recklessly would give it an easy opening to swat her out of the air. Only with her feet planted firmly on the ground could she react freely in battle.
"Haahhh!" Isis growled as her charge grew faster and faster. Her fighting spirit was not especially concentrated, but its sheer volume and ferocity were staggering, forming a whirlwind-like torrent before her shield.
This was Shield Assault, a Lance Hunter Art. With her extraordinary strength, she could execute it even while wielding a Gunlance!
The Chaotic Gore Magala sensed the danger in her imposing charge. Before Isis could close in, it swept a Wingtalon at her, trying to swat her away.
Isis neither dodged nor flinched before the incoming giant claw. She charged straight ahead.
She was confident that she could overpower the Wingtalon in a head-on collision, but that would not bring out Shield Assault's full power.
One second before impact, Isis stopped abruptly. Her tensed thighs drove the twist of her waist and back, channeling all the momentum of her charge into her weapon.
Demon King Tyrant, heavier than an ordinary Great Sword, blurred as she swung it around to meet the Chaotic Gore Magala's Wingtalon.
The two hard, razor-sharp surfaces collided and scraped with a piercing screech. The Chaotic Gore Magala's right Wingtalon, larger than Isis's entire body, was knocked aside.
The searing blade sliced through the metallic gold-white scales and carved a massive wound across its palm.
"Roar!" The Chaotic Gore Magala cried out in pain, but its movements did not slow in the slightest.
It had failed to gain the upper hand, but it had at least stopped its opponent. Its pitch-black left Wingtalon rose high, poised to slam down on Isis.
Isis grinned and raised her Large Shield, lowering her center of gravity as she prepared to withstand the blow.
Her objective had already been achieved.
A blur almost too fast for the naked eye flashed past her side and reached the Chaotic Gore Magala in an instant.
With all its attention fixed on Isis, it had no time to react before a sharp blade wreathed in Spirit Gauge energy pierced the left side of its neck and sank nearly halfway in.
Altaïr exhaled sharply and wrenched the blade through the Chaotic Gore Magala's neck, opening a massive wound more than two meters long from within.
He had deliberately targeted the left side of its body, where no gold-white scales offered protection.
The scales there were visibly thinner and more fragile, and the area still bore open wounds from the earlier battle and scorch marks left by Wyvern's Fire blasts.
As an attacker, he would never overlook even the smallest weakness on a Monster, much less one whose body was nearly half "weak spot."
Blood carrying a high concentration of Frenzy Virus particles sprayed from the wound and splashed over him.
Even with the Wystone suppressing the infection, the dormant Frenzy Virus within him stirred restlessly, as though ready to erupt at any moment.
Purplish-red veins that had been absent for days crept back into his eyes. A savage urge rose within him, tempting him to cast aside the Wystone, let the Frenzy Virus erupt unchecked, and lose himself in a frenzied slaughter with his opponent.
No. Even if he truly had to risk his life one day, this was not the time.
Forcing down the ill-timed impulse with reason, Altaïr let out a low shout and swung his blade in an Overhead Slash.
Empowered by both the Spirit Gauge he had built since the battle began and Demon Mode, the Long Sword in his hands became a dark crimson blur. Overhead Slash flowed into Rising Slash, then Spirit Fade Slash, the sequence cycling at high speed as his blade tore repeatedly across the Chaotic Gore Magala's vital chest and neck with a speed that nearly matched a Blade Dance.
Crimson Slash combo!
At such close range, the Gore Magala's counterattacks were terribly awkward. It instinctively raised its forelimbs to block, but Altaïr knocked them aside with his sword and pressed the assault.
Maddened by the agony, the Chaotic Gore Magala no longer cared whether it hurt itself. It swung its exceptionally thick right Wingtalon toward its own chest, trying to crush the Hunter against its body like a mosquito biting its skin.
The whistle of claws tearing through the air alerted Altaïr to the attack from behind, but he did not even consider dodging. He simply continued his assault.
He knew someone would handle the danger for him.
"Haah!" With a single sliding step, Isis moved behind Altaïr, braced her Large Shield, and slammed it into the inner joint of the incoming Wingtalon.
Her Insta-Block neutralized the impact and halted the Wingtalon. Even as the Chaotic Gore Magala's sustained force drove her sliding backward, she held her Defensive Stance firm.
She was not the type to absorb a blow without retaliating. With a mighty shout, she angled her shield to deflect the Gore Magala's claw swipe, then brought her Gunlance down with all her strength while squeezing the trigger. Full Burst!
"Taste this!"
The Chaotic Gore Magala's Wingtalon was knocked aside once more. Seizing the opening, Altaïr carved dozens of crisscrossing wounds across its chest. He ended the sequence with a Spirit Roundslash, and his momentum once again soared to its limit.
Catching the newly condensed Spirit at its sharpest instant, he twisted his body and sprang into a spinning leap.
The Spinning Crimson Slash, far more powerful than an ordinary roundslash, erupted toward the Gore Magala's head. The diagonal strike carved a wound across its face and nearly severed its not-yet-fully-hardened dark purple horn.
The Hunters' fierce, coordinated assault forced the Chaotic Gore Magala to retreat again.
It pushed off with all four limbs and leaped back several dozen meters. Ignoring the wounds across its chest and neck tearing open a second time, the Chaotic Gore Magala raised its head and loosed a long howl.
Its two horns, one gold-white and the other purple-black, erupted with light at the same time.
The Frenzy Virus enveloping the Chaotic Gore Magala became even more active, staining the very air an ominous violet.
It raised a Wingtalon high as the fully activated Frenzy Virus condensed in its palm. Then it smashed the Wingtalon down toward the ground.
Neither Isis nor Altaïr paid much attention to the strike.
They were still roughly twenty to thirty meters from the Gore Magala. Even if the energy in its palm detonated when the Wingtalon struck the ground, that distance should have been reasonably safe, and the residual shockwave should have posed little threat.
Both of them had underestimated the blow's power.
The Chaotic Gore Magala detonated more than the mass of energy in its palm. The vast amount of scale powder scattered across the ground during the previous battle exploded at the same time.
The purplish-black energy became a fan-shaped shockwave that swept toward the two Hunters before it.
Their expressions changed sharply. This was far more than a mere "residual shockwave," and the energy blast covered an enormous area. It was already too late to evade.
"Get behind me!" Isis quickened her pace, stepped in front of Altaïr, and slammed down her Large Shield.
In the next instant, the continuously erupting wave of purplish-black energy engulfed them both.
* * *
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