With the addition of two hunter teams, which even included the Admiral and the Huntsman, who had once again returned to his peak combat state, it would still be an exaggeration to say that the pressure on the Fire Wyvern packs was greatly relieved, since the number of Anomaly monsters was by no means small.
However, with both sides coordinating, the speed at which they were killing the Anomaly monsters did indeed increase by quite a bit.
And the Qurio on these slain Anomaly monsters, having lost their hosts, had no choice but to forcibly squeeze out the last trace of life force from the monsters before they completely died and forcibly hatch out.
In no time, the battlefield had turned completely scarlet, and the number of Qurio had increased by a large margin. Even with a certain number of Radiant Crystal Butterflies providing protection, the Fire Wyverns still had several close calls where they were almost forcibly parasitized by the Qurio.
Fortunately, there were hunters on the battlefield. Whenever a Rathalos had some part of its body forcibly parasitized, it would take the initiative to come over to the hunters, drive back the hunters' opponents, and at the same time deliberately expose the parasitized area, letting the hunters attack the Qurio clinging to its body.
Under the combined attacks of the hunters and the Radiant Crystal Butterflies, the Qurio that had barely managed to latch on were once again purged, and only with this kind of cooperation was this battle able to keep going.
...
Up in the sky, within the Flame Vortex.
The powerful pull, like a black hole, held Nergigante constrained at the center of the vortex.
The Flame Vortex, an improved version of the Flame Tornado, reduced its destructive impact on the environment while further enhancing its ability to confine the battlefield.
Nergigante swung its forelimbs, and the pitch-black spikes, driven by its tremendous strength, smashed apart the long bands of flame that surged out of the sea of fire like fiery serpents. The burning scales hidden within the flames only barely managed to carve a few notches into the spikes as they collided.
An instant later, the scales that had been infused with a portion of special energy by Sheer Force detonated with a thunderous bang, blowing apart into countless tiny fragments amid the energy they released. These fragments slipped through the gaps between the spikes on Nergigante's forearms and neatly sliced out one fine cut after another.
Though the wounds were small and quickly returned to normal under Nergigante's powerful regenerative ability, this was, after all, within a sea of fire. In that brief instant, the fire energy that was constantly burning around it seeped into the wounds, bringing it an ever-intensifying sensation of being burned.
Logan's figure darted through the flames, sometimes up, sometimes down, and whenever he found an opening, he unleashed a high-velocity clustered breath blast.
This laser-like attack, although unable, after piercing through Nergigante's spikes, to further bore into its flesh and blood, was like a pulled electric shock that stopped just short; every strike still brought Nergigante quite a sharp sting.
"Roar!!"
Nergigante bellowed loudly. This disgusting "punishment" kept jangling its nerves and building up its fury, yet its instincts, which carefully calculated its energy, still made it maintain enough rationality to endure the pain as it beat its wings again and again, flying through the sea of fire in pursuit of Logan's trail.
To be honest, from the moment it had chased Logan into the sky and then plunged headlong into the Flame Vortex that Logan had rapidly created under the cover of clouds and mist, Nergigante had already begun to regret it.
That disgusting pull was not strong enough to restrain it, and the Calamity Flames whose power had been weakened and spread out across the field inflicted only negligible damage on it.
But—!
The vortex's pull still affected Nergigante's flight speed to a certain extent, and the constantly churning Calamity Flames not only blocked its vision but also disrupted its perception of energy, allowing Logan to hide within them perfectly.
This felt exactly like a flame version of Kushala Daora's hurricane field!!
Memories that had long since withered away with the passing years kept assaulting Nergigante's mind, causing its already slightly bloodshot eyes to flush red in an instant.
Rage was gradually devouring it; the spikes on its body grew ever darker, appearing even smoother in the firelight, and energy slowly began to seep out over their surfaces.
The Flame Vortex was Logan's field, and he could rely on the fire to sense everything within it.
As Nergigante continuously increased its own energy output, the churning of its massive body actually managed to forcibly slap away the Calamity Flames around it.
Although it could not, like the natural-disaster-type Elder Dragons, use the same kind of large-scale attack to cancel out Logan's field advantage, the Nergigante of this moment still displayed the ferocity of a close-combat Elder Dragon; relying solely on its own brute strength and the faint Dragon-element energy on its spikes, it succeeded in driving away the Calamity Flames around itself.
From a bird's-eye view of Logan's Flame Vortex, wherever Nergigante passed was like a gust of black wind plowing out a vacuum corridor. Even though the flames that had been snuffed out behind it were quickly replenished, the Calamity Flames within the Flame Vortex could no longer exert much influence on Nergigante at this point.
Perhaps it was because it had begun following its instincts, or perhaps because Nergigante, no longer concerned about wasting energy, finally understood—after enduring multiple attacks from Logan—that it could not continue like this.
Thus, Nergigante charged straight ahead in a single direction without thinking. The spikes on its body contracted and overlapped as much as possible, enhancing its defense while it lowered its head and attempted to burst out of the Flame Vortex.
Logan, who understood Nergigante's intention, naturally would not let it escape so easily. While continuously adjusting the vortex winds inside the Flame Vortex, he spat fireballs in an attempt to intercept Nergigante through their explosions.
Later on, Logan even revealed himself beside Nergigante, trying to use this approach to lure it back.
But at this moment, Nergigante actually narrowed its eyes and ignored Logan's "bait." It paid no attention whatsoever to the fireballs that kept exploding against its body. Even though it looked utterly miserable and was covered in injuries, it still charged straight ahead with unshakable determination.
Seeing that Nergigante was about to reach the edge of the Flame Vortex, Logan also realized that this fellow could not be held back any longer. His plan to rely on the Flame Vortex to heavily drain Nergigante's stamina and energy had failed, and he could only watch helplessly as Nergigante burst out of the flames.
In keeping with his principle of not wasting extra energy, Logan dispersed the Flame Vortex the instant Nergigante rushed out. He was just about to switch to kiting mode when he noticed that Nergigante still had not stopped its charge. In the blink of an eye, it had already dashed far away, clearly intending to leave altogether.
"Roar!!" (Hey!! You're just leaving like that? Get back here and fight, damn it!)
Logan's pupils contracted. His wings, which had already taken the position to ascend, stiffly twisted as he forcibly altered his flight trajectory, curving around to actively chase after Nergigante. While pursuing, he let out loud roars and made all sorts of provocations.
But who could have expected that the rapidly healing Nergigante would only turn its blood-red eyes to glance at Logan and still show no intention of stopping whatsoever—clearly showing it simply did not want to fight anymore.
Elder Dragons already had excellent memories, and the memory of being kited by Kushala Daora for three days and three nights unfurled completely in Nergigante's mind under Logan's provocation.
Once bitten by a snake, you'll fear even the rope for ten years.
This truth applied in this world as well. At first, observing Logan's actions, Nergigante thought Logan genuinely intended to give it a proper fight, but it turned out to be the same disgusting fighting style again.
It couldn't catch up, it couldn't make contact, and not only was its energy being wasted, but it had been battered into a miserable state—so why couldn't it simply stop fighting?
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