With the Azure Rathalos's account, Logan quickly understood the course of events.
It had been ambushed by an intruder and beaten into serious injury.
And the one that ambushed it turned out to be a Deviljho reeking all over with a strong stench of blood!
No wonder the more Logan looked at this guy's wounds, the more familiar they seemed.
If it was a Deviljho's ambush, then the Azure Rathalos suffering injuries of this degree would be entirely reasonable.
In terms of the Deviljho's ecological niche, wherever it is placed it is assuredly a tyrant; moreover, according to the Azure Rathalos's description, that Deviljho seemed even more savage—upon appearing it immediately activated a Dragon-element state and completely suppressed the Azure Rathalos and its opponent.
As said before, for ordinary monsters possessing Dragon-element, every activation requires the consumption of a large amount of stamina; even excessive use will consume vitality.
Even a Deviljho, under normal circumstances, would not upon first contact—and especially in the case of an ambush—immediately open such a life-burning state.
Therefore, that Deviljho was probably somewhat unusual.
Moreover, according to the Azure Rathalos's account, the place where it was attacked was also in the junction area between the lava caverns and the Elder's Recess—very close to the place Aki had most recently been frequenting, and even very close to where the Flame Rathalos couple currently resided.
"As expected, once the Everstream shows a fluctuation and life energy starts to grow active, all kinds of monsters jump out. Brother dragon, you truly deserve to die!!"
Grumbling inwardly, Logan was also thinking whether, the next time Aki went to spar with the Scorching Heat Rathian, he should incidentally remind the Scorching Heat Rathian.
An ordinary Deviljho would not count as much of a threat to the Flame Rathalos couple, but if it were a Savage Deviljho, then the Flame Rathalos couple might also face a certain degree of danger.
After all, that thing was a creature daring enough to even try biting into Elder Dragons.
Just as Logan was thinking.
Outside the lava caverns, the corpses of the three monsters taken down by the Azure Rathalos lay brazenly sprawled on the ground.
One after another, Barnos could not hold back and dove down, enjoying this rare feast.
At that moment, a Deviljho with a completely jet-black body, its entire form seemingly stacked with layers of muscle, appeared from around the corner.
Its mouth, constantly exuding Dragon-element energy and dripping corrosive saliva, paused slightly. Its pair of small eyes locked fiercely onto those corpses surrounded by the Barnos group.
"Roar!!"
It strode forward in great steps, the countless hideous scars on its taut muscles twisting as the Savage Deviljho's ferocious body charged swiftly toward the monster corpses.
With a single blast of high-temperature Dragon-element breath, before the wyvern even arrived, a group of Barnos that had no time to take flight died miserably within the breath.
Its jaws, packed with rows of massive teeth, tore madly at those corpses.
Without even any swallowing motion, under the movement of those enormous muscle groups, the flesh was directly sent into its stomach—decomposed and digested at an unbelievable speed, turning into energy to fuel its metabolism.
The Savage Deviljho—a special individual of the Deviljho that could not quite be called a subspecies—perhaps due to age, or cannibalism, or some unknown cause, had a metabolism thrown completely out of balance.
An endless hunger, an appetite it could no longer endure, had become its torment.
Under such torment, its sanity had long since been lost. Whatever appeared before its eyes—no matter the species, no matter how strong—it would charge at without the slightest hesitation to fight.
In this state, the Savage Deviljho was without a doubt a true ecological destroyer born from the abyss, an absolute blight upon this world.
Only, though the unbalanced metabolism drastically consumed its lifespan—no matter how much it ate, it could never make up for it—it also granted it absolute power, and Dragon-element energy so abundant it even began to leak from its body.
One bite, two bites
Three large monsters more than a dozen meters long, together with several Barnos, were swallowed one mouthful at a time by the Savage Deviljho, eaten completely clean—even some bones at the weak points of the joints were not spared.
However, this still could not ease its hunger!
The unbalanced metabolism caused what it ate to be rapidly broken down into energy to alleviate its constantly draining life. Its reason, driven mad by hunger, returned just a little, at least enough to keep it from getting the idea of gnawing on rocks.
Under the ultra-high-speed metabolism, the muscles on its body that had swollen and torn from the surging dragon-element energy healed anew. Lashing its thick tail, it wandered aimlessly toward the next place; even if only to live a while longer, its foraging steps could not stop.
The Azure Rathalos had stayed beside Logan's nest for a full 3 days, and only with the aid of several bottles of Mega Potion each day did it finally recover.
Only, before it could take the initiative to leave, it was forcibly driven out by Logan.
If you don't take advantage of the active period of life-energy to move around more, are you planning to slack off?
...
Inside the lava cavern, beside a recirculating magma pool, Teostra and Lunastra were like two big lions who could not stand noise pollution, lying on the ground in unison, their forelimbs clamped tightly over their own ears.
Only, what the Everstream's tremors stirred up was not merely the Everstream's echo, but also surging life-energy.
This was not something that could be solved by simply covering their ears.
But there was no help for it—on the soft basalt by the magma pool, two eggs were bobbing up and down with the magma pool's flow.
Coupled with Lunastra's not yet fully recovered state, even if it was unbearable, they could only force themselves to endure it.
"Roar, roar~~"
Outside the lava cavern, the ghastly wailing and howling of monsters sounded again. Because so many Elder Dragons had left, and under the stimulation of active life-energy, even in a place deep within the lava cavern like this, monsters had begun to move about constantly.
"Roar!"
Unable to bear it, Lunastra let out an irritable bellow that even startled the Teostra beside her.
After that, Teostra saw Lunastra actually rise and pick up those two eggs; with a beat of her wings, she took to the air beneath a shower of flame powder.
Frightened, Teostra hurriedly followed. He clearly wanted to stop her, but the more even-tempered mindset of a dragon in its middle years made him choose silent protection.
They did not intend to leave the Elder's Recess; the abundant life-energy here could allow Lunastra to recover from the postpartum weakness more quickly.
Only, the lava cavern there was too chaotic, and the noise after the earthquakes left them with nowhere to escape; therefore, they planned to stay for a time on the higher basalt, and return after the culprit behind all this fell asleep here again.
As for how these two eggs would hatch after leaving the lava cavern—
This brought up the most primitive method of incubation.
Brooding!
Teostra and Lunastra would take turns, maintaining their own searing body temperatures to brood, like hatching chicks.
This method generally only appeared when Elder Dragons lost a territorial struggle and had no other choice.
Once they did this, it meant that one of the two would always be in a state where it could not leave.
For the irritable Flame Dragon couple, this was undoubtedly a major torment.
The flight of the two Elder Dragons did not affect the melee of the monsters below, but it did catch the attention of Logan in the sky.
That Flame Dragon couple—why were they flying toward his nest?
Looking down at Aki, who was charging through the chaotic battle like a war god, Logan restrained the urge to give chase. No matter how one looked at it, Aki's situation was more important right now.
After all, the Savage Deviljho was still hiding somewhere, its whereabouts unknown.
In another lava cavern.
The Scorching Heat Rathian, crouched beside a flow of magma, suddenly opened her eyes wide, staring dead ahead at that enormous figure whose swaying tail dripped saliva that instantly evaporated upon touching the ground.
The greed-filled gaze in those eyes, as if it had just spotted food, made the Scorching Heat Rathian feel deeply uncomfortable.
The flames around her body flared restlessly; facing the erupting magma, the Scorching Heat Rathian took the initiative and charged forward.
Outside the lava cavern, the Flame Rathalos, carrying the carcass of a Gastodon in its jaws, had just arrived before the entrance when it was blasted in the face by a torrent of searing air mixed with sparks.
Before it could even react, a roar filled with both fury and a trace of fear echoed out from within.
At once, even the Gastodon was forgotten. The bright flames hidden within the Flame Rathalos's body ignited, and it shot into the cavern—only to see the Savage Deviljho's entire body swollen with muscle, the section from forelimbs to neck glowing red-hot, with black-and-red dragon-element energy constantly seeping out.
The scars that had healed were once again torn open, and the restless crimson energy inside was clearly visible.
The entire wyvern was bathed in red-black toxic flames, its fanged jaws locked tightly around the Scorching Heat Rathian's neck, completely ignoring the fire on her body as it smashed her against the ground again and again.
This scene made the Flame Rathalos's eyes nearly burst with rage; without a word, it unleashed a blast of blazing flame breath.
The powerful recoil forced the Flame Rathalos to flap its wings to stay steady in the air. At the same time, the breath attack, catching the Savage Deviljho completely off guard, drove it back several steps by sheer force. Under the combined assault of high temperature and impact, the Savage Deviljho was compelled to release the Scorching Heat Rathian clamped in its jaws, which had been throwing off its balance.
Its powerful hind legs—so different from the nearly invisible forelimbs—gouged two deep furrows into the softened basalt.
[Clang, clang, clang—]
A sound like countless shards of fine glass shattering rang out as torrents of black-and-red dragon-element breath erupted. Crimson arcs of electricity exploded outward, forcibly halting the Flame Rathalos's fiery assault and stopping it two meters short.
Dragon-element energy possessed an extremely strong suppressive effect over other elemental energies. Even though the Flame Rathalos increased its energy output, the bright flames of its breath turning to blue fire at the edges, it still could not prevent the Savage Deviljho's breath from pressing back against it.
"Roar!"
Another dragon roar echoed. The Scorching Heat Rathian, dragging her injured body, forced herself into the air. A massive fireball laced with deadly toxins avoided the Savage Deviljho's breath and exploded the instant it struck its body.
The Savage Deviljho's breath faltered, and in that moment, the brilliant flames of the Flame Rathalos's breath engulfed it completely.
A pained roar resounded; the sight of the Savage Deviljho's struggling form writhing within the flames reflected in their eyes.
Without hesitation, the Scorching Heat Rathian gathered strength once more and unleashed another pure torrent of flame.
Under normal circumstances, she would have chosen to charge in through the fire, seeking a chance for a single fatal blow.
But after the recent battle with the Savage Deviljho, the Scorching Heat Rathian knew all too well the despair that came when it closed the distance.
Rather than risk charging forward, it was better to add one more breath attack—to inflict the greatest possible damage.
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