Most of the time, Nymera was the party's versatile all-rounder, filling whatever role was needed.
When reconnaissance was needed, she was the party's best scout. When the party needed firepower, she was an excellent attacker. When a Monster needed harrying, she was equally capable as a skirmisher. She could even provide support when necessary, using special Ammo such as Recovery Ammo, Demon Ammo, and Armor Ammo to aid the frontliner.
Only one role had never been assigned to her: frontliner.
And with good reason. No party would ever put a Light Bowgun user on the front line; no weapon user was less suited to the role.
At the very least, a party would field a Heavy Bowgun user fitted with a custom shield mod, would it not? Even a Bow user would make a better frontliner than a Light Bowgun user because Bow users were far more agile.
Yet this time, Nymera had volunteered to take the frontliner role from Isis, leaving Isis more than a little shocked.
After a brief moment of surprise, Isis accepted Nymera's proposal.
Isis knew Nymera rarely took the initiative. If the Gunner was volunteering for something, she had to be confident enough to speak up.
So... why not let Nymera try?
As for Isis...
Sitting astride Hibiki, Isis noted that Palamutes' sharp claws and specialized paw pads let them run freely even over slick ice and snow. The foam underfoot barely hampered Hibiki at all.
In that case...
This time, Isis would be the skirmisher!
"Hibiki! Let's circle around to its rear!"
"Woof!"
From Hibiki's back, Isis raised her Large Shield and braced her Gunlance. A strange, romantic thrill swept through her, as though she had become a valiant knight from a storybook.
She shook her head to cast off the stray thoughts, then focused on the bubbles that continuously formed and drifted away with every movement of the Mizutsune.
She could more or less guess what Nymera was planning.
Wide, arcing maneuvers using Wirebugs and Ironsilk for rapid gliding would indeed become faster and easier across the foam-covered ground.
Combined with Nymera's natural agility and Rapid Fire Pierce Ammo, the terrain gave her exceptional mobility without sacrificing offensive power. Even the Mizutsune would struggle to touch so much as the hem of her clothes.
However, the bubbles floating through the air would be the greatest danger during Nymera's high-speed glide.
If so, Isis would clear those obstacles away!
Isis swung her Gunlance around and reloaded, then aimed its muzzle at the densest clusters of bubbles. Each pull of the trigger shattered a broad swath.
A faint smile appeared on Nymera's face as she glided at high speed around the Mizutsune.
Just as Isis had expected, the bubbles were Nymera's biggest problem. Her original plan would have required spending at least half her attention on dodging or bursting them, likely wasting a great deal of Ammo in the process.
With Isis clearing the bubbles, everything became simple.
Nymera slid back and forth around the Mizutsune. Rapid Fire rounds of Pierce Ammo bored into its wounds one after another like venomous needles, opening countless small holes that bled without stopping.
The Mizutsune twisted its head, its slender neck darting out again and again like a serpent as it snapped at the Gunner speeding across the ground.
To the Mizutsune's surprise, its opponent proved even more slippery in the foam.
Thanks to her exceptional ability to track movement, Nymera could anticipate the Monster's attacks by a split second. She changed direction in time to narrowly evade bite after bite and swipe after swipe.
Even the tremendously powerful water-blade breath, with its longer windup, posed no threat.
The instant the Mizutsune lined up its target, before the high-pressure water jet could even leave its jaws, the infuriating Hunter had already slipped behind it.
After several failed attempts, the already ferocious Mizutsune was almost mad with rage.
It tried the successive charges it had used against Isis, along with vicious combinations that paired bubbles with tail slams and spiraling tackles, but none of them worked.
The slick foam coating the ground favored the Mizutsune, but Nymera could exploit it just as well.
Now that the Hunter surpassed the Mizutsune in mobility and agility, even the mightiest attack meant nothing if it could not land.
However, the Mizutsune still had one trick left, an attack that had never failed against agile opponents.
Blind though it was, the Mizutsune carefully sensed the faint vibrations carried through the ground and air, using them to pinpoint its opponent.
Suddenly, it leaped and pounced toward the rapidly approaching Gunner.
Nymera instantly adjusted the length of her Ironsilk and changed direction, evading what seemed to be another routine slam.
But just as she raised her Light Bowgun one-handed to fire, the Mizutsune moved again.
It dug its foreclaws and teeth into the ground as a pivot. Its twenty-meter body began spinning at high speed, sweeping the surroundings like a massive, flexible whip.
Across nearly a thousand square meters, trees, rocks, and even the turf were torn up and flung away by the Mizutsune's wildly spinning body.
However fast Nymera could slide, she could not instantly escape an area-of-effect attack this vast.
Isis almost cried out in alarm, but Nymera reacted even faster than Isis had anticipated.
As a precaution, Nymera had kept one Wirebug in reserve. The instant the Mizutsune's sweeping body was about to crush her, she sent that final Wirebug high into the air.
Riding the momentum of her high-speed slide, she somersaulted over the Mizutsune's head.
Fanning Vault!
As she evaded an attack that had seemed all but impossible to dodge, Nymera inverted in midair and aimed at the Mizutsune's head less than two meters below.
With a soft "thump," she fired the Wyvernblast mounted beneath the Light Bowgun's muzzle straight down, planting it squarely in the Mizutsune's forehead.
Nymera landed and whirled around. While the Mizutsune was still reeling from its spin, she locked her sights on the target and opened fire in rapid succession!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The Bowgun rounds bored into the Mizutsune's head and detonated the Wyvernblast at the same time. Amid the chain of explosions, the Mizutsune fell briefly dazed.
"Beautiful!" Isis cheered as she leaped from Hibiki's back. She knew Nymera would never waste such a perfect opening.
Nymera swept up the returning Wirebugs with one hand and immediately sent them out again. Faintly glowing strands of Ironsilk wrapped around the Mizutsune and bound it fast.
Pulling on the Ironsilk, Nymera leaped onto the Mizutsune's back.
Her Wyvern Riding training before leaving Kamura Village now proved its worth. Nymera's hands flew, arranging the Ironsilk reins in less than two seconds.
As all ten fingers tightened around the reins, the Mizutsune's body temporarily fell under her control.
Her first instinct was to drive the Mizutsune into a giant tree or rock face. It was not that she wanted to save effort; with no second Monster in sight, launching her mount into the terrain was the most efficient use of Wyvern Riding.
To her embarrassment, however, the surrounding terrain was flat, without a cliff face or massive boulder anywhere.
There were trees, but this was an island, not an ancient jungle crowded with colossal growths. Nymera could have encircled any of the trunks with both arms. Would ramming a Monster into one accomplish anything?
Would that be any different from asking Isis to headbutt a pair of chopsticks?
Was she really going to waste a hard-won chance at Wyvern Riding like this?
As Nymera hesitated, a familiar shout reached her.
"Over here! Toward me!"
She turned and saw Isis holding her Large Shield high in her right hand and her Gunlance in her left, its barrel pointed behind her. Her raging fighting spirit coalesced into visible vortexes of energy around the shield and the space before her.
A deafening "BOOM!" of Gunlance fire thundered across the battlefield, and Isis shot forward in a wild rush.
That was not just Blast Dash. Isis had even combined it with Shield Assault...
Nymera's mind stalled for an instant. She had never considered that Wyvern Riding could be used this way, but long habit made her hands obey Isis's command before her thoughts caught up.
Nymera tugged the Ironsilk reins. The Mizutsune immediately wheeled around like a marionette and skimmed low across the ground, charging straight at Isis.
Dozens of meters vanished in a flash. The instant the Mizutsune's snout struck the Large Shield wreathed in fighting spirit, a sharp crack of breaking bone rang out. Its head snapped sharply upward, and the rest of its body followed before crashing to the ground.
Nymera was certain that if the Mizutsune still had eyes, both would have rolled back by now.
The collision had jarred Isis badly as well, and traces of blood seeped from her mouth and nose. Even so, her expression still screamed, "That was awesome!"
Isis leaped in front of the Mizutsune, now foaming at the mouth, and rammed the Gunlance's muzzle straight into its maw.
"Wyvern's Fire!"