Under the blast of Wyvern's Fire, the Mizutsune's head snapped backward. Its body reeled with it, dizzy and unsteady on its feet.
The force of the Hunter's counterattack far exceeded its expectations.
It was like spotting a bug on the ground and bending down to stomp it, only for the bug to suddenly spring up and hit you with a vicious uppercut.
Taking advantage of the Mizutsune's brief daze, Nymera quickly swapped in a magazine of Spread Ammo, then released her Wirebug, using the Ironsilk to pull herself in at high speed.
Before Isis could move freely again, Nymera had to keep the Mizutsune occupied. Otherwise, in Isis's current state, where she couldn't even stand, much less keep fighting, she would have trouble just defending herself against the Mizutsune's attacks.
Wyvern's Fire could not be fired repeatedly, after all.
"Bang! Bang!" Closing in, Nymera locked onto the Mizutsune's head and fired shot after shot.
Against Large Monsters like Basarios or Gravios, with their massive frames and thick armor, Spread Ammo had relatively limited effect.
But against a monster like the Mizutsune, nimble yet not known for its defenses, especially at this kind of point-blank range where the shrapnel had no time to spread, the attack was extraordinarily effective.
The Mizutsune was forced to retreat again and again, as if being punched repeatedly in the face.
"Use a Nulberry!" Nymera shouted over her shoulder as she continued to pin the target down with gunfire.
Logically, the proper item to use at a time like this would be a Cleanser, an externally applied potion that rapidly dissolved foam and slip fluid, allowing Isis to break free.
But this trip hadn't been specifically for a Mizutsune Hunt, so naturally they had not brought such a niche potion.
By comparison, a Nulberry should still do something. Probably. Hearing this, Isis didn't waste a second. She hurriedly pulled a Nulberry from her Item Pouch, chewed it up, and swallowed it.
It did have an effect. The cold, mildly numbing sensation of the foaming slip fluid seeping through the gaps in her armor and touching her skin vanished.
But the humiliating slickness coating her entire body remained.
With no better option, Isis glanced at the fallen leaves covering the ground and simply rolled in place, trying to scrape off the slime clinging to her.
Soon she was covered head to toe in dead leaves, grass clippings, and dirt, looking both disheveled and absurd.
But undeniably, the method worked. As she rolled, most of the thick layer of foaming slip fluid was scraped away. The rest, now coated with impurities like leaves and mud, was no longer as sticky and slick as before.
She was finally able to stand properly.
Stomping hard to confirm she was steady, Isis let out an angry roar and charged in long strides toward the Mizutsune a short distance away.
She sometimes got carried away in a fight, but that was hot-blooded excitement. This was different. This time, she was truly pissed off.
Isis raised her Large Shield and lunged at the Mizutsune with a furious bellow.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Nymera immediately used her Wirebug to maneuver away. The Mizutsune's attention shifted from the Gunner in front of it.
Seeing that mud-and-leaf-covered weirdo charging straight at it like a crazed Bullfango, the Mizutsune instinctively raised a foreleg and swiped its claws forward.
Faced with the Monster's attack, Isis neither dodged nor flinched. She met it head-on.
Like I'd be scared of those slender claws!
"Haah!"
Judging the point of impact from the speed and motion of the Mizutsune's claw swipe, Isis roared and slammed her Large Shield forward.
The red-and-blue Large Shield rose to meet the Monster's incoming talons.
Watching from the flank of the battlefield, Nymera instinctively wanted to warn Isis to be careful, but before the words could leave her mouth, she saw the Mizutsune's claws brutally batted aside by that Large Shield.
Isis continued rotating in the direction of the shield swing, converting all the momentum of her charge into rotational force. She drove the Gunlance in her left hand forward in a spinning horizontal slash.
It was a move she had created herself, inspired by the Lance Hunter Art Shield Charge and infused with the Vortex Slash style of the Surge Slash Great Sword. As for the move's name, she had not gotten around to giving it one yet!
The Mizutsune had never expected such a small-framed Hunter to deflect its claw swipe and launch a powerful counterattack in the same breath. It had not even thought about dodging, and by the time it realized the danger, it was already too late.
The heavy, razor-sharp blade of the Glavenus Gunlance easily tore through the not-so-thick scales on its chest, slashing through flesh and carving open a massive wound more than a meter long, raw flesh gaping outward.
"Wroaaargh!" A piercing howl echoed across the Deserted Island.
Isis immediately followed with a reverse-grip Rising Slash. At the same time, she pulled the trigger, unleashing a point-blank shelling blast.
The Mizutsune's attempt to retaliate was interrupted yet again. Isis seized the chance and brought the Gunlance cleaving down vertically, emptying the remaining shells in the chamber in a single burst.
Slashes and shelling hammered the Mizutsune together in a barrage of powerful blows, forcing its head low.
In that instant, the Gunlance in the Hunter's hands displayed explosive power to rival any heavy weapon.
Seeing her opening, Isis lunged forward, thrusting her Gunlance straight into the Mizutsune's chest, directly into the intersection of the wounds she had carved open seconds ago.
Then, with a muffled "boom!", an arm-thick Wyrmstake Blast, propelled by gunpowder, drilled deep into the Mizutsune's body and lodged firmly within the wound.
Blood gushed out along the blood grooves in the steel stake.
Having executed the full combo cleanly and decisively, Isis stepped back with the recoil from the Wyrmstake Blast's detonation. She planted the Gunlance upright, struck its spear-like tail against the ground, and flipped open the Gunlance's chamber.
She completed a full reload at top speed.
Right after that, she still wanted to keep pressing the attack and give this damn Mizutsune another "Gymnastic" combo to loosen its joints. However, the Mizutsune was no pushover.
Having taken a savage beating, the Mizutsune also entered an enraged state.
The beautiful fin membranes covering its body, once a blend of pale pink and gold, instantly shifted into a menacing blood-red.
Facing Isis's swinging Gunlance, it pushed off with all four limbs at once and nimbly hopped back a short distance. Avoiding the Gunlance slash, it executed a backflip with an agility exceptionally rare among Large Monsters.
Its body curled midair, then unfurled, the full strength of its muscles converging into that beautiful tail as it came crashing down toward the Hunter before it.
Faced with this blow, Isis had absolutely no intention of testing its force head-on.
She knew very well that attacks with small movements and quick speed, such as claw swipes, bites, or tail swipes, could mostly be blocked with her shield. She had the strength for it, and the confidence.
But when a Monster put its entire body's power behind something, a charge, a leaping body slam, or a somersault tail slam like this one, forget trying to block it by force.
There was a fundamental difference in absolute power between a two-meter Hunter and a twenty-meter Large Monster.
She immediately sidestepped in a sliding leap while firing consecutive shells, using the recoil to extend her evasion distance.
This choice was undoubtedly correct.
With a deafening "BOOM!", the tail, covered in brilliant purple fur that easily gave the impression of being all show and no go, slammed viciously into the spot where she had stood a moment before.
The tremor was so strong it nearly made Isis, standing so close, lose her footing.
Gazing at the spiderweb cracks splitting the ground, cold sweat beaded on Isis's forehead.
If she had overestimated herself and chosen to take it head-on, even if she had managed to withstand it with her armor and Large Shield, her Defensive Stance unbroken, she would likely have been driven into the earth like a nail under a hammer.
Eyes fixed on the Mizutsune as it turned around, Isis cautiously retreated a few steps.
After all, the Mizutsune was a 5★ Threat Level Monster on the same level as Lagiacrus and Tigrex. Even blinded in one eye, its power was not to be underestimated.
A single careless moment could be fatal.
Cha-chak! Swinging the gun barrel, she completed a rapid reload. Watching her opponent warily, Isis considered her battle strategy.
Just then, a signal came from nearby. It was Nymera. "Keep it busy! I'll create an opening!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)