Using spider silk to bind a target before launching a flying pounce propelled by the silk's tension was one of the Nerscylla's proudest trump cards.
Whether against herbivores like Mosswine and Aptonoth, or large Monsters even bigger than itself like the Yian Kut-Ku and Gypceros, this move was almost always invincible.
However, having it fail for a second time against a Hunter left the Nerscylla utterly infuriated.
Amidst strange, bubbling clicks, a dark purple venomous liquid was spat from the Nerscylla's mouthparts, coating the chelicerae that had previously been folded away into insignificance.
This was not venom secreted by the Nerscylla itself, but a lethal toxin stored within its body after preying on Monsters with venom glands and poison sacs, such as the Gypceros.
Immediately following this, the chelicerae on either side of its mouthparts snapped open with a "clack-clack."
Bristling with serrated barbs and dripping with deadly venom, the extended chelicerae looked exceptionally intimidating, but Altaïr felt no tension.
Between spitting the venom and deploying the chelicerae, the preparation time for this move was remarkably long.
Had he been bound by silk beforehand or heavily wounded by a leap, these poisoned pincers might truly be terrifying.
But with advance warning, the move was actually not difficult to evade.
In fact, Altaïr didn't even plan to dodge. In his eyes, this wasn't just a slow, telegraphed attack; it was a golden opportunity to strike!
As the Nerscylla flared its chelicerae wide and gathered its strength, he raised his arm and fired the Slinger. The Clutch Claw hissed through the air and hooked onto the venomous spikes on the Nerscylla's back.
As the mechanical reel rapidly retracted the cable, he launched himself into the air. The venomous chelicerae snapped shut with a "crunch!" beneath his feet, biting empty air exactly as expected.
The distance of over ten meters vanished in an instant. Vaulting to the Nerscylla's immediate flank, Altaïr released the Clutch Claw and used the massive inertia to twist his torso mid-air. His body spun at high speed, transforming into a blade storm that swept across the Nerscylla's back.
Midair Spinning Blade Dance!
For Dual Blades users of the old era, this was a technique of extreme difficulty.
It not only demanded near-obsessive levels of skill and balance from the user but also required specific terrain and perfect timing to execute successfully.
However, since the invention and gradual refinement of the Slinger, the difficulty of performing this move had been drastically reduced.
Now, it could be initiated proactively even on flat ground, and the choice of timing was far more flexible.
Landing on the ground, Altaïr's feet shuffled as he struggled to bleed off the excess inertia from the high-speed rotation. He eventually had to brace himself with one hand against the earth to finally steady his stance.
"Screee!" The Nerscylla's body shuddered.
The Hunter's attack had been unexpectedly effective.
Under the high-speed whirling blades, the Gypceros hide draped over the Nerscylla had been carved into a dense series of gashes. The flames erupting from the blades further scorched the leather, widening the string of cuts until they merged, eventually splitting the Gypceros hide down the middle into two pieces.
It is easy to wear a whole cloak, but if that cloak is sheared vertically down the back into two halves, it can no longer be worn.
At this point, the tattered Gypceros hide was barely clinging to the Nerscylla, held on only by the barbs on its limbs and the spikes protruding between its chitinous plates.
The Hunter didn't even need to do anything more; if the Nerscylla made any large movements or thrashed a few more times, the fragmented skin would naturally fall off.
Having confirmed this, Altaïr knew that his mission with the borrowed Kut-Ku Pair was essentially complete.
It wasn't that the Kut-Ku Pair was incapable of breaking through the Nerscylla's tough chitinous carapace to deal fatal damage, but the efficiency was simply too low.
It was time to switch back to the Iron Gospel.
Of course, the optimal choice at this moment would have been to switch to the thunder-element Eager Cleaver.
Unfortunately, he hadn't anticipated being able to borrow a pair of Fire Element Dual Blades before the battle started; otherwise, he would have brought the Eager Cleaver with him. As things stood, if he wanted to swap to the Eager Cleaver, he would have to find a way to disengage from combat and run back to the Hunter's Camp to change weapons.
Muttering a quiet curse at the misfortune, Altaïr began consciously moving toward the location of the Iron Gospel. In terms of absolute destructive power, the Iron Gospel was naturally superior to the Kut-Ku Pair.
Just as he was fighting and retreating, luring the Nerscylla in his desired direction, a shout suddenly erupted from the distant woods.
"Mr. Hunter! My father is awake! He said you'd definitely need this, so I brought it to you!" The boy who had left earlier had suddenly come running back.
Like a nimble Kelbi, he sprinted out of the forest, slammed the Eager Cleaver he carried on his back into the ground, and then turned and fled without stopping.
Altaïr didn't even have time to bark at him to leave before he had vanished from sight, leaving the Hunter unsure whether to praise or scold him.
Regardless, it was a kind gesture, and he had indeed done a good deed.
Beneath his visor, Altaïr gritted his teeth.
He was done playing the game of luring and kiting the Nerscylla. He simply raised his arm and fired the final Flash Pod loaded in his Slinger, dazing the Nerscylla where it stood.
He then sprinted to the Eager Cleaver, slinging the blade and its scabbard onto his back. He tossed the Kut-Ku Pair onto the ground nearby; he would apologize to the weapon's true owner once everything was over.
Equipped with the Long Sword, Altaïr's entire aura shifted.
It wasn't just because the Long Sword was a weapon that emphasized offense.
In the previous stage of the fight, his objective had been to strip away the Gypceros hide "armor" from the Nerscylla. Now, he was going for its life.
Because a Flash Pod had been used once before, the Nerscylla had developed some adaptation, making the stun effect of this second one noticeably weaker.
By the time Altaïr reached it with the Eager Cleaver, it had already mostly recovered its mobility.
Crackle! The Eager Cleaver was unsheathed, arcs of electricity dancing between the blade and the scabbard.
Altaïr strode forward, the lightning-wrapped blade carrying the momentum of his charge as it swung down vertically.
Step Slash.
The sword struck precisely atop the Nerscylla's head. As it carved a crack into the tough carapace, a burst of electric sparks exploded with a sharp pop where the blade made contact.
A patch of the chitinous carapace was scorched by the electricity, filling the air with a peculiar burnt smell, reminiscent of a mosquito hitting an electric swatter.
If the flames rising from the Kut-Ku Pair earlier had only caused the Nerscylla instinctive disgust and discomfort, then the electrical flashes exploding from the Eager Cleaver were now causing it genuine pain.
Instinctively, it pulled its body back, but immediately became even more enraged. It reared up, hoisting the two relatively short yet highly flexible chelicerae at the very front of its body, and slashed down at the hunter before it.
Altaïr, however, had already begun preparing for the Nerscylla's counterattack the moment he landed his first strike.
Centering his weight, he slanted the scabbard at his waist and flipped the blade to sheathe it.
Just as the sword clicked into the scabbard, the Nerscylla's claws lashed down. Without a moment's hesitation or pause, Altaïr flashed his blade from its sheath. Amidst a burst of electric light, two crossing slashes struck the descending claws one after the other, parrying the sharp appendages aside.
The Nerscylla's claws sank deep into the ground as its attack missed once more, while Spirit began to condense rapidly around the hunter.
With red light shining in its eyes, the Nerscylla, now in a state of fury, burst forward with speed far greater than usual. Its venom-dripping chelicerae snapped open and swung shut like shears toward the hunter in front of it.
Having seen through the Nerscylla's movements, Altaïr immediately swung his Long Sword and used the inertia of the sweep to spring backward.
The Nerscylla's chelicerae snapped shut almost right at the tip of his nose. A few droplets of splashed venom landed on his visor; he could even smell the foul stench wafting through the visor's grille and into his nostrils.
Taking advantage of the moment before the Nerscylla could retract its chelicerae, Altaïr lunged forward with a rising blade to counterattack.
Foresight Slash!
The force of this strike wasn't particularly heavy, and it naturally failed to sever the Nerscylla's hard chelicerae, but the electrical surge that followed the blade made the monster shudder. It hurriedly folded its chelicerae back, incessantly shaking its head.
With this strike, the Spirit Gauge surrounding the blade solidified, and the hunter's momentum surged.
Although his fighting spirit was still far from its limit, there was no need to miss an immediate opportunity just for the sake of reaching maximum power when the prey had exposed a flaw.
Altaïr decisively thrust his sword forward, the tip piercing the carapace near the Nerscylla's head. Borrowing the momentum of the charge, he leaped into the air, flipping his body to adjust his stance mid-flight, and brought the electricity-wreathed blade down in a massive overhead split.
Spirit Helm Breaker!
(Translated by yourtl.app)