After a period of probing, and with Caesar's constant support, Andrew had figured out all of the Vicious Claw Wyvern's moves. As he once again sidestepped the Vicious Claw Wyvern's third volley of Ether cannonballs, Andrew turned and drew another piece of gear from his pack besides his stealth suit—the Rocksteady Mantle!
With a flick of his arm, the Rocksteady Mantle instantly draped over Andrew's body. As he charged forward, the Tachi he had sheathed to avoid impeding his movement was once again in his hands.
Seeing Andrew rush before it, the Vicious Claw Wyvern immediately raised its two foreclaws high, lifting its entire upper body until it stood like a human, balanced on its two hind legs. It slammed its claws into the ground, and in the next moment, as a misty Ether energy spread out, the explosive shockwave swept forth once more.
But this time, having anticipated the attack, Andrew chose not to evade.
Getting serious, Andrew no longer held back.
The Dragon Element energy within his body began to circulate at high speed with his movements. As the energy flowed, Andrew felt his body become enhanced, stronger and more powerful. Even the force of his grip on the Tachi tightened.
He had learned this method of circulation from that incredibly burly, white-haired and white-bearded fisherman with the prayer beads around his neck he'd chanced upon in the Forbidden Lands.
The effect, similar to a Demon Mode, would rapidly drain his stamina, but for the next three minutes, Andrew's speed and power would be drastically increased.
A Thrust into a Foresight Slash instantly nullified the Vicious Claw Wyvern's lunge. But the beast wasn't worried; the explosion that followed would surely annihilate the sharp counterattack that had given it so much trouble before.
However, the situation this time was far beyond its expectations.
Before the black smoke from the blast could even dissipate, the glint of Andrew's blade sliced through the vision-obscuring haze.
The sharp edge met no resistance as it slashed across the Vicious Claw Wyvern's jaw, forcing its head back slightly from the impact.
When the smoke cleared, Andrew stood completely unmoved by the explosion.
With the damage reduction from Caesar's shield, plus an Adamant Seed he'd consumed while the wyvern was mutating, the intense explosion was reduced to nothing more than a minor scratch after all the layers of mitigation.
In the distance, the moment Caesar saw Andrew's shield shatter, she immediately lifted 'Vidi' on her left arm and sent a Tier 1 Ethereal flying with a powerful shoulder check. Simultaneously, she backhanded 'Veni' straight into the eye-like structure of a Tier 2 Thrall Mod behind her, causing it to reel back and collapse from the critical organ damage.
In less than a second, the shield that had just dissipated reappeared on Andrew.
Caesar's protective support, combined with the super armor from the Rocksteady Mantle, allowed Andrew to complete his Foresight Slash counter and charge his blade without interruption.
The Spirit Gauge, which had dropped to white and was nearly empty from his constant dodging, once again erupted in a brilliant golden glow.
But this time, Andrew decided to go on the offensive, not waiting passively for another chance to counter, but actively attacking with a new move he'd learned in the Forbidden Lands.
In Andrew's vision, the wounds he had inflicted on the Vicious Claw Wyvern during their earlier fight glowed with a dazzling red light.
These wounds, which hadn't healed during its mutation, were Andrew's greatest advantage for his counterattack.
They were wounds that no Tachi hunter who knew the next move could possibly resist.
He raised his blade, holding it horizontally beside his face, the flat of it just below his eyes, as if taking aim.
The tip of the Tachi pointed directly at the wound on the Vicious Claw Wyvern's right leg, like a longbow aimed at its target.
In the next moment, Andrew unleashed a powerful thrust, very similar to a Spirit Thrust, but when it struck the wyvern's wound, the follow-up was vastly different.
As Andrew's blade pierced the wound, even the Vicious Claw Wyvern, whose sense of pain had been greatly dulled by the Ether corruption, couldn't help but cry out and stagger.
But what followed was a completely different follow-up attack from Andrew. As the All-Concentration Thrust hit its mark, as if drawing immense power from the monster itself, Andrew raised his Tachi vertically.
"All-Concentration Thrust!"
The blade slashed rapidly, the Tachi striking the same wound relentlessly. With each successful hit, the blade of the Dullahan Tachi turned a deep crimson, as if it had drunk its fill of blood.
The continuous slashes made the Vicious Claw Wyvern, already reeling from the weak point critical hit, cry out in pain and collapse.
With his blade charged, Andrew didn't hesitate to press his advantage against the fallen wyvern.
A Spirit Thrust lanced out, striking the Vicious Claw Wyvern's jaw, followed immediately by the one key move that no Tachi hunter could ever abandon—the Helm Breaker!
A single Helm Breaker to the head was enough to turn the wyvern's stumble into a full-blown knockdown. And for a downed monster, only the Tachi's ultimate finisher awaited.
"Spirit Reckoning Slash!!!"
For Tachi mains, who are obsessed with hitting the head even while standing, such a wide-ranging attack would of course be aimed to cover that crucial area.
The downed Vicious Claw Wyvern took the brunt of Andrew's Spirit Reckoning Slash directly to its jaw.
Pain once again seared through the Vicious Claw Wyvern's nerves, forcing a pained howl from it.
The immense damage sent the Vicious Claw Wyvern, which had just begun to rise, crashing back to the ground, its battered body no longer able to support its own weight.
And this time, the energy contained within the attack that struck its head triggered the concentrated energy in its chest, causing a violent internal explosion.
Like a domino effect, once one part began to fail, the Vicious Claw Wyvern as a whole could no longer hold itself up and collapsed completely.
As its body fell, the Hollow, as if losing its final support, began to tear apart. The sky seemed to rip open, revealing the sunlit sky beyond.
Andrew let out a sigh of relief and finally relaxed. Who would've thought a simple dragon hunt would suddenly involve a super mode and a second transformation? Who's the main character here, anyway?!!!
But now, the dust had finally settled. Although the Vicious Claw Wyvern hadn't been corrupted into an Ethereal, the Ether energy accumulated within its body had produced a similar effect.
With all high-risk Ether targets in the Hollow now eliminated, the few remaining small fry were not enough to sustain this unstable, nascent Hollow.
And Andrew could finally say he had obtained a complete monster carcass in this world. With no guild restrictions requiring him to hand over the majority for research, this was a prize that belonged entirely to the hunter!
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