At the foot of the mountain peak where Logan was, in a small clump of trees struggling to grow, beneath a pile of silver metallic scales, one Radiant Crystal Butterfly after another was laboriously breaking out of its shell. Like machines running a preset program, they strove to absorb a fixed amount of energy from within the scales, and once they had ensured that, for a short time, they possessed combat power no weaker than ordinary Radiant Crystal Butterflies, they silently flew off to the side, waiting for more Radiant Crystal Butterflies to hatch.
These Radiant Crystal Butterflies, hatched using the residual energy stored in Logan's scales, had lifespans and sizes far inferior to those of the Radiant Crystal Butterflies that normally hatched in the insect "nest" at the Ancient Tree; even their intelligence was much weaker.
However, as temporary battle insects, they were undoubtedly adequate.
Over these past few days, the Qurio infesting those anomaly monsters that the Fire Wyverns had blocked and slain at the undercurrent's outlet had been dealt with by these temporarily hatched Radiant Crystal Butterflies. This not only reduced the attrition of the normal Radiant Crystal Butterflies, but also served as a test of the combat strength of the temporarily catalyzed Radiant Crystal Butterflies.
Early in the morning, just as the sun was rising, Logan drove the Fire Wyverns away; even the Flame Rathalos, who could actually help and was already strong enough to trade a few blows with an ordinary Elder Dragon, was sent off by Logan.
He simply remained quietly on the mountaintop, waiting for the Nergigante that had spent the entire night making its preparations.
The sun rose from the distance, and as the sunlight fell on Logan's body, the reflected radiance made him glitter.
On the horizon, a black dot flapped its wings, flying toward this side at an unhurried pace.
Of course, hurrying would have been pointless; if Logan ever decided to run, Nergigante would never be able to catch up.
Having dealt with him several times already, Nergigante at least had this level of awareness.
Logan's pupils contracted, and his astonishing eyesight instantly locked onto Nergigante.
There was no strange red glow on its body, nor were any Qurio fluttering around it. This was good—it meant this guy had not yet fallen, at least had not entered into Symbiosis with the Qurio.
Secondly, in terms of changes in its appearance, apart from its larger size and its muscles looking more robust, there were no external differences brought about by an Anomaly Overcome state. Although different regions had their own variations, the fact that Nergigante's outward appearance had not changed did not mean it had not overcome the anomaly, but at least the likelihood had been greatly reduced.
Lastly, there was the assessment of its life energy.
It was far more formidable, yet it still had not taken that crucial step; in terms of its ecological niche, it was still more or less the same as before.
It seemed that just a little over half a year of Qurio rampaging was still not enough to grant this guy an overly outrageous boost; moreover, it was entirely possible that this big black hedgehog was not connected to the Qurio as deeply as the Research Commission had speculated, and was simply taking the blame for nothing.
All in all, as things stood, everything was developing in a positive direction, and Logan now had even greater confidence in his own plan.
"How many Qurio we can wipe out this time will depend on just what the relationship between you and the Qurio actually is, 'old friend'! Don't let me down!"
In the sky, the Nergigante that had originally been flying along at an unhurried pace had not even spared an extra glance for the Admiral and the others on the deck when it passed by the mobile research base; they were all people who required high effort for zero return, not worth a second look from it.
Yet as the distance between it and Logan grew shorter, it discovered that Logan actually had no intention of moving away from it at all—he had only assumed a standard alert posture, without even letting out an extra intimidating dragon roar, clearly looking as if he intended to have a bout with it.
At that thought, Nergigante's wings unconsciously beat faster, and the whole dragon grew more and more excited!
Good grief! Do you have any idea how long it had been craving this 'brother' who was only growing more and more tempting?
Back in the Elder's Recess, after Logan completed his final metamorphosis, Nergigante had already begun craving this newly born Elder Dragon.
It was just that, at the time, Logan's perception was outrageously sharp; even if Nergigante restrained its own aura, once it entered a certain range it would still be noticed by Logan, and then Logan would immediately assume a stance that clearly said, "If you dare come at me, I'll just kite you all over the place."
During that period, Nergigante had just been utterly disgusted by Kushala Daora's style of kiting—using its wind control to speed itself up and slow its opponents down—so when faced with Logan, another speed-type Elder Dragon, without being able to land a successful sneak attack, it truly was powerless to do anything and could only look for some other prey instead.
What was more, aside from his speed, Logan also had a Golden Rathian with combat power comparable to an Elder Dragon by his side for long stretches of time; taking on two at once was really beyond it!
This was also why, even though it had clearly absorbed a good amount of Qurio energy last night and boosted its own condition to its peak, it was still flying along in that seemingly lazy, swaying manner as it headed this way today.
But things were different now. Logan had finally given it the chance. That troublesome Golden Rathian was not here, and the annoying white mist was gone. After Nergigante confirmed again and again that Logan really was facing it alone, the spikes on its body rapidly swelled and, under the catalysis of abundant life energy, quickly turned into hardened black.
A dozen inconspicuous Adamant Spikes were hidden among the mass of spikes.
They were the proof of the many battles it had fought against Elder Dragons over the years, and the gift it had received after surviving the torment of a Forbidden Elder Dragon!
"ROAR!!"
An excited and violent dragon roar resounded through the sky, startling awake the nearby flock of Noios still in their slumber. A large number of Noios scattered in all directions, their sharp cries ringing out like the bell that signaled the start of battle.
A silver-white sunburst shot upward at high speed, slicing through the air with a howling gale and a long blue-purple tail flame, soaring toward the sky.
The pitch-black Extinction Dragon followed closely behind, charging into the clouds.
In an instant, the cloud layer began to churn. It was as if ignited cotton had been set ablaze, engulfed in fire in a heartbeat as it twisted inward, forming a flaming abyss that continuously curled toward its center.
The chill of early morning vanished. As the temperature rose rapidly, inside the mobile research base, the Admiral and the others quickly drank a bottle of cool drink, and the cold spreading from within their bodies dispelled the sudden heat.
Staring at the booming, continuously exploding massive cloud of fire, the two hunter squads—seven humans and one cat—rode a group of panicked Wingdrakes and rapidly descended toward the marshland below.
At this moment, the Fire Wyvern flock that had originally dispersed on Logan's command was already locked in battle with a large group of anomaly monsters.
These anomaly monsters were different from the ones previously cleared by the hunters and the Fire Wyverns. They were generally creatures with higher ecological niches, and the number of Qurio swarming around them was also greater. One of them was even an Afflicted Bazelgeuse completely wrapped in Qurio.
Right now, it was locked in a fierce struggle with the Flame Rathalos, while the other Fire Wyverns each had their own opponents.
"Sunblaze Dragon's guess was correct. A battle between Elder Dragons will draw in large numbers of Qurio. Everyone stay alert for Qurio ambushes. Before Sunblaze Dragon and Nergigante finish their fight, do your best to work with the Rathalos to kill these anomaly monsters!"
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