The strange Long Sword user and the tall Gunlance user who had just arrived were clearly long-time partners.
Watching them coordinate with such tacit understanding to pin down the rampaging Lagiacrus from the front, the female Gunner couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret.
It was a pity that the weapon and ammo she had brought along were so ill-suited for this. Had she known in advance that a Lagiacrus would attack and prepared properly, the three of them might have actually stood a chance of taking this Lagiacrus down for good.
Well... provided that the Lagiacrus, for some reason, insisted on staying on land where it struggled to move, rather than retreating into the sea.
In any case, the fact that her thoughts had shifted from "how to survive until reinforcements arrive" to "how to make this Lagiacrus stay" was the best news in itself.
With two reliable Blademasters drawing the Lagiacrus's attention at the front, she could finally perform some of her more "flamboyant" combat techniques.
Otherwise, relying solely on Normal Ammo would result in far too limited damage to the target.
Clutching her Light Bowgun, the female Gunner began to sprint forward.
Her hands moved incessantly, quickly swapping in a new magazine while simultaneously loading a mechanism, one that looked less like Bowgun Ammo and more like a landmine, into a special firing port beneath the Bowgun.
Altaïr, who was alternating attacks with Isis, caught sight of the Light Bowgun user's movements out of the corner of his eye. He didn't know what she was planning. Was she closing the distance to increase the power of her shots? Moving in for a point-blank spread?
Whatever, let her do as she pleased. The situation was temporarily under control; as long as she didn't lose her mind and start firing toward the two of them, it was fine.
In the blink of an eye, the female Gunner had closed to within ten meters of the Lagiacrus's flank. For a Gunner, this distance was practically face-to-face.
Even if it were to maximize the power of her shots, there was no need to get this close.
Right then, the sprinting female Gunner raised her arm toward the air ahead, and a shimmering, fluorescent flying insect shot out.
Glimmering Ironsilk connected the insect to her, and the running Gunner used the momentum to leap, soaring four or five meters into the air. She flipped mid-air, vaulting directly over the Lagiacrus's back.
The moment she cleared the Lagiacrus's spine, her body inverted. With her torso facing downward, the Bowgun in her hands erupted with a roar.
That mine-like device was launched, embedding itself firmly into the junction between the Lagiacrus's neck and back.
As the commander of the duo, Altaïr, who was accustomed to keeping a sliver of his attention on the entire battlefield, saw this and felt his sword stroke falter for a split second.
What was she doing? Acrobatics?
To be honest, this was the first time he had ever seen anyone other than an Insect Glaive user vault over a Monster like that.
The female Gunner's coordination was excellent. She adjusted her posture and center of gravity before hitting the ground, sliding back two meters upon landing to shed the excess inertia.
Immediately after, she raised her muzzle and opened fire in rapid succession at the device pinned to the Lagiacrus's neck.
"Boom! Boom!" A series of thunderous blasts rang out.
Several bursts of flame erupted from the back of the Lagiacrus's neck, far surpassing the explosive power of any ordinary Bowgun Ammo.
The neck is a dense cluster of blood vessels and nerves; the consecutive explosions from behind sent the Lagiacrus reeling, forcing it to stagger and expose an opening.
Isis seized the moment, swinging her Gunlance forward and pulling the trigger to unleash a Full Burst.
Immediately following the blast, she thrust the Gunlance into the wound Altaïr had just carved into the Lagiacrus's chest and fired a Wyrmstake Cannon. The stake drove deep into the gash, aggravating the hemorrhaging.
With her ammunition spent, Isis momentarily retreated to yield the offensive position.
Altaïr took her place, capitalizing on the relatively thin plating of the Lagiacrus's chest to unleash a high-speed Spirit Blade combo.
Sajji, who had been darting around the periphery searching for an opening, having been caught without his gadgets due to the unexpected nature of the fight, stared with wide eyes at the device the female Gunner had planted on the Lagiacrus's back.
He recognized it. That device was called a "Wyvernblast," a specialized explosive used by many Light Bowgun users.
The standard procedure was to plant it beneath a Monster while it was downed and then detonate it via gunfire.
Sajji had tried installing Wyvernblast launchers on certain Rathalos units before, but the timing was notoriously fickle. Often, the Monster would move away just as the trap was set on the ground, leading to embarrassing failures, so he had eventually scrapped the idea.
Seeing the female Gunner flip over the Monster and nail the Wyvernblast directly onto the Lagiacrus's back was a first for him.
If you do it that way, you don't have to worry about the target moving away, meow!
If there's a way to nail a Wyvernblast onto a Monster's weak point and then detonate it with shelling or long-range fire, the results would be incredible, meow!
I'm getting fired up, meow!
"What are you standing there spacing out for, meow! Attack, meow!" Clawdia, who had climbed onto the Lagiacrus's neck and was frantically slashing away with her steel claws, called out indignantly when she noticed Sajji jumping around in the distance like he'd lost his mind.
Snapping back to his senses, Sajji looked left and right, but seeing no better opportunity, he could only draw his Felyne Sword and rush in to hack wildly at the Lagiacrus's hind legs.
Under the combined assault of the three humans and two Felynes, the Lagiacrus began to feel the pressure. After all, the ocean was its true domain.
It dug its limbs into the ground, its lithe body tensing as pale blue electrical arcs flickered across its skin, soon enveloping its entire frame.
To avoid the terrifying arcs of lightning, each as thick as a human arm, the two Blademasters were forced to halt their assault and pull back to a safe distance.
Taking advantage of the gap, the Lagiacrus undulated its body like a serpent, retreating toward the nearby sea.
Isis instinctively moved to cut it off and prevent its escape into the water, but Altaïr quickly shouted for her to stop.
If this were a standard hunt, they would certainly have intervened; on land, the Lagiacrus was dangerous, but in the water, it was on an entirely different level.
However, their current objective was merely to protect the harbor and the civilians. Driving the Lagiacrus back into the sea was already a victory.
Yet, as it reached the shoreline, the Lagiacrus seemed to have other ideas. Its lower body was submerged in the surf, but its foreclaws remained gripped to the pier. Bright electrical light gathered in its maw as it prepared a lightning breath attack.
Altaïr's expression darkened. Will this thing never give up?
Sajji pulled out a Flash Pod, ready to blind the creature, when a piercing whistle of wind approached from the distance.
A pitch-black projectile streaked through the air at a speed nearly invisible to the naked eye, striking the Lagiacrus squarely in its side.
"BOOM!"
Between the massive kinetic impact of the shell and the explosive force of the charge, the Lagiacrus was nearly flipped over. The gathering breath attack was instantly snuffed out.
"Boom! Boom!"
Two more reports echoed across the water. Fire and light erupted across the Lagiacrus's body. Its carapace shattered and flesh was torn away, leaving scorched, crimson craters in an instant.
This was direct fire from heavy cannons, possessing a destructive power far beyond any Bowgun carried by Gunners.
Several Heavy Ballista bolts whistled through the air, sinking deep into the Lagiacrus's flank amidst sprays of blood. The cruel barbs at the tips of the bolts locked firmly into the flesh, and the thick steel cables attached to them went taut, anchoring the Lagiacrus in place.
Altaïr and the others looked toward the source of the attack.
Two Dragonships were fast approaching. Their sails bore the crest of the Guild, and their compact frames were bristling with cannons, Heavy Ballistae, and even fortress-grade Dragonators, vessels specifically designed for hunting colossal sea monsters.
At the rails stood several Hunters with Lances on their backs and specialized underwater buoyancy gear attached to their armor. Clearly experts in this field, they were shouting and swearing at the struggling Lagiacrus, mocking its death wish and acting as if they were already planning to turn its hide into a pair of boots.
Altaïr and his companions looked at each other and sheathed their weapons.
Sajji casually tossed his already-primed Flash Pod right into the Lagiacrus's face. "Should have run while you had the chance, meow. Now you're stuck, meow!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)