Link swam up the waterfalls with ease wearing his new Zora Armor and opening his paraglider at the top, landing safely on each ledge all the way up Ploymus Mountain. He soon was near the top of the mountain and followed a path, spying several shock arrows sticking out of the trees along the way. He gathered ten shock arrows in his quiver by the time he reached the top. He only needed at least ten more shock arrows that he would need to shoot the orbs on Vah Ruta, according to what Prince Sidon had told him. He had strongly suggested carrying plenty of extras.
He spied the red-colored Lynel immediately, pacing back and forth a good distance away. It was in a clearing with grass and large boulders scattered around, and sporadic tall trees were dotted along the edges of the clearing. He could see some trees with groups of shock arrows embedded in their wooden trunks. Luckily, he was behind one of the boulders far from the Lynel, and it didn't sense him after he ascended to the top. He could not attack from a distance, as it held a powerful bow and its aim would rarely miss. Prince Sidon had also mentioned Lynels have an excellent sense of smell and hearing. He was careful to keep his breathing and movements quiet, but his uncontrollable heartbeat was another story.
The Lynel was facing away from him, and he could see the large Lynel Bow it carried on its back, which paled in comparison to the size of the monster itself. He definitely did not want to get hit with anything that sprang forth from that bow, or the beast.
He thought of the plans he went over with Zelda. It had been her idea to freeze the Lynel repeatedly with ice arrows, giving him time to get an extra strike in before the next strike shattered it, similar to how she battled the Yiga that nearly killed him many moons ago.
He pulled out his Sheikah slate, ready to drink the Tough Elixir she made to increase his defensive capabilities, but his eyes stopped on the Runes section of the slate. Thanks to the upgrades from Purah, he now had the ability to use Stasis on certain enemies, Lynels being one of them. If he used Stasis instead of ice arrows, he wouldn't have to worry about immediately unfreezing the Lynel on the next hit after every ice arrow. He knew Lynels were his strongest opponent yet, and it would take many more hits to defeat than any other enemy he had faced thus far. Ice arrows would do little damage.
He decided he would use Stasis on the Lynel and then mount it, just like he did when he tamed Luna, and frantically pound the creature as many times as possible while on its back. According to what Zelda told him, he would have to take care to dodge its lightning fast attacks and the fire it would send forth from its mouth. He would then use Stasis on it again and repeat the process until it was defeated.
He quietly materialized the Tough Elixir when the Lynel was furthest from him. He made a face at the purple liquid before he quickly forced it down. It tasted metallic to him, and he wondered if she had used Guardian parts to make it. It wasn't nearly as bad as some of them, at least. Elixirs weren't his favorite things, but they did help him stay alive.
He silently placed the Sheikah slate back onto his hip as he stood up behind the large rock. He took a deep breath, and he immediately felt the effects of the Tough Elixir give him a boost of renewed vigor.
Here goes nothing.
With his heart nearly beating out of his chest, he sprang like a shot from behind the large rock and rushed at the surprised centaur-like beast with the massive muscular torso and arms of a man, and the head of a fearsome, corrupted lion. The large horns on its head stuck out menacingly from its lush red mane, daring him to approach. This Lynel was much bigger and uglier than he had imagined.
The Lynel immediately roared in fury and rushed back at him, green eyes glowing with wild hatred, and it was holding the largest sword Link had ever seen in its massive hand. He brought out his best shield, a Knight's Shield, and he easily jumped back from the monstrous creature as it ran at him at top speed and tried to strike him. It couldn't slow itself and ran far enough past Link for him to use Stasis on it, freezing it in time immediately, and he ran toward it and jumped on its back. He pounded the creature mercilessly with his Knight's Claymore.
Suddenly the Stasis effect wore off much sooner than he had anticipated, and he back-flipped off the Lynel as it turned to swing at him once more, barely missing him. To his surprise, time slowed down all around him and he was able to get several hits in a row onto the backside of the foul creature. A Flurry Rush! The successful attack surprised him so much that he almost didn't see the Lynel whip itself around and ready himself for retaliation by leaping backwards on all fours. That was the signal that it was about to breathe fire, according to what Zelda told him. He was a split second too late to dodge completely out of the way, and he felt the agonizing burn of scathing hot fire on his left cheek. He had to ignore it.
Quickly raising his shield and dodging the rest of the flames emanating from the mouth of the beast, he used Stasis once more on the Lynel, only this time he relentlessly struck it with a few Bomb arrows before the Stasis effect quickly wore off.
The creature rushed at him with his sword again, even faster this time. It was getting desperate. Link couldn't get out of the way of its furious charge fast enough and it grazed his other cheek with its Lynel Sword, cutting him somewhat deeply across the face. No! He thought of Zelda and the helpless look she had given him as he walked away with Sidon earlier. I won't let her down.
Enraged by the wound and empowered by thinking of her, Link ran straight at the creature, again using Stasis, this time when the Lynel was directly in front of him, its open jaws frozen in time an inch from his face. He quickly mounted the creature and began savagely pounding it again with his Knight's Claymore as many times as he could.
The Lynel jumped backwards on all fours again after Link backflipped off of it, and an idea came to him. He ran as fast as he could toward the edge of the grass, and the Lynel chased him as he hoped it would. It sent out a barrage of flames toward the grass, and to his delight the flames caught the grass on fire. This created an updraft for him like the fire arrows did at Hateno Tower, and he quickly brought out his paraglider and rode the updraft.
Readying an arrow in midair, time slowed down all around him again as he was able to get another several hits on the Lynel with several Bomb arrows. That was one advantage of striking with an arrow in midair with the paraglider - time would slow down, something he previously discovered while gliding off a tower and aiming at enemies below.
He landed and quickly put his paraglider away as he ran toward the Lynel once more. It was charging at him again with its massive sword. He dodged again, performing another Stasis attack as it ran past him and turned toward him to charge. He struck it relentlessly with the Knight's Claymore while it was frozen in time, ready to jump out of the way when time resumed. He did just that, dodging its sword as it came back to life. He performed another Flurry Rush on the Lynel, dealing tremendous damage.
Link could tell the Lynel was almost defeated. It was getting angrier, which meant it was getting sloppier with its attacks. It missed him by a mile as it tried to breathe fire at him once more. He used the Stasis rune for the final time as it ran toward him, freezing it in place just in front of him like before. He hopped onto its back at lightning speed and relentlessly smacked it several times with the Knight's Claymore.
The Stasis effect wore off, and the Lynel dropped to the ground on its forelegs. Link jumped off its back as it disappeared in a large flash of purple smoke. All that was left of it was its massive weapons and a shield that were now his, some Lynel hoofs and horns, and a pile of grotesque pulsing orange Lynel guts.
The sight of the Lynel kneeling in defeat had finally triggered his memory of battling Lynels before, and his head was slightly sore. He sat for a moment on the ground before collecting his prizes. He made a face at the pile of pulsating guts as he reluctantly held the slate up to it and placed it, along with all of the other parts, into his inventory. He decided to equip the Lynel Shield, Lynel Sword, and Lynel Bow to show Zelda when he got back.
He stood still, breathing hard for a few minutes as the reality hit him of what he had just accomplished. He jumped up and let out a loud cry of victory that echoed off the top of Ploymus mountain. He had defeated his first Lynel, and he had done it by himself, using a strategy he thought up on his own! I can't wait to see Ari and tell her all about it!