With several powerful techniques layered one atop another, this single Spirit Helm Breaker had already surpassed the standard of most Hunter Arts.
The blade flashed downward, and blood sprayed from the side of the Chaotic Gore Magala's neck. The strike carved a wound deep into its spine and left a glaring mark even across that impossibly hard bone.
Had the blow carried a little more force, it might have severed the Monster's head outright.
After expending so much effort and even gambling his life, Altaïr was nowhere near finished after a single slash.
Spirit Release Unsurpassed Slash followed, every bit as powerful as the Spirit Helm Breaker, if not even stronger.
As the blade danced wildly, it split open the Chaotic Gore Magala's chest. Its beating heart was faintly visible within the intersecting, cross-shaped wounds.
The chaotic sword aura raged like a storm, continuing to ravage the wounds from within.
The Monster's blood soaked through Altaïr's armor and was absorbed through his skin, stabilizing his body on the verge of collapse.
Altaïr deactivated Tempered Spirit Blade and stepped back to clear the attack position. Isis moved in to fill the gap at once.
Taking advantage of the Chaotic Gore Magala still reeling from the heavy blow, she thrust her Gunlance into its chest.
"Wyvern's Fire!"
After a brief charge, a torrent of scorching explosive flame erupted inside the Chaotic Gore Magala's thoracic cavity and blasted its heart apart.
This was a truly fatal blow. Not even an Elder Dragon with astonishing vitality could survive the destruction of its heart.
Yet the Chaotic Gore Magala did not stop moving.
The force of the shelling drove it upright onto its hind legs. As though completing some ritualistic movement, it fully extended its badly damaged wings overhead.
A purple light as brilliant as sunlight gathered in its mouth.
Its head and throat were already too badly damaged to contain energy of such intensity. Light and flame sprayed continuously from its wounds like water from a ruptured pipe.
Even so, it showed no sign of stopping. It dragged out every last ounce of strength, every final trace of life force, and poured it all into the attack.
"Fall back!" Altaïr roared, turning to sprint away.
A streak of fire shot toward the Monster.
Having remained alert for the Chaotic Gore Magala's death throes, Morgan had promptly fired a round of Supernova Bowgun Ammo.
Standing motionless on its hind legs, the Chaotic Gore Magala made a perfect target. The round bored precisely into the wound in its chest and detonated inside its body.
The massive fireball nearly blew its entire chest open. Every one of its internal organs was incinerated in the blast.
Sajji activated the portable Dragonator at the same moment.
The rotating alloy spearhead drilled into the Monster's abdomen, and the powerful mechanical thrust nearly flipped it over.
By then, it might already have been dead, but the energy continued to gather.
The buildup continued until the energy finally slipped completely out of control. A terrifying explosion swept across the ravaged forest clearing.
The blast wave spread an appalling concentration of the Frenzy Virus in every direction, and the virus would ride the wind to even more distant places.
This was its final act of vengeance against the world.
—--
"Haaah..."
Altaïr sighed heavily as he gazed at the massive crater in the forest clearing and the shattered, dismembered corpse within it.
He and Isis had promptly put some distance between themselves and the Monster before hitting the ground, but the final explosion had still left them badly injured. Emergency treatment and rest had since placed them out of danger.
What truly troubled him was the corpse.
Without that final explosion, the materials they could salvage from it might just have been enough to craft a full set of equipment.
But now... there probably would not be enough.
Beside the corpse, which had already begun to rot and reek, the scholars bustled about their work.
After the Hunt ended, the Hunters had not left immediately. Instead, they had rested at the site and kept watch over the corpse.
Their reason was simple.
This creature possessed extraordinarily tenacious vitality. In the past, when little was known about the species, a Hunter had Hunted a Gore Magala, carved materials from it, and left the corpse behind.
Some time later, a Shagaru Magala had burst from the Gore Magala's corpse, reborn and ready to continue wreaking havoc.
To eliminate that possibility entirely, the Hunters had chosen to remain on guard until the scholars arrived.
Upon hearing from the Meowcenaries' Felynes who had raced back to Red Stronghold that a Gore Magala displaying "abnormal metamorphosis" had appeared, the director decisively dropped all her work, gathered her scholars, and rushed to the scene aboard an Airship.
Similar individuals had appeared in the past. One extraordinarily skilled Hunter had Hunted such a creature but brought back only a small quantity of materials.
By the time those materials passed through the Guild and eventually reached the scholars at the Frenzy Virus Research Institute, very little remained. What did survive was no longer fresh and yielded scant information.
Now, however, a freshly dead corpse awaited their dissection and study...
The director could only regret that she had not sent several researchers along with the Hunters from the start.
The dissection continued throughout the day.
More precisely, the scholars spent the entire day extracting key samples, then divided the Chaotic Gore Magala's corpse into sections and loaded them onto the ship.
They planned to transport the remains back to Red Stronghold by Airship and conduct more detailed research with the facilities there.
—--
The Hunters returned to Red Stronghold aboard the same Airship. After receiving professional medical treatment and recuperating for several days, they embarked on a new round of Hunts.
The source of the infection in the Flooded Forest had been dealt with, but a considerable number of infected creatures remained. They had to be eliminated quickly to prevent the birth of new Gore Magala.
—--
For more than a week, the Hunters traveled back and forth between Red Stronghold and the hunting grounds. At last, the study of the Chaotic Gore Magala reached a preliminary conclusion.
According to the director, humanity now possessed a deeper understanding of this creature.
To her, the new batch of higher-quality Wystones and the targeted medicines capable of curing this Frenzy Virus outbreak rather than merely suppressing its effects were only by-products of the research.
Once the research reached its interim conclusion, the disposition of the Chaotic Gore Magala's materials was settled as well.
Because the corpse had suffered such extensive damage, there were not many materials suitable for crafting equipment. Altaïr took what remained to Hibasa, Kamura Village's lead smith, for an assessment.
After examining them, Hibasa said the materials were sufficient to forge one weapon, with a little likely left over, but certainly not enough to craft an entire Armor Set.
If they were used to forge a weapon, the properties of the materials meant the finished product would possess the Dragon Element.
Altaïr already possessed Tyrant Blade [Heaven Swallower] and had no need for a Dragon Element weapon. Isis used a Gunlance and had never cared much for elemental damage.
Moreover, according to Hibasa, the finished weapon might not outperform their current primary weapons, making the project largely unnecessary.
Morgan and Nymera likewise had no need for new weapons.
Neither particularly large nor particularly small, the batch of materials made the rounds before ending up back in Altaïr's hands...
Just as he was racking his brain over how to put them to use, Hibasa offered him another idea.
"Because it existed in an intermediate state, the Chaotic Gore Magala's materials possess unusual properties. They have excellent affinity with both Shagaru Magala and Gore Magala materials.
A Shagaru Magala might be too difficult for you, but a Gore Magala... you might still stand a chance.
If you can Hunt a Gore Magala and gather enough high-quality materials from it, you should be able to craft an exceptionally fine offensive Armor Set."
Just as Altaïr began wondering whether he should ask Guild Master Hojo if any reports of Gore Magala sightings had arrived from elsewhere...
Some unwelcome news arrived.
The elite squad led by Maki had returned to Red Stronghold. Their pursuit Hunt had failed.
The cunning Shagaru Magala had escaped...