Isis pushed herself to sprint forward.
Due to the iron fence barrier, she couldn't clearly see the situation on the adjacent arena, but from the abruptly interrupted roar of the Khezu on the other side, she could tell Altaïr had already engaged.
She was still twenty to thirty meters away from her opponent. Damn! I need to practice running more when I have a chance!
Isis gritted her teeth and continued charging forward.
Her luck was quite good; the brief roar from the Khezu on the other arena distracted the Khezu on her side.
It turned its head to glance over, not attacking immediately nor issuing a threatening roar.
Seizing this opportunity, Isis successfully closed in on the Khezu's front.
She really wished to start with Sonic Bomb like she did against Yian Kut-Ku, stunning the prey and then delivering a first-strike Wyvern's Fire.
Then follow up with Shells, Wyrmstake Cannon, and unleash everything at once, suppressing the opponent instantly with such explosive offense to seize initiative.
However, Sonic Bombs were ineffective against Khezu. This creature was sensitive to vibrations but not fearful of high-frequency noise.
Flash Pods were even less useful, it didn't even have eyes.
Unable to rely on tricks, she had to resort to the most direct method: close in on the monster and swing her weapon to slash it!
"Ha!" Charging before the monster, Isis seized the initiative with a full-power Descending Slash aimed at the Khezu's head.
The Khezu, distracted by its kin's cry, reacted belatedly. It retracted its head trying to evade but was still half a beat too slow, struck by the cutting edge at the tip of the Gunlance.
An unclear part, either forehead or upper jaw, was sliced open into a bloody gash.
This blow angered the Khezu. Its neck twisted and lifted, displaying flexibility rarely seen among vertebrates, dodging the hunter's subsequent sideways swing, then suddenly lunged forward to bite.
The ultra-high-intensity training that nearly exhausted her over the past month proved its worth.
Isis's mind thought to close the distance further and find a chance to deliver a few heavy blows, but her body moved reflexively.
Her waist sank, stabilizing her slightly scattered balance due to the missed attack instantly. She bent her legs slightly, rooting herself firmly like tree roots, while her right-hand Large Shield lifted slightly.
"Thump!"
The Khezu felt like biting into a rock wall. Its triangular sharp teeth scraped gratingly against the shield surface but couldn't breach the Large Shield's defense.
Good opportunity!
Isis's eyes brightened slightly. While trying her utmost to stabilize her stance and maintain the defensive posture, she leveled the Gunlance and pulled the trigger for Wyvern's Fire.
After a brief two-second charge, blazing explosive flames erupted fiercely. The powerful blast force threw the Khezu's head backward, staggering and revealing a clear opening.
Under the immense recoil, Isis slid backward several meters, unable to fully regain footing, and dashed forward at maximum speed, closing in to the Khezu's head in an instant.
While her prey hadn't yet recovered from Wyvern's Fire's heavy blow, she roared and swung the Gunlance, attacking with full force.
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On the other side of the arena.
Hearing the roar of Wyvern's Fire and that iconic "Ha-a-a-a-a!" shout, Altaïr knew that fellow was launching a suppression assault.
Khezu wasn't known for defensive capabilities. Isis's combo probably wouldn't outright knock it out but would inflict severe damage.
He must further accelerate his offensive pace here.
Altaïr, activating Demon Mode, flashed forward to the Khezu's front, starting with Crimson Blade Slash I, the fastest sword strike.
The upward slash and vertical chop trajectories almost perfectly overlapped. Only a very few on the stands realized this wasn't a single strike but two strikes with extremely short intervals.
Following closely was Spirit Fade Slash. As the opening move for spirit blade attacks, this strike might not be considered powerful, but its speed was also exceptionally fast, connecting almost seamlessly with Crimson Blade Slash I.
Three successive strikes unleashed within barely two seconds sliced three crisscrossing wounds on the Khezu's head side.
Compared to Amos's meticulously designed, repeatedly refined Crimson Blade Slash II and III, Altaïr still preferred this little combo he inadvertently discovered during Kecha Wacha hunts, Crimson Blade Slash linked with Spirit Fade Slash.
Each strike's power was only moderate, but attack speed was astonishing. More importantly, it could accumulate Spirit Gauge with remarkable efficiency, achieving rapid Spirit gauge raising.
Within mere seconds, several more wounds appeared on the Khezu's head and neck.
"Gyaa-a-a...!"
The Khezu angrily cried. Its originally short, thick neck of two to three meters suddenly elongated three to fourfold, stretching like a flexible, supple whip lashing toward the hunter before it.
Karin on the stands was intensely nervous. Seeing this scene, she nearly couldn't restrain herself from standing up.
Altaïr's offensive method after activating Demon Mode, charging close to the monster for high-speed combos, had a strong Blade Dance vibe.
As a Dual Blades user, she deeply understood the dangers of Blade Dance.
After all, high-speed Blade Dance attack motions weren't easily interrupted. Examples of Dual Blades users injured or even killed because of this were countless.
But the next moment she realized her worry seemed somewhat unnecessary.
The small combo of Crimson Blade Slash I linking with Spirit Fade Slash, due to its coherent motion and extremely high attack speed, easily created the mistaken impression of "this is a continuous sword technique like Blade Dance."
In reality, these were completely independent two moves. Under Demon Mode state, executing a single move took less than a second, with minimal openings.
This was another important reason Altaïr favored this little combo.
At the moment the Khezu's neck elongated, about to attack, he had already interrupted the combo, even leaving half a second for judgment.
After fully stretching, the Khezu's neck length could approach or exceed its original body length, nearly ten meters.
Attempting to retreat enough distance within this extremely short reaction time was almost impossible, so Altaïr chose to cancel Demon Mode and rolled forward, closing in near its chest and abdomen.
Even if your Khezu neck is flexible, the shoulder-neck junction can't press against the ground, right?
His judgment was correct.
Avoiding the Khezu's neck-swing attack thus, Altaïr rising also incidentally lifted the sword edge, retaliating with a Rising Slash familiar to Great Sword users.
"Owo-o-o-o...!"
Having its signature attack missed and being countered with a strike, the Khezu roared incessantly. It seemed intent to crush the hunter, pressing its body down.
Predicting this, Altaïr immediately spun and backstepped, using Foresight Slash to evade the Khezu's pressing attack.
While distancing slightly, he also noticed the originally bare tail tip of the Khezu suddenly opened, attaching like a suction cup onto the ground surface.
Having learned about Khezu ecology beforehand, he knew this was precursor to its electric discharge attack. Before the discharge truly began, there would be a brief charging delay period.
If it were himself over a month ago, keeping distance would be the only option now, but with greatly advanced swordsmanship now, he felt confident making better responses!
The motion after Foresight Slash had no pause. Leg muscles tensed like springs converting backward inertia into forward momentum.
Seizing this most dangerous instant, he dashed forward, the raised Long Sword in his hand like a suddenly striking venomous snake fang, slicing a wound on the Khezu's throat and neck.
Foresight Slash!
The unexpected counterattack caused an extremely brief delay in the Khezu's discharge action. Without slightest hesitation, Altaïr rolled backward at fastest speed.
Almost simultaneously, bright blue electric arcs burst from the Khezu's body, crackling covering the area he stood the previous moment.
Even a moment later would have severely injured him instantly.
This kind of extreme counterattack dancing on blade tips elevated Altaïr's momentum to its peak.
Having evaded safely though thrillingly, Altaïr quickly rose, hands overlapping, sword blade flipping pointing forward, gaze and focus firmly locking onto the continuously discharging Khezu.
Center lowered, legs bent, poised to launch.
The fading bright blue electric glow was the best attack signal. At the moment discharge ceased and the Khezu tiredly rose, Altaïr turned into an afterimage, thrusting his Long Sword fiercely forward.
This strike deeply pierced the Khezu's chest, but his attack wasn't finished yet.
Utilizing forward inertia and leverage from the Long Sword blade, Altaïr leaped upward, arriving above the Khezu's head midair.
His body flipped midair, adjusting posture, injecting all Spirit accumulated, refined, condensed thus far into the sword blade.
The originally plain bone sword blade shimmered with crimson Spirit Blade, as the Long Sword's heavy downward chop left a solid, lingering blade glow in the air.
Spirit Helm Breaker!
(Translated by yourtl.app)