Successfully severing the tail gave Gordon even more confidence in the outcome of this hunt.
Unlike yesterday's bitter struggle, today's battle was almost entirely under his control.
From using a Sonic Bomb to gain the initiative, to Zhu Pa feigning an Attack from the front to lure the enemy, and himself Strong Charged Slash the weak point from the side, the vastly different hunting experience once again proved the importance of tactics when hunting monsters.
Perhaps it was the intense pain of having its tail severed that accelerated the Great Izuchi's recovery, and this somewhat pathetic giant didn't lie on the ground for too long.
Gordon, worried that the Great Izuchi would become enraged and counterattack again after getting up, retreated early, creating a safe distance of several meters. Facts proved that his caution was correct.
The Great Izuchi, which had only returned to its normal state for less than two minutes, had its eyes turn crimson again.
Gordon felt that this should be the credit of the severed tail.
A familiar sulfuric smell accompanied by sparks shot out from the edges of the Great Izuchi's Giant Scissors; without a doubt, this was a prelude to its breath Attack.
Yesterday's severe burns had left him with some psychological trauma.
Although the Great Izuchi's hot sand breath Attack had a short range, its splash radius was quite large. To avoid being burned again, Gordon immediately put away his Great Sword and began to cautiously retreat further, while constantly preparing to evade.
The Great Izuchi's preparation time for this breath Attack was exceptionally long, a muffled gurgling sound like gargling echoed in its huge bird beak, and the scattered sparks from the Giant Scissors's gaps gradually turned into scorching flames.
Could this guy really spit out a fireball directly like a Rathalos?
Gordon, who had retreated dozens of meters away, muttered to himself, his attention and spirit focused to the extreme, wary of the Attack that could come at any moment.
"Gugagaga!"
With a strange cry, the Great Izuchi, which had been "Charged" for a long time, suddenly moved.
Its long and powerful legs pawed at the ground, its constantly flapping wings perhaps maintaining balance or assisting acceleration, its huge head swinging from side to side, it charged madly towards Gordon like a drunken lunatic.
"What the hell?!"
Gordon cursed under his breath. After preparing for such a long time for a breath Attack, how did it suddenly turn into a Dragon Car?
Just as Gordon was about to dive to evade, a large ball of fire mixed with scorching sand and rocks was thrown out by the Great Izuchi, arcing in a parabola and smashing about six or seven meters away from Gordon.
Gordon's footsteps suddenly halted.
Immediately after, came the second, third, and fourth balls...
While the Great Izuchi was furiously charging and swinging its huge head from side to side, it sprayed multiple hot sand breaths, falling in a rather random manner on both sides of its charging path.
This made Gordon dare not dive to evade at all.
The Great Izuchi's seemingly reckless "random" breath Attack made it impossible to predict the landing points. Once hit, no, as long as it was even slightly affected by the extremely wide splash range of the hot sand, the Dragon Car that followed would flatten him into a meat patty!
This guy actually knows how to use its breath Attack to block my retreat route?!
Gordon stared in shock at the charging Great Izuchi. He knew in his heart that if he didn't do something soon, he could let Zhu Pa prepare his funeral.
Turning around and running was not an option; with the difference in stride, human legs could never outrun a monster.
Diving and rolling to the side to gamble on luck was the most normal choice, doing everything one could and then leaving it to fate.
But Gordon didn't want to gamble his life on luck.
He could gamble with his life, but compared to gambling on luck, he preferred to gamble on strength!
Taking a deep breath, pulling it into his abdomen, and stabilizing his core, Gordon stared intently at the charging Great Izuchi. The Giant Scissors on his back were directly placed on his shoulder. As his heart pumped powerfully, blood surged into his muscles, and strength began to gather.
Charged Slash stance!
"If your strength is strong enough and your timing is accurate enough, a Charged Slash can even directly cut down a flying wyvern passing over a hunter's head!"
This was what an advanced Great Sword User in the Gathering Hall told him while drinking and bragging.
At the time, Gordon considered it an exaggerated description, but now, he intended to try it!
The Great Izuchi's strides were enormous while charging, and the injuries to its wings and legs, as well as its swaying running style, meant that its center of gravity was unstable.
As long as he could seize that moment!
Beneath his faceplate, Gordon's eyes narrowed slightly.
As the Charged Slash stages gradually increased, the distance between him and the Great Izuchi also grew closer: ten meters, eight meters, five meters, two meters...
Now!
"Ha!"
Gordon, with his muscles and joints tensed to the extreme, instantly unleashed a Charged Slash that had also accumulated to its limit. The Giant Scissors, carrying a devastating force, transformed into an afterimage, cutting through the air and striking the Great Izuchi's side face.
The Great Izuchi's huge head was violently knocked to one side. Already relying on head swings and wing flaps to forcibly maintain its center of gravity, it instantly lost its balance and fell in front of the hunter.
Zhu Pa, who was anxiously watching from a distance, couldn't help but leap happily when he saw this scene.
For Gordon in the past, a Charged Slash would have been the end of a series of Attacks.
After all, humans are not machines; after releasing the accumulated stamina to its limit, one must allow two or three seconds for the muscles to "catch their breath."
But now, he inexplicably felt that the Charged Slash was merely a "prelude."
The previously accumulated strength did not completely dissipate with this slash; instead, it transformed into a brief "aftershock," temporarily remaining deep within the muscles.
Waiting to be reawakened, or to dissipate after a few seconds.
In his mind, he recalled a move that the advanced Great Sword User had drunkenly taught him.
Kneeling on one knee with legs bent, both arms tightly gripping the Great Sword's hilt, shoulders, and even the lower back, were twisted as much as possible to the right, the entire person like a winch twisted to its limit, and at the end of the winch was the Great Sword with its tip pointing directly at the sky!
This was an advanced Charged Slash stance called "Strong Charged Slash."
As his muscles tightened again, that undissipated strength seemed to return, even surpassing its original level—no, by several levels!
The strength accumulated to another level seemed about to escape Gordon's control. He roared, unleashing the strongest sword Attack he had made since becoming a hunter against the Great Izuchi, which had not yet managed to get up.
Strong Charged Slash!
The Giant Scissors drew a huge arc, cleaving down with a powerful momentum that seemed to split the earth in two.
Because he could not yet precisely control this new power, this sword Attack did not accurately strike the left wing root joint that Gordon had hoped for, but instead struck the wing bone of the Great Izuchi's left wing.
Carapace, skin, and fascia were all destroyed without hindrance before the Giant Scissors. The only thing that could block the blade was the thick bone.
"Crack!"
Amidst a crisp sound of bone breaking, the Great Izuchi's struck wing bone bent at an odd angle. Seeing the small bone fragments splattering from the wound, Gordon knew that the Great Izuchi's left wing was completely ruined.
Miserable howls were incessant. The Great Izuchi, once again severely wounded, sprang up from the ground as if electrocuted. Its flapping Giant Scissors sent Gordon stumbling backward, but fortunately, he was not injured.
Just as Gordon retreated a few steps, preparing to face another wave of the Great Izuchi's rage, he was astonished to discover that...
This guy actually turned around and limped away?
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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