The tail was not a powerful weapon for a Pariapuria, but that certainly did not make it unimportant.
A Pariapuria's appetite went far beyond mere gluttony, resulting in an exceptionally large, well-developed head. The same was true of its forelimbs. As their wing membranes degenerated and they gradually lost the ability to fly, those limbs came to bear at least sixty percent of the Monster's weight whenever it walked or ran.
This anatomy shifted the Pariapuria's center of gravity far forward. It relied entirely on its thick, massive tail for the counterbalance needed to maintain a normal posture while moving.
When Altaïr severed that tail, the Pariapuria, already struggling to defend itself from the Hunters attacking at both ends, lurched forward several staggering steps. Only its powerful forelimbs kept it upright.
Isis's eyes lit up. She immediately shifted her primary target from the Pariapuria's head to one of its forelimbs.
With a flick of her Gunlance, she completed a Quick Reload, let out a shout, and launched an all-out assault.
Barely able to maintain its balance, the Pariapuria had no intention of letting the Hunter attack freely. It opened its enormous maw and tried to swallow her whole.
"Meow!"
Clawdia had somehow climbed onto the Pariapuria's back. She activated Beast Mode, and a blood-red aura surged around her entire body. Leaping onto the top of its head, she drove her sharp steel claws toward its eye socket with such ferocity that she seemed intent on gouging the eye out.
No living creature could ignore an attack like that. The Pariapuria instinctively stopped trying to swallow Isis and shook its head violently, attempting to throw off the creature on top of it.
Clawdia was ready. She extended her claws and anchored herself between the forked protrusions atop the Pariapuria's head, which resembled a cross between horns and fins.
The Pariapuria thrashed its head from side to side. Its body was coated in mucus, and Clawdia eventually lost her grip and went flying.
Even so, she had accomplished her tactical objective.
Seizing the opportunity, Isis launched into her fierce "Gymnastic" combo. Altaïr also used the opening to circle from behind the Monster back to its front.
His previous Spirit Release Unsurpassed Slash had consumed most of his Spirit Gauge, so he activated Demon Mode. He unleashed one Spinning Crimson Slash after another at blistering speed, hammering the top of the Pariapuria's head. The barrage held the Monster's attention while rapidly rebuilding his Spirit Gauge.
Enraged by their relentless attacks, the Pariapuria lashed out horizontally with its sharp claws, trying to force the Hunters back.
Altaïr immediately shifted his stance. Turning sideways, he braced his Long Sword and moved to intercept the incoming claws.
His blade clashed against the wyvern's claws, sending terrifying force racing through the sword and into its hilt. Gritting his teeth, Altaïr braced with all his strength. Instead of resisting the impact head-on, he redirected it sideways as though levering a heavy weight aside with a crowbar, then carried the momentum into a vertical downswing.
Tempered Spirit Blade!
Altaïr's parry sent the Pariapuria's swipe wide. At the same moment, Isis unleashed a Full Burst into its other foreclaw, then drove the Wyrmstake Cannon into the joint.
With its tail gone and almost all its weight bearing down on its front claws, the Pariapuria could no longer support itself after their coordinated assault. It howled and collapsed to the ground.
This was the opening the Hunters had been waiting for.
Isis took a quick backstep to clear the attack zone, and Altaïr immediately raised his Long Sword and entered a charging stance. After barely two seconds of gathering power, he swept out with a Charged Spirit Roundslash that carved a massive gash into the Pariapuria's neck.
The strike rapidly condensed the Spirit within his Gauge, returning his momentum to its peak. Riding the remaining momentum of the Charged Spirit Roundslash, Altaïr spun into the air and delivered another slash.
Spinning Crimson Slash!
Two extraordinarily powerful blows struck the same spot almost simultaneously, sending blood spurting from the intersecting gashes.
Altaïr did not press the attack. Instead, he yielded the position.
Having finished reloading, Isis charged forward. The heavy blade of her Gunlance, as weighty as a Great Sword, slammed into the gushing wound.
At the moment of impact, shelling erupted and blasted flesh and blood into the air.
Full Burst, Quick Reload... Isis emptied two full loads of shells into the wound, then drove two Wyrmstake Cannons deep into it before pulling back from the Pariapuria's head.
The Pariapuria had fallen because of the injury to its foreclaw, not because it had lost its balance in the middle of a charge, so it quickly forced itself upright again.
The two Hunters were about to continue their coordinated assault when Sajji's shout rang out nearby.
"Incoming rockets, meow!"
Altaïr and Isis immediately retreated, putting as much distance between themselves and the Monster as possible.
A rocket streaked in from the side, trailing smoke, and struck the Pariapuria's head with pinpoint accuracy. The fiery blast snapped the Monster's head to one side.
Sajji lowered the Rathian Model-1 Rocket Launcher and shouted excitedly, "I get it now, meow! If your aim is bad, just get closer before you fire. Problem solved, meow!"
At that point, Sajji was less than ten meters from the Pariapuria...
Before his words had even faded, another rocket came hurtling in from afar.
Unlike Sajji's point-blank shot, this rocket arced through the air at the very limit of the launcher's range.
It screamed down onto the Pariapuria's back. The massive fireball from the explosion slammed the Monster flat against the ground before it had fully regained its footing.
The gap between the two shots was like the difference between a Large Barrel Bomb and a Small Barrel Bomb.
Seeing the Pariapuria knocked down again, Altaïr and Isis eagerly surged forward and launched a fresh wave of attacks.
The blast wave sent Sajji tumbling. He shook his head as he climbed back to his feet, glaring furiously in the direction the rocket had come from.
Morgan tossed the rocket launcher back to Theo without a trace of expression.
Theo laughed and continued shaking his Maca Alchemy Barrel.
Sajji ground his little fangs. The rocket was packed with the highly unstable alchemical explosive Theo had just concocted, the kind that might detonate on its own if left sitting too long. On top of that, the shot had been fired by Morgan, a professional Gunner.
I just can't compete with that, meow...
Under the Hunters' coordinated assault, the Pariapuria accumulated wound after wound.
The two frontliners kept it pinned in place, preventing it from building enough speed for its signature feeding charge.
Cornered, the gluttonous beast let out a low, rumbling roar.
It reared up, its chest swelling like a puffball.
"That looks like a breath attack! Watch out!" Altaïr shouted to his companions.
None of them had ever heard of Pariapuria being able to use a breath attack, but the Hunters did not dare lower their guard.
Even members of the same species could develop different abilities when they lived in different regions.
Altaïr and Isis swiftly retreated, their eyes locked on the Pariapuria's movements as they prepared to react at a moment's notice.
They watched the swelling travel upward from the Pariapuria's chest as it raised its head high. Its throat expanded until it was nearly as thick as its body, and in the next instant, its massive jaws opened wide.
Countless chunks of flesh encased in corrosive mucus shot from its mouth like debris from an erupting volcano.
Immediately afterward, the nauseating mucus and debris rained down in a storm.
"What the hell?!"
"Holy crap!"
Faced with such a horrifying spectacle, even Altaïr cursed, and so did Isis, who almost never swore.
The half-digested, badly decomposed chunks of flesh reeking of corrosive stomach acid were, in some ways, several times more revolting than excrement.
Excrement was merely disgusting. This highly acidic mixture of mucus and vomit was dangerously corrosive. It could eat into skin and cause infection, and it could even corrode weapons and armor.
"There's no dodging this! Get over here!" Isis crouched and raised her Large Shield above her head.
Altaïr hurried to Isis's side, and the two huddled together beneath the shield.
The corrosive liquid and debris clattered against it. Mercifully, the chunks were small; although the impacts made the shield shudder, Isis's defensive stance never wavered.
Before the two could catch their breath, an even more terrifying scene unfolded.
At the sight of the soft, rotten chunks of meat scattered across the ground, the juvenile Pariapuria all around them lunged forward as though someone had served them an irresistible delicacy.
(Translated by yourtl.app)