Thanks to the Shen Gaoren's slow but predictable movements, Altaïr had plenty of time to focus and gather his strength.
One second, two seconds... Once his strength and the energy in his Spirit Gauge had reached their limits, Altaïr thrust his sword forward. The trident-shaped blade of Tyrant Blade [Heaven Swallower] struck precisely where the wounds across the Shen Gaoren's leg overlapped.
This concentrated burst of power far surpassed anything his basic sword techniques could produce. For the first time, Altaïr felt his weapon break through the outer layer of the Shen Gaoren's carapace.
The tip had penetrated only a short distance, but the Dragon Element energy flaring along the blade proved that the strike had reached the flesh beneath the carapace.
Altaïr did not hesitate or linger for another strike. The moment his attack landed, he retreated.
A sharp hiss rang out as he pulled the blade free, and lava-like body fluid mixed with superheated gas sprayed from the wound.
Even though Altaïr was ready for it, the high-pressure gas still propelled a few droplets of molten fluid onto him.
The Espinas Armor Set's excellent heat resistance protected him from harm, but the incident served as a stark warning.
Striking this creature was like hitting a Barrel Bomb. Once the attack landed, there was no time to dodge the resulting eruption.
To avoid the spraying lava, he would either need a shield and heavy armor, as Isis had, or he would have to create distance as he attacked.
With that in mind, he changed his approach. Twisting at the waist, he reversed his grip on his Long Sword and slowly adjusted his footing as he entered a charging stance.
While gathering power, he repeatedly adjusted his angle and distance to match the Teppeki Shen Gaoren's gait. Before long, the perfect opening appeared.
With a low shout, Altaïr released the spring-like tension gathered in his waist and legs, spinning forward as he swung the blade.
The blade swept horizontally across the Shen Gaoren's leg. Rather than stopping to sheathe his sword, he followed the momentum into a spinning slide step and continued forward until the force of the attack was spent.
Charged Spirit Roundslash!
This strike was even more powerful than his earlier focused thrust. Another stream of magma burst from the path of the blade, but Altaïr had already slipped past it, leaving the eruption to strike empty air.
He was satisfied with the result.
During a conventional Hunt, the Charged Spirit Roundslash was seldom used because of its long windup. In the present situation, however, it was the ideal technique.
After finishing the attack, Altaïr stepped back several paces. He loosened his limbs, observed the Shen Gaoren's movements, and quietly waited for his next opening.
A short while later, he reversed his grip on the Long Sword once more and entered the charging stance.
He had already unleashed hundreds of Charged Slashes. Now he wanted to see whether this creature could continue marching as though nothing had happened after enduring hundreds more Charged Spirit Roundslashes!
Attack. Attack without pause.
—--
Their sense of time gradually blurred. Without the sunsets and sunrises to mark its passage, they would not even have known how many days the interception operation had lasted.
Whenever exhaustion set in, they drank Dash Juice and Energy Drinks to relieve their fatigue, then used Potions to ease the damage to their muscles. Only when their bodies could take no more did they withdraw for an hour or two of sleep before immediately catching up and rejoining the fight.
Hibiki, who was transporting their supplies, had already made several round trips.
The Gunners had long since fired more than a thousand rounds. Nymera's Rathalos Cannon was the first weapon to fail under the sustained Rapid Fire of Flaming Ammo. Its barrel had reached the end of its service life and developed cracks and distortions.
Fortunately, Manti Town had ample supplies and sent them replacement barrels.
Sajji volunteered to repair the Rathalos Cannon. Although he was not a professional smith and blade weapons lay outside his expertise, his skill with mechanical repairs was every bit as good as that of professional smiths.
He swiftly replaced the barrel, then took the opportunity to inspect the firing mechanism and make sure no other problems would arise in the near future.
Nymera had barely returned to the fight with the repaired Rathalos Cannon when Isis came running over. Her Glavenus Gunlance was beginning to fail as well, and its shells were jamming with increasing frequency.
For a time, Sajji became the busiest member of the squad.
After repairing the Light Bowgun and then the Gunlance, he wondered whether he should tell Morgan to bring over his Piercing Crab Heavy Bowgun for an inspection, just to make sure its mechanisms had no hidden faults.
An alarming blast sounded from up ahead. It was unlike the usual report of a Bowgun firing and sounded far more like a chamber exploding...
The Sticky Ammo had detonated inside the red-hot chamber. The blast was powerful enough to destroy the Heavy Bowgun in Morgan's hands and injure Morgan himself.
If his Seltas Queen Gunner Set had not been so thick and sturdy, he might have been badly wounded and left unable to move.
Without a weapon, Morgan could no longer fight. However reluctant he was, he had no choice but to withdraw from the operation.
Whether losing a squad member in this fashion counted as fortunate or unfortunate was difficult to say.
With no time to dwell on the matter, Altaïr turned his attention back to the Teppeki Shen Gaoren before him.
"One hundred and seventy-three," he murmured under his breath as he reversed his grip on the Long Sword once more and entered the charging stance.
Then he spun and swung the blade forward.
A massive wound nearly two meters long and a palm's width across ran along the Shen Gaoren's left foreleg.
Viscous, searing body fluid like molten lava seeped slowly but steadily from the wound. Whenever the foreleg touched the ground, magma sprayed in every direction from the wound and the gaps in its carapace.
For the hundred-and-seventy-somethingth time, the blade carved across the same wound.
As Altaïr turned and flicked the clinging magma from his blade, a rather inappropriate thought crossed his mind: if this creature were not going to destroy the town, it would make the perfect target for practicing his sword techniques...
He backed away to a safe distance, crouched down, and took out a Whetstone to sharpen the blade, which had dulled after so many attacks. The Whetstone itself was badly worn, however. With a helpless sigh, he tossed it aside and took out a fresh one.
Which one was this? The ninth? The tenth? He could no longer remember.
After quickly grinding the small traces of solidified body fluid from the blade with the new Whetstone, he rested for a moment to catch his breath. Then Altaïr returned to the Teppeki Shen Gaoren's side, ready to unleash his one hundred and seventy-fourth Charged Spirit Roundslash.
First the right hind leg would come down. Then the left foreleg would slowly move forward. Seven or eight seconds later, it would land. After another two or three seconds, the tremors would subside, and his opening would come...
The entire sequence had become a fixed pattern in his mind.
So when the Teppeki Shen Gaoren's right hind leg came down but its left foreleg remained motionless, Altaïr's exhausted, muddled mind froze for an instant.
He looked up in confusion and saw the Shen Gaoren's mountain-like body crashing toward the ground like a collapsing peak. At last, he snapped back to his senses.
"Fall back!!"
Altaïr roared and forced his legs, which felt as though they were filled with sand, to carry him as far from the target as possible.
Isis reacted even more slowly. She stared upward with her mouth open for two full seconds and only came to her senses when the Shen Gaoren's body was almost on top of her.
She hurriedly locked the Gunlance's muzzle brake and pulled the trigger. The shelling recoil launched her backward, carrying her out from beneath the enormous descending shadow just in time.
"BOOOOM!"
The creature's enormous body, weighing thousands of tons, slammed into the ground with the force of a true earthquake. The earth shook violently, and even Isis, protected by the Zamtrios Z Armor Set's excellent tremor resistance, struggled to stay on her feet.
This was the Teppeki Shen Gaoren's first true counterattack since the battle began.
* * *
You can also read Resident Evil: A New Hope here on Webnovel. Thank you for reading.