"This Airship has a split-type airbag! Tearing one or two won't make us lose buoyancy completely! Dump everything to lighten the load, we still have a chance for a crash landing!" Erik bellowed at the top of his lungs.
Altaïr and Sajji moved with blistering speed, shoving every object on the deck overboard.
Ignoring his precious machinery, Sajji acted with lightning reflexes to snatch up Altaïr's Cool Cleavers and strap them to his back, but the Airship's descent remained far too rapid.
High above, having recovered a fraction of its vision, the Seregios ignored the stinging pain in its back. With a long, piercing shriek, it began its diving pursuit.
The already battered Airship could not withstand another single attack.
Altaïr glanced left and right, a plan bordering on madness flashing through his mind.
The Airship's fall was unstoppable, and the Seregios was bearing down on them from above. Without a gamble, they were certain to die; there was no room for hesitation.
"Erik! Sajji! Grab onto main cable number one! Now!"
"Huh?"
Erik didn't react immediately, but after receiving a kick from Sajji, he scrambled to comply.
Altaïr drew the Iron Gospel from his back and lunged toward a main cable without a second word.
This small Airship had a total of six main cables connecting the airbag to the gondola. These cables, composed of animal hide and steel wire, were incredibly sturdy; ordinary blades couldn't dream of cutting them.
However, before a Long Sword wielded by a Hunter, they were no different from common straw rope. With a single sweep of the blade, the first main cable snapped instantly.
Then the second, and the third.
As the main cables were severed one by one, the gondola tilted violently. Just before the gondola capsized completely, Altaïr fired his Clutch Claw, latching onto main cable number two. As he lunged upward, he sliced through the fourth main cable.
Now, except for cable number two where Altaïr hung and cable number one held by Erik and Sajji, all other tethers had been cut.
The gondola plummeted toward the earth, dragging the airbag down with its vertical weight.
"Get ready!" Altaïr roared.
Sajji, catching the drift immediately, drew the Cool Cleavers from his back. Together with Altaïr, they sliced the final two main cables connecting them to the gondola.
Relieved of its burden, the gondola plummeted toward the earth, leaving the two men and the Felyne clinging to the severed ends of the cables, dangling beneath the tattered airbag.
The descent of the Airship, or rather, the airbag, finally halted, and it even began to drift slowly upward.
At this moment, they were only two or three hundred meters above the ground.
"SKREEEE–!"
That scalp-numbing screech struck once more.
In an instant, dragon wings bristling with bladescale fragments tore the already ruined airbag to shreds.
Gravity reclaimed its hold on the two men and the Felyne once again.
Acting on instinct, Altaïr fired his Clutch Claw and hooked onto the Seregios's hind talon. With his other hand, he reached out to grab Sajji and Erik.
The lightning-fast Sajji met him halfway, wrapping his arms around Altaïr's leg, but Erik's reaction was a split second too slow. Altaïr's hand grasped thin air, and he could only watch as Erik plummeted toward the ground.
"Miss Shalan!" Altaïr looked up and shouted desperately.
He remembered Shalan saying that the great kite she used could carry a Palamute. If that were the case, it should have no problem carrying a slender fellow like Erik, right? Shalan, noticing the situation, immediately ceased her attack. Grabbing the great kite, she leapt from the Seregios's back and adjusted her angle into a steep dive, chasing after the falling Erik.
Feeling something crawling on its legs, the Seregios began to writhe and struggle.
Altaïr and Sajji could no longer afford to worry about Erik's situation; they had to pour every ounce of strength into holding on tight.
Falling from this height meant nothing but being flattened into a pulp upon impact.
After tumbling and twisting for a while and realizing it couldn't shake off these two clinging pests, the Seregios changed its strategy. It folded its massive wings and began an accelerated dive.
Altaïr immediately realized what the creature intended to do.
It would accelerate its descent, then pull up sharply just before hitting the ground, using the immense inertia of that moment to smash them against the earth!
"Sajji, hold on! Our lives depend on this!"
"Got it, meow!"
As the Seregios entered its diving posture and its speed surged, Altaïr pulled out a second Flash Pod, bit off the fuse with his teeth, and began the countdown.
"Four, three, two..."
Now!
He hurled the Flash Pod with all his might.
With careful preparation, the Flash Pod landed perfectly in front of the Seregios's eyes, and a brilliant flash erupted.
"Reee-gagh!"
Blinded by intense light twice in such a short window, the Seregios didn't faint, but it once again lost its sight.
What does losing one's sight during a dive mean? It means losing the ability to accurately judge altitude. If the pull-up maneuver is even half a second late, the monster itself would be crushed against the ground.
Instinct drove the Seregios to spread its wings wide, decelerating desperately in an attempt to pull up.
Even though the Seregios was far from reaching its terminal diving velocity, the inertia still caused Altaïr's grip to slip. It was only thanks to the Slinger Clutch Claw being firmly anchored that he wasn't flung into the distance.
Following this sequence of diving and decelerating, the distance between the Seregios and the ground grew ever shorter.
One hundred meters, fifty meters, thirty meters...
By the time the Seregios pulled out of its dive and returned to a hover, it was already near the tops of the massive trees.
To avoid being carried back into the sky by the Seregios again, Altaïr decisively released and retracted the Slinger. He and Sajji spread their limbs wide and plunged into the dense canopy.
After snapping countless vines and branches, they finally managed to halt their fall before tumbling out beneath the foliage.
Altaïr fired the Clutch Claw once more, hooking a thick branch and swinging down to the ground on the cable.
The moment his feet touched the earth, his knees buckled and he fell to one knee. If he hadn't reached out to brace himself against the ground, he would have collapsed face-first.
"Shit! We actually survived?!" His heart hammering against his ribs, Altaïr couldn't help but let out a curse.
A few meters away, Sajji performed a roll and scrambled to his feet.
With a series of shudders to shake off the rotting leaves clinging to his fur, he thrust his arms high in celebration. "Solid ground, meow!!"
Before they could celebrate for more than a few seconds, a massive golden shadow slammed down in front of them.
Its broad wings folded, transforming into strong, nimble wing-claws that, together with its exceptionally thick hind legs, supported its body.
Having been blinded by intense light twice, the second time nearly causing it to fall to its death, the Seregios turned toward the Hunter and Felyne, its eyes burning with fury. Those jewel-like, brilliant blue draconic eyes were filled with endless fury. It suddenly craned its neck forward, spreading its wings wide as it unleashed a series of ear-piercing roars that shook the Jungle.
"SCREE-AWWWWW–!!!"
The terrifying wall of sound kicked up a blast of air, scattering the fallen leaves before it.
The Talisman on his wrist flickered with a faint light.
As if he hadn't heard the roar at all, Altaïr dashed forward. The blade slid from its scabbard, and in a flash of cold light, he delivered a vertical strike, carving a bloody wound into the head of the roaring Seregios.
Step Slash!
The unexpected attack cut the Seregios's roar short. It shook its head, instinctively retreating half a step.
But immediately following that, as if infuriated by its own retreat, the Seregios pushed off with its wing-claws. Its upper body reared up as it raised an exceptionally thick yet remarkably flexible hind claw, lunging forward with a sudden strike.
In the heat of the moment, Altaïr pivoted with a slide, using a Foresight Slash to evade a blow capable of disemboweling a Large Monster.
Rather than rushing to launch a counterthrust, Altaïr used the momentum to retreat a few steps, creating a safe distance. He sheathed the Long Sword at his waist, watching his opponent warily.
The Seregios, a 5★ Threat Level Large Flying Wyvern and a terrifying presence capable of suppressing a Rathalos high in the air. If not for their scarcity, the title of "King of the Skies" might well have belonged to this creature instead.
"SCREE-GAK!"
Seeing the Hunter retreat, the Seregios gave a sharp cry and lunged forward with a move similar to a Tackle.
Altaïr was not within the range of the physical impact, but as its body jolted, two or three diamond-shaped bladescale fragments with razor-sharp edges went flying, hurtling toward the nearby Hunter like Throwing Knives.
At the same moment, Altaïr, who had already entered an Iai stance in anticipation, flicked his blade from the sheath. He delivered two rapid diagonal slashes, parrying the bladescale fragments away.
"Clang! Clang!"
The force carried by the bladescale fragments was staggeringly high, nearly jarring the hilt from his grip. The exceptionally harsh metallic screeching gave Altaïr a sense of foreboding.
Several glaring nicks had appeared on the once smooth and sharp edge of his blade.
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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Tl note: Hey everyone!
For a little while, I'll be publishing one chapter a day instead of my usual pace. The reason is that I want to build up a stock of at least 50 chapters for my Patreon, and right now I still have a few loyal Patreon supporters who have been sticking with me, and honestly it feels wrong to give them zero advance chapters compared to the Webnovel releases. I don't want to feel like I'm taking their support for granted.
Once I've built up that buffer, things will go back to normal.
On another note, I've also started translating a new story called Resident Evil: A New Hope, so stay tuned for that!
Thank you so much for your understanding, it genuinely means a lot!