Timeless [Yuuki Konno X OC]

Chp. 44 - Bear Fists

[Alfheim Online, Sylph Territory, The Deep Woods]

[Malzeno's POV]

If you could sum up today's boss battle in a single word, I'd be stuck between 'Rattled' and 'Angery'. This Monster Hunter event drew in quite the crowd but given how new it was, I had only a few leads to some of the monsters added thanks to Argo. That being Rathalos and Nargacuga. Thereby confirming we received the short straw in the preverbal lottery. 

"Hmph, I got this overgrown bear!" Jun, the hopeless hero he was, lunged at Redhelm, his greatsword twirling into a flaming corkscrew toward the great beast as it brought its right arm backward.

"I wouldn't recommend attack--too late," I cut myself off as the Redhelm lunged, striking Jun's skill head-on. The flames nicked at the beast's nonexistent health bar, the force of the punch connected to Jun's chestplate, flinging the poor boy halfway across the arena, leaving him paralyzed.

"If you see its arm shimmer red it'll cause an immediate stun without a proper shield!" Siune relayed before me, moving back when Redhelm swung its arms left and right, reaching farther than its normal counterpart as Tecchi barely managed to withstand the swings while I kept my distance, drawing back three arrows tinged in a ice-blue substance. 

Buckshot pierced between the group, striking one of the forearms as small deposits of ice formed before shattering in its face. "Ice and fire are its only weaknesses, the forearms are breakable too!" I added my share of intel, coating and firing a multitude of arrows that did little damage but annoyed Redhelm into making a massive leap over Yuuki's and Nori's attacks. "Cra-!"

Diving, I barely rolled out of the way of its butt slam that threw rocks in every direction, it snarled and took a swing at me until I took flight and dove overhead, evading the grab as I sunk Threaded Needle through its nape, followed by another Buckshot into its thick, red mohawk. 

It spun around with a sweeping claw as Tecchi slammed his tower shield in time to the swing, giving me ample time to fire a charged up Thunder Crash straight to the chest of Redhelm while the powerful downward swing from Nori's Tremor broke apart the ground beneath. But we all saw those eyes glow brightly as a deafening roar left its jaws, spinning at a velocity no bear should as Tecchi was thrown back a few inches behind his shield into me while Nori was left with three deep wounds in her torso, paralyzed also.

"Keep your distance and attack from an angle, Tecchi continue to guard and draw its aggro!" Siune actively took charge, which was quite impressive given how she'd rely on Yuuki for orders. 

The purplette in question ran alongside the Undine, both thrusting their weapons forward against the left forearm as it struck Tecchi's shield, myself flying overhead to rain down Deluge, pockets of rime bursting across the deviant's hide. Their combined skill threw it sideways.

"Switch!" They chimed as Talken's burning orange spear dug against the head of the beast, Fatal Thrust erupting out the back of the scalp and straight into Jun's line of sight.

"Tank this, you ass!!" He let out his wordless cry, dragging his crimson greatsword through the earth to carve across Redhelm's stomach in two long strokes, Jun hopped back, avoiding a lunging grab as the monster stared at its empty paws in time to see Jun swat it across the face like a ball to a baseball bat. "All yours, Nori!"

"On it!" She did a similar start-up skill to Jun's, flinging a wave of debris straight into Redhelm only to gasp and barely evade in time with her wings when Redhelm charged, swinging franticly in her direction. 

It spun on its heels, creating a strong air current to swat my arrows from the sky as Yuuki drew her blade across its arms, diving towards a right hook to slash a third time, then into the left cross, completing Vertical Square as she performed a backflip over a charge, running across its back.