Swatted away before she could adjust her posture and use a Wirefall to dissipate the force, Isis slammed hard into the ground.
The violent impact forced her to cough up a mouthful of blood.
Even that was only because her shield and armor had absorbed most of the impact. Otherwise, the blow would have done far worse than draw blood and crack a few bones.
Altaïr, having activated Demon Mode, charged toward the target at full speed.
Isis's Blast Dash had failed to interrupt the mysterious Elder Dragon's takeoff, but it had delayed the creature for an instant, buying them a precious second or two.
Altaïr reached its side just as all four feet left the ground, before it could gain any altitude.
Without slowing, he shifted his weight forward and let the tip of Tyrant Blade [Heaven Swallower] brush the ground.
Using the sword as a lever, he vaulted into a forward somersault and converted all the momentum of his charge into upward force, launching himself four or five meters into the air.
Another one? The mysterious Elder Dragon swiped at him irritably.
Like Isis before him, Altaïr had nothing to push off against in midair. However, his specialized training in Insect Glaive aerial maneuvering and Aerial Style allowed him to twist through the air and adjust his posture.
He flipped past the mysterious Elder Dragon's sharp claws and planted both feet against its wrist, using it as a foothold to propel himself higher and come face-to-face with the beast.
Their eyes met from barely two or three meters apart. With a low shout, Altaïr swung his blade and carved two shallow wounds across the mysterious Elder Dragon's head. Then, unable to control his descent any longer, he plummeted toward the ground.
The two slashes did negligible damage, but the provocation was unmistakable.
It was like someone suddenly leaping in front of you, staring at you nose-to-nose for two seconds, then slapping you twice.
The slaps did not need to be hard. Even two light taps would have sent the blood pressure of the most good-natured person soaring.
The mysterious Elder Dragon before them was certainly not good-natured. Until then, it had wanted only to escape into the open sky, but now a red glint flashed in its eyes.
It decided to crush this damned little insect first!
"Roar!"
The mysterious Elder Dragon stopped beating its wings and dropped back toward the ground. Raising its right claw high, it harnessed the force of its descent and brought the claw down viciously on the hunter who had landed just ahead of it.
Altaïr had expected an immediate counterattack. The instant his feet touched the ground, he rolled to absorb the landing and threw himself to one side, narrowly evading the blow.
"Boom!"
The Wyvern Claw shattered the ground, but the mysterious Elder Dragon's assault did not end there. Its other claw slashed out in quick succession, intent on grinding Altaïr into the dirt.
Altaïr barely parried the strike with a Rising Slash, only for the mysterious Elder Dragon's massive jaws to snap down at him from above.
At that critical moment, Isis raced over and raised her Large Shield to block the Elder Dragon's sharp teeth.
She roared as she strained against its strength, but the mysterious Elder Dragon had no interest in contesting strength with her. It released its bite, raised its head, and swung another claw.
Isis had no choice but to change tactics and brace her shield. With visible effort, she withstood the mysterious Elder Dragon's left claw.
Before she could counterattack, however, the Elder Dragon's right claw swept in from the other side. The motion resembled someone swatting a fly, as if it meant to crush Isis between its claws.
Altaïr cut in just in time. Bracing the sheathed Tyrant Blade [Heaven Swallower] across his shoulders and arms, he shifted it into Great Sword mode, entered a defensive stance, and forcibly blocked the mysterious Elder Dragon's right Wyvern Claw.
One on either side, the two hunters held back the mysterious Elder Dragon's foreclaws, bringing the struggle to a brief stalemate.
Isis roared and gritted her teeth, keeping her Large Shield braced with her right arm while raising her Gunlance to shell the Elder Dragon's head.
The mysterious Elder Dragon gave her no such opportunity. Its Wingtalon, dense with sharp crystal clusters and as beautiful and deadly as a saw blade forged from solid crystal, swept in and effortlessly knocked Isis's Gunlance aside.
The advantage offered by the Elder Dragon's four limbs and two wings was now on full display. This creature's limbs were long and powerful enough for it to rear upright and wield its foreclaws like hands, allowing it to attack with a frequency no Flying Wyvern could match.
Back-to-back, the two exchanged a glance and prepared to disengage and counterattack, breaking the deadlock.
The mysterious Elder Dragon released its claws first and twisted sharply. Its long, powerful tail, also bristling with sharp crystal clusters, swept toward them.
Isis hurriedly raised her Large Shield and leaned into it with her shoulder to execute a Perfect Guard, while Altaïr pressed his palm against her back to lend her his strength.
Even so, they could not fully neutralize the force of the Elder Dragon's tail strike. Both were sent flying and tumbled awkwardly across the ground, finally coming to a stop more than ten meters away.
"Roar!" Standing on all fours, the mysterious Elder Dragon let out a challenging roar at them.
Isis used her Gunlance to prop herself up and climbed to her feet. She wiped the blood seeping from her mouth and nose. "This thing is seriously strong."
"We're being too passive." Altaïr spat out a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva, then curled one corner of his mouth into an exceptionally dangerous grin. "You know what I'm going to say."
"All-out attack!"
They barked the words in unison. Isis executed another Blast Dash and surged forward amid gunfire and smoke.
Faced with the Gunlance user hurtling toward it, the mysterious Elder Dragon drew on its experience with her previous attack and swung a claw to meet her.
Its sharp claws collided violently with the blazing blade sweeping in under the force of the shelling, and both attacks recoiled.
The mysterious Elder Dragon immediately swung its other claw, but this time Isis was no longer airborne.
Her feet struck the ground in time. Driving power through her waist and legs, she gave an explosive shout and swept her shield upward, deflecting the other Wyvern Claw.
In that instant, the mysterious Elder Dragon's vulnerable chest lay completely exposed.
Altaïr darted silently from behind Isis like a shadow, slipping through the opening created by her risky, all-out assault and moving beneath the mysterious Elder Dragon. He leveled the tip of his sword and gathered power.
Sensing danger, the Elder Dragon beat its wings fiercely and leaped backward. Altaïr had anticipated the move. He blurred into an afterimage almost too fast for the naked eye, launched a forward thrust, and reached the space beneath the mysterious Elder Dragon again before its four feet touched the ground.
Instant Slash!
A flash of steel, an eruption of sword aura. A terribly deep wound opened across the mysterious Elder Dragon's soft underbelly. Dark red arcs of electricity leaped and crackled, searing deep into the Elder Dragon's flesh and even its internal organs.
After completing his assault, Altaïr lowered his center of gravity, crouched beneath the mysterious Elder Dragon, and reversed his blade into a charging stance.
The mysterious Elder Dragon raised its torso and started to lower its head to bite him, only for that maddening cannon roar to sound beside its ear once more. Isis executed another Blast Dash, hurtling like a cannonball directly in front of the Elder Dragon's face.
It had no choice but to deal with the attack already upon it. Beneath its body, Altaïr seized the opportunity to finish charging.
The blade, wreathed in crimson lightning, swept through a perfect arc of light and carved two wounds across the ankles of the mysterious Elder Dragon's hind legs, sending blood gushing from them.
Charged Spirit Roundslash!
Its foreclaws were busy fending off the frontal assault, and now its weight-bearing hind legs had suddenly suffered grievous wounds. The mysterious Elder Dragon's balance faltered, and an opening appeared in its movements.
Isis's eyes lit up. She braced her shield against the sweeping claw bearing down on her and aimed her muzzle straight at the creature's chest.
"Wyvern's Fire!"
Again?!
Caught squarely in the path of the Wyvern's Fire, Altaïr hastily sprinted several steps sideways and threw himself to the ground.
The next second, an eruption of golden-red flame burst forth, blasting the Elder Dragon's massive body backward until it reared up and nearly toppled over.
The mysterious Elder Dragon roared in agony. The Wyvern's Fire had dealt it a grievous blow, but not enough to rob it of its fighting strength. It beat its wings rapidly and steadied itself.
The brilliant crystals covering its entire body blazed with intense light. After gathering power for less than a second, it launched several orbs of incandescent white breath.
The hunters dodged desperately.
The violent explosions and raging wind pressure unleashed when the breath orbs struck the ground left them temporarily unable to move.
Seizing the opportunity, the mysterious Elder Dragon beat its wings and took to the air.
Its golden draconic pupils stared down at the two hunters. Their gleam held an intelligence and cruelty wholly unlike anything found in ordinary Monsters.
It desperately wanted to crush its enemies then and there, but it knew its current condition was far from ideal.
Breaking out of its "cocoon" prematurely had left its body underdeveloped. It needed to devour more nutrients to complete its growth, while its shell and scales needed more time to harden fully.
Once that was done, the two lower life forms before it would no longer be a match for it.
Then it would return, find them, and settle this score once and for all!
The mysterious Elder Dragon spared the hunters no further attention and raised its head toward the rift in the dome that led to the blue sky.
Its wings beat fiercely, and the beautiful yet dangerous creature shot skyward, trailing a comet-like afterglow.
In barely a second or two, it reached the fissure. Using all four limbs and both wings, it wriggled through the narrow gap beneath the stunned and furious gazes of the hunters below.
"GWRROOOAAAR!!!"
The frenzied roar, filled with elation at breaking free and the savagery of an impending rampage, resounded throughout the ancient city.
Yet the roar lasted less than two seconds before cutting off abruptly and giving way to a howl of pain.
With barely half its body through the crevice, the mysterious Elder Dragon came crashing back down...