An icy mist emanated off of Raging Wolf Fang.
Joe let out a sigh, the empty impact phial from earlier flying out of the axe-head shield of his Charge Blade as he recharged.
"One thing after another…," Joe breathed out as the Rajang released a powerful roar. He was no stranger to Rajang; he and Reiya had spent many hunts tracking down and hunting Rajang. If he was right, then this one was going to be nowhere near as strong as its kind that dwelled in the Guiding Lands.
Pull back.
Joe sighed, charging up his attack. The Rajang roared again, once again enraged as it closed the distance quickly. It was a move that Joe was all too familiar with. In one smooth motion, Joe slammed his sword back into the axe-head shield. A burst of energy escaped the weapon as he spun, then drew the sword again and let out a strained shout.
Down slash.
The Charge Blade sword came down onto the Rajang's head, stopping the monster right in its tracks like Lucian had done to the Tigrex several weeks before. The force was strong enough to even break a horn, the protrusion flying off seemingly in slow motion. Slow motion even applied to how Joe's attack forced the monster to slam face first into the ground, making a small explosion. However, Joe wasn't satisfied. He knew this was far from being enough to kill a Rajang.
A giant hand appeared to Joe's left.
With quick thinking, Joe ducked under the attempted grab, kicking himself into a slide and getting behind the Fanged Beast. Before the monster could recover, Joe was quick to do a Shield Thrust, right on its tail. Just enough force to cause the monster to roll forward, a noticeable cry of pain evident within the roars of anger and death. Anna could only watch in awe, seeing a Master Rank hunter facing off against an equally dangerous foe. However, she quickly shook the thought from her mind, racing over to where Hazel's almost lifeless body was laying. Joe's eyes followed her momentarily before returning to his quarry, the Rajang just now getting back up to all fours. Upon locking eyes with the Master hunter, the Rajang was quick to release an angry roar, electricity sparking off of its fur.
"That's right. Focus on me."
Joe hit his sword against his shield several times, then let out a shout as he charged. The Rajang, as well, let out a roar in response, though its reaction was not to charge. Instead, its mouth began to glow. Rearing up on its two back legs, it lunged forward and braced, releasing a massive stream of electrical energy from its mouth. However, Joe knew it was going to happen. Sliding to his left, the beam narrowly missed him, simply grazing just the tiniest portion of his shield. With a wide open target, he went in for his attack, sword raised for another strike. Except, he didn't cut at the body. Instead, he rolled under the monster, eying its tail once again.
"Time to calm DOWN!"
Jamming his sword into the axe-head shield, Joe made an unconventional move, unleashing his weapon's Axe mode and swinging backwards and hitting the monster right on its tail. While there have been no accounts of a Rajang's tail ever actually getting cut off, Joe certainly hit it with enough force that it would've cut off the tail of any other monster. This attack was enough to send the monster flying forward, getting a cry of pain from it as it tumbled. With his axe on his shoulder, Joe turned to look at the monster, seeing it with a low stance, its golden fur turning back to its normal shade of dark brown. Evil red eyes met his own as he returned an equally intense glance. However, his concern was on the two rookie hunters nearby, though his eyes remained locked onto the Rajang. The eye contact didn't break throughout the standoff as he smoothly reached into his pack, pulling out an SOS Flare and loading it into his slinger. Anna gasped as she watched him fire it up into the air, though Joe's eyes never left the Rajang.
Pulling his sword out of the axe-head, Joe took another stance, shooting a quick glance at Anna and Hazel, then finally back to the Rajang. He couldn't afford to watch them both while fighting this thing at the same time. The hope now was that there was an apt hunter nearby to see the flare and come investigate, hopefully to get the two rookies out of the situation.
The Rajang roared, then stuck its hand into the ground. Joe braced himself, watching as the monster pulled a tree root out of the ground. With a spit, he watched as the root was thrown his way, his knee jerk reaction to run toward the projectile. Once he did, he timed his jump, just managing to clear the root, to which he immediately crouched and raised his shield. Immediately after doing so, he felt the massive blow of the Rajang's fist meeting his shield, the phial inside sparking yellow. This was followed by another massive blow, then another, then another, only turning the phial inside the axe-head shield all the way to a deep scarlet red. Joe grunted with each blow, getting pushed back further and further until, inevitably, he had to open himself up and lower his shield. Immediately, he felt the full force of one of the Rajang's punches, sending him flying back towards where the root had landed.
An almost victorious roar filled the air as the Rajang stood up on its two feet, then charged for the root. Joe, upon standing up, immediately jammed his Charge Blade sword into the shield, a loud "K-CHK" fill the air as a new impact phial was added. Joe let out a sigh, then opened his eyes as the Rajang closed in on him. The sound of his Charge Blade amping up filled the air, yellow electricity beginning to fly off the weapon as he prepared his attack. More and more frosty mist flowed off the weapon as Joe looked at the Rajang dead in the eye, ready to meet his adversary head on.
Swing around.
Down smash.
On cue, Joe once again released another Super Amped Element Discharge, landing once again on the Rajang's face and breaking the other horn. Once again, the attack stopped the charge dead in its tracks as the Impact Phial did its work, battering and bruising the monster as the energy coursed through the ground and its body. Joe was quick to pull his weapon back, pulling the sword back out of the shield and getting ready again.
Unfortunately, he knew it still wasn't enough.
"Stubborn bastard," Joe breathed out as the Rajang staggered back onto its arms, appearing loopy, concussed even. However, before Joe could make another move, what could only be a Clutch Claw appeared, grabbing onto the Rajang's arm. The monster, alarmed, turned to face this new threat. Joe as well, surprised, turned in the direction the Claw was fired from. Just in time to see the familiar Velkhana clad form of Reiya bursting through the underbrush, eyes narrowed and angered as she landed on the monster's shoulder.
Not wasting a moment, she was quick to point her slinger right at the Fanged Beast's head, unleashing an entire slinger's worth of Scatternut right into its face. The force was enough to throw Reiya off the monster's shoulder, a motion she had done so many times as she gracefully backflipped through the air and landed on her feet. The monster, however, blindly charged forward, Joe jumping out of the way as it slammed itself right into a nearby tree.
Surprised, Joe turned to look at Reiya, seeing her with her eyes closed. Reiya, on the other hand, focused her energy, her Spirit energy seemingly flowing around her. Joe watched as she slowly reached her hand up to her sword handle, not her usual Wyvern Blade "Pale," but a Longsword reflection of his own weapon, Adularia Edge. It wasn't uncommon to see her without her usual sword, but to see her so deliberately bringing this weapon in particular, it certainly was curious to Joe.
Reiya's eyes opened as she looked at the Rajang, eyes narrowed as she eyed her target. The Rajang finally managed to roll onto its arms again, looking her right in the eye. Reiya returned the same intensity, even more so than Joe did earlier. The message was clear as day to Joe; stand back and let her handle this.
With a grunt, Reiya took off in a sprint, practically a blur in Joe's eyes. The Rajang roared, then stood back up and swung its right arm right at her. Reiya, as agile as she was, stopped on a dime, leaning back to her left and letting the monster's fist fly right past her. This was followed up with a backhand, to which she effortlessly ducked under. Reiya didn't even blink. She didn't flinch. Her movements were graceful, fast, easy. The Rajang then took a swing with its left fist, to which, Reiya took a step back, her entire body letting out a white flash, the particles disappearing quickly. Her eyes closed, Reiya sighed, then reached back and drew her sword in an unconventional style with one hand. Where most hunters would have had their weapon drawn for a Counter Slash, she had drawn her weapon straight from the sheathe, something that Joe had seen only a handful of times before.
Down slash.
A loud pop of ice appeared on the ground, Reiya connecting and cutting a large gash through her target's left arm. The Rajang roared in pain, though it didn't last long as Reiya performed a Spirit Roundslash, actually cutting clean through the monster's arm, causing it to fall onto the ground. Before it could make any noise, however, Reiya was quick to Spirit Thrust into the base of its skull, getting an almost sickening noise of bone getting broken and a neck being snapped. The Rajang's body tensed up, its toes and remaining fingers curling as Reiya jumped up into the air, eyes locked onto target.
Helm splitter.
The sound of Reiya's sword coming down pierced the air, right down onto the neck of her quarry. Her sword left frost on the ground, the imbued Ice element misting off the blade. There was plenty of blood on the ground, though the sight of the Rajang's head rolling off of its body didn't even so much as phase the hunter. Finally satisfied, Reiya relaxed, slashing her sword through the air twice to clean it of blood before finally sheathing it.
Joe, and Anna for that matter, watched in awe. Through all his years of hunting with her, Joe couldn't believe that Reiya still managed to look so cool, even if the kill was gorey like this. Anna as well, though she had only been in the New World for so long, thought that the brief fight that Reiya had with the Rajang was the coolest thing ever. She only wished that Hazel could've seen it.
"Oh no," Anna breathed, looking down at her partner and seeing Hazel's eyes practically glazed over. Immediately, Joe and Reiya broke from their trances, running over and looking the injured hunter over. They both looked at each other, followed by a whistle from Reiya. A pair of Mernos came flying down, to which Reiya turned to Anna and Joe.
"Take them back," Reiya stated specifically to Joe, then looked down at Hazel, "We need to get him some medical attention right now."
"What about you?"
Reiya turned to Joe once again, the man's gaze locked onto her. However, she furrowed her brow, shaking her head as she said, "Next time. Just go."