Generally speaking, a Monster's resilience and vitality were directly proportional to its size.
A slash from a Hunter's Carving Knife that spilled several liters of blood would be fatal to a Kelbi, but barely qualify as an injury to a Large Flying Wyvern.
By the same logic, a profusely bleeding gash seven or eight meters long would be nothing more than a scratch on a Jhen Mohran over two hundred meters in length. For a Guanzorumu with the physique of a conventional Large Monster, however, it was a problem that could not be ignored.
Every Hunter present was at least a 4★ elite with extensive hunting experience, even the Gunners who remained outside direct combat and focused solely on operating the long-range siege weapons. They naturally understood these principles.
Without any need for repeated orders from the commander, the Hunters' tactical objective shifted in an instant.
They moved straight past the first stage, an all-out assault meant to inflict severe wounds, and into the second: steadily wearing down its stamina.
They only had to hold on for a while. Another half hour, perhaps? Maybe an hour?
As the Guanzorumu continued to bleed, it would gradually weaken. That would be their chance to seize the initiative.
Even so, the High Rank Hunters' opening salvo was nothing short of ferocious.
As the main force in this operation, they had to pressure their opponent by every means available and force the Guanzorumu to reveal more of its capabilities.
The roar of the Rapid-fire Cannons was deafening, but the attack proved less effective than expected.
The Guanzorumu's reactions were terrifyingly fast. The shells landed less than a second apart, yet only the first caught it off guard and struck its shoulder, blasting open a shallow wound.
Every shell that followed was blocked when it folded its dark crimson dragon wings around itself. Their durability defied anything humans could manufacture.
Such formidable defenses sent a chill through the Hunters' hearts.
These were cannon shells, fired from less than fifty meters away! Any ordinary Large Monster struck by several rounds would have died, or at least been left unable to stand. Kane's expression tightened when he saw the barrage fail, but he did not waste time trying to load another couple of shells. He immediately abandoned the position beside the Rapid-fire Cannon.
Within seconds of his retreat, two powerfully built Egyurasu dove onto the cannon and began tearing, clawing, and gnawing at it.
Their claws and fangs could not destroy the steel cannon, but by working together, they managed to topple the heavy artillery piece from its mount and render it inoperable.
Kane clicked his tongue. He turned, shouldered his Heavy Bowgun, and held down the trigger, emptying an entire magazine into the two Egyurasu that had overturned the cannon.
These Egyurasu had not joined the assault on the city. Instead, they remained constantly at the Guanzorumu's side as its "personal guard" and were the most physically powerful elites in the entire pack.
Even so, concentrated fire from a High Rank Gunner reduced them to broken corpses riddled with bullet holes in the blink of an eye.
"Gunners! Prioritize the Egyurasu! They'll destroy our siege weapons!" After shouting the new order, Kane stowed his weapon and sprinted away in search of a better firing angle.
—--
Meanwhile, Haifa seized the moment while the Guanzorumu kept its dragon wings folded around itself to block the cannon fire and charged straight toward it.
"Hyaah!"
Living up to every stereotype about hot-blooded Blademasters, she recklessly brought her Tigrex Great Sword (King Tiger) crashing down toward the Guanzorumu's head.
Through the lingering smoke from the cannon fire, the Guanzorumu raised its head and saw the Tigrex Great Sword cleaving down at it. It reflexively recoiled, swept its dragon wings back, and leaped two body lengths away.
Haifa's Draw Slash struck empty air. She looked up, slightly dazed.
It was not because her attack had missed. She had faced Elder Dragons before and knew how agile and cunning they could be; missed strikes were common.
What surprised her was the Guanzorumu's wildly exaggerated reaction.
That swing wasn't even that heavy, was it? And the Tigrex Great Sword relies on raw damage. There wasn't even an elemental advantage. Why'd you jump so far back? The Guanzorumu also seemed caught off guard for an instant.
Then it realized she was not the "brute" that had severely wounded it not long ago. A wave of humiliated fury swept over it, and it opened its jaws to unleash a torrent of dark red dragon flame.
Haifa had prepared to evade the moment the Guanzorumu retreated. She dashed several steps to the side, threw herself into a diving leap, and narrowly avoided the breath attack.
The pillar of flame swept across the spot where she had stood only a second earlier, searing a dark red scorch mark into the stone-paved ground.
The sight sent a jolt of alarm through Altaïr and the others as they divided their attention between clearing out the Egyurasu and monitoring Haifa's fight.
Of all the Monsters they had faced before, whether a Piscine Wyvern like Plesioth, an Amphibian like Zamtrios, a Flying Wyvern like Rathalos, or anything else, every breath attack had required at least some preparation.
Even a human had to take a deep breath before exhaling forcefully. How could it simply open its mouth and unleash a breath attack with no warning whatsoever?
They were fortunate that the High Rank Hunters of the main team had engaged the Guanzorumu first. Had anyone from Altaïr's team taken point, that opening breath attack might have struck them squarely before they could dodge and taken them out of the fight.
Against an opponent of this caliber, reading its next attack from its movements alone was no longer enough. They had to predict its actions and react in advance.
Frankly, that was beyond their current level. They still had to manage it, or they would die.
Pushing off the ground with both hands, Haifa sprang back to her feet and spat. "That vicious, huh? Guess I've got to get serious."
With the Guanzorumu's gaze locked on her and several Egyurasu diving toward her, Haifa knew that forcing her way through would be nearly impossible. She shouted, "Cover me!"
Kane, the High Rank Heavy Bowgun user, slid to a halt, planted and braced his weapon, then took aim and sniped at the Egyurasu attacking Haifa.
After sending his Kinsect to collect the extracts that enhanced his body, Casa, the Insect Glaive hunter, charged in from the flank to divert the Guanzorumu's attention.
Haifa crushed a Might Pill between her teeth and swallowed it. Then, dragging her Great Sword at an angle behind her, she launched another charge.
This time, the Guanzorumu did not retreat.
It swept its dragon wings sideways, batting away the Insect Glaive hunter who had closed in first, then raised a sharp claw and slammed it down at the charging Haifa.
"Roaaar!" Haifa chose to meet it head-on.
The Great Sword trailing behind her suddenly swung upward. The fighting spirit surrounding the blade lacked the stability and concentration of a fully charged strike, but it was even more turbulent and violent, like a gale sweeping across the desert.
Her rising slash not only deflected the Guanzorumu's descending claw, but also generated a blast of wind that blew away two approaching Egyurasu.
There had been none of a Great Sword's characteristic charging, nor much finesse. The technique relied entirely on brute strength and that wild fighting spirit.
Blade Dragging Slash was the Great Sword Hunter Art she excelled at above all others! The Guanzorumu could hardly believe that its claw had been deflected by the little "animal" before it.
Enraged, the Guanzorumu opened its bloodstained maw and lunged forward as if to bite Haifa in half and swallow her whole.
With a flick of her wrist, Haifa turned her Great Sword horizontally and braced her shoulder against the blade, entering a Defensive Stance.
"Bang!"
The Guanzorumu's fangs clashed against the Hunter's Tigrex Great Sword (King Tiger), and the two struggled for dominance.
They were clearly on entirely different levels in terms of raw strength. The stalemate lasted less than a second before it broke; the Guanzorumu abruptly jerked its head upward and sent Haifa flying, despite her braced defense.
The Guanzorumu was about to pounce and bite the overconfident little animal to death when Casa darted into the gap and planted himself in front of Haifa.
The Insect Glaive in his hands blurred into afterimages as he slashed repeatedly at the Guanzorumu's chest, forcibly halting its charge.
The Guanzorumu roared and lashed out with a wing talon, intending to swat away the irritating Insect Glaive hunter. Casa used his Insect Glaive as a pole and vaulted into the air.
He twisted nimbly in midair and poured all his strength into his arms, bringing the Insect Glaive down in a massive overhead smash.
Leaping Insect Slash, an Insect Glaive Hunter Art!
The Guanzorumu sensed the danger in the blow. A direct hit to the head would not seriously wound it, but it would still hurt.
It was an "emperor," not a "thug" like the Grimclaw Tigrex. It had no intention of trading wounds with mere "little animals."
Its broad dragon wings beat once, and the Guanzorumu darted backward more than a dozen meters like an agile hawk, cleanly evading the Insect Glaive hunter's full-force strike.
Its retreat also disrupted Haifa's plan for a coordinated attack.
As the Guanzorumu landed, flames churned within its maw, on the verge of erupting as a devastating dragon flame breath attack.
An enormous round of Bowgun Ammo streaked toward it with a fiery trail, then exploded directly in front of it into a massive fireball nearly ten meters across.
That was the Heavy Bowgun hunter Kane's Supernova!
(Translated by yourtl.app)