After going into the sea, I met the witch.

Ryan lunged forward, narrowly avoiding the attack.

A sharp gust of wind whistled past his head, and he could also faintly smell an indescribable fishy stench.

"Zi la..."

Where the thorns at the end of the dragon's tail passed, a faint purplish-black hue filled the air.

That's a deadly poison!

Realizing this, Ryan's expression became even more solemn.

Unlike the monsters he had previously hunted, the female Rathalos, being a "flying dragon," possesses both fire and poison attributes, drastically increasing its threat level.

The only ingredients he had that could inhibit toxins were [Specialty Matsutake Mushrooms] and [Abundant Pearls].

Matsutake mushrooms, a specialty product, can alleviate the symptoms of poisoning to some extent, while pearls have healing properties.

Ultimately, these two things cannot completely eliminate the "poison," they can only suppress it.

In other words, once Ryan is poisoned, even if he takes these two things in time, his combat power will inevitably decline due to the residual toxins.

After dodging the tail whip, Ryan had already positioned himself in front of the Rathian.

Taking advantage of the blind spot created by the female Rathian's tail attack, he shouldered the greatsword and began to charge up.

A surge of spiritual energy coursed through him, his muscles tensed and expanded, and as the female Rathalos turned her head back to face him, Ryan simultaneously completed "one stage of charging." Although he hadn't reached the maximum "one and a half stage of charging," there was no time left, so he unleashed his silver-blue greatsword without hesitation.

"Boom--!"

Before the female Rathian could react, the greatsword had already landed on its head.

【Storm Sword Skill - Wave Severing】(First stage of charging) + 【One-Handed Weapon Mastery】+ 【Sword Drawing Technique - Strength lv.1】+ 【Attack lv.1】!

This powerful strike combines four different techniques. Can you withstand it?

The female Rathalos suggested: Why don't you give it a try?

Try and die.

The sword strike, aimed squarely at the head, caused the female Rathalos to let out a mournful cry, raise its head, and even sway slightly in its steps.

This really caught it off guard.

Fortunately, the female Rathalos had thick skin and strong scales, and it quickly recovered from the sword wound. Seeing the "powerful ant" in front of it once again carrying the "little long needle" that had caused it pain, the female Rathalos opened its mouth and let out a powerful dragon roar.

At such close range, Ryan had no way to avoid the dragon's roar. In an instant, his vision went black and his mind went blank.

Fortunately, when he saw the female Rathalos open her mouth, his heart skipped a beat, and he bit his tongue in advance.

The intense pain quickly brought him back to consciousness.

When his vision cleared slightly, what he saw reflected in his pupils was a dragon claw reaching out horizontally.

"Damn it!"

It was too late to raise the sword to block at that moment.

In the moment of crisis, Ryan opened his mouth.

"kill!"

The sound waves, imbued with spiritual energy, spread out and brushed against the female fire dragon's body.

——【A triumphant battle cry】

The spiritual sound waves seemed to have a particularly strong effect on the female fire dragon; its body suddenly stiffened, and even its swung claws froze in mid-air.

"You think you're the only one with a loud voice? I can yell too!"

Ryan's eyes hardened.

If he hadn't been prepared and woken up in advance, he would have been seriously injured, if not killed, if he had been caught off guard and taken the female Rathalos's claw head-on.

It must be said that one cannot be careless in the slightest when fighting such a colossal monster.

Monsters can make many mistakes because they are thick-skinned and can withstand a few attacks, but Ryan is different.

If he gets hit by a monster, he has to leave the travel area immediately; the higher the star rating of the monster, the more this is true.

Hunting monsters is like dancing on a tightrope.

To outsiders, they appear dashing and composed, but only those involved truly understand the immense risks involved.

Taking advantage of the precious time when the female Rathian was "intimidated", Ryan shouldered the Greatsword and charged up again.

1.6 seconds later, he completed "a period of charging up".

With the help of [Concentration Lv.2], his greatsword charging time was reduced by a full 10%.

At this moment, the female Rathalos had just recovered from the "shock" but was still dizzy and shaking her head.

Charge up, charge up, charge up again...

At 3 seconds, Ryan completed his ultimate "one and a half charge" and, seeing the female Rathian's eyes gradually regaining their clarity, he roared and mercilessly swung his greatsword.

On the silver-blue greatsword, a distinct white light trembled constantly, which was the rapidly flowing spiritual energy.

"Boom-"

Like the resounding of a bronze bell, the powerful recoil caused Ryan's own hands to go numb.

If he was like this, one can only imagine how the female Rathalos, the target of his attack, would fare.

The two attacks on the head were each more powerful than the last.

This caused the female Rathalos to fall into a "fainting state," lose her balance, and fall to the ground.

For a time, dust was flying.

[Sword Drawing Technique - Strength lv.1], the effect of making monsters "stun" more easily when attacking the head has taken effect!

Ryan's eyes lit up with joy.

Ignoring the tearing pain in his body after maximizing his strength, he pulled out a handful of "Abundant Pearl Powder" and stuffed it into his mouth.

Because of the [Recovery Acceleration Lv.1] effect that comes with the [Umbrella Fire Scale Armor Set], Ryan clearly felt that after "taking the potion", his stamina and injury recovery speed was significantly faster.

"What a skill!"

Ryan was overjoyed. He hadn't really taken this skill seriously before, since his wandering clones were often killed by monsters after getting injured during battles.

But now, he has discovered an additional use for this skill—to accelerate the recovery from the damage caused by overloading his charged sword techniques.

In a flash, Ryan rushed to the side of the fallen female Rathalos.

A faint white spiritual glow began to dance once more on the greatsword.

Having just completed a maximum charge, he was no longer able to perform a maximum "one and a half" charge, but he could still barely manage a normal "one-stage charge".

And that is enough.

Due to the "moisture environment", the wounds caused by Ryan's first two attacks on the Rathian's head have been covered with a layer of frost, which is spreading outwards, covering most of the Rathian's head with frost.

As a fire-elemental monster, the frost's corrosive effects inflict significant damage and negative status effects on the Rathian.

The freezing indicates that the area has become relatively vulnerable.

After "charging up" his power, Ryan did not rush to strike.

His spirit has been exhausted after fighting for so long.

One [Soaring War Cry], one "first stage of charging" and one "first and a half stage of charging" used a total of 2 points of spiritual energy. The ultimate "first and a half stage of charging" requires double the amount, which is 1 point of spiritual energy.

His spirituality is only 2.5.

In other words, this "charged" heavy slash was the last sword technique he could use.

This is the tragedy of a lack of spirituality.

Even if Ryan's physique was strong enough to support it, his lack of spirituality rendered him helpless.

Without the boost from [sword skills], basic attacks are basically ineffective against monsters.

Therefore, to ensure that nothing goes wrong...

On Ryan's right hand, where he gripped the greatsword, the [Ring of Black Corrosion] glowed faintly. Then, a thick black mist spread out, enveloping an area of ​​five meters around him.

The female Rathalos was too large, with most of its body outside the black mist, but Ryan's target was only the female Rathalos's head, and the black mist was large enough to cover it.

The loss of one-fifth of his blood made Ryan's face turn deathly pale.

The female Rathian's attack did not injure him; instead, the massive blood loss from using the [Ring of Black Corrosion] left him severely wounded.

Fortunately, the "Abundant Pearl Powder" continuously taking effect in his body gave him a breather, allowing him to wield the greatsword in his hand.

"die!"

Veins bulged on his arms, neck, and even forehead. Ryan's face was contorted with rage as he gritted his teeth and unleashed this final strike.

Due to the corrosive effects of the black mist and the embrittlement caused by the frost, the wound on the female Rathalos's head softened rapidly.

Then, the greatsword fell!

"Click——"

That was the sound of a skull cracking.

The female Rathalos's struggling body suddenly froze.

It stared wide-eyed, letting out a high-pitched and mournful cry, with sparks of saliva dripping from the corner of its mouth.

Sensing the approach of death, the female Rathalos struggled to crawl towards its nest, trying to do something in its final moments.

However, the passing of life is never subject to the will of living beings.

After struggling to climb a few meters, the light in the female Rathalos's eyes dimmed completely.

Even until its death, its eyes remained fixed on the direction of its nest, unwilling to look away.

"Hu Chi... Hu Chi..."

Ryan was breathing heavily.

The dual exhaustion of his spirit and physical strength caused his vision to go black.

If it weren't for the warmth brought by the upgrade nourishing him, he would have collapsed by now.

On the female Rathalos's neck, a strikingly different dark green, almost black, crescent-shaped scale fell to the ground, emitting a hazy bronze glow.