Altaïr carefully controlled the distance between himself and Guanzorumu, lingering at the edge of the Elder Dragon's reach.
His opponent was already exhausted. The roar that could cover nearly the entire battlefield and required High-Grade Earplugs had not reappeared. Even the breath attacks it had used so frequently before had become rare.
Altaïr did not believe it had weakened to the point that it could no longer use those special attacks. Guanzorumu was clearly conserving what little strength it had left.
While using physical attacks to limit Altaïr's room to evade, it was also searching for an opening, a chance to finish him in a single blow.
Altaïr had understood the gulf between himself and an Elder Dragon as early as their previous battle. Even heavily wounded and exhausted, Guanzorumu remained a formidable foe he could not overcome.
As he scrambled to dodge one pounce and slash after another, several fresh wounds inevitably appeared across his body.
Powerlessness filled Altaïr.
In truth, he was not nearly as confident or energetic as he had appeared when provoking Guanzorumu moments before.
The only reason he was still alive and darting about in front of it was that Guanzorumu refused to waste its precious stamina and wanted to kill him with as little effort as possible.
He could not tell whether he would fall first to its sharp fangs and claws, or whether Guanzorumu would lose patience and resort to one of its devastating techniques.
Either way, his fate would be the same.
Yet he was not pessimistic. His efforts were by no means meaningless.
Every extra second he held on bought his companions a little more time to attack, and that might influence the battle's final outcome.
After a sweeping Claw Swipe, Guanzorumu twisted slightly to the side. Now somewhat familiar with its attack patterns, Altaïr immediately dove away.
As he threw himself forward, Guanzorumu suddenly raised one of its wings. A gravel-laced gale blasted toward him.
Flattening himself against the ground spared him from most of the flying stones, but a few still struck the armor on his back with dull "bang bang" sounds.
Without his armor, the flying stones would have been enough to break his bones. Even so, each impact felt like a heavy hammer blow, leaving his chest tight and his breathing constricted.
But he had no time to dwell on it. Before the gale had even subsided, he pushed off the ground with both hands, sprang to his feet, and rolled forward again.
"Boom!" The enormous dark-gold claw slammed down where he had been lying, smashing the already battered ground into a shallow crater.
Altaïr fought against the tremors underfoot and rose as quickly as he could. Just as he was about to keep running, the rush of wind behind him warned him that something was wrong.
He turned instinctively and raised his Long Sword into position, preparing to counter with the Tempered Spirit Blade's parrying stance.
Guanzorumu seemed to have found a counter to the technique. This time, it attacked with neither claws nor fangs. Instead, it lowered its head slightly, then violently swept its horns upward in a rising strike aimed at the Hunter.
In the earlier exchanges, Altaïr had always used the force of the blow to his advantage, deflecting most of his opponent's power while creating distance.
But a rising horn strike from below was not so easy to deflect. It sent him flying, and he crashed heavily to the ground as his helmet rolled away.
Having finally created a major opening, Guanzorumu opened its maw and spewed dragon flame. The dark red pillar of fire rushed straight at Altaïr, who had tumbled to the ground and could not dodge in time.
It was a killing blow.
But just as the pillar of dragon flame was about to engulf him, the short, stocky Lance user sprinted over and slammed his large shield down in front of Altaïr.
The dragon flame instantly heated the shield in his hands until it glowed red, while the force of the breath attack drove him steadily backward. He threw aside his Lance, braced both arms against the nearly melting shield, and held firm in a Defensive Stance.
Blood seeping from his mouth and nose, Altaïr struggled to his feet. He was about to move when the Lance user's silent look stopped him in place.
"Boom! Boom!" The roar of Cannon fire erupted, and several bursts of flame exploded beside Guanzorumu.
The Cannon barrage interrupted Guanzorumu's breath attack and revealed the weapon's position.
Enraged, Guanzorumu turned its head and unleashed a torrent of dragon flame, detonating the Cannon along with the structure concealing it.
"I leave it... to you..."
His arms charred black and his vambraces nearly fused to his shield, the Lance user collapsed helplessly to the ground.
Gritting his teeth, Altaïr wiped the blood from his mouth and nose and started running again.
He could not stop now. Guanzorumu had long since fixed on him as its target; staying put would only endanger the wounded.
From atop a building at the edge of the square, Nymera shouted, "All Machine Cannons destroyed! One Rapid-fire Cannon remaining! Four Heavy Ballistae remaining! Load them all with One-shot Binders!"
Having temporarily taken over command from Kane, she relayed information to the Hunters on the battlefield while issuing orders to the Gunners still able to fight.
The three Blademasters skirmishing with Guanzorumu exchanged glances.
Nymera's intent was clear. The ropes attached to the One-shot Binders fired from the Heavy Ballistae were extremely sturdy. If all four Ballistae fired at once and hit their mark, even an Elder Dragon would struggle to break free for a while.
The only problem was landing the shots.
They had already tried to restrain Guanzorumu with One-shot Binders, but its reaction speed was terrifying. It could even swat aside the Ballista Ammo fired from the Heavy Ballistae with its enormous wings, which were tough enough to serve as shields. To truly restrain it, they first had to create an opening, one that left Guanzorumu no time to block the One-shot Binders.
How could they create one? Attack the wound on its abdomen?
But Guanzorumu was deliberately protecting the wound across its chest and abdomen. Even while pursuing Altaïr, it maintained a low crouch and kept its center of gravity close to the ground.
Haifa tried to slip beneath its belly from behind but was knocked away by a sweep of Guanzorumu's tail.
Altaïr dodged desperately as Guanzorumu's assault grew increasingly ferocious. At this rate, he doubted he could last more than a few exchanges.
If they failed to find a solution soon, the battle could take an uncontrollable turn. As Altaïr's anxiety mounted, he suddenly sensed a terrifying gaze that made every hair on his body stand on end.
Fierce, resentful, hateful. Did it belong to Guanzorumu, still pursuing him relentlessly from behind? No, it came from another direction.
Altaïr instinctively glanced toward the source of that oppressive stare.
At the center of the small plaza, amid the shattered ground, a pair of scarlet feline eyes peered out from beneath the earth. They glanced coldly in his direction, then withdrew underground.
Clawdia?
Guanzorumu might also have sensed the gaze, but the battlefield already seethed with too many hate-filled stares for it to pay any attention.
Altaïr, however, now had a plan.
He began moving purposefully toward the area. To avoid alerting Guanzorumu, he gave no signal to Haifa or the other Hunter and made no abrupt change in direction. Instead, he risked making a wide, sweeping loop.
After another frantic roll, Altaïr and his pursuer drew closer to the spot where the Felyne had peeked out.
Once he knew what to look for, Altaïr spotted a glint of cold steel deep within one of the massive fissures, each of them more than half a meter wide.
Most of Guanzorumu's attention was fixed on the Hunter fleeing before it, though it remained alert for attacks from the other two at its sides. It failed to detect the danger lurking deep underground.
When it stepped over that crevice... nothing happened. But as it pursued Altaïr and snapped at him, it took one more step forward. The instant its abdominal wound was directly over the fissure...
"Shhk!" A sharp, piercing sound rang out.
A sharp steel lance tip shot straight up from beneath the earth, plunged into Guanzorumu's abdominal wound, and drove deeper under mechanical force.
The folding telescopic shaft ultimately lacked the strength to withstand the impact and snapped in half before it could fully extend.
Even so, it drove the four-edged steel lance tip deep into Guanzorumu's wound and briefly lifted its entire body off the ground.
"A portable Dragonator?!" Haifa was so startled that she blurted out the words mid-attack.
The grievously wounded Guanzorumu convulsed in agony, nearly toppling to the ground.
"One-shot Binder!" Nymera shouted.
The opportunity they had waited so long for had finally arrived, and the Gunners did not miss it. Ballista Ammo tipped with massive barbs streaked in from every direction and buried itself deep in Guanzorumu's body.
The winches spun at full speed, snapping the ropes taut and binding the howling Elder Dragon in place.
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Tl note: Unfortunately, we didn't reach the power stone goal, so there will only be 2 bonus chapters. The offer still stands though, if we reach 90 power stones before tomorrow's reset, I'll release 10 bonus chapters