The successful Foresight Slash into a Spirit Roundslash had already charged his blade to its red level. The once-green blade of the Dullahan Tachi was now completely enveloped by a crimson aura.
But after the successful Foresight Slash, Andrew didn't follow up with the usual second part of the combo, the Spirit Roundslash. Instead, he slid the tachi into the sheath at his left hip.
How could the assault of an Odogaron, enraged and in its second phase, end so anticlimactically? And indeed, the reality was just as Andrew had predicted.
The Odogaron's massive tail whip was already hurtling toward Andrew with immense force. Its thick tail, composed of layers of hardened keratin, felt no pain, allowing the creature to swing it with absolutely no restraint.
But just an instant before the Odogaron's tail could connect with Andrew, the tachi at his waist was drawn in a flash.
The immense power of the unsheathing made the draw-slash both fast and vicious. Andrew lunged forward, simultaneously spinning his body into the swing. The long blade of the Dullahan Tachi carved a perfect arc through the air.
Thanks to Andrew's forward dash, the tail whip became a textbook example of an attack that looked more dangerous than it was. In fact, the tiny fragments of concrete sent flying when the tail slammed into the ground posed a greater threat to Andrew than the attack itself.
The shockwave and flying debris were reduced to a gentle breeze against Caesar's shield. Completely unaffected, Andrew's movements never faltered, and the tachi in his hand lashed out with blinding speed.
After unleashing that tail whip, the Odogaron launched its body into the air, spun lightly, and then gracefully landed right back in the same spot where it had first reared up.
This back-and-forth across such a large distance convinced the Odogaron that a creature as small as a human couldn't possibly pose a threat to it in such a short amount of time.
Although it hadn't felt its tail connect with its target, it assumed the human had simply fled in a panic.
Its nostrils flared once more, and in an instant, the Odogaron had carefully processed every scent molecule in the air. But as the surrounding environment formed a three-dimensional map in its mind, Andrew's position suddenly appeared—and this unexpected location shocked it.
And just as the Odogaron pinpointed Andrew's location, his powerful Iai slash arrived.
Andrew, who was already positioned at the absolute maximum range, had calculated the distance perfectly during his forward lunge. After all, every hunter who knew the Odogaron was well aware that it would return to its original position after that massive tail whip.
The hunter's massive weapon proved its worth in this moment; or rather, it was precisely because of the weapon's length that Andrew could maintain this perfect distance.
The tip of the blade from the lightning-fast Spirit Iai Slash reached the absolute limit of its range just as the Odogaron landed. The flash of the blade was like a crimson meteor streaking past, as if it had split space itself in two.
The Spirit Iai Slash struck the Odogaron squarely in the chest. As the flash of light dissipated, it left a long, deep gash in its wake.
Pain once again flooded its brain, but for some unknown reason, the agony from this wound was followed by a flicker of comfort at the very end.
The Odogaron, a creature born and bred for combat, immediately sensed that something was amiss. It had never feared pain or injury before.
But this shift in its sensory feedback made it feel that something was deeply wrong—as if a part of its own body was no longer under its control.
But no matter how wrong it felt, that was a concern for after the battle. Right now, the most important thing was to face the enemy before it!
Andrew watched the Odogaron before him. After taking the Spirit Iai Slash, it stared cautiously at him with its nearly-vestigial eyes, its nostrils flared as wide as they could go.
Looking at those gaping nostrils, Andrew, while still holding his tachi, reached into his item pouch with his left hand. A brown, spherical projectile appeared in his grasp.
With a quick motion, he loaded the projectile into the Slinger on his right forearm.
Then, timing it for the exact moment the Odogaron finished exhaling, Andrew swiftly raised his right arm, aimed at the beast's head, and fired.
As if he had practiced it a thousand times, the shot was both precise and swift. The entire sequence of movements was as smooth as flowing water, a sight to behold.
Before the Odogaron could even react, a cloud of brown smoke exploded over its head, completely enveloping it.
"Don't blame me for fighting dirty, doggo. The times, they are a-changin'!"
As the smoke spread, the projectile's identity was made clear. It was none other than a Dung Pod, something he'd had no opportunity to use in the three months since coming to this world.
Andrew, who had been itching to use one for ages, seized the chance to let the Odogaron have a little taste.
The unsuspecting Odogaron was in the middle of carefully sniffing out its surroundings. From their previous exchanges, it already knew just how tenacious its enemy was.
So it surrendered itself once again to its innate combat instincts, its mind already focused with high intensity.
"Fzzt!"
The hunter's projectile shot forth. The sound it made was faint, and its speed was incredible, but the object itself was simply too small. Even if the Odogaron had noticed it, it wouldn't have cared.
Soon, it would pay the price for its carelessness.
The next moment, a powerfully foul odor instantly assaulted its nostrils. A stench this strong was rare even in the Rotten Vale.
After all, fresh carcasses were a resource coveted by every creature in the vale; nothing ever had a chance to fully decompose and reach such a level of putrescence.
The Odogaron couldn't help but shake its head violently, trying in vain to rid itself of the eye-watering stench clinging to its nostrils.
But of course, it would not get its wish.
The powder, now a fine mist, couldn't be dispersed no matter how much the Odogaron thrashed its head. The particles that had settled into the crevices of its face were not something that could simply be shaken away.
To be honest, for an Odogaron that had spent its entire life surviving in the Rotten Vale, the stench itself wasn't unbearable.
Its reaction was so violent because the intense odor enveloping its nose completely interfered with its ability to perceive its surroundings.
It was forced to rely once more on its degenerated eyes, usually only an auxiliary sense hidden behind heavy eyelids, as its primary means of observation, attempting to lock onto its enemy with sight alone.
As the saying goes, when an opportunity presents itself, you take it. When it doesn't, you make one.
With the Odogaron disoriented, its keen sense of smell completely scrambled, this was the perfect opening to unleash some damage.
For any longsword user with a red gauge, there's only one thing to do: Helm Breaker!
Andrew rushed to the Odogaron's side. His Spirit Thrust stabbed viciously into the right leg he had already wounded multiple times, causing the beast to stumble.
The move that followed needs no introduction; it is engraved into the very soul of every longsword hunter.
"Helm Breaker!"
Using the thrust as an anchor to launch himself airborne, the red blade drew a crimson vertical slash through the air, coming down hard on the Odogaron's body.
A brilliant flash of light erupted on the Odogaron's right flank, leaving a glaring wound in its wake.
_____
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