Perhaps because its injuries were not severe, the Zamtrios regained its feet quite quickly.
After two rounds of high-frequency combos transitioning from Crimson Blade Slashes into spirit blade strikes, the Zamtrios had already flipped its body over and braced the ground with its powerful forelimbs, showing every intent of standing up.
Noticing this, Altaïr did not persist with his high-speed rapid strikes. Instead, he quickly switched to a spirit blade combo, relentlessly attacking the Zamtrios's head to continuously build up his Spirit.
The Spirit condensed upon the steel blade; he was now only a single step away from entering the so-called red Spirit Gauge stat.
Having finally regained its center of gravity and planted its feet, the Zamtrios was surging with fury. It reared up its upper body and took a deep breath, preparing to let out a preemptive, intimidating roar.
Altaïr, whose spirit blade combo had reached its final sequence, saw his opening. He spun his body and swung his arm, sweeping the Long Sword horizontally in a full-power Spirit Roundslash that struck precisely at the wound on the Zamtrios's back-left leg joint.
As for why he was so obsessed with attacking the Monster's rear-left leg...
On one hand, he hoped to stack injury upon injury to further cripple its mobility; on the other, most Long Sword roundslash techniques involve clockwise attacks. When facing a Monster head-on, attacking the target's left side is simply more natural.
Altaïr's control over his sword path was surgical. The Iron Gospel once again sliced precisely into the Zamtrios's joint, and he could clearly feel the grinding resistance transmitted back through the blade and hilt.
It was the tactile sensation of steel grinding against bone.
"Gah-ooo!!"
The pain of a blade biting into bone was not easily endured. The Zamtrios's roar of rage turned into a scream of agony. Its rear-left leg recoiled instinctively, causing its newly stabilized body to lurch, though it did not fall.
Tripping while running is one thing; stumbling while standing is another. The Zamtrios strained to maintain its balance.
However, Altaïr's assault was not yet over.
After the Spirit Roundslash landed squarely on target, his momentum surged to its peak. Upon the Long Sword wreathed in Spirit, a visible, solid red light ignited.
Red Blade!
The internal breath within his body synchronized with the surging Spirit upon his weapon. The feeling was similar to entering Demon Mode; under the stimulation of energy, his entire muscular system became hyper-activated.
Leveraging this significantly enhanced physical capability, Altaïr unleashed a move he normally could not perform.
Shifting his footwork, he used the inertia of the Spirit Roundslash to accelerate his rotation further, his entire being spinning upward like a whirlwind.
He swung the sword mid-turn, a flash of red light trailing in its wake.
Spinning Crimson Slash!
The power of this strike was even greater than the Spirit Roundslash. Had it sliced into that deep wound in the joint again, it wouldn't have been surprising if it had severed the Zamtrios's hind paw entirely.
Unfortunately, due to the high-speed rotation, the point of impact was difficult to control with precision. Furthermore, the spinning slash is a type of Jumping Slash, making it difficult to keep the height of the strike low enough to hit the ankle.
The blade slashed diagonally across the Zamtrios's thigh. Amidst a spray of blood, a massive hunk of muscle was sheared through, leaving a hideous, gaping wound with flesh turned outward.
"Aooo!" The Zamtrios cried out in pain once more. The repeatedly injured left hind leg spasmed. Though it did not collapse, the beast fell into a significant stagger.
Altaïr seized the opportunity, locking onto the Zamtrios's wounded leg and swinging his sword at full speed, continuing that high-speed combo of cycling Crimson Blade Slashes and spirit blades.
In mere moments, the Zamtrios's left hind leg was reduced to a bloody mess of mangled flesh.
"He raises the Spirit Gauge quite fast," Haifa remarked from a distance, watching through her binoculars and offering an enthusiastic commentary. "With skill like that, it looks like suppressing a Zamtrios shouldn't be a problem. No wonder the kid said he wanted to try challenging 5★ Monsters. If his equipment level were notched up a bit higher across the board, and with a bit of luck, he might actually have a chance."
"Don't be so quick with the praise." Karin's expression remained unchanged. "The Zamtrios is about to get angry. The truly difficult part is only just beginning."
"Whoosh–"
The massive, shovel-like tail swept toward him. Immersed in his assault, Altaïr didn't overextend; following a Spirit Fade Slash, he immediately transitioned into an Inward Slash in the opposite direction, utilizing the momentum to side-hop several meters away and evade the monster's sweeping tail.
The Zamtrios took the chance to turn around, hot steam venting from its gore-stained maw as the gill-slits on its neck flared open.
Seeing this, Altaïr immediately flipped his blade and tucked the Long Sword against his waist, entering the Special Sheath stance.
His eyes remained fixed on the Zamtrios's movements, his Spirit firmly locked onto the beast.
"GA-OOOOOOH!!!"
The moment that eardrum-shattering, frenzied roar swept over him, Altaïr's blade flashed out of its sheath, slashing forward.
A blade cannot cut through something intangible like sound, but the intense concentration and perfectly controlled muscle movement of the Iai Slash allowed him to ignore the impact of the sonic waves, carving a fresh wound beneath the Zamtrios's jaw in the process.
However, the Zamtrios seemed not to feel the attack at all, continuing its low growl as a misty white fog emerged from around its body, surging and dispersing.
Almost instantly, white frost began to bloom across the Hunter's blue-black armor.
Altaïr felt as if he had jumped naked into a frozen sea; the numbing paralysis brought on by the extreme cold made him realize something was wrong.
He quickly sheathed his weapon and retreated at high speed.
The Zamtrios showed no immediate intention of pursuing him, allowing him to back away a dozen meters.
Altaïr pulled out a bottle of Hot Drink and gulped it down. The spicy sensation warmed his body back up, while the Zamtrios, shrouded in cold mist, began to undergo a physical transformation.
Massive patches of frost covered its body, proliferating at an astonishing speed. Within seconds, they condensed into countless sharp ice thorns. These thorns stacked and fused together, finally forming a thick layer of Ice Armor.
The ice plating covered its head, back, and forelimbs.
The layer covering its head was particularly thick; its chisel-like shape reminded Altaïr of those Zamite.
No wonder the bony spikes and armor protecting their fragile heads withered away after reaching adulthood; they could use hard ice to simulate even sharper thorns at any time.
Looking at the Zamtrios now clad entirely in solid ice, Altaïr hesitated slightly. One didn't need to be an expert to see that breaking through that Ice Armor with a blade would be no simple task. Not to mention those dagger-like ice blades; even a slight graze would likely tear skin and flesh asunder.
A head-on frontal assault could be ruled out immediately.
Altaïr's gaze swept quickly across the beast, and he soon noticed that the areas covered by the Ice Armor were primarily concentrated on the Zamtrios's forebody and its back.
The ice layer at the very tip of the tail was also thick, but in contrast, the ice on the tail itself and the hind legs was very thin, almost negligible.
With things as they were, one didn't need to think twice to know which parts to target.
Conveniently, as the team's skirmisher and attacker, launching strikes from behind a Monster was already his specialty.
Altaïr accelerated into a sprint, attempting to circle behind the Zamtrios.
The Zamtrios was naturally aware that its weakness lay at the rear of its body. Its clouded eyes, pupils indistinguishable, remained fixed on the running Hunter as it turned its body to match him.
"Tsk, smart enough." Knowing that circling like this was pointless, Altaïr shifted his direction, changing to a frontal assault instead.
He sped toward the front of the Zamtrios, drawing his blade and unleashing a heavy Step Slash aimed right at the tip of its nose.
Although that vital spot was protected by Ice Armor, the Zamtrios still instinctively retreated half a step to dodge the attack. Immediately after, the shark's limbs tensed as it prepared to strike.
Altaïr stopped his advance at the same time. That previous strike had been a feint; he held his scabbard diagonally at his waist and performed a Sheathe Weapon.
The moment the blade was fully seated in the sheath, the Zamtrios lunged forward with a roar. Simultaneously, Altaïr drew his sword, keeping his body as low as possible.
Staying close to the icy ground, he spun and slid, dodging beneath the lunging Zamtrios.
The two crossed paths once again.
Altaïr's target remained the Zamtrios's injured back-left leg, but whether it was luck or the opponent's own wariness, the shark tucked its hind legs in as it lunged. This caused Altaïr's Iai Spirit Slash to strike nothing but air.
But Altaïr felt no regret. Using the inertia of the missed Iai, he flowed with the movement to turn around without pause, raising his Long Sword to enter a charging stance once more.
And just like that, I'm behind you again.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Zamtrios had not yet regained its footing after the missed lunge, Altaïr flashed forward again.
Charged Spirit Roundslash!
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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TL NOTES — LORE SECTION
Some terms and creatures referenced in this story may be unfamiliar to readers new to the Monster Hunter universe. The following entries provide additional context.
CONCEPTS
Ice Armor — A defensive transformation unique to the adult Zamtrios, triggered when the creature enters an enraged state. By exhaling a controlled burst of icy breath, it rapidly condenses frost across its forebody, back, and forelimbs into a thick shell of razor-sharp ice thorns. This temporary armor greatly increases its resistance to blade attacks and poses a serious lacerating hazard to hunters who make direct contact.
SKILLS & TECHNIQUES
Spirit Fade Slash — A Long Sword technique that combines a retreating step with a horizontal blade sweep, allowing the hunter to disengage while maintaining offensive output. It is commonly used to safely extend or end a Spirit Combo while creating distance from an incoming counterattack.
Spinning Crimson Slash — A high-power Long Sword technique available only when the Red Blade state is active. The hunter channels the enhanced speed and strength of the Red Blade buff into a full-body spinning slash, generating tremendous centrifugal force. Though the high-speed rotation makes precise targeting difficult, the raw damage output surpasses even a standard Spirit Roundslash.