The choice not to press forward while the Tigrex was dazed proved correct.
Within three to five seconds, the Tigrex recovered from its daze. Although its impaired vision would linger for a while longer, it had already begun a frenzied counterattack against enemies that were not even there.
Wide, sweeping claw swipes, snapping bites, and rapid spins sent its thick, long tail whistling through the air.
Had he chosen to close in and attack earlier, he would likely have been in terrible shape right now. With a bit of bad luck, he might even have been struck by those unpredictable, chaotic blows.
Better to use this time to sharpen his blade, steady himself, and wait calmly for the exhausted enemy to come to him, watching the Tigrex flail uselessly, burn through stamina, and spatter blood.
Once the Tigrex had calmed somewhat from the Flash Pod's daze and blindness, panting heavily, Altaïr picked up his freshly sharpened Long Sword and approached with light, careful steps.
The Tigrex's perception was sharper than he had anticipated. Whether it had caught his scent or sensed the movement and vibrations of his footsteps, he could not tell.
In the midst of its panting, the Tigrex suddenly turned to face him, its powerful foreclaws plunging into the ground and shoving forward fiercely.
A huge mass of sand and packed earth was flung into the air, flying like a cannonball toward the approaching Hunter.
Realizing his position was compromised, Altaïr abandoned any pretense of stealth.
His footwork abruptly accelerated, sliding in a crouch beneath the loose yet incredibly forceful clump of earth. Then he swung his blade diagonally, using the inertia of the slash to rise back to his feet.
By then, the Tigrex had already pounced in front of him. Although its eyesight had not yet returned to normal, it had roughly judged the Hunter's position through hearing and its other senses.
It growled low, lashing out with its claws in a wild, savage series of sweeping strikes around it.
Such attacks might lack precision, but they absolutely could not be underestimated. Altaïr promptly spun and stepped clear of the claw swipe's range, then retaliated with an upswing of his blade, carving a shallow wound into the Tigrex's wing talon.
Foresight Slash! The power of this strike could only be described as superficial, but the pressure of dancing between the Monster's fangs and claws caused the red Spirit aura that had gradually faded after he left direct combat to gather once more.
And it was precisely this light, deft slash that allowed the blinded Tigrex to instantly pinpoint the Hunter's location.
It thrust its head forward. A short, sharp snap of its jaws was dodged by Altaïr with a sidestep.
Immediately after, it swung its neck and strode forward, sweeping its massive mouth, which could crush rock with ease, back and forth to trap the enemy ahead.
Even temporarily blinded, the high frequency and wide range of a Tigrex's attacks were enough to fluster most Hunters.
Facing the oncoming maw, Altaïr had no room to adjust his stance for another Foresight Slash. Without much thought, he launched a reverse diagonal slash with his Long Sword while his legs left the ground, his body flipping backward through the air in a retreating leap.
This was originally a maneuver used by Dual Blades users; after entering Demon Mode, they could evade a Monster's attack with precision. He had not entered Demon Mode, and the Archdemon Mode effect built up at the start of the battle had long since faded.
Yet, relying on the significantly enhanced physical abilities granted by the red Spirit Gauge state, he still managed to pull it off.
His blade performed an upswing against the Tigrex's lower jaw, using the force to propel his body backward. He leaped four or five meters away and successfully evaded the Tigrex's consecutive bites.
Landing on the ground, Altaïr froze for a brief moment. Much like the Crimson Blade Slash earlier, it seemed he had once again stumbled upon a new technique, one that used the red Spirit Gauge state as a substitute for Demon Mode and allowed a Long Sword user to "borrow" the movements of a Dual Blades user. Its role was similar to Foresight Slash, but the motion was more compact and agile, with the counterattack and evasion occurring simultaneously. The counter was more forceful as well, and it avoided the risk Foresight Slash carried, namely that after completing the dodge, you ended up repositioning yourself right back in front of the Monster.
But by the same token, its drawbacks were equally obvious.
Precisely because it avoided that riskiest counter, it lost Foresight Slash's effect of condensing Spirit Gauge under pressure.
Wielding a Long Sword far heavier than Dual Blades to perform these acrobatic flips and leaps demanded extreme stamina from the user. The red Spirit Gauge state was practically a hard requirement, and after executing this move, the Spirit Gauge he had just managed to condense began to dissipate again.
It was effective, but had to be used with caution. Suppressing the urge to test the move further, and using the distance created by this as-yet-unnamed "new Foresight Slash," Altaïr tilted his Long Sword diagonally, tensed his muscles, and entered a charging stance.
The Tigrex, its consecutive bites hitting thin air, roared ferociously. Propping itself on its foreclaws, its upper body reared high before it surged forward.
Another charge attack!? Had its vision already recovered?
No! Not yet!
By observing the Tigrex's movements, Altaïr confirmed that its body was raised far too high. If he simply lowered his stance a bit and did nothing else, the Tigrex would most likely miss its footing and pass right over his head.
Perhaps this charge attack motion was its most natural one, suited for attacking opponents of similar size rather than a "diminutive" Hunter.
If it could see him clearly, it certainly would not make such a mistake.
Still, Altaïr did not get cocky. At the very moment the Tigrex's sharp claws missed their mark, landing near him just before it was about to pass over his head, he decisively released the Charged Roundslash he had barely managed to build up to its first stage.
The power of this one strike was of no consequence.
Using the spinning motion of the slash, Altaïr hugged the ground, slipped beneath the Tigrex, and swiftly emerged through the gap between its hind legs.
The two had once again swapped positions, and he flashed into place behind the Tigrex.
Oblivious to this, the Tigrex continued bellowing as it charged forward, the distance between them steadily widening.
This was the perfect chance to widen the gap and force the Tigrex to burn stamina in repeated charges back and forth. As long as... No!
Altaïr abruptly whipped his head around to look in the other direction, toward the Hunter's Camp, and a sudden shock jolted through him.
With its vision impaired, unable to see clearly in the darkness, the Tigrex could only rely on hearing and smell to determine its target's direction. The scents and sounds from the camp were clearly more enticing than a single person.
When it realized its charge attack had missed, where would it turn?
"Hey! Over here!" Altaïr shouted instinctively.
Hearing the noise, the Tigrex's forward charge faltered for a moment, and it finally realized its attack had missed yet again.
The Tigrex roared with fury, its limbs and sharp claws clawing and gouging madly at the ground. Its massive body drifted into a sharp turn, ignoring the risk of losing balance and toppling over, completing the turn at maximum speed.
Facing the Tigrex charging at him with wild abandon, a crazy thought flashed through Altaïr's mind.
Riding the momentum of his Spirit Roundslash, he sheathed his Long Sword back into its scabbard, then twisted the hilt to lock the blade and scabbard together, transforming the weapon into its Great Sword form.
Immediately after, he hefted the Great Sword onto his shoulder and entered a true charging stance.
With Master Amos's help, he had developed a special charging method unique to the Long Sword, the so-called Charged Roundslash.
But when it came to a true Charged Slash, it had to be the Great Sword after all!
Facing the ever-approaching Tigrex, Altaïr interrupted his charging process with a Tackle, quickly entered Strongarm Stance, then immediately unleashed his attack sideways.
Using his absurd coordination and the wide-swinging motion of the Strong Charged Slash, he forcibly displaced himself about three or four meters to the side. Immediately after, he took another large step forward, then smoothly shouldered the Great Sword again, entering the final True Charged Slash stance.
By now, he had moved laterally about five or six meters from the spot where he had shouted earlier.
He was keenly aware of both his disadvantages and his strengths.
His absolute power was still lacking, and his mastery of the Charged Slash technique could only be called proficient, not expert. Expecting him to do what those truly top-tier Great Sword users could do, intercept a Tigrex's charge head-on, would more likely result in him staggering the Tigrex before being sent flying himself.
But he had absolute confidence in his coordination, flexibility, and sense of timing!
With both eyes locked onto the rapidly approaching Tigrex, Altaïr gathered power and fighting spirit while fine-tuning his orientation, simulating the timing and angle of the strike in his mind.
The rampaging, charging Tigrex drew closer and closer. At this moment, his stored power reached its limit. The preparation for the True Charged Slash was complete!
The Tigrex was still over ten meters away from Altaïr, who stood poised with the Great Sword hefted and ready to strike at any moment. But just then, Altaïr released the True Charged Slash early.
His target was not the Tigrex's head; his direction was not straight ahead, but to the side.
The tip of the sword plunged into the ground. The first blow of the True Charged Slash was merely a setup strike. Using the sword's body for support and leverage, Altaïr flipped and leaped up.
The True Charged Slash, infused with all his strength and fighting spirit, finally descended. It looked as if it was about to miss, but at the very instant the brilliantly shining blade was about to cut into the earth again, one of the Tigrex's front claws "just happened" to slip right into its path.
The moment blade and claw met, the pale-gold fighting spirit emblematic of the Great Sword's Charged Slash, the red Spirit aura long condensed within the blade's core, and the Dragon Element energy originating from the weapon itself all erupted simultaneously.
Cleanly and efficiently, they severed one of the Tigrex's front claws.
Suffering this grievous wound in the midst of a full-speed charge attack, the Tigrex could no longer stabilize its posture. With an anguished roar, it toppled over.
Now!
Firelight flickered in Altaïr's eyes as he dragged the Great Sword with both hands, dashing in front of the fallen, struggling Tigrex's head.
Aiming for the wound on the side of the Tigrex's neck, he swung the massive blade down with all his might.
"Hraaaaaaaaaah!!" Amid a furious roar, the Hunter used every ounce of his strength, dragging the giant blade buried deep in the wound and pulling hard, completely cleaving open the Tigrex's throat.
Scalding dragon blood soaked through his armor. The Tigrex's struggles gradually weakened.
(Translated by yourtl.app)