"Full assault!"
Seeing the "Demon King" fall, Altaïr gave a low shout, and the Hunters surrounding it surged forward in an all-out offensive.
The "Demon King" was wedged in a narrow gap between two rocky platforms. The cramped space hampered its movement, but it also limited the Hunters' angles of attack.
Given the size of Altaïr's and Isis's weapons, they would normally have struggled to attack the target's head at the same time. One careless move could cause their weapons to collide or even injure each other.
But they had long since learned how to coordinate the rhythm of their attacks.
Having finished her Dragon Blast, Isis sprang back and performed a Quick Reload while ejecting a heat canister to speed the cannon's cooling.
The "Demon King" was highly resistant to heat, so there was no need for the locking cooling mechanism or the technique that heated the blade through shelling. Letting the cannon cool normally actually allowed for more sustained shelling.
Seizing the few seconds while Isis withdrew, Altaïr crushed the Might Pill he had been holding in his mouth without a moment's hesitation, then roared as he activated Beast Soul Possession.
As pitch-black fighting spirit burst from him, he thrust his sword forward.
The "Demon King's" carapace was extraordinarily thick and hard. Even the Tyrant Blade [Heaven Swallower] could not break through its defenses with ease.
But after a fierce battle with a Gold Crown Black Diablos, a Supernova blast, a Large Barrel Bomb explosion, and a direct hit from Dragon Blast, the "Demon King's" body was already covered in wounds.
Altaïr deliberately targeted the wounds where the carapace had shattered and exposed the flesh beneath.
The trident-shaped tip of his blade sank deep into the flesh on the "Demon King's" chest, already torn open by the Black Diablos and charred by the explosions. He cut sideways, widening the wound even further.
Then he raised the blade vertically, charged it for a moment, and unleashed a rapid series of forward slashes.
In his Beast Soul Possession state, ominous pitch-black sword aura and Dragon Element energy erupted from his blade and ravaged the wounds, as though countless invisible blades were hacking again and again at the flesh deep within.
Shredded flesh flew, and blood sprayed like a torrential downpour, staining Altaïr's armor red as his momentum climbed to its peak.
A flash of crimson flickered along the blade. Without pausing, Altaïr thrust his sword forward once more, then used the momentum to leap into the air.
The bony plates and horn on the "Demon King's" head made matters difficult. In the past, he might not have been able to adjust in the split second as he turned in midair and find the best angle of attack.
But after a month of training with the Insect Glaive, his ability to adjust his posture in the air had improved dramatically.
He twisted his body into an awkward midair pose that would have been impossible for an ordinary person, planted a foot on the "Demon King's" single horn for leverage, and launched himself several meters higher, reaching a height few Long Sword users could attain.
Alva, circling nearby to observe the battle, opened his mouth slightly.
He knew more than a few skilled Long Sword users and was certainly familiar with Spirit Helm Breaker, but this was the first time he had seen anyone jump so high.
If other Long Sword users jumped when performing Spirit Helm Breaker, then this man was practically flying...
The blade descended from the sky, slicing through the junction of the "Demon King's" shoulder and neck and down across its chest, tearing open a massive wound several meters long.
Before the sword aura and the pitch-black fighting spirit kindled by Beast Soul Possession could fade, Altaïr landed and whirled his blade through a rapid sequence, ending with a Spirit Roundslash.
Sword aura swept over the "Demon King" like a desert sandstorm, carving countless crisscrossing scars across its head, neck, and chest.
Spirit Release Unsurpassed Slash!
As Altaïr delivered the final Spirit Roundslash, Isis finished reloading and charged headlong into the Spirit Blade Storm's secondary eruption.
If any other Hunter dared to do that, they would suffer badly within the seemingly chaotic storm of invisible blades, perhaps sustaining severe injuries in an instant.
But Isis had long since learned the pattern behind the seemingly disorderly eruption. Lowering her head and angling her Large Shield in front of her, she broke through the sword aura amid a chaotic clatter and a shower of sparks, reaching the Monster without a scratch.
Her offensive style could always be described as "unadorned": fire every shell in her Gunlance as quickly as possible while swinging its blade through a full arc!
It might not look as flashy or stylish as Altaïr's attacks, every move flowing like part of a gymnastics routine, but its power could not be underestimated.
The giant blade struck with force comparable to a Great Sword, while Wide-type Gunlance shells fired at point-blank range or with the muzzle buried in the target rivaled Spread Ammo from a Heavy Bowgun. Layering both attacks together only made them more devastating.
Amid flying flesh and blood, Isis completed a round of "Gymnastic," roared, and thrust her Gunlance into the gaping wound gouged out by the Black Diablos's horn. The weapon was over two meters long, yet it sank almost halfway in.
Isis pulled the trigger hard, blasting the steel stake with its deep blood groove into the furthest reaches of the wound.
Had the "Demon King's" carapace and muscles not been so astonishingly thick, with hard ribs protecting its chest, that Wyrmstake Cannon might have punched straight into its chest cavity and pierced its heart.
The fighting at the front was fierce, but the other two Hunters were not idle either.
Having finished his Mounting Attack, Serl landed and did not compete with the two maniacs at the front for an attacking position.
Taking advantage of his weapon's lightness and agility, he slipped between the "Demon King's" legs and moved close to its belly.
With the "Demon King" wedged in the pass, the space there was extremely cramped. Isis could hardly maneuver with a Gunlance in one hand and a Large Shield in the other, and even Altaïr's remarkable coordination was of little help with such a long blade.
But for a Sword and Shield user, that sliver of space was more than enough.
Setting aside his slight "stingy" reluctance to use it, Serl flicked the dark purple bottle of blade oil from its slot inside his shield. As the viscous oil poured onto his blade, he scraped the sword hard against the shield's edge to spread it evenly.
The blade oil seemed rich in flammable, volatile substances. Sparks from the blade striking the shield ignited it, and a deep purple, almost black fiery aura rose around his sword.
Some of the volatile compounds in the blade oil entered his lungs as he breathed. For a moment, Serl felt his thoughts grow clearer and his movements become nimbler.
Did it even include the effects of Affinity Oil?
Surprised, Serl nevertheless knew that the blade oil's effects would not last long. He drew a deep breath, aimed at the weakly defended underside of the "Demon King's" abdomen, and unleashed a full-power Perfect Rush.
Behind the "Demon King," Morgan, the team's only Gunner, did not immediately open fire at full speed. Instead, he quickly swapped in a magazine of Piercing Freeze Ammo.
As the name suggested, this special Elemental Ammo combined piercing properties with the freezing effect of Freeze Ammo. It was highly effective against tough, thick-skinned Monsters like Diablos, which feared low temperatures.
Morgan was still not satisfied. In his view, the more powerful Bowgun Ammo was, the better. Being able to Rapid Fire Supernova would have been ideal.
Unfortunately, that was not realistic... Still, his Bowgun had undergone a few "custom" modifications, including the Heavy Bowgun Hunter Art Gunpowder Infusion.
As he swapped magazines, he opened a specially modified compartment at the rear of the Heavy Bowgun and poured in a dark gray powder.
It was a powerful explosive made by mixing powdered lava rock with ordinary gunpowder.
Morgan sealed the powder compartment, worked the bolt to chamber a round, locked his sights onto the "Demon King's" tail, and squeezed the trigger.
"Boom!"
The muzzle jerked violently upward until it almost pointed at the sky. The tremendous recoil drove Morgan, still crouched and bracing the Bowgun, nearly two meters backward before he managed to stop.
Such astonishing recoil promised even more astonishing power.
Where Bowgun Ammo normally traveled slowly enough for the eye to follow its trajectory, this round left the muzzle faster than sight could track. Almost the instant Morgan pulled the trigger, it punched through the target's hard carapace and tough hide, leaving a black hole as thick as a wrist while the projectile drove deep inside.
Even Morgan was startled by its power. A somewhat terrifying grin appeared on his normally expressionless face.
He lowered the muzzle, ignored the sharp pain in his shoulder as though someone had struck it with a hammer, and pulled the trigger again and again.
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