Unfortunately, by the time Ted and Gordon returned to the Daimyo Hermitaur, the massive shelled monster had already woken up and was now shuffling around on its six short legs.
Since they had lost the chance for a Sleep Cut, there was no need for them to be stealthy anymore. Ted let out a provocative roar and charged straight in.
Sensing the movement, the Daimyo Hermitaur spun around, its shiny black eyes fixed on the charging Ted. Its two crab claws, which were probably larger than Ted himself, clacked together, producing a hair-raising "clack-clack" sound.
Gordon couldn't help but picture himself being snapped in half by those huge pincers. He wasn't exactly scared, but he certainly felt a new sense of caution.
Ted, however, seemed oblivious, charging like a wild boar directly in front of the Daimyo Hermitaur.
The Gunlance and Great Shield, folded and stored behind him, instantly unfurled into his hands. Carrying the momentum of his charge, the tip of the Gunlance thrust straight forward, accurately piercing the Daimyo Hermitaur's vulnerable mouthparts.
Dark green blood splattered out, and the Daimyo Hermitaur let out a piercing shriek. Its enormous crab claws swung forward, but Ted calmly slid back a step, easily dodging the Daimyo Hermitaur's counterattack.
The Gunlance, designed to be used with a Great Shield, is massive and heavy.
In its deployed state, a Gunlance User can't even run, or even walk quickly; they can only shuffle slowly and steadily, step by small step. It's difficult for them to dodge monster attacks in time.
However, Gunlance Users don't care.
After all, that giant shield, large enough to cover the hunter's entire body, isn't just for show.
Most of a monster's offensive moves are rendered useless against such a massive shield, and even many Flying Wyvern's breath attacks are no exception.
At the same time, Gunlance Users generally prefer to wear armor with outstanding defensive capabilities and heavy plating, just like the Basarios armor Ted was wearing.
With the combined effect of both, Gunlance Users transform into spiky turtles in front of monsters, impossible to bite into, and always at risk of being hit back.
"Boom!"
A dull explosion sounded as the "gun" part of the Gunlance unleashed its power.
Amidst the flash and smoke of the burning gunpowder, countless tiny steel pellets sprayed from the Gunlance's muzzle, creating numerous, though not severe, yet dense wounds on the Daimyo Hermitaur's carapace.
The effective range of this Attack is very short, only about two to three meters. This is why Gunlance Users are undeniably classified as a Swordsman class (melee), rather than an Archer (ranged).
"Boom!"
Another explosion.
The recoil from two consecutive shellings caused Ted to slide back over a meter.
He maintained his stable stance and balance, and after cleanly reloading the Gunlance, he continued to attack the Daimyo Hermitaur with an endless series of thrusts and upward slashes, followed by shelling, reloading, and repeating the cycle.
After observing for a while, Gordon was surprised to find that this Attack cycle wasn't random or arbitrary.
The Gunlance is heavy, and whether it's a horizontal thrust or an upward slash, it will uncontrollably cause the Gunlance User's body to move forward a small step.
When the distance to the Attack target becomes too close, the piercing power of the Gunlance is difficult to exert, so Ted would launch a shelling Attack at such times.
The extremely limited range of the spread shelling naturally deals more damage the closer it is to the target, and the recoil of the shelling helps him regain distance from the monster, facilitating subsequent thrusts.
Precisely controlling the distance and mastering the rhythm, Ted at this moment was like a precise instrument, with a rigorous aesthetic in his Attack and defense cycle.
Gordon was momentarily mesmerized until the continuously injured Daimyo Hermitaur let out a piercing and sharp shriek, which startled him out of his daze.
"It's enraged! Get to its side, don't stay in front!" Ted loudly reminded Gordon, while he himself slightly slowed his Attack rhythm, focusing more on defense.
"Understood!"
Gordon immediately moved, taking advantage of the Daimyo Hermitaur's continuous hammering on Ted's Great Shield like a blacksmith, to circle around to its left side.
Excluding its large pincers, the Daimyo Hermitaur has three pairs of hind legs.
These crab legs, besides being inconvenient for forward and backward movement, are very flexible and strong. A single leg is as thick as Gordon's thigh, and covered in thick, thorny carapaces, they look like gnarled old tree roots.
Gordon tentatively swung a Vertical Slash, and although it didn't bounce off, it only left a shallow white mark on the dark red carapace, a result that made him wince with a toothache.
If he had other options, Gordon would not Attack such a seemingly hard part.
But then he looked at the massive dragon skull, thick as a city wall, and the huge pincers that had been enduring Ted's thrusts and shellings for a long time without showing significant damage.
These few crab legs, in comparison, seemed almost slender and cute...
"Attack the joints!"
Ted, who was stubbornly enduring the Daimyo Hermitaur's furious onslaught in a defensive stance, shouted a reminder, and Gordon immediately understood what he meant.
These crab legs are indeed covered in thick carapaces, making them difficult to penetrate, but for flexible movement, the carapaces at the joints cannot possibly be too thick.
As a crustacean, the Daimyo Hermitaur doesn't have true bones. As long as the joints can be destroyed, that crab leg can be directly crippled!
"Alright!" Gordon immediately changed his Attack method.
Normally, the Charged Slash is the absolute core of Great Sword techniques.
It doesn't matter if you miss countless times; as long as one successful three-stage Charged Slash hits the most crucial part, all previous attempts are worth it.
But now, he completely abandoned the idea of charging, opting instead for relatively flexible Horizontal Slashes, Vertical Slashes, Upward Slashes, and even Blade Slams, repeatedly attacking a certain leg joint of the Daimyo Hermitaur.
A single hit was meaningless, but when several, or even a dozen, shallow sword marks accumulated, the continuous Attacks produced a qualitative change.
The joint structure of insects, crustaceans, and other exoskeleton creatures appears simple, but it is actually a very complex and efficient biological hydraulic system.
When the hard bone membrane hidden between the joint carapaces was broken open by the Burst Blade, the balance and integrity of the hydraulic system were instantly shattered.
With a crisp "crack" sound, that joint suddenly spewed out a large amount of light green, translucent fluid, and the Daimyo Hermitaur's massive body lurched violently towards Gordon.
The damaged joint simply couldn't bear such immense weight. Almost at the instant the Daimyo Hermitaur staggered, it was completely crushed, and its remaining five crab legs thrashed wildly, trying to regain balance, but ultimately it still fell to the ground.
"Aha! Well done, little brother Gordon!"
Noticing the Daimyo Hermitaur's abnormal posture, Ted immediately launched a counterattack.
Before, the Daimyo Hermitaur's attention had been on him, making it difficult for him to use the Dragonator, which has an extremely long charging time. But now that the Daimyo Hermitaur had fallen, what else was there to say?
A certain mechanism hidden within the Gunlance's handle was triggered, and bright flames gathered, compressed, and then burst forth from the Gunlance's muzzle a few seconds later!
"Rumble rumble rumble!!!"
--+--
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.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/Kazenova223
If you guys wanna check it out.