Seeing the Tigrex topple over, Altaïr's first instinct was naturally to attack.
But just then, Sajji's anxious scream came from the hillside not far away, "Run fast meow!"
As it spoke, it pulled a new shell from behind its back, stuffed it into the chamber of the "Rathalos Model-01" in front of its body, and immediately yanked the firing cord.
"Thump–Boom!" A second shell exploded brightly against the Tigrex's body.
Due to the reduced propellant, the muzzle velocity was slow, and because of the long distance, the shell's piercing power was severely lacking; it failed to penetrate the scales and detonated the moment it touched the creature's torso.
The rising explosive flame looked beautiful against the night sky, but the actual damage caused was very limited. Being able to knock the Tigrex over just now was pure luck, the result of multiple coincidences and favorable factors stacked together.
Watching the Tigrex supporting itself with its wingclaws, looking as if it were about to stand up, Altaïr instantly snapped to his senses. The Tigrex before them hadn't fallen because of heavy injuries or physical weakness; it had simply lost its balance during the charge attack, which amounted to nothing more than a stumble.
There was little point in rushing up to land a few slashes; once it recovered its strength, he and the others would still be in peril.
Just as the arriving support Sajji said, taking this opportunity to flee was the best choice.
Having made his decision, Altaïr immediately sheathed his weapon and hurried to the side of the swaying, getting-up Isis, helping her up while also helping her retrieve the Gunlance that had fallen nearby.
"Can you still move?"
Isis's face was somewhat pale, but she still nodded quickly, took the Gunlance from Altaïr's hand, and folded it away.
"Boom!"
Yet another shell exploded on the Tigrex's body.
It was as if someone had thrown a few firecrackers at it; the damage was average, but the insult was extremely high. White steam puffed from the nostrils of the Tigrex as it climbed to its feet, staring menacingly at Sajji, who had the turret set up on the distant hillside.
Sajji was overjoyed at the sight. Everything it had done was intended to cover Altaïr and the others' retreat; it couldn't be better that the Tigrex was shifting its attention to itself.
It simply began to hop around, shouting things like "Come over here meow!" and even took out a horn to play "dee-dee-doo-doo" notes.
The Tigrex naturally couldn't understand human language, but it felt that provocative attitude loud and clear.
Unable to endure such a provocation, the Tigrex gave a great roar, abandoned the two Hunters retreating stealthily behind it, and launched a charge attack toward the Felyne on the hillside.
To it, there seemed to be no difference between a Hunter and a Felyne.
"Meow!" Sajji quickly pawed at the dirt, burrowing underground.
It loved this soft soil; it could dig anywhere, anytime. Unlike in the Desert, where encountering sand was fine, but if luck was bad and you hit a stretch of bedrock, you couldn't dig in even if you wore your claws blunt.
As for the Rathalos Model-01, Sajji really wanted to take it underground as well, but there wasn't enough time.
Only seconds after it burrowed beneath the surface, the Tigrex crashed onto the hillside, crushing the portable turret it had worked so hard to build into splinters with a single bite.
Then, like a canine venting its fury, it gave its head a violent shake, scattering the jagged fragments of metal and wooden mechanical components all over the ground.
—--
Taking advantage of the Tigrex's wild rampage, Altaïr and Isis, both somewhat injured, finally reached that fissure.
The two of them fixed their Slinger Clutch Claws to a rock, then leaped into the fissure, rappelling toward its depths.
Within seconds, they reached the very bottom of the fissure.
The sun had completely set, the light on the great prairie was dim, and deep inside the fissure, it was pitch black.
Altaïr lit the portable oil lamp with his fire striker, and after briefly confirming there were no messy monster nests inside the fissure, he immediately blew out the wick.
"The scent of the Paintball can interfere with the Tigrex's sense of smell; we should be safe for now," Altaïr whispered.
Isis let out a soft breath, unequipped the tower shield and Gunlance from her back, leaned them to the side, and sat down on the ground with some difficulty.
There was some water flowing at the bottom of the fissure, which would wet their armor, but they were both exhausted now and couldn't be bothered by such things.
Altaïr first downed a bottle of Potion, then took out another and poured it over the wound on his leg torn open by the dragon's claws to clean the wound while also promoting healing.
Having quickly finished this, he didn't rush to stitch the wound or tie bandages; instead, he helped Isis remove her heavy chest piece.
Isis had been sent flying a long distance by the Tigrex's claw strike just now; the claw marks on the alloy shield were clearly visible, and the impact when she hit the ground was also very heavy, there was a high chance of bone cracks or even fractures.
In a crisis or during combat, it would be one thing, but now that it was relatively safe, it was better to confirm the state of her bones first.
If a bone was fractured and misaligned, and a large amount of Potion was consumed to accelerate healing, it could cause the bone to grow crooked; then it would have to be broken again to be reset, which would involve a lot of suffering.
After an inspection, Altaïr grimaced and tossed Isis a bottle of Potion, "You're fine. Other than the right arm holding the shield being slightly dislocated, which you already forced back into place, the rest are just muscle contusions. There's nothing wrong with the bones.
Your body really is absurdly tough, being unharmed after being knocked that far away."
"It's thanks to this Barroth armor set," Isis uncorked the bottle and tilted her neck back to gulp down the medicine. "If it were that previous Jaggi–Bullfango Mixed Set, I probably wouldn't have been able to stand up after that one claw.
Ah, the skin on your leg has split open; should I help you stitch it?"
"Then I'll trouble you."
After helping each other treat their wounds, the two rested in silence for a while. Suddenly, Altaïr began to laugh lowly; the "hee-hee-hee" sound made Isis feel uneasy all over.
"What are you laughing at?!" Isis had a "you're being weird" expression.
Altaïr leaned back against the rock wall behind him, looked up at the sliver of starlit sky, and reached out an empty hand to grasp at it. "Nothing. I just feel like the distance to the goal has become a bit clearer."
Having talked about each other's pasts, Isis naturally knew what the "goal" Altaïr spoke of referred to.
She pursed her lips. "It's still so far away. If there had been a few more mistakes this time, we both would have been finished here.
It was also lucky that Sajji lured the Tigrex away twice, otherwise we probably wouldn't have even had a chance to escape."
"Meow?"
Just as she mentioned Sajji, a furry cat face peeked out from the edge of the fissure opening above. "Here meow! Found you meow! I guessed Boss would come here meow!"
Hasty footsteps came from overhead, and soon after, a tense-looking Naziya also appeared in their line of sight.
Seeing Altaïr and Isis waving to her from the bottom of the fissure, Naziya breathed a long sigh of relief and shook her head full of curls. "Oh my god, thank goodness you guys are okay...
When I heard the Tigrex roar and saw the SOS flare, I was scared to death."
"Where is that Tigrex?" Isis raised her voice a bit and asked.
"Brother Jara lured it away meow," Sajji said, sniffing forcefully. "Judging from the scent emitted by the Paintball, it seems to have gone toward the northeast meow."
"Brother Jara? He went to lure the Tigrex away alone?" Altaïr sounded a bit anxious.
Earlier, he and Isis working together hadn't been able to shake the Tigrex's pursuit; they only barely escaped with Sajji's help. Let the chubby guy Jara go alone, could he really be okay?
"Oh, don't worry!" Naziya waved her hand with a smile. "That guy looks unreliable, but he is a 4★ after all. Besides, the thing he's best at is running away. If he just keeps running, even a Tigrex will have a hard time catching him."
Altaïr's expression became strange; he opened his mouth but couldn't find anything to say.
Jara never usually took the initiative to talk to them about hunting matters; this time, it was only when they accepted the mission that they heard he was actually a 4★ Hunter.
Previously, judging from his equipment and age, they had thought he was a 3★.
What did a 4★ Hunter in his twenties represent? Coincidentally, Altaïr knew another example: the senior Serl they had collaborated with during The Desert Feast.
Jara should be slightly older than Serl, but likely only by two or three years; they belonged to the same generation.
But the impression these two gave off was simply too different. One was a reliable senior, a young and promising elite Hunter; the other was a lazy, slacking, gluttonous fat guy.
If senior Serl were here and said he was going to lure the Tigrex away alone, Altaïr wouldn't even feel worried.
But changing it to Brother Jara... why did he always get the feeling the guy was just going to go feed the Tigrex?
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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TL NOTES: LORE SECTION
Some terms and creatures referenced in this story may be unfamiliar to readers new to the Monster Hunter universe. The following entries provide additional context.
CONCEPTS
Hunter Star Ranking (★) — The Guild's system for evaluating a hunter's experience and clearance level, ranging from 1★ (beginner) up to the highest tiers reserved for veteran elites. Rank determines which quests a hunter may undertake and reflects overall combat capability. Reaching 4★ in one's twenties is considered genuinely exceptional, as most hunters at that age are still consolidating 2★ or 3★ credentials.
Paintball — A small throwable ball of brightly colored paint used to mark a monster and track its location on the hunter's map for a limited time. Also used, as seen here, to mask a hunter's scent trail by leaving a strong artificial odor that confuses monsters with a keen sense of smell.