Altaïr and Sajji fought as they retreated, attempting to lure the Kecha Wacha toward the flat plains or a rocky canyon with sparse vegetation.
The tactic of provoking the Kecha Wacha's fury through mischief was highly effective, but the Kecha Wacha's intelligence exceeded the Hunter's expectations.
Upon realizing the Hunter intended to leave the vegetated area, the Kecha Wacha decisively halted its pursuit, remaining in a rocky hollow covered by vines, warily watching the Hunter who kept waving and taunting it.
From this alone, one could see that the Kecha Wacha was at least smarter than that Tigrex that had been literally run to death.
The "Absolute Challenger" was fearless and thus charged recklessly; the Kecha Wacha lacked that confidence, having already sensed the Hunter's threat during their brief earlier exchange.
Since he clearly has the strength to fight me head-on, why does he keep trying to run? Something's not right...
Stopping in his tracks, Altaïr felt a bit helpless. No matter how he taunted it, shouting loudly or firing Paintballs, that Kecha Wacha simply wouldn't take the bait, just hanging on the vine net and watching them warily.
Is my monster-luring technique really still not up to par?
Failing to guide the target to the most suitable battlefield was a regret for Altaïr, but it didn't affect the upcoming battle.
He liked formulating tactics because reasonable tactical planning could make a hunt smooth and easy, but when a head-on clash was required, he would never back down.
Since the tactics couldn't proceed, Altaïr simply terminated the luring plan and charged straight at the Kecha Wacha cautiously swinging through the giant vine net.
"Screech–"
Facing the approaching enemy, the Kecha Wacha let out a rat-like shriek. Its soft long nose whipped around, spitting out several globs of mucus in a fan shape toward the Hunter.
The destructive power of these mucus globs could be ignored, but once they touched armor or clothing, movement would be severely hindered, just like that Vespoid earlier.
So he absolutely could not be hit.
Altaïr's pace quickened further. At the final moment before the mucus globs would have connected, he performed a plunging roll, dodging the slime while further closing the distance with the Kecha Wacha.
The Kecha Wacha didn't just stand there watching. As the Hunter rolled to dodge the attack, he inevitably exposed a vulnerability.
The agile and clever Kecha Wacha seized this opening. Before Altaïr even had a chance to stand up, it swung close with lightning speed, reaching out with its sharp claws to rake him.
Altaïr was well-prepared for this.
While rising, he drew his Long Sword halfway from its scabbard. The unsheathed blade shielded the vital areas of his head and neck, clashing directly against the Kecha Wacha's incoming claws.
Following the force of the claw strike, Altaïr, before he had even stood fully upright, took a large step forward in a posture that would seem extremely awkward to a normal person, passing the Kecha Wacha.
The blade slid completely out of the scabbard at this moment, and as he turned, he swung the strike toward the opponent behind him.
The Kecha Wacha clearly hadn't expected the Hunter to counterattack while protecting an opening. Caught off guard, its back was sliced open by the tip of the blade.
It swung its arms in panic, dangling among the vines to pull back and gain some distance.
Altaïr brandished his Long Sword, attempting to follow up, but the presence of the giant vine net allowed the Kecha Wacha to maximize its mobility. For a moment, he couldn't even land a hit.
"Sajji!" Altaïr shouted a reminder while quickening his pace to continue the pursuit.
"Understood, meow!"
An inconspicuous small grey orb landed a few meters in front of the Kecha Wacha. The Kecha Wacha didn't care about it at all, thinking it was just a pebble falling from the giant vine net.
However, in the next second, a high-frequency noise unbearable to the monster's sensitive hearing exploded.
The Kecha Wacha's flagship giant earflaps were the perfect sound collectors, funnelling the expanding noise directly into its brain.
The Kecha Wacha felt a buzz– in its head. The entire world in its eyes became distorted and blurred, and the sense of balance that allowed it to leap acrobatically between branches and vines vanished instantly.
The claws hooked onto the giant vine net loosened, and its entire body fell uncontrollably from the net.
"Aow!" The Kecha Wacha wailed as it tumbled onto the ground.
The height between the giant vine net and the ground was only about six or seven meters, so it wasn't as if the Kecha Wacha fell that hard, but the unfamiliar dizziness and the agonizing pain in its eardrums, which felt like they were about to burst, were unbearable.
Altaïr, hot on the Kecha Wacha's heels, didn't waste a single second. At maximum speed, he shouldered his Long Sword and entered a charging stance.
During the previous battle with the Tigrex, he had realized the flaws of using a Long Sword to perform a Charged Slash, but he hadn't had the time or ability to remedy those flaws yet.
Even so, the power of a Charged Slash was not to be underestimated. In the current moment where the battle had just begun and he hadn't yet been able to build up Spirit, the Charged Slash remained his best option.
After a brief one or two-second Charge, the Long Sword cleaved down, landing squarely on the top of the Kecha Wacha's head, its most fragile vital spot.
The Iron Gospel easily broke through the Kecha Wacha's head fur and skin, carving a blood-spurting wound into its forehead.
Without a moment's pause, Altaïr shifted his posture. He raised the Long Sword again to quickly complete a Charge, and an even heavier strike than the last cleaved down.
Strong Charged Slash!
Under Altaïr's excellent body control, the landing points of the two strikes overlapped perfectly. The sharp blade of the Long Sword tore further through flesh until a hard sensation of the blade hitting the skull traveled up the hilt. Only then did Altaïr pull the hilt back with all his might, dragging it fiercely.
"Giaoo!!"
Amidst agonizing wails, the wound on the Kecha Wacha's forehead widened further. Through the window of mangled flesh, one could even see the white bone of the skull and the sword mark etched upon it.
After these two heavy strikes, the Spirit Gauge wrapped around the Long Sword's blade had clearly solidified significantly.
Altaïr did not choose to shoulder the Long Sword for another Charged Slash. Instead, he swung his arms with maximum speed, delivering high-speed consecutive slashes.
Spirit Combo!
Following a full set of strikes, several more bloody gashes appeared on the Kecha Wacha's freakish face. Taking advantage of the moment the Kecha Wacha was trying to stand after recovering some strength, Altaïr twisted his body to rotate the blade, sweeping the Long Sword horizontally across the Kecha Wacha's side.
Spirit Roundslash!
After this strike, a white glow flashed on the Long Sword's blade, and Altaïr's overall presence surged with it.
Sheathing his weapon, Altaïr took a step back.
Having just received a brutal beating, it was almost certain that the Kecha Wacha would enter a frenzy.
At this time, continuing to mindlessly attack would be overextending. Slightly opening up a safe distance and deciding whether to keep up the pressure or temporarily avoid its focus was the best choice.
"Giaooooo–!!!"
The Kecha Wacha roared in fury with red eyes. Its giant earflaps shook a few times, looking as if they were about to close up to protect its fragile head.
Altaïr couldn't help but feel a bit of regret. Both the Monster Field Guide and his old buddy Jara had strongly emphasized this point.
When the head is encased by the ears, intense light and noise become useless against the Kecha Wacha, and under the protection of the ears, its head is no longer a weak point.
In this state, the Kecha Wacha would undoubtedly become much more troublesome.
However, at the very second before the Kecha Wacha's ears were about to close, a Flash Pod flew in ahead of time, passing through those closing earflaps to burst brightly in front of the Kecha Wacha's eyes.
The Kecha Wacha's body stiffened as if it had been struck by lightning. Like a drunkard, its entire body began to wobble.
Under the sudden intense light, it fell into a daze.
Altaïr, who had been prepared to maneuver depending on the situation, was also stunned for a moment, followed by immense joy.
There was no one else who could have thrown that Flash Pod at the perfect moment other than Sajji. This timing was captured brilliantly; had it been even half a second later, once the Kecha Wacha's earflaps had fully closed, the Flash Pod would have had no effect.
It seems that over these few months, the little fellow has grown in far more than just mechanical skills!
"Great job!" Altaïr was never stingy with praise. After shouting his approval, he brandished his Long Sword and charged in to continue the heavy offense.
Not far away, Sajji, having just finished throwing the Flash Pod, hurriedly began pushing a nearby mobile artillery unit, adjusting the angle of attack and loading a shell into the chamber.
(Translated by yourtl.app)