With Altaïr taking up the vanguard position and drawing the Duramboros's attention, the situation stabilized somewhat.
The Duramboros seemed to remember this fellow who had roused it from sleep and then led it on a chase through the Jungle for over an hour, keeping its attention quite focused.
Altaïr, not adept at clashing head-on with Monsters, couldn't pin the creature firmly in place like a true heavy vanguard could, but he could lead the Duramboros around in circles.
This, in a way, also created opportunities for his companions to attack.
Isis, at this moment, was having a bit of a rough time. As she rarely took on the attacker role, she hadn't considered agility in her equipment choices. This led to the strange scene of the Duramboros chasing Altaïr, while she chased the Duramboros.
In contrast, Nymera was much more at ease. As an experienced Gunner, shooting at a "moving target" the size of a Duramboros was practically no different from hitting a stationary one.
However, to avoid drawing too much of the Duramboros's attention, she would almost always change position after every 3-shot Rapid Fire volley, ensuring she stayed outside the creature's line of sight. This minimized the probability of the Duramboros setting its sights on her.
The running Altaïr suddenly came to a halt, launching a counter-charge toward the Duramboros hot on his heels.
His experience from the earlier lure mission told him that the Duramboros's desire to chase wasn't particularly high. If he just kept his head down and ran, the Duramboros was likely to give up chasing him and attack others instead.
Therefore, at regular intervals, he had to turn back and exchange a few rounds with the Duramboros, inflicting some wounds, even if they were mostly superficial, to provoke it into continuing the pursuit.
Faced with the Hunter now before it, the Duramboros immediately lowered its center of gravity, preparing for a horn charge.
Was this the fourth time? Or the fifth?
Altaïr, who had already lost count of how many times he'd faced this move, instinctively prepared to crouch for a slide, intending to dodge the horns with a Sliding Slash and then counterattack.
But the moment he bent his knees, lowering his stance to slide, he suddenly sensed something was off.
The Duramboros had lowered its head more than before. This wasn't easy to notice initially, but with the creature's forward charge, that pair of horns could end up slanted into the ground.
If he continued to evade by sliding as he had before, he might very well get scooped up along with the dirt and turf.
Realizing this, Altaïr immediately changed his evasion plan. His bent legs urgently pushed off, and he leaped sideways, flipping backwards over the oncoming horns of the Duramboros.
His landing was a bit awkward, but he had managed to dodge the attack safely after all.
A cold sweat broke out on Altaïr's back. This big guy might not be quick-witted and its reactions might be slow, but it also learned from experience in battle!
He sprang up quickly, raising his guard and observing the Duramboros's movements more carefully.
The Duramboros, having missed its charge, didn't immediately pursue. Instead, it suddenly took several steps backward. Considering this creature didn't like retreating, this unusual action put Altaïr on high alert.
"Watch out!" he shouted, warning his companions. Nymera and Sajji immediately halted their offensive. Isis, who had just chased after the Duramboros, had no choice but to sheath her weapon and put distance between them once more.
After stepping back a few paces, the Duramboros crossed its hooves and began to spin, swinging its massive Tail Hammer as its body rotated.
Another tornado-like spinning attack like before?!
Nymera and the others, who had been backing away, didn't even think about it. They turned and bolted.
Especially Sajji, still haunted by his earlier fright, he ran faster than anyone. The pedals drove the gears into a blur, and in the blink of an eye, he zipped far ahead.
While running, Altaïr kept glancing back. A certain detail in the Duramboros's leg movements caught his attention.
In its previous spinning attack, the Duramboros's hooves had remained firmly planted as pivot points, unmoving. But now, its hooves were stepping in sync with the rotation of its body.
This could speed up the spin, but it would also destabilize its center of gravity.
The Duramboros's great spin was actually quite similar to the Hammer's spinning attack, so Altaïr knew well that without a stable footing to serve as a pivot, the Duramboros couldn't possibly maintain balance during high-speed rotation.
In other words, this wasn't the same kind of continuous great spin as before. So why was the Duramboros spinning up?
*Wait!*
It suddenly dawned on Altaïr. The Hammer's spinning attack also had a finisher that used inertia to unleash a wide-range swing, the spinning strong pressure.
"Scatter! Split up and run!" Altaïr shouted at the top of his lungs. At the same time, he turned and fired the Flash Pod from his Slinger.
With the Duramboros's center of gravity unstable now, the Flash Pod might have an unexpectedly good effect.
But luck wasn't on the Hunter's side this time. The gale-force winds stirred up by the Duramboros's spin blew the Flash Pod away before it could land in front of the Monster.
Not only did the brilliant flash fail to stun the Duramboros; it seemed to act as some kind of signal, provoking the Duramboros to release its attack immediately.
Its hooves left the ground once more, and its massive, cumbersome body spun like an oversized boomerang, skimming the surface as it whirled toward them in a wide sweep.
The range of this attack was far greater than the earlier plummeting smash from above.
Except for Isis, who had fled in a different direction and was outside the attack's reach, both Altaïr and Nymera's escape paths were fully covered.
At this point, trying to run out of the attack range on foot was no longer possible. Altaïr's eyes darted across the surroundings, searching for any possible escape route.
Right then, Sajji's shout came from dozens of meters away.
"Over here, meow!"
Altaïr's eyes lit up. He immediately raised his arm and fired the Clutch Claw. The claw hooked onto the cannon cart's body, and the high-performance spring mechanism rapidly retracted, pulling him flying toward the cannon cart's position.
Nymera also had her own means of self-preservation. She released her Wirebugs in succession, using the traction of the Ironsilk to vault through the air, even managing to dart out of the Duramboros's attack range before Altaïr did.
"Rumble rumble rumble...!"
The Duramboros, its attack having missed, tumbled across the ground, rolling forward for dozens of meters before finally coming to a stop.
Behind it, over a thousand square meters of ground lay in complete disarray. Moss, grass, shrubs, and everything else had been swept clean by this attack, exposing large swathes of bare earth.
Witnessing this scene, cold sweat trickled down Altaïr's back. If it weren't for him having the Slinger, if it weren't for Sajji being in just the right position, providing a fixed point for him to fire the Clutch Claw...
He'd probably be mixed into a pile with all that dirt and grass leaves after that attack just now.
Jumping off Sajji's little cannon cart, Altaïr shouted and charged at the struggling, downed Duramboros at full speed.
That attack just now was terrifying, but the damage it inflicted on the Duramboros itself was no small matter either.
For a creature of this size and weight, even just a fall and a few tumbles could potentially compress and injure its internal organs, let alone the Duramboros having just launched itself like a boomerang using inertia.
It lying on the ground probably wouldn't recover its senses anytime soon.
Altaïr charged to the front of the Duramboros's head, starting with a drawn-sword Jumping Slash, then tensed his muscles for a brief Charge, alternating between Perfect Rush and Blade Dance for an all-out assault.
Isis, who had been chasing the Duramboros for half a day, finally found an attack opportunity and swung her Gunlance, striking the Duramboros's abnormally swollen legs again and again.
Nymera, meanwhile, followed the two Palicoes to the back of the Duramboros.
Clawdia was the first to charge forward, the whole cat diving into the wound blasted open on the hump, frantically waving her steel claws, tearing off huge chunks of fat.
"Get out quick, meow! Or I'll roast you along with it, meow!" Sajji loaded several incendiary rounds into the cannon cart.
Seeing that Clawdia was getting a bit carried away with the attack and still refused to come out of the wound, Sajji began counting down, "Five, meow, four, meow, three..."
When it counted down to two, Clawdia, covered in grease and bloodstains, finally crawled out of the wound, angrily running off to attack another spot.
Nymera and Sajji exchanged a glance and simultaneously pulled their triggers.
The cannons fired at close range, viscous incendiary agent splattering all over the Duramboros's back, mixing with those half-melted fats to form the perfect fuel.
Blazing flames spewed forth from the barrels of the Rathalos Cannon, and the next second, the Duramboros's back was once again engulfed in a raging fire.
(Translated by yourtl.app)