Once Serl had captured the target's attention, the other three could finally cut loose a little.
Altaïr slipped between the "Demon King's" legs, activated Demon Mode, and rapidly chained Crimson Blade Slash into spirit blade strikes, returning to the "foot trimming" he had not used in a long time.
In the past, when he and Isis hunted together, Isis would usually draw the Monster's attention from the front while he launched surprise attacks from its flank or rear. The legs were among his highest-priority targets.
As their coordination grew more seamless, however, they increasingly favored dual-vanguard tactics, suppressing the target head-on while their Gunner teammates opened fire without restraint and ended the fight efficiently.
If they could suppress a target, why waste time wearing it down through guerrilla tactics?
Unfortunately, the "Demon King" was not an opponent they could suppress head-on. The tension of circling a Monster with such painstaking caution even felt nostalgic.
Rising Slash, Descending Slash. Altaïr unleashed both halves of Crimson Blade Slash without the slightest pause, so swiftly that they looked like a single stroke, then followed with a diagonal Spirit Fade Slash. The entire attack cycle took less than two seconds.
In the few moments the "Demon King" spent chasing and snapping at Serl, Altaïr completed several such cycles, carving countless crisscrossing cuts into its inner thigh.
Crimson arcs of Dragon Element energy leaped between the wounds, continually eating into the Monster's flesh. As Altaïr pressed the assault, the momentum he had lost after disengaging from combat rapidly returned.
Its immense size merely made its movements appear somewhat sluggish. That did not mean the "Demon King's" senses or reactions were slow...
Altaïr keenly detected something unusual in the movement of the muscles in its leg.
Without the slightest hesitation, he broke off his assault, pivoted into a backstep, and swiftly withdrew.
Just as his Foresight Slash carried him out of range, the "Demon King," which had been locked in combat with Serl only a second earlier, surged almost a full step forward. Its tail, tipped with an enormous hammer-shaped growth of bone, slammed down viciously.
The sudden, powerful counterattack genuinely startled Altaïr.
He had expected something like a backward kick. Who would have imagined that attacking between the Monster's legs also left him vulnerable to a tail strike?
Worse still, the tail hammer's reach was astonishing. The evasive slide of Foresight Slash alone could not carry him beyond the sweep.
With no time to think, Altaïr raised his arm and fired the Clutch Claw.
The Clutch Claw latched onto the Monster's thigh. As the cable rapidly retracted, Altaïr used the forward momentum of Foresight Slash to launch himself into the air. He evaded the tail hammer at the last instant and clung to the Monster's thigh.
"BOOM! BOOM!"
Several thunderous crashes erupted behind him. The tail hammer, weighing several tons, smashed multiple craters into the solid rock. A chill ran down Altaïr's spine at the sight.
It was a good thing he had not tried to parry the blow with Tempered Spirit Blade or risked rolling aside. Otherwise, he would likely have been crushed into a smear against the ground.
Still, this worked out well enough.
Clinging to the Monster's thigh, Altaïr gripped his sword in both hands and drove the blade deep into one of the wounds on its leg. He threw his full weight behind the weapon, then dragged it downward with all his strength.
"ROAR!" Agony tore through the "Demon King's" leg, wrenching a pained howl from its throat.
It staggered two steps. Just as the Hunters expected it to fall, it braced its wing claws against the ground.
The "Demon King" breathed heavily.
It knew perfectly well that if this continued, it would only be forced further onto the defensive.
With the Hunters fighting it at such close quarters, the "Demon King" could do little against those infuriating "little creatures." It had to bring the battle back to its own rhythm.
Remaining on all fours, it began breathing faster. At the same time, a muffled thumping, each beat quicker than the last, reverberated through the Monster's body and reached the Hunters' ears.
It was the "Demon King's" heartbeat.
As its heart pumped faster, blood surged through its vessels at an astonishing speed and flooded every muscle in its body. Its already massive frame swelled until it appeared a full size larger.
Every Hunter present was a seasoned veteran. They could tell that the "Demon King" was gathering strength either for a devastating move or to enter a berserk state even more dangerous than ordinary rage, much like a Zinogre reaching its fully charged state.
Whichever it was, they had only two options: retreat as quickly as possible or find a way to interrupt it.
The "Demon King" was still a Diablos, incapable of unleashing elemental energy across a wide area, so Altaïr chose to interrupt it.
"Interrupt it!" he roared. Flashes of steel and sprays of blood wove into blurred afterimages as he unleashed his Spirit Blade combo.
The others also seized the moment while the "Demon King" stood still and gathered strength, throwing everything they had into their attacks. Morgan even loaded his last round of Supernova Bowgun Ammo into the chamber, ready to hit it with something big.
However, the "Demon King" needed even less time to gather strength than they had expected. After only two or three seconds, it moved.
Its wounded but still astonishingly powerful legs came down and shattered the ground. Propelled by terrifying force, the "Demon King" shot forward at an unbelievable speed.
Neither an ordinary Diablos nor even a Black Diablos could match that speed. Its enormous body compressed the air, producing a succession of muffled sonic booms.
At that moment, Morgan pulled the trigger and fired the Supernova.
He intended to blast the "Demon King" to a halt before it could reach top speed.
The Supernova shot from the barrel as a streak of flame and hurtled toward the charging "Demon King." Just before the round struck, however, the violent air currents thrown up by the Monster's high-speed charge knocked it slightly off course as it streaked toward the "Demon King's" flank.
The Supernova Bowgun Ammo grazed past its body and detonated two or three meters above its back.
For safety, the Supernova used a delayed fuse rather than a standard impact fuse. Morgan's precise control of the distance kept the shot from missing entirely, but the detonation point was slightly off target, preventing it from delivering its full power.
The colossal fireball that erupted in midair slammed into the "Demon King" at full speed, making it stumble and nearly fall.
Had it fallen then, its hundreds of tons of body weight and the tremendous inertia of its charge would have left it badly injured. Yet after staggering several steps, it somehow forced itself upright.
Its tremendously powerful legs drove onward, and the "Demon King's" charge grew faster and faster.
At first, Altaïr and the others were slightly puzzled.
What was the "Demon King" doing? Charging? They were all behind it now, so what was it trying to hit?
Or had it recognized the threat they posed and decided to retreat at full speed?
They soon had their answer.
After racing nearly two hundred meters away, the "Demon King" leaned sharply to one side and used its wings and legs together to turn. It barely lost any speed in the maneuver before charging straight back at the Hunters.
"*!"
Faced with the dark-red Diablos thundering toward him through a storm of wind and dust, Altaïr could not stop himself from swearing. He sprinted away and shouted a warning to his companions. "Spread out! Dodge!"
Even Monsters like Brute Tigrex, which excelled at chaining charge attacks, normally had to miss, skid to a halt, and turn before launching the next charge.
The "Demon King," however, had used its extraordinary strength and balance to turn without slowing down.
What did that mean? It meant the Monster could unleash an unbroken succession of charges!
It was almost... almost like a Lance user's shield charge. At full speed, a Lance user could send a Monster several times the Hunter's own weight flying.
So what could the "Demon King," weighing hundreds of tons, do?
If it so much as grazed someone, would they be sent flying clear across the oasis?
* * *
Patreon support directly helps me keep working on this story, with advance chapters available there as well. Thank you for reading.