In the distance, a red SOS Flare rose into the sky, signaling both an emergency and a call for help. The sight caught Isis so off guard that she choked on the ration she had been stuffing into her mouth.
She pounded her chest twice. The dull "thump-thump" was forceful enough to make anyone wonder whether those blows would have shattered an ordinary person's sternum. The chunk of ration lodged in her throat came flying back out.
The two Gunners who had been checking their weapons and Ammo immediately stood up.
Nymera released a Wirebug, vaulted onto the tent, and stared toward the rising SOS Flare. "Straight-line distance, six to seven kilometers. We can make it there on our Palamutes within ten minutes."
Morgan was about to leap onto his Palamute's back when Isis shoved him aside.
She grabbed a massive Ammo box in each hand and slung them across the Palamute's flanks. "Bring all the spare Ammo.
"If this were just an ordinary Gore Magala, Altaïr wouldn't have fired an SOS Flare. The situation has changed. Prepare for the worst."
Isis seemed like a different person. The resolve in her voice brooked no argument.
Morgan and Nymera sprang into action. With Isis's help, the spare Ammo boxes were loaded in less than half a minute.
Isis immediately mounted her Palamute and led the charge out of camp, with the Meowcenaries' Felynes and Palamutes close behind.
She lowered her upper body until she lay flat against her Palamute's back, clamping both legs tightly against its ribs.
To a Palamute, this was the signal that its rider wanted a full-speed sprint. Isis's rather poetically named mount gave a low growl and shot through the trees.
"Meowcenaries, stay out of the fight!" Galloping at full speed, Isis suddenly looked back and issued new orders to the Meowcenaries' Felynes.
"Circle the battlefield's perimeter and observe the situation, then report back to the Red Stronghold immediately!"
"Understood, meow!"
Once she had given her orders, Isis pulled several potions from her Item Pouch, including Demondrug and Armorskin, and downed them one after another. After a moment's thought, she slipped a Might Pill into her mouth and held it there.
She was ready to go all out the instant she entered the fight.
—--
At a full sprint, the Palamutes covered the several kilometers in no time. The scent of Paintberries grew stronger, and the black scale dust drifting on the wind confirmed that the group was heading in the right direction.
"Screee!"
The Cohoot circling overhead let out a long cry. Keeping pace beside Isis, Nymera shouted, "We're here! It's just ahead!"
Seconds later, the Palamute riders burst through the trees one after another and entered the fiercely contested forest clearing.
Isis swept her gaze across the battlefield and found Altaïr darting around the Gore Magala, alive and full of energy. The knot in her chest finally loosened.
She did not slow down. Isis leaned slightly to one side, and her Palamute immediately understood, accelerating straight toward the Gore Magala in the middle of the clearing.
Rider and Palamute swept past the Gore Magala at high speed.
Isis bunched her legs and leaped. Demon King Tyrant unfolded in midair as its cannon roared. The momentum of her running leap, the boost from the shelling recoil, and her own monstrous strength combined to bring the Gunlance crashing down on the Gore Magala's head with astonishing force.
Then something unexpected happened.
Despite having no eyes, the Gore Magala detected her surprise attack from the sound and the tremors in the ground alone. It made a sudden short hop backward, narrowly evading the devastating leaping slam, and Demon King Tyrant's blade plunged into the earth.
That was not all. After opening half a body length of distance, the Gore Magala dug its claws into the ground and tensed every muscle in its body.
Isis's gaze sharpened. The posture clearly heralded a shoulder charge.
The creature even knew how to punish an opening with a counterattack? Its combat experience was surprisingly rich.
Isis remained calm before the Gore Magala's imminent attack. She crushed the Might Pill between her teeth and, using both legs and her braced Large Shield for leverage, wrenched Demon King Tyrant free as she leaped backward.
At almost the exact same instant, the Gore Magala launched its shoulder charge, hurling its flank forward with all its strength.
Had Isis stayed where she was, the full-force impact would have sent her flying regardless of her strength. A difference of several hundred times in body mass made that outcome inevitable.
Had she fired a shell and used Storm Retreat to open the distance, she could have evaded the attack safely, but she would also have surrendered her chance to counter.
Instead, she backstepped.
A shoulder charge had limited reach to begin with. At this distance, the Gore Magala's momentum was already spent. She would turn its own force against it!
"Haaah!" Isis landed with a low shout, braced her shoulder behind the Large Shield, and drove forward into the Gore Magala's head.
Insta-Block!
The residual force at the end of the charge could not break through Isis's defense, especially when the point of impact was the Monster's head rather than its powerful torso.
The impact rebounded through the shield, snapping the Gore Magala's head back and sending its entire body stumbling.
In the opening exchange, Isis had seized an overwhelming advantage through superior technique.
With the Gore Magala's attention fixed on Isis, Altaïr shouted, "It's molting into a Shagaru Magala! Go all out! Don't let it evolve!"
The warning sent a chill through the others.
At Altaïr's warning, the two Gunners spreading out to find firing angles also noticed the fissure along the Gore Magala's back and the golden-white scales exposed beneath it.
Abandoning the search for better positions, both Gunners pulled back their Bowgun bolts, raised their muzzles, and prepared to unleash everything they had.
"Screeeee!" Gears and treads whined at high speed as a dark-red cannon cart burst from the thicket.
It was Rathalos Model-10, its performance upgraded across the board after the latest round of modifications!
Experience from numerous real battles had led Sajji to discard the concept of "armor" entirely.
After all, what good was armor if one stomp from a Large Monster would shatter it anyway? Better to strip off the weight completely!
Rathalos Model-10 was smaller, lighter, and more agile than Model-9. Paired with Engine No. 2, its mobility had improved dramatically.
It could never match a Palamute at a full sprint, but it was not much slower. Engine No. 2's frantic acceleration brought the cart to the battlefield less than a minute behind the main group.
The pedals were practically smoking.
Despite the vast improvement in mobility, Rathalos Model-10 had lost none of its offensive power. In fact, improved propellant charges and a larger ammunition capacity had increased its firepower.
Rathalos Model-10 charged onto the battlefield and skidded sideways through a tight turn.
Engine No. 2 had only one setting, maximum output. The correct "gear" did not matter; if the cart flipped, that was the driver's problem.
Once Sajji finally wrestled the cart back under control, he aimed the turret at the target and slammed the firing mechanism.
Several muffled thumps sounded as the cannon launched a succession of cylindrical shells into the Gore Magala.
The shells neither exploded nor burst into flame. Instead, they sprayed a large quantity of viscous incendiary agent across the wings on the Gore Magala's back.
Altaïr saw the opening as he sprinted past and acted without hesitation. He fired his Clutch Claw and hooked it into the Gore Magala's head.
The Slinger rope hauled him upward while his running momentum carried him forward. Spinning at high speed in midair, he became a storm of blades that swept across the Gore Magala's back.
Flames burst from his Dual Blades and ignited the incendiary agent, engulfing the Gore Magala in a roaring blaze.
Altaïr landed behind the Gore Magala and slid into a spin to bleed off the excess momentum, then looked back at the Monster writhing and howling within the inferno.
Granted, the Gunners could have ignited the incendiary agent safely and easily with Bowgun Ammo. As a Blademaster, he had no reason to risk lighting it himself.
But... if he let the Gunners set the Gore Magala ablaze first, how was he supposed to use his Midair Spinning Blade Dance?