What the fuck did he mean, "never better"?!
Watching Altaïr's entire body twist into something inhuman, Isis wanted nothing more than to knock him unconscious with her shield and drag him to physician Yan's clinic for emergency treatment.
Of course, she knew there was no time for that, and the situation left no room to send away one of their core fighters.
With even the Wystone unable to suppress the virus raging inside him, the only option was to let him overcome it in the heat of battle.
"Be careful." The battle with the Chaotic Gore Magala was still raging, and that was the only warning she could offer.
"Of course."
Altaïr had no idea what was supposed to be so "of course" about any of this.
Restless desire surged through his mind like a rising tide. Keeping hold of his reason left no room for any other thought, so he focused every scrap of his attention on one thing.
He had to attack!
In that "single-threaded" state of mind, his thoughts felt sharper than usual. Even adjusting his stance and gathering sword aura felt noticeably faster than before.
He leveled his sword at the target.
Though blind, the Chaotic Gore Magala sensed his hostile intent lock onto it and instinctively raised a foreclaw to tear him apart.
But by the time its talons fell, Altaïr had become a blur. He flashed before the Chaotic Gore Magala and thrust his blade into its grotesque, bloodied maw.
Instant Slash!
"Screee-roar!"
Its sense of pain had been dulled, but no creature enjoyed having a blade driven into its throat. With a piercing shriek, the Chaotic Gore Magala snapped its jaws shut, trying to bite through both the sword and the Hunter's arm in one go.
Altaïr pulled the blade free an instant before its fangs closed. The trident-shaped tip tore free in a spray of blood.
Monster blood splashed across his armor. With his thoughts both manic and strangely clear, Altaïr muttered to himself in a feverish voice.
"You've gotten slow."
The Chaotic Gore Magala snapped at him twice in quick succession. He evaded with Foresight Slash, and the counterstrike tore open the wound beneath its jaw. A savage pull split the injury wider.
As sword aura gathered rapidly within him, Altaïr sheathed his blade without pause and entered an Iai stance.
"Have you run out of strength already?"
The Chaotic Gore Magala lunged with another claw swipe in answer to the Hunter's taunt.
Altaïr drew in a flash and slipped past the incoming claw with an Iai Roundslash, ducking beneath its armpit.
The momentum that had begun to wane under his injuries instantly surged back to its peak. Riding the remaining force of the Iai Roundslash, he sprang into the air.
Spinning Crimson Slash!
The spiraling blade tore open another wound in the weak scales beneath the Monster's armpit, sending blood spurting.
Altaïr immediately leveled his sword again and entered a Focus stance.
With the Hunter beneath its body, the repeatedly wounded Chaotic Gore Magala reared up in a frenzy and hammered down again and again with its Wingtalons and foreclaws.
Instant Slash!
Altaïr surged forward once more and passed through the rain of massive claws like a ghost, emerging on the Chaotic Gore Magala's other side.
He seized the opening left by its all-out attack and raised his sword into a charging stance.
The Gore Magala lifted its head and lashed out with a tail sweep, trying to drive the Hunter back.
Altaïr unleashed Charged Spirit Roundslash just as the attack arrived. He and the turning Gore Magala crossed paths like dance partners, carrying him around behind it.
Blood burst forth, and another long, narrow blade wound opened along the Chaotic Gore Magala's flank.
In barely half a minute, the two had clashed six or seven times at breakneck speed. The Gore Magala had not so much as brushed the Hunter's clothes, yet several serious wounds now marred its body.
Left behind at the edge of the fight, Isis watched with mounting anxiety.
Altaïr's style of fighting, dancing between fangs and claws, looked fierce and exhilarating, but the risk was terrifying. In an exchange at that speed, a single mistake could kill him. Worse, after partially metamorphosing, his opponent was an Elder Dragon species far above 6★, with 7★ as the bare minimum.
But she could not call for him to stop. It would distract him, and she had discussed how to overcome the Frenzy Virus with Altaïr before.
The key was to yield to the violent urge to attack, vent it through bloodshed and battle, then use breathing-control techniques and the like to bring everything back into balance.
In other words, taking this deadly risk was a necessary part of overcoming the virus...
All Isis could do was stay close behind Altaïr, darting back and forth in hopes of blocking any attack that put him in danger.
After another Foresight Slash: Spin sent him flipping over the Chaotic Gore Magala's claws for the umpteenth time, Altaïr did not charge back in to continue their deadly "game."
Instead, he retreated.
The Chaotic Gore Magala had nowhere to vent its boundless fury and no intention of letting him go. It howled madly and lunged after him.
Isis's eyes sharpened. She moved between them in time to halt the Chaotic Gore Magala's pursuit and cover Altaïr's retreat.
Once he had opened some distance, Altaïr let out a long breath.
His body was caked in blood and filth, but without him noticing, the purple-black markings that had surfaced across his body had faded. His eyes, once crimson and bloodthirsty like those of a Monster, had also returned to normal.
During that brief exchange, he had successfully overcome the Frenzy Virus that had churned inside him nearly to the boiling point. The manic urge that had seized his mind receded, and reason returned.
"I'm fine now!" he shouted, raising his voice only to tell his companions they no longer needed to worry.
This was hardly the time for concern or reassurance. While Isis held the target at bay, Altaïr pulled out a Whetfish Fin and quickly honed the blade, which had grown dull under layers of flesh, blood, and grease.
Then he plunged back into the fight.
His outward appearance had returned to normal, but the Frenzy Virus within him remained highly active. Unlike its earlier wild agitation, however, he could now turn it to his own use, at least to some extent.
Its influence had not only increased his strength but also seemed to sharpen and quicken his thoughts. He could not tell whether that was merely an illusion born of fighting the manic impulse for so long.
"It's already very weak! Get ready to overwhelm it all at once!"
After blocking a strike meant for Isis with Tempered Spirit Blade, Altaïr drove the Chaotic Gore Magala back with a backhand slash, then turned and barked a command.
Isis seized the chance to whip her Gunlance through a Quick Reload. She was about to respond when Altaïr let out a roar and activated Demon Mode and Beast Soul Possession.
An even more unsettling crimson aura of fighting spirit erupted around him in a great cloud of blood mist.
Isis could not hold back a curse. "Fuck, have you really overcome the Frenzy Virus?!"
Cursing him did not stop Isis from following up at once.
She knew Altaïr would devote everything to offense in this state, inevitably leaving openings in his defense.
She needed to work with him and cover his reckless, life-for-life assault.
And the best way to cover him was to suppress the Monster first!
"Boom!"
Isis pulled the trigger and shot forward amid a burst of flame.
The gap of less than five meters vanished in the blink of an eye. With her Large Shield raised, Isis had no time even to swing her Gunlance before her entire body slammed into the Chaotic Gore Magala's face.
Caught off guard, the Chaotic Gore Magala reeled backward, but the collision also jarred Isis badly.
It was the first time she had initiated a Blast Dash from such close range. Ordinarily, twenty to thirty meters from a Monster was a much more suitable distance.
Five meters... she had literally turned herself into a cannonball.
Altaïr, fighting at full power, did not miss the opening Isis had risked herself to create. He flashed before the Chaotic Gore Magala and drove his blade almost halfway into the Monster's chest with a thrust.
But that was only the beginning. The far more devastating Spirit Helm Breaker was already poised to follow...
Watching Isis land and shake her head dizzily, Sajji clutched the portable Dragonator as he searched for an opening and muttered to himself.
"For fuck's sake, neither of you has any room to call the other crazy, meow. No wonder you two ended up together, meow..."